Thank you for giving America a discount. Best Regards, Europe.

[Atoli]

How could my original post possibly start a flame war regarding European and American living standards?

Because some people seem to think "Oh, they are from Europe, so they are all rich and it's fine for them to pay more money to get the same content." which is not true.
I decided to play this game with the full price of 13€ in mind, and I was willing and able to pay that.
I'm happy it's even less now
But I thought everyone would have to pay the same and I don't see any reason why I am supposed to pay more than someone else just because he is not living in the same country as I am.

[Frein]

But it doesnt bother me, because while we get a lil ripped of here, Ameircans get ripped off in Wages and having to pay stupidly high education fees, where as UK dont. (dont know about EU as a whole).

The education costs probably aren't really that far apart. You just pay them in taxes and government debt instead. This is the great socialist illusion of free meals.

Also, the reason US college students have to pay so high tuition fees lies in the government subsidized student loans. The colleges know these students will get their loans anyway, so they ramp up the prices.

In the past students would often declare themselves bankrupt once their studies were complete, so the law was changed and now a student can never rid themselves of student debt regardless of their ability to pay. Total US student debt now exceeds $1 trillion and is more than total credit card debt. It's a huge bubble that's going to burst soon and the banks will once again need a bailout if they haven't already been bailed out, again, because of Europe risk.

This is what central planning of the economy causes. It's one disaster after another.

[totallynotme]

The education costs probably aren't really that far apart. You just pay them in taxes and government debt instead. This is the great socialist illusion of free meals.

This is a gaming forum.

They do it because of the VAT. There is no room to adjust. Otherwise the same would apply to US as well.

Everything they could give us has its' own value. They might as well lower the fee accordingly if it came down to that, since there really is little difference.

I'm not asking them to lower the fee, I already mentioned the VAT in the OP and the difference is anything but "little" to SE long term, so the fee itself is completely understandable. But offering something small as a way of saying "we get it" wouldn't have to carry a huge cost for them, it would just be the right thing to do.

[Syrous]

While it is true us EU folk do get currency dildoed often by electronic device/media companies I don't take solace in that fact. By this I mean: just because I get the short end of the stick very often cause some countries in the EU decide they want a powerful currency even when certain countries are on the verge of colapse, it's still not OK to convert $1 to 1€ just cause everyone else is, especially since these charges add up overtime and it's not like buying one overpriced item once. And then these same companies are surprised about the piracy install base in some EU countries, but that's another conversation for another day. I'm sorry SE, but I'll have to rethink if I'll keep playing this game or not.

[Betelgeuzah]

I'm not asking them to lower the fee, I already mentioned the VAT in the OP and the difference is anything but "little" to SE long term, so the fee itself is completely understandable. But offering something small as a way of saying "we get it" wouldn't have to carry a huge cost for them, it would just be the right thing to do.

The thing is, there's still a cost involved. That "something" will have a value of it's own, whether its 50 cents or 3 euros, it's still there, just in a different form. They could just lower the price instead, which they won't do, because there is little room to adjust as is due to VAT.

[charlemagne]

The way I see it is that it doesn't matter a damn to me what someone else is paying. The £6.89 they're asking me to pay seems worth it and that's all I need think about.

[totallynotme]

The thing is, there's still a cost involved. That "something" will have a value of it's own, whether its 50 cents or 3 euros, it's still there, just in a different form. They could just lower the price instead, which they won't do, because there is little room to adjust as is due to VAT.

Clearly this argument is just going in circles.

[Atoli]

[...] it's still not OK to convert $1 to 1€ just cause everyone else is, especially since these charges add up overtime and it's not like buying one overpriced item once. I'm sorry SE, but I'll have to rethink if I'll keep playing this game or not.

Thank you!
Finally someone who feels the same.

@Betelgeuzah:
I don't think it's about VAT.
They are different in every country of Europe, but we'll all have to pay the same fee of 9,99€.
So don't tell me there's little room for adjustments. For non-american countries it's somewhere between 4% and more than 25%.
Even within the EU it's between 15% and 25%.
So letting all of us pay more because of VAT..not making any sense.

[Frein]

This is a gaming forum.

I'm glad you noticed.

I'm not asking them to lower the fee, I already mentioned the VAT in the OP and the difference is anything but "little" to SE long term, so the fee itself is completely understandable. But offering something small as a way of saying "we get it" wouldn't have to carry a huge cost for them, it would just be the right thing to do.

It's possible that SE ramps up the € price simply because us Europeans are used to paying more (I hear this happens a lot in Australia), however, I'd say it's also quite likely it's simply a matter extra costs, mostly from VAT taxes, that does it. In that case it doesn't make sense for them to give us anything extra, as it would be, well, extra. SE should not need to sweeten the deal simply because we live in a different tax environment. It's a government issue, not a business one.

[Spellbinder]

Technically paying more here in Japan as well. That's just how it goes I guess.