Preorders, DLC, and Bears oh my!

It would seem 2K Greg didn't notice my question, so for the sake of an answer, I'll reiterate it here:

C'mon dude... we all know the answer to this already.

The special edition includes the figurines, the manual, the artbook, etc. It doesn't have any DLC and/or pre-order bonuses.

I mean yeah it's possible they add that stuff in, in the same sense that anything is possible. But don't count on it.
 
I have never been more disappointed in my life.

Greg made me think there'd be a Bear civilization. I was already making plans to mod a nation led by Stephen Colbert to fight them. Dammit, Greg -.-
 
Dale: Pricing and availability works differently for different outlets and regions, depending on what and where you are talking about. I don't have the exact details on each individual situation, but if anything changes or games are available in new outlets, I'll let you guys know.

Ok let's start with an easy one.......

Why does Steam charge us $90 USD for the deluxe edition and $80 USD for the standard?

And a hard one just for kicks.......

Why does EBGames.com.au charge $128 AUD for the special edition (about $112 USD)?

Now I know you'll blow this off, BUT I AM SERIOUS! HOW DOES 2K JUSTIFY THAT EXTORTION? Are you going to claim that 2K has no influence on pricing? Because we all know that argument is crap.
 
Now I know you'll blow this off, BUT I AM SERIOUS! HOW DOES 2K JUSTIFY THAT EXTORTION? Are you going to claim that 2K has no influence on pricing? Because we all know that argument is crap.

Except if it's true. I'd think 2K is due some fixed fee for every copy Steam sells, and Steam is then free to set prices as they see fit for different regions. Same with Direct2Drive and pricing in the US/UK/EU. In the US, games traditionally cost €50. In the UK, games traditionally cost £30. In the EU, games traditionally cost €50. When these prices were originally "set" 10-15 years ago, these were all roughly equivalent. Today, due to fluctuating currency exchange rates, they differ a lot, meaning EU customers get to pay more for their games than UK or US customers do in absolute terms (though in practice, the game still costs the same in the EU as it used to).

So my best bet would be that for some historic reason, game prices are higher in Australia than other places, due to higher shipping costs, exchange rates or whatever - and that's what gets you the ugly end of the stick in terms of pricing, rather than some 2K evil plan.
 
Ok let's start with an easy one.......

Why does Steam charge us $90 USD for the deluxe edition and $80 USD for the standard?

And a hard one just for kicks.......

Why does EBGames.com.au charge $128 AUD for the special edition (about $112 USD)?

Now I know you'll blow this off, BUT I AM SERIOUS! HOW DOES 2K JUSTIFY THAT EXTORTION? Are you going to claim that 2K has no influence on pricing? Because we all know that argument is crap.

Dale -

Pricing works in different ways depending on where you are, what store you are buying from, etc. Yelling at Greg isn't going to change that or give you any more insight into global pricing structures. Pricing for products everywhere fluctuate, and while that isn't a perfect answer to your question, I don't have a perfect answer to your question. We're not ignoring you - but it's not something I have a more detailed response for.

If you have other qualms with this, please feel free to email me directly at 2KElizabeth@2KGames.com.
 
Small question, it seems 2K use the steamworks DLC feature. Are there any details already now available how and where the DLC will be sold? Only at Steam or will other online distributors (like D2D) sell the DLC. Will there be a way to buy the DLC content outside the internet (eg buying the keys or points (like Bioware) in a "boxed version")
 
This Direct2Drive deal looks pretty good, but I think I'll wait until we find out what those 2 extra civs actually are before preordering. Any idea when that will be?
 
Dale -

Pricing works in different ways depending on where you are, what store you are buying from, etc. Yelling at Greg isn't going to change that or give you any more insight into global pricing structures. Pricing for products everywhere fluctuate, and while that isn't a perfect answer to your question, I don't have a perfect answer to your question. We're not ignoring you - but it's not something I have a more detailed response for.

If you have other qualms with this, please feel free to email me directly at 2KElizabeth@2KGames.com.

So the price of civ5 in Aus is a "fluctuation"? :rolleyes: I think the honest answer which for some reason keeps being avoided is that it's what Australians will pay for the game.
 
it is annoying to always have to pay more just for living in Australia, but now i just consider it the tax I have to pay for living in driving distance of the best beaches in the world and one of the most liveable cities in the world.
 
Dale -

Pricing works in different ways depending on where you are, what store you are buying from, etc. Yelling at Greg isn't going to change that or give you any more insight into global pricing structures. Pricing for products everywhere fluctuate, and while that isn't a perfect answer to your question, I don't have a perfect answer to your question. We're not ignoring you - but it's not something I have a more detailed response for.

If you have other qualms with this, please feel free to email me directly at 2KElizabeth@2KGames.com.

That may fly for brick and mortar where multiple handlers will add their small markups (though even GameHead, a game's importer and wholesaler has the price at $82.75 AUD == $72.56 USD), but how do you explain Steam's price difference? Both prices are in the same USD denomination, the bits of 1's and 0's are the same, the download location is the same, the version is the same, the retailer is the same, yet the consumer price is almost double.

I find it ironic that publishers can complain bitterly over how Australia has the highest piracy rates in the World, yet at the same time set the highest prices in the World. Coincidence?
 
Indeed. Not that I wish to advocate piracy, but I would suggest that at 80USD the price is well past what a lot of consumers with good intentions would be willing to pay. The price is about 100AUD, and if I recall I paid about 60AUD for Civ4 when I bought it all those years ago.

