|
|
| Author |
Thread Statistics | Show CCP posts - 1 post(s) |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
79
   |
Posted - 2013.05.15 00:22:00 -
[1] - Quote
CCP, there is another thread about the ridiculous overpricing Sony offers to Australian customers. I want to make a couple of suggestions here, and I thought a new thread was warranted to discuss possible solutions. It really is rubbish price gouging, and certainly leaves me thinking very seriously about any purchases.
What I want to know from CCP is -- what can you do about it? I get that Sony sets the prices, not you, but you are not without power. Here are a couple of options, and I am wondering if they are within your power to protect your customers:
1. Alternative purchase method -- can you make these various items available for purchase via your own Dust 514 website, and directly credit those items to our character? You seem to have this facility already, such as for the suits given with the fanfest HD purchase.
2. Offer more in the pack -- since we're being charged 50% more, can you give those AU and NZ players 50% more goods with their purchase than the similarly named US packs? Perhaps you could boost the AUR + boosters in the packs to represent the intended value?
The Australian dollar is very close to parity with the US dollar, yet we pay 50% more. That's not an insignificant markup. This is the kind of thing that your chosen partner, Sony, does. Is the excuse taxes? Higher minimum wage? Bandwidth costs? Something else? Your company has managed to sell EVE Online as a digital good and service for years to Australians without needing to do these things. I don't believe for a second that there is any excuse from Sony other than "because we can".
What can you do to court and protect an important group of your players, customers, and community? |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
82
|
Posted - 2013.05.15 00:48:00 -
[2] - Quote
Llan Heindell wrote:I can bet this goes way beyond CCP and Sony. Each country will apply taxes to get some money out of each transaction.
Llan Heindell.
Is that why EVE Online, Valve games, and many other digital products and services cost me (as an Australian) exactly the same amount as US customers?
I don't really want this thread to get muddied with vague guesses at "reasons", unless these are well thought through. Do you know specifically why Sony needs to overcharge on digital scout suits and boosters, while Valve does not need to on digital games? |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
86
|
Posted - 2013.05.15 01:00:00 -
[3] - Quote
fred orpaul wrote:
Also any eve players here know if Australia pays more then 15AUD a month for eve? I would be interested to know.
Answered you on this in another thread, but here's the answer I gave anyway:
We pay the US price. And you know why? Because our money when converted to USD is worth one USD per USD. So why wouldn't CCP be happy to accept our money if we pay them the asking price? |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
86
|
Posted - 2013.05.15 01:16:00 -
[4] - Quote
Otrera Goddess wrote:Why can't I just pay ccp and get it direct from them. I bet it has something to do with the exclusive ps3 arrangement that dust has. There is probably a clause that sony has that says 'we can charge each country what ever we want for extras and you can't do **** about it'
That is my concern too, but I am not completely certain it's a problem, for two reasons:
1. They are free to give out items already for free, and for money with other things such as the EVE Online Collector's edition, so there's no prima facie issue with giving away items and selling items
2. They said that Dust will outlive the platform it's on. It's worded in a way that indicates that it may not always remain on the PS either. So presumably they have protected themselves to be able to sell things through alternative means |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
89
|
Posted - 2013.05.15 02:31:00 -
[5] - Quote
fred orpaul wrote:its true probably another reason that PT has been pushed back. I thought is was weird and I thought it might be sony not wanting to "lose" money(oh sony why are you so stupid), but now that you mention it it could be they want to prevent losing the markets that have really high prices to trading.
What is PT?
Quote:oh BTW from the other thread on this, a way to bypass the aussie prices, although not really practical for long time beta players. Fem-Bad-Doc wrote:I thought two of my mate's were the only Aussies that actually use the AU PS Store.
Create a US user on your PS3 and buy US PSN codes through bestbuy or play-Asia.
