[RenegadeRocks]

Originally Posted by Grall

I bought a whole slew of games last year during the sale; this year not a single one. Now, it goes on until jan. 2nd, but so far it has been rather disappointing I must say.

I have only been buying indie games in the sale uptill now. Nothing substantial has shown up on the AAA side of the sale, but i got myself an awesome array of indie games !

[Mize]

I agree this year hasn't been so great...yet. I've only bought Limbo, Dirt3 and Grid...

[ToTTenTranz]

Originally Posted by RenegadeRocks

I have only been buying indie games in the sale uptill now. Nothing substantial has shown up on the AAA side of the sale, but i got myself an awesome array of indie games !

Skyrim has 33% off today.
Kewl.

[swaaye]

I am somewhat stunned to see them doing a sale on Skyrim already.

I think some of you guys that are saying the sale is disappointing just own all of what's worth owning and that's the problem.

[Mize]

Tempted by Skyrim, but my son got it for the 360 already and I doubt I would ever find time to play it enough...

[Mize]

LOL...I can't believe how Steam managed to get me to play a few games - for significant minutes - that I normally wouldn't just to get more coal!

[I.S.T.]

One of the achievements today is for And Yet It Moves.

I utterly loathe that game. It is not fun in the least, and is the poster child for pretentious artsy indie games.

I am debating if I should try to get the achievement or not...

Edit: I saw how much I'd have to play the game to get it. No.

[John Reynolds]

Picked up Rage yesterday for $15, and Avadon for like $2.50. Not impressed with Rage's graphics at all, even in its patched state. Distant objects basically aren't textured (unless you consider one bland, low-res color an in-game art asset worth looking at) at all, and there's still the faintest hint of pop-in. Lots of really low-res textures throughout the game too. Basically the game is rendering pretty rocks and sky, and the rest is a mess. Gameplay has been extremely linear and rote so far too.

[Malo]

Good timing for Bethesda on Skyrim. Was wondering if they'd participate in the sale at all. Half of christmas eve, going into christmas day? Perfect. It's already top seller.

Thinking of Hard Reset for $5 and 4-pack of Renegade Ops for $10!

[RenegadeRocks]

Originally Posted by Malo

Good timing for Bethesda on Skyrim. Was wondering if they'd participate in the sale at all. Half of christmas eve, going into christmas day? Perfect. It's already top seller.

Thinking of Hard Reset for $5 and 4-pack of Renegade Ops for $10!

Renegade Ops is blast ! Go get it ! Dunno about Hard Reset.

As for Skyrim, the discounted price is what the Retail price is in our countey, so this discount is like no discount for me.

Is Origin not going to have any sale like Steam this Xmas.

[neliz]

Originally Posted by RenegadeRocks

Is Origin not going to have any sale like Steam this Xmas.

Origin does have their advent calender (every day 1 deal) but it basically comes down to this:

Origin has Mass Effect 1 & 2 on sale for €5 a piece
Steam has Mass Effect 1 & 2 on sale for €4,33 a piece

[DeF]

I bought AVP, Portal 2, Hard Reset, Renegade Ops and Prototype. Still thinking about Rochard - i have played demo and it seems nice.

BTW i am really surprised steam does not price games differently in different countries. In example boxed version of Skyrim is ~26€ in Poland. Do they really think anyone would buy it via steam for 50€? (or even 33€ after discount). Can someone explain this to me?

[MfA]

They used to have regional pricing ... but it's a very dangerous game to play inside the European market, it could very well turn out to be illegal.

[RenegadeRocks]

Originally Posted by DeF

I bought AVP, Portal 2, Hard Reset, Renegade Ops and Prototype. Still thinking about Rochard - i have played demo and it seems nice.

BTW i am really surprised steam does not price games differently in different countries. In example boxed version of Skyrim is ~26€ in Poland. Do they really think anyone would buy it via steam for 50€? (or even 33€ after discount). Can someone explain this to me?

Sa,e here, Skyrim is already $40 in my country, why would anyome buy it for $60 on steam? All PC games come for either $20 or $30 in India, so steam sale on new games is useless for usnas anyways we can get it cheaper than what Steam would give even after discount. Its only old games which are for $5 or less make sense for us on steam.

[DeF]

Originally Posted by MfA

They used to have regional pricing ... but it's a very dangerous game to play inside the European market, it could very well turn out to be illegal.

Illegal? How this could be even possible? Its just laziness on valve's part nothing more. I already have my boxed batman copy for 26€ so why steam can not do this?
I would really like to hear an explanation from one of the valve's reps. Literally no one is buying on steam from central and eastern Europe apart from cases RenegadeRocks was mentioning. And i do exactly the same thing. Its like they voluntarily decided to lose millions of customers.

[Silent_Buddha]

Originally Posted by DeF

Illegal? How this could be even possible? Its just laziness on valve's part nothing more. I already have my boxed batman copy for 26€ so why steam can not do this?
I would really like to hear an explanation from one of the valve's reps. Literally no one is buying on steam from central and eastern Europe apart from cases RenegadeRocks was mentioning. And i do exactly the same thing. Its like they voluntarily decided to lose millions of customers.

That might be, but you also have to consider that most European countries are fiercely protective of their in country businesses.

Anything that puts them (local retail stores or local e-tail stores) at a disadvantage can quickly get looked into by either the EU or the country's own courts for anticompetitive or monopolistic practices. I have a feeling that most US companies are too afraid of how easily and quickly the EU likes to take US companies court.

And, of course, having to navigate the laws, regulations, and licences for doing business in all those various countries. I'd imagine it's much easier to just take which one is toughest on businesses and just use that to price for all countries in the EU.

