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General discussionAnnouncement: Big Preorders & Launch Day Releases Coming!(4041 posts)(4041 posts)
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Posted February 21, 2014
The DRM-Free Revolution Continues with Big Pre-Orders and Launch Day Releases!

Good news! GOG.com is going to bring you more fantastic launch day releases, preorders, and other exciting new content from some of our favorite developers. We've lined up 3 big titles that we will be bringing to GOG.com in the next couple of months for sale or preorder that we think will be hits with all of our gamers; and we have more equally exciting games coming up soon.

If you've been a member of the site for a long time, you may recall that when we launched sales of The Witcher 2 on GOG.com, we had to add in regional pricing. The game cost different amounts in in the US, the UK, the European Union, and Australia. We're doing something like that once again in order to bring you new titles from fantastic bigger studios. Since we don't accept currencies other than USD on GOG.com right now, we'll be charging the equivalent of the local price in USD for these titles. We wish that we could offer these games at flat prices everywhere in the world, but the decision on pricing is always in our partners' hands, and regional pricing is becoming the standard around the globe. We're doing this because we believe that there's no better way to accomplish our overall goals for DRM-Free gaming and GOG.com. We need more games, devs, and publishers on board to make DRM-Free gaming something that's standard for all of the gaming world!

That brings with it more good news, though! As mentioned, we have three games we're launching soon with regional pricing--two RPGs and a strategy game--and while we can't tell you what they are yet because breaking an NDA has more severe penalties than just getting a noogie, we're confident that you'll be as excited about these games as we are. For a limited time, we will be offering anyone who pre-orders or buys one of them a free game from a selection as a gift from GOG.com, just like we did for The Witcher 2.

If you have any questions, hit us up in the comments below and we'll be happy to answer (to the best of our ability).

EDIT: Since we've answered a lot of the common questions already here (and lest you think that we've ignored you), it may be handy for you to check out the forum thread about this and search for staff answers by clicking this link here. (hat tip to user Eli who reminded us that the feature even exists. :)
Posted February 22, 2014
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CharlesGrey: But Steam has regional pricing too -- been that way for a long time, no? Personally I don't consider Steam an option at all. Had a brief flirt with it, but that didn't work out and I don't intend to ever go back to it. :P
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RS1978: Steam offers you at least an option to circumvent the regional restrictions. As a German, I can activate Austrian keys to get an uncensored version of a game and Steam makes it very clear if a game is censored or not.
When did censorship come into this? So far I haven't seen any official info on such a thing as different regional versions -- just different prices. Or did I miss something here?

I have a pretty strong opinion on censorship of games myself, though. Almost as bad as DRM, and I probably wouldn't buy a game here if I knew it's heavily censored in some way.
Posted February 22, 2014
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To implement regional pricing they're going to need to use GeoIP or similiar to figure out what to charge you - which publishers can then use to push region specific titles... or regional blocks...

Not happy with this at all ...
Post edited February 22, 2014 by Bigs
Posted February 22, 2014
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F4LL0UT: I thought all the games that GOG is referring to in this announcement come from independent studios - or at least from small publishers. And even if it's publishers - it's still where people actually have to put the blame. It's them who didn't agree to one international price and GOG has probably done everything they could to convince those guys to do so.
Oh, I'm all for blaming publishers. Pretty much everything that went wrong in gaming during the last decade or so can be pinned on those guys. ;P

I'm actually hoping they're talking about some BIG titles here, though. If it's just some Indie titles, I'm really not sure it's worth all the drama. ( Mind you I like Indie games, but still. )
Posted February 22, 2014
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RS1978: Steam offers you at least an option to circumvent the regional restrictions. As a German, I can activate Austrian keys to get an uncensored version of a game and Steam makes it very clear if a game is censored or not.
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CharlesGrey: When did censorship come into this? So far I haven't seen any official info on such a thing as different regional versions -- just different prices. Or did I miss something here?
Read enigmaticT's responses - yeah, regional censorship options seem to come with regional pricing. :( :(

Censorship seldom is a topic for me. I tend to play games which are designed to not have an excessive amount of violence. But I don't stay away from games which do have gratuitous violence out of principle, I just play games I like. If gog.com gets Borderlands, it would be ruined for me by censorship. It's that simple.


