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General discussionConclusion of the Fair Price Package program(910 posts)(910 posts)
(910 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 26, 2019
On March 31st we are going to discontinue the Fair Price Package program. Let us explain the reasoning behind this decision.

We came up with Fair Price Package (FPP) as a way to make up the price difference between various countries. Some games on GOG.COM have regional pricing, meaning the price of the same game in one place can be higher compared to its price in North America. In countries where the game is more expensive, we give users the equivalent of the price difference in GOG Wallet funds. In actual numbers, on average, we give users back 12% of the game price from our own pocket. In some cases, this number can reach as high as 37%.

In the past, we were able to cover these extra costs from our cut and still turn a small profit. Unfortunately, this is not the case anymore. With an increasing share paid to developers, our cut gets smaller. However, we look at it, at the end of the day we are a store and need to make sure we sell games without a loss.

Removing FPP is not a decision we make lightly, but by making this change, we will be able to offer better conditions to game creators, which — in turn — will allow us to offer you more curated classic games and new releases. All DRM-free.

We wanted to make sure you have some lead time to still benefit from the Fair Price Package. The program will last until the 31st of March, 2019, so if you would like to take advantage of it, now is the time. The funds you gather from the program will keep the 12 months expiration date from the moment you’ve been granted your last funds.
Posted February 26, 2019
high rated
First of all, thank you for your support. This was not an easy decision to discontinue the FPP program and we're grateful to you for understanding the reasons behind it. We see that quite a few of you raised concerns about GOG's future. As a part of publicly traded company, we can't comment on any financial results until they are officially reported, but we want to ensure you everything is good with GOG. Being part of a big gaming company, some reports - especially some given by significant media outlets - can often sound much scarier than reality.

You've been also concerned about your access to the games you’ve purchased on GOG. We've covered this topic years ago and it's been in our User Agreement for a long time (please check the section 17.3). This is not only a legal obligation to you but a core part of our ethics as a company.

But don’t worry, all is good, and we have a great plan for the future of GOG. We can’t wait for you to see some of the exciting things we have coming very soon.

EDIT: pinned
Post edited February 26, 2019 by elcook
Posted March 14, 2019
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RWarehall: snip...
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ariaspi: Just asking, if it's the VAT that is added to these regional priced games, why is so much variance in my region? Looking through the last pages of the Good News: Price Updates thread, at regRO, I can see it goes from -9% to +39%. But most of the time it seems to be on the plus side, at something between +10% and +20%. So why not all these have a +19%, which is the VAT in Romania?
Well, VAT (and possibly other taxes like additional "entertainment taxes") justify a certain amount of regional pricing. I agree, it doesn't address the wide variance. Above and beyond VAT, there certainly is a reason to complain. Below that probably means that the developer has agreed to reduced profits per unit to make up for VAT increases to the price which frankly is nice of them.

For some publishers, they may have non-compete clauses with physical retailers. The physical box copies might be additionally surcharged to cover shipping and delivery. Which sucks for online copies because that means you are paying additional for shipping that never occurs just because the box retailers refuse to be undercut online.

My view is that if the complaints were focused on those companies gouging consumers by charging more than VAT, there might be a lot more general support for those complaints. +39% is frankly ridiculous when VAT is only 19% and most other developers can keep their prices at VAT or below. It's those developers worthy of condemnation.
Posted March 14, 2019
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Emob78: No. Rampant Latin-flavored socialism is the reason Venezuelans are currently dining on rats and sharpening their Dark Age weaponry.
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richlind33: That doesn't explain the economic sanctions and the efforts re regime change. And what you describe has been the rule in the entire region ever since the School Of The Americas came into being.
Apples and oranges argument. I don't agree at all with American interventionism, especially in places around the world that have a history for juntas and banana republic nonsense. However, I think it's a bit premature and incorrect to lay all that responsibility at the feet of Uncle Sam.

From everything I've seen, Maduro isn't just a socialist scumbag. He's also an opportunist drug running, embezzling piece of snake doo-doo. He should go feet or head first out of office and into a pair of silver bracelets. But it shouldn't be American forces that do it. Venezuelans put him there, they should be the ones to get rid of him.
Posted March 14, 2019
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RWarehall: My view is that if the complaints were focused on those companies gouging consumers by charging more than VAT, there might be a lot more general support for those complaints. +39% is frankly ridiculous when VAT is only 19% and most other developers can keep their prices at VAT or below. It's those developers worthy of condemnation.
The problem is that the regional price schema usually does not show any correlation between VAT and selling price.
You have countries with a high VAT where the price is below the US price.
You have countries with a high VAT where the price matches the US price.
You have countries with a low VAT where the price matches the US price.
You have countries with a high VAT where the price is above the US price.
Which give the frustrating impression to the customer that the regional pricing was chosen by rolling a die, and some countries just have to accept that they've got a bad roll.

We've had these arguments plenty of times before and there is certainly merit to the reasoning for higher or lower prices in certain regions. But the problem is that the current pricing setups don't really reflect these in any coherent way.

And pricing that appears arbitrary to the customer will always cause irritation.
That's really no rocket science.
Posted March 14, 2019
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richlind33: That doesn't explain the economic sanctions and the efforts re regime change. And what you describe has been the rule in the entire region ever since the School Of The Americas came into being.
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Emob78: Apples and oranges argument. I don't agree at all with American interventionism, especially in places around the world that have a history for juntas and banana republic nonsense. However, I think it's a bit premature and incorrect to lay all that responsibility at the feet of Uncle Sam.

