torp: Here's how I read Nordic's statement: "Our not-GoG distributors were pissed off that GoG undercuts them in all markets except the US."
Regional pricing is mostly a product of having regional physical distributors, each with different taxes. However, I doubt GoG has any worldwide presence, so it pays the same taxes for every sale. Thus, no need for regional pricing.
Incidentally, why isn't anyone complaining that an app in the iOS store costs 99 US cents but only 89 eurocents? Would you like the 1 usd == 1 eur parity over there too?
I understood exactly the same idea, and I blame Steam.
Gnostic: There is no such thing as fair pricing, because I look at the mirror and it says so.
If I do the same work as my colleague and contribute the same or less than my colleague, but get paid higher I don't go to my boss and says "Please lower my pay because I am paid more than I should".
If I contribute more and get paid less then my colleague I will be unhappy about it. Even if I contribute less and get paid less, I will also be unhappy about it.
If I join a new company and get paid more, I don't go "Please lower my pay because other company (Region) paid less to me. I have to be fair." If I am paid less in my new company, I will be unhappy and find ways to increase my pay or try another company.
If I cannot hold the same fair standard to myself, how I expect others to do the same? The market force, boss favors will do the trick.
With the majority market force dictating regional pricing is acceptable, we lost in one area.
With the boss frowning on employees that does not do as he please, I cannot do whatever I like, how I want to sell my game (No DRM).
This employee is always late for work. (I cannot release my game in early access, it must be a stable version).
This employee like to pick on what work he like to do rather than assigned to him and rise a fuss if force to work on his assignment. (No pre-order exclusive, or exclusive of any kind)
This employee is always demanding a pay rise (No regional pricing, have to be fair price, still bitch about not getting it on sales due to too much backlog)
I have many many willing employee to do the job. (GOG community is a minority)
I have other employee who are much more effective (Other platform gives more revenue)
No wonder what publishers are, after some time when the sales goes stagnant because the game is not new and shiny anymore, they release it at GOG for recycling.
The only way publisher are going to cater our many demands is if we are going to pay a premium on it. We can demand everything under the sun and people will diligently attend to us, as long as we make their effort worth it. If we ditch our biggest bargaining chip, well......
Early access is not realy a good idea, an incoplete game is not something the customers will always be willing to pay for, specially knowing that if they do so the game might never be completed because the lazy devs were paid in advance.
GOG has no exclusives because publishers are not willing to give them exclusives, If I ever manage to fulfill my wish of making a cool videogame, I will make it a GOG exclusive for at least two years, and I would never elease it on Steam, Origin, or any other retailer that makes me angry later.
The GOG community is growing, and it is not a minority, just because Steam gets more atention than GOG it does not mean GOG is marginal.
08q2y3h4tu: I think GOG should make it a choice:
If you want to pay U.S. prices, you have to pay with credit card in dollars as it was till now. If you want to pay with all those other regional payment methods, than you have to accept regional prices but you also get regional versions and should also include regional language (e.g. if you buy a game of German origin with German regional payment method, you pay the German regional price BUT the publisher has to include the original language too, not like now, that only English versions are included, despite the original game being in German) .
I think, GOG should retain and differentiate between the original payment method with credit card in dollars, the original U.S. pricing and U.S. market versions of games and regional ones. That way all those, who could manage to get a credit card and be able to pay in $ would be able to choose between both options, as either one has some advantages and disadvantages, conveniences and annoyances.
For the publishers, it should be also more important to offer options, as that way, people who despite preferring the regional currency option and payment methods would never buy the games for the high regional price, but would eventually go to the hassle, get the credit card and buy it for the U.S. dollar price, instead of not buying at all AND eventually get the game from other(...) sources.
(I for example was lurking on this page since the beginning, but couldn't buy anything, because I didn't have a credit card, I had not enough money and I was not comfortable with the credit card because it was foreign to me and also having to go through the hassle and costs of getting a credit card. Well over the years I saved enough money to feel free, to be able to finally buy all those games i was yearning for to own, and software i was using regularly AND few months ago, I made the giant step and went to the place, where they offer debit cards in a country where I live as migrant and got me a debit card, it cost me a fee and i pay min. 1.5 euro up to 2% for uploading money to it and conversion fees for paying in non euro currencies. The card also is valid only for a limited amount of time and I will have to buy/make a new one when this one expires.)
Look, restricting the USD payment to credit cards only is not a good idea, PayPal and debit cards are sometimes more trusted, specially by customers with lower income, actually it would help if they made USD payment based on international payment methods, and local currency payment having also local payment methods available.
