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[SnowblindTina]

SnowblindTina could you please explain to me why this game has doubled in price on the Australian Steam Store?

I was looking forward to getting this game but not anymore.

Hey Kerrby - Can you tell me what price you're seeing it at?

I did a quick check and EBGames Australia is selling it for AUD $68 in stores and online. (Our originally announced price back in September was AUD $69.95? I'm happy to look into it if you're seeing something higher than this?

https://www.ebgames.com.au/pc-150720-Lord-of-the-Rings-War-in-the-North-PC

 

[Drinky Crow]

it is a mystery


almost a big a mystery as why snowblind hasn't figured out how to playtest their games and difficulty levels

i have now officially died more times on this tharzog fight than any demon's souls boss fight, awesome wowsome

protip for developers who calibrate to the skill level of their testers:

easy: any idiot can beat the area/boss without dying unless they knock their drink over
normal: decent loot, basic blocking/dodging skills plus a few potions will get a moron (like me) through with a sliver of health
hard+: who cares, calibrate to the tester who's played the scenario 100+ times, i'll never touch it

 

[SnowblindTina]

it is a mystery


almost a big a mystery as why snowblind hasn't figured out how to playtest their games and difficulty levels

i have now officially died more times on this tharzog fight than any demon's souls boss fight, awesome wowsome

protip for developers who calibrate to the skill level of their testers:

easy: any idiot can beat the area/boss without dying unless they knock their drink over
normal: decent loot, basic blocking/dodging skills plus a few potions will get a moron (like me) through with a sliver of health
hard+: who cares, calibrate to the tester who's played the scenario 100+ times, i'll never touch it

I can definitely understand your frustration. Tharzog is a really challenging fight. The best tactic to employ is to take him out first and then go after his minions if you are soloing.

The other way to go is to join up with some other human players. We're working on a tips and tricks section as well.

We also have a lot of support at our game forums (www.warinthenorth.com/forums) where the community can assist.

 

[legend166]

Hey Kerrby - Can you tell me what price you're seeing it at?

I did a quick check and EBGames Australia is selling it for AUD $68 in stores and online. (Our originally announced price back in September was AUD $69.95? I'm happy to look into it if you're seeing something higher than this?

https://www.ebgames.com.au/pc-150720-Lord-of-the-Rings-War-in-the-North-PC

I understand the PR spin you're putting on this, and there's every chance that EB Games have put pressure on to make sure the Steam price is not lower than retail (not sure why anyone would bow to that pressure, though. Retail PC sales in Australia must be miniscule).

But surely you can see the difference between a retail title and all it's additional costs (Sales tax of 10%, actual manufacturing, shipping and handling costs, etc) and a digital version that costs Warner Bros practically nothing extra to sell to Australian customers via Steam.

It sucks that you have to defend such greedy practices, but I guess such is the life of a video game PR person.

What's weird is the price of the game on Steam, disregarding the 10% discount we get for preordering a game that is already out in most of the world, is $73.99 US. What kind of price is that?

 

[SnowblindTina]

Regarding Australia:

Can you tell me what the Steam Price is for Australia? Is it different than the PC Boxed price, or is it the same? If it's different there may be a pricing issue on Steam that we'd like to rectify.

 

[legend166]

Regarding Australia:

Can you tell me what the Steam Price is for Australia? Is it different than the PC Boxed price, or is it the same? If it's different there may be a pricing issue on Steam that we'd like to rectify.

The Steam price in Australia is currently $73.99US, with a 10% discount to bring it to $66.49. Someone's obviously just done a straight currency exchange because $70AU (the price at EB, who by the way is the most expensive gaming store in the country) is currently equal to $73US.

It being in line with the box price has nothing to do with it though. You're basically saying "Hey you get screwed over at retail, don't get angry at us for screwing you over as well!"

It's a dodgy, stupid and greedy practice.

 

[Robobandit]

edit - beaten

To be fair, it costs $49.99 usd on the US store.. which is the same that we'd pay in a retail store here..

Steam prices almost always mirror retail prices unless there is a sale on steam.. I suspect publishers would rather not sell on steam at all rather than sell at a reduced price compared to what they sell retail games for.

Every publisher does this regardless of region, it doesn't make it right, though. It's the same shitty reasoning that forces steam to have unlock dates on the same day as retail release..

