I think that everyone forgets several key factors in all of this:
a) Markets change. The exchange rate today may not be the expected rate in 2-3 years. Would you rather have rates significantly change in a few years? (where people would still complain)
b) Cost of business may different between countries involved. In this instance running equipment in the US is probibally cheaper overall than running equipment in Europe for localized servers. So, price extended to the relevent customers is proportional to the CoB. Not to mention operating taxes for the company are not the same in different countries.
c) Competition is more importaint in some markets than others, again the US has more games and entertainment to compete with than other markets (except maybe East Asia). So more competitive pricing is needed. Price competition may not be as neccessary in some countries.
Funcom has done this in the past with Anarchy Online also. It's in their business model, to charge the same for EU and US. In Anarchy Online the first major uproar was when they said, that it's the same + VAT. And that you can't subscribe as an American, cause they will check for the nationality on your bankcard. I think it will be the same with Age of Conan, plus that they check for your IP to which server to connect. Someone suggested buying the game in the US, paying in dollars and playing in Europe. He would be screwed, cause he won't be able to connect, and would still pay monthly with EU prices. I'm a Hungarian. I have Forints (that is a currency that sucks big time). So even if I pay in dollars or in Euro I will get exchange rates. Plus we have to pay 20% VAT. So it would be perfect for me to have AoC shipped to an american pal, who posts it me. But FC would still charge me the EU price.
For AO you can "trick" the payment system to pay in $ with an EU debit card...there are a few things to be done but nothing special..no proxys no nothing. You dont even pay the VAT when you pay in $ which makes the difference even larger when compairing 15$ to 15€ +19% (VAT in my country). Tbh i wouldn't mind paying the VAT and all the other taxes that apply in my country (not that there are any other,but just saying if there would be), but i do mind paying more for the same freaking game (VAT excluded).I have 2 paid accounts, 1 has over 2 years and havent had a problem for paying in $. Besides that most of the games dont have a version for our country so i play the same freakin english version..so why pay more. The part that sucks the most is altho my country is an EU member our nattional currency isn't € so why force me to pay in that ...and this is for the most games that dont have the AoC pollicy for everyone outside US (or UK) to pay in €.
Anyway i'm not planning to play AoC atm since i dont like the theme...but if ill start playing it im sure ill find a way to pay in $,maybe you will be able to buy the us version and play on the EU servers...that would be even better...that if it wont be a "babilon" on the general chat:))
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. A. Einstein
I think that everyone forgets several key factors in all of this: a) Markets change. The exchange rate today may not be the expected rate in 2-3 years. Would you rather have rates significantly change in a few years? (where people would still complain) b) Cost of business may different between countries involved. In this instance running equipment in the US is probibally cheaper overall than running equipment in Europe for localized servers. So, price extended to the relevent customers is proportional to the CoB. Not to mention operating taxes for the company are not the same in different countries. c) Competition is more importaint in some markets than others, again the US has more games and entertainment to compete with than other markets (except maybe East Asia). So more competitive pricing is needed. Price competition may not be as neccessary in some countries.
Bubble economies do NOT exist anymore, it is a myth. As long as a company acts like a global corporation it should set its pricing to effect its global interests. People that perpetuate this myth need to be taken to the cleaners on a regular basis.
When a company does most of its development, production, and maintenance mainly from one county or location (say Norway) to justify it buy charging a different price for 20k subscribers from Italy because the costs for its servers in a tiny little building maintained by 3 janitors and tech support is done by a company in India, is allowing that myth to be perpetuated even further.
At least Funcom is not as belligerent as other MMO's and the charging for MMO's monthly subscription fees. Probably the most disgusting is how Blizzard "leased" WoW to The9 which allowed access to all the coding and then BOOM gold farmers and hackers galore.
I find it odd that the US price "never" changes...
The dollar is strong: 14.99
The dollar is weak: 14.99
Shouldnt the ones with the weak currency have their payrate go up, so that the end value is the same?
Instead they charge more for those paying the strong currency and keep the weak currency at the same. Meaning that they earn less from the US customers and rip the wallet out of non US customers...
Let me end this all right now ARE dollar is weak because we have to baby sit the rest of the world so who cares if you pay more for something then we do...start fighting your battles and you might get some respect1 you shuold be praising America for your countries still being around and thanking us your freedom in some countries.
