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Price of Digital download
Windamere
Member UncommonPosts: 75
After pre-ordering the Digital download Standard I started doing some research on the Digital vs. Physical box.
After finding out something strange I messaged Customer support and awaiting a response.
But the reason for this post is why no one else has jumped up and said something about this:
Digital download Standard $59.99
Digital Imperial Standard $79.99
Physical Box standard $59.99
Physical Box Imperial $99.99
Why is the Digital download standard the exact same price as the physical box standard....I mean it's not like the download needs disks, manual, shipping....Etc....
Yet the Imperial standard and physical is a $20.00 difference... Seems to me when pre-ordering the digital download standard your getting shafted by paying the cost of production for those who order the physical box.......
My opinion it would be an easy fix:
Digital standard $39.99
Digital Imperial $79.99
Physical standard box $59.99
Physical Imperial box $99.99
Changing only the Digital standard and giving those who already pre-ordered and extra 30 day time or something to compensate....Just my opinion!!!
Comments
Incorrect, check and see what's in the physical imperial edition again. That's why there's a price difference from the digital imperial.
As for the digital and physical standard being the same it's pretty standard and has nothing to do with packaging costs. It probably costs them less than a dollar each for the cds and packaging, prices are set by the amount of money that went into development which is the same whether they sell it digitally or retail.
The digital standard edition also includes 5 days of early access, the retail edition contains 3. So if anything you get more out of purchasing the standard edition digitally.
Wait until you see the European/UK prices
Digital Download from Bethesda: £ 49
Physical Box at GAME: £ 39
Can someone explain to me how DD can cost more than the hard copy version of the same game?
£ 10 premium for 2 days extra of headstart, are you kidding me?
Bandwidth isn't free, someone has to pay for the massive servers so many people will all be simultaneously downloading from.
You're also of course paying for convenience.
It's simple really and has nothing to do with costs, bandwidth or whatever other excuse you may come up with.
Since physical retailers still have significant part of the market share when it comes to games distribution they can simply say "If you undercut us we won't stock your title". That's all there is to it. No other reason. And frankly publishers have no motivation or reason to even complain about it since they get the "bonus" profit from digital sales themselves (iirc it was ~10$ on a 60$ title that tends to be retailer fees/profit margin)
is it cheaper for them to sell a digital version? sure. Would it be more customer friendly to sell it at a reduced price based on that? yup.
Is it industry standard to charge the same price? also yes.
as the post above me has said, retailers still have a large say in how things like this work, and there would be a large pushback from the likes of gamestop, bestbuy, ect.
You have to take into account that there are different costs associated with each product type. For example, while boxed copies have costs derived from the physical aspects of the product, like the production of the DVD's and the manual, the digital copies need to maintain servers that allow people to buy the product online. Furthermore, considering the physical portions of the product are made in large batches, the price of production goes down significantly. However, I believe the most critical factor in the equal pricing of both versions comes from the fact that a retailer would probably not carry a game that can be bought digitally for less, as it would dramatically influence their profit. Game makers usually want their products to be available at retailers, so it would not be a sound decision, business-wise, to cripple their relationship with retailers. I do believe that in the future, though, retailers will cease to exist and all games will be bought digitally, similar to the movie industry and how big companies like Blockbuster closed down their stores.
And the best part is that on the vast majority of the CDN providers you can get good deals that a Gb is cheaper than a A4 paper sheet.
Rather have the boxed version, thank you. More bang for the buck, or quid in this case.
Funny thing is that other types of software, including the OS from the evil empire, Microsoft, do charge less for digital DL. There really is no justification for it costing the same especially when you consider that third parties take a cut and buying directly from them means they get to keep it all.
But yeah, it's pretty standard in the MMO world.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Micro$oft is a different case, the retailers beg to be allowed to sell M$ crapware on their stores.
Most game publishers on the other hand don't have the upper hand with retailers, so the talks are completly the opposite in this case.
Retailers are one short step of being cuttoff of the loop, EA Origin and Valve's Steam are doing it, more and more. Will that bring prices down? Hell no, digital is way more profitable for the publisher.
Prices of DD are way overpriced for any game.... Developer takes 100% of digital dowload... And only 50% of a box sale...
DDs should atleast be cheeper then boxes..
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Does that term mean anything to any of you?
That's the accepted price for a new game. Has been for the last 5 years. Look at every fucking game released in the last 5 years digital or box look at the prices.
Stop bitching.
Quotations Those Who make peaceful resolutions impossible, make violent resolutions inevitable. John F. Kennedy
Life... is the shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come - Lester Freeman
Lie to no one. If there 's somebody close to you, you'll ruin it with a lie. If they're a stranger, who the fuck are they you gotta lie to them? - Willy Nelson
Ah M$, the memories. They don't pay enough! Never did and never will. lol
How come they're "Elder" Scrolls? Why can't they be Younger Scrolls? Isn't that ageism,can't believe Zenimax would discriminate against young people by only offering "Elder" Scrolls Online. Let's start a petition for Younger Scrolls Online!
Get off our lawn!!
I feel the same way about technical books on kindle.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Buy it at retail? Problem solved?Seems to me that there is a couple of factors in prices for boxed verses digital. With Elder Scrolls online being a cross system game, boxed version may be more viable as it reaches the mass market so pricing is a big factor for how many units that this game will sell for PS4 and Xbox one. As MMO fanatics we often DD but for the mass market this still isn't as popular as walking into the shop and purchasing the box with mum and dads money. In my opinion this is why the boxed version has been brought down in price and the DD remains the same price.
The other factor is that a lot of these new games are very big in size and downloading them is not accessible for all concerned.
Just my two cents worth
The Imperial physical edition comes with a statue and a map. That is why there is a $20 difference between the imperial digital and physical.
http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/01/31/heres-an-elder-scrolls-imperial-edition-unboxing-video/
Only in the mmo world is the digital download convenience item a premium product.
Valve and steam show me that digital is cheaper. Due to no manufacturing costs, less retailer margins, less other misc costings.
I don't even care about the debate with playable races and content with collectors. I just think the price of the box plus subscription is backwards and not where the rest of the industry is headed. I.E F2P with Hybrid Sub or low price point box with sub or just cash shop.
If I played ESO and if I stuck with ESO by the end of a year it will cost me 2/3rds (roughly) of a playstation 4. Id rather have more platforms :P to play on.
Yes I can personally afford ESO but I find myself at a moral choice and am happy to wait to play it, not necessarily at launch or even this year.
This video has a good point!
The price if you want 'everything' in game is 80 bucks. Which is crazy town. 60 for ESO light is bad enough. But in the grand scheme people who get digital copies SHOULD buy the 59.99 version, get all the stuff THAT one comes with and then upgrade later and get all the stuff the CE one comes with.
Because I havent seen anything anywhere that says if you order the CE you get everything in that AS WELL as what the standard one comes with. So if youorder the igital CE straight up youre losing out on some suff you could get for free. And if you can pull one over on these money grubbers take advantage of it.
But in the end as far as I am concerned the price of the game is 80 dollars. The PHYSICAL CE is 100 but with that you get the physical swag. So its 80 plus the 20 extra for the map (probably paper and not cloth) a plastic (resin) statue, a lore or art book, and a special box shape.