You people are ridiculous. The "right" to resell and trade digital media is literally stealing. You may as well pirate in that case.
Digital products do not decay. Physical products incorporate planned obsolescence. You may resell and trade them, but they will one day be rendered inoperable. Digital media is brand new for eternity.
As I said earlier, I want to support developers. If they create a game that I enjoy, I want them to take my money so that they will in turn continue developing games for me to enjoy. If the resale and trade of digital media were allowed on a global scale every first party sale could potentially lead to an infinite number of resales for which the developer would see absolutely zero profit.
Digital distribution and Steam in particular are the only reason the PC has seen such a resurgence in developer interest in the last ten years.
[mod edit]
Just to put this out there, Valve and Steam do not need you. Not at all. If this case goes through, which seems highly unlikely, I wouldn't be surprised if Valve just decided to stop doing business in the EU. If that happens, congratulations, have a good time not playing 90% of pc games. As far as I'm concerned, with this mindset you don't deserve to.
You people are ridiculous. The "right" to resell and trade digital media is literally stealing. You may as well pirate in that case.
Digital products do not decay. Physical products incorporate planned obsolescence. You may resell and trade them, but they will one day be rendered inoperable. Digital media is brand new for eternity.
As I said earlier, I want to support developers. If they create a game that I enjoy, I want them to take my money so that they will in turn continue developing games for me to enjoy. If the resale and trade of digital media were allowed on a global scale every first party sale could potentially lead to an infinite number of resales for which the developer would see absolutely zero profit.
Digital distribution and Steam in particular are the only reason the PC has seen such a resurgence in developer interest in the last ten years.
What I would like to know is why you in the EU are so damn greedy and small minded that you would rather be able to resell and trade digital media than support the people who created it? What the fuck is wrong with you?
Just to put this out there, Valve and Steam do not need you. Not at all. If this case goes through, which seems highly unlikely, I wouldn't be surprised if Valve just decided to stop doing business in the EU. If that happens, congratulations, have a good time not playing 90% of pc games. As far as I'm concerned, with this mindset you don't deserve to.
If you thin that anyone in the world NEEDS valve and steam then you need your head checked.
I know you in US are used to be thoroughly screwed by companies, but dont assume everyone in the world will just bend over for you.
The statement that you dont have to follow any laws just because youre from US is most ridiculous ever made.
Just to let you in on one little secret: steam has already made huge extra profit on europeans from by chrging then up to 30% more just because currency exchange.
One thing is certain: there would be only 1 loser if steam stops operating in EU and thats valve. And they very well know that.
And just FYI, software does outlive its useulness, i have office 2003 discs, and bunch of games from before 2014 that can serve as ornaments on christmas tree.
You people are ridiculous. The "right" to resell and trade digital media is literally stealing. You may as well pirate in that case.
Digital products do not decay. Physical products incorporate planned obsolescence. You may resell and trade them, but they will one day be rendered inoperable. Digital media is brand new for eternity.
As I said earlier, I want to support developers. If they create a game that I enjoy, I want them to take my money so that they will in turn continue developing games for me to enjoy. If the resale and trade of digital media were allowed on a global scale every first party sale could potentially lead to an infinite number of resales for which the developer would see absolutely zero profit.
Digital distribution and Steam in particular are the only reason the PC has seen such a resurgence in developer interest in the last ten years.
[mod edit]
Just to put this out there, Valve and Steam do not need you. Not at all. If this case goes through, which seems highly unlikely, I wouldn't be surprised if Valve just decided to stop doing business in the EU. If that happens, congratulations, have a good time not playing 90% of pc games. As far as I'm concerned, with this mindset you don't deserve to.
[mod edit] One thing is certain: there would be only 1 loser if steam stops operating in EU and thats valve. And they very well know that.
You did not in any way answer my question. Why are you opposed to supporting the companies that provide you with gaming experiences? [mod edit]
You did not in any way answer my question. Why are you opposed to supporting the companies that provide you with gaming experiences? [mod edit]
Won't bother with the rest of your drivel.
But: the "every dollar"... go check how much of every dollar goes towards actual makers of a game. That dolla' is sometimes merely cents. You know what a large part of the rest is? A charge from Steam...that you claim never charged you anything .
