2K developer weekend on Steam - still no sale on DLCs

[Morningcalm]

The best solution is just to be a good consumer and not purchase what you think is overpriced. I will not buy any of these leader DLCs both because I think the price is too high, and because I don't want to see more leader DLCs, I want to see gameplay changing DLC.

Fair enough, but one can desire a product which is overpriced and encourage lowering the prices so that more can afford them. Agreed re: need for gameplay changing DLC.

The way you phrase it is manipulative then. You can spend as low as $10 on "DLC packs" [plural].

It is a fair price just as the retail price for vanilla and R&F was. The thread topic is questioning the lack of the DLC's going on sale, which isn't the same as saying the price isn't fair.

How is that manipulative? The prices are unfair regardless of how much DLC you can afford.

 

[Mr. Shadows]

When I compare how many hours of fun I've had playing Civ over the years with the amount of money I've spent it works out to mere pennies per hour. If it's more than you want to pay don't buy it. Make no mistake though; if they own it and people want it than "fair" is what people will pay for it. 2K does not owe you a special price.

 

[historix69]

Most people seem to misunderstand the topic with the DLCs. The main problem is that Firaxis/2K is discriminating owners of the standard edition by virtually giving the DLCs for free to new buyers of Deluxe Edition in Sales while owners of the standard edition are asked full price for DLCs, in sum even exceeding the price of the Deluxe Edition. It is the discrimination which makes players angry.

 

[KandAffar]

I think people overestimate the value of a DLC pack--sure, you could replay the scenario or play as that Civ many times, but ultimately it's a fairly short lived boost, and too expensive for many people who otherwise want DLC. I have significant student debt so my disposable income is spent carefully, even if a $5 DLC pack wouldn't take an immense bite out of that. It's the bad value that rankles.

Imagine a hotel room costs $200 per night and comes with 2 double beds. If you rent that room alone you pay $200 per person, but with 4 people it is only $50 per person.

The DLC work similar. 3 million people buy the base game, but only a portion of those buy DLC. Thus, the cost of the DLC is divided among fewer people

 

[Morningcalm]

Imagine a hotel room costs $200 per night and comes with 2 double beds. If you rent that room alone you pay $200 per person, but with 4 people it is only $50 per person.

The DLC work similar. 3 million people buy the base game, but only a portion of those buy DLC. Thus, the cost of the DLC is divided among fewer people

A portion more would buy the DLC if the price dropped.

 

[historix69]

Imagine a hotel room costs $200 per night and comes with 2 double beds. If you rent that room alone you pay $200 per person, but with 4 people it is only $50 per person.

The DLC work similar. 3 million people buy the base game, but only a portion of those buy DLC. Thus, the cost of the DLC is divided among fewer people

I'm sorry but I do not understand how your example is related to Civ 6. The DLCs are digital goods available in unlimited number, in contrast to a limited number of beds in a hotel.

Civ 6 base price is 60, in sale at 60% discount it goes down to 24.
Civ 6 DE base price is 80, in sale at 60% discount it goes down to 32.
The DLCs are not at discount and cost 38.

The difference between 32 and 24 is 8, so new players get the 6 DLCs for 8 $, Firaxis will get maybe 1-2 $ from the 8 $ which is about 25 cent per DLC. (I don't know exactly how much money goes to the developer, but usually it is only a fraction since you have tax and must pay Steam, etc.)
People who have the standard edition will stop buying DLCs for full price when seeing the huge discount for new players.

 

[Duuk]

Most people seem to misunderstand the topic with the DLCs. The main problem is that Firaxis/2K is discriminating owners of the standard edition by virtually giving the DLCs for free to new buyers of Deluxe Edition in Sales while owners of the standard edition are asked full price for DLCs, in sum even exceeding the price of the Deluxe Edition. It is the discrimination which makes players angry.

That's not discrimination. Standard edition owners made a choice to buy the standard edition. They are now unhappy with that choice. That's not discrimination, that's unhappiness with their decision and regret.

You can ASK Firaxis/2K to do a bundle, but yelling at them and telling them they are discriminating is not likely to draw a positive response.

