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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 21, 2014
Does anybody out there have a screenshot of the fair pricing banner? I'm gonna miss that little guy... ;(
Posted February 21, 2014
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fronzelneekburm: Does anybody out there have a screenshot of the fair pricing banner? I'm gonna miss that little guy... ;(
Yep
Posted February 21, 2014
I'm not sure what brought this on but it is obviously an extremely negative trend which massively hurts European customers like myself.

I implore the entire GoG team. REMEMBER YOUR CORE VALUES and do not introduce regional pricing.
Posted February 21, 2014
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I think it's the question of compromise between being bigger and being stubbornly honest. The time will tell is it two steps forward and one step back or the other way around.
The regional prices for me on Steam are lower than it'd have in dollars but I never cared about that much. I just find Steam unfriendly and cold to my liking. I'm not here because of discounts but because of the pleasure of buying from the place I like (with good people and good intentions to make game industry a better place).
Regional pricing IMO is fundamentally flawed system. It's bad for those who will pay more, and it's no better for those who live in third grade countries like myself. Steam for example adopted some additional draconian measures like Russian region games cannot be gifted to another region to prevent buyers from "cheating". An ugly practice.

Well I guess we will have to wait and see is this the right decision for GOG. What makes GOG a unique place is an atmosphere of home and fairness for all. If this will change someday GOG will become yet another Steam. And there must remain only one Steam in the end, that's the rule of that nasty capitalism...
Posted February 21, 2014
Disappointing news. I hope you reconsider, GOG. Even though I will probably be affected the least by this change (by living in the US), I do not think this is a positive change.
Posted February 21, 2014
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amok: because there is no single worldwide income level.
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vulchor: There's not single country-wide income level either. Or province-wide, county-wide, city-wide, street-wide, etc. But a commodity needs to have a set value.
yeah, but inside a single country there tends to be some attempts to create a minimum income level and unified living costs.
Posted February 21, 2014
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fronzelneekburm: Does anybody out there have a screenshot of the fair pricing banner? I'm gonna miss that little guy... ;(
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P1na: Yep
No, I mean of the stuff that was displayed when you clicked on the now-removed #2.

But yeah, that whole banner just looks sad now, with that huge-ass gap. Like it had a limb amputated.
Post edited February 21, 2014 by fronzelneekburm
Posted February 21, 2014
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fronzelneekburm: No, I mean of the stuff that was displayed when you clicked on the now-removed #2.
Can't help you with that, then.
Posted February 21, 2014
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ne_zavarj: ( Who will buy a DRM free release of a game if it's already on Steam from the early alpha stage since months ? )
I am thinking on that too, would regional pricing be a way to have early access games to compete with steam [s]preorders[/s] early access?

Concerning every other games, it's not very different than happens now: DRM free releases years after DRM'd releases.
Posted February 21, 2014
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Elenarie: I love it how you say that you had to pick between EITHER "DRM-Free" or regional pricing. This is a brilliant gem, because we all know that DRM is tied to having non-regional pricing, right, right?
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TheEnigmaticT: The phrasing may have been a little bit inelegant. It was that we could either sign these games and bring them DRM-free (I don't see any other digital distributor who's our size trying to sign AAA content DRM-free, do you?), or else stay with flat regional pricing and then not have the games.