One thing I could suggest:
If 2K insist on sticking with regional pricing (as seems apparent), perhaps you can also insist on regional sales/specials? After a month, reduce only the Australian price of the game to 50USD and watch the sales roll in. :p
 
That may fly for brick and mortar where multiple handlers will add their small markups (though even GameHead, a game's importer and wholesaler has the price at $82.75 AUD == $72.56 USD), but how do you explain Steam's price difference? Both prices are in the same USD denomination, the bits of 1's and 0's are the same, the download location is the same, the version is the same, the retailer is the same, yet the consumer price is almost double.

I find it ironic that publishers can complain bitterly over how Australia has the highest piracy rates in the World, yet at the same time set the highest prices in the World. Coincidence?

I'm with you Dale. The extra cost made sense about 5-6 years ago, when the Australian Dollar was worth a lot less & when I was buying it from a B&M outlet. I just figured it was allowing for Shipping Costs & the difference in currency. Yet when you have parity in our dollars *and* you're buying from an online source, then all these arguments fall away. Don't get me wrong, I will probably buy the game-from a B&M outlet, but I'm still not happy about the extra cost!

Aussie.
 
I would happily purchase the collectors edition without question. But NOT for $130! $90 yes.
 
It would seem 2K Greg didn't notice my question, so for the sake of an answer, I'll reiterate it here:

Okay,

"Is there currently a $100 everything included package deal?"

No.

"Could thier be one?"

Technically yes, its possible they can make one,

"Will their be one?"

I doubt it, wait 2 months and find out.

...

For an alternative, buy the standard edition at the cheapest cost you can, they will release premium DLC packs with civ's and maps, and you can spend money on playing "gotta catch them all" after release of the DLC's. All current release content, bablyon, cradle of civilisation e.t.c will probably be released as DLC at some point to make more money.
 
Why does Steam charge us $90 USD for the deluxe edition and $80 USD for the standard?

Why does EBGames.com.au charge $128 AUD for the special edition (about $112 USD)?

That may fly for brick and mortar where multiple handlers will add their small markups (though even GameHead, a game's importer and wholesaler has the price at $82.75 AUD == $72.56 USD), but how do you explain Steam's price difference?

1. To make more money, some people will buy the "DELUXE EDITION" just because it has a fancy title, I am one of these people.

2. To make more money, quite simple really, im sure they could charge a standard price of $50 world wide, but they can use regional pricing to increase profits, so they will.

3. To make more money, just because via selling digitally they make less overheads does not mean they will pass all of or any of the saving onto the customer. The shareholders prefer bigger dividens than cheaper prices of Civ5.

It's really a matter of price elasticity of demand.

If your not an economist then I will explain briefly, this is a term to refer how "elastic" (how much it changes) is demand of a product with changes in price. It really depends on the good. Water, good old fashioned H2O, if your water company and every alternate water selling company raised thier prices 10 fold, your "demand" of water would not change unless you were using more than you needed (I.e water fights with hose pipes) as Water is a neccesity to live, you will pay extra for it if you are forced to, you have no choice. The question is, is Civ5 similar, will people still buy it if a extortionate price is charged, the answer is hard to quantify, but I would say a lot of people would still buy it if they could afford to, other people may be just too offended at the price (these consumers are Price Inelastic) and not buy it. If a product is very price inelastic a producer/distributor would be less likely to raise prices because the resulting drop in demand will cut profits which is what they want to avoid, where as if it is price elastic, which is most likely the case, an increase in price won't cause enough drop in demand to make profits fall, they infact increase.

So if you want to blame someone for 2k's pricing policies, blame thier accountant/economist who is telling them that thier product is price elastic. Or rather actually blame yourselfs for treating a product which is not a necessity like it is. A game should be price inelastic, but in reality, people like thier games and will pay for them.
 
Can someone living in the US gift Civ V to someone in Australia, with the US price? If so do you guys know anyone state side you could trust with the $50 or so bucks. I'm sure you've already thought of it, but I figured I'd throw it out there.
 
yes you can, but I would advise against getting someone you don't know and can't trust to buy a gift for you, because they can use a stolen credit card to buy the gift, get your $50, and walk away $50 richer. Then a few days later when Steam realises they wont get paid because someone refused to allow the purchase, you get your whole Steam account banned for being a participant in a credit card scam.
 
I would happily purchase the collectors edition without question. But NOT for $130! $90 yes.

Totally with you guys on this. I will not buy it on release. When the price comes down or steam has one of their super specials, then I will get it. It's a blatant rip-off, nothing more, nothing less.
 
Ok let's start with an easy one.......

Why does Steam charge us $90 USD for the deluxe edition and $80 USD for the standard?

And a hard one just for kicks.......

Why does EBGames.com.au charge $128 AUD for the special edition (about $112 USD)?

Now I know you'll blow this off, BUT I AM SERIOUS! HOW DOES 2K JUSTIFY THAT EXTORTION? Are you going to claim that 2K has no influence on pricing? Because we all know that argument is crap.

I wouldn't be complaining Dale, it's $100 for the standard edition here with free shipping from Mightyape.co.nz
 
I throw my weight behind those complaining about 2K games' behaviour concerning all these releases.

I pre-ordered Civ 5 Delux from Steam but had I known that D2D would offer a version with two free civs I would have got that instead.

Thanks for nothing. This is a really bad way to do business and sell your new game. I hope other companies do not behave like this with new releases. :(
 
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