Is Bethesda becoming another EA?

[Ryotknife]

Yea dawngaurd is overpriced, but still a better deal than any DLC that comes from EA (15 dollars a few hour DLC in mass effect). Not to mention, their DLC will go down in price unlike EA.

EDIT: derped and put COD DLC instead

Here is a wild suggestion.

If you dont think the DLC is worth the money... dont buy it?

I mean are they evil for offering it?

I have a brain in my skull. I can go "Yay" or "Nay" to it. Do you not have that privilege?

I am not buying it. EA is evil if they offer something that is worth significantly less for more money AND give no alternatives. If they want to cash in on the idiots with more money than brains, that is fine.

Even with Dawnguard at 20 dollars, it WILL go on sale just like other bethesda expansions. So even if the price irkes you, there are alternatives other than never buying it. I will probably never buy EA or activision DLC because most of the time they are a blatant ripoff meant to squeeze every ounce of money from their loyal fans with absolutely no regard to their image.

course, by your logic a company can never do anything evil. If a company released a game for full price with over half of its content locked that you have to shell out 60 dollars more....well by golly you can just say nay!

also, i could have easily reported you for implying that i do not have a brain. I wont because it would serve no real purpose. But there are other posters on these forums who would start a crusade against you for such demeaning behavior.

I never implied you didn't have a brain in your skull. I insisted that I would use my mind and free will to determine value and act accordingly. That I wasn't a sheep that needed everything and only bought things I have figured out was worth it. The priviledge I am talking about is choice. But if it offend you by all means report it rather than threaten with it. If I broke the rules then report it, otherwise it is just a childish threat.

But your logic is still flawed.

EA sells overpriced DLC = meant to squeeze every ounce of money from their loyal fans.
Bethesda sells overpriced DLC = They will sell it cheaper later. Therefore ok.

First of all. Both companies are trying to get as much money from you as possible. EA is just less competent at it.
But more importantly aren't you trying to get as much game as possible for your money?
Why does your definition of greed only go one way?
Furthermore where do you have do you have that crystal ball from? You seem to know the future. More importantly EA did lower Prices on their games. Why aren't they getting the same treatment as Bethesda in your equation?

Also no, a company can be evil. Just not by overpricing. That just makes them stupid.

It is a free market, and it is DLC. You talk about it as if it was insulin (if it was insulin yes, then it would be evil). If they are telling you black on white what they are selling then you have the choice to buy it. You always have the choice.

you have a choice, but EA and Activision are the only companies that i know of that take away your OPTIONS. So while i may disagree with dawnguards current worth, it will eventually sink to a value which i consider reasonable. No such thing exists for EA DLC, because they very rarely, if ever, go down in price.

honestly, the DLC thing is a drop in the ocean when it comes to EA evil.

as for my crystal ball....well i see New vegas DLC on sale again on steam for about 1.50. hmm.....so it looks like history proves me right.

your options with EA are shell over way too much money or dont play it ever. There is practically no middle ground.

First false statement
"that take away your OPTIONS".
You are not entitled to any options. And they cannot prevent you from not buying it. Even if it was true that they didn't lower their prices (it isn't) you have no right to a better deal. Someone is no more evil for not making it cheaper than someone is evil for not making it free.

Second false statement
"so it looks like history proves me right."
History doesn't prove you right. It shows a precedence. I worked for 10 hours Friday. History doesn't prove ill work for 10 hours next Friday. What you have is a logical fallacy.

.....you say first false statement, and then contradict yourself. bravo. really, im clapping right now. If my statement was false, you would be arguing how EA doesnt take away my options, not if i am entitled to one. Making excuses for why my statement may be true does not make it false. In fact, you are admitting that what i said had at least some truth to it otherwise you would be arguing why it is NOT that way instead rather why it is that way.

really, bravo.

As for the "second false statement", new vegas was merely one example. I could point to oblivion, morrowwind, fallout 3, hell even RAGE (which came out a little over a half a year ago) had steep price cuts in a fairly short amount of time (3-6 months) which is pretty standard for non EA/activision games.

