Regional restriction woes

By aLap on September 12, 2009 7:46:59 AM from

Dragon Age: Origins is THE game that I've been wanting to play since it's early development in 2004 by BioWare. Impulse, despite its growing pains, is one heck of a platform and I love it. Just recently I saw these two great, colossal goodies coming together in perfect gaming bliss. But then I read... USA and Canada only...

I'm in mainland China btw, where genuine boxed versions in English are rarely available. As a gamer, I have the same urge to try a cool game as soon as possible. I do get to see the same buzz: trailers, videos, news, interviews, forum discussions, all that pizzazz. But what do I and other outcast gamers usually get? "Sorry, but you're living in the wrong part of the world" or "you'll have to wait until it gets to your region"... In this age of instant communication, what would ANY gamer think of having to sit tight for months on end, or needing to give up from buying that cool but restricted game?

There are MANY gamers out there, with cash, outside of the traditional markets, that are being smothered with region locks and inferior options (publishers' own digital distribution services are often slow since they seem to lack a network of worldwide high speed servers - that Impulse provides - and offer extremely limited re-downloads). The digital distribution of games offers the opportunity to reach anyone in the world with an internet connection. This could even be viewed as a way to reduce piracy. But what do we see happening? Games being locked out by publishers and allowed to be digitally sold only in the same old markets.

By restricting their games to just a handful of regions, publishers concede to pirates a much desired distribution service for those outcasts that pirate not because they don't have money, but because of the urge of wanting to play great games.

Also, from what is observed, most gamers in the traditional markets prefer the boxed version over the digital one, while those outside continue to have very limited options.

There's an artificial restriction in the digital distribution market that needs to go away.

- aLap

+16 Karma | 26 Replies

While i share your dislike of regional restrictions. I can imagine that the server/upload capacity required to provide the game to the entire world at once would be way to expensive. Of course this could be alleviated by using p2p technology. And then there's all that stuff with the different publishers, contracts, laws etc. They apparently think it to big a hassle.

If it's too big of a hassle, let others do it properly

I tend to agree with getting rid of regional lockouts. Even region based pricing would be preferable (as long as its not TOTALLY out of wack like reaching 50% + kind of proportions)

Btw aLap nice healing ribbon icon

Spoof your IP, buy and download, smile.

Wieke

comment 1

...The server/upload capacity required to provide the game to the entire world at once would be way to expensive.

While the cost/benefit situation may be true, consider the fact that Stardock DO provide many titles, including their own, for worldwide digital distribution. In that sense they already have the infrastructure to support worldwide sales. (I assume this would be scalable as demand increases) It is simply a matter of licensing restrictions which the boxed publishers impose.

SnallTrippin

comment 4

Spoof your IP, buy and download, smile.

While I haven't tried it, I was under the impression that the Impulse regional settings are based on the address which you have to provide as part of your Stardock account.. Meaning no such workaround would be possible. (psst: PM me if I am (happily) wrong )

I know for me the joy of digital distribution is having a single store/catalogue that can act as a library for all of my games, including up to the minute updates and patches for titles purchased. When certain games are unavailable on Impulse this destroys its overall usability.
While Stardock has mentioned they want to support registering games which have been purchased at a retail store, meaning that Impulse can then catalogue a gamer's entire library of titles, this doesn't address the issue of people who can't acquire a physical boxed copy at all in their region.

Here's my vote for international availabilty on as many titles as possible and impulse's support of international users by filtering options for games which are not available in their region.

As a lazy person, i'd rather find another place to buy it from. Like Steam just informed me that they have RE5 Pre-order sale like Impulse, it's few euros more expensive, but it IS available for Europe. I'm not going to get though, seeing how RE4 PC port turned out.

Quoting 4D,

reply 6

While Stardock has mentioned they want to support registering games which have been purchased at a retail store, meaning that Impulse can then catalogue a gamer's entire library of titles, this doesn't address the issue of people who can't acquire a physical boxed copy at all in their region.

The Publisher has to opt in for that as well. AFAIK, no publisher has so far.