Am I correct in thinking that this means essentially making a new character? So far as I am aware, US PSN codes will not work for Australians, so you would need to not only make a US user, but have your Dust character on it. Am I missing something? Or will the codes work on the AU PSN store? |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
92
|
Posted - 2013.05.15 10:30:00 -
[6] - Quote
I don't think that we should (just) count on Sony doing something. Sony obviously doesn't mind being a jerk to Australians. We need the Aus gov't to do what it can to pressure Sony to be fair. CCP, on the other hand, does like us -- so I'd be interested to know what CCP can do to help us...such as the suggestions in my OP. |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
93
|
Posted - 2013.05.15 11:09:00 -
[7] - Quote
boba's fetta wrote:there is little sony can do. this is a problem caused by your own goverment intended to keep aus games companyies competeative.
go see your local mp.
ill say this again IT IS NOT SONY OR CCP IT IS YOUR GOVERMENT. ALL GAMES IN AUS ARE UNFAIRLY PRICED.
Don't fill this thread with this uninformed FUD. As Garrett points out, other digital distributors are able to sell to us for the same price. Why? Because once you convert our AUD to USD, it's as good as any other USD.
Valve, CCP, and many other companies sell at a reasonable price. Some companies, like Sony, shaft us. So leave your FUD elsewhere. |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
93
|
Posted - 2013.05.15 11:15:00 -
[8] - Quote
boba's fetta wrote:
if you are correct i hope you guys get it sorted. i dont belive its fair at all.
as for steam sorry to say but you are still paying more. i hear a lot of people upset over it and with good reason.
Only for some steam games, and that is (so far as I can tell) a decision made by the publisher and not valve. Valve's own games are the same price.
As an Australian, I always check the US price before I buy. If they're overcharging us, I simply won't buy the game, or will get someone from Canada to purchase and gift it to me, and I pay them back.
I either pay the proper price, or they don't get my money at all. If they want to try and screw me, then **** them. |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
94
|
Posted - 2013.05.15 11:30:00 -
[9] - Quote
boba's fetta wrote:
glad to hear that. and i wont touch ea games either.
as for the dude complaing about my misinformed post. sorry i got it wrong but if i hadnt posted i would continue to be misinformed.
That was me :) Sorry for my tone. It was just irritating me that some people were distracting from the real issue by claiming that it was due to something that it is not.
xp3ll3d dust wrote:
It is a digital unlock code, and our exchange rate is stronger than theirs. How can they justify an extra 50% mark up?
Actually, the AUD very recently dropped below parity. The easiest way to solve this is to just have prices and charges in USD. Failing that, have them close to USD, and adjust them once a month, or once a year, or whatever makes sense. |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
95
|
Posted - 2013.05.15 12:01:00 -
[10] - Quote
stormyuk wrote:
I don't think its up to Sony, its up to CCP to use more realistic exchange rates in all regions.
If you're right, then CCP can fix it! |
|
|
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
96
|
Posted - 2013.05.15 13:01:00 -
[11] - Quote
GM Grave wrote:While regional prices may vary, in many cases regional sales taxes and legal requirements are reflected in the user price. For example if you compare the pricing for EVE you will see that based on exchange rates alone the pricing can vary: http://www.eveonline.com/faq/paying-for-eve
Thanks for the reply, but this is not news to us. Some of us play EVE, and we know the price that EVE is for us. That price is the US one. I have been playing and paying for EVE for 6 years now, so the pricing for my region is very familiar to me. I think this is very strong evidence that the problem is not "regional sales taxes and legal requirements", unless there is something special about the selling of EVE Online that differs from the selling of AUR packs. Is there?
Quote:
However we do work closely with all 4 SONY regions in order to try prevent price increases where possible, and ultimately SONY determine the prices for their stores.
Since you do work closely with Sony, could you please forward this thread to someone at CCP who would be able to communicate with Sony and fix these prices?
As has been mentioned, we don't have to pay exorbitant prices for many digital goods and services from multiple companies, including CCP's own EVE Online. So this most emphatically does not seem like a regional tax or other issue.