If digital stuff is so different and special, why the pricing differences (pretty much USD=EUR, doesn't add up even taking into account VAT/taxes... often if I can trick a seller into showing me the price in USD I get a game for cheaper, all else being equal)? Even McDonalds prices their products by purchase power. There's countries that a full priced basic AAA game (not some super duper edition) costs upwards of 10% of average monthly income. Ofc people will buy what they'll buy whatever the price, but price differentiation is low with a product that is inherently easy to differentiate with, especially if a buyer can not (or should not) resell it. Well, it's low on the downside.
So in a way digital products transcend the country markets, sellers can price gouge you with impunity, bought items should only be consumed by the buyer and the buyer should be happy to even have the opportunity to be able to buy the game? Yeah, sure, sounds very reasonable. Btw, there's a ton of digital game suppliers besides Steam... Steam is not like other "too big to fail" business you Murkans have (the irony of State helping entities that usually despise the State and want "free market")
Anyway, I can resell pretty much everything, but not digital games. Including other art stuff. Guess what you can do on the stock market...basically you buy and sell stuff you don't even own (or even borrow). Hot damn...you can do that on the stock market, bastion of capitalism *insert the sound of bald eagle and freedom*, but reselling games...heresy!!! Hell, you have plenty of other stuff you can buy and sell and don't even own and it's perfectly acceptable.
Ok. before you all get yourhi panties in a bunch, let me educate you on some finer points of this issue.
Steam's Subscriber Agreement explicitly forbids users to sell their games, despite the transfer of ownership of digital products/licenses being legal.Valve declines responsibility in the event that users' personal information is stolen.Valve claims ownership of the rights of any user-created content uploaded to Steam.It is impossible to get the money on your Steam Wallet back if your account is closed/deleted/banned.Valve applies Luxembourg's consumer law regardless of the user's country. Point 1 relates to a concept of commerce called "First Sale Doctrine." First sale refers that the person who purchased it has ownership of said product and is allowed to sell it. The problem in regards to digital goods and games is the fact that game developers and publishers have changed the terms of the User Agreements to basically make First Sale Doctrine invalid. If you read the user agreement for that game you just bought, you might not be all that shocked to discover that all you have purchased for the cost of the game is a "license" to use it. The developer/publisher still retains ownership of the game and is allowing you to basically "rent" it.
Companies like game developers have been fighting First Sale Doctrine for years, and gamers have suffered the repercussions of this.
Point 2, is just BS. Under several statues in the US, if you provide your information to a company for the purposes of a purchase, they are required to safeguard that information. If somehow their systems are compromised, they are considered to be legally held responsible. Valve is shifting responsibility to the users and "hackers" to avoid prosecution, which if it were to go through, would in all likelihood, cause the collapse of Valve itself due to the amount of damages awarded.
Point 3, we have seen this shit before. Facebook tried this, GeoCities (Before Yahoo's purchase) tried this and it failed miserably. If you create content, you are the owner of said content. That's basic copyright law. Period.
Now, point 4 is where it gets interesting. Having spent the last couple months studying Business Law, one thing I do know is that a business is required to follow the laws of EVERY country it operates. Saying that they are going to follow just one country's consumer law because it will benefit them is actually illegal. Valve being a US company, first and foremost is required to comply with US laws. However, because Valve is international, they are also required to comply with the laws fo every country they operate in. Operating within the Eurozone, Valve is required to comply with laws within all countries of the Eurozone. Following laws is not a menu. You don't get to pick and choose which laws you're going to follow.
But: the "every dollar"... go check how much of every dollar goes towards actual makers of a game. That dolla' is sometimes merely cents. You know what a large part of the rest is? A charge from Steam...that you claim never charged you anything .
If digital stuff is so different and special, why the pricing differences (pretty much USD=EUR, doesn't add up even taking into account VAT/taxes... often if I can trick a seller into showing me the price in USD I get a game for cheaper, all else being equal)? Even McDonalds prices their products by purchase power. There's countries that a full priced basic AAA game (not some super duper edition) costs upwards of 10% of average monthly income. Ofc people will buy what they'll buy whatever the price, but price differentiation is low with a product that is inherently easy to differentiate with, especially if a buyer can not (or should not) resell it. Well, it's low on the downside.