Quoting 4D,

reply 6

The Stardock Store is not integrated with your account, it honestly has no freaking idea where you live - except for the IP. Now, one thing I've noticed is that it is so lazy, that it doesn't even check the IP you come from - the Stardock Store accepts or rejects based on the TLD of your reverse DNS! So all you'd need to do is get your ISP to set your rDNS to something ending in ".com" (I noticed this because it refused to let me buy NA only games from a computer physically located in Dallas, TX - just because the rDNS was set to the company domain which ends in ".nz" since that's where the HQ is).

(I'm tempted to add "so screw you EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Kalypso, and Atari")

The Publisher has to opt in for that as well. AFAIK, no publisher has so far.

Ahh. Well ain't that just annoying. Still, Impulse seems to be making inroads into publishers more traditional thinking over-time. Hopefully the situation will change.

So all you'd need to do is get your ISP to set your rDNS to something ending in ".com"

Reeeaallly? ^_~ Nice work Detective Kyanar.

I would say that regional pricing is less of a problem than not being able to buy a game at all. For a game that I really like, I wouldn't mind paying a bit more, as long as it could be made available. It's weird to be faced with a supplier not wanting my money.

I don't intend to become a pirate, though jumping through hoops like this when there's this local cheesy market or that shady torrent, taunting me with a pirated version a few days after release... it's a ridiculous conundrum (considering my location and the lack of retail choices here).

Even ordering a retail box from abroad is a chore. When I do find one store that can send to my location, it's either a 30-day wait for normal mail or a bundle of cash for express mail. Either way, it's a loss in time and money when considering that shady alternative mentioned above.

Oh, btw, let's not mention hypothetical platform workarounds in detail. This is a public forum.

It's the internet, there is always a way to fool software. Go forth and to hell with restrictions! BE FREE MY PEOPLE! ...cough...bored at work.

Quoting aLap,

reply 11

But the problem is that you should mind. They're not charging you more because it costs them any more to get it to you, they're charging you more just because ... well, to be honest there is no valid reason for it.

For physical products, I fully understand that it will cost more - there's a much greater real cost to get it to you as it has to be shipped and packaged, and ordinarily reclassified and so forth. However, there is no reason for a digital download which costs the same amount to get it to Kazakhstan as Wisconsin to cost twice or three times the price. The majority of countries don't even require the product to be rated by their classification authority if it is not directly marketed within the country!

The reason they don't release in asia, etc, is piracy right? But it doesn't make sense digitally...maybe they have to pay a certain amount of money to go through redtape and don't think they'll make it back in sales.

But the problem is that you should mind. They're not charging you more because it costs them any more to get it to you, they're charging you more just because ... well, to be honest there is no valid reason for it.

For physical products, I fully understand that it will cost more - there's a much greater real cost to get it to you as it has to be shipped and packaged, and ordinarily reclassified and so forth. However, there is no reason for a digital download which costs the same amount to get it to Kazakhstan as Wisconsin to cost twice or three times the price. The majority of countries don't even require the product to be rated by their classification authority if it is not directly marketed within the country!

Well, that's sort of how Supply and Demand economics work, isn't it? Unfortunate, but that's just the way it is.

...and in there comes Piracy. Tis a balancing act indeed.

For me it's pretty simple, if they put silly restrictions on my ability to buy and play te game, I won't get it... The last game I bought in a brick & mortar store, was the CE of Wrath of the Lich King because I couldn't find a webstore that still had it in stock. So unless they give me a really compelling reason (Like some really interessting extra in the box) they lose a sale by restricting my purchase.

I see no moral issues with spoofing your IP in this case. If the account thing is set (I doubt it is done at account level) just make a new account.

I'd even go so far as to say that since you aren't wanted as a customer, it's ok to just download it, though paying for it is the better option. Look at anime fansubs.

Quoting pseudomelon,

reply 15

Well, that's sort of how Supply and Demand economics work, isn't it? Unfortunate, but that's just the way it is.

Whoa, was that one thought through?

What is the "supply" on a digital distribution?

The supply = Infinite because there is no limit to the number of times it can be copied. Which makes what happen on a standard supply vs demand equation mathematically?

