Will you pay $160 for a DCS module?

[Tjitah]

For many of us living in countries with depreciating currencies, the launch prices of DCS World modules have become unaffordable – having risen three- to four-fold compared to only 5 years ago. For example, I regularly bought modules (in South African Rand) for ZAR300-400 in the years before 2019. The Mirage F1 launched at close to ZAR1400 two months ago and even a brief 20% discount left it expensive.

So what, I hear you say? It is totally worth it, reflects the hours spent by developer teams and your bad luck if you live in a poorly governed country etc. OK, so let’s put you in our shoes and use the Big Mac index, a good measure of relative purchasing power. A Big Mac costs around $5 in the US and ZAR40 in South Africa. For someone in the US to buy a new DCS release at $80 is the equivalent of 15 burgers. That same DCS release costs around ZAR1200 on Steam, or the equivalent of 30 burgers for us.

So, to feel what we feel, imagine paying that same 30 burgers that we do for a new DCS World release, in other word $160. THAT is what we feel. Would you guys still be so flippant in your remarks and ready to throw money at ED for $160 a pop!?

Microsoft charges $10 a month for XBOX GamePass for PC and ZAR79 (around $5). In other words, even the mighty Microsoft is sensitive to the fact that there are differences in purchasing power around the world and compensates for it. In fact, the majority of publishers on Steam generously adjust for these differences. Eagle Dynamics is one of a handful that uses exchange rates directly and often makes price adjustments at the worst possible time, when our exchange rate had briefly spiked. It leaves modules at highly elevated prices long after our exchange rate had normalized again. That volatility helps no-one; I don’t buy and ED doesn’t get my money.

So, here’s the solution. Why don’t ED simply use the Big Mac index? It is a universally accepted measure of purchasing power, but also fair and far more stable, removing the need to constantly adjust to volatile exchange rates. Steam is the supermarket of marketplaces; we come here for value and specials, and at the moment it is not here.

[Troll Norris]

I did buy PMDG Boeing 747-400 for Prepar3D for 140 USD. and the expansion pack 747-8 for 70 USD. So in total 210 USD.... + 200 USD for Prepar3D Professional licence.

Mirage F1 costs 64 USD right now. Normal price is 80 USD.

I don't know how much BigMac costs. I've never been in McDonald. :) But, my net wage is around 1050 USD per month. My monthly costs are around 800 USD per month.

Note: the most expensive thing is the place to live. House or flat, whatever. the average price of flat in my area is 2750 USD per square meter. It raised up around 15,3% in last year. It is the best way how to invest money right now. Buy flat, let the price rise up, sell flat.

[Roddy]

I can't stand the Big Mac, but I've spent way more than $160 in DCS on the f18, some maps and some missions. The f18 was $100 + taxes by itself (about 19 Big Macs). I'm in Canada.
btw - this exact post comes up in the discussions for almost every game I play. There is always someone somewhere that feels they should get it cheaper.

[grandafam1]

I'm not buying another "study level" model. 50% of the buttons/switches/functions have no direct effect on aircraft combat. IMHO it's a waste of time to include such depth. The goal of this simulation is supposed to be combat .. not taking a cold and dark fighter to flight readiness. Sadly the DCS world today values this fluff over pertinent combat related functionality (such as what is seen in lower cost Flaming Cliffs offerings). There is lots of money, apparently, to burn so the gaming landscape moves toward photorealism, "immersion", and eye-candy in order to sell more stuff.

[Maki Nishikino]

Probably not for a single DCS module but an addon in another flight sim? Maybe. I've bought some pretty expensive addons for XP, P3D and MSFS.

[Hawk_UK]

That's why we should have region compatibility on the DLC's, so that an F-16 DLC bought in Africa will not run on a USA install DCS World... This is why some sites and servers will not allow VPN connections too...
But overall, having region compatible DLC's enables different prices to be set according to standard of living for that region without being detrimental to the other areas in the world.

[Troll Norris]

O.k, for 160 USD I would have almost 41 Big Macs. (3,93 USD per one - but the closest McDonald is 25km (15,5 miles) far away)

Originally posted by Hawk_UK:

That's why we should have region compatibility on the DLC's,

We can not because:
1) There is no regional pricing in ED store, so it will not be even in Steam store
2) Using same price for all regions makes product grey-market-proof.

[spike2071]

While I agree with you overall, you always cherry pick publishers and/or games to make it sound like ED is doing something unheard of.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020's South African Price Rand price is only -2% off the USD price. That also includes Microsoft's Halo Infinite Campaign. EA doesn't seem to do regional pricing either, with FIFA, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, and F1 Racing all being the same price (-2% off) as USD. Square Enix (FF7 (+20%)) and Capcom (Monster Hunter (-7%), Resident Evil (+5%)) are other ones. Unlike those massive corporations, ED's price is about 12% cheaper for the Rand.

Sadly, in ED's view, you not buying is still better than the grey market "theft" that happens. You can keep beating this dead horse, but it's obvious that despite your multiple posts (and general support for it), companies are moving away from regional pricing and sticking with exchange rates when possible.

