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General discussionGetting back to our roots(1418 posts)(1418 posts)
(1418 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted March 11, 2014
Hey, GOGgers,

We're not perfect, we're exploring new frontiers, and we make mistakes. We thought DRM-Free was so important that you'd prefer we bring you more DRM-Free games and Fair Price was less critical and that it could be sacrificed in some cases. The last two week's worth of comments in our forums (nearly 10k!), show that's not the case. We didn’t listen and we let you down. We shouldn't sacrifice one of our core values in an attempt to advance another. We feel bad about that, and we're sorry. Us being sorry is not of much use to you, so let’s talk about how we will fix it.

One: DRM-free forever. Abandoning fixed regional pricing means it will probably take longer to get some games, but you've made it clear that sacrificing fair pricing for more DRM-free games isn't acceptable.

Two: We will adamantly continue to fight for games with flat worldwide pricing. If that fails and we are required to have regional prices, we will make up the difference for you out of our own pockets. For now it will be with $5.99 and $9.99 game codes. In a couple of months, once we have such functionality implemented, we will give you store credit instead, which then you will be able to use towards any purchase and cover the price of it in full or partially. Effectively gamers from all around the world will be able to benefit from the US prices.

This will apply to every single game where we do not have flat pricing, such as Age of Wonders 3 (full details here), Divinity: Original Sin, and The Witcher 3. If you remember the Fair Price Package for The Witcher 2, this will be exactly the same.

Three: We still intend to introduce the pricing in local currencies. Let us explain why we want to do it and how we want to make it fair for everyone. From the very beginning our intention was to make things easier for users whose credit cards/payment systems are not natively in USD. The advantages are simple because the price is more understandable and easier to relate to. There would be no exchange rates involved, no transaction fees, and no other hidden charges. However after reading your comments, we realized we have taken an important element away: the choice. In order to fix this, we'll offer the option of paying in the local currency or the equivalent in USD. This way, how you pay is always your choice.

Four: You are what matters, and we will be sure to involve you all more in what we're doing and why we're doing it. Let's start by meeting you at GDC - we’d like to invite you to meet us face-to-face Monday the 17th at GDC. Obviously, not all of you can come to San Francisco, so we want to invite all of you to an online event with us early in April to ask us whatever you would like. More details soon.

The bottom line is simple: there may be companies that won't work with us (although we will work hard to convince the most stubborn ones ;). Yes, it means we might miss out on some games, but at the same time GOG.com will remain true to its values and will keep on offering you the best of DRM-free gaming with Fair Prices.

Once again thank you for caring so much about GOG.com. We will work hard not to disappoint you again.

--Marcin "iWi" Iwinski & Guillaume "TheFrenchMonk" Rambourg
Posted March 11, 2014
avatar
k1bell: No worries GOG, we'll just go right back into whining about the lack of releases and all that after the feel-good euphoria has gone.
Customer service, you lose either way!

How many do whine for lack of new-new games here? I don't really follow the forums...
Posted March 11, 2014
low rated
avatar
GOG.com: Hey, GOGgers,

We're not perfect, we're exploring new frontiers, and we make mistakes. We thought DRM-Free was so important that you'd prefer we bring you more DRM-Free games and Fair Price was less critical and that it could be sacrificed in some cases. The last two week's worth of comments ( and the plummet in sales ) in our forums (nearly 10k!), show that's not the case. We didn’t listen and we let you down. ( we didnt want to listen as we thought we could rip you all off to line our pockets) We shouldn't sacrifice one of our core values in an attempt to advance another. We feel bad about that ( we really feel bad that it didnt work out in our favour and dont really feel bad for our customers at all), and we're sorry. Us being sorry is not of much use to you, so let’s talk about how we will fix it.

One: DRM-free forever. Abandoning fixed regional pricing means it will probably take longer to get some games, but you've made it clear that sacrificing fair pricing for more DRM-free games isn't acceptable.

