Australian Steam Games Are About to Get a Flat 10% Price Increase

Metalrocks

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wow. this sure will help to get more customers. like paying 90AUD for a game isnt expensive enough. no wonder i buy only a game or 2 i really want but wait for the rest to drop a lot in price. good thing i have waited with dishonored 2 to be on sale. got it for 34AUD at my local store. got RE7 for 80AUD since a other store wants over 90AUD.
australia really hates for people to have fun. not for long and they will ban anything they remotely see as fun.
 
Jan 19, 2016
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Figures that something like this would happen. Our shit government fucks up everything they touch, so this is no real surprise. Looks like it will be Steam sales and grey market keys for me from now on.
 

Elijin

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Dr. McD said:
pookie101 said:
all its going to do is get australians to not buy directly on steam or simply wait for sales
Not going to work, this hits EVERYWHERE. The titles says "Steam games" instead of "online games" because the writer is a complete git.
I can assure you there is a very healthy grey market of trustworthy sites selling CD keys. Probably about to get a bump in business.
 

Naldan

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I don't condone piracy either, except if they legitimately have no money. And with too high taxes, no common Australian has money for reasonable products. So I'd advocate for every Australian to pirate every game, ever.
 

DarthCoercis

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Hawki said:
As someone who lives in Oz, I'm not sure if Australia is that much of a "nice country" these days. :(
Depends on whether you believe the HurrDurrdoch media or real life. If you believe derpdoch, then yeah, we're all racist bigots who hate everything except coal, which we have sex with every day. If you believe real life, then Australia is a great country full of incredibly nice people, with a small spattering of angry morons that make far too much noise.
 

Czann

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Why people support a government that robs and craps on them like this one does?
 

Magmarock

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It's not the sales tax that bothers me here. It's the fact that we pay so much more for no good reason.
 

Callate

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Well you know... Pushing all those bits across the ocean. Gets heavy.

(Tongue entirely in cheek.)

Australia, I'm so sorry. The prices you pay weren't fair to begin with, and your legislators seem to think that video games are the digital equivalent of a rabbit infestation.
 

Hawki

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DarthCoercis said:
Depends on whether you believe the HurrDurrdoch media or real life. If you believe derpdoch, then yeah, we're all racist bigots who hate everything except coal, which we have sex with every day. If you believe real life, then Australia is a great country full of incredibly nice people, with a small spattering of angry morons that make far too much noise.
Is it fair to say that I believe a combination of these things? That, no, I don't think every Australian is a racist, but combined with the rise/return of One Nation (apparently we're now being swamped by Muslims rather than Chinese), with racist slurs written on toilet room doors at uni (not the biggest issue in the world, but one I found off-putting), coupled with how about 47% of Australians want a Muslim ban according to a recent poll (despite the fact that Muslims make up around 2% of the population, and events like the Lindt Cafe siege, while tragic, are relatively minor in terms of loss of life, and very rare occurrences), coupled with Australia having a history of racism (goldfields attacks on the Chinese, White Australia Policy, Aborigines couldn't vote until 1962, etc.), then, yeah.

Pointing out racism and acknowledging it exists isn't the same as painting everyone with the same brush.
 

StatusNil

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Now this is just blatantly Australocentric reporting! What about the poor people of Iceland, who get hit with a 24% increase? What did they ever do to deserve that? If playing in bands with Bjork is such a crime, only half of them ever did!

Source: https://techraptor.net/content/steam-prices-increasing-australia-due-10-sales-tax

(Yes, another example of rampant Australocentrism there as well!)
 

Addendum_Forthcoming

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Frankly, the Australian government isn't to blame.

Valve and all other game publishes were forcing such ridiculous prices already. Proper application of taxes isn't bad, and a GST of 10% is standard fair in many countries.

Frankly, this is why I import physical copies of the game from elsewhere, because Steam has always been gouging Australian customers so fuck them. Either that or just buy from GoG. There's a reason one of their sales pitches is; 'One world price' ... it's because video game publishers were already gouging people.
 

