preordered version. what are the added things?

Paradox Interactive is our publisher in Europe, so it's up to them to market the game in Italy and elsewhere over there.   If you get the US pre-order version it'll come with a special CE box, a tech-tree poster, a GalCiv II desktop theme and other downloadable goodies.

If the people at Paradox keep their word (which I expect they will)
they'll send me a list of all European distributors / retails that carry the game this week.
I'll bring you peeps up to date then.

Also, weren't extra components for ship design one of the pre-order advantages ?

Also, weren't extra components for ship design one of the pre-order advantages ?

yeh... i would like to know what components are those...
anyways looking forward to your progress.
glad i got my dad to buy it for me!

It'll be extra jewelry.

Or "bling" as it was previously known

Or swag.

Pre-ordered at EBgames on weekend. Up here in Canada, will be nice to have something to do in my igloo and all..

You get something when you pre-order it? (Opens the Pre-Order page.)
Ok, how does this even work? (Oh, and do I get the manual and box?) (And is a credit card required?)

Okay, I have no choice but to reveal my massive ignorance here.....

Never having pre-ordered a game before (ordered it through EB Games), I suddenly realized I have absolutely no idea as to how this works. Is my copy of the game mailed/shipped to me? Does EB send me an email, and I then go the nearest EB store and pick up my copy? Egad, I feel like such a moron for never having really considered this question before!

Well, if you ordered from EBGames.com, and you recall them asking for your address and having a shipping fee tacked on, then it'll be sent to your house. They do have an option to pick it up in-store for some games, but it's something you have to choose I think when you ordered it.

You can always check your order history to see what you did with it.

EBGames also has great customer support. You can call them with any questions about your order if you have the order #

Cool. Thanks guys!

Ok, so let me get this right - the only way to get these extra ship design components is to pre-order the game? If so, that really stinks! I would like to try the demo first, but then it will be too late. Won't these extra goodies be made available through a patch or something???

Ok, so let me get this right - the only way to get these extra ship design components is to pre-order the game?

What do you think "pre-order" goodies are made for?
Be aware that they are purely cosmetical though, it's not like you'd miss half of the game without them.

It still stinks. Pre-order goodies should be things that don't affect the game - stupid things, like hats and posters. I really would like to have access to these extra design features, but I'm not going to pre-order the game to get them. This just makes me a little angry, because when companies do this, it doesn't entice me to pre-order the game - the people who are going to pre-order will do it regardless of any goodies. No, this just insults my intelligence as it is though the companies think we're all just a bunch of sheep who can be so easily bribed, and just makes me rethink whether I should even buy the game afterall - or just wait until I find it in the bargain bin.

I didn't mean to turn this post into a rant, but these kind of marketing "games" really offend me. Not really smart when you want customers to buy your product.

I pre-ordered mostly for the beta, but if there was no public beta this probably would have made me pre-order it rather than wait until shortly after release to buy it. These aren't more powerful ships we're talking about; they're ship jewelery. Stupid things that don't affect the game, in other words. Kind of like hats and posters, except you put them on your ships instead of wearing them and hanging them on walls.

Still makes sense to preorder a game if you're anticipating its release, because chances are you show up at the store the day it's supposed to arrive and they won't sell any to you because all the copies they have are for customers that preordered it.

These aren't more powerful ships we're talking about; they're ship jewelery. Stupid things that don't affect the game

It's all in the eye of the beholder. I would really enjoy having access to this extra ship "jewelry" - I like designing as it's almost a kind of artistic expression. Not having access to everything on the palette is frustrating and like I said, really makes me question whether to even get the game. Star Wars: Empire at War is coming out at the same time - maybe I'll just play that for a while and wait for the price to come down, or wait for the "Collector's Edition", which hopefully has EVERYTHING to come out.

Again, whatever marketing genius who thought up this plan should be shot.

Who knows? They might release the extras (at least the "extra ship jewelry") some time after the game actually ships, like Maxis did with the SimCity 4 bonus transportation pack.

That's what I'm hoping, and why I asked my initial question. If they release the extra jewelry even a month later, that would be cool with me. If I pay just as much as someone who pre-ordered, then I feel I'm entitled to the "whole" game too.

Is the Stardock pre-order offer that same as the Paradox offer, i.e. do they both include the same stuff?