105 réponses à ce sujet

[Flamesz]

Loetek wrote...

1: Yes the french are wrong
2: Germans rule... seriously... name one currently living German that doesn't rule.
3: And maybe the reason UK games cost more is because Bioware has to translate it into that... well, that language you all call english. You know... throw a couple Cheerios, bloodys, and What-hos in there to keep you wierdos happy.

Are you serious? We don't speak posh or from the 1800's. Yes we do like Tea but were not obsessed about it, seriously in my opinion the Americans had no right to change some of their words since we created the damn English language.

[Frostaxt]

1 U.S. dollar = 0.674536256 Euro currently.

Price for warden´s keep is currently 7 dollars for Americans.
Price for warden´s keep is currently 6,51 Euro(=9,65 Dollar) for Euro countries.

In percent that makes 38% more we have to pay. That´s quite a lot imho and not explainable with VAT or whatsoever. Well just say, that I hope they will adjust it to a fairer price in the future...

[Sarevok Anchev]

Can some Britains post the Dollar-Pounds ratio when buying Bioware points?

[J.O.G]

Our greedy governments want 15-25% VAT, the other 15 % are a buffer for exchange rate fluctuation, and a lump fee for money transfer, translation, and general the service of maintaining an EA branch in our countries.

That's the downside of having a big international distributor, the upsides are multilingual versions and service in our native languages at our local business hours.

Modifié par J.O.G, 06 décembre 2009 - 01:22 .

[Zealuu]

sprybry wrote...

i know that the EU is Europe.  since the OP is in Germany, i posted that for his benefit.

First, != isn't the same as =.
http://en.wikipedia....ional_operators


Which brings me to my point, the EU (European Union) is not the same as Europe. There are non-EU European territories, EU regulations either do not apply or apply in limited forms within these territories.

[Leftnt Sharpe]

I like to think of it as the 'awesome tax,' either that or a tax on actually having a proper history.

[bjdbwea]

There are also big differences in prices between various EU countries for many things. Though most of the reasons don't apply for digital goods. Whatever. Don'like it -> don't buy it. Works for me.

Modifié par bjdbwea, 06 décembre 2009 - 02:44 .

[Petsura]

It's not an uncommon problem.

We had the same issue with Sonic Team Americas "Phantasy Star Universe". Everyone from Europe had to pay € instead of $, without any conversion and any justification for this bull**** whatsoever. I, for one, blame America.

Modifié par Petsura, 06 décembre 2009 - 03:09 .

[Varenus Luckmann]

eisberg77 wrote...

Leftnt Sharpe wrote...

I like to think of it as the 'awesome tax,' either that or a tax on actually having a proper history.

Awesome tax I understand, but proper history?

Yeah. You know - as in having one.

Amerikaners have none.

[Frostaxt]

@J.O.G.:  Well Vat makes  around 19% in the Euro zone, that explains half, but not the other one. 19% for maintaing EA branches? So in the US there are no EA branches, services to maintain or we just get billed twice for there´s and ours?

Money transfer? The US buyer don´t transfer money too when purchasing Bioware points? Why should this be an extra payment at all?

Translation? Have the British a translation?  Besides I have the game in the original version. like a good amount of other people in the Euro zone. So of course I will not buy the translation, but should still by default pay extra for various european translations? And if yes, is there so much to translate in a dlc to make it that more expensive?

So that leaves the exchange rate. 15-20% more because EA, thinks that the Euro is worth less than it´s actual value!? Even money-exchanger at airports give far better rates then that!


P.S.: The best thing for me personally, is that I am not even in a european country atm. But would be forced  to pay european taxes, since I only get the option to pay in Euros as a european citzen.

[RVallant]

As mentioned the translation services doesn't really do much for Brits either anyway. But this is an old argument, it's generally the case that Britain and the rest of Europe pays more. It is funnier when it occurs on goods that sell more in Europe than the US and the company uses the excuse that "America is the better market" (in which case, why are we the better sales figures? O_o That criticism is levelled at Sony more than any other company mind in recent times at least.)



However, there is a small growth of European products being sold above standard price in America now. I assume European companies are dishing out a bit of 'pay-back' but, let's not go down that route.



The basic point I think needs to be tackled is not the disparity of prices between US and Europe but rather some understanding of the value of the currency in the nation it's being sold in. For example; I don't think non-euro countries would ever be happy to pay a direct exchange based on the pound... Perhaps a new pricing system is required based on the actual nations themselves, but of course implementing such a system may very well see no changes in price as they 'add' to it to compensate for such research?

[Kalcalan]

Frostaxt wrote...

1 U.S. dollar = 0.674536256 Euro currently.

Price for warden´s keep is currently 7 dollars for Americans.
Price for warden´s keep is currently 6,51 Euro(=9,65 Dollar) for Euro countries.

