Widescreen Gaming Forum

Suppose the situation was switched up a bit. Suppose Microsoft said they would charge Activision $60 million for a 360 publishing license, but then Activision found out they charge startups in China only $30 million, so they have one of these startups buy the license for them. Then Microsoft finds out, and revokes the license.

I bet no one would be feeling any sympathy for Activision whatsoever. And people here who take pity on the customers who tried to pull a similar fast one would volunteer to carry the tar and feathers.

Getting product from outside econimies is just good business, it happens all te time for near any product you use But it's a no-no for some random schmuck to do it?

Getting product from outside econimies is just good business, it happens all te time for near any product you use But it's a no-no for some random schmuck to do it?

Yes.

Getting product from outside econimies is just good business,

Breaking the rules in order to save a buck is better described as risky business. That goes for everyone - random shmucks and large corporations alike.

the keys were just sold by import resellers, and they don't have the right to sell to another country (according to Steam ToS) and in this case I still wonder where Steam TOS forbids a user from buying not in his country

It doesn't. It forbids a user from buying from an unauthorized distributor. And it just so happens that authorized distributors are restricted to certain regions.

then let's see this case:
I am not a steam user myself and let's say I never came to this forum
how do I know that I shouldn't buy this MW2 product from anywhere I want in the world ? and I should add that we live in a world market economy and I have the right to buy from anywhere in the world that I want, I will just have to fulfil my part of the deals with France customs. (which is the reason why I don't buy anything from anywhere else about 99% of the time). I don't see a problem with that. Otherwise I don't see the point to live in a world with a world market economy.
my dad often buys stuff for his boat in many countries because it's simply not distributed everywhere, how is that wrong ?

ho and France companies/industries are already blamed by some people because they buy in china, move their production to china & the like, yet they still do it because it's cheaper for them. now we users wouldn't get the right to buy from the same china ? how weird is that ?
the world market is only for rich people/companies ?

Can you find a better way to prevent people from exploiting loopholes in the regional pricing system?

yes it just so happens that I already explained ways to counter this: in my previous post there is ways to stop exploiting those so called "regional loopholes" while not trying to steal money off users. and that's just a simple post with a simple scope... I have no doubt that one can refine those to get them near perfect with a few man/hours thrown into it.

Well it's still a cheap move. Buying foreign keys has been around for a log time and this is the first time I've heard of a company actually banned those keys.

If people have been successfully cheating the system for a long time, then I say it's about time they did something about it. Half-price keys were meant for people who couldn't afford anything more. Not for you.

unfortunately this logic is a bit flawed, there is people who can afford and others who can't afford in every country. Never ever saw a product price being based on "GDP per civilian" ...
the price of MW2 was set because of strategic decisions because the aim is to get more money/more market shares by selling at an attractive price in china. Activision isn't doing this out of the goodness of their heart because the poor people of china earn less ...

While in other countries, activision believes it won't get a lot more sales by keeping a low price, so the price is increased ...

really it's all strategic, nothing's to do with how poor or how rich people are... Activision ain't a social service :roll:

how do I know that I shouldn't buy this MW2 product from anywhere I want in the world ?

Common sense indicates that you shouldn't buy "discount" games from shady looking sites. Barring common sense, there's the Steam ToS.

I have the right to buy from anywhere in the world that I want

You don't, actually. It's against the service provider's rules, and they have the right to deny service to anyone who breaks the rules.

my dad often buys stuff for his boat in many countries because it's simply not distributed everywhere, how is that wrong ?

That's a little bit different from paying for a service at another country's price, despite it being available right where you live, simply because it's cheaper there.

ho and France companies/industries are already blamed by some people because they buy in china, move their production to china & the like, yet they still do it because it's cheaper for them. now we users wouldn't get the right to buy from the same china ? how weird is that ?

This isn't a fair 1:1 comparison here. You could certainly move your computer to China, buy your keys there, activate them there, and play your games there. If you think all that is worth saving $30 per game.

unfortunately this logic is a bit flawed, there is people who can afford and others who can't afford in every country.

Half-price keys were meant for people who live in a region where generally they couldn't afford anything more. Not for you.
Better?

Activision isn't doing this out of the goodness of their heart because the poor people of china earn less

I never said it was out of charity. But the relative incomes of each region *does* have everything to do with the pricing.

really it's all strategic,

Yes, it's their strategy, it's their right to use whatever strategy they like to maximize their profits (barring illegal strategies), and it isn't your right to play games with this strategy. They make cheap copies available in China so that they can sell some copies there. Not so that you can save a buck.

Suppose the situation was switched up a bit. Suppose Microsoft said they would charge Activision $60 million for a 360 publishing license, but then Activision found out they charge startups in China only $30 million, so they have one of these startups buy the license for them. Then Microsoft finds out, and revokes the license.

Assuming Activision starts a legal subsidiary in China and isn't breaking the law regarding production/import/whatever, I honestly wouldn't care (especially since I don't play 360 ;)). I'm sure you are correct in that Microsoft still wouldn't like it and they would revoke the license. Something else is guaranteed as well--there's no way in hell Activision would just allow MS to keep the $30 million. What is highly probable is that Activision would pay up the difference and get a new license.

The software industry operates in it's own special universe. Companies will blatantly and deliberately mistreat their own paying customers simply because they have the power to do so with little to no real consequence.

There's actually nothing unusual about this.

Activision's behavior doesn't surprise me. I'm just saying the software industry does things that wouldn't fly, or wouldn't even be attempted, in other industries.

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VirtualDub Game Recording Guide | BFME2 & RotWK Widescreen/Triplehead Mods

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I guess I'll just have to agree that we disagree.
but let's just say that not everyone is you and that there is a lot of people with more limited minds than yours.
even some "educated minds" are so filled to the brim with the path they chose while studying that they are completely "blind" to the world around them.

I was going to argue more but it's pointless, end of story for me.

The point's been done to death. Leave it now. Any more quotes on the subject will be edited or deleted entirely.

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Formerly eZ`

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