"The Collector’s Edition will be available through pre-order and it retails for $149.99 (US), €149.99 (Europe), £129.99 (UK), and A$199.99 (Australia). If you’re interested in purchasing, we recommend you pre-order asap, as the it will be available in extremely limited quantities."
WTF!!! Are these people mentally retarded!? I am so sick of seeing this shit. It is completely infuriating. Do they not realise that Ausbux are worth more than USD? Christ, they match the Euro price with the US price but charge the aussies another 33% of the original price! Does it cost another $50 per unit to ship the damn thing down under??
Please excuse the rage, but this blatant bullshit aussie extortion just really makes me see red. It doesn't even effect me. I've already pre-ordered through OzGamesShop for $38.99. But it's the principle. Disgusting and senseless!!
Edit: I feel better now that I have 'unleashed the dragon'!
Hi Bethesda,
Big fan here. I have yet to be disappointed with any product you have put out (although it's a shame the bugs never got ironed out of Dark Corners of the Earth properly). That said, the attitude you and other publishers have adopted towards Aussie gamers has already gotten a lot of us pretty jaded.
How can you justify the price discrepancies with Skyrim CE?
$150USD = $105EURO, yet you are charging $150EURO ($214USD).
$150USD = $143AUS, yet you are charging $199AUS ($207USD).
This kind of blatant money-grubbing at the expense of the Aussies is generating some serious ill-will. Try to imagine, if you were an aussie gamer with slightly flexible morals, and you saw this kind of 'aussie gouging' going on, it might be just the kind of thing that would make you choose a torrent site over a legit purchase. Personally, I have already pre-ordered (not the CE, there are limits to how far I'll whore myself out for a good game), but I'm kind of a sucker for helping out the 'struggling games developers'.
There are plenty of Australians who are getting very frustrated with the current trend of ravaging the strong Aus dollar. Steam has been laying it on us pretty heavy for the last year and we are all getting sick of it and finding ways to get around it while still making legit purchases. I order all my AAA titles from overseas now (and pay half to one third of the Aussie retail price) and only buy Indie games or specials through Steam.
I'm very interested in how much thought you put into the possible impact of your price hikes. Do you think we are too stupid to notice, or have you just grown too big to care? Do you realise that you are alienating a not insignificant percentage of your customer base?
We know. We're discussing it. And we don't like it. This is just one (particularly disgusting) example. The average gamer is growing older. We're getting more patient and more savvy with our purchases. We're more likely to avoid the early rush and buy a game when it's on special or in the bargain bin. Even more so when it's a single player game we wont be playing with our mates. So price your products more attractively and you're more likely to sell more when they are at their most profitable for you.
Have a read, see what we're talking about...
Aussies: Tired of paying too much?
Space Marine: Aussies charged 200%
http://www.theoldergamers.com/forum/...ml#post3219478
http://www.theoldergamers.com/forum/...ml#post3221812
Many thanks, and I sincerely hope this doesnt fall on deaf ears.
Greg
P.S. If you have any positions going for a 'Moral Advisor' role or some such I would still happily consider coming to work for you. I love you guys, really. Just pissed off that you too have jumped on this horrid bandwagon. You don't need my resume. $70k per year should be reasonable I think. In Aussie dollars of course. I'll even consider shifting my family...
![Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim [Nov 11 2011]](http://www.theoldergamers.com/forum/iconimages/rpg-simulation-strategy-others/elder-scrolls-5-skyrim-nov-11-2011-a_ltr.gif)
I have started playing Morrowind again and am eagerly awaiting Skyrim.