Let me end this all right now ARE dollar is weak because we have to baby sit the rest of the world so who cares if you pay more for something then we do...start fighting your battles and you might get some respect
Oh no... Here comes the "we saved you from the nazis! Be grateful for it for the rest of your existance!" speeches...
Sorry but these socalled battles you fought for us... were you there? no? Oh, I'm so sorry, cuz I was there, and got the scars to prove it, and so has many french, polish, english, irish, danes, finns, germans and even swedes.
You havent earned my respect, your GI's have.. That does not mean that I should accept that I should pay quite alot more for a game that my own countrymen made, just so you can get it for cheap...
so i should pay 30.00 dollars a month to play a game good luck ever getting anyone to do that!!! Every game since eq has been 15 a month...why would it even change some more...but this is based on how people look at money period. Not about what the exchange rate is 15 is 15 to me and i woudnt pay a penny more a month to play an mmo...Funcom knows that, not sure why you can't firgure it out? But yeah we did save you from the nazis aswell
In other MMORPG you also pay TAX, the difference is that in AGE OF CONAN is as we are paying TAXES 2 times. The price that in other games include TAXES in Age of Conan is without TAXES. other games: 12.99 with taxes. Age of Conan: 12.99 without taxes / 14.94 with taxes. And to the USA is the same price. WHY??? They think we are foolish.
No, again in the USA we DO NOT pay taxes on MMO subscriptions. Buying the boxed game we do because the boxed game is a tangible object. The subscription is not tangible therefore we do not pay tax on it. If it's 14.99 its not 14.99 with tax it's just 14.99. So if you get charged VAT it's not Funcom or anyone elses fault except the country you live in. On that subject someone said that in some countries a beer might be .5 euros and in other it might be 2.0 euros...now the dollar might not be worth shit right now but the euro sounds all screwed to hell over there. So what happens when/if the dollar is worth more than the euro and instead of paying more you're actually paying less? What happens when/if your subscription works out out to be the equivalent of $10 dollars? I'm sure I'll hear you all bitching then about paying less huh?
I think that everyone forgets several key factors in all of this: a) Markets change. The exchange rate today may not be the expected rate in 2-3 years. Would you rather have rates significantly change in a few years? (where people would still complain) b) Cost of business may different between countries involved. In this instance running equipment in the US is probibally cheaper overall than running equipment in Europe for localized servers. So, price extended to the relevent customers is proportional to the CoB. Not to mention operating taxes for the company are not the same in different countries. c) Competition is more importaint in some markets than others, again the US has more games and entertainment to compete with than other markets (except maybe East Asia). So more competitive pricing is needed. Price competition may not be as neccessary in some countries.
Bubble economies do NOT exist anymore, it is a myth. As long as a company acts like a global corporation it should set its pricing to effect its global interests. People that perpetuate this myth need to be taken to the cleaners on a regular basis.
When a company does most of its development, production, and maintenance mainly from one county or location (say Norway) to justify it buy charging a different price for 20k subscribers from Italy because the costs for its servers in a tiny little building maintained by 3 janitors and tech support is done by a company in India, is allowing that myth to be perpetuated even further.
At least Funcom is not as belligerent as other MMO's and the charging for MMO's monthly subscription fees. Probably the most disgusting is how Blizzard "leased" WoW to The9 which allowed access to all the coding and then BOOM gold farmers and hackers galore.
The difference between Italy and Norway may not be a big difference - but between the US/Canada and anyone else the difference is great. In an environment such as MMOs where the location of the physical servers and support IS importaint for customer happiness you cannot discount the differences as 'the bubble myth' when dealing with the cost differences. They're chosing to be a little speculative in their pricing to follow a bubble, so what? What happens with all of the Canadian price differences right now? Intrinsic value of products hasn't changed significantly -so why is Canadian prices 20-30% higher than American prices STILL even after the dollars have leveled to eachother for over a year now.
Also, though Funcom does business internationally - it's hard to call it a 'Global Corporation' in it's effects - we're not talking about market changing transactions that they're involved in. It needs to treat each region different in more ways than just price (content differences in China or the UK for example). Actually charging different prices per region is really smart on their part if they do think the global economy is slightly volitale (though, I question how much even 50% change in a particular market would effect really effect them in the end) being involved in different currencies rather than just feeling up a single bank and exchanging on the spot may be smarter (or stupider) than we give them credit for.