Quite frankly, it seems like a greed and "give them the finger" issue.
Edit: And I do suggest alternative solutions in the original post. |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
98
|
Posted - 2013.05.15 14:18:00 -
[12] - Quote
RedRebelCork wrote:Bottom line, it's not fair.
Solidarity for our upside-down brothers!
We walk on our hands so the blood doesn't rush to our heads. |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
104
|
Posted - 2013.05.16 01:00:00 -
[13] - Quote
From the forum rules:
Quote:9. Posting of private CCP communication is prohibited.
The posting of private communication between the Game Masters, DUST Team members, Moderators, Administrators of the forums and forum users is prohibited. CCP respect the right of our players to privacy and as such you are not permitted to publicize private correspondence (including petition responses and emails) received from any of the aforementioned parties. |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
104
|
Posted - 2013.05.16 01:09:00 -
[14] - Quote
Jaron Pollard wrote:
You guys don't read anything, do you? I posted the reason why earlier. Everyone here that's so quick to jump on CCP's case about it obviously hasn't spent a minute subbed on EVE or you'd know we pay the same price in Aus as the US do. The problem is with Sony, CCP are not 'complicit' regardless of how desperately you want to have a problem with them.
I agree with you that, at the very least, it is not obvious that it is CCP's fault. However, rather than excusing these prices, I'd rather keep this thread focussed on (a) the problem, and (b) possible solutions from CCP.
As in my original post, I offered two possible ways that CCP could resolve this issue, on the assumption that it is not within their power to request Sony fix its prices. If it turns out Sony can request Sony fix its prices, then great! That's the perfect solution. But if not, let's focus on what CCP can do.
After all, CCP likes us, and we like CCP -- so I would like to see what our friend CCP can do to fix this problem.
And on a related note, CCP should care about this for financial reasons too. Presumably CCP has chosen the prices it did, because it thinks these are the sorts of prices that will maximise their profits -- that is, the right balance between cost per purchase, and projected number of purchases. It seems pretty clear from this thread that by charging us up to 50% more they are NOT striking that balance, and are in fact upsetting and angering potential paying customers.
Add to this the evidence (is it true? I haven't checked) that Australia has a high piracy rate, and it's pretty clear that overcharging us isn't going to increase revenue. As for me, if some company has the balls to try and overcharge me, then in almost every case they just won't get my money. I'll either pay the normal price through alternative means, or I won't buy their product at all. Dust, I've made an exception, because I love the EVE universe, but I can guarantee you that I will be purchasing much less than I would if they charged the normal price. I considered treating my Dust character like a normal subscription. Set aside roughly that amount a month, and that's my contribution. But I won't be doing that with these prices. I'll get my character to a point, and then just enjoy the free game. Conclusion? Lost revenue for CCP.
After all, an equivalent "subscription" (dual boosters) for a Dust character works out to roughly the price of about two EVE accounts for me. |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
106
|
Posted - 2013.05.16 11:06:00 -
[15] - Quote
Jaron, while I think you are right that CCP is not to blame, I don't think that this means that CCP is without power or responsibility in this matter. As mentioned before, I have given two suggestions in the OP on how they might be able to address this, and with some creativity there may be more options. |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
107
|
Posted - 2013.05.16 13:55:00 -
[16] - Quote
stormyuk wrote:Seems SOE just need to sort themselves out. 
And CCP should do what it can in the meantime, including any of the two suggestions in my OP, as well as persuading Sony to be sensible. |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
108
|
Posted - 2013.05.17 04:20:00 -
[17] - Quote
This seems to me a pointless debate. Jaron, maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong. There's no point us guessing. I want to know what CCP can do for us. If they can't change Sony's prices (and maybe they can), then there are other options. That's what the OP was about. |
Winsaucerer
The Southern Legion
RISE of LEGION
113
|
Posted - 2013.05.22 02:10:00 -
[18] - Quote
I have made a post regarding this for the CPM. |
|
|
| |
|