The Forest - Regional Price Difference USA vs Canada Prevents Gifting.

[Bonesaw Mcgraw]

Hello,

I live in the United States and I have a generous Canadian friend who will gift me Co-op games over steam from time to time so we can play together. He's been giving such gifts for the past 6 or 7 years without issue. Most recently he went to gift my other friend and I copies of The Forest. First, he gifted a copy to our mutual friend (who lives in the United States) on her birthday 10 days ago (May 1st). Less than an hour ago he went to gift me a copy so the 3 of us could play together, only to discover that he was unable to even add the game to his inventory due to "Regional Price Differences".

This is obviously something that changed in the past 10 days. I'm wondering if this is going to be normal for other games going forward or if it's just something strange that the developers of this one game did. I'm scared that the free game Canadian gravy train has come to an end. Any explanation or info would really be appreciated.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Bonesaw Mcgraw

[Ogami]

Yes its because of the new rules. If there is more then a 10% price difference between the two countries you cant send a gift. Yes , its as stupid as it sounds.
You also can no longer store gifts in your inventory, its "send at once" or nothing.
Nobody likes this and i hope Steam will change it again.

[Bonesaw Mcgraw]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Yes its because of the new rules. If there is more then a 10% price difference between the two countries you cant send a gift. Yes , its as stupid as it sounds.
You also can no longer store gifts in your inventory, its "send at once" or nothing.
Nobody likes this and i hope Steam will change it again.

I see. Thank you for the reply. So either these "new rules" were rolled out in the last 10 days, or the Canadian price of The Forest was raised in the past 10 days. Again, thanks for the answer.

I'm going to look for more info on these "new rules" and try to get an idea of how many games have a 10%+ price difference between the USA and Canada, but the outlook is definitely bleak. I know my friend would be happy to pay the price difference but that isn't even an option.

I wish there was a way to voice my displeasure with Steam but it seems like they've buried/done away with the support ticket system, instead opting for a "self-solution" approach which has the same effectiveness as a common "FAQ" article. Steam and I are the only losers with this deal. I lose out on gaming comradery with my friends and Steam doesn't get money from the sale.

If anyone else has any info they would like to add, such as links to the new rules, tools for tracking day-to-day regional price changes, or any active petitions to get Steam to come to their senses, please feel free to post them here or PM them to me.

What a hassle.

[MancSoulja]

Originally posted by Bonesaw Mcgraw:

Originally posted by Ogami:

Yes its because of the new rules. If there is more then a 10% price difference between the two countries you cant send a gift. Yes , its as stupid as it sounds.
You also can no longer store gifts in your inventory, its "send at once" or nothing.
Nobody likes this and i hope Steam will change it again.

I see. Thank you for the reply. So either these "new rules" were rolled out in the last 10 days, or the Canadian price of The Forest was raised in the past 10 days. Again, thanks for the answer.

I'm going to look for more info on these "new rules" and try to get an idea of how many games have a 10%+ price difference between the USA and Canada, but the outlook is definitely bleak. I know my friend would be happy to pay the price difference but that isn't even an option.

I wish there was a way to voice my displeasure with Steam but it seems like they've buried/done away with the support ticket system, instead opting for a "self-solution" approach which has the same effectiveness as a common "FAQ" article. Steam and I are the only losers with this deal. I lose out on gaming comradery with my friends and Steam doesn't get money from the sale.

If anyone else has any info they would like to add, such as links to the new rules, tools for tracking day-to-day regional price changes, or any active petitions to get Steam to come to their senses, please feel free to post them here or PM them to me.

What a hassle.

Try here first:

http://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/1301948399254001159

[ReBoot]

Valve have announced they're reading feedback so let's provide feedback, shall we? A dude in another thread suggested the ability to pay the more expensive price of the region you're going to gift to. That would solve the issue without letting people abuse regional price differences.