I'm personally not a fan at all of the whole LE / stripped down pro business model. It just doesn't seem fair that, even if the demand is huge, only a finite number of people can get the full featured game. I understand that the premium versions of many games don't sell very well, but Stern should at least always be open to the possibility of running a premium if the demand is there.

So why don't they just start building the premiums and pros to order? Makes perfect sense to me. This way, they will know exactly what the demand is instead of guessing. Everyone who wants a machine is happy, and Stern makes a ton of money. Win-win!

I guess that would be me.

I would have a big problem with this. Although I've already made it abundantly clear that I think Stern should offer a premium version of all titles, to do so after the fact would be manipulative, and just plain wrong.

This is precisely why I said that all Stern had to do was mention at launch that there is a possibility of a premium if future demand warrants it. I can't imagine this would cannibalize their initial sales very much, and it would open them up to a lot of potential profit down the road if the game turns out to be a huge hit like AC/DC. By not announcing the possibility of a premium, they have essentially painted themselves into a corner. If they do decide to run a premium, it will piss off the people who bought the game early. If they don't make a premium, it will piss off the people who want the full featured game but can't find one for a reasonable price because of the limited supply.

That may very well be the most sane thing I've ever heard anyone say on Pinside.

Games like BIBLE, LOTR LE, Black SM, etc. have proven that people will absolutely pay more for games where the only differences are cosmetic.

Okay, so here's what I don't understand. Assuming this response from Stern is legit, why the hell are they being so coy when it comes to the premium? There is still no mention of it anywhere on their site, and yet they clearly have no problem acknowledging that one may be coming when directly asked about it. Wouldn't it have been better from a customer relations standpoint to be completely transparent about the possibility of a premium from the get go? It's this kind of manipulative bullshit that really pisses me off.

I'd say being upfront about all potential models before customers start forking over hard earned money is a damn good reason.

If you go back and read all my posts, you will see that I was one of the people who argued strongly that Stern could very well run a premium, despite there not being any mention of one at launch. I decided to order an LE anyway, since I'm a huge Walking Dead fan, but this news hardly comes as a surprise to me. Ever since Stern made Luci, I realized that all bets are off when it comes to what they will or won't run in the future. It's still disappointing to see them pull this kind of crap, though, and it will almost certainly make me hesitant to pre-order an LE in the future.

You just said it yourself that announcing the possibility of a premium would have hurt LE sales. Stern deliberately withheld information from it customers in an effort to move as many LEs as possible, as quickly as possible. It wasn't an oversight. It was cold and calculated. I'd say that's manipulative bullshit in its purest form.

I said it when they first released the features matrix, and I'll say it again. All Stern had to do was list the premium with an asterisk next to it saying *pending demand. This would have allowed Stern the flexibility to build or not build a premium without any chance of upsetting the early pro and LE buyers.

Maybe not anymore, but at the time Luci definitely ruffled some feathers.

Nobody is arguing that they shouldn't make premiums. In fact, I've been saying just the opposite. I think Stern should be open to the possibility of making a premium for every single release. It's a good business decision. My main opposition with them potentially running a TWD premium is the way in which they went about it. It's Stern's lack of transparency that leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I can understand maximizing profits, but if they have to resort to trickery in order to achieve them, then I think they need to seriously rethink their marketing strategies. Pinball is a small niche market, and Stern has flourished because of its dedicated customers. All I'm asking is that they treat those customers with the respect that they deserve by being open about their intentions.

Wow! These responses show me that you either didn't read what I wrote, or completely failed to grasp what I was saying.

Going all the way back to AC/DC, premiums have always had all the same exact gameplay features as the LEs. The differences have only been cosmetic.

Don't worry. It will. They're not going to design a third game with a different feature set from either the pro or the LE. That would be cost prohibitive for them for many reasons.

They would risk nothing by waiting. If the demand for a premium isn't there, HUO LEs will be easy to come by. They're making 600 of them.

We are our own worst enemies. No doubt about it. We base our buying decisions off of emotion instead of logic, and Stern has learned to capitalize on this. The problem is that the community still hasn't adjusted to the fact that pre-ordering LEs is no longer a smart thing to do. I blame it on Tron LE and BIBLE. Those two games created the whole "get it while you can" mentality. Even though there hasn't been a single LE to go up in value since, that mindset still lingers. I'm as guilty as anyone. I pre-ordered an STLE, and now a TWD LE.

You get more.