So in a way digital products transcend the country markets, sellers can price gouge you with impunity, bought items should only be consumed by the buyer and the buyer should be happy to even have the opportunity to be able to buy the game? Yeah, sure, sounds very reasonable. Btw, there's a ton of digital game suppliers besides Steam... Steam is not like other "too big to fail" business you Murkans have (the irony of State helping entities that usually despise the State and want "free market")
Anyway, I can resell pretty much everything, but not digital games. Including other art stuff. Guess what you can do on the stock market...basically you buy and sell stuff you don't even own (or even borrow). Hot damn...you can do that on the stock market, bastion of capitalism *insert the sound of bald eagle and freedom*, but reselling games...heresy!!! Hell, you have plenty of other stuff you can buy and sell and don't even own and it's perfectly acceptable.
[mod edit]
Here the link for 1 euro =/= 1 dollar from 2008! (Had to pull it from google cache because suddenly this group does not exist anymore while it was last month.
Point with Steam is that in the early days Steam was much cheaper because we paid in Dollars. Then from 1 day to another the currency ($) changed to Euro's and we in Europe paid about 35% more.
Post edited by Amana on
We are always in a race what our intelligence can do for us and what our intelligence does to us.
Ok. before you all get yourhi panties in a bunch, let me educate you on some finer points of this issue.
Steam's Subscriber Agreement explicitly forbids users to sell their games, despite the transfer of ownership of digital products/licenses being legal.Valve declines responsibility in the event that users' personal information is stolen.Valve claims ownership of the rights of any user-created content uploaded to Steam.It is impossible to get the money on your Steam Wallet back if your account is closed/deleted/banned.Valve applies Luxembourg's consumer law regardless of the user's country. Point 1 relates to a concept of commerce called "First Sale Doctrine." First sale refers that the person who purchased it has ownership of said product and is allowed to sell it. The problem in regards to digital goods and games is the fact that game developers and publishers have changed the terms of the User Agreements to basically make First Sale Doctrine invalid. If you read the user agreement for that game you just bought, you might not be all that shocked to discover that all you have purchased for the cost of the game is a "license" to use it. The developer/publisher still retains ownership of the game and is allowing you to basically "rent" it.
Companies like game developers have been fighting First Sale Doctrine for years, and gamers have suffered the repercussions of this.
Point 2, is just BS. Under several statues in the US, if you provide your information to a company for the purposes of a purchase, they are required to safeguard that information. If somehow their systems are compromised, they are considered to be legally held responsible. Valve is shifting responsibility to the users and "hackers" to avoid prosecution, which if it were to go through, would in all likelihood, cause the collapse of Valve itself due to the amount of damages awarded.
Point 3, we have seen this shit before. Facebook tried this, GeoCities (Before Yahoo's purchase) tried this and it failed miserably. If you create content, you are the owner of said content. That's basic copyright law. Period.
Now, point 4 is where it gets interesting. Having spent the last couple months studying Business Law, one thing I do know is that a business is required to follow the laws of EVERY country it operates. Saying that they are going to follow just one country's consumer law because it will benefit them is actually illegal. Valve being a US company, first and foremost is required to comply with US laws. However, because Valve is international, they are also required to comply with the laws fo every country they operate in. Operating within the Eurozone, Valve is required to comply with laws within all countries of the Eurozone. Following laws is not a menu. You don't get to pick and choose which laws you're going to follow.
Define operate in.
Selling goods directly to the citizens of that country which includes collecting taxes for that country.
You people are ridiculous. The "right" to resell and trade digital media is literally stealing. You may as well pirate in that case.
Digital products do not decay. Physical products incorporate planned obsolescence. You may resell and trade them, but they will one day be rendered inoperable. Digital media is brand new for eternity.
As I said earlier, I want to support developers. If they create a game that I enjoy, I want them to take my money so that they will in turn continue developing games for me to enjoy. If the resale and trade of digital media were allowed on a global scale every first party sale could potentially lead to an infinite number of resales for which the developer would see absolutely zero profit.
Digital distribution and Steam in particular are the only reason the PC has seen such a resurgence in developer interest in the last ten years.
What I would like to know is why you in the EU are so damn greedy and small minded that you would rather be able to resell and trade digital media than support the people who created it? What the fuck is wrong with you?
Just to put this out there, Valve and Steam do not need you. Not at all. If this case goes through, which seems highly unlikely, I wouldn't be surprised if Valve just decided to stop doing business in the EU. If that happens, congratulations, have a good time not playing 90% of pc games. As far as I'm concerned, with this mindset you don't deserve to.
Holy shit batman, your posts are getting more ridiculous by the minute.
"The right to resell digital media is stealing"? Where do you come up with this shit. You do know that DVDs are also digital don't you and that even in NA the very same games that come in DVDs are resold by Gamestop, EB, etc.?
