CIV6 false advertisement by Fireaxis?

[DJ_Tanner]

The other posters in this thread alone show it's not just one market.

So far:
-Australia
-Brazil
-Malaysia

And as previously indicated, there may well be others. These are just the ones we know of.

Aus sounds like that user is comparing the sale price to full price, pretty sure civ vi is closer to 100 AUS. And Malaysia is not higher according to your GamerZakh guy, he was just complaining about the price.

Back to 1.

 

[KayAU]

In Norway, I ended up saving 31 NOK, which is not a lot, considering I purchased blind and paid well in advance. While they did technically keep their promise here, I do feel a bit cheated, especially because the price of the last DLC seems artificially high (76 NOK vs 35 NOK for the previous DLC).

Of course, for Brazil, this is completely unacceptable (and possibly illegal). Whether it is intentional matters a little bit, but it doesn't make it acceptable in any case.

Firaxis/2K should make this right.

 

[Gnarv]

In Switzerland it adds up to an incredible 5.3% price difference between the Digital Deluxe Edition and buying the game and all DLCs seperately. If I were to exclude the Vikings scenario pack - which I wouldn't have bought - the prices would be identical.

I'm not angry though. I got my money's worth either way. But I can't help but feeling disappointed. Disappointed about the negligible price difference and disappointed about the overinflated price for the most recent DLC to make numbers add up.

 

[Morningcalm]

In Switzerland it adds up to an incredible 5.3% price difference between the Digital Deluxe Edition and buying the game and all DLCs seperately. If I were to exclude the Vikings scenario pack - which I wouldn't have bought - the prices would be identical.

I'm not angry though. I got my money's worth either way. But I can't help but feeling disappointed. Disappointed about the negligible price difference and disappointed about the overinflated price for the most recent DLC to make numbers add up.

I feel the same way. I don't really go for DLC, but genuinely thought the savings would be worthwhile. Instead it's a difference of some dollars (like 2.something) at most for us Americans. Disappointing.

Of course, queue the tut tutters about preordering etc.

Aus sounds like that user is comparing the sale price to full price, pretty sure civ vi is closer to 100 AUS. And Malaysia is not higher according to your GamerZakh guy, he was just complaining about the price.

Back to 1.

Wrong. In his Macedon and Persia videos, GamerZakh pointed out that the Digital Deluxe was more expensive than just buying the base game and the DLCs separately.

 

[MadDjinn]

I
Wrong. In his Macedon and Persia videos, GamerZakh pointed out that the Digital Deluxe was more expensive than just buying the base game and the DLCs separately.

be careful quoting someone who was wrong, already admitted it in the comments section, but then left the inflammatory bit in the video so that he still gets views.

In the videos he complained about them as separate dlc offerings (from what I saw in his comments). So he rushed to complain without knowing anything (go figure).

but, when you look at the actual prices on steam... yup, it's cheaper to buy the DDx in Malaysia.

Not saying that they *didn't* purposely inflate the price of this latest DLC to make that happen, but it's kinda obvious.

 

[Morningcalm]

be careful quoting someone who was wrong, already admitted it in the comments section, but then left the inflammatory bit in the video so that he still gets views.

In the videos he complained about them as separate dlc offerings (from what I saw in his comments). So he rushed to complain without knowing anything (go figure).

but, when you look at the actual prices on steam... yup, it's cheaper to buy the DDx in Malaysia.

Not saying that they *didn't* purposely inflate the price of this latest DLC to make that happen, but it's kinda obvious.

Good point. Now the point becomes that 2K artificially inflated the price of the latest DLC in Malaysia just so they could abide (barely) by their "cheaper than buying the DLC otherwise" promise. Which is definitely very suspect, but technically not false advertising.

But this is not likely to give 2K that much more respect than if they *had* kept the latest DLC in Malaysia to its expected (2x the normal one-civ DLC) price.

In short, 2K shorted people out.

 

[joncnunn]

The savings exists in most other places. If it didn't in Brazil, it was probably due to currency translation errors more than intentionally misleading advertising.

I just pulled up the exchange rates; the Brazilian real strengthened significantly vs the Dollar between mid 2016 (when the prices were set for the deluxe) and present. Since 2K wants to roughly be paid the same amount in US dollars for transactions there regardless of what the local currency there does and the DLC prices were set later ...