 

[Salazar]

To be fair, it costs $49.99 usd on the US store.. which is the same that we'd pay in a retail store here..

I bought it for that price in the Australian store. And then the price got jacked up and the release got delayed.

 

[Doncamatic]

Hey Kerrby - Can you tell me what price you're seeing it at?

I did a quick check and EBGames Australia is selling it for AUD $68 in stores and online. (Our originally announced price back in September was AUD $69.95? I'm happy to look into it if you're seeing something higher than this?

https://www.ebgames.com.au/pc-150720-Lord-of-the-Rings-War-in-the-North-PC

This rings a bit hollow given the fact that it was only on the 1st of November that the price was jacked up (along with Batman: Arkham City another WB published game). Also, could you elaborate on why the release was delayed until the 17th in Australia the day before it was originally to be released?

 

[Hawk269]

FYI - sprint is right bumper on my xbox controller.

Classic!!!

Love it when someone bitches about a game mechanic, and in this case the lack of a "run" button, but there is a run button that the game actually tells you about, but people go on forums bitching about the lack of the feature and it is there all along.

 

[reptilescorpio]

I bought it for that price in the Australian store. And then the price got jacked up and the release got delayed.

I have never seen an explanation from a publisher on why we get screwed over like this. Why put it up for $50 for a week and then jack it up another $20-50?

Also why is it delayed on Steam for us Australians but not in the US? Do we get special, fancy Australian accents injected into the game or something? At least we don't get screwed over as much as the UK.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Safe to say it's a publisher-wide policy guys, so hassling a developer CM about it is kind of like a rocking-chair; it gives you something to do but it won't get you anywhere. I share your frustrations though, believe me.

 

[Kerrby]

Regarding Australia:

Can you tell me what the Steam Price is for Australia? Is it different than the PC Boxed price, or is it the same? If it's different there may be a pricing issue on Steam that we'd like to rectify.

As said by Legend, the game currently has the normal price of $73.99; only in the last few days has the price nearly doubled from what it previously was at $44.

The thing is, the game shouldn't cost so damn much. This goes for every company putting the Australian tax on it, for example Batman: Arkham City has just been put up to $99.95 on Steam.

Do you really think people are going to buy it at that price?

 

[Xander51]

Oh I read your question wrong... I'm not sure, haven't tried forcing AA. Can someone else try it for Hawk?

This is a bit late as I've been away from the thread, but I'd recommend NOT forcing AA. It added more aliasing to the game, which leads me to believe some kind of Post AA solution is in place by default, or there are effects being applied after the AA pass and forcing AA screwed them up. I had heavy aliasing and a weird flickering blur every few frames when I tried to force AA, whereas the game has very little aliasing by default.

 

[reptilescorpio]

Safe to say it's a publisher-wide policy guys, so hassling a developer CM about it is kind of like a rocking-chair; it gives you something to do but it won't get you anywhere. I share your frustrations though, believe me.

Some direction on the policy would be nice, some kind of reasoning rather than just upping the price without any communication on why it is necessary.

I'm sure there is a better reason than just wanting more money out of us.

 

[Lord Phol]

Looks like I'm the only one paying full price judging by this thread.
Funny that, seeing most gaffers usually like to throw out comments about how you should support developers etc.

If it makes you feel any better, games here in Sweden sell for about 500-700 SEK which is ~70-100 USD.
And PC games are usually more expensive on steam than in retail (unless there's a steam sale).

 

[Skilletor]

Looks like I'm the only one paying full price judging by this thread.
Funny that, seeing most gaffers usually like to throw out comments about how you should support developers etc.

If it makes you feel any better, games here in Sweden sell for about 500-700 sek which is ~70-100 us dollars.
And PC games are usually more expensive on steam than in retail (unless there's a steam sale).

I doubt that such threads are indicative of "most" gaffers.

i'm all about saving money.

 

[BanShunsaku]

For me the delay is the bigger issue (which I know is nothing to do with SnowblindTina)

I would have probably paid whatever the asking price was on Steam if I could play it this weekend, now when the game becomes available in Australia I will be deep into Skyrim and odds are I won't buy it at all.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Some direction on the policy would be nice, some kind of reasoning rather than just upping the price without any communication on why it is necessary.

I'm sure there is a better reason than just wanting more money out of us.

