I have no idea how I might find a proxy to do that and I don't know anyone in the US.

I'm refusing to buy the inflated price Entrenchment because the bits have to travel accross the Atlantic.  Whatever the excuses may be, it's injust and a shame because I was able to buy Sins at the same price as Americans could.

For the same reason I refuse to buy stuff from direct2drive.co.uk because they are rip off prices, I'd rather order from play.com and wait a few days.

I was a huge Swat game fan but I refused to buy the vegas installment because I couldn't buy the digital download version which worked out cheaper than English "localised" versions.  The excuse is because of publishing deals but we are living in an age of global markets and it's about time us Brits stopped getting shafted when we should be able to buy games digitally.  If games companies don't wise up to the 21st century then I'll keep buying from the games companies that already have.

@Annatar11 "I understand why it has to be this way of course"

It doesn't have to be this way, I can think of several cases where it isn't and it's something Stardock should have thought about before making such deals.  It's not like it's all Kalypso's fault, Stardock is seeing some of the profits of this rip off in the price Kalypso paid for the distribution rights.

Where is the line in the Gamer's Bill of Rights that says "Gamer's should not have to pay more for digital purchases for no damn reason", I guess that bill of rights is only designed for the Americans.

@Aotrs Commander

He means use a proxy server to make impulse think you are in America.  It's probably not entirely legal because the correct taxes aren't being paid, not that anyone would care enough at that price.  I just don't know where I would find a proxy to do that and I'll not spend any time doing so for a minor expansion such as Entrenchment.

Well, I was making an assumption that if Stardock could tell Kalypso to shove off and not raise their price to match, they would have. Whether or not that's a true assumption I obviously don't know.

As for the legality of a proxy, even Stardock doesn't care. They recommend people look for one to bypass the region restrictions for games

Oh. Right. More effort than I'd care to spend, too. I'm not quite petty enough to do that to just to spite Kalypso out of a couple of quid; and if I was, I'd be more likely to do something less innocuous, like say hunting down the guys responsible and pulling their intestines out of their nostrils or something equally and arbitarily excessively violent. (And then go after half the rest of the planet...)

Are you thinking about the "Don't forget the rest of the world" thread http://forums.impulsedriven.com/323878 . Reply #20 was also interesting

Stardock would have got the same amount of money. They want $10 for it, they'll get $10. In UK, they are getting more than $10. 

I would have hoped the internet was where localisation didn't exist, since...you know, it's the internet. 

Count me out as well for purchasing any more Stardock products. I will not be ripped off by unscrupulous distributors charging non-US customers more for their software.  It is not like anyone put a gun to their heads and forced them into signing a European distribution deal.

So much for the bill of rights carp they supposedly adhere to.. typical arrogant yank behaviour.

I guess if I want to play Stardock games going forward I will have to find other sources for them.

European retailers simply charge the same price no matter how the exchange rates are. Since the manufacturing costs are pobably no more than 1€ per box its simply about making the biggest profit by setting the price as high as possible but as low as the consumers expect it to be.

It is still sad that even online sales are now effected by this.

Also i am wondering how this works anyway. Do you cheack the ip? Since if i pay 10$ by paypal the seller cannot alter the exhange rates.

I agree to a certain extent. It's clear now they don't apply the gamer's bill of rights to european customers...

not much to add to the debate but i feel it important this thread continues to grow.

having just checked, it's a year and a fortnight since i discovered Stardock, in that time i have purchased galciv2 and it expansions, soase and the demigod beta.

that's 5 titles in a lifetime collection of 15 games.

why?

cos of the community and spirit behind the company. the easy of distribution. a price that makes sense. the reasonble use of DRM. continued support and patching and simply great games.

what's happening here is a threat to 3 of those traits.

granted, it's a cheap expansion and the difference is not much, though i'm gald it was picked up as 40%. it won't stop me getting the expansion cos i simply love this game. but it's certainly altered my perception of SD and i doubt i'll be so quick to make purchases in future.

i honestly hope this effect is noticed and the issue rectified. with so much crap going on it was truly wonderful to find a company doing well by playing fair.

!!!!!!!FROGBOY!!!!! this is what the thin end of wedge looks like.

So much for the bill of rights carp they supposedly adhere to.. typical arrogant yank behaviour.
I guess if I want to play Stardock games going forward I will have to find other sources for them.

First of all Stardock is not setting the price in the UK.
Second, have you completely forgot about Ironclad, the developer who made the game? (Canadian by the way)