It's rather funny really. Just when GOG announces eliminating even the fair price package, so leaving those paying more than the base (US) price to just pay more, without even that compensation of the difference as store credit (which didn't make the practice itself any more tolerable from my point of view, but that's not the point now), someone from a region which gets discounts, averaging 50%, for almost the entire GOG catalog, comes to complain about a few of the literally just a handful of games, merely some 5% of the catalog, which aren't deeply discounted there... AND ONE WHICH IS, BGEE actually having that "normal" ~50% discount compared to its $19.99 (76.72 BRL) base price.
And as I see now, the average salary in Brazil would be 2270 BRL, which works out to 525 EUR. Poor African or (except China) Asian countries get no discounts, and I'd say those tend to have it worse. And over here in Europe, Serbia and Montenegro, not even in the EU, with an average salary around 450 (Serbia) or 510 (Montenegro) EUR, as well as Bulgaria and Romania, EU's poorest states, with an average salary of about 480 (Bulgaria) or 600 (Romania) EUR, more recently, for most newer releases and even games existing in the catalog which had pricing changes, started getting the Euro prices too, so currently averaging 13% higher than the US price, or some 2.25 times the Brazilian price. And as of the end of the month not even that 13% will be returned even as store credit.
Now it may be a matter of perceived impact due to the volatile currency, but seriously, seeing as for some 95% of the catalog the region gets huge discounts, this is a misplaced complaint (and it was one, despite the follow-up post). And seeing as it comes just when other regions which pay even more than the base price, so even more than double, despite comparable earnings, will lose even what little compensation they so far received, it's most definitely a mistimed one.
Edit: Of course, can't get into this again and not state my position on the whole matter yet again. Heh. Itchy fingers here...
1. In general I'll keep stressing that digital copies of content should basically be free for all who desire them. The resources used for any individual copy are negligible, creative works shouldn't be required to do well on the open market or be judged according to sales (other methods should be applied so content creators wouldn't need the earnings from their work, but then again that should go for everyone), and life sucks badly enough even without limiting access to entertainment.
2. While such content is being sold, however, I'll keep stressing that the same product, so in this case any copy of the same piece of content, sold by the same store, should have the exact same price regardless of where that stream of bits is sent to. Yes, considering the frequent (but also very much misplaced) complaint regarding VAT, that also means regardless of any local taxes which may apply, as those are the seller's problem to deal with and can be seen as the cost of doing business in that region, not anything the buyer should concern themselves with in any way. So definitely no regional price hikes for anyone.
3. The problem with regional discounts is that there's no way to make them fair. Some regions get them while others with similar or even worse situations don't, or get lower ones. And there are many poor people even in wealthy regions, and some wealthy people in poor regions. Still, I guess I can tolerate it if someone decides to send a digital copy, so something which in itself carries a near-zero cost, for less to some. Would never demand it for myself or my region though, despite it (and me) certainly meeting the "requirements", and look poorly upon those who demand it for themselves.
4. Considering the very frequent deep sales that are the norm for some years for games, if you want to play a game and want to legally purchase a digital copy, you should be able to find one for very very little soon enough. It may not be the specific game you want, but even that may become available at such a low price some years down the line. If you want a specific game at a specific time for a specific low price though, well, you may be a bit too demanding.
5. "Piracy" remains a very valid option if you see the conditions for purchase, which obviously include the price (but also things like being DRM free or, ahem, not having regional price hikes), as unacceptable. If you want to add some activism to it though, you should let the publisher know just why you're not buying their game. They don't need to know whether you're playing it by, ahem, other means or not, that makes absolutely no difference for them and their claims otherwise are all bull, but they should know that you'd have been interested in a purchase but not on those terms. And saying publishers because they set the prices and terms, stores generally just having the option to accept or refuse (refusal being something GOG should have done a whole lot more of, considering...), and developers being at the bottom of the pile and basically needing to take whatever's thrown at them while doing all the actual work.
/rant
Post edited March 11, 2019 by Cavalary