I agree, but I think that sending a tersely worded email to WB about it might be a more effective way of achieving that is all. My guess is that you'll just get the stock "prices must reflect retail as that is our policy" reply, but at least they'll know you're pissed.

To be frank, the reason is probably just that they don't want to risk pissing off retailers, same reason every console game isn't available day and date on digital services, and Steam UK doesn't list PC titles until a month after they release.

 

[Salazar]

Looks like I'm the only one paying full price judging by this thread.
Funny that, seeing most gaffers usually like to throw out comments about how you should support developers etc.

This seems both wrong and rather snide. People are merely irascible about being simultaneously jerked around on pricing and release.

 

[Hawk269]

Hey Kerrby - Can you tell me what price you're seeing it at?

I did a quick check and EBGames Australia is selling it for AUD $68 in stores and online. (Our originally announced price back in September was AUD $69.95? I'm happy to look into it if you're seeing something higher than this?

https://www.ebgames.com.au/pc-150720-Lord-of-the-Rings-War-in-the-North-PC

SnowblindTina-

I sent you a PM, but was ignored and since you are posting here thougth I would as here as well.

For the PC version, are you guys going to imrpove the graphical settings to allow AA or FXAA or MLAA for the game? I noticed that there is no options for any AA and when trying to force it via the driver it does not do anything.

Thanks...Oh and any word on any upcoming patches?

 

[Lord Phol]

I doubt that such threads are indicative of "most" gaffers.

i'm all about saving money.

Perhaps not, just seen it thrown around alot lately (Batman AC threads, buying new vs. used).
I'm usually a money saver myself as I buy most games on sale or used, but now that I got a steady income I find that paying full price every now and then is quite acceptable.

 

[Kerrby]

This seems both wrong and rather snide. People are merely irascible about being simultaneously jerked around on pricing and release.

Not only that but seeing there's a representative on this forum, we get to voice our displeasure of being screwed over without necessarily directly blaming Tina (which we're not anyway).

 

[reptilescorpio]

To be frank, the reason is probably just that they don't want to risk pissing off retailers, same reason every console game isn't available day and date on digital services, and Steam UK doesn't list PC titles until a month after they release.

Certainly the most logical reason, just very frustrating as the consumer to be told that I can't access a game on Steam because of where I live rather than any other constraints against the publisher. If I changed my IP I would be able to play it, not to mention the lower price. Since the Australian dollar is much higher now (parity compared to 60 cents to the US dollar) I get annoyed that we are still being charged the same price even though publishers are pocketing more money off us at that rate.

Was going to pick this up for the weekend to play with the Steam group, like we did 2 weeks ago for PayDay. War in the North will most likely be a pass for me now as I was mostly interested in the online. If I have to wait for release while it is already out for other people I might as well wait for the price to come down and a few of the day one customers to want to do another fresh playthrough.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Certainly the most logical reason, just very frustrating as the consumer to be told that I can't access a game on Steam because of where I live rather than any other constraints against the publisher. If I changed my IP I would be able to play it, not to mention the lower price. Since the Australian dollar is much higher now (parity compared to 60 cents to the US dollar) I get annoyed that we are still being charged the same price even though publishers are pocketing more money off us at that rate.

Was going to pick this up for the weekend to play with the Steam group, like we did 2 weeks ago for PayDay. War in the North will most likely be a pass for me now as I was mostly interested in the online. If I have to wait for release while it is already out for other people I might as well wait for the price to come down and a few of the day one customers to want to do another fresh playthrough.

Don't forget you can still get it for the proper price on GMG, and it's a Steamworks title anyway

It's times like these I'm glad my co-op group is a bunch of old mates who I live nearby, so we're all subject to the bits-take-longer-to-travel-to-the-southern-hemisphere phenomenon.

 

[Warnen]

Been playing a lot of couch coop with my brother, only issues so far was once the sound effect of the tower breaking (in the mountain were you destroy the gears) got really loud and looped till we warped back to town. Also text gets stuck on screen, 1st player always has ___ waiting for other players right above the health bar and 2nd player has what ever the last thing we triggered at the top of the screen.

 

[reptilescorpio]

Don't forget you can still get it for the proper price on GMG, and it's a Steamworks title anyway

It's times like these I'm glad my co-op group is a bunch of old mates who I live nearby, so we're all subject to the bits-take-longer-to-travel-to-the-southern-hemisphere phenomenon.

