Shipping to Australia.....

[goodwoodrw]

For all those that still have dail up modems. this is what I did. I live in the La Trobe Valley, Victoria, my small town still has an ancient exchange, so no ADSL. Wireless technology still coming, promised last September[>:] Anyway back to the real story. what I did went out and canvassed some of the computer retail shops to see if one of them would D\L the game for me, I didn't have much trouble in getting several shops to offer me help, prices ranged between $A10.00 to $A15.00. cheaper than freight from the U.S. In the end I was in the market for a memory stick so I got the dude to D\L CoG onto my memory stick, paid for the stick, he D\L for nicks. I got the game and M/stick he got a sale and an ongoing customer happy all ro[:D][:D]und

[Gem35]

I don't want to get into an arguement over this game because I haven't bought it yet, although i eventualy will. I just want to comment on my experiences with matrix games and their products. I have another title from Matrix called War in the Pacific. This game IIRC was $69 to download from digital river. I also paid the extra $10 for the shipped cd with the instalation program on it. I do own a decent computer with a cd burner. I had at the time (I have a super fast cable internet connection now) satelite internet service which for all intents and purposes is horrible if you want to download anything from the internet. After a few mb's of material downloaded, it throttles back and restricts your download speeds and it was impossible for me to get this game to download. Luckily for me I had my neighbor download the game for me with their DSL connection. Anyways, my point is that I don't care how expensive that game would have been. I would gladly pay for it, as for the manual, you can take it to any print shop or even print it yourself. These issues are trivial to me because the value I am getting from Matrix Games and their customer support and forums is worth every penny I paid for this game. As for Crown of Glory, if it comes even remotely close to the enjoyment i am getting from War in the pacific, it will be again well worth any price tag they choose to affix to it. I just want to say thank you to matrix and these great forums for all the support and help they offer me as a customer and avid wargamer that I am. I just ask that before anyone makes a judgement on price or cost, they give these games a go and see how truly fun and enjoyable they are. Quite simply I have not found any other developer that can offer wargames as good as matrix does. [:)]

[bradclark1]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

The game company cd can last twelve years and take some abuse and still work. The Staples kind last's seven years and can't take as much abuse.

Lol that's the biggest myth I ever read about CD's. LOL I'm still rolling on that one. Since I have cd's dated back to the early 90's nearly 15 years old that still work just fine, just as good as a new one. LOL, only last 7 years (tries to catch breath from laughing so hard). Tell me though, where in the heck did you come up with this misinformation?

I should have been more clearer. I didn't say they go poof and self distruct on a certain date after purchase. I meant at least that long. I read about it in some computer magazine a year or two ago.
I hope you didn't hurt yourself rolling around. You should go on a diet.

[sapper_astro]

Gem35.

I am glad that you take such blind faith when it comes to purchasing an item, and indeed Matrix has thus far conducted themselves regarding my problem excellently, however, i have yet to purchase a game from them, and i personally look before i leap. This may sound funny, but i still remember in the old days when i could send EA a letter regarding a wargame and get answers from the makers themselves that answered queries back when i bought C64 wargames...try that stunt with EA today and see where it gets you. Blind faith is never a good thing in my opinion.

One area in which i daresay you have not thought is in that of possibly many potential customers who checked out the games, thought that they indeed look damn good (any wargamer/strategy gamer would think that surely) and hastily checked the prices as i did.

Then, they themselves wanting a hardcopy from Matrix would spew their tea out at the sight of the shipping costs, as I did. (not literally....).

Yes, not everyone wants a digital download. And with competitors doing things cheaper Matrix put themselves at a disadvantage.

Not everyone has the money to buy multiple games at any one time so a prospective buyer, who may be able to afford one game may look at, for example, battles in Italy and then look at Afrika Korps from battlefront and say to themselves 'well, both look good, and i would love both, but let me check the prices.....holy shit! the shipping costs at Matrix are way higher than Battlefront, methinks i will purchase Afrika Korps instead'.

Its as simple as that. Many people may not even sign up and post as i did, and they may from time to time check back here, pull their hair out at the costs and move on to strategic command 2 or hearts of iron 2. I attest to checking the price of shipping here over a year ago, and finding it distasteful. Thank god i posted.

[Ralegh]

Very important to have more aussies playing COG. Good to hear!

[JosephL]

I can certainly say, at least, that it is not our intent to have a higher shipping cost .

Wargamers may be very inelastic in price sensitivity but really we try to charge what the game is worth, our profit is derrived from the cost of the game, not shipping fees (like an e-bay vendor) nor CD-printing. As I understand it we don't make a dime from either, so any way we can reduce shipping cost for you is a benefit to us.

Long story short: I'm sure Erik will do his best to correct any wacked out shipping fee (as it sounds, this is the case).

We don't get our good reputation from having unreasonable prices, even if some fans are willing to pay it (which we appreciate!... not neccessary, but we appreciate the willingness to support good games)

-Joe

[Bodhi]

Obviously anyone complaining about shipping costs hasn't bothered to look at the NWS link I posted above.

[Gem35]

sapper_astro

I am not sure I understand where you are coming from with the "blind faith". I bought their game and I love it and would have paid more than their price tag for it. How is that blind faith? I would call that a very satisfied customer.[:)]

[Erik Rutins]

To keep you updated, I have had a few good conversations with Digital River on this over the last two days. Today we had a long conference call that pulled in a few of the relevant Directors and aired out several issues. I believe that we will have, Monday or Tuesday, a short term solution that should improve shipping prices for Australia and some other parts of the world and that a good long-term solution is coming as well.

I'll keep you posted when I hear more early next week.

Regards,

- Erik

[Bodhi]

Thanks Erik,

Personally the download only version is the one I use, but if you're going to offer printed manuals as an option ([8D]), shipping costs will probably factor in for me as well.

[sapper_astro]

Thanks Eric and co, I am looking forward to playing this game sooner rather than later (there are some other nice pieces here as well...hmm).

Gem: Nevermind, Im ranting about the shipping fees, thats all. Blame it on impatience.

Bodhi: The reason i am not looking at NWS is because i am guessing more money would reach the Matrix coffers through a direct order, and i hate paying middle men, and avoid it where ever possible.