I received a copy of
ES IV: Oblivion as a gift, but I wanted the GOTY version so I went to Gamestop to trade my non-GOTY version for a GOTY version. Unfortunately I made the mistake of opening my copy before trading. Even though I only played it once and all of the contents were intact, they bought it from me for only $3.85 worth of store credit. They had only one "new" copy of GOTY but it was already opened. I asked them why it was unsealed and they said it was because they used it for the display case. I shrugged my shoulders and said "sure, I'll take it" because they assured me it was new. So the guy went to get the game, stuck it in the empty case and sold it to me unsealed at the "new" price.
I got to my car and before driving away, I sat there in the parking lot and opened the case just to check the contents. I noticed that it was missing the map. I knew it was supposed to come with a map because my non-GOTY version had one. I went back into the store to inquire about the map, and the guy seemed very apologetic about it. He looked all over the store for it, but couldn't find the map that was supposed to be in the case. So I asked if I could have my map that was in the non-GOTY game that I had just traded in. He was hesitant to give it to me, but then I reminded him that I had just paid the full price for a "new" game, so he should give me the map. I also pointed out that they were going to sell my copy "used" anyway and it doesn't make a difference to them if it's missing the manual or if the contents are intact--they would still sell it for the same price regardless. So he relented and gave my map back to me. I found out later that the GOTY map contains an
extra inset for the Shivering Isles, which was missing from
my map.
The truth is, I never look at those maps that come with RPGs. I never have, so why should I even care? It's because I sold a pristine copy of the non-GOTY
Oblivion for chump change and paid full price for an unsealed, "new"
Oblivion GOTY edition that didn't even come with the complete case contents. I even had to argue just to get my map back. If I buy something brand-new, I expect everything that came sealed in the case to be included. In retrospect I wish I had just given my original copy to a friend and bought the GOTY edition elsewhere.