Yeah GMG has been fantastic for having (mostly) universal pricing for the US and Australia. Only concern would be if it being Steamworks would lock me out from playing it until the Australian release date.

 

[Ken]

Been playing a lot of couch coop with my brother, only issues so far was once the sound effect of the tower breaking (in the mountain were you destroy the gears) got really loud and looped till we warped back to town. Also text gets stuck on screen, 1st player always has ___ waiting for other players right above the health bar and 2nd player has what ever the last thing we triggered at the top of the screen.

Do you each play with separate gamertags? Does it save each of your character's progress individually? I'm wondering if I should co-op with two players on the same gamertag or different ones.

 

[NullPointer]

I just noticed something in the game's FAQ

Q: I’m playing with one or two AI hero characters. Can I give them commands?

Yes. Members of the fellowship being played by AI can be ordered to attack a target, or to defend a human player.

Seriously? How do you do this?

Edit: Nevermind. Found it:

Call to attack: D-pad Up, C on PC
Call to defend: D-pad Down, Z on PC

 

[Xevren]

Down on the dpad tells them to come to you, also makes them do whatever defensive command they can do. Makes the chick cause her bubble to come up.

Up to attack. That's on the 360 anyway, no idea for pc.

 

[The Mana Legend]

I love this game. I am playing at 60 fps, max settings on PC, and have not had a single technical issue yet. Have not tried co-op yet, and there are plenty of issues with the AI, but I love everything else (though I'd prefer more sidequests and density in towns).

 

[Warnen]

Do you each play with separate gamertags? Does it save each of your character's progress individually? I'm wondering if I should co-op with two players on the same gamertag or different ones.

We play on the PS3 and yes I made a new name for myself so it saves my progress. If you only use 1 tag the 2nd player will just be named player 2 and I don't think it will save your items/skills(could be wrong). On a side note, even though I've been getting all rewards and such for quest but none of them are updating on my character, they update for player 1 but not player 2. Dunno what that would do if you tried to play single player with the 2nd player, could be a major issue.

 

[Mattdaddy]

Damn this game is really fun. Played more tonight and got to Ettenmoore or something. Really really fun game. The loot is addictive, the combat is fun, the drop in drop out it great. This ties with Space Marine for my favorite game that doesn't have some magical gimmick but is just really fun to play. I could run around smashing orcs in both these games for hours cause it just feels sooo good. Love the art too, really did a good job of capturing the LOTR feel and the loot looks great.

I wish there was a hide helmet option, cause I like showing off my barbarian hair haha. And I wish there was a mute option (PC), cause I get a lot of background chatter from people.

Also, whenever I create a game... it always fills up quick with randoms, and if someone leaves there usually isnt too bad of a wait before someone fills their spot. But if I search for games myself, I can't ever find but one or two and they are always way behind where I am in the story. So... I hope matchmaking gets tuned up a little bit when searching for games.

But overall love this game. Think Space Marine, with loot and RPG trees, in LOTR setting, with drop in co-op. Daddy like.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

I am in love with the game.

15 hours played in 2 days...lol. Couple of location spoilers:

Spoiler

Everything from Rivendell onward is so good. After that is Mount Gunabad and that couldn't have been more cool...from the snow environment outside and then inside the massive mountain, good stuff. Then right after that is Mirkwood which is a forest and that's been great too.

I wonder how many hours I have left...15 hours so far, level 19, chapter 5 or 6 (there's 8 total).

Game is quite difficult at times... my bubble shield with the elf has been invaluable both in solo and co-op. If your main is Andriel then make sure to upgrade her bubble shield health regen amount skill 3 times. I'm also doing monster damage with her too...got a kickass staff and do 2k+ when using it ranged and charging up. She is not a good early game character... but she's critical to the team mid and late game. I don't consider the dwarf OP anymore.

 

[Elginer]

Gotta say, this is a damn good looking game at times. I need to get the PC version at some point to max it out but it looks great on 360.

Love the attention to detail on the armors!

 

[Last Hearth]

Man I sometimes hate super saver shipping.

I thought I had plenty of patience, but now that I finished Batman today I'm really itching to get my hands on this game.

