I think it's just a little less lol. But still, that's quite a sum there. Clearly they have the cash to do this.. so why not those updates too?

FYI official rules state one entree per person or address!

This will be sweet should I win, as I can create 2 or so more arms for the Guild Circuit, not that it's active or anything.Ooh, some people have already broken said rule. I always wait till the last second, as I like my entrees to be up top, digital or not. It helps when I catch others making mistakes too.

Knowing Disney, they will probably charge you triple for just entering...

For those talking about Disney paying for this...

Comcast cable is paying for a bit of it, they are the partner involved in the contest venture although im not sure what it is they are getting out of it. The contest itself is advertisted on POTCO as an "AD".

Disney may be getting them to pay for it in return for the advertising on the Basic Access game play screen. Up 'til now I have never seen an ad for an actual business other than POTCO ad's to buy Unlimited Access. Now this does kind of make my small minds gears turn to the fact that they recently got rid of the linked accounts because of Basic people "taking advantage of it" by being linked to Unlimited accounts. They want Basic people to see these ad's so they can make more money perhaps? I never really linked a Basic and Unlimited account together to do that, I had 2 Unlimited accounts linked though... If I had known I could have done that, I wish I had of lol...

:SkullBullet1:
Larence Tuppington

Wouldn't that mean Disney is rick-rolling us by 5 dollars for those of us who pay the $10 a month?

Actually its 4.95 for the first month. And really disney isnt paying all this money. The servers are already set up, and there is room on the servers. And most of the winners will be people that already have basic accounts or paid accounts.

The end result:

Disney has taken the attention off of the latest update. By posting this "AD", they have changed the main topic of conversation away from the raw deal that they gave all the families that use(d) linked accounts.

If they think that giving a one month free access to all those who use the tabbed accounts is going to make up for taking the tabs away, they are dead wrong. They could give a free 6 months and still not fix the problem they created. Families used the linked accounts to make and play 2, or more, pirates that could be played as 'unlimited' at the same time. Giving a month of free access to the 'basic' account doesn't let them play the pirates that are all on the one account at the same time!

Secondly, we all know how Disney does the automatic billing thing. Once you have set up your account, they automatically bill your credit card when your account is due.
We haven't seen exactly how these 'free' one month upgrades will work, so don't be surprised when they require a credit card to activate, and then start an automatic renewal billing if the person forgets to cancel the account at the end of the month. We will be hearing of this here on POF at the end of July, or whenever the 'free' month ends.

The trick here is "actual money" vs. "service cost"

I do some computer work for my mom, it take me two hours - its value is $100 (cause if I was "paid" for the service at $50 / hour that what I would charge) but in this case 1) I'm there visiting 2) shes family 3) I'm bored, etc. etc...

Its the same here - the "vaule" of the prizes if purchased by 10,000 people would be $45k - but 1) 10,000 people wouldn't probably sign up (and in fact they are probably losing players - see #2) 2) By having 10,000 players play a month for free they may get 2,000 or more that stick around - so they actually DO get money for those accounts after the promotion 3) if they release something big just as those accounts are running out - they will probably keep many more of those players and get more paying again...

Hence, theres no "cost" to them (the game is in place, the power, servers, equipment has to run for us here anyway) and because of the sponsorship they do get some return funds.

Overall - marketing :)

Not really - because they are pricing that in as maintenance only - hence the servers, power, etc. is already running. Since they a) have people to pay and b) servers, power, etc. (hardware) to pay - this basically is the valued cost out of $10 to cover staff maintenance :)

Just how has this taken the attention off the latest update? Its an ad on their main page, and it actually varies and doesnt always display, opting for other ads from other sponsors occasionally. They didnt even post this in their news (other than the launcher).

I dont think this was a diversion, just timing.

Edit: I stand corrected, they put it up on their Grog blog today... several days after they began accepting entries.

Hmm, just realized this, but I could pay 5 dollars a month by just cancelling my subscription every single month, besides, with the great updates, I'm still not sure I'm fully down with downloading the client anyways, just a laggy old piece of dirt.

Actually you couldn't. The fine print on that $5 says for the first month only, per e-mail. I don't know where I read that, but Disney keeps paying member info on file. You'd be charged the $10 the second month. See, even over in PH once you're a member you keep all your stuff, you just loose access to the stuff you did as a member. To do this they have to keep you on file.

I don't think you'll need a credit card to win this. I'm guessing it will work more like the gift cards. You know, give a month of Pirates, give a month of PH. They make them where you need no credit card. The access ends after 30 days, end of story. If you want to go on you have to pay then. And I'm sure they'll do it so you don't get the $5 rate. (See above.) And THAT'S how they make the money. They suck you in with a free month, tease you with what's to come, and at least in PH, never does or is somehow different, then slap it with double the price. Me, I'd rather pay PH, it's half the price of Pirates.

I already have more than one PH membership, so I'm NOT paying for pirates till those run out and then only for a month and ONLY if I don't win. But I did enter.

June 8th.

Has anyone heard of a winner yet?

The June 8th winners won't be notified until the 12th.

Official Sweepstakes Rules