(the new games we offered were at the bottom end of the AAA carrot on the stick we offered you and we really had no ace up our sleeve so we have had to eat humble pie)

Two: We will adamantly continue to fight for games with flat worldwide pricing. If that fails and we are required to have regional prices, we will make up the difference for you out of our own pockets. For now it will be with $5.99 and $9.99 game codes. In a couple of months, once we have such functionality implemented, we will give you store credit instead, which then you will be able to use towards any purchase and cover the price of it in full or partially. Effectively gamers from all around the world will be able to benefit from the US prices.

This will apply to every single game where we do not have flat pricing, such as Age of Wonders 3 (full details here), Divinity: Original Sin, and The Witcher 3. If you remember the Fair Price Package for The Witcher 2, this will be exactly the same.

Three: We still intend to introduce the pricing in local currencies. Let us explain why we want to do it and how we want to make it fair for everyone. From the very beginning our intention was to make things easier for users whose credit cards/payment systems are not natively in USD. The advantages are simple because the price is more understandable and easier to relate to. There would be no exchange rates involved, no transaction fees, and no other hidden charges. However after reading your comments, we realized we have taken an important element away: the choice. In order to fix this, we'll offer the option of paying in the local currency or the equivalent in USD. This way, how you pay is always your choice.

Four: You are what matters, and we will be sure to involve you all more in what we're doing and why we're doing it. Let's start by meeting you at GDC - we’d like to invite you to meet us face-to-face Monday the 17th at GDC. Obviously, not all of you can come to San Francisco, so we want to invite all of you to an online event with us early in April to ask us whatever you would like. More details soon.

The bottom line is simple: there may be companies that won't work with us (although we will work hard to convince the most stubborn ones ;). Yes, it means we might miss out on some games, but at the same time GOG.com will remain true to its values and will keep on offering you the best of DRM-free gaming with Fair Prices.

Once again thank you for caring so much about GOG.com. We will work hard not to disappoint you again.

Our sales have sucked this last 2 weeks, dispite running a few promotions , so please buy our stuff again ...pretty please

--Marcin "iWi" Iwinski & Guillaume "TheFrenchMonk" Rambourg
i fixed some of that for you

you also need to sack your marketing guy - the current one you have kind of sucks balls and doesnt seem to have any experience in real business.
As a MD you need to have a clear strategy and plans in place to help you achieve that.
From what i have seen you have neither and the management of GOG reminds me of panic management / firefighting , which is really sad.
Post edited March 11, 2014 by paulrainer
Posted March 11, 2014
GOG, you messed up this "regional pricing" stuff on an epic scale. But after this you have enough balls to look back, realize that what you have done was wrong, revert the changes, admit to made a mistake and apologize to your userbase.
My hat off to you, that's a honesty which - sadly - is nowadays not as universal as it should be. Thank you for that and I'm pleased to inform you that you have my wholeheartedly support again.

But for the future reference, please, refrain for this kind of marketing stunts. Be honest, be straightforward, keep your promises and treat us, users as partners, not like a mobile credit card racks. We believe in you, we support you, we want you to flourish and prosper and provide us with great games. Be good, GOG :)
Posted March 11, 2014
This is outrageous! Good bye GOG, I will never forgive you.

Just joking :-P I wasn't that pissed of about the pricing issue, and I would had happily traded that for more classic releases. But I guess you can't please everyone, and if the majority is indeed against the regional price stuff, well, so be it.

Anyway, very classy of you to step back out of concern.
Posted March 11, 2014
Although this is great, I feel that you're caving to the "community" (the vocal minority) a bit too easily. The entitled gamers that were throwing a shit fit don't always need to be placated. So long as your games remain DRM-free, you should charge what you please and let the buyer decide what a game is worth to them on a case by case basis.