 

[badcivplayer]

When I pre-ordered the digital deluxe, I specifically justified breaking my rule of pre-orders and digital deluxe packs because I trusted this company to make it worthwhile. I was concerned when the viking scenario pack came out because I wouldn't have normally purchased a dlc like it, but kept faith anyway, once again based on the reputation of the company and my personal experiences with Civilization games. Now that I've saved $4 US, what amounts to maybe two cups of coffee, I don't really feel it was worth the anxiety or the leap of faith, especially when I could have waited and bought later editions at a discounted price.

I am not a lawyer, so I don't know how all the legal stuff will resolve. Honestly, I don't really care. I am a customer, however. If I assume everything is above board legally, I can conclude the following: I saved two cups of coffee, and lost a lot of good will for Firaxis (or 2K, or whoever; it really doesn't matter). I may continue to purchase products from this company; I may not. However, I certainly won't ever give them the benefit of the doubt again. If they want to continue to make pre-ordering an attractive option for customers, for whatever business reason, they have a long, uphill journey ahead.

 

[DJ_Tanner]

When I pre-ordered the digital deluxe, I specifically justified breaking my rule of pre-orders and digital deluxe packs because I trusted this company to make it worthwhile. I was concerned when the viking scenario pack came out because I wouldn't have normally purchased a dlc like it, but kept faith anyway, once again based on the reputation of the company and my personal experiences with Civilization games. Now that I've saved $4 US, what amounts to maybe two cups of coffee, I don't really feel it was worth the anxiety or the leap of faith, especially when I could have waited and bought later editions at a discounted price.

I am not a lawyer, so I don't know how all the legal stuff will resolve. Honestly, I don't really care. I am a customer, however. If I assume everything is above board legally, I can conclude the following: I saved two cups of coffee, and lost a lot of good will for Firaxis (or 2K, or whoever; it really doesn't matter). I may continue to purchase products from this company; I may not. However, I certainly won't ever give them the benefit of the doubt again. If they want to continue to make pre-ordering an attractive option for customers, for whatever business reason, they have a long, uphill journey ahead.

Yeah but had you bought 1,000 of them then it woulda be $4000 dollars in savings!!!! Looking at the $4 out of context is meaningless.

It was a $20 purchase how much value did you really expect to get back? Maybe this will be easier for you, see the DD upgrade was only 10 cups of coffee and for it you got 2 cups of coffee, that 20% more coffee. I don't see why you were expecting some huge value proposition. For US customers, from a pure economic perspective, it is a pretty good deal.

 

[badcivplayer]

Yeah but had you bought 1,000 of them then it woulda be $4000 dollars in savings!!!! Looking at the $4 out of context is meaningless.

It was a $20 purchase how much value did you really expect to get back? Maybe this will be easier for you, see the DD upgrade was only 10 cups of coffee and for it you got 2 cups of coffee, that 20% more coffee. I don't see why you were expecting some huge value proposition. For US customers, from a pure economic perspective, it is a pretty good deal.

...while I felt this response was a bit snarky, it did take me out of my emotional response and think a bit more clearly. I went back and checked the content of the digital deluxe edition of Civ V and it was much less robust (Soundtrack, behind the scenes dvd, and Babylon). The first bunch of DLCs for Civ V were also less than stellar: mostly map packs (for $3 each), Polynesia, etc. Honestly, the DLC we've had so far in Civ VI (minus the viking pack, which I still don't really enjoy) have been beyond what I should have expected. Admittedly, it was not more than I actually expected. I enjoyed the Polish and Australian scenarios and civs a great deal.

I also started a game as Cyrus. I only get 20-30 minutes a day to play (if that, work depending), so I'm not that deep into it. But, in the clear light of time, I'm sure it won't be a bad deal after all. I was really reacting before trying. As a side note, the star-icons in the research trees are really great! I already appreciate the patch work.

---

Ugh; it's always embarrassing to admit one is wrong on the internet because the vultures swoop in and kick you when you are down. Go easy on me.

 

[Ogro]

Why? You should be. You were told if you pay X amount it will be a better deal than Y amount - so you paid X amount because of that. Now, it turns out, paying Y would have been cheaper for you.

Contact 2k. Or steam. Get your R$ 10,4 back.

I don't think I should because R$10,40 is too little to justify it. Imagine the trouble I would have to go thru and even if I could refund I would still buy the game... Also Steam is nice to Brazilian gamers because it uses a good exchange rate to make the prices in BRL. I think MadDjinn pointed it out.

Talking about MadDjinn post I would like to clarify my view:
Fireaxis => I believe it is not to be blamed on the pricing issues, but I still dislike the overall quality of the game on release and thus far. (if I could change the thread title to 2K instead of Fireaxis I would)
2K => Probably the culprit in the advertisement issue.
Steam => I don't think Steam has anything to do with this.