Is is POSSIBLE that Bethesda could go a completely different route and mimics EA, but as the past data shows, it is not PROBABLE.

EA treats their customers like crap and tries to squeeze as much money from them as possible. It was not long ago that EA had a decent reputation, hell even i liked EA 2-3 years ago. But now? With their systematic destruction of beloved franchises and their contribution to the stagnation of the industry? Okay, maybe evil is a bit far, but they deserve every iota of bad press that they get.

 

[Ryotknife]

Yea dawngaurd is overpriced, but still a better deal than any DLC that comes from EA (15 dollars a few hour DLC in mass effect). Not to mention, their DLC will go down in price unlike EA.

EDIT: derped and put COD DLC instead

Here is a wild suggestion.

If you dont think the DLC is worth the money... dont buy it?

I mean are they evil for offering it?

I have a brain in my skull. I can go "Yay" or "Nay" to it. Do you not have that privilege?

I am not buying it. EA is evil if they offer something that is worth significantly less for more money AND give no alternatives. If they want to cash in on the idiots with more money than brains, that is fine.

Even with Dawnguard at 20 dollars, it WILL go on sale just like other bethesda expansions. So even if the price irkes you, there are alternatives other than never buying it. I will probably never buy EA or activision DLC because most of the time they are a blatant ripoff meant to squeeze every ounce of money from their loyal fans with absolutely no regard to their image.

course, by your logic a company can never do anything evil. If a company released a game for full price with over half of its content locked that you have to shell out 60 dollars more....well by golly you can just say nay!

also, i could have easily reported you for implying that i do not have a brain. I wont because it would serve no real purpose. But there are other posters on these forums who would start a crusade against you for such demeaning behavior.

I never implied you didn't have a brain in your skull. I insisted that I would use my mind and free will to determine value and act accordingly. That I wasn't a sheep that needed everything and only bought things I have figured out was worth it. The priviledge I am talking about is choice. But if it offend you by all means report it rather than threaten with it. If I broke the rules then report it, otherwise it is just a childish threat.

But your logic is still flawed.

EA sells overpriced DLC = meant to squeeze every ounce of money from their loyal fans.
Bethesda sells overpriced DLC = They will sell it cheaper later. Therefore ok.

First of all. Both companies are trying to get as much money from you as possible. EA is just less competent at it.
But more importantly aren't you trying to get as much game as possible for your money?
Why does your definition of greed only go one way?
Furthermore where do you have do you have that crystal ball from? You seem to know the future. More importantly EA did lower Prices on their games. Why aren't they getting the same treatment as Bethesda in your equation?

Also no, a company can be evil. Just not by overpricing. That just makes them stupid.

It is a free market, and it is DLC. You talk about it as if it was insulin (if it was insulin yes, then it would be evil). If they are telling you black on white what they are selling then you have the choice to buy it. You always have the choice.

you have a choice, but EA and Activision are the only companies that i know of that take away your OPTIONS. So while i may disagree with dawnguards current worth, it will eventually sink to a value which i consider reasonable. No such thing exists for EA DLC, because they very rarely, if ever, go down in price.

honestly, the DLC thing is a drop in the ocean when it comes to EA evil.

as for my crystal ball....well i see New vegas DLC on sale again on steam for about 1.50. hmm.....so it looks like history proves me right.

your options with EA are shell over way too much money or dont play it ever. There is practically no middle ground.

First false statement
"that take away your OPTIONS".
You are not entitled to any options. And they cannot prevent you from not buying it. Even if it was true that they didn't lower their prices (it isn't) you have no right to a better deal. Someone is no more evil for not making it cheaper than someone is evil for not making it free.

Second false statement
"so it looks like history proves me right."
History doesn't prove you right. It shows a precedence. I worked for 10 hours Friday. History doesn't prove ill work for 10 hours next Friday. What you have is a logical fallacy.

.....you say first false statement, and then contradict yourself. bravo. really, im clapping right now. If my statement was false, you would be arguing how EA doesnt take away my options, not if i am entitled to one. Making excuses for why my statement may be true does not make it false. In fact, you are admitting that what i said had at least some truth to it otherwise you would be arguing why it is NOT that way instead rather why it is that way.

really, bravo.