Nazulu

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Hawki said:
DarthCoercis said:
Depends on whether you believe the HurrDurrdoch media or real life. If you believe derpdoch, then yeah, we're all racist bigots who hate everything except coal, which we have sex with every day. If you believe real life, then Australia is a great country full of incredibly nice people, with a small spattering of angry morons that make far too much noise.
Is it fair to say that I believe a combination of these things? That, no, I don't think every Australian is a racist, but combined with the rise/return of One Nation (apparently we're now being swamped by Muslims rather than Chinese), with racist slurs written on toilet room doors at uni (not the biggest issue in the world, but one I found off-putting), coupled with how about 47% of Australians want a Muslim ban according to a recent poll (despite the fact that Muslims make up around 2% of the population, and events like the Lindt Cafe siege, while tragic, are relatively minor in terms of loss of life, and very rare occurrences), coupled with Australia having a history of racism (goldfields attacks on the Chinese, White Australia Policy, Aborigines couldn't vote until 1962, etc.), then, yeah.

Pointing out racism and acknowledging it exists isn't the same as painting everyone with the same brush.
It's not that simple though. I hope you're not saying Muslims are a race, and if we have to face harsh truths, then you have to remember that Islam has a fucking terrible image right now (they're similar). Many of us are looking at France, Germany and Sweden and how much crime has risen there, including we can't ignore the injustice so many suffer in most Islamic states.

I don't believe it's fair to say it's an irrational fear, and among other things, the costs for crime prevention went up a fair bit too. To be honest, I haven't got the facts for how much though, if what I've read is to be believed.

As for the past, it's the past, and times have changed a lot, and every country has some horrible events throughout their history.
 

Hawki

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Nazulu said:
I hope you're not saying Muslims are a race,
No, course not.

Nazulu said:
then you have to remember that Islam has a fucking terrible image right now
Not denying that either.

Nazulu said:
Many of us are looking at France, Germany and Sweden and how much crime has risen there,
I'm dubious about that. Ever since Trump's Sweeden remarks, I've seen a plenthora of articles from both sides of the debate, some backing up his claims, others refuting them.

Nazulu said:
including we can't ignore the injustice so many suffer in most Islamic states.
I agree there as well, but-

Nazulu said:
I don't believe it's fair to say it's an irrational fear,
I will draw the line there. Now, I'm not saying that having concerns about Islam/migrants/Muslims/whatever makes you a (insert pejorative of choice here). Whatever the truth of Europe is, I'm not claiming it's all sunshines and rainbows.

HOWEVER, again, looking at Australia in particular, and the things we can control, I'll ask this:

1) Are we in danger of being "swamped" by Muslims?

2) Has there been an upsurge of terrorist activity in Australia related to Islamic extremism?

I'd argue that the solution to both questions is "no." Again, Muslims in Australia make up about 2.2% of the population. Heck, there's more Buddhists living in the country (2.5%). I'm more worried about Islamic than Buddhist extremism (and yes, the latter does exist), but again, taking Australia in isolation, I haven't seen anything that would justify any of the extreme measures that some have called for.

Back in the 1990s, Hanson warned that Australia was at risk of being "swamped" by Asians. In the 2010s, ask yourself, has that happened?

Nazulu said:
As for the past, it's the past, and times have changed a lot, and every country has some horrible events throughout their history.
Okay, but the legacy of the past is still felt. There's far too many issues with Australia's Aboriginal population, ranging from the physical (life expectancy), to legal (constitutional recognition) to cultural (the Australia Day debate) to simply say "yep, all in the past."
 

Nazulu

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Hawki said:
Nazulu said:
Many of us are looking at France, Germany and Sweden and how much crime has risen there,
I'm dubious about that. Ever since Trump's Sweeden remarks, I've seen a plenthora of articles from both sides of the debate, some backing up his claims, others refuting them.
Others go by numbers.