"Physical products incorporate planned obsolescence" You keep throwing that around as if planning obsolescence were a good thing... it isn't you know.
"Infinite number of resales" ... right, let's make it infinite to help with the scaremongering... the games that formerly sold 1 million copies will now only sell one and 1 million people will play it one at a time lol.
"Consumers in EU are greedy" ... are you for real? The consumers who are asked to pay the same for a digitally distributed copy of a game as for its boxed version, despite the obviously lower manufacturing and distribution cost are the greedy ones?
"Valve stopping business in EU" ... what kind of deluded mind thinks the only market that matters is the US market? Sure let's close all borders and not trade any more... sorry, no Witcher for you because it's Polish.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
You people are ridiculous. The "right" to resell and trade digital media is literally stealing. You may as well pirate in that case.
Digital products do not decay. Physical products incorporate planned obsolescence. You may resell and trade them, but they will one day be rendered inoperable. Digital media is brand new for eternity.
As I said earlier, I want to support developers. If they create a game that I enjoy, I want them to take my money so that they will in turn continue developing games for me to enjoy. If the resale and trade of digital media were allowed on a global scale every first party sale could potentially lead to an infinite number of resales for which the developer would see absolutely zero profit.
Digital distribution and Steam in particular are the only reason the PC has seen such a resurgence in developer interest in the last ten years.
What I would like to know is why you in the EU are so damn greedy and small minded that you would rather be able to resell and trade digital media than support the people who created it? What the fuck is wrong with you?
Just to put this out there, Valve and Steam do not need you. Not at all. If this case goes through, which seems highly unlikely, I wouldn't be surprised if Valve just decided to stop doing business in the EU. If that happens, congratulations, have a good time not playing 90% of pc games. As far as I'm concerned, with this mindset you don't deserve to.
Holy shit batman, your posts are getting more ridiculous by the minute.
"The right to resell digital media is stealing"? Where do you come up with this shit. You do know that DVDs are also digital don't you and that even in NA the very same games that come in DVDs are resold by Gamestop, EB, etc.?
"Physical products incorporate planned obsolescence" You keep throwing that around as if planning obsolescence were a good thing... it isn't you know.
"Infinite number of resales" ... right, let's make it infinite to help with the scaremongering... the games that formerly sold 1 million copies will now only sell one and 1 million people will play it one at a time lol.
"Consumers in EU are greedy" ... are you for real? The consumers who are asked to pay the same for a digitally distributed copy of a game as for its boxed version, despite the obviously lower manufacturing and distribution cost are the greedy ones?
"Valve stopping business in EU" ... what kind of deluded mind thinks the only market that matters is the US market? Sure let's close all borders and not trade any more... sorry, no Witcher for you because it's Polish.
oooh, dont worry, trade would go on as usual, just without valve making pile of money on it.
so yeah, it aint happening lol
And yeah, anyone who wants to help devs will buy Witcher 3 from GoG and NOT Steam, it would be so ironic if quoted person got it off steam
Also, for instance, Amazon in EU (whichever one) follows the law and we get 2 year warranty on everything. Do you in US get MINIMUM 2 year warranty on everything from Amazon (sans special case like food or stuff that doesnt last two years). Lets limit it to technical stuff, so hardware, mobile phones, TVs.....
Reselling digital media is stealing. Gamestop and other companies that base their business on the principal of reselling games are parasites. I have never said that the resale of physical media was a good thing.
Steam takes 30% of every sale. Developers get a much larger share of the profit from selling through Steam than they would when selling physical copies through brick and mortar, far more. Yes, Steam as a service is completely free for consumers. The money you spend on Steam is to purchase products through the service, but the service itself costs us nothing.
Blame the higher cost you pay for these games on the tax laws of your countries and the US, not Valve. It is quite likely that they still make less per unit in the EU than they do in the US.
No one has yet to refute my claim that resale and trade of digital media would hurt indie development and self publishing. Steam has been to indie game development what Amazon has been to indie authors. Before self publishing on Amazon was possible less than 1% of published authors earned enough from their work to support themselves. Now any author can self publish on the Amazon Kindle platform and earn 70% of every sale. That is so far ahead of what they would earn under a publisher that it is astounding. Self publishing your game on Steam is the same.
This law on a global scale would destroy indie developers and indie authors.