As for the "second false statement", new vegas was merely one example. I could point to oblivion, morrowwind, fallout 3, hell even RAGE (which came out a little over a half a year ago) had steep price cuts in a fairly short amount of time (3-6 months) which is pretty standard for non EA/activision games.

Is is POSSIBLE that Bethesda could go a completely different route and mimics EA, but as the past data shows, it is not PROBABLE.

EA treats their customers like crap and tries to squeeze as much money from them as possible. It was not long ago that EA had a decent reputation, hell even i liked EA 2-3 years ago. But now? With their systematic destruction of beloved franchises and their contribution to the stagnation of the industry? Okay, maybe evil is a bit far, but they deserve every iota of bad press that they get.

Yeah I contridicted myself....
You:"that take away your OPTIONS".
ME:"they cannot prevent you from not buying it."
You shouldn't feel so cocky when you cant seem to read things. That I need to make additional comments on it only shows how idiotic a statement it is. That I have point out that even if it was true how it still wouldn't prove your point shows you failed on 2 level. Factually and logically.

You sir have no case. You just riled up with non-arguments and factually false statements.

Yeah yeah yeah.

EA is evil for doing the same things as Bethesda, but Bethesda are good guys. I am not interested in your flawed logic or your biases.
You have no argument.

Me: EA takes away your options
You: false statement. you are not entitled to options.
Me: that does not prove a false statement

apparently reading your own statement is well beyond your ability.

Although it would appear that you have some inside information about how Dawnguard wont see a reduction in price in the near future even though that is what the company has done with every previous installment. Do share if you have any.

Or are you just going to keep pounding your head on the desk saying "lol nope they will do the same thing EA does because i say so" without providing a single shred of proof.

i mean, at least TRY to come up with something remotely similar to a logical argument, this is just SAD.

The only thing my post is guilty of is not putting "alternative" in front of "options" as i already stated that i had a choice, inferring that the two are different in the context in which i was using it.


You treated options and choice as one and the same in the context in which i used it. If you believed that, you would have pointed out how i made two seemingly opposite statements.

You did not...

hmm...

interesting.

meaning that you either knew that i meant something else and choose to ignore it in order to troll bait, or the whole post flew over your head.

Oh, and i do not believe that Bethesda is "good." At best their business practices are average.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

If the product they are selling has more value (to me) than what they are charging, ill buy it. If not I wont. Why is this so bloody complicated to so many people.

Because GIMME GIMME GIMME NOW NOW NOW

If even half the people bitching about the state of the industry had any fucking backbone and strength to their convictions the industry would have never gotten into the state it is.

But it is so much easier to ***** about it being overpriced!

Them a-holes go around charging a price people are willing to pay! Bastards!

Yes, God forbid people show a little restraint and inconvenience themselves or forgo a luxury to stand by their principles. I can't imagine what I was thinking to suggest otherwise. Next I'll be quoting from the Communist Manifesto and setting bankers on fire.

 

[Ryotknife]

Yea dawngaurd is overpriced, but still a better deal than any DLC that comes from EA (15 dollars a few hour DLC in mass effect). Not to mention, their DLC will go down in price unlike EA.

EDIT: derped and put COD DLC instead

Here is a wild suggestion.

If you dont think the DLC is worth the money... dont buy it?

I mean are they evil for offering it?

I have a brain in my skull. I can go "Yay" or "Nay" to it. Do you not have that privilege?

I am not buying it. EA is evil if they offer something that is worth significantly less for more money AND give no alternatives. If they want to cash in on the idiots with more money than brains, that is fine.

Even with Dawnguard at 20 dollars, it WILL go on sale just like other bethesda expansions. So even if the price irkes you, there are alternatives other than never buying it. I will probably never buy EA or activision DLC because most of the time they are a blatant ripoff meant to squeeze every ounce of money from their loyal fans with absolutely no regard to their image.

course, by your logic a company can never do anything evil. If a company released a game for full price with over half of its content locked that you have to shell out 60 dollars more....well by golly you can just say nay!

also, i could have easily reported you for implying that i do not have a brain. I wont because it would serve no real purpose. But there are other posters on these forums who would start a crusade against you for such demeaning behavior.

