Aussies - Pricing annoyances, do the math

jcrayon

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2007

Legion of WolfSong

N/E

Aussies, if you were thinking about buying GW:EN expansion, then consider this:

1. Buy the Pre-Release Bonus Weekend Pack via in-game or NCSoft
2. Buy GW:EN expansion - total amount has cost of Pre-Release deducted from it.
3. Having bought both of the above via Guild Wars or NCSoft means you should have spent more than US$29 which enititles you to receive the Bonus Mission Pack !!! ( http://www.guildwars.com/products/extras/missionpack/ )

The only problem with the above is that the total purchase price for buying GW:EN via NCSoft/ingame has not been published! (Feel free to raise a support ticket and ask why not. Hasn't anyone else noticed this?)

If the GW:EN price ends up being something like 49.99 Pounds, instead of say US$49.99 then that is a ridiculous amount to pay considering the exchange rate. And because we are in Australia we always get directed to the UK NCSoft Servers.

GBP(UK)49.99 = A$117 ( http://www.google.com.au/search?q=49+GBP+in+AUD )

USD$49.99 = A$57 ( http://www.google.com.au/search?q=49USD+in+AUD )

Note that EBGames is selling Guild Wars Pre-Order for $49.95 and they just give you the Pre-Release Weekend kit straight up front, and in the end you get a boxed set.
http://www.ebgames.com.au/PC/product.cfm?ID=6920

So here's some more mental gymnastics:
How much is the Prophecies Bonus Mission Pack worth? To me, let's say I'm willing to pay A$15 for a handful of extra missions because I like the storyline and want to see/hear/be involved in more.

For me, the NCSoft store price needs to be less than:
A$49.95 + A$15 = A$64.99

A$64.99 = 27 English Pounds, or
A$64.99 = 55 US Dollars

If the price is not less than 27 Pounds or US$55, then it is more cost effective to buy the game from EB, and I get a boxed set as well! But sad to have to miss out on the Bonus Mission Pack.

I was really hoping to buy GW:EN + Pre-Relase in game and pickup the Bonus Mission pack too.

Food for thought.

kaheiyeh

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2005

Australia

Reapers of Solace

Mo/A

Uhh ... I preordered GW:EN from EB Games but they wouldn't give me the Pre-Release Bonus Kit. They kept yapping on to me about how they'll give it to me along with the game when the game is released! No matter how I argued they wouldn't give it to me.

Oh, this is an expansion after all and the past campaigns have been US$49? So I suppose this will be about US$30 at release in the store and something similar for the English Pound.

psycore

psycore

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

Your a bit off - NC is showing for a full version of NF is 29.99 pounds, factions is 19.99 and so is prophecies.

In AU$ that is approx $47 to $70 for a full version of a GW standalone campaign.

I would expect that an expansion would cost less.

Meat Axe

Meat Axe

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jan 2007

Brisbane, Australia

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by jcrayon
The only problem with the above is that the total purchase price for buying GW:EN via NCSoft/ingame has not been published! (Feel free to raise a support ticket and ask why not. Hasn't anyone else noticed this?)
Actually, the price for GW:EN through the online store has been published. The online store sells the games at the RRP. The RRP of GW:EN was announced quite awhile ago now, well before the pre release hit the stores. And here they are, followed by the URLs for the actual press releases:

Quote: Originally Posted by American Press Release NCsoft and ArenaNet set $39.99 price for first ever expansion of Guild Wars franchise
http://www.guildwars.com/events/pres...2007-07-02.php

Quote:
Originally Posted by European Press Release

kaheiyeh

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2005

Australia

Reapers of Solace

Mo/A

Quote:
Originally Posted by Meat Axe
By the way, since you're an Australian player, you'll be paying in pounds through the online store. As I recall from when I looked it up, £24.99 is around $58 over here. Might as well get it from the stores for $49.95 then!

jcrayon

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2007

Legion of WolfSong

N/E

MeatAxe: In one post, within a couple of hours of my original, you have managed to answer a question that I have had bouncing around NCSoft support for over a week! For that, I sincerely thankyou!

The only reason I even ended up posting here was I was so pi$$ed-off because NCSoft bounced me through 3 separate people in the US, transferred the ticket to the UK system, then promptly closed both tickets without answering the question!
And all I asked was "What will the final online price be for an Australian purchaser?".

kaheiyeh: As per my post, £24.99 is an acceptable price, because it means I will automatically get the Bonus Mission Packs on which I placed a personal value of around A$15. So it all comes out nicely.