Eh, whatever.
Posted March 11, 2014
avatar
GOG.com: In order to fix this, we'll offer the option of paying in the local currency or the equivalent in USD. This way, how you pay is always your choice.
I read this as 'pay the inflated local price or pay the inflated local equivalent in USD'. Surely you meant to say 'pay in USD or the equivalent in local currency'. If you meant what you say, nothing's changed.
Posted March 11, 2014
avatar
mistermumbles: No more games! Never again! It's all your fault GOGers! =P
I stand corrected.
So much for getting more good games (the term good varies between ppl).

And no I don't dislike world-wide pricing
Post edited March 11, 2014 by simon_vd
Posted March 11, 2014
Eh I think GOG should have stuck with there decision honestly. People may have complained loudly and those who complain always do (they would have gotten over it)... but as always the decision if something was worth the price is in the hands of the consumers. Now we will all likely miss out on games that we could have had here DRM free because certain consumers couldn't exercise there ability to not buy something that was overpriced but instead complained and threaten to leave GOG which would have been unlikely because GOG still gives the better value and nowhere else has flat regional pricing.

Not saying regional pricing is a good thing, it's not and is stupid... but it's the consumers who should show that by not purchasing the product... not complaining and blaming GOG for what needed to be done to get us more DRM free games. I just hope in the long run this doesn't effect GOG's profits to much and hurts us all.
Posted March 11, 2014
Wow!

You established new HD level of customer relationship!:)

Gratz!
Post edited March 11, 2014 by sunrrrise
Posted March 11, 2014
avatar
tof-1984: Fair prices in euros coming & gifts : perfect ! Thank you
Not exactly. Basically things have remained the same. There's still going to be regional pricing, and possibly regional versions of games, but they're more committed for compensating somewhat for the difference.

However, I don't consider fair pricing =

US, game costs you $35
EU, game costs you $50 and we'll give you $15 in game coupons*

*(initially only able to spend on full priced games, though hopefully with the store credit we can use it on sales as well)

Fair price is not having you spend more money and have that money locked to future purchases on their store. But I'll admit this is a lot better than what they were saying/planning so far, and certainly better than what most stores offer.
Post edited March 11, 2014 by Pheace
Posted March 11, 2014
I'll be frank. I dislike non-flat pricing. Period. No bribery will change the fact that this seems like a prelude to some kind of region lock mechanics, a-la Steam.

This decision is wrong, because it will give incentive to members to use proxies to cheat the system, or game it to get prizes if they do. As someone with dynamic IP I can see how this can be used against me and GoG. GoG may mistake me for cheater and ban me from purchasing or some other punishment. Cheaters may present themselves as honest guys getting caught in crossfire, for media coverage to hurt GoG.

GoG opened a can of worms, I'm not sure anyone there is willing to swallow.
Posted March 11, 2014
avatar
GOG.com: Hey, GOGgers,

We're not perfect, we're exploring new frontiers, and we make mistakes. We thought DRM-Free was so important that you'd prefer we bring you more DRM-Free games and Fair Price was less critical and that it could be sacrificed in some cases. The last two week's worth of comments ( and the plummet in sales ) in our forums (nearly 10k!), show that's not the case. We didn’t listen and we let you down. ( we didnt want to listen as we thought we could rip you all off to line our pockets) We shouldn't sacrifice one of our core values in an attempt to advance another. We feel bad about that ( we really feel bad that it didnt work out in our favour and dont really feel bad for our customers at all), and we're sorry. Us being sorry is not of much use to you, so let’s talk about how we will fix it.

One: DRM-free forever. Abandoning fixed regional pricing means it will probably take longer to get some games, but you've made it clear that sacrificing fair pricing for more DRM-free games isn't acceptable.

(the new games we offered were at the bottom end of the AAA carrot on the stick we offered you and we really had no ace up our sleeve so we have had to eat humble pie)

Two: We will adamantly continue to fight for games with flat worldwide pricing. If that fails and we are required to have regional prices, we will make up the difference for you out of our own pockets. For now it will be with $5.99 and $9.99 game codes. In a couple of months, once we have such functionality implemented, we will give you store credit instead, which then you will be able to use towards any purchase and cover the price of it in full or partially. Effectively gamers from all around the world will be able to benefit from the US prices.

