I’ve moved away from buying collector’s editions a lot over the last decade, so I probably wasn’t going to buy Dragon Age: Veilguard‘S pseudo-special edition, so-called “Rook’s Chest” to start with. Unless I see something I can actually exploit in the substantial box of collectibles offered with the game for those willing to pay more, I tend to stick with the standard edition. But I’d probably feel more inclined to buy that substantial box Age of the Dragon it would be great if it contained one key piece of the puzzle: real video game.
Guardian of the VeilThe non-special edition comes with some really nippy little things. There’s a deck of cards decorated with attractive, in-game-accurate artwork, a light-up lyrium dagger that’s hopefully not pointed enough to actually hurt someone, and a attractive map of the fictional world of Thedas. But the BioWare store page says in substantial, bold letters that it doesn’t include Dragon Age: Veilguardwhether in a steel case or as a digital download code. It’s just a bunch of game related stuff, without the game itself. GameStopmeanwhile, he’s selling Rook’s Coffer with the game bundled together, and that’s a pretty good half-measure, although it naturally raises the price. There’s also a second one “Vyrantium Pack” which includes a stunning steel book, but no game. I look at this approach and wonder why we don’t call companies out on their shit when they try to pretend these substantial boxes of goodies aren’t the collector’s editions we’ve always pre-ordered and stashed away in our closets after release, just without the game itself. Why are these packages getting further and further away from the game itself?
Not every special edition in recent years has skipped the main event, but many companies have gotten into the habit of calling something a collector’s edition or selling something that looks like an edition without even putting the game in a box. Only BioWare has been phasing out physical copies of special edition games in the decade since we last got them Age of the Dragon game. Mass Effect: AndromedaThe Collector’s Edition had an entire remote-controlled car and a steel book, but there was no video game or download code in the box. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition“Legendary Cache” had an N7 helmet to wear, a steel book, and other stuff that could be placed on walls and shelves, but there was no way to actually play the three remasters. It seems like if you don’t call it a “collector’s edition” you can afford to skip the game, but it still gets positioned as such by the companies selling it, even if it doesn’t have that label.
Even though the special edition includes the game in the form of a digital code, it seems at odds with the physical nature of purchasing the special edition. God of War: Ragnarok did the same thing when it included a digital code next to a steel bookcase, and now I have this (admittedly, attractive) hunk of metal on my shelf with nothing inside. It’s another half-measure that doesn’t facilitate people living in rural areas with needy internet. When I lived in a diminutive town in Georgia, it certainly wasn’t fun to look at my replica of Thor’s hammer while waiting for the next Kratos and Atreus adventure to download to my PS5 throughout the day. But that’s what happens when you spend hundreds of dollars on physical editions of games that don’t even include a physical copy of the game.
Although arguments could probably be made about the cost of production and the growing emphasis on easily removable digital libraries Collector’s Editions were always meant to be an extension of the game, not something completely separate from it. It seems like companies are trying to get around that expectation by not calling these boxes of toys and replicas “Collector’s Editions,” but we know what they are. I’d be more motivated to buy your box of nippy stuff if I knew the game that inspired each collectible was also on the way when I got the shipping notification. If nothing else, I think it saves me from spending too much money on a game I might not even like. Now we’ll see if Guardian of the Veil makes me buy another box of crap that I no longer have room for.
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