Plus the demand side is totally off as well. When you're dealing with worldwide digital distribution there is only one market - the world. Demand in Poland and U.S. doesn't really matter because it is all just a purchase request at the exact same digital store. In this case it isn't like Poland is in any way a richer country than the U.S. and has a greater supply of money... the opposite is true.

What does matter is currency exchange rates and demand versus price. Does the higher price compensate for the reduced number of copies sold?

Otherwise these companies are just pricing themselves out of doing more (better) business.

Quoting arstal,

reply 18

I'd even go so far as to say that since you aren't wanted as a customer, it's ok to just download it, though paying for it is the better option. Look at anime fansubs.

In some countries if it isn't sold, available for sale, or copyrighted in your country then it is legal to "pirate" or make copies of it for private use. For instance last I knew the U.S. does not enforce foreign copyrights if the product is not sold in the U.S. and does not consider it illegal to make copies. However, your copy will become illegal once it is either copyrighted in the U.S. or sold in the U.S.

I know this is the basis under which Anime fansubs exist and become illegal once the copied work is available in the U.S.

Quoting Rishkith,

reply 19

Quoting pseudomelon,
reply 15

Well, that's sort of how Supply and Demand economics work, isn't it? Unfortunate, but that's just the way it is.

Whoa, was that one thought through?

What is the "supply" on a digital distribution?

The supply = Infinite because there is no limit to the number of times it can be copied. Which makes what happen on a standard supply vs demand equation mathematically?

Plus the demand side is totally off as well. When you're dealing with worldwide digital distribution there is only one market - the world. Demand in Poland and U.S. doesn't really matter because it is all just a purchase request at the exact same digital store. In this case it isn't like Poland is in any way a richer country than the U.S. and has a greater supply of money... the opposite is true.

What does matter is currency exchange rates and demand versus price. Does the higher price compensate for the reduced number of copies sold?

Otherwise these companies are just pricing themselves out of doing more (better) business.

*ahem* I thought of answering like this, then I thought for a second (giggle) - The supply = Only they have it, so they have ALL the supply, doesn't matter that it's an INFINITE supply.

Quoting SnallTrippin,

reply 21

*ahem* I thought of answering like this, then I thought for a second (giggle) - The supply = Only they have it, so they have ALL the supply, doesn't matter that it's an INFINITE supply.

Physical shops have supply too, and that's the problem. Downloads can't be priced higher or noone gets them and they can't be priced significantly lower than a real box because then noone would get a box anymore.

I meant the developers, but yeah close enough.

Quoting SnallTrippin,

reply 21

*ahem* I thought of answering like this, then I thought for a second (giggle) - The supply = Only they have it, so they have ALL the supply, doesn't matter that it's an INFINITE supply.

If you look at it as an individual art piece and the buyers have to have just that one then yes you could say that. If you look at it as a product and that most people are fans not so much of "Demigod" so much as RTS games... then you realize you have competition.

For instance you could own the only "Master of Magic" and want to charge a crazy amount of money because the supply of licenses is 1 and therefore the price should be very high. But then someone might like at an alternative and see that fewer people are buying the name rather than people who just like 4X fantasy games and you can blow them out of the marketplace.

Seriously, how many people are only in the PC game market for one exclusive title?

Allow me to correct myself:

That's how the demand portion functions. As they know they are the only provider of (game X) and the rest of the developers sell at the same price, there is no reason for them to bring the price down. Perhaps comparing it to a monopoly would have been a better explanation.

Come on Impulse! You never let me down! Damn publishers... More staggering because so far EA had been very diligent with my country.

Come to think of it, maybe it isn't that Stardock is "lazy" for allowing such easy "work-arounds". Considering their vision in DMR, they might also see in similar lights regional restrictions. That's a loophole that's meant to be there. Or maybe not...

I didn't buy on Impulse very often, but it sure is my favorite digital distribution program. The only problem had been it's library. But now, it seems to be shaping up nice. That regional restriction is a bummer though... that was the main reason I never used Direct2Drive, 90% of its titles are no-go to my Brazilian self...

And I was so looking forward to use my 20% survey discount on it... I'll have to content with Majesty 2 now.

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Regional restriction woes