MeatAxe: said: "Actually, the price for GW:EN through the online store has been published."
I accept "published" since you were able to point me to ... a European Press Release! Have you seen it anywhere else? How many players read press releases?

I still contend that saying "Buy this Pre-Release Bonus Weekend and we will take it off the final RRP" but not showing the RRP in the same place, and in fact having it in a very difficult place to find (I looked all over the Guild Wars and NCSoft sites, it didn't strike me as obvious to check the Press Releases), is borderline deceptive conduct and would be viewed dimly under the Australian Trade Practices Act (of course which we know NCSoft is not subject to).

Enough rant. Thanks MeatAxe and who knows, maybe someone from GW/NCSoft might read this and have a D'oh moment.

Cheers,
JC

Kale Ironfist

Kale Ironfist

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2006

Australia

Venatio Illuminata [VEIL]

W/

It should have been on the Guild Wars site, the news section specifically, as that linked to the press release, and it shouldn't be that hard to find.

What were you looking for on the site that didn't lead to you finding the press release?

Meat Axe

Meat Axe

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jan 2007

Brisbane, Australia

R/

Hahah no worries mate. Glad to be of help. I'm just sorry you had to go through support hell that ended up being completely pointless.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kale Ironfist
It should have been on the Guild Wars site, the news section specifically, as that linked to the press release, and it shouldn't be that hard to find.

What were you looking for on the site that didn't lead to you finding the press release? The problem is that, although the press release was linked from the main site for a few days, it gets buried in the archive. Now, since they changed their site around, it does take some time to find the links to the old press releases (The European website is better. It has a link for "Press" so it's simple enough to find).

However, I think most people (myself included) use the American one. To find the press release on the American site (unless there is a link I missed) I had to go through Support > FAQ > Eye of the North and then about halfway down I found the link to the Press Release for the release date of GW:EN.

dawnmist

dawnmist

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2007

Melbourne, Australia

Serpents Maw Esoteric Echelon

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by kaheiyeh
Uhh ... I preordered GW:EN from EB Games but they wouldn't give me the Pre-Release Bonus Kit. They kept yapping on to me about how they'll give it to me along with the game when the game is released! No matter how I argued they wouldn't give it to me. Contact EB Games head office, and make a complaint. Remind Head Office that by *not* passing the pre-order pack out in advance, they're destroying the value of the pack, and likely to be breaking their distribution agreement for the game as well. With EB, you won't get the local stores to budge on this until Head Office gives them a kick in the rear.

Been there with EB in the past, swore I'd never let them do that to me again.

kaheiyeh

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2005

Australia

Reapers of Solace

Mo/A

Quote:
Originally Posted by dawnmist
Contact EB Games head office, and make a complaint. Remind Head Office that by *not* passing the pre-order pack out in advance, they're destroying the value of the pack, and likely to be breaking their distribution agreement for the game as well. With EB, you won't get the local stores to budge on this until Head Office gives them a kick in the rear.

Been there with EB in the past, swore I'd never let them do that to me again. I just sent out a complaint yesterday. I'm waiting for a reply and I hope I can get my hands on the box before the weekend.

Lady Lozza

Lady Lozza

Forge Runner

Join Date: Dec 2005

Oz

Angel Sharks

Me/N

Kaheiyeh, EB is famous for not giving out the pre-orders.
While contacting the head office is always a good idea, I'd found it quicker and easier just to get straight to the heart of the problem and have a nice chat with the store manager instead.

kaheiyeh

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2005

Australia

Reapers of Solace

Mo/A

Well, I got the preorder box today! They gave me a call and apologized for it as they had no clue what It was.

Matfei

Matfei

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2006

Australia

None. Being a loner X-Fire: matfei1

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by kaheiyeh
Well, I got the preorder box today! They gave me a call and apologized for it as they had no clue what It was. No clue but adamant you wouldn't get it, haha.

pamelf

pamelf

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Australia

Lost Templars [LoTe]

Me/Mo

I'm getting the game in store. I bought the pre-release, GOTY upgrade and 2 character slots to make me eligible for the mission bonus packs. There is no way you could get me buying GWEN from the online store. I decided it made more economic sense for me to buy things I needed (well, not exactly need....) but had no other way of obtaining than through the online store, that way I couldn't really feel ripped off (apart from the being charged in GBP thing...).