Witcher 3 - GMG keys are not authorized

CDPR will find out the source soon. All they need is one key.

Even if they were from graphic cards, Nvidia would have paid something for them, therefore CDPR got something out of the deal. It might have been a substantial discount, that's why I stated they might not have got as much as they wanted if they had dealt with GMG directly.

I am not taking sides, but I believe in first sale doctrine - once you sell something to me, you can't tell me what I can do with it, though I know that happens.

Originally Posted by Xian
I am not taking sides, but I believe in first sale doctrine - once you sell something to me, you can't tell me what I can do with it, though I know that happens.

It's not so easy.
Such volume contracts certainly include clauses to define who the reseller can sell to, for example:
- A graphics card manufacturer get the license for 3$ per piece, but agrees not to unbundle the game and to include it in all expected 5 million cards within a certain timeframe.
- A certain brazilian shop gets his keys with 50% discount, but agrees not to sell to customers outside of South America.
- A wholesaler gets an additional discount, but his contract says he cannot sell to end users.

You are right Gorath, but what I questioned was them saying that they received nothing from the sale. They got something from the original deal with the original purchaser and that wasn't a zero sum total.

Originally Posted by Terry
So you will bash CDPR Lostforever calling them liars and such, when their business practices are miles above the likes of EA, or ubisoft.

Have you not read my previous post in this thread? I have said CDPR is LOT better than others. However that doesn't mean they are not liars or hypocrites when they themselves made a big song and dance about this issue and accused other people rip off and now doing the exact same thing!

We all like to bash EA, Ubisoft etc for their bad business practices and rightly so. However, as far as I am aware EA or nor Ubisoft claimed to be the friends of gamer to get goodwill and changed their mind!

Originally Posted by Terry
I have to laugh at people who will bash the hell out of GOG if they make a minor misstep but blindly support Steam, Origin or Uplay at the same time, now that is Hypocracy.

You call this a minor misstep? As far as I am concerned they lied and they still sort of do. This is from gog.com front page

"Everyone should be treated fairly and not overpay for purchases just because they reside in a different part of the world"

They don't follow that anymore so why is it still on their front page?

Also I don't blindly support Steam, origin or Uplay etc. I don't like lot of things about them as well and I think CDPR is still better than them. That still doesn't mean I turn a blind eye when what they are doing isn't right. I am not fan boy and if I don't like something I will speak out. That doesn't mean I claim CDPR is is the ultimate evil etc.

You know its fine to not like everything about somebody

Ok, so what I am taking out of this is… "We did business with CD Project in the past. They won't distribute their new game through us. We don't like that, so we will get the keys from some other sources and sell them, because we have the right to sell your game against your wishes".

If they had a legal right to sell Witcher 3 a claimed, they should sue CD Project due to breach of contract. But I suspect they don't have a legal right and whatever agreement they had was nothing to do with Witcher 3.

Whatever the truth is, what GMG is doing is shady as hell and probably illegal.

CDPR owns the game. The keys represent virtual copies of the game. CDPR has the right to determine who will sell their game. I suspect that resale of game keys is prohibited by CDPR's distribution agreements.

GMG is basically saying "F*** you CDPR, since you won't do business with us, we'll get the keys from AUTHORIZED sellers and then re-sell them against your wishes".

Shady, underhanded, disrespectful, and probably illegal.

Don't many of the re-sellers of steam keys do stuff similar to this? By in bulk when on sale or from other regions - Russian for example - and then use them on their own site? I've noted a couple of times recently when a franchise or publisher has a steam sale the same thing comes up on GamersGate a few weeks later… Or am I dreaming?


-kaos

I'm just going to pay the $50.99 (15% discount for owning W1 & W2) on Steam this Saturday when I get paid and be done with it.

I think CDPR gave (perhaps sold) the keys to company X and GMG bought them again from X, where CDPR gave permission to X to only give/sell the keys to final customers. So I guess not GMG has (legally) done something wrong, but X has.