BigNewy has also stated that you can ping him when you feel the exchange rate is unfair.

[SSerponi76]

Originally posted by grandafam1:

I'm not buying another "study level" model. 50% of the buttons/switches/functions have no direct effect on aircraft combat. IMHO it's a waste of time to include such depth. The goal of this simulation is supposed to be combat .. not taking a cold and dark fighter to flight readiness. Sadly the DCS world today values this fluff over pertinent combat related functionality (such as what is seen in lower cost Flaming Cliffs offerings). There is lots of money, apparently, to burn so the gaming landscape moves toward photorealism, "immersion", and eye-candy in order to sell more stuff.

Actually, the goal of this game is to give the player a simulated plane which is a much 1:1 as possible to the real one, and this includes that 50% of controls which are not directly involved in combat (yes, exactly the "taking a cold and dark fighter to flight readiness" you were mentioning above).

This is where ED is aiming to go, and also the reason why you won't see any more FC3-alike module in DCSW.

Obviously, you are fee to play DCS the way you like, but if you are more interested in combat than realism, there are other products which are more combat oriented than this.

[Zero]

Originally posted by Troll Norris:

O.k, for 160 USD I would have almost 41 Big Macs. (3,93 USD per one - but the closest McDonald is 25km (15,5 miles) far away)

Originally posted by Hawk_UK:

That's why we should have region compatibility on the DLC's,

We can not because:
1) There is no regional pricing in ED store, so it will not be even in Steam store
2) Using same price for all regions makes product grey-market-proof.

regional pricing is gonna be a bit weird, as im not sure if they'd follow through with region locking the items. which would make it damn near impossible for a grey market to form, not to mention its a pretty niche title.

and on top of that you can buy modules during a sale, and contact ED, transfer them to another users account and sell it THAT way.

[Troll Norris]

Originally posted by Zero:

regional pricing is gonna be a bit weird, as im not sure if they'd follow through with region locking the items. which would make it damn near impossible for a grey market to form, not to mention its a pretty niche title.

and on top of that you can buy modules during a sale, and contact ED, transfer them to another users account and sell it THAT way.

Some of my acquaintances did buy DCS addons via VPN in different region to get better price in times when it was possible. They did save around 90% of original price.

[Tjitah]

Originally posted by Troll Norris:

Originally posted by Zero:

regional pricing is gonna be a bit weird, as im not sure if they'd follow through with region locking the items. which would make it damn near impossible for a grey market to form, not to mention its a pretty niche title.

and on top of that you can buy modules during a sale, and contact ED, transfer them to another users account and sell it THAT way.

Some of my acquaintances did buy DCS addons via VPN in different region to get better price it times when it was possible. They did save around 90% of original price.

OK I think you guys are highlighting an issue which I didn't even comprehend. Obviously I'm not thinking from a criminal point of view, but if it is that easy to buy low on Steam and transfer to someone else's account on standalone, then it is a BIG problem. That is not the way I roll, but clearly there is a loophole which I wasn't aware of, my bad.

As spike2071 suggests I will stop beating this drum and simply not buy, as I have done since 2020. Luckily I have a ton of modules from before, to keep me going a long time. DCS is a great sim, the newer modules are simply too expensive for me.

Pinging bignewy is a waste of time. Several modules (eg Mi-24, Syria) are still inflated in ZAR, despite flagging it to him a year ago...

[Troll Norris]

The grey market is much bigger problem for devs. For devs it is better when someone pirates the game than buy it from grey market. More in this vid:
https://youtu.be/twor6RYVtdQ

[Richardus]

Originally posted by Tjitah:

OK I think you guys are highlighting an issue which I didn't even comprehend. Obviously I'm not thinking from a criminal point of view, but if it is that easy to buy low on Steam and transfer to someone else's account on standalone, then it is a BIG problem. That is not the way I roll, but clearly there is a loophole which I wasn't aware of, my bad.

It's not that ED doesn't do regional pricing because they have it out for you, nor are we against it because we want to keep people from other countries from playing.
The problem is simply that, if regional pricing becomes available for a game that costs a lot (even by western standards) then there's going to be hordes of people who abuse said system.

Like Norris posted, there are dozens of sites selling keys from abroad and stolen cc data to make a quick buck. And I've heard dozens of people here say "Why would I pay $60 for a game when I can also get it for $4? It's the same game! Just set up a VPN and away you go!"
They don't care about long-term stability or supporting the devs, they only want to play the game for as little money as possible, even if the devs go out of business. I understand that ED can't do regional pricing because of this, and afaik there's no real way of avoiding it without drastic measures.

So yeah, sorry for the people here ruining the fun for you :(

[bignewy]

I highlight all price queries to the team, as you all know all prices are linked to the USD, if a countries dollar exchange rate is poor it can be difficult for some users, but we do not control a countries currency.

[Cyber_Chupacabra]

Early on I was buying everything for DCS but lately due to a significant price spike I just pick modules that REALLY interest me. For example, I got Apache for a full price and not regretting it as I fly it almost daily.
Its not the problem if I can afford the 160$ module, but rather will I be using it to the point its worth the money.