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CharlesGrey: I'm actually hoping they're talking about some BIG titles here, though. If it's just some Indie titles, I'm really not sure it's worth all the drama. ( Mind you I like Indie games, but still. )
It's an issue for all of us, I guess. Remember the BIG titles gog.com announced last May? :( :( :(
Post edited February 22, 2014 by Vainamoinen
Posted February 22, 2014
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RS1978: Steam offers you at least an option to circumvent the regional restrictions. As a German, I can activate Austrian keys to get an uncensored version of a game and Steam makes it very clear if a game is censored or not.
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CharlesGrey: When did censorship come into this? So far I haven't seen any official info on such a thing as different regional versions -- just different prices. Or did I miss something here?

I have a pretty strong opinion on censorship of games myself, though. Almost as bad as DRM, and I probably wouldn't buy a game here if I knew it's heavily censored in some way.
TET stated already that regional restrictions are a valid option for the future if a publisher want it. There was at least one regional restriction in the past for the Australian version of The Witcher 2. That's the main issue I have with this announcement, not the higher prices for Germans. (It's always my decision how much I pay for a game, if the price is too high for me at beginning, I can wait, but I have no influence on censorhsip.)

Edit: Vainamoinen was quicker. ;)
Post edited February 22, 2014 by RS1978
Posted February 22, 2014
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DukeNukemForever: I'm not him, but from his answers in this thread he can't answer you that question yet, because they have no plans yet except getting new deals thanks to abandon regional pricing. His answer will likely be like this: "Currently" there are no plans to block or foribd vpn.

I believe it's just better not to torture him anymore as long he has no exact orders and new rules from the publishers.
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Nirth: Isn't that his job position? Kidding.

I'm still curious as to what he will answer for now. No doubt the rules will change once regional prices becomes the norm (if they do) instead of only a few new games and once again if it becomes profitable for people to utilize means to avoid the price differences.
It's indeed his job, but as said he really can't give any answers, because from now it's out of gogs control and from his knowledge.

With this decision they already did the biggest step and now taking the shitstorm for it. Everything else like regional restrictions or blocking vpn are from now on smaller steps and it makes no sense for gog not to go them if the publishers wishes so.

Maybe they will and can protect the classics for a while, but in the long run with ending contracts this will be very tough and in my eyes very unlikely. Best example how much gog gave it's power away is TeTs reaction about possible regional restriction "I hope that will never happen, but if it does, then there's still a game that's DRM-free in 195 other countries in the world, which seems a lot better to me than a game which is DRM-free in 0 countries.". Hope is the last resort of the powerless.
Post edited February 22, 2014 by DukeNukemForever
Posted February 22, 2014
I think it sets a bad precedent for the rest of publishers in GOG. And I fear that regional prices will be extended for (new) old games soon or later...
Posted February 22, 2014
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Vainamoinen: Read enigmaticT's responses - yeah, regional censorship options seem to come with regional pricing. :( :(

Censorship seldom is a topic for me. I tend to play games which are designed to not have an excessive amount of violence. But I don't stay away from games which do have gratuitous violence out of principle, I just play games I like. If gog.com gets Borderlands, it would be ruined for me by censorship. It's that simple.
Forget about censorship. What if there is an outright block?
Posted February 22, 2014
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Gearmos: And I fear that regional prices will be extended for (new) old games soon or later...
Of course, it will be only a matter of time until we'll have a complete system of regional restrictions and pricing. Great news, really great news indeed. I think, GOG sacrified the smaller European and Australian customer base for the much bigger US part. There's no censorship and high pricing in US, so the Americans will not be affected from the disadvantes of this decision.
Posted February 22, 2014
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F4LL0UT: I thought all the games that GOG is referring to in this announcement come from independent studios - or at least from small publishers. And even if it's publishers - it's still where people actually have to put the blame. It's them who didn't agree to one international price and GOG has probably done everything they could to convince those guys to do so.
Yes, and when they couldn't convince them, their reply should have been "Then I'm afraid we won't sell your games", not "Well, then we'll just throw away the principles we've always stood for and do it your way".