At the end of the day I feel like Leyrann, Gnarv, Morningcalm, badcivplayer and probably many others in the sense it doesn't feel like it was a good enough deal. Maybe because it was to few stuff, or the stuff wasn't that exciting, or the bugs felt like they should have been addressed eons early.


*Edit: badcivplayer rethought its feelings on the matter

 

[DWilson]

I feel fortunate, as I specifically got the Game and Deluxe content on sale for around $67 (can't remember for sure) as a preorder. I knew I'd ultimately buy it all anyway, and I ended up getting a much better deal than most of the other people in the US. I got it from a European supplier, DLGamer I think.

 

[Southern_Hunter]

I am in Australia. I paid US$89.95 for the DD edition on Steam. That is the same price as it is now. The total cost of buying the normal version plus 4 x DLC today would be US$93.91. Therefore I have saved US$3.96 by pre-ordering, paying up front and trusting the developer / producer.

On the whole, it is a sucky deal. I could have got discounts in other ways.

OTOH, it isn't much money overall. I have played over 400 hours to date, so it isn't much worth worrying about.

 

[MadDjinn]

I find it amusing that people complain of only saving about the cost of 1 dlc. It's not quite buy 3 get 1 free, but pretty close on the $4 level.

You literally should not be expecting more and still live in reality.

 

[DWilson]

I'm quite pleasantly surprised that they included four full civs in the four dlc. I expected something along the lines of two civ packs, a map pack, and a leaders (2 probably) and wonders pack, with a scenario for all but the map pack. I think we came out much better than that. My only issue at this time are the couple countries which were up to this point screwed (e.g.: Brazil, who paid more overall; the U.K., with some interesting price variation to ensure discount combined with poor currency adjustments). I hope many others were able to get the DDE at a discount.

 

[Leyrann]

I find it amusing that people complain of only saving about the cost of 1 dlc. It's not quite buy 3 get 1 free, but pretty close on the $4 level.

You literally should not be expecting more and still live in reality.

It's more that it really looks like the last DLC has been arbitrarily made more expensive so that the seperate DLCs would actually cost more than the Deluxe Edition.

 

[DWilson]

It's more that it really looks like the last DLC has been arbitrarily made more expensive so that the seperate DLCs would actually cost more than the Deluxe Edition.

I feel like I probably wouldn't have been surprised if it were double the earlier ones (two civs, scenario, and two wonder vs. two civs and two scenarios bring roughly equivalent in value), even though I expected a slight decrease based on the coupling (which I think happened in at least the US at 8.99 vs 2*4.99).

 

[MadDjinn]

It's more that it really looks like the last DLC has been arbitrarily made more expensive so that the seperate DLCs would actually cost more than the Deluxe Edition.

I was talking about the people in the US that complained it wasn't enough. When you look at the Canadian or US prices, it's basically inline with expectations (about 2x the cost of a previous one). It's elsewhere that it doesn't fit.

 

[Leyrann]

I was talking about the people in the US that complained it wasn't enough. When you look at the Canadian or US prices, it's basically inline with expectations (about 2x the cost of a previous one). It's elsewhere that it doesn't fit.

So the base game, consisting of 20 civs (or was it 19 civs 20 leaders?) should cost 80 dollars for civs, and then more because there's also wonders, map scripts, etc in there?

No. The more content you put together, the cheaper every single part should become. That's how purchasing more things has worked basically... forever.

EDIT: I do want to say, I'm happy with my purchase, but they are very much walking on the line of not delivering what they promiesd.

 

[c4c6]

I just pulled up the exchange rates; the Brazilian real strengthened significantly vs the Dollar between mid 2016 (when the prices were set for the deluxe) and present. Since 2K wants to roughly be paid the same amount in US dollars for transactions there regardless of what the local currency there does and the DLC prices were set later ...

I like to emphasize the importance of the exchange rates in this case: People with own (relative) strong currencies in the last couple of months made a worse deal than people with an even weaker currency than the US$ (eg. Russian ruble).

Here in Germany we consume Arabian and Norwegian oil, Russian natural gas etc., but all the time the value of the US$ (in DM or €) influences the bill (every single time at the filling station ). We are used to that.
Of course the DDE was also a small warrant, a speculation in the ratio US$ to national currency.

(I understand, that for USA citizens the exchange rates aren't so important ... or as John Bowden Connally, Jr. (under Richard Nixon) phrased it: „It's our currency, but it's your problem.“)