Yes, but how do you obtain tokens? Do you have to pay for a subscription?

I believe this has been answered elsewhere, but basically its to not undercut the stores. Keep the stores happy and they'll keep selling it for you. Let's not forget that Stardock wants to sell as many copies as possible (rightfully so! ) and not undercutting the stores is part of that.

Well I didnt know this until reading this. I do not apologize for being pissed. I am not a happy camper I paid more then I had to. I have never seen anything like this before usually you pay the same price going through the developer but they get to keep more of the money so I am always conscious of this fact. I am very dissapointed in this which only hurts you in the long run, since when I see the games at my local best buy now I will buy them as opposed to going home and buying through the developer. Thanks for educating me.

Bull. They could charge the same amount not more then the stores. thats ridiculous

Actually the premise here is incorrect as the MSRP for Galactic Civilizations II is $44.95. It is the retailer's choice to sell it for a bit less (typically $39.95 in North America). If we were to match or undercut the retailers in price, they would simply opt not to carry as much of the game or not carry it at all (as they require price incentives to keep people buying software from them and not direct).

Relic did the same thing when they direct sold Homeworld. I picked it up for $39.95 through Best Buy while Relic was selling it for $49.95 direct.

Every time I've seen a company direct sell their product, they have charged more than I would pay at an EB Games or a Best Buy. Why? They had to sign agreements with those companies that they would sell for a certain price and never less so they weren't viewed as competing with the retailers.

Makes perfect sense; Wal Mart would never agree to purchase 10,000 units if they believed that they couldn't sell them. And they would know they would have a damn hard time selling them if you could buy them for cheaper through the developer.

Bargain at twice the price

Your point is utterly useless.

There is a sound reason to why they charged a NEGLIGIBLE amount more and it was all in the interests of distribution and exposure. Considering they allowed you to download the game AND have CDs sent to you if you wished, I think they were offering more of a service than your standard shopfront and can justify this.

It's your own fault for not shopping around. If you were really that strapped for finances, you would be both budgeting *and* checking competitive prices to find the best deal. You have no one to blame but yourself, so pull your head in and take it on the chin like a man.

Your above post just shows how childish you are, no wonder you didn't apply common sense in the first place.

Am I the only one who lives in a place where they have sales tax??? If I went out and bought the game at Walmart it would cost me the exact same if I downloaded the game from stardock. Am I missing something. BTW Travoutlaw going into super dork rant mode doesn't do much for your credibility.

Stardock can't charge equal to or less than the retail price of their distributors and stores selling the game. Not only is this illegal in some territories (such as Australia) it also gives stores like EB absolutely no incentive to sell GalCiv2.

Actually the premise here is incorrect as the MSRP for Galactic Civilizations II is $44.95. It is the retailer's choice to sell it for a bit less (typically $39.95 in North America). If we were to match or undercut the retailers in price, they would simply opt not to carry as much of the game or not carry it at all (as they require price incentives to keep people buying software from them and not direct).

I understand why Stardock is not matching retailers that discount the MSRP. However, there is a lot of confusion as to what is the MSRP. It has been reported in reviews that the MSRP is $39.95 and Brad/Frogbox has repeatedly referred to the price as $39.95 in posts and interviews. In this Mar. 29, 2006 post by Frogboy https://forums.galciv2.com/?ForumID=161&AID=110534, which appears on the home page, he qoutes a recent review:

Gamers looking for a good turn based strategy title will find a lot to like in Galactic Civilizations and the reduced MSRP of $39.99 also makes this game one of the best PC buys of the year.

without saying the review reported the wrong MSRP.

I think GalCiv II is a bargain at US$44.95 (given the quality and excellect support from Stardock), so I don't feel cheated. I'm trying to clear up the confusion. Others have pointed out that you can buy GalCiv II from TotalGaming.net for 5 tokens which cost $34.95. TotalGaming.net = Stardock, so Stardock is selling the game at two different prices.

Actually, Frogboy calls it a "reduced MSRP" in that link, Mascrinthus, so Stardock has been consistent I believe. In other posts and interviews they probably forget the reduced part when they say MSRP.

I wouldn't say you can get the game for $34.95 via TGN. You get 10 tokens for $70 from TGN. And it's 5 tokens to get GC2, but you still have 5 tokens left over and let's be honest, TGN doesn't have many block-buster great games besides GC2.

Although, getting GC2 + ORB + Earth 2150 Trilogy + Disciples Ultimate Edition + 1 token left over or GC2 + Supreme Ruler 2010 + Earth 2150 Trilogy for $70 is a great deal. Wish I knew about it before I threw my money away buying from Stardock.