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General discussionConclusion of the Fair Price Package program(910 posts)(910 posts)
(910 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 26, 2019
On March 31st we are going to discontinue the Fair Price Package program. Let us explain the reasoning behind this decision.

We came up with Fair Price Package (FPP) as a way to make up the price difference between various countries. Some games on GOG.COM have regional pricing, meaning the price of the same game in one place can be higher compared to its price in North America. In countries where the game is more expensive, we give users the equivalent of the price difference in GOG Wallet funds. In actual numbers, on average, we give users back 12% of the game price from our own pocket. In some cases, this number can reach as high as 37%.

In the past, we were able to cover these extra costs from our cut and still turn a small profit. Unfortunately, this is not the case anymore. With an increasing share paid to developers, our cut gets smaller. However, we look at it, at the end of the day we are a store and need to make sure we sell games without a loss.

Removing FPP is not a decision we make lightly, but by making this change, we will be able to offer better conditions to game creators, which — in turn — will allow us to offer you more curated classic games and new releases. All DRM-free.

We wanted to make sure you have some lead time to still benefit from the Fair Price Package. The program will last until the 31st of March, 2019, so if you would like to take advantage of it, now is the time. The funds you gather from the program will keep the 12 months expiration date from the moment you’ve been granted your last funds.
Posted February 26, 2019
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First of all, thank you for your support. This was not an easy decision to discontinue the FPP program and we're grateful to you for understanding the reasons behind it. We see that quite a few of you raised concerns about GOG's future. As a part of publicly traded company, we can't comment on any financial results until they are officially reported, but we want to ensure you everything is good with GOG. Being part of a big gaming company, some reports - especially some given by significant media outlets - can often sound much scarier than reality.

You've been also concerned about your access to the games you’ve purchased on GOG. We've covered this topic years ago and it's been in our User Agreement for a long time (please check the section 17.3). This is not only a legal obligation to you but a core part of our ethics as a company.

But don’t worry, all is good, and we have a great plan for the future of GOG. We can’t wait for you to see some of the exciting things we have coming very soon.

EDIT: pinned
Post edited February 26, 2019 by elcook
Posted March 06, 2019
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extenion: but I thought above all we follow certain ideals and that's more important than some money.
Yeah... you know, it would be ideal if you gave all your money to me.
Posted March 06, 2019
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extenion:
I'd *slow clap* again, but sadly this message is 5 years too late. GOG gave up on ideals for growth at the time of the "good news". Now their only selling point is DRM free, though if DRM free is all one wants there are alternatives (some indies selling directly, itch, Fireflower, some games on Humble, Zoom...), and those looking for a client as well, which is obviously what GOG is also marketing towards since they started with Galaxy, can even do the digging and tweaking to get quite a bunch of Steam games to run without the client, just needing it to download and install, which is what they'd do here as well if they use Galaxy. But a store actively fighting for some values isn't on "offer" anywhere anymore, not since GOG decided to no longer be that.
Posted March 06, 2019
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extenion:
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Cavalary: I'd *slow clap* again, but sadly this message is 5 years too late. GOG gave up on ideals for growth at the time of the "good news". Now their only selling point is DRM free, though if DRM free is all one wants there are alternatives (some indies selling directly, itch, Fireflower, some games on Humble, Zoom...), and those looking for a client as well, which is obviously what GOG is also marketing towards since they started with Galaxy, can even do the digging and tweaking to get quite a bunch of Steam games to run without the client, just needing it to download and install, which is what they'd do here as well if they use Galaxy. But a store actively fighting for some values isn't on "offer" anywhere anymore, not since GOG decided to no longer be that.
What are you talking about?

What about upholding the DRM-free value they did since their humble beginnings? Is that not enough "fighting for some values" for you?

Yes, I am aware that one of the pillars, same price - had crumbled several years back, and they tried to compensate for it with the Fair Price Policy, for which they paid out of their own pockets.
Since those pockets were not bottomless and now they need to stay afloat + offer competitive edge towards other stores, they have to get rid of it.

It wasn´t easy decision, you can feel they were nervous how we, community will take it.

To put it simply - they have been fighting for those values as long as they could - what more would you want?

Plus, these points have been already discussed here: yes, there are other stores which sells DRM free games, but none has the DRM-free mantra as compulsory. If any of them decides tomorrow not to sell a single DRM-free game, nobody can blame them, whereas if GOG would do it, that would be the end of them.
Post edited March 06, 2019 by Tarhiel
Posted March 06, 2019
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toxicTom: Rime costs €34.99, GOG currently taking a cut of 30%, that's €10.50.
I'd be surprised if GOG weren't making a loss on that already as they would be getting less than that due to VAT.
Posted March 06, 2019
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Tarhiel:
I said values other than that one. And GOG decided to give up on its other values and did so. They had decided to give up on the flat pricing 5 years ago too, but the community backlash forced them to implement the FPP, which still hardly makes up for it since those paying more still have to do so for the purchase itself, and the publishers still get the extra money, so in effect they weren't fighting the industry at all anymore.
Values aren't something you uphold "as long as you can". You either do or don't, and what you do "as long as you can" if you actually do have values is staying afloat. You struggle while upholding those values to the bitter end, obviously refuse anything putting additional pressure on you, which in GOG's case starts with CDP's demands for them to fund their development and then also build and maintain the infrastructure for Gwent, which brought this increase in operating costs that put GOG in the red in the first place, and if that's really not enough you eventually fold. And that'd leave room even for some from your own team, not to mention others, to pick up that banner and try again later.
But, as you also spelled out, their top "value" since 2014 is staying competitive. The problem being is just this impression, which again you also spelled out, that they're the only store with any values whatsoever, so even though there's not even real evidence of it, nobody actually went bankrupt after trying to stick strictly to those values and with no additional expenses or expansion desires, once they give up on something for the vast majority it means it can't be supported anymore, the industry won that battle and not even anyone else can pick up the fallen banner later. Leaving, as I keep saying, the only hope, false as it may be, that they'll someday turn back around. But... Yeah...
Posted March 06, 2019
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Acriz: We have legions of lawyers who actually prosecute people who pirate things. Their cease and desist letters are usually bundled with 1000-2000€ fines in lawyer fees. Or they drag you in front of a court, which can get you actual jail time.
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Ancient-Red-Dragon: How are they identifying the pirates, exactly? Those who do get identified must not be very smart, as standard run-of-the-mill techniques would not catch a pirate who has the slightest clue of what they are doing.