Quit spouting that crap about old, irrelevant software. Are you going to wait ten years before you consider reselling or trading your games? That game you just bought last week that you sell today is reaching into the pockets of that one man development team and taking his money, simple as that.
Reselling digital media is stealing. Gamestop and other companies that base their business on the principal of reselling games are parasites. I have never said that the resale of physical media was a good thing.
Steam takes 30% of every sale. Developers get a much larger share of the profit from selling through Steam than they would when selling physical copies through brick and mortar, far more. Yes, Steam as a service is completely free for consumers. The money you spend on Steam is to purchase products through the service, but the service itself costs us nothing.
Blame the higher cost you pay for these games on the tax laws of your countries and the US, not Valve. It is quite likely that they still make less per unit in the EU than they do in the US.
No one has yet to refute my claim that resale and trade of digital media would hurt indie development and self publishing. Steam has been to indie game development what Amazon has been to indie authors. Before self publishing on Amazon was possible less than 1% of published authors earned enough from their work to support themselves. Now any author can self publish on the Amazon Kindle platform and earn 70% of every sale. That is so far ahead of what they would earn under a publisher that it is astounding. Self publishing your game on Steam is the same.
This law on a global scale would destroy indie developers and indie authors.
Quit spouting that crap about old, irrelevant software. Are you going to wait ten years before you consider reselling or trading your games? That game you just bought last week that you sell today is reaching into the pockets of that one man development team and taking his money, simple as that.
Once again, how can you be so greedy?
Reposting does not make your opinion more true.
We are always in a race what our intelligence can do for us and what our intelligence does to us.
And yeah, anyone who wants to help devs will buy Witcher 3 from GoG and NOT Steam, it would be so ironic if quoted person got it off steam
No, I got it from GOG. I buy everything these days, not just their own games, from GOG not Steam if at all possible. Much better platform and they aren't always trying to push crap at me.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
And yeah, anyone who wants to help devs will buy Witcher 3 from GoG and NOT Steam, it would be so ironic if quoted person got it off steam
No, I got it from GOG. I buy everything these days, not just their own games, from GOG not Steam if at all possible. Much better platform and they aren't always trying to push crap at me.
Thanks for the hint. I have registered at GoG.
I like this already:
We are always in a race what our intelligence can do for us and what our intelligence does to us.
And yeah, anyone who wants to help devs will buy Witcher 3 from GoG and NOT Steam, it would be so ironic if quoted person got it off steam
No, I got it from GOG. I buy everything these days, not just their own games, from GOG not Steam if at all possible. Much better platform and they aren't always trying to push crap at me.
Nah, not you, but the person you quoted who is spewing all the nonsense.
Also you can get games like Pillars of Eternity and Wasteland 2 on GoG and OWN it or get it on steam and NOT own it.
And i dont see either Obsidian or inExile hurting for it.
Comments
Digital products do not decay. Physical products incorporate planned obsolescence. You may resell and trade them, but they will one day be rendered inoperable. Digital media is brand new for eternity.
As I said earlier, I want to support developers. If they create a game that I enjoy, I want them to take my money so that they will in turn continue developing games for me to enjoy. If the resale and trade of digital media were allowed on a global scale every first party sale could potentially lead to an infinite number of resales for which the developer would see absolutely zero profit.
Digital distribution and Steam in particular are the only reason the PC has seen such a resurgence in developer interest in the last ten years.
[mod edit]
Just to put this out there, Valve and Steam do not need you. Not at all. If this case goes through, which seems highly unlikely, I wouldn't be surprised if Valve just decided to stop doing business in the EU. If that happens, congratulations, have a good time not playing 90% of pc games. As far as I'm concerned, with this mindset you don't deserve to.
I know you in US are used to be thoroughly screwed by companies, but dont assume everyone in the world will just bend over for you.
The statement that you dont have to follow any laws just because youre from US is most ridiculous ever made.
Just to let you in on one little secret: steam has already made huge extra profit on europeans from by chrging then up to 30% more just because currency exchange.
One thing is certain: there would be only 1 loser if steam stops operating in EU and thats valve. And they very well know that.
And just FYI, software does outlive its useulness, i have office 2003 discs, and bunch of games from before 2014 that can serve as ornaments on christmas tree.
So if i say i no longer wanna play the game they disable it and i get my money back ? :pleased:
Won't bother with the rest of your drivel.
But: the "every dollar"... go check how much of every dollar goes towards actual makers of a game. That dolla' is sometimes merely cents. You know what a large part of the rest is? A charge from Steam...that you claim never charged you anything .
