Steam region lock - Rip cheap games.

[Bluestar]

http://www.reddit.com/r/SteamGameSw..._all_gifts_are_now_regionlocked_if_bought_in/

-Ill just leave it here. I hope you guys will cover this in news. (If this was already posted somewhere i am sorry.)

 

[Omnomnick]

Maybe people will buy games legitimately now, rather than trying to cheat the system.

 

[Wheaties-Of-Doom]

 

[Bluestar]

Maybe people will buy games legitimately now, rather than trying to cheat the system.

You know there is a reason why people cheat the system right ? Lets begin with steam thinking 1€ = 1$ for most of the games. Lets continue with some games like "Borderlands 2" and "Saint Row 4" they are region locked to CIS countries even in Estonia yet we are not considered CIS country. We have to pay for them full amount like other people do yet we get cheap Russian version that does not work normally. I remember when we even had to pay more for it than other parts of Europe and USA on steam sale. Also if you compare regular/minimum wage in Estonia to Germany/Sweden then you will see insane difference. In here minimum wage is 355€/month while for example in Sweden its around 1382€/month yet game prices are the same. And for example i had a good Russian friend who used to gift me games for free. Well not he can't do it. I am not trying to say its all bad and i understand why steam did it but its still a bit unfair.

 

[-smash-]

Gabe Newell always said piracy was big because the content services and distributors sucked too much. Well, if people are going out of their way to gain the system in another way (i.e. look for cheaper Steam keys), then that means the service is sucking too much. So, Valve, fix your shit.

 

[Wheaties-Of-Doom]

In here minimum wage is 355€/month while for example in Sweden its around 1382€/month yet game prices are the same.

Either the Scandinavian and Baltic states pay ridiculously well, or there is a missing decimal point.

Joking aside, I agree with -smash-. As a worldwide distributor, Valve is going to need to put some effort into making sure everyone is paying a fair and decent price for their games. For instance, Australian game prices haven't yet changed to fit their new, stronger economy.

 

[TheWiktor]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_average_wage

 

[Vegeta897]

Gabe Newell always said piracy was big because the content services and distributors sucked too much. Well, if people are going out of their way to gain the system in another way (i.e. look for cheaper Steam keys), then that means the service is sucking too much. So, Valve, fix your shit.

That analogy makes no sense. If I pirated say, an Audible book, it would be because I hate their shitty DRM that doesn't let me listen to books my own way. Shitty services are definitely a reason for piracy, yes. But that's not what's happening here. Buying a Steam key for a cheaper price does not let you play that game outside of Steam. You download and play it exactly the same way as you would if you paid your own country's price. The reason people have been buying cheaper keys is because it's cheaper. Saying the service is to blame makes no god damn sense because they're still using the Steam service with their cheaper key. It's about the money, not the service. If it really was about the service, they would just pirate the game and avoid Steam entirely. How does buying a Steam key avoid the Steam service?

Valve is going to need to put some effort into making sure everyone is paying a fair and decent price for their games.

That's exactly what this is. The system was vulnerable to exploits because Valve sold their games at lower prices in countries who had less expendable income. This was being fair to those countries, because just using the exchange rate wouldn't result in fairness. They're still selling at those low prices to poorer countries, but now they're making sure those cheap games are actually played by the people there, not by people in the first world who wanted to get their steam games cheaper.

 

[Bluestar]

@Vegeta897
a) Not only, for example there are games that have region blocks. For example you cant buy Dark Souls 1 in Estonia for whatever reason.
b) Few games have Estonia in "poor country" list yet steam sells games for full price if not for more here. (Read into my second post first 3-4 lines)

 

[Vegeta897]

Those issues should be taken care of, but they aren't direct results of region locking. The region lock just means you can't avoid those issues now, so Valve needs to address those kinds of things. But the idea behind region locking in general is for the good of the service, and people who were buying steam keys from other countries just for a cheaper price are rightfully prevented from doing so.

 

[Wheaties-Of-Doom]

Yeah, I was a little vague. They definitely should be trying to stop people working the system, but I also think region-locking the gift system shouldn't be a permanent solution. I honestly have no idea what they can do to fix this.

On another note, the Euro is certainly going to be a problem. It seems no matter what they do, one country is going to end up paying more for a game then another and that's going to cause a commotion.

 

[TheWiktor]

I just can't understand why is Poland in the same price zone as Germany if we're just a bunch of poor plumbers and car stealers. That's an issue with economy in general though, not just Steam.

 

[DevonWC]

GG secret santa.

 

[Aizawa]

games are too expensive in general anyway!!!!!
only game I would pay 50€ for is Half-Life 3. I pay maximum 30€ for the games I REALLY want on release (maybe 1-3 per year), for the rest I wait until I can get them from 20€.
I dont care about this, cause I never bought keys from russia, but region-lock is SHIT, because I cant buy games uncut! Which is stupid! The law in germany doesnt even force them to do region-lock, publishers like Bethesda just do it for whatever reason, maybe just to be on the safe side dunno. (for Wolfenstein The New Order for example)

 

[Omnomnick]

games are too expensive in general anyway!!!!!
only game I would pay 50€ for is Half-Life 3. I pay maximum 30€ for the games I REALLY want on release (maybe 1-3 per year), for the rest I wait until I can get them from 20€.
I dont care about this, cause I never bought keys from russia, but region-lock is SHIT, because I cant buy games uncut! Which is stupid! The law in germany doesnt even force them to do region-lock, publishers like Bethesda just do it for whatever reason, maybe just to be on the safe side dunno. (for Wolfenstein The New Order for example)

You know games are, for the most part, cheaper than they ever have been?

 

[Aizawa]

You know games are, for the most part, cheaper than they ever have been?

In Germany they are more expensive. I remember that new games in Germany in the past were around 90 DM (Deutsche Mark). Then when € came which was double worth what DM was so 1 game was 45€ (90 DM / 2 = 45), but nobody sells a game for 45 so prices increased to 49,99€ as the standard price for full price games. And full price games from Ubisoft, Activision and EA cost 60€! + 30€-50€ for season pass or premium or whatever bullshit.
Not only that but I´m sure publishers get more money from steam than from retail sales.

And even if games were cheaper in the past they are still way too expensive. In my opinion...
40€ for the biggest releases like CoD, BF and AC whatever would be fair imo and 30€ for normal big releases like Shadow of Mordor and Alien Isolation.

Maybe It´s just me because I play so many games.

 

[Omnomnick]

And even if games were cheaper in the past they are still way too expensive. In my opinion...
40€ for the biggest releases like CoD, BF and AC whatever would be fair imo and 30€ for normal big releases like Shadow of Mordor and Alien Isolation.

I can't really speak for how German game prices have risen or fallen, but I do agree publishers and developers need to be more experimental and diverse with their price ranges, rather than just sticking a £40 or £50 price tag on any game.

 

[Aizawa]

I can't really speak for how German game prices have risen or fallen, but I do agree publishers and developers need to be more experimental and diverse with their price ranges, rather than just sticking a £40 or £50 price tag on any game.

like Konami! The day Metal Gear Rising came out was also the first day of the steam sales, so it released with a sale and was only 13€ which is super low. They did the same for Metal Gear Solid 5 Ground Zeroes. Of course they only did this because Ground Zeroes wasnt that expensive to begin with and Rising came 1 year after the console versions, but its awesome anyway!