It will so to try and stop it yes it would be cheaper for some in Europe to pay in US Dolla's but they are not getting it cheaper! $15 to someone living in the US is the same ammount to them as £15 is to you if live in the UK. They dont get discounted bread and milk etc lol its all relative.
Huh? You do understand exchange rates yes? One american dollar converts in todays market to about .50 British pound. One British pound converts to nearly two american dollars.
I still be stunned when I read so many of these posts
Lol Yes it does but that still does not mean an american's subcription price is cheaper for an american which is the point 15 dollas is 15 dollas to an american not £7.80 or what ever it converts to.
That's a wonderful ideal and if it made sense then it would bring about a wonderful world economic balance, if a loaf of bread costs 1 dollar in America and 1 pound in Britain then you're effectively paying 0.5 pounds for it in America, that's cheaper. This is amplified as people in America generally get paid more dollars than people in britian get pid Pounds. Most of the reason for the unilaterial Euros to dollars exchange on MMOs is because of the extra taxes that you're paying their european division because we have a lot of extra taxes in europe.
What Kelador is trying to say to you is that he understand exchange rates but he figures that perhaps the prices are the same is because how your pound is relative to the prices in the market in the UK, as in you go to mcdonalds and spend £5 on a meal, while in the US that same meal costs $5. Perhaps thats just how the market works. Also in Australia, we pay sometimes over $100 for a game while in the US im pretty sure those games are only $60 or so each. our dollar is like $0.95 so how do u figure that? Everything to do with your currency in your country is relevant to the market of your country NOT THE EXCHANGE RATE! On a side note, I am looking forward to this game havn't been this excited since i first played WoW @ release
While your currency is relevant to your market, I feel the need to tell you that it's fairly widely known that Americans get more dollars than Britons get pounds, even wal mart pays $8 in most states, the minimum wage here (whcih is what you get when you work in a supermarket) is £4.80-£5.62 based on your age, therefore the average american is getting more, (and paying less tax) even if he's paying 1 dollar to 1 pound unilatterally, thank you good night.
Honestly, suggesting that All americans have around half as much as All britons in relation to the FTSE and are therefore paying equally by paying less is ridiculous, it's simply not true.
The pricing is comparable based on the market, its simple economics other wise you run into the laws of diminishing returns. As a consumer you have a choice, either you support a product or you don't, its about money management. Is the game a priority or is it simply entertainment and are you willing to pay that price for that entertainment?
That is the reality.
The Old Timers Guild Laid back, not so serious, no drama. All about the fun!
www.oldtimersguild.com An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it. - Jef Mallett
Comments
I think that everyone forgets several key factors in all of this:
a) Markets change. The exchange rate today may not be the expected rate in 2-3 years. Would you rather have rates significantly change in a few years? (where people would still complain)
b) Cost of business may different between countries involved. In this instance running equipment in the US is probibally cheaper overall than running equipment in Europe for localized servers. So, price extended to the relevent customers is proportional to the CoB. Not to mention operating taxes for the company are not the same in different countries.
c) Competition is more importaint in some markets than others, again the US has more games and entertainment to compete with than other markets (except maybe East Asia). So more competitive pricing is needed. Price competition may not be as neccessary in some countries.
Anyway i'm not planning to play AoC atm since i dont like the theme...but if ill start playing it im sure ill find a way to pay in $,maybe you will be able to buy the us version and play on the EU servers...that would be even better...that if it wont be a "babilon" on the general chat:))
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. A. Einstein
When a company does most of its development, production, and maintenance mainly from one county or location (say Norway) to justify it buy charging a different price for 20k subscribers from Italy because the costs for its servers in a tiny little building maintained by 3 janitors and tech support is done by a company in India, is allowing that myth to be perpetuated even further.
At least Funcom is not as belligerent as other MMO's and the charging for MMO's monthly subscription fees. Probably the most disgusting is how Blizzard "leased" WoW to The9 which allowed access to all the coding and then BOOM gold farmers and hackers galore.
I find it odd that the US price "never" changes...
The dollar is strong: 14.99
The dollar is weak: 14.99
Shouldnt the ones with the weak currency have their payrate go up, so that the end value is the same?
Instead they charge more for those paying the strong currency and keep the weak currency at the same. Meaning that they earn less from the US customers and rip the wallet out of non US customers...
