[mats962]

Just wanted to chime in here that I grabbed it via bit torrent like some others have, and it was lightning fast for me. Installed no problem.

[KevinTMC]

Mmm...based on the experience of Wednesday, I'm not sure how many of the Americans here would wait until they normally woke up to download the game. Setting the alarm for 3:00, or just staying up all night, would be just crazy and fun enough to appeal to far too many of us.

As for the pricing issue, I hope you noticed that there is a sticky in this very forum where Markus has done his best to explain his position on it. Seems more than reasonable to me...though of course I'm not one of those having to pay in Euros.

I would add, however, that the current exchange rate is a little misleading if that's all you're looking at...the American Peso may only be worth .64 Euro on the currency markets, but its purchasing power is a bit higher. According to the most recent Big Mac Index I could find on the Economist website (which, unfortunately, is nearly a year old), the exchange value of the Euro is more than 20% higher than its purchasing power in the Euro-zone, relative to the dollar's purchasing power in the US, would dictate. Which is why stuff in America is even more cheap for visiting Europeans to buy than is usually the case...and why companies seeking to sell in the American market have to set their stateside price accordingly.

[DYNAMO]

Originally Posted by KevinTMC

As for the pricing issue, I hope you noticed that there is a sticky in this very forum where Markus has done his best to explain his position on it. Seems more than reasonable to me...though of course I'm not one of those having to pay in Euros.

Actually I and a number of others are from the UK and the exchange should be between UK Pounds and US Dollars offered in the e-mails OOTP sent out and the Euro shouldnt enter in to it at all as we are not in the Euro zone - paying in Euros we get very much hit with exchange rate losses. The end difference is far more than the pure Tax charge mentioned, by about 50%

[KevinTMC]

Originally Posted by DYNAMO

Actually I and a number of others are from the UK...

Well, that's a horse of a different color (er...sorry, "colour" ).

How different? Well, let's see. I'm popping over to Dixons(.co.uk) to see what they've got...okay, Sins of a Solar Empire is a very highly-regarded, detailed, and polished game from a small developer, and it's on the retail shelf there for £29.99.

Whereas the full non-preorder price for UK purchasers of OOTP 9 (with them being considered "Europe" and paying in Euros...now that's guaranteed to give the UKIP people fits) comes to £31.65 at the current base exchange rate. Of course, depending on your credit card company, there may be an additional percent or three in exchange costs added to that, so figure the final cost will be somewhere between two and three quid higher than the comparison title at retail.

That's a couple pounds higher than one would wish, but still pretty close to what you get making the same comparison Stateside. Sins of a Solar Empire is $39.99 on the retail shelf at my local GameStop...and that happens to be exactly the same as the non-preorder price of OOTP 9.

So y'all are getting a bit less attractive deal than we are. Maybe next time around, if the costs and hassle aren't too great, it can be arranged to charge you £29.99 in sterling instead of the €39.99 for continental Europe. Or maybe Markus just owes his British customers a pint or two next time they're down Germany way. In any event, I think they've done about as well as they could have, with the goofy exchange rates these days.

[DYNAMO]

Originally Posted by KevinTMC

Well, that's a horse of a different color (er...sorry, "colour" ).

How different? .

Well Kevin I am afraid your numbers are off on the comparison for the pre order price for what its worth - see below from live rates at this very minute :
<TABLE class=XEtbl_sub cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD id=XEenlarge align=middle colSpan=3 height=40>Live rates at 2008.06.20 18:24:49 UTC </TD></TR><TR><TD id=XEenlarge align=right width="45%">24.99 EUR<!-- WARNING: Automated extraction of data is prohibited under the Terms of Use. -->


</TD><TD id=XEenlarge vAlign=top align=middle>=


</TD><TD id=XEenlarge align=left width="45%">19.7587 GBP<!-- WARNING: Automated extraction of data is prohibited under the Terms of Use. -->


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE class=XEtbl_sub cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD id=XEenlarge align=middle colSpan=3 height=40>Live rates at 2008.06.20 18:25:49 UTC </TD></TR><TR><TD id=XEenlarge align=right width="45%">24.99 USD<!-- WARNING: Automated extraction of data is prohibited under the Terms of Use. -->


</TD><TD id=XEenlarge vAlign=top align=middle>=


</TD><TD id=XEenlarge align=left width="45%">12.6472 GBP<!-- WARNING: Automated extraction of data is prohibited under the Terms of Use. -->


</TD></TR><TR><TD id=XEenlarge align=right>United States Dollars </TD><TD id=XEenlarge vAlign=top align=middle></TD><TD id=XEenlarge align=left>United Kingdom Pounds </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
I think you will see thats FAR more than a couple of pounds off - and even 18% tax doesnt cover that difference. Other programs have nothing to do with it - simply the comparative price of the pre-order

BUT if someone wants to buy Sins of a Solar Empire you wouldnt go to Dixons to buy software ! You could go as an example to Amazon where its UK £5, or US $10 less than you quote, or go to e-bay where you can buy it new for UK £9 less or US $19 less (half of your local stores price) Most people no longer will pay full retail on the shelf prices hence discounting in the stores. And of course we didnt buy OOTP9 from a retail shelf - but as a download - not a new boxed product but an "upgrade" from version 8 - which we could have stayed with by choice.

How we bought it is academic, the numbers arent and if you go for the NON preorder price numbers the difference is even bigger - just to put the record straight.

[SittingDuck]

Markus should have all had us convert and just pay in guineas.

Because it just sounds better.