Bioware screwed up badly, in any PR class, this would be a prime example of what NOT to do. Basically, the normal definition of a loyal customer would be a paying customer. Loyal to a business means a reliable source of revenue. A loyal customer to a bar is NOT the student who nurses a single coffee for the entire day and use the free wifi to download movies. A loyal customer normally would be someone who pays. But Bioware cares only about the level of a single char, if a player bought the game and leveled it in the free month to 50 in march, they are a loyal customer. A person who buys the CE and subscribers for 6 months right from the start, is not. That is just odd. Imagine that a local garage holds an event and invites all its loyal customers, defined NOT as those people whose family have bought their cars their for generations but rather only those customers who were in the shop for a free gift last week. You might think such a promotion wouldn't be all that well received. Mind you, in an era where groupon is seen by many as a good idea, I am not surprised. This could have been very simple. Say 1 week for every month subscribed. Everyone gets something and there is a direct correlation between how much you payed rather then HOW you PLAYED. That is how other MMO's have done it. You would think that nobody has ever run a promotion this way in MMO land would be a clue. Imagine it another way, you only get the ME3 DLC free if you speed played the game in 3 hours. It is not about whether level 50 is easy or not, it is about the defintion of a loyal customer deserving of a reward being determined by level reached rather then time subscribed. This one will probably make MMO history, not quite the same level as an NGE but definitly in the top ten. The most stupid part of it all? Other lousy PR movies were made because the companies thought they had no other choice. This choice of people to give a free month is completely unnecessary. That just makes the choice vindictive. Guess they just don't like paying customers.

Whatever Bioware once was, it no longer is and they just weren't ready for a MMO of this size. Mass Effect 3 brings in the cash but has customers outraged and SWTOR is just one PR disaster after another by a company that should have years of gaming industry experience. I paid for six months but didn't actually play for a month, and they send me a begging email to please come back. They send to many friend invites and free weekends so early in the game that is pretty clear they need every player they can get. Not hard to understand if you see the population of Alderaan as 3. And then this. I wasn't even pissed off. I thought the launch was pretty smooth for a MMO and although the game wasn't as good as I had hoped, I had some fun. Had already decided to call it a day, might have tried out the 1.2 patch but after reading the patch notes it seems clear it is to little to late. They are patching the game but not fixing that it is a single player game with a monthly fee. And then I read on kotaku this PR brain fart. Gosh, was Bioware not getting enough negative press? You are already on the gaming sites because of ME3 and then you FINALLY get 1.2 out the door, find the money for some free time for paying customers and put the ******** level requirement in. WHY? This is not like kicking a puppy, this is perfecting genetic engineering to create a puppy on Mars then spending a year in a small capsule on a one way trip so you can kick it. Perhaps next time you hire a PR manager and you think you found a nice person because they brought a kitten to work, maybe you should check that the box it is in, isn't a lunch box. Just saying. So, instead of exploring 1.2 and seeing new goodies, I am pissed off because I am an alt-oholic and not a level grinder. Gosh and it not as if two new MMO's that might not disappoint will be begging for the same cash I would need to use to resubscribe. Really, what idiot manager approved this and thought, "Hey, I am sure we are going to have a LOT of pleased people because of this".