I can understand CDPR to restrict the selling of W3 copies outside of GOG. I think W3 is their one and only chance to promote GOGalaxy so it may somehow compete with Steam. (Perhaps they'll get another chance with CP77, but that's years away.)

Originally Posted by lostforever
You call this a minor misstep? As far as I am concerned they lied and they still sort of do. This is from gog.com front page

"Everyone should be treated fairly and not overpay for purchases just because they reside in a different part of the world"

They don't follow that anymore so why is it still on their front page?

They didn't say that everyone should pay the same price. They just said that noone should overpay. If the current market prices are overpaying imho is open to debate.

Originally Posted by Morrandir
They didn't say that everyone should pay the same price. They just said that noone should overpay. If the current market prices are overpaying imho is open to debate.

If that is the case, why do they add "just because they reside in a different part of the world" in the same sentence? If we shouldn't over pay the "market" price in our country why talk about the where you live in the world?

A reasonable interpretation of that quote is that we should all pay similar (because taxes) prices regardless of where we live in the world.

Originally Posted by HellRazor
Ok, so what I am taking out of this is… "We did business with CD Project in the past. They won't distribute their new game through us. We don't like that, so we will get the keys from some other sources and sell them, because we have the right to sell your game against your wishes".

If they had a legal right to sell Witcher 3 a claimed, they should sue CD Project due to breach of contract. But I suspect they don't have a legal right and whatever agreement they had was nothing to do with Witcher 3.

Whatever the truth is, what GMG is doing is shady as hell and probably illegal.

That basically. I'm not sure about resale laws where GMG is based but the move is pretty underhanded legal or not.
And wish those services could stop that "We're doing it for the gamers" rhetoric it's extremely annoying.
You wanted a piece of the cake that CDPR didn't want to give you, honesty is a virtue.

Not that I really like that CDPR chose not to supply all online retailers but that's in their right.

Originally Posted by lostforever
A reasonable interpretation of that quote is that we should all pay similar (because taxes) prices regardless of where we live in the world.

Language is a wonderful thing. It all depends on the definition of "similar". It's not the same as "same", obviously. Similar with regard to exchange rates? Similar with regard to costs of living?

The beauty of marketing lies in its skill to make you think they said something without saying what you think they said.

Originally Posted by Turjan
Language is a wonderful thing. It all depends on the definition of "similar". It's not the same as "same", obviously. Similar with regard to exchange rates? Similar with regard to costs of living?

The beauty of marketing lies in its skill to make you think they said something without saying what you think they said.

This is indeed true and that goes to the heart of what I have been saying. We should not give free pass to Gog.com since they are slowly going the way of other big players in the market. They are long way away still but these are all early warning signs.

Originally Posted by lostforever
This is indeed true and that goes to the heart of what I have been saying. We should not give free pass to Gog.com since they are slowly going the way of other big players in the market. They are long way away still but these are all early warning signs.

I agree with that, the more successful GoG is becoming the more the stuff they do is like the rest.

Originally Posted by lostforever
This is indeed true and that goes to the heart of what I have been saying. We should not give free pass to Gog.com since they are slowly going the way of other big players in the market. They are long way away still but these are all early warning signs.

While this may be true, I argued against you claimig that they've lied. That imho is wrong.

Originally Posted by Morrandir
While this may be true, I argued against you claimig that they've lied. That imho is wrong.

No they have lied, "flat price"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=34&v=nRdfYwvGTos

Originally Posted by lostforever
No they have lied, "flat price"

According to the video this applies to gog.com.
Are they violating this?

Lol, why would this be a "shady move"? Again, why would game companies be exempt from the first sale doctrine because they make products that make you feel fuzzy and one particular company keeps presenting itself as the underdog? Gray market products are not illegal at all. If I bought t-shirts in China and sold them in Canada no one would bat an eyelid.

If they think of themselves as a special snowflake it's just petty BS.

Originally Posted by Morrandir
According to the video this applies to gog.com.
Are they violating this?

Sorry I don't understand? Are you asking, is gog.com using regional pricing or not?