 

[kaspergm]

That's not discrimination. Standard edition owners made a choice to buy the standard edition. They are now unhappy with that choice. That's not discrimination, that's unhappiness with their decision and regret.

You can ASK Firaxis/2K to do a bundle, but yelling at them and telling them they are discriminating is not likely to draw a positive response.

That is only partly true. Standard edition owners made a choice based on a given set of circumstances, and then the circumstances were changed, with no way for the SE owners to change their decision. While we can't force Firaxis to do anything, it's rather undeniable that we are left out in the cold by some circumstances that were completely out of our control.

 

[historix69]

That's not discrimination. Standard edition owners made a choice to buy the standard edition. They are now unhappy with that choice. That's not discrimination, that's unhappiness with their decision and regret.

You can ASK Firaxis/2K to do a bundle, but yelling at them and telling them they are discriminating is not likely to draw a positive response.

I'm not yelling at Firaxis/2K, I just try to explain why standard edition owners feel unhappy with the current situation.
Maybe it is not discrimination, but this doesn't change the fact that some standard edition owners feel discriminated since Firaxis/2K make huge discounts for new players but effectively excludes standard edition owners from the sales.

The decision to buy the standard edition is not a decision to regret, but the lesson that there is no DLC bundle / Upgrade for DE nor a discount on DLCs besides the discounted full DE is unexpected and will affect future sales since unhappy customers do not buy products.

By the way, I own Civ 6, the DLCs and R&F, so Firaxis/2K/Steam already have my money, but I still feel unhappy about the situation for standard edition owners. As posted above, there should be a Season Pass / Upgrade for DE and a reasonable discount during sale so standard edition owners do not feel dumped by Firaxis.

If Firaxis/2K read this board, they could post an official comment about their price policy to end the discussion and maybe restore some confidence.

 

[Greywulf]

I decided to wait a bit longer. I really would prefer to get it all together in one bundle, including the Viking DLC (altho I could miss the Australian DLC), and they often have sales for the holidays...

 

[cvb]

Imagine a hotel room costs $200 per night and comes with 2 double beds. If you rent that room alone you pay $200 per person, but with 4 people it is only $50 per person.

How can you dare to see this issue from the evil point of view of the greedy hotelier??! You have to understand, that this is dramatically unfair. People are discriminated just for traveling alone ... nobody should be charged more than $50 ever.
So 2k should change its business process to the liking of some fans and sell civ6 only to groups of 4 people ($50 per person)! Of course exactly those 4 have to play together all day long - anyone, who doesn't like that, has to sleep in the hotel lobby.

 

[historix69]

If you want to stick with the Hotel example, try Bed (standard edition) and Breakfast (DLCs).

You booked a Bed but no Breakfast. Now that you are there, there is a Discount so that other people pay less for Bed and Breakfast than you did. You ask for the price of Breakfast and they tell you you can buy Breakfast for 38, or you can buy Bed and Breakfast for 32 in the special offer. You have already a Bed, so you have to pay 38 for Breakfast or skip it.

 

[Katakanja]

If you want to stick with the Hotel example, try Bed (standard edition) and Breakfast (DLCs).

You booked a Bed but no Breakfast. Now that you are there, there is a Discount so that other people pay less for Bed and Breakfast than you did. You ask for the price of Breakfast and they tell you you can buy Breakfast for 38, or you can buy Bed and Breakfast for 32 in the special offer. You have already a Bed, so you have to pay 38 for Breakfast or skip it.

I think we might be stretching these analogies close to breaking point

 

[Duuk]

I think we might be stretching these analogies close to breaking point

Ya think?

 

[Laurana Kanan]

If you want to stick with the Hotel example, try Bed (standard edition) and Breakfast (DLCs).

You booked a Bed but no Breakfast. Now that you are there, there is a Discount so that other people pay less for Bed and Breakfast than you did. You ask for the price of Breakfast and they tell you you can buy Breakfast for 38, or you can buy Bed and Breakfast for 32 in the special offer. You have already a Bed, so you have to pay 38 for Breakfast or skip it.