I never implied you didn't have a brain in your skull. I insisted that I would use my mind and free will to determine value and act accordingly. That I wasn't a sheep that needed everything and only bought things I have figured out was worth it. The priviledge I am talking about is choice. But if it offend you by all means report it rather than threaten with it. If I broke the rules then report it, otherwise it is just a childish threat.

But your logic is still flawed.

EA sells overpriced DLC = meant to squeeze every ounce of money from their loyal fans.
Bethesda sells overpriced DLC = They will sell it cheaper later. Therefore ok.

First of all. Both companies are trying to get as much money from you as possible. EA is just less competent at it.
But more importantly aren't you trying to get as much game as possible for your money?
Why does your definition of greed only go one way?
Furthermore where do you have do you have that crystal ball from? You seem to know the future. More importantly EA did lower Prices on their games. Why aren't they getting the same treatment as Bethesda in your equation?

Also no, a company can be evil. Just not by overpricing. That just makes them stupid.

It is a free market, and it is DLC. You talk about it as if it was insulin (if it was insulin yes, then it would be evil). If they are telling you black on white what they are selling then you have the choice to buy it. You always have the choice.

you have a choice, but EA and Activision are the only companies that i know of that take away your OPTIONS. So while i may disagree with dawnguards current worth, it will eventually sink to a value which i consider reasonable. No such thing exists for EA DLC, because they very rarely, if ever, go down in price.

honestly, the DLC thing is a drop in the ocean when it comes to EA evil.

as for my crystal ball....well i see New vegas DLC on sale again on steam for about 1.50. hmm.....so it looks like history proves me right.

your options with EA are shell over way too much money or dont play it ever. There is practically no middle ground.

First false statement
"that take away your OPTIONS".
You are not entitled to any options. And they cannot prevent you from not buying it. Even if it was true that they didn't lower their prices (it isn't) you have no right to a better deal. Someone is no more evil for not making it cheaper than someone is evil for not making it free.

Second false statement
"so it looks like history proves me right."
History doesn't prove you right. It shows a precedence. I worked for 10 hours Friday. History doesn't prove ill work for 10 hours next Friday. What you have is a logical fallacy.

.....you say first false statement, and then contradict yourself. bravo. really, im clapping right now. If my statement was false, you would be arguing how EA doesnt take away my options, not if i am entitled to one. Making excuses for why my statement may be true does not make it false. In fact, you are admitting that what i said had at least some truth to it otherwise you would be arguing why it is NOT that way instead rather why it is that way.

really, bravo.

As for the "second false statement", new vegas was merely one example. I could point to oblivion, morrowwind, fallout 3, hell even RAGE (which came out a little over a half a year ago) had steep price cuts in a fairly short amount of time (3-6 months) which is pretty standard for non EA/activision games.

Is is POSSIBLE that Bethesda could go a completely different route and mimics EA, but as the past data shows, it is not PROBABLE.

EA treats their customers like crap and tries to squeeze as much money from them as possible. It was not long ago that EA had a decent reputation, hell even i liked EA 2-3 years ago. But now? With their systematic destruction of beloved franchises and their contribution to the stagnation of the industry? Okay, maybe evil is a bit far, but they deserve every iota of bad press that they get.

Yeah I contridicted myself....
You:"that take away your OPTIONS".
ME:"they cannot prevent you from not buying it."
You shouldn't feel so cocky when you cant seem to read things. That I need to make additional comments on it only shows how idiotic a statement it is. That I have point out that even if it was true how it still wouldn't prove your point shows you failed on 2 level. Factually and logically.

You sir have no case. You just riled up with non-arguments and factually false statements.

Yeah yeah yeah.

EA is evil for doing the same things as Bethesda, but Bethesda are good guys. I am not interested in your flawed logic or your biases.
You have no argument.

Me: EA takes away your options
You: false statement. you are not entitled to options.
Me: that does not prove a false statement

apparently reading your own statement is well beyond your ability.

