AliensCrew: As I mentioned it before. It isn't perfect but better than nothing and
the first step in the right direction.
HypersomniacLive: Please elaborate on the part I highlighted.
I have I theory about this.
Since the past 6 years GOG grows and grows. But I think they have nearly reach their top which they get with classic games, flat prices and drm-free games. And stagnation is a setback.
By all their principles and noble purposes they are a company as well, which needs to make profit to exists. And even they grow constantly the past few years they are, compared to the big buisness rival Steam, a small light (as we say here in germany). When they go on the way they do before...they will probably vanished sooner or later. Their best chance to change things is to become equal strong or perhabs bigger than Steam one day.
On the other hand there are the publishers/devolpers who wants regional prices because they are greedy and/or they will be forced to do so by other online distributor platforms like Steam.
So, what should GOG do? They want to grow further, don't loose their customers but get new buyers as well. But where will these buyers will come from but from Steam? And why should they come to GOG if they buy on Steam for years and here are no newer games?
That is there the new (regional priced) games and the fair price package comes in. This feature not even "protects" us from regional prices (I mean those, who would suffer from it) but may also allure others to this platform (because they will spare money if they buy here - even if it is for buying additional games). If this little trick will function, GOG will get the market power to make changes. If they will do this when this time will come is not sure but that is also not impossible.
And it's a fact...if someone wants to change a common thing, he or she needs a great ammount of power to complete such a goal. We will see if GOG truely will stands for their principles when they get the power to do so or if they will betrayal us all.
MIK0: I'd like to repost what I said here, because the thread was locked.
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/newly_regionalpriced_games/post402 And the correct response to that is: errare humanum est, perseverare autem diabolicum
(served on a silver plate :D)
More seriously, your strangerly well timed lack of communication on some matter make people rightly believe you are hiding facts to make them pass without being noticed by most of the customers. And there's no rational reason to think otherwise. You shouldn't make big announcement only when you think they are good for you, you should do them even to expose the nasty things that happen behind the scene, otherwise that cannot be called trasparency and clearly you cannot expect people to trust you.
Your main points are shown with proud on the main page, and you are constantly attacking them with your decision (or decision you think you had to make). I think that even what you do that don't actually go toward the best interest of your customer base should be shown with the same relevance.
You don't like regional price as your customers? Then why don't work with them to better respect their interest?
Customers want to have all the information they need to choose when and where purchase.
Keep regional priced game, but create a badge of shame to put on them. Maybe even a different category or tag to easly filter them. And do that regardless of the user region: if the game doesn't have the same price everywhere, make people know. Let people know which publisher enforce this kind of price so they can remember their name in the future. It's not that you do harm to the publisher, you are only give your customers information: the harm comes from the publisher decision. Every time you hide this information the customers will make uninformed purchase and so that sale is not legit and that's your fault. You can easly correct that.
Also, if publishers don't want the badge of shame on their games, they can easly change the price to not regional ones, like most publisher do. Selling this games without wanting the badge of shame on them is just dishonest.
Also. If the issue are different currency that make publisher wanting to adapt them to other store counterpart, then better get rid of them. Different currency gives less benefits than harm at this point.
If store credits is the same as paying less for the customers, then why isn't GOG who pay the difference in the first place? Maybe because it isn't the same thing. If the customers keep buying game from GOG, it won't do much of a difference, in the end GOG will only lack the last difference amout.
I find the increasing number of regional priced games really suspicious. Games that didn't need regional pricing now have it. Games from publisher that didn't use regional pricing now have it. New game added to the calague now have regional prices. It seems that this didn't increase the bargain power of GOG in any way. It seems that the recent changes of GOG made it easier for publisher to get their demand satisfied.
As I mentioned before...
Such a publisher who don't want this "badge of shame" will probably don't change his price. Instead he will remove the game from GOG's store...and eventually other games as well.
So tell us...what do you think shall GOG do now?