Isn't that a good thing ? The AoW sub forum on gog is one of the most active (in the sense that there are PBEM going on, not just the usual help threads). On the other hand the community was carrying the game for ten years .
That clearly tells me there is a demand here, and it is good/expected that Triumph delivers something new.

Something New. That's one of the most problematic thing in videogames.
You take the same recipe and improve the graphics, people will start complaining there is nothing new ...
You Improve the graphics and add things, people say it's not a sequel, it betrays the original ....
You don't improve the graphics .... hell gets loose.

In my opinion there is a line between how the game is sold, and the game is sold. The design, and the marketting. Governments and populations. That kind of differences. As I said on another thread, it's sad to see people throwing fire at the game due to sales practices.

And seeing the first clueless guy saying 'this is probably going to be a stinker' while there are a dedicated forum with nice updates, a whole community and their forum with a nice dev tracker .... it really pains me how stupid gamers can be.


Edit : to be clear, it's one thing to not be interested in something, it's another to attempt to diminish something you don't really know about. I'm fine with people saying they don't feel the appeal of the game for various reason, but clueless badmouthing irks me. Really really.

If you're not a strategy or Age of Wonder fan, you likely won't have much interest in it, but if you are, and have seen last year's preview gameplay videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgke9Bcy_vU for example), it's something to look forward to.

Not my intention to circumvent the removal of the fair price, I was just wondering if I would have to hold giveaways differently. It currently does not effect me, but there are other means for Europeans to circumvent it....proxy.

Well, the community currently subforum has four posts in "Thanks GOG, I pre-order it," and one-hundred thirteen posts in "Post your regional price for AoW3" ("Let's see who's going to be ripped off"--the OP in that thread is high rated) If GOG's Age of Wonder community is super excited by this pre-order, they're keeping it close to their chests.

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that this was your intention. It will happen nevertheless, and I'm curious as to how GOG will handle it, because this is getting close to DRM territory and any measures against it will contradict GOG's "we trust the majority of our customers and therefor won't enforce digital rights management" policies.

Surely they must have foreseen this.

There is sly benefit for GOG, here. The lure of an easily-transferrable $20 Russian region game will attract users from other services that would otherwise pay $40 or $55. Still, if the publisher receives sales figures with an unusually Russian-heavy distribution, they'll come after GOG, and GOG's position will be difficult to defend. I'm not suggesting that this benefit is by design, but a $35 dollar difference is quite an incentive to purchase a Russian game.

Principle stops most people from resorting to outright piracy, but GOG may not be able to rely on user morality in this situation. Many principled people feel that regional pricing is wrong and won't have a problem with jumping regions. Like you, I don't see how GOG can maintain a $35 dollar price difference without DRM.

Hopefully, they know something I don't.

Exactly, and I don't have the patience to hunt through multiple websites, so I just won't be buying games much anymore at all. As others have stated, it is backlog and modding time, until GOG reverses this, or a new ethical upstart replaces GOG.

Two good reasons to ignore Age of Wonders III and let the money sing its sweet song right into Triumph Studio's ear.
Actually, let's sing along with our money:
fuck you, triumph, lalala :)

The problem is that what GOG may plan to do, and what they can actually achieve when negotiating this with publishers, are not necessarily the same thing. If they show that they are willing to allow regional pricing on titles, and the publisher wants to raise their prices on classic games in the catalogue as a result - where does that leave GOG? Will they simply have to acquiesce to publisher demand, or see those games removed from the catalogue?

As was pointed out in the letter, nothing is set in stone yet, not even the intended regional prices for classic games. Under publisher pressure, those prices could change, and in my view, very likely will.

The game looks a lot like Fallen Enchantress Legendary Heroes to me. Even the design and User Interface is extremely similar.
Another problem is when gog.com even makes a single exception, all other publishers will use that as grounds against them to make higher demands.

Is it really ego and series recognition that's allowing Triumph Studios to try and parade around a 45 USD pricetag? My graphics card cost less than that!

You're lucky if you even get it that cheap. I have to pay 54 USD.

Well, i guess everyone just need frind from Russia, thats all. I think its all just smart plan to make western-russian friendship stronger.

No, I'm not lucky, its still a ripoff.

On the other hand, the words of Guybrush Threepwood, the best pirate there was, his words echo in my mind.

'Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.'

Strategy games of this kind do tend to look alike just as first-person shooters look similar and borrow from each other. It will come down to the gameplay; if it lives up to or surpasses previous Age of Wonders games, it should be a game well worth playing. Personally I'm looking forward to it, especially after seeing the gameplay previews on YouTube.