 

[Victrix]

I'm sure there is a better reason than just wanting more money out of us.

Ahahahahaha. Wait, you're serious?

 

[Card Boy]

To be frank, the reason is probably just that they don't want to risk pissing off retailers,

I'm not arguing with you but the reason this excuse went out the window is when DLC and games not sold at retail started getting price gouged aswell.

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

Any split screen impressions?

 

[The Mana Legend]

But overall love this game. Think Space Marine, with loot and RPG trees, in LOTR setting, with drop in co-op. Daddy like.

Too me, it feels EXACTLY like a playable mixture of Dragon Age and Too Human, set in LotR.

 

[AdawgDaFAB]

I have had an issue numerous times now when playing online co-op, with one other person, on the PC version. Randomly when coming back to an area that we left using a teleport point the second player would appear back at the start of the area and be forced to quit the game and rejoin in order to continue. If they attempted to go through the stage to where the teleport point is, they would get stuck behind a checkpoint and unable to pass it because P1 isn't there with them. Also, whenever this happens all the loot from that area reappears for them.

 

[Victrix]

Played a bunch of this tonight.

Graphics are beautiful, combat is solid but very average, dialogue is meh.

I'll post more impressions later, but not super impressed at this point. For people in the mood for a really casual hack and slash, this'd probably fit the bill, but I prefer a bit more meat on the combat/skilltree bones.

 

[ChocolatePuddin]

I,m looking forward to picking this up on the PS3,my only gripe would be the characters.The ranger character is epic but the other two have me and my buddy fighting, cause none of us want to play as the dwarf or the lady wizard chick.Tina will there ever be DLC characters to play as? Otherwise this game looks like a ton of fun and I cant wait to get my hands on it.

 

[The Mana Legend]

I,m looking forward to picking this up on the PS3,my only gripe would be the characters.The ranger character is epic but the other two have me and my buddy fighting, cause none of us want to play as the dwarf or the lady wizard chick.Tina will there ever be DLC characters to play as? Otherwise this game looks like a ton of fun and I cant wait to get my hands on it.

Dwarves are far more "epic" than any human or elf characters. Sorry, but fact.

 

[ChocolatePuddin]

Dwarves are far more "epic" than any human or elf characters. Sorry, but fact.

Haha,fact hey? I must of missed that one in my history lecture the other day.I think they are cool don't get me wrong and a ton of fun to play as, but I just kind of wished they had more options, like the chick wizard I think is a weak choice for a playable character.No one is gonna be jumping up and down after watching the lord of the rings trilogy saying, wow what great movies I wanna play a game set in that universe except play as a chick wizard, cause that would be cool.

Have the chick wizard as a character but throw in an Elf class and maybe even another human class but don't make her one of the options out of three.

 

[Befindlichkeit]

This looks BEASTING! Shame it's not out in the uk yet

 

[ascii42]

Haha,fact hey? I must of missed that one in my history lecture the other day.I think they are cool don't get me wrong and a ton of fun to play as, but I just kind of wished they had more options, like the chick wizard I think is a weak choice for a playable character.No one is gonna be jumping up and down after watching the lord of the rings trilogy saying, wow what great movies I wanna play a game set in that universe except play as a chick wizard, cause that would be cool.

Have the chick wizard as a character but throw in an Elf class and maybe even another human class but don't make her one of the options out of three.

Andriel (the chick wizard) is an elf.

 

[ChocolatePuddin]

Andriel (the chick wizard) is an elf.

Ok, fine so she is an elf but she should be portrayed as one of the elves in the movies.She should use a bow, run around with super agility and stealth, have blades similar to legolous.Imagine Natalie Portmans character from the movie your highness but she,s an elf.Elves have to have super fast firing accurate bow,s like in the movies as standard.

 

[Gattsu25]

Ok, fine so she is an elf but she should be portrayed as one of the elves in the movies.She should use a bow, run around with super agility and stealth, have blades similar to legolous.Imagine Natalie Portmans character from the movie your highness but she,s an elf.Elves have to have super fast firing accurate bow,s like in the movies as standard.

What about the many other elf characters in the movie that used swords and not bows? Or that one elf character in the movie who was more of a witch than a fighter of any kind?

 

[xelios]

Looks like I'm the only one paying full price judging by this thread.

Not sure that's something I'd be bragging out.