This will apply to every single game where we do not have flat pricing, such as Age of Wonders 3 (full details here), Divinity: Original Sin, and The Witcher 3. If you remember the Fair Price Package for The Witcher 2, this will be exactly the same.

Three: We still intend to introduce the pricing in local currencies. Let us explain why we want to do it and how we want to make it fair for everyone. From the very beginning our intention was to make things easier for users whose credit cards/payment systems are not natively in USD. The advantages are simple because the price is more understandable and easier to relate to. There would be no exchange rates involved, no transaction fees, and no other hidden charges. However after reading your comments, we realized we have taken an important element away: the choice. In order to fix this, we'll offer the option of paying in the local currency or the equivalent in USD. This way, how you pay is always your choice.

Four: You are what matters, and we will be sure to involve you all more in what we're doing and why we're doing it. Let's start by meeting you at GDC - we’d like to invite you to meet us face-to-face Monday the 17th at GDC. Obviously, not all of you can come to San Francisco, so we want to invite all of you to an online event with us early in April to ask us whatever you would like. More details soon.

The bottom line is simple: there may be companies that won't work with us (although we will work hard to convince the most stubborn ones ;). Yes, it means we might miss out on some games, but at the same time GOG.com will remain true to its values and will keep on offering you the best of DRM-free gaming with Fair Prices.

Once again thank you for caring so much about GOG.com. We will work hard not to disappoint you again.

--Marcin "iWi" Iwinski & Guillaume "TheFrenchMonk" Rambourg
avatar
paulrainer: i fixed some of that for you

you also need to sack your marketing guy - the current one you have kind of sucks balls and doesnt seem to have any experience in real business.
As a MD you need to have a clear strategy and plans in place to help you achieve that.
From what i have seen you have neither and the management of GOG reminds me of panic management / firefighting , which is really sad.
Come on, there's absolutely no need to be arrogant. They've responded to the community and they've done it well, both in the first letter and in this one. I'd rather have a company that behaves like a human, which is to say communicating ideas, making mistakes, going back on them, and so on, instead of a perfectly oiled machine led by some marketing strategy forever under a 'general direction' that ignores its user base.
Posted March 11, 2014
low rated
avatar
sunrrrise: Wow!

You established new HD level of customer relationship!:)

Gratz!
no , they have watched their sales plummet this last 2 weeks dispite running a few promos so they have been forced to apologise for making a mess of regional pricing..... dont mistake this as gog being good guys...they tried to rip us off and it didnt work so now they are begging us to buy their stuff again.
Posted March 11, 2014
avatar
justanoldgamer: In addition to the option of paying in U.S. or local currency, how about an option of not getting free codes for games with regional prices for people who are not fine with GOG loosing money?
I could easily fool GOG's GeoIP system and add items to cart by faking my location. But I will pay for them by using my real location - prices will be the same. Your regional pricing is ruined.
Posted March 11, 2014
"Abandoning fixed regional pricing means it will probably take longer to get some games"
"The bottom line is simple: there may be companies that won't work with us (although we will work hard to convince the most stubborn ones ;). "

Are you guys saying that new, as in new to the world games are going to take longer to turn up or are you saying that abandoning regional pricing is going to hurt attempts to sign Take 2, Sega, Disney/LucasArts etc?

I don't mind the first case so much because at as long as a game is available to me on DD somewhere I'm happy enough and if so then this is defiantly a GOOD more
If its going to hamper efforts to uncover lost treasure its a bit more sad though!

Still glad everyone else has cheered up, if anyone sees damien please tell him and send him back and I'm going to hope that he's still got copies of his lists sorted away in Excel or something...
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionGetting back to our roots(1418 posts)(1418 posts)
(1418 posts)