In percent that makes 38% more we have to pay. That´s quite a lot imho and not explainable with VAT or whatsoever. Well just say, that I hope they will adjust it to a fairer price in the future...

That's actually pretty much the issue here. Currently the dollar is very weak compared to the euro. I guess they priced the DLCs at a fixed exchange rate which means that we get overcharged in Europe.

It seems very unlikely that it has anything to do with taxes or extra costs (EA has branches in Europe).

[FlintlockJazz]

eisberg77 wrote...

Varenus Luckmann wrote...

eisberg77 wrote...

Leftnt Sharpe wrote...

I like to think of it as the 'awesome tax,' either that or a tax on actually having a proper history.

Awesome tax I understand, but proper history?

Yeah. You know - as in having one.

Amerikaners have none.

, no, we have a short one, a 517 year history.

Acutally the United States was founded in 1776, therefore it is less than 300 years old, before that it was European history as it was owned by us, and before that Native American history.   Sorry, all your history are belong to us!

[Qkrch]

Kalcalan wrote...

That's actually pretty much the issue here. Currently the dollar is very weak compared to the euro. I guess they priced the DLCs at a fixed exchange rate which means that we get overcharged in Europe.

It seems very unlikely that it has anything to do with taxes or extra costs (EA has branches in Europe).

Actually those branches get the money from these adjustments

Videogame market is weaker in Europe than in US, the exported demanded product is always more expensive and is done at every product.

But as usual there are some thieves on the way...with some stealth skills and uncovered by the law get our money while we're looking. In a past, i got in touch with some publisher producers to complain about some DLC prizes (in other games), they really agreed with me and hunted down all those "wrong" prizes.

But guys, you should really flame the publisher, in this case the "low-budget" Electronic Arts, 

Almost 40% increase for these DLCs in european countries... omg, and they didn't even dubbed the game to Spanish,. Here's my wallet, you don't get it.

[GODzilla]

Frostaxt wrote...

1 U.S. dollar = 0.674536256 Euro currently.

Price for warden´s keep is currently 7 dollars for Americans.
Price for warden´s keep is currently 6,51 Euro(=9,65 Dollar) for Euro countries.

In percent that makes 38% more we have to pay. That´s quite a lot imho and not explainable with VAT or whatsoever. Well just say, that I hope they will adjust it to a fairer price in the future...

That sums it up quite nicely, thanks. Dunno why I haven't thought of this myself, it seems kinda obvious --> Bioware talking about VATs --> VATs being 19% in Germany --> but price difference is 38%. Damn you Bioware!

Qkrch wrote...

Videogame market is weaker in Europe than in US

Any
sources for this? I heard differently...okay, what I read focused on
Germany, naming it the strongest market for videogames in all Europe.

Modifié par GODzilla_GSPB, 06 décembre 2009 - 08:43 .

[Seifz]

There's probably more to it than just the VAT. I'm willing to bet almost anything that the tech support staff in European countries make more money, that the branches cost more to maintain, and that the servers hosting your content cost more to build and power. That's almost a certainty.

EDIT:  And us Americans totally have a history.  A good deal of it involves kicking your asses! 

Modifié par Seifz, 06 décembre 2009 - 08:46 .

[GODzilla]

EDIT:  And us Americans totally have a history.  A good deal of it involves kicking your asses! 

LOL

[-Warped-]

And getting your own handed to you by rice farmers with aks *cough*.

Modifié par -Warped-, 06 décembre 2009 - 08:57 .

[Seifz]

-Warped- wrote...

And getting your own handed to you by rice farmers with aks *cough*.

Oh, whatever.  Y'all wouldn't even be here if we didn't save you in WWII.  We're allowed to mess up every now and then!

Besides, what's that say about the rest of you?  You lost to the guys who lost to the rice farmers with AKs! 

[GODzilla]

Seifz wrote...
Oh, whatever.  Y'all wouldn't even be here if we didn't save you in WWII.  We're allowed to mess up every now and then!

While I cannot agree to the latter I'm definitely grateful for the former, trust me.

But we should definitely leave it at that, because this is not only going offtopic, but it's also an invitation to a flamewar.

[Sarevok Anchev]

*sniff* did someone say flamewar?



Watch out or the Yankees start dropping Napalm and Agent Orange^^

[Rutaan]

Maybe Europeans are being overcharged, and maybe they aren't. I don't know, but I do know that the price difference isn't limited just to DA:O, EA, or video games. I think the complainers are oversimplifying things. VAT probably isn't the only fee that is different between the US and most European countries. If I'm not mistaken, there is also a possibility that VAT can be charged more than once. Aside from that, there may be import duties, licensing fees, and who knows what other bureaucratic machinery to deal with. The fact is that Americans have fought tooth and nail to keep taxes relatively low and trade relatively open. Europe has generally taken a different tactic, and this is part of the price you pay for things like "free" health care.