Nazulu said:
I don't believe it's fair to say it's an irrational fear,
I will draw the line there. Now, I'm not saying that having concerns about Islam/migrants/Muslims/whatever makes you a (insert pejorative of choice here). Whatever the truth of Europe is, I'm not claiming it's all sunshines and rainbows.

HOWEVER, again, looking at Australia in particular, and the things we can control, I'll ask this:

1) Are we in danger of being "swamped" by Muslims?

2) Has there been an upsurge of terrorist activity in Australia related to Islamic extremism?

I'd argue that the solution to both questions is "no." Again, Muslims in Australia make up about 2.2% of the population. Heck, there's more Buddhists living in the country (2.5%). I'm more worried about Islamic than Buddhist extremism (and yes, the latter does exist), but again, taking Australia in isolation, I haven't seen anything that would justify any of the extreme measures that some have called for.

Back in the 1990s, Hanson warned that Australia was at risk of being "swamped" by Asians. In the 2010s, ask yourself, has that happened?
It's not even being "swamped" or stats, it's the fact that this creepy ideology likes to sneak up on groups of people and explode or do other horrifying things. You just don't know when or where it will spring up, and no one wants to give it a chance. Now don't get me wrong, I believe a lot of fears hear are irrational, but a lot isn't.

As for Hanson, I haven't done anywhere near enough research on her, but I don't agree at all with that paranoid remark. However, when I saw a protestor group claiming she's racist for her concerns about Muslims, she did look like the only one there with any sense when she said they weren't a race. And with the fucking media in America calling people sexist, racist, Nazi's left and right, I can understand peoples concerns about the regressive left as well. They don't want that shit to spread here either.

Nazulu said:
As for the past, it's the past, and times have changed a lot, and every country has some horrible events throughout their history.
Okay, but the legacy of the past is still felt. There's far too many issues with Australia's Aboriginal population, ranging from the physical (life expectancy), to legal (constitutional recognition) to cultural (the Australia Day debate) to simply say "yep, all in the past."
Do you have any articles or video's to expand on this? I would really appreciate it. If you don't want to that's fine too. I've been meaning to look into that more myself.

Edit: Are we discussing this in the wrong thread?

OT: To be more on topic, Fucking Hell! Our censorship laws are ridiculous enough, why this!?
 

Addendum_Forthcoming

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Hawki said:
Is it fair to say that I believe a combination of these things? That, no, I don't think every Australian is a racist, but combined with the rise/return of One Nation (apparently we're now being swamped by Muslims rather than Chinese), with racist slurs written on toilet room doors at uni (not the biggest issue in the world, but one I found off-putting), coupled with how about 47% of Australians want a Muslim ban according to a recent poll (despite the fact that Muslims make up around 2% of the population, and events like the Lindt Cafe siege, while tragic, are relatively minor in terms of loss of life, and very rare occurrences), coupled with Australia having a history of racism (goldfields attacks on the Chinese, White Australia Policy, Aborigines couldn't vote until 1962, etc.), then, yeah.

Pointing out racism and acknowledging it exists isn't the same as painting everyone with the same brush.
Australian bugbear isn't so much with race and religiosity as it is with otherness, which is arguably worse. For example ... most Australians have no problem with Muslims born in Australia. They predominantly have a problem with Muslims in other countries. If you asked what those 47% of people think about 2nd or 3rd generation Australians who happen to be Muslim, most of them would probably shake their head and say they don't care. Only some of them will nod and say they do have a problem with them as well.

Hence why we have openly Muslim politicians in the House of Reps despite <2% of Australians are Muslims. It's how Australian that Muslim can be, not that they're Muslims.

So it's not really racism, it's 'otherness' (which, as I said above, may be worse) ... and frankly most Australians know the White Australia policy was a failure of government that kind of coupled the worst fears of being outside the protection of Empire and being a white colony in Asia.

http://www.news.com.au/national/federal-election/why-its-perfect-timing-for-a-muslim-woman-in-parliament/news-story/05bac34ecb39edb96fda23003187c97a
 

Nazulu

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Addendum_Forthcoming said:
Australian bugbear isn't so much with race as it is with otherness
Do you have any evidence for that?
 