Although it would appear that you have some inside information about how Dawnguard wont see a reduction in price in the near future even though that is what the company has done with every previous installment. Do share if you have any.

Or are you just going to keep pounding your head on the desk saying "lol nope they will do the same thing EA does because i say so" without providing a single shred of proof.

i mean, at least TRY to come up with something remotely similar to a logical argument, this is just SAD.

You make a strawman and knock it down... good show. There is a reason that you are not using a quote. Because it happens be a strawman.

Then tell me to prove a negative. I never said they wouldn't lower their prices. I said you dont have any proof they will. You going to say I have to prove they wont? You bear the burden of proof buddy not me. Precedence isn't proof. It is precedence. Like I pointed out 2 posts ago.

Like I said. You have nothing.

You are intellectually dishonest and at this point you are just starting to attack my persona rather than backup your argument. It is pretty clear that this is a waste of time.

Oh, NOW intellectual dishonesty is an issue? Boy gee golly, you should have thought about that a few posts ago before you started this whole fur fight and the personal attacks. Maybe you should treat people with respect if that is how you wanted to be treated? SHOCKING concept.

It is not fun when the shoe is on the other foot, is it? Maybe you should think on that more before practicing such tactics. Hopefully this will help you grow as a person.

oh, and i already mentioned the difference between possible and probable which you promptly ignored as it showed your whole argument to be false.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Yes they fuck up on regional pricing, Dawnguard is $20 in US but 20 Euro is possibly a mistake, it's 14 pounds sterling.
http://www.steamprices.com/uk/dlc/211720/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-dawnguard

At least Steam rips you off in your own currency. Aussies and Kiwis get massively ripped off in USD... and the lazy fucks can't even be bothered sticking in a little conversion window to show you what the price is in the local money (unlike GoG who, while still pricing in USD, also show what that equals in your own cash... and GoG don't do regional pricing).

Ahh, good old good old games games

But inter-regional pricing in general:

GoG shitcanned regional pricing because Distributors were being fuckheads about it all and forcing them to raise prices for certain regions (Bandai Namco threatening legal action to get GoG/CDP to raise the price of the Aussie release of The Witcher 2 to being inline with the retail price being the last straw... suffice to say I doubt Bamco will be distributing Cyberpunk or any other future CDPR titles).

Of course, Valve's support of regional pricing is backed up by the fact that you can't move your PC 3 feet without Steam demanding you reauthenticate... let alone that whole 'your present location is not the region of your Steam account. NO SOUP GAMES FOR YOU!' routine.

PS: how does taxation work when you are buying something online in foreign currency?!?

Fucked if I know. Only thing I do know is that in Australia anything purchased overseas via the net is GST exempt if it's price is less than the equivalent of AU$1000. Not sure how import duties and shit affect it.

 

[cthulhuspawn82]

Bethesda started going way into the DLC market with Fallout 3, and with Oblivion with a lesser extent. DLC of any kind is a EA level scam. Dawnguard is 1/3 the cost of Skyrim but has nowhere near 1/3 content and took far, far less then 1/3 the Time/Money to produce. Those numbers add up to it being a rip off. You get the same result for any DLC that has ever been released for any game.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I think the real issue is that its not really principals. Just people like to get riled up generally.

Of course it's not about principles... that would require more people to actually have principles in the first place.

 

[crazyrabbits]

Bethesda started going way into the DLC market with Fallout 3, and with Oblivion with a lesser extent. DLC of any kind is a EA level scam. Dawnguard is 1/3 the cost of Skyrim but has nowhere near 1/3 content and took far, far less then 1/3 the Time/Money to produce. Those numbers add up to it being a rip off. You get the same result for any DLC that has ever been released for any game.

The thing with DLC is that customers who buy it are always at the mercy of the publishers who create it. There are currently no industry guidelines or accountability procedures for how DLC is priced, and that's a problem, considering how many different types of DLC releases there are.

On one hand, you have legitimate DLC that is only put into production after/due to the success of its parent game. They hire voice actors back, create all new game assets and ensure that the content you're playing is original and was done after the fact.