And I'm pretty sure it's not possible for a non-government agency to "fine" anyone. Letters that copyright trolls send to potential, alleged copyright infringers with unjust demands for payment are pretty much akin to extortion.
Well, the easiest way to get an IP of a pirate is through p2p filesharing. They usually go to torrents for their client's intellectual properties and collect the IPs of german users. Then they ask the ISPs to give out the users information that used that specific IP at that time, which they are required to by law. And the rest is paperwork.
Posted March 06, 2019
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deleted_user:
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elcook: Be patient, just a bit, please.
No, it's not about GOG Direct to Account - we're literally informing about it all GOG users with the User Agreement update email.
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deleted_user:
Still patiently waiting. :P
And thank you for that! The day is coming. By the end of this week everything will be clear, I promise :)
Posted March 06, 2019
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deleted_user:
Still patiently waiting. :P
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elcook: And thank you for that! The day is coming. By the end of this week everything will be clear, I promise :)
Cool I can wait that long. :P
Posted March 06, 2019
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deleted_user:
Still patiently waiting. :P
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elcook: And thank you for that! The day is coming. By the end of this week everything will be clear, I promise :)
Phew, I was getting worried we simply missed it :p
Posted March 06, 2019
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deleted_user:
Still patiently waiting. :P
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elcook: And thank you for that! The day is coming. By the end of this week everything will be clear, I promise :)
The day is coming. Winter is coming. Skyrim Confirmed ;)
Post edited March 06, 2019 by erbello
Posted March 06, 2019
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elcook: And thank you for that! The day is coming. By the end of this week everything will be clear, I promise :)
Something about closing down and monks? Been there.
Posted March 06, 2019
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Tarhiel:
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Cavalary: I said values other than that one. And GOG decided to give up on its other values and did so. They had decided to give up on the flat pricing 5 years ago too, but the community backlash forced them to implement the FPP, which still hardly makes up for it since those paying more still have to do so for the purchase itself, and the publishers still get the extra money, so in effect they weren't fighting the industry at all anymore.
Values aren't something you uphold "as long as you can". You either do or don't, and what you do "as long as you can" if you actually do have values is staying afloat. You struggle while upholding those values to the bitter end, obviously refuse anything putting additional pressure on you, which in GOG's case starts with CDP's demands for them to fund their development and then also build and maintain the infrastructure for Gwent, which brought this increase in operating costs that put GOG in the red in the first place, and if that's really not enough you eventually fold. And that'd leave room even for some from your own team, not to mention others, to pick up that banner and try again later.
But, as you also spelled out, their top "value" since 2014 is staying competitive. The problem being is just this impression, which again you also spelled out, that they're the only store with any values whatsoever, so even though there's not even real evidence of it, nobody actually went bankrupt after trying to stick strictly to those values and with no additional expenses or expansion desires, once they give up on something for the vast majority it means it can't be supported anymore, the industry won that battle and not even anyone else can pick up the fallen banner later. Leaving, as I keep saying, the only hope, false as it may be, that they'll someday turn back around. But... Yeah...
Good to hear that I‘m not the only one who is seeing it this way.
GOG is no different to Steam ... oh wait, Steam‘s client is million times better and their website as well. Other than that I can hear a lot of people crying out lout about drm free, like in Gwent.
Posted March 06, 2019
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john_hatcher: and their website as well.
Their store page whilst not great is better as they allow you to turn off auto-playing videos something GOG does not do at the moment.

Also i'm worried as to what elcook is saying, as chances are its going to be another site update (the one they have been apparently working on since the massive backlash they got since the anniversary update.) As we all know GOG and their history when it comes to changing things.
Posted March 06, 2019
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john_hatcher: and their website as well.
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Pond86: Their store page whilst not great is better as they allow you to turn off auto-playing videos something GOG does not do at the moment.

Also i'm worried as to what elcook is saying, as chances are its going to be another site update (the one they have been apparently working on since the massive backlash they got since the anniversary update.) As we all know GOG and their history when it comes to changing things.
The auto-play is only on the front page big spot, and only if you hover over the image. Other than that there is no auto-play enabled anywhere.
And no, the big news is not about the site update.
Posted March 06, 2019
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elcook: The auto-play is only on the front page big spot, and only if you hover over the image. Other than that there is no auto-play enabled anywhere.
And no, the big news is not about the site update.
Auto-play is still there. A number of games still have it if you over over them, though its mostly from the game pages under the You May Like or In this Series sections.

And I don't know if I should be happy or even more worried.
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Community
General discussionConclusion of the Fair Price Package program(910 posts)(910 posts)
(910 posts)