Hawki

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Nazulu said:
Others go by numbers.
I see those videos and raise you:

https://debunkingdenialism.com/2015/12/12/how-anti-immigration-activists-misuse-rape-statistics/

https://contrarian.live/2016/05/

Like I said, there's contradictory interpretations. I'm in no position to make declarations on Sweeden myself, and based on everything that's come out recently, I can't make any sound conclusions in this area.

Nazulu said:
It's not even being "swamped" or stats, it's the fact that this creepy ideology likes to sneak up on groups on people and explode or do other horrifying things. You just don't know when or where it will spring up, and no one wants to give it a chance. Now don't get me wrong, I believe a lot of fears hear are irrational, but a lot isn't.
Yeah, okay, but anyone can easily be exposed to extremist ideology. The Internet is a thing after all.

I'm not saying that radicalization isn't a potential issue, but so far, Australia hasn't suffered much in the way of radicalization, nor is it making its way towards a "Muslim state" (if anything, we're a predominantly secular country).

Nazulu said:
As for Hanson, I haven't done anywhere near enough research on her, but I don't agree at all with that paranoid remark. However, when I saw a protestor group claiming she's racist for her concerns about Muslims, she did look like the only one there with any sense when she said they weren't a race.
Well, Hanson's right in that Muslims aren't a race. But on the other hand, Hanson's always been against multi-culturalism, immigration, Aboriginal land rights, etc. When you're against Asians in the fear of being "swamped" by them, when you're against Africans coming in because "we're bringing in people from South Africa at the moment. There's a huge amount coming into Australia, who have diseases; they've got AIDS. They are of no benefit to this country whatsoever; they'll never be able to work," or that "ethnic diversity" (among other things) "has seen our country's decline."

Is Pauline Hanson racist? In my view, yes, to an extent. It's redundant to simply paint her as one, but I find a lot of what she says to be alarmist, and without good backing.

Do you have any articles or video's to expand on this? I would really appreciate it. If you don't want to that's fine too. I've been meaning to look into that more myself.
Not off the top of my head. I mean, the issue of Aboriginal poverty and health has been around longer than I've been alive, so there's a plenthora on that. The issue of Aboriginal recognition in the constitution and whether Australia Day should be moved/abolished are more recent. I'm in favour of the former, more on the fence for the latter.

Nazulu said:
Edit: Are we discussing this in the wrong thread?
Yeah, probably. I'm honestly surprised a mod hasn't come yet.
 

Addendum_Forthcoming

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Nazulu said:
Do you have any evidence for that?
Things like the citizen's test?

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Citi/pathways-processes/Citizenship-test

I highly encourage people to take a test run of the old one ... apparently a question concerning cricket might end your eligibility...
 

Callate

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StatusNil said:
Now this is just blatantly Australocentric reporting! What about the poor people of Iceland, who get hit with a 24% increase? What did they ever do to deserve that? If playing in bands with Bjork is such a crime, only half of them ever did!

Source: https://techraptor.net/content/steam-prices-increasing-australia-due-10-sales-tax

(Yes, another example of rampant Australocentrism there as well!)
Having recently been to Reyjavik, I feel modestly qualified to say that EVERYTHING IN ICELAND IS RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE, not just video games.

Seriously, people warned me about how expensive Japan was, but with a relatively weak Yen, it wasn't bad for an American tourist at all. But from books to clothing to souvenirs to liquor to the inevitable packs of volcanic salt that were seemingly sold in every shop that might ever see a tourist, I don't think I saw anything in Iceland that wasn't a good two and a half to four times as expensive as one would expect a comparable item to be in the U.S..

(For the record, a great many things have to be imported to Iceland, so this is at least somewhat understandable, and aside from sticker shock, it was very nice. If I ever feel compelled to pay three hundred dollars for a sweater, Iceland will be high on my list.)