Steam payment HUGE price increase!

[IzumiOgata]

So yeah, now they can't come saying the price was not in line with global pricing, seeing as we used to pay 33 BRL for the sub and the UK pays the equivalent of 36.75 BRL which is barely more than a dollar difference.



Well, can I pay the UK price now or are we raising their prices too? /s

[Vizu00]

Post is up on reddit, I hope the mods don't take it down

[Drakanoth]

So yeah, now they can't come saying the price was not in line with global pricing, seeing as we used to pay 33 BRL for the sub and the UK pays the equivalent of 36.75 BRL which is barely more than a dollar difference.



Well, can I pay the UK price now or are we raising their prices too? /s

If its really true, then we'll see how much of the "but you weren't paying the same as we were" the UK is gonna get.

[Korihu]

Nope, I am not living in the USA. I'm European, which you could guess from my world I guess.

Oh, so another area where prices are nicely adjusted for your currency. Wait, Europeans have regional pricing too... and pay a bit less than Americans do. WUH OH


edit: to be more productive:

Yes, absolutely, if SE decides that everyone must have a 'one price for all' policy, then whatever, they can do what they want, I absolutely wouldn't agree with it and you would see your prices going up too and it would make the game inaccessible for some people. BUT. They absolutely could have and should have warned people in advance before suddenly raising their subscription price by up to 300%, right after the launch of an expansion. Everyone here has the right to be annoyed and angry and ask what is up with this. People who don't live in Brazil and Russia also have the right to be suspicious, because if this isn't some weird stuff then I don't know what is.

[Rymm]

I spent 3 days fighting the temporary session forbiden so I could register in the forum, using a lent phone just to post this info, you guys have fun now =p

You, sir, are a hero and I salute you.

Now, on topic.
The new prices bite for the players affected by them, there is no denying it. But SE has the right to set the price for their game, regardless of what people think is "fair" or "equal" based on economy, minimum wages, currency conversion or any of those things that have been repeated in this thread a hundred times. I do not dispute that SE is entitled make their prices whatever the heck they what, no matter how negatively it affects their playerbase.

But as I said about 30 pages ago, what does tick me off (I would love to use stronger language here, but don't want to give the mods an excuse to ban me or delete my posts) is how SE handled this "adjustment." And the list of grievances against SE's customer service policies just keeps growing.

1- We were given no warning before our sub prices went up. No matter how you spin it, an adjustment where the price goes up is an increase.
2- After the fact, we were flat out ignored for two days before we got any sort of official response which finally came in the form of a single forum post before they went back to ignoring us.
3- SE timed the unannounced increase to take effect precisely after the refund period for Stormblood expired. So now large groups of people who paid a decent chunk of money for something can't use it because they can no longer afford the sub and also can't return it.
4- SE is apparently being very heavy handed in modding this thread, deleting or removing posts which talk about contacting media outlets or insisting on getting their refunds and then banning the people who make them.
5- Now we come to find out that these new "adjustments" to make sure everyone is paying the "same" sub fees only applies to BR and RU subscribers and that there are other regions out there who are still paying less.

This whole mess just stinks of, at best, incompetent PR and community management or, at worst, outright unethical business practices on SE's part. And all of this is on top of the fact that we (non-NA/Japan subscribers) are constantly being either quietly ignored or intentionally shafted by SE in terms of customer support.

[eschaton]

Maybe the NA business folks should start playing the SE quest-lines themselves and give the reevaluation of living a good life some thought:




Business or not people are not numbers on your screen and they never will be.

[Paladinleeds]

Seeing the UK sub price compared to the US one worries me, it's definitely not about making all prices fair anymore. Maybe they should prove it by increasing the UK sub fee to £24.99/mth (to put it into perspective of what they did to the Russians). Though since the UK is a very rich country I'd say go even further and make it £500/mth. Maybe then we'd be able to get the Russian's and Brazilian's situation fixed because of how much of an uproar that would cause. But remember, no warning or anything about it. This is basically the situation I see the Russians/Brazilians in.

[Rofel]

Thanks a lot for the info, Vizu00! It really helps our point of view, man.

They went full SICKNESS MUST BE PURGED.

We're nothing but FILTHY RATS!

SE is being slopeh.

[Theodric]

Seeing the UK sub price compared to the US one worries me, it's definitely not about making all prices fair anymore. Maybe they should prove it by increasing the UK sub fee to £24.99/mth (to put it into perspective of what they did to the Russians). Though since the UK is a very rich country I'd say go even further and make it £500/mth. Maybe then we'd be able to get the Russian's and Brazilian's situation fixed because of how much of an uproar that would cause. But remember, no warning or anything about it. This is basically the situation I see the Russians/Brazilians in.

That would be a pretty great way to erode away any sympathy UK players have for those affected. Especially since we've already been screwed over in the past by the way in which promotion campaigns have been handled.

[gustavray]

That would be a pretty great way to erode away any sympathy UK players have for those affected. Especially since we've already been screwed over in the past by the way in which promotion campaigns have been handled.

I agree. Did you lot even get a promotion for the flying nimbus? From what I heard it was only in Germany, for buying 24 cans of Dr pepper and it costed a lot more than the 20 USD NA players had to spend on Amazon to get the items. I think the way things are priced have to be different in different countries. If they don't do that, they'll only get players from US, UK, the EU and JP. A lot of ppl in SEA, South America, and Africa love games and will join if they get a regional pricing. I mean, even Amazon Kindle unlimited is cheaper in Brazil coz they know we can't pay 10 USD a month, specially given that we pay more taxes and a Paperwhite costs a lot more here, just like Heavensward did on Steam in Brazil.