Let me end this all right now ARE dollar is weak because we have to baby sit the rest of the world so who cares if you pay more for something then we do...start fighting your battles and you might get some respect1 you shuold be praising America for your countries still being around and thanking us your freedom in some countries.
Oh no... Here comes the "we saved you from the nazis! Be grateful for it for the rest of your existance!" speeches...
Sorry but these socalled battles you fought for us... were you there? no? Oh, I'm so sorry, cuz I was there, and got the scars to prove it, and so has many french, polish, english, irish, danes, finns, germans and even swedes.
You havent earned my respect, your GI's have.. That does not mean that I should accept that I should pay quite alot more for a game that my own countrymen made, just so you can get it for cheap...
so i should pay 30.00 dollars a month to play a game good luck ever getting anyone to do that!!! Every game since eq has been 15 a month...why would it even change
some more...but this is based on how people look at money period. Not about what the exchange rate is 15 is 15 to me and i woudnt pay a penny more a month to play an mmo...Funcom knows that, not sure why you can't firgure it out? But yeah we did save you from the nazis aswell
When a company does most of its development, production, and maintenance mainly from one county or location (say Norway) to justify it buy charging a different price for 20k subscribers from Italy because the costs for its servers in a tiny little building maintained by 3 janitors and tech support is done by a company in India, is allowing that myth to be perpetuated even further.
At least Funcom is not as belligerent as other MMO's and the charging for MMO's monthly subscription fees. Probably the most disgusting is how Blizzard "leased" WoW to The9 which allowed access to all the coding and then BOOM gold farmers and hackers galore.
The difference between Italy and Norway may not be a big difference - but between the US/Canada and anyone else the difference is great. In an environment such as MMOs where the location of the physical servers and support IS importaint for customer happiness you cannot discount the differences as 'the bubble myth' when dealing with the cost differences. They're chosing to be a little speculative in their pricing to follow a bubble, so what? What happens with all of the Canadian price differences right now? Intrinsic value of products hasn't changed significantly -so why is Canadian prices 20-30% higher than American prices STILL even after the dollars have leveled to eachother for over a year now.
Also, though Funcom does business internationally - it's hard to call it a 'Global Corporation' in it's effects - we're not talking about market changing transactions that they're involved in. It needs to treat each region different in more ways than just price (content differences in China or the UK for example). Actually charging different prices per region is really smart on their part if they do think the global economy is slightly volitale (though, I question how much even 50% change in a particular market would effect really effect them in the end) being involved in different currencies rather than just feeling up a single bank and exchanging on the spot may be smarter (or stupider) than we give them credit for.
Huh? You do understand exchange rates yes? One american dollar converts in todays market to about .50 British pound. One British pound converts to nearly two american dollars.
I still be stunned when I read so many of these posts
Lol Yes it does but that still does not mean an american's subcription price is cheaper for an american which is the point 15 dollas is 15 dollas to an american not £7.80 or what ever it converts to.
That's a wonderful ideal and if it made sense then it would bring about a wonderful world economic balance, if a loaf of bread costs 1 dollar in America and 1 pound in Britain then you're effectively paying 0.5 pounds for it in America, that's cheaper. This is amplified as people in America generally get paid more dollars than people in britian get pid Pounds. Most of the reason for the unilaterial Euros to dollars exchange on MMOs is because of the extra taxes that you're paying their european division because we have a lot of extra taxes in europe.
While your currency is relevant to your market, I feel the need to tell you that it's fairly widely known that Americans get more dollars than Britons get pounds, even wal mart pays $8 in most states, the minimum wage here (whcih is what you get when you work in a supermarket) is £4.80-£5.62 based on your age, therefore the average american is getting more, (and paying less tax) even if he's paying 1 dollar to 1 pound unilatterally, thank you good night.
Honestly, suggesting that All americans have around half as much as All britons in relation to the FTSE and are therefore paying equally by paying less is ridiculous, it's simply not true.
The pricing is comparable based on the market, its simple economics other wise you run into the laws of diminishing returns. As a consumer you have a choice, either you support a product or you don't, its about money management. Is the game a priority or is it simply entertainment and are you willing to pay that price for that entertainment?
That is the reality.
The Old Timers Guild
Laid back, not so serious, no drama.
All about the fun!
www.oldtimersguild.com
An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it. - Jef Mallett