On another, you have "day-one" DLC, where the majority of content (voicing/animating/scripting) was done prior to the game's certification, yet it is released alongside the main game and marketed as something that was only conceived of after the fact (i.e. Mass Effect 3's "From Ashes").

A minor variant is the sale of game assets (characters, weapons, levels) that are already on-disc and sold separately. This usually skirts consumer ethics issues by making you pay for content you, as a consumer, already own on physical media. On another, you have "pointless" DLC that is made solely to capitalize on a game's popularity or hype, has no impact on any mechanic of the game, and is usually exorbitantly overpriced (i.e. Horse Armor).

There's such a gray area between these different types that I don't blame anyone for getting it confused. Yet, companies will continue to piggyback off the loyalty of consumers as long as we let them. The only thing I base my purchasing power at the moment is whether or not I take the company at face value that they're going to take me for more money than I expected.

 

[Treblaine]

Yes they fuck up on regional pricing, Dawnguard is $20 in US but 20 Euro is possibly a mistake, it's 14 pounds sterling.
http://www.steamprices.com/uk/dlc/211720/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-dawnguard

At least Steam rips you off in your own currency. Aussies and Kiwis get massively ripped off in USD... and the lazy fucks can't even be bothered sticking in a little conversion window to show you what the price is in the local money (unlike GoG who, while still pricing in USD, also show what that equals in your own cash... and GoG don't do regional pricing).

Ahh, good old good old games games

But inter-regional pricing in general:

GoG shitcanned regional pricing because Distributors were being fuckheads about it all and forcing them to raise prices for certain regions (Bandai Namco threatening legal action to get GoG/CDP to raise the price of the Aussie release of The Witcher 2 to being inline with the retail price being the last straw... suffice to say I doubt Bamco will be distributing Cyberpunk or any other future CDPR titles).

Of course, Valve's support of regional pricing is backed up by the fact that you can't move your PC 3 feet without Steam demanding you reauthenticate... let alone that whole 'your present location is not the region of your Steam account. NO SOUP GAMES FOR YOU!' routine.

PS: how does taxation work when you are buying something online in foreign currency?!?

Fucked if I know. Only thing I do know is that in Australia anything purchased overseas via the net is GST exempt if it's price is less than the equivalent of AU$1000. Not sure how import duties and shit affect it.

I hear steam's inter regional pricing goes both ways. While they charge more for Australians, Russians pay comparatively less.

Why? It's not different taxation, it's simply the case that the classic "what the market can bear" is different and Russians just straight up will not buy games unless they are much cheaper. Also, there are more Russians than Australians so as a demographic they are more valuable to lose.

Capitalism: for all it's capability in some cases it really is totally broken and inter-currency pricing is part of that problem.

But in the mean time, Australia needs to multiply in population and DEMAND lower prices. GoG.com is the place to go for now but I'm pretty sure if you go overseas and use your steam account (I did this) you can buy games in that currency.

You don't have to go all the way to 'merica, just to a country without a currency supported on steam then it defaults to US Dollars. I did this when I visited my father in Qatar, I bought Serious Sam 3 for $40 when it was £30 in the UK, which was more like $50 than $40 at the time. Though the difference might just have been the inclusion of tax. Still I think sales tax is a burden that the publisher has to bear. If sales-tax goes up, they have to swallow some of the cost.

So, any possibility of a holiday soon to Indonesia? Must be a short hop over there.

 

[Aprilgold]

Bethesda is not EA, its Bioware like DRes82 said at the end of the first page.

Bethesda does dumb shit like allow bugs into their game if they find it funny, release highly broken games and allow marketing to carry them. In a few years they'll be EA, but thats a little while.

 

[Treblaine]

On another, you have "day-one" DLC, where the majority of content (voicing/animating/scripting) was done prior to the game's certification, yet it is released alongside the main game and marketed as something that was only conceived of after the fact (i.e. Mass Effect 3's "From Ashes").

I wouldn't have a problem with day-one DLC IF they advertised the game that was lacking such DLC as

"Yeah, this isn't the complete version. By all means it is a full game but there is a whole load of peripheral stuff that you may want to skip but you can buy later if you like".