If digital stuff is so different and special, why the pricing differences (pretty much USD=EUR, doesn't add up even taking into account VAT/taxes... often if I can trick a seller into showing me the price in USD I get a game for cheaper, all else being equal)? Even McDonalds prices their products by purchase power. There's countries that a full priced basic AAA game (not some super duper edition) costs upwards of 10% of average monthly income. Ofc people will buy what they'll buy whatever the price, but price differentiation is low with a product that is inherently easy to differentiate with, especially if a buyer can not (or should not) resell it. Well, it's low on the downside.
So in a way digital products transcend the country markets, sellers can price gouge you with impunity, bought items should only be consumed by the buyer and the buyer should be happy to even have the opportunity to be able to buy the game? Yeah, sure, sounds very reasonable. Btw, there's a ton of digital game suppliers besides Steam... Steam is not like other "too big to fail" business you Murkans have (the irony of State helping entities that usually despise the State and want "free market")
Anyway, I can resell pretty much everything, but not digital games. Including other art stuff. Guess what you can do on the stock market...basically you buy and sell stuff you don't even own (or even borrow). Hot damn...you can do that on the stock market, bastion of capitalism *insert the sound of bald eagle and freedom*, but reselling games...heresy!!! Hell, you have plenty of other stuff you can buy and sell and don't even own and it's perfectly acceptable.
[mod edit]
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Bn3SsWzMXKwJ:https://steamcommunity.com/groups/1e1us+&cd=1&hl=nl&ct=clnk&gl=nl
Point with Steam is that in the early days Steam was much cheaper because we paid in Dollars.
Then from 1 day to another the currency ($) changed to Euro's and we in Europe paid about 35% more.
"The right to resell digital media is stealing"? Where do you come up with this shit. You do know that DVDs are also digital don't you and that even in NA the very same games that come in DVDs are resold by Gamestop, EB, etc.?
"Physical products incorporate planned obsolescence" You keep throwing that around as if planning obsolescence were a good thing... it isn't you know.
"Infinite number of resales" ... right, let's make it infinite to help with the scaremongering... the games that formerly sold 1 million copies will now only sell one and 1 million people will play it one at a time lol.
"Consumers in EU are greedy" ... are you for real? The consumers who are asked to pay the same for a digitally distributed copy of a game as for its boxed version, despite the obviously lower manufacturing and distribution cost are the greedy ones?
"Valve stopping business in EU" ... what kind of deluded mind thinks the only market that matters is the US market? Sure let's close all borders and not trade any more... sorry, no Witcher for you because it's Polish.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
so yeah, it aint happening lol
And yeah, anyone who wants to help devs will buy Witcher 3 from GoG and NOT Steam, it would be so ironic if quoted person got it off steam
Also, for instance, Amazon in EU (whichever one) follows the law and we get 2 year warranty on everything. Do you in US get MINIMUM 2 year warranty on everything from Amazon (sans special case like food or stuff that doesnt last two years). Lets limit it to technical stuff, so hardware, mobile phones, TVs.....
Steam takes 30% of every sale. Developers get a much larger share of the profit from selling through Steam than they would when selling physical copies through brick and mortar, far more. Yes, Steam as a service is completely free for consumers. The money you spend on Steam is to purchase products through the service, but the service itself costs us nothing.
Blame the higher cost you pay for these games on the tax laws of your countries and the US, not Valve. It is quite likely that they still make less per unit in the EU than they do in the US.
No one has yet to refute my claim that resale and trade of digital media would hurt indie development and self publishing. Steam has been to indie game development what Amazon has been to indie authors. Before self publishing on Amazon was possible less than 1% of published authors earned enough from their work to support themselves. Now any author can self publish on the Amazon Kindle platform and earn 70% of every sale. That is so far ahead of what they would earn under a publisher that it is astounding. Self publishing your game on Steam is the same.
This law on a global scale would destroy indie developers and indie authors.
Quit spouting that crap about old, irrelevant software. Are you going to wait ten years before you consider reselling or trading your games? That game you just bought last week that you sell today is reaching into the pockets of that one man development team and taking his money, simple as that.
Once again, how can you be so greedy?
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
I like this already:
Also you can get games like Pillars of Eternity and Wasteland 2 on GoG and OWN it or get it on steam and NOT own it.
And i dont see either Obsidian or inExile hurting for it.