I don't think you're making the argument you think you're making.

I think we might be stretching these analogies close to breaking point

I think some are stretching their arguments to the breaking point.

 

[LKx]

Well, for the records i'm waiting for a dlc sale too, but at this point i don't think they're willing to do it, and that's fair enough.
Who trusted them with the shady deluxe version (i didn't) got a reasonable deal, who didn't will stay with premium price for a "luxury" item.
As i've said, i think that's fair enough.

 

[historix69]

I don't think you're making the argument you think you're making.

I tried to find a better "hotel" analogy for the DLC discussion than the following posted above :

Imagine a hotel room costs $200 per night and comes with 2 double beds. If you rent that room alone you pay $200 per person, but with 4 people it is only $50 per person.

The DLC work similar. 3 million people buy the base game, but only a portion of those buy DLC. Thus, the cost of the DLC is divided among fewer people

You are free to contribute to the discussion if there should be a separate Season Pass for Civ 6 and if a Season Pass should be discounted during Sale or not or if there are reasons why Civ 6 should have no separate Season Pass and why DLCs should not be discounted during Sale.

To clarify and understand personal positions, it would be good to reveal if one owns the standard edition or the DE and if one bought the DLCs or plans to do so or is not interested in the DLCs, before posting one's opinion.

I preordered the boxed version which is the standard edition via amazon and later bought the DLCs and R&F in a 3rd party sale after having waited some months for a DLC-bundle/Sale at Steam.

 

[Timodelphia]

I purchased the Standard Edition at launch. I knew I would want the DLCs at a later date and believed that the DLC would be bundled and discounted at a later date. Was this expectation unreasonable? No, absolutely not. Historically with Civ and other games this would be normal practice. Had I known at launch that the DLC would not be later discounted, I certainly would have purchased the DE.

Am I upset (disappointed? angry?) at any of this? If so, only very slightly. I made a decision based on the best available information at the time (historical and norm). The decision was not the best one. Moved on.

 

[cvb]

I purchased the Standard Edition at launch. I knew I would want the DLCs at a later date and believed that the DLC would be bundled and discounted at a later date. Was this expectation unreasonable? No, absolutely not. Historically with Civ and other games this would be normal practice.

civ1 had no additional content at all and civ2 had 2 CDs (maps, scenario pack etc.), but no expansion in the sense of a systematic ongoing development planned completely in the beginning (eg. civ3 had ResearchLab not until the 1st expansion etc. IIRC) ...

civ3 & civ4 had (several months after the 1st expansion release) the base game & the 1st expansion bundled & discounted ("Gold Edition"). Also the same with the base game & the 1st expansion & the 2nd expansion bundled & discounted ("Complete Edition").

civ5 introduced additional to the 1st expansion & the 2nd expansion also DLC packages.
But the DLCs were not bundled & discounted.
civ5 followed exactly the old civ3 & civ4 pattern: base game & the 1st expansion & all DLCs up to date bundled & discounted ("Gold Edition") - the same with the base game & the 1st expansion & the 2nd expansion & all DLCs up to date bundled & discounted ("Complete Edition").

So "Was this expectation unreasonable?" No, but it wasn't reasonable either - maybe you describe alternative 'history & normal practice'.
My expectation is simply that civ6 follows the civ5 scheme (well, except the different delay between base game & 1st expansion for obvious reasons).

For reference: Here you can see the release dates and prices of the german civ5 versions, packages & bundles.

 

[PMac67]

So how are exchange rates for other countries like GB, Canada, Australia, NZ, ... affecting the price for Civ 6 when expressed in $?

I don't think exchange rates are the only factor, the price point for Steam games are set specific to each country, The more civilised <no pun intended> the country, the higher the price generally speaking... So those countries like GB, Canada, Australia, NZ are often paying more than a lot of other countries <Irrelevant of exchange rates>... I think Civ 6 probably equates the same for people in GB compared to US ? R&F expansion is £24.99 currently on steam, how much is it for you guys in US ?