Call it the "budget edition" or "Starter edition" or "Core Edition".

Don't call the version with all the launch-DLC included the "Deluxe Edition" as that is bullshit, it is not "deluxe" or "special" for a game to include the content that was actually developed for it at time of release. And don't give me BS about downtime and "hurr how can we get this content to you other than selling it to you" by patches of course, you don't charge for patches, they are automatic.

I think it would be a good and honest model if you sold the "Core Edition" for $40 with the whole story but large chunks of narrative, events and weapons torn out that you can buy later when you can... and then the "Standard Model" with everything that was ready at launch either in the game either in the install or in the day-one patch.

The "Gold Edition" would be released MUCH LATER, including all the later developed DLC in a bundle. But it would be ultimate.

 

[ksn0va]

The only difference is that Bethesda hasn't pissed off consumers in such a relentless fashion as EA. Sure, they made one lackluster DLC overpriced. That doesn't make them the equivalent of gaming's Joseph Stalin.

3 words: Oblivion Horse Armor.

 

[Signa]

They have a LOOOOOOOONG way to go before they are EA, but I caught a whiff of their stench on them after Oblivion, so I'm going to say yes. EA's motivations are simply what every company strives for, but they just do it in bad ways. Bethesda is in a position to exploit money from fans because they are offering unique products that people want. It would not be hard for them to slip to EA's levels.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

You don't have to go all the way to 'merica, just to a country without a currency supported on steam then it defaults to US Dollars.

The Aussie version of Steam uses US Dollars... but using the numbers from Aussie retail prices. No fucking idea why.

So, any possibility of a holiday soon to Indonesia? Must be a short hop over there.

Meh. Even if I had a few grand spare to take a trip to Bali, once I got there I'd have better things to blow my cash on than games...


The interesting thing is that there's currently a Parliamentary Inquiry here looking into the whole issue of online retail and regional pricing...

The big push is to have 'geo-blocking' classified as a Restrictive Trade Practice. That would mean that it would be illegal to have code in place that takes the ip address of a user and use it to lock them into using a specific regional sales subsite, which is the very cornerstone for enforcing regional pricing schemes... which wouldn't have any effect on websites based outside Australia but would have a very big impact on software packages that do so such as iTunes and Steam, not to mention the publishers who so dearly love regional pricing schemes.

The impact would be because once geo-blocking was classified as a Restrictive Trade Practice, the companies involved would basically have 3 options - drop geo-blocking, stop doing any business in/with Australia, or accept that it would then be legal to circumvent geo-blocking and then circumvent any side issues that caused.

 

[Treblaine]

You don't have to go all the way to 'merica, just to a country without a currency supported on steam then it defaults to US Dollars.

The Aussie version of Steam uses US Dollars... but using the numbers from Aussie retail prices. No fucking idea why.

So, any possibility of a holiday soon to Indonesia? Must be a short hop over there.

Meh. Even if I had a few grand spare to take a trip to Bali, once I got there I'd have better things to blow my cash on than games...


The interesting thing is that there's currently a Parliamentary Inquiry here looking into the whole issue of online retail and regional pricing...

The big push is to have 'geo-blocking' classified as a Restrictive Trade Practice. That would mean that it would be illegal to have code in place that takes the ip address of a user and use it to lock them into using a specific regional sales subsite, which is the very cornerstone for enforcing regional pricing schemes... which wouldn't have any effect on websites based outside Australia but would have a very big impact on software packages that do so such as iTunes and Steam, not to mention the publishers who so dearly love regional pricing schemes.

The impact would be because once geo-blocking was classified as a Restrictive Trade Practice, the companies involved would basically have 3 options - drop geo-blocking, stop doing any business in/with Australia, or accept that it would then be legal to circumvent geo-blocking and then circumvent any side issues that caused.

Yeah, you've politicians and lawyers need to take a right good look into that, as if even in US Dollars they are playing silly buggers then something is definitely up. That's not down to anything like "oh herp a derp, exchange rates, tsk, gotta raise the price for them", it's (mainly) US publishers and US dollars right in the bank.