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General discussionGetting back to our roots(1418 posts)(1418 posts)
(1418 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted March 11, 2014
Hey, GOGgers,

We're not perfect, we're exploring new frontiers, and we make mistakes. We thought DRM-Free was so important that you'd prefer we bring you more DRM-Free games and Fair Price was less critical and that it could be sacrificed in some cases. The last two week's worth of comments in our forums (nearly 10k!), show that's not the case. We didn’t listen and we let you down. We shouldn't sacrifice one of our core values in an attempt to advance another. We feel bad about that, and we're sorry. Us being sorry is not of much use to you, so let’s talk about how we will fix it.

One: DRM-free forever. Abandoning fixed regional pricing means it will probably take longer to get some games, but you've made it clear that sacrificing fair pricing for more DRM-free games isn't acceptable.

Two: We will adamantly continue to fight for games with flat worldwide pricing. If that fails and we are required to have regional prices, we will make up the difference for you out of our own pockets. For now it will be with $5.99 and $9.99 game codes. In a couple of months, once we have such functionality implemented, we will give you store credit instead, which then you will be able to use towards any purchase and cover the price of it in full or partially. Effectively gamers from all around the world will be able to benefit from the US prices.

This will apply to every single game where we do not have flat pricing, such as Age of Wonders 3 (full details here), Divinity: Original Sin, and The Witcher 3. If you remember the Fair Price Package for The Witcher 2, this will be exactly the same.

Three: We still intend to introduce the pricing in local currencies. Let us explain why we want to do it and how we want to make it fair for everyone. From the very beginning our intention was to make things easier for users whose credit cards/payment systems are not natively in USD. The advantages are simple because the price is more understandable and easier to relate to. There would be no exchange rates involved, no transaction fees, and no other hidden charges. However after reading your comments, we realized we have taken an important element away: the choice. In order to fix this, we'll offer the option of paying in the local currency or the equivalent in USD. This way, how you pay is always your choice.

Four: You are what matters, and we will be sure to involve you all more in what we're doing and why we're doing it. Let's start by meeting you at GDC - we’d like to invite you to meet us face-to-face Monday the 17th at GDC. Obviously, not all of you can come to San Francisco, so we want to invite all of you to an online event with us early in April to ask us whatever you would like. More details soon.

The bottom line is simple: there may be companies that won't work with us (although we will work hard to convince the most stubborn ones ;). Yes, it means we might miss out on some games, but at the same time GOG.com will remain true to its values and will keep on offering you the best of DRM-free gaming with Fair Prices.

Once again thank you for caring so much about GOG.com. We will work hard not to disappoint you again.

--Marcin "iWi" Iwinski & Guillaume "TheFrenchMonk" Rambourg
Posted March 11, 2014
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yyahoo: I don't understand the positive user reaction.
GOG is going to enforce one world pricing more strictly going forward in negotiations with publishers, which means that games that would have been regionally priced are now simply not going to be here at all.
This is cause for celebration?
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BKGaming: Eh I think GOG should have stuck with there decision honestly. People may have complained loudly and those who complain always do (they would have gotten over it)... but as always the decision if something was worth the price is in the hands of the consumers. Now we will all likely miss out on games that we could have had here DRM free because certain consumers couldn't exercise there ability to not buy something that was overpriced but instead complained and threaten to leave GOG which would have been unlikely because GOG still gives the better value and nowhere else has flat regional pricing.
I actually kind of agree to this. GOG listening to their customers and back-tracking on their pricing stance is a very good thing. However, I've always wanted GOG to expand and grow, beyond offering classic games, and bring on newer titles DRM-Free, and it looks like that won't be really happening.

The way I see it is, if a game is not worth it at full price, I wait for a 50/60/70% off sale. By then, would a dollar or two in regional pricing discrepancies have made much difference?

Now if they no longer hold sales, then that will be a different story.
Posted March 11, 2014
Deep inside I knew something like this would happen :)
Don't hurt me people but either way was fine for me since I love GOG for years now.

And yay for store credit!
I know it's just the beggining, but will this feature be available for our already purchased games or just new ones?
Posted March 11, 2014
low rated
I come from a non-VAT country and i was surprised by the reaction of those that leave in countries with VAT. Its amazing that these customers demand that the retailer pay the VAT.

It seems to me that the customers in these locations have it backwards. Why did you let your representative government create a tax like this in the first place? Why attack and blame the retailer when its your tax? Why not take the zeal and passion to the government to repeal the tax?

When ive come across EU companies before they always pass on the taxes to the consumer. Otherwise their bottom line is effected and it makes it pointless to have created the sale.

