Proposal Discussion Why can't I buy a copy for a friend?

Adept

Adept
I just tried to buy a copy of Elite for a birthday present for somebody I care about. As it happens, I couldn't figure out how to do it. It looks like everybody has to register and buy the game for themselves.

This is a pretty big design flaw in the shop, and I suggest it should be fixed ASAP.

If there is an option to do it, then I'm obviously an illiterate moron, but the way to do it still needs to be made easier. I should be able to log in on my account, and buy a gift copy.
 

Cmdr Andy B

Cmdr Andy B
BIG +1 for this, not because i intend to gift a copy but because even in this day and age there are still quite a few people i know whose bank accounts are not up to buying things online.

i regularly shop online for other people and can see more than one request to get this game coming my way once its released, it would be nice to be able to do so without having to buy a physical boxed edition for them.
 

VR jefranklin18

VR jefranklin18
Adept said:
I just tried to buy a copy of Elite for a birthday present for somebody I care about. As it happens, I couldn't figure out how to do it. It looks like everybody has to register and buy the game for themselves.

This is a pretty big design flaw in the shop, and I suggest it should be fixed ASAP.

If there is an option to do it, then I'm obviously an illiterate moron, but the way to do it still needs to be made easier. I should be able to log in on my account, and buy a gift copy.
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Odd that you can't because during the Kickstarter phase, there were instructions on how to buy it is a gift via PayPal.
 

Leonick

L
Adept said:
Maybe there's a way, but I couldn't figure it out. :eek:
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There isn't.

From the store FAQ:
Is there a way to purchase items in the store as gifts?

Not currently, although this is something we are investigating. For the moment anything you purchase through the store will be fixed to your account, so we recommend not buying anything that you intend to offer as a gift.
Click to expand...
 

Patrick_68000

Patrick_68000
Adept said:
I just tried to buy a copy of Elite for a birthday present for somebody I care about. As it happens, I couldn't figure out how to do it. It looks like everybody has to register and buy the game for themselves.

This is a pretty big design flaw in the shop, and I suggest it should be fixed ASAP.

If there is an option to do it, then I'm obviously an illiterate moron, but the way to do it still needs to be made easier. I should be able to log in on my account, and buy a gift copy.
Click to expand...

You can open an account with the coordinates of your friend and pay with your card. He will choose his name of commander later
 

Adept

Adept
Dr Wookie said:
Very good plan :). They would have to change the password and credit card details, but it would totally work
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It's a fiddly workaround that shouldn't be needed when buying a game in 2014.
We got my brother in law Kerbal off Steam instead. *grumble*
 

RichardJames

RichardJames
AndyB(EDB50) said:
i regularly shop online for other people and can see more than one request to get this game coming my way once its released, it would be nice to be able to do so without having to buy a physical boxed edition for them.
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I think everyone is forgetting something… :eek: This hasn’t been released yet! :eek:

While I have bought others software/games/etc, I’ve never bought an Alpha or Beta copy of anything for them… The mere fact that ED is still in Alpha, soon to be Beta (whatever) should warn off anyone from buying this as a gift…

I applaud those who have the funds to buy in on Alpha and Beta (wish I could have) and certainly give a huge well done to FD to open it up to others who can afford it… But it isn’t ready for retail yet - and as such it makes sense that you can’t buy retail for someone else (Kickstarter was different - we were ALL contributing to getting FD off the ground. )

Once it is available for retail, I can pretty well guarantee you that there will be all sorts of ways to purchase it, for both yourself and gift to others. :cool:

So, in closing, “Stay Calm, Wait for Retail” ;)
 

Adept

Adept
Thank you for adding the Beta and Premium Beta discounts Frontier. Bundling the updates with Premium Beta is also a very classy move.

But I think I still can't buy a copy for my better half and my friends! Apologies if this was fixed already and I missed it, but it it wasn't I'd really, really wish to see it fixed by the end of the month (when I get more money and would like to go on a spending spree).
 

Faerie

Faerie
I bought Beta 2 access for both my sons alongside my own Alpha account. Just registered with their names & e-mail addresses & paid for them on my card. Easy. :)
 

Adept

Adept
Faerie said:
I bought Beta 2 access for both my sons alongside my own Alpha account. Just registered with their names & e-mail addresses & paid for them on my card. Easy. :)
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You realise that this doesn't really work for non-family members, and it's hardly me surprising anybody with the gift of Elite when it needs to be done like that :eek:
 

Faerie

Faerie
Adept said:
You realise that this doesn't really work for non-family members, and it's hardly me surprising anybody with the gift of Elite when it needs to be done like that :eek:
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How else do you propose it might work ? They have to have an account to download the alpha/beta/gamma hence FD must have their e-mail addresses, & the beneficiaries of your generosity need to know what's happening so's they don't delete an unexpected mail from FD as spam.
I don't see any way you could 'surprise' someone with something that have to download themselves.

Alternatively you could always wait for retail & buy the boxed edition for them.
 

deusx_ophc

deusx_ophc
Adept said:
You realise that this doesn't really work for non-family members, and it's hardly me surprising anybody with the gift of Elite when it needs to be done like that :eek:
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well i am just doing that for someone. so i use a new email gift@mymailserver.com to register the account and buy alpha through my cc. then delete all my private data (like cc ;) and billing/shipping addy) and holler the person to be surprised. then add a permament mailforward on mymailserver.com to their personal email.

a bit of a workaround but will have to do for now.



@FDEV pls change ASAP!
 
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