GOG.com announced that they will feature games with regional pricing, that is different prices depending on where on the world you live. Up till now it had a fair price policy, that is, the same price for everyone. Understandably this has caused quite a controversy and the GOG staff have committed to a further announcement to clarify things.
The reason I mention this in the Original Sin forum is that they used Original Sin as an example. Here is the quote:
"TheEnigmaticT: Divinity: Original Sin is an example of the kind of game we're talking about; it's already launched on Steam for early access with regional pricing, and it wouldn't be very fair of Larian to give our EU and UK users a better value for the game if they buy it from GOG.com later as opposed to Steam now."
I think it is important for Larian to make a comment. Does Larian support regional pricing and more importantly does Larian forbid the selling of its games unless regional pricing is implemented?
Personally I think regional pricing as it has been implemented so far is extremely unfair. I'll speak for my own country, although there are worse examples, like Australia. Not all countries with euro as a currency are rich countries. Quite the contrary. The average salary for my country is significantly smaller than the average American salary, even after the currency conversion. Regional pricing means that I will have to pay much more than people in the USA for the same product while earning much less. This is a policy that's been around for years but that doesn't make it any less unfair.
Now the thing about CD Projekt (which owns GOG) and Larian is that they have been companies geared towards making great games and consumer satisfaction. For example Larian has said there will be no DLCs for Original Sin (a practice aimed at milking consumers dry). CD Projekt RED have given all updates and DLC for the Witcher games for free. Not to mention they are both European companies. That's why such an issue is important. If the good guys follow whatever the money-hungry companies do, then there is little hope of things ever getting better.
Since Original Sin is published by Larian, there is no excuse here. Whatever happens is solely a decision by Larian. Personally I've already gotten Original Sin for Steam. I'm against Early Access, but not on principle, and I wanted to support the game. However I am against regional pricing on principle and the stand Larian takes on the issue may affect my purchasing of future games by the company.