I have a local sales tax and i expect i will be the one paying it (unless the store is running a promo).
Maybe theres too much of an entitlement culture in these countries?
Am I missing something?
Posted March 11, 2014
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Cavalary: They were saying (and any look at the numbers will confirm) that all their simulations resulted in the fact that they'll lose money on each sale that they fully make up for, unless of course the developer/publisher agrees to take a proportional cut as well. So unless everyone takes the hit (which CDP will, and the AoW3 update post indicates Triumph agreed to do as well), I'm hoping they'll be making darn sure to avoid signing games with regional prices because any such sale will be in the red, it'll make no sense to have them in the catalog. Or at least that's how it looks right now, hence me tentatively out of, er, protest mode.
Which doesn't make sense to me, because we know their numbers. We know they take a percentage off the sale. Given that, the example I have above should be basically what happens, in that case, they don't lose money at all, they lose profit. (and then only on the unfair priced regional sales)

Although I guess taxes might throw a wrench into that calculation somehow.
Post edited March 11, 2014 by Pheace
Posted March 11, 2014
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Mentalepsy: This all goes to show that GOG's frequently reckless marketing of a few bullet points is a double-edged sword. Yes, their aggressive stance on these things may have helped them grow and win fans, but they seem to have painted themselves into a corner by presenting selling points as dogma.

GOG is clearly not content to stay in their diminishing niche, but they now feel that they have no choice. It will be interesting to see what comes out of that.
Agreed, although I wouldn't say the selling points were dogmatic. indeed, the opposite points that say companies should embrace DRM and regional pricing are dogmatic, and it is this dogma that GOG is confronting with publishers now. If anything, the selling points made, and the subsequent success of GOG when abiding by these principles, would indicate that they are genuinely valid points that stand up to logical reason (and, as GOG has proved, commercial reality) and do not require the sort of self referencing, circular logic a dogmatic argument would.

Continuing to grow the business with the principles that made GOG a success so far may be harder, but is certainly possible.
Posted March 11, 2014
Thank you for taking customers' input into consideration.
I will happily continue trusting you with my gaming purchases.
If you do manage to bring big new games, I will ALWAYS prefer to get them DRM free from you than from anywhere else.
Posted March 11, 2014
It's nice to see at least one publisher listening to their customers. Thank you.
Posted March 11, 2014
Big-ups guys!

You have to have some serious balls nowadays to admit to a mistake and then change your decision. Backing you up by buying a game right now. Good choice, goddamit, stick to the core values and keep on changing the way big publishers see selling games online. Congrats! Damn I'm happy :)
Posted March 11, 2014
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pickle136: I come from a non-VAT country and i was surprised by the reaction of those that leave in countries with VAT. Its amazing that these customers demand that the retailer pay the VAT.

It seems to me that the customers in these locations have it backwards. Why did you let your representative government create a tax like this in the first place? Why attack and blame the retailer when its your tax? Why not take the zeal and passion to the government to repeal the tax?

When ive come across EU companies before they always pass on the taxes to the consumer. Otherwise their bottom line is effected and it makes it pointless to have created the sale.

I have a local sales tax and i expect i will be the one paying it (unless the store is running a promo).
Maybe theres too much of an entitlement culture in these countries?
Am I missing something?
The problem is that regional pricing often far exceeds VAT in the countries people were complaining from. The UK doesn't seem to have it AS bad, but some countries in the Eurozone get screwed over ENORMOUSLY when compared to US price + VAT. I'm sure no one would mind if VAT were added at checkout or whatever, but current game prices tend to exceed VAT throughout the Eurozone, and that's the issue.
Posted March 11, 2014
I am glad you guys have listened to your customers, and I greatly appreciate your work on getting back to your founding principles. As for me, I will wait and see what happens, like other people are doing. But I will still trust you guys to make the best of this, and I will continue to make GOG my first choice when buying a game.
Posted March 11, 2014
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Pheace: There's nothing in the announcement above that should make it less likely for companies to work with GOG than it was before, it's basically a fluff line :)
Then why are they themselves saying this in the very same letter:

The bottom line is simple: there may be companies that won't work with us (although we will work hard to convince the most stubborn ones ;)
I guess they expect not all publishers being willing to work with a company that decides to cover costs that are supposed to be paid by the consumers. After all, regional pricing is about adjusting the price to the financial capabilities of the consumers, GOG is breaking that rule. Hypothetically speaking, if all distributors did what GOG is doing here then the whole regional pricing model wouldn't work anymore, it would mean that distributors are actually for some weird reason handing out gifts to consumers from mostly wealthier countries at their own costs - which obviously wouldn't make any sense and would eventually lead to the death of regional pricing. So it's comprehensible that some companies may still not be willing to work with GOG, even if technically they'd get the benefits of regional pricing (at first).
Post edited March 11, 2014 by F4LL0UT
Posted March 11, 2014
Thank you for listening to us. Now I can buy your games with a clear conscience again.
Posted March 11, 2014
GOG, i like how you roll!
Posted March 11, 2014
I just want to say one thing: Thank you for listening to us :)
Posted March 11, 2014
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Senteria: Thank you so much for this and listening to the community.
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F4LL0UT: The same community that after all of this will return to bitching about the absence of certain games on GOG that might have come here if they hadn't bitched about regional pricing.
The same community that is currently bitching about people bitching about the absence of certain games on GOG that might have come here if they hadn't bitched about regional pricing before they even begin doing it. :P
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionGetting back to our roots(1418 posts)(1418 posts)
(1418 posts)