GOG is to blame for allowing this to happen.
Posted February 22, 2014
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Vainamoinen: Read enigmaticT's responses - yeah, regional censorship options seem to come with regional pricing. :( :(

Censorship seldom is a topic for me. I tend to play games which are designed to not have an excessive amount of violence. But I don't stay away from games which do have gratuitous violence out of principle, I just play games I like. If gog.com gets Borderlands, it would be ruined for me by censorship. It's that simple.
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Grargar: Forget about censorship. What if there is an outright block?
I've asked this before and TET answered this question already: "I hope that will never happen, but if it does, then there's still a game that's DRM-free in 195 other countries in the world, which seems a lot better to me than a game which is DRM-free in 0 countries." That's a big consolation for the affected people, isn't it?
Posted February 22, 2014
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Vainamoinen: Read enigmaticT's responses - yeah, regional censorship options seem to come with regional pricing. :( :(

Censorship seldom is a topic for me. I tend to play games which are designed to not have an excessive amount of violence. But I don't stay away from games which do have gratuitous violence out of principle, I just play games I like. If gog.com gets Borderlands, it would be ruined for me by censorship. It's that simple.
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RS1978: TET stated already that regional restrictions are a valid option for the future if a publisher want it. There was at least one regional restriction in the past for the Australian version of The Witcher 2. That's the main issue I have with this announcement, not the higher prices for Germans. (It's always my decision how much I pay for game, if the price is too high for me at beginning, I can wait, but I have no influence on censorhsip.)

Edit: Vainamoinen was quicker. ;)
Well, fuck that. Definitely not going to buy crippled versions of games. I play all sorts of genres, which also includes FPS, Horror games and the like, and I'm not going to pay for flowers and rainbow versions of those games. And sometimes other content is censored too, aside from gore.

It's in the interest of GOG and the publishers really, to provide us with the best possible product. Otherwise that's one potential sale less, from me at least.

As for the pricing, I agree, doesn't personally bother me much. As long as the price seems fair to myself, I'll pay it, regardless of whether someone else pays a lower or higher price for the same game. There's always the option to wait for a promo and the like, if necessary.
Posted February 22, 2014
Let's hope that in a couple of years time GOG won't turn into yet another Steam key seller like most other digital stores now are.

Little by little, GOG seems to be losing what has made them a rather unique place to buy games from.
Posted February 22, 2014
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Grargar: Forget about censorship. What if there is an outright block?
I see. Such instances should be seldom though. Markets like Germany are too big to not make a censored version as well, and as soon as that butchered game exists, it wouldn't make sense not to offer it in less lucrative markets as well.

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CharlesGrey: As for the pricing, I agree, doesn't personally bother me much. As long as the price seems fair to myself, I'll pay it, regardless of whether someone else pays a lower or higher price for the same game. There's always the option to wait for a promo and the like, if necessary.
Yeah - in pricing, Germany usually gets the middle stick, with or without regional pricing models, and we should be thankful for that. In censorship, we usually get the short end.
Post edited February 22, 2014 by Vainamoinen
Posted February 22, 2014
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blotunga: So what will stop people to use a proxy or VPN to buy the games from another region (where it's the cheapest)?
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TheEnigmaticT: What stops people from going to pirate bay and getting everything for free forever?
Oh, it's probably... ummm.... I knew that one, honest! Give me some more time to think, I'll remember it.
...OK, fine, not much progress here. What's the answer?

All right, jokes aside, I'm not supposed to complain, I'm likely to be getting better deals with regional pricing (if Steam and physical retail are any indication), but I'd rather have GOG stick to their core principles. Give in once, twice and it might become a habit. Oh well...
Just to be clear, I'm not quitting, going rogue or somesuch after the regional pricing is implemented. Merely mildly disappointed that it turned out like this.
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Community
General discussionAnnouncement: Big Preorders & Launch Day Releases Coming!(4041 posts)(4041 posts)
(4041 posts)