Just curious but are the other US based international direct download distributors able to price below retail in those countries?

Regards,
SB

[MfA]

Originally Posted by DeF

Illegal? How this could be even possible?

The law is not crystal clear so jurisprudence by the ECJ could at some point in the future very well make discrimination of consumers based on nationality within the EU illegal (as it already is for producers).

The ECJ has already fucked up another regional pricing scheme ...

I would really like to hear an explanation from one of the valve's reps. Literally no one is buying on steam from central and eastern Europe apart from cases RenegadeRocks was mentioning. And i do exactly the same thing. Its like they voluntarily decided to lose millions of customers.

No one with a brain buys new games from Steam, even in the rest of Europe ... we can get games for the same price as you from cdwow and play.com ... there is no such thing as grey imports within the EU, regional pricing doesn't work so well for physical goods.

[Davros]

valve dont set game prices
and I dont believe in regional pricing, its a global market why should I be charged a different price just because of where I live.
Of course publishers being what they are set the global price based on the highest regional price and not the lowest

[MfA]

Originally Posted by Davros

valve dont set game prices

Signing a contract to break the law doesn't absolve you ...

[DeF]

Originally Posted by MfA

The law is not crystal clear so jurisprudence by the ECJ could at some point in the future very well make discrimination of consumers based on nationality within the EU illegal (as it already is for producers).

The ECJ has already fucked up another regional pricing scheme ...

No one with a brain buys new games from Steam, even in the rest of Europe ... we can get games for the same price as you from cdwow and play.com ... there is no such thing as grey imports within the EU, regional pricing doesn't work so well for physical goods.

As we speak EA is selling BF3 for 60PLN (that's 13€ atm) through Origin.
I don't believe companies like valve are afraid of setting local prices just because law MIGHT be changed and forbid them to do so. As it is now law IS NOT forbidding this otherwise i would not be able to buy boxed Batman AC for 120PLN (26€). Funny thing is this game has only Polish subtitled or pure English version (we tend to moan when publishers force us to buy entirely localized versions hence it is very popular to have original language available). So basicly you can order this game in Poland and save a bit of money.
Also valve thinks its OK to charge UK ppl more and is not afraid to be accused of consumer discrimination by the EU? I am sorry but something does not add up here.

Originally Posted by Davros

valve dont set game prices
and I dont believe in regional pricing, its a global market why should I be charged a different price just because of where I live.
Of course publishers being what they are set the global price based on the highest regional price and not the lowest

I will give you an example of Portal 2. On release it was 40€ on steam and 110PLN (25€) in retail (boxed copy). If valve does not set prices for their own games who does?
You ask me why there should be regional pricing. My answer is simple: otherwise your company will have zero sales in less wealthy countries. If average monthly salary in Poland is 550€ a month (after taxes) how many people would buy computer games if they would cost 50€ a piece? You can either price your product for the market or not sell it at all. It is that simple.

[MrGaribaldi]

Isn't there a law in the EU that you can buy from any webshop within the EU and get the prices they are offfering? And if so, every one in the western part of the EU would either buy from the Eastern European steam shop, or complain to the EU that they are not allowed to buy from them. AFAIK there is an exemption for the UK, as with many other things in the EU, for this.

[Davros]

Oh sorry yes valve does set prices for its own games
but for others its the dev or the publisher

"My answer is simple: otherwise your company will have zero sales in less wealthy countries. If average monthly salary in Poland is 550€ a month (after taxes) how many people would buy computer games if they would cost 50€ a piece?"

Sorry why do they have to cost 50 euro's ? if valve globally priced portal 2 at 110pln then there would not be zero sales of it in your country
Do we not agree discrimination is wrong ???

Damm the average pole earned 500% more than me last month

[MfA]

Originally Posted by DeF

As it is now law IS NOT forbidding this otherwise i would not be able to buy boxed Batman AC for 120PLN (26€).

Maybe, maybe not ... no one expected Karen Murphy to win either, the law as interpreted by the ECJ can be hard to predict ... and huge commercial interests can get it horribly wrong on occasion.

[DeF]

Originally Posted by Davros

Oh sorry yes valve does set prices for its own games
but for others its the dev or the publisher

"My answer is simple: otherwise your company will have zero sales in less wealthy countries. If average monthly salary in Poland is 550€ a month (after taxes) how many people would buy computer games if they would cost 50€ a piece?"

Sorry why do they have to cost 50 euro's ? if valve globally priced portal 2 at 110pln then there would not be zero sales of it in your country
Do we not agree discrimination is wrong ???

Damm the average pole earned 500% more than me last month

I gave the 50€ number because that's the usual price for the AAA titles on release on steam whereas in Poland AAA games can be had for 110-120PLN on release.
This is not discrimination - its pricing your products according to market demand.
Discrimination is when you have one product in your country (EU) but seller is trying to forbid you to buy it from different seller based in other country (EU). So no one can forbid you to buy Batman AC from Poland because if they could, that would be consumer discrimination. On the other hand no one can forbid a company to set different prices for different countries - i think that's obvious.

PS Sorry to hear you had a bad month. I wish next one will be much better.

[sonix666]

Originally Posted by Davros

valve dont set game prices
and I dont believe in regional pricing, its a global market why should I be charged a different price just because of where I live.
Of course publishers being what they are set the global price based on the highest regional price and not the lowest

In a perfect world that could be true. But the fact of life is that pricing depends on a lot of factors like average income, culture, competition, taxes, etc.. In the European Union all these factors differ quite a lot per country. Therefore we have regional pricing.