GOG.com will remain DRM-Free, certainly. The games that we're bringing you guys? If they're not DRM-free here, I don't see them being DRM-Free anywhere.
I beg to differ. Some titles on Desura can be considered AAA or at least AA and they are DRM free as well, many of them including the Linux release if available. That said most AAA titles won't interest me. It's hard to be stuck between your customers and the publishers, sure. If you give in one by one on your principles, you will loose your credibility and become a push-over for your suppliers, the publishers.
Posted February 21, 2014
high rated
GoG,
I understand that this is how big business is done. I could accept the one exception with the Witcher 2, where you evened the difference out with bonuses. I believed that GoG was build around not embracing such rules. Now you have renounced one of them, without asking opinions. Therefore ,as GoG, a site that was different, you have ceased to exist. I can see no reason to trust that in time you will not renounce the rest of your so called principles. By renouncing even the smallest of them, for whatever "good", you have turned into one of many other distributing sites and I have no reason to support you further with my money. I deeply regret buying another game from you today before I read this announcement. I know I will never buy another game from you or even pick up a free one. My copy of the Witcher 3 and other "great new games" is going to come from other sources where, from the very beginning, I will not need to foolishly expect adherence to principles and integrity.
Post edited February 21, 2014 by marketapospisil
Posted February 21, 2014
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Redfoxe: Well, if now most of us arent happy with this, i guess we just have to vote with our wallets.
What is unfortunate for those negatively affected and upset by this in my opinion is that ultimately most might be unhappy with this but most will vote to tolerate it by purchasing anyway. I guess i cannot blame them either when given the choice of games or no games. I'd probably pay up too because I want to play even while cursing the bastards raping me on price.

The entire reason regional pricing continues to exist is because consumers tolerate it. They buy the stuff anyway. If they refused to purchase in large numbers and sales took a real and unmistakable, painful nosedive, regional pricing would at the minimum improve if not go away entirely. Whatever the market will bear is what something is worth and sometimes it can be pretty frustrating what the market as a whole will bear.

On a little brighter note, this does mean titles coming here DRM-free that apparently would not otherwise. So those affected by regional pricing can make their own call about whether the price is bearable or not to get x game DRM-free here. The other thing to keep in mind I guess is that one can always wait on discounts, sales, etc. for these games and only buy them when discounted to offset the higher cost. Yes, you still pay more but at least it cuts the price to a more tolerable level.
Posted February 21, 2014
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Schnuff: Germany was always a high price country so my guess is that they try to milk us more. And once started with this i am sure that *not available for your region* follows.
Ah, well lets wait and see. If it comes to that at last i have enough games to play for a very long time.
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RS1978: You 've forgot the best of all: "Gewaltgeminderte Fassung. Nur in deutscher Sprache verfügbar." :p
Now these two things would actually bother me a hell of a lot more than the regional pricing to be honest. Yes it sucks grapefruits (now whoever can tell me where I got this quote from will get a giftable key of Dust an Elysian Tale from me. Hint that guy has nothing to do with games at all) that everyone and the kitchen sink seems to be hoping on the regional pricing wagon to appease the publishers. But I learned to deal with that, even if that means I have to wait a while till it gets on sale so I can finally get it for a fair price. What I can't deal with is if that change would mean that we also get seperate regional versions of the game. That would be a nogo for me and I would never buy a game that is censored. Had to give up on quite a few good games cause of that very reason.
Posted February 21, 2014
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TheEnigmaticT: GOG.com will remain DRM-Free, certainly. The games that we're bringing you guys? If they're not DRM-free here, I don't see them being DRM-Free anywhere.
That sounds nice in theory, but a DRM-free game I can't buy as a German is of no avail for me. Steam has many games which are not available or only censored available for German market. What you describe is exactly such a situation for further releases.
Posted February 21, 2014
high rated
Let me add my two cents and a dime to the discussion.

This is bad. Really bad, Like, 2/10 bad, at least. Dressing it up as "good news" is just that much more horrible.

Let me ask you this: how well will your "partners" (btw, bad choice of words, I don't think it means what you think it means) see DRM free gaming as a standard if no one buys these games here based on the fact that not everybody is willing to forego one of the founding principles of the site - same price for everyone, no matter where you live. I for one will not financially support this.

I was willing to do that on a technicality when Witcher 2 came out, because you made it clear it was a one-time event and because your "partner" was giving you an ultimatum. But that was a game from your parent company, and it was a special case. Now it seems the category will be extended a bit. Bad call.

In conclusion, if you make yourself indistinguishable from Steam, then I'll rather buy on Steam.
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Community
General discussionAnnouncement: Big Preorders & Launch Day Releases Coming!(4041 posts)(4041 posts)
(4041 posts)