From everything I've seen, Maduro isn't just a socialist scumbag. He's also an opportunist drug running, embezzling piece of snake doo-doo. He should go feet or head first out of office and into a pair of silver bracelets. But it shouldn't be American forces that do it. Venezuelans put him there, they should be the ones to get rid of him.
Sure, but I guarantee that whoever replaces him will be just as corrupt. And it isn't that different here. Remember in the late 90's when the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange went to Columbia to have a friendly chat with FARC? I'm pretty sure that they weren't discussing the price of coffee. Money laundering is a financial service, you see. : (
Post edited March 14, 2019 by richlind33
Posted March 15, 2019
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Emob78: Apples and oranges argument. I don't agree at all with American interventionism, especially in places around the world that have a history for juntas and banana republic nonsense. However, I think it's a bit premature and incorrect to lay all that responsibility at the feet of Uncle Sam.

From everything I've seen, Maduro isn't just a socialist scumbag. He's also an opportunist drug running, embezzling piece of snake doo-doo. He should go feet or head first out of office and into a pair of silver bracelets. But it shouldn't be American forces that do it. Venezuelans put him there, they should be the ones to get rid of him.
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richlind33: Sure, but I guarantee that whoever replaces him will be just as corrupt. And it isn't that different here. Remember in the late 90's when the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange went to Columbia to have a friendly chat with FARC? I'm pretty sure that they weren't discussing the price of coffee. Money laundering is a financial service, you see. : (
Getting off the thread topic. I'll DM my reply.
Posted March 15, 2019
Euh, first time I've heard of this. Did Canadians benefit in any shape or form form this program?
Posted March 15, 2019
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the_importer: Euh, first time I've heard of this. Did Canadians benefit in any shape or form form this program?
A few dozen. (See www.an-ovel .com/cgi-bin/magog.cgi?ver=979&scp=gsproc&dsp=ipgfsorchAW3&ord=&flt=pcc~cammpk~&opt=n (remove the space, GOG really doesn't like MaGOG links) but note that that list only includes games added before 2018.)
At a glance, many of them minor variations, but there are some more obvious ones, AoW3, Caravan, Deathtrap, Deponia, The Long Journey Home, Necrovision, Samorost 3, Silence, Stronghold Crusader 2, The Witcher 3, including the GOTY, plus I think a case of forgetting to change a price, since KB:WotN Complete is still $19.99 in CA though price changed to $14.99 long ago.
Post edited March 15, 2019 by Cavalary
Posted March 16, 2019
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elcook: And thank you for that! The day is coming. By the end of this week everything will be clear, I promise :)
The release of Diablo was a welcome surprise, but when will we see any news regarding the site or GOG Galaxy?

The site accumulates bugs every day that passes, while Galaxy has not received substantial updates for a long time. On the other hand, your competitors make daily announcements about new features for their store. If you don't have imminent news, have you thought about trying to write a blog that keeps us updated, even vaguely, to what you are working on? Maybe with a roadmap that gives us something to speculate on while we wait?
Posted March 16, 2019
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Alexim: If you don't have imminent news, have you thought about trying to write a blog that keeps us updated, even vaguely, to what you are working on? Maybe with a roadmap that gives us something to speculate on while we wait?
Thinking that most of the GOG team is doing CDP's bidding and working on Gwent in some way or another, so probably wouldn't have much to say either way.
Posted March 16, 2019
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Post edited March 17, 2019 by Fairfox
Posted March 18, 2019
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immi101: The problem is that the regional price schema usually does not show any correlation between VAT and selling price.
You have countries with a high VAT where the price is below the US price.
You have countries with a high VAT where the price matches the US price.
You have countries with a low VAT where the price matches the US price.
You have countries with a high VAT where the price is above the US price.
Which give the frustrating impression to the customer that the regional pricing was chosen by rolling a die, and some countries just have to accept that they've got a bad roll.

We've had these arguments plenty of times before and there is certainly merit to the reasoning for higher or lower prices in certain regions. But the problem is that the current pricing setups don't really reflect these in any coherent way.

And pricing that appears arbitrary to the customer will always cause irritation.
That's really no rocket science.
Isn't it arbitrary when the same region/country gets a regional price hike for the base game but none or even a regional discount for DLC or different editions, or vice versa? VAT's still the same.




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Cavalary: [...] plus I think a case of forgetting to change a price, since KB:WotN Complete is still $19.99 in CA though price changed to $14.99 long ago.
If this is the case, and the prices CA gets for 1C-Softclub/1C Entertainment titles suggest that it is, it's another case of handing out a $5 FPP for over a year (price changed in Jan 2018) because of GOG messing up when setting prices and nobody catching it all this time.

Same goes for PL regarding this title, but with a lower FPP ($3.53).

OTOH, remember Crookz - The Big Heist that didn't give any FPP when its price changed from $24.99 to $19.99 in Nov 2016 because the base price used for regional pricing was that of regCN, and that wasn't adjusted?
Post edited March 18, 2019 by HypersomniacLive
Posted March 21, 2019
We still love you gog
Posted March 23, 2019
I´m recently buying here and the FPP is a little plus, a pity that disappear now.
Posted March 28, 2019
So...

Have you increased the cut given to developers yet?

I'm getting REALLY sick of EGS exclusives and I think that, since Valve is just ignoring it for all but the most MASSIVE of publishers who they're giving discounts to, GOG could really take this chance to pick up some customers by luring some games to them with a larger cut while not being a steaming pile of garbage everyone hates like EGS is.
Posted March 31, 2019
RIP
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Community
General discussionConclusion of the Fair Price Package program(910 posts)(910 posts)
(910 posts)