[NEW IN JULY] ---> Ageod new website is up! <---

[Pocus]

Dear players,

We are pleased to announce that our brand new website is up and running! Please check it out here:

http://www.ageod.co.uk/

We would appreciate if you took the time to pay us a visit and post remarks about it (and if you want to indulge into acquiring a product, by all mean don't hesitate )

The previous website is still up for a time, if need be:
http://www.ageod.com


The new site has been made in partnership with Matrix and has several advantages compared to the previous one.

- Much more frequent updates and news, thanks to Master newsfeeder Filippo. Filippo will provide the site with news coming from the Ageod Team, but also from Matrix, including not yet released games, videos, patch notes, etc.

- The possibility to buy Matrix games directly from Ageod website.

- Product pages dedicated to non released games.

- Can buy Ageod games in boxed edition (standard or collector, with full colour manual), except for a few DLCs only available digitally.


Regards,
The Ageod Team.

[ERISS]

That's not good: now prices are shown without VAT.

[Slitherine Iain]

Previously the prices were not correctly calculating VAT as it didn't know where you were based when purchasing. Unfortunately the only way the payment provider can correctly calculate the VAT is to collect your shipping address first. However the payment provider does not charge any VAT when you buy a boxed game so they are a good deal!

[Leibst]

Nice web, it remembers me the Matrix website.

[ERISS]

Previously the prices were not correctly calculating VAT as it didn't know where you were based when purchasing.

I had already bought from past Ageod webshop, without problem.
They directly tell me that the VAT are in, and I choose to buy the asked price, then the deal is done I go to pay (no surprise added price just before that I complete the paying).
Then if they had not compute well the taxes, that's the shop problem.
For me it's the same: Deal is told, then I pay, thank you, bye.

the payment provider does not charge any VAT when you buy a boxed game

Then I'm not very confident. That's not supposed being duty-free, so I imagine customs could prevent me from receiving my game.

[Slitherine Iain]

No there are no customs issues. We've been doing this for years with the payment provider on boxed copies and there are no issues.

VAT is very complex but the short story is that the changes were necessary to make everything work as it should, as Ageod does not have geolocation and a store setup for each country e.g. like the Apple app store. Maybe when we've grown we'll be able to do that!

[Carnium]

Great site. It reminds me too of the Matrix one - it has the Matrix icon in the address bar too
[ATTACH]23225[/ATTACH]

Right now the page feels a bit sluggish on Firefox and Chrome too.

[wolfe]

That's not good: now prices are shown without VAT.

What is worse the prices have been hiked.

e.g. Birth of Rome - old site £16.05 (as advertised inclusive of VAT) new site £21.59 (once you add VAT on to the new, wrongly advertised and increased price of £17.99)

Recently bought the Gold upgrade for ROP (in my haste through the Matrix rather than the (old) AGEOD site) and it is a very good game. Have been considering adding AJE and BOR to my collection - not now. Was looking forward to picking up ACW2 on release - not now.

[Franciscus]

Yes, it's basically Ageod on Matrix template. Good enough for me, although not very inspired...

But what is urgent is to update and correct the download section!
- AACW patch offered there is the 1.10 from 2008 (Legacy is 1.17a)
- WW1 gold patch offered is 1.08l (latest is 1.08Q)
- NCP patch offered is 1.10a QuickFix (Legacy is 1.10b)
- apparently no BOR patch - although digging a bit we find 1.02 (official is 1.02a)

...

Regards

[wolfe]

Previously the prices were not correctly calculating VAT as it didn't know where you were based when purchasing. Unfortunately the only way the payment provider can correctly calculate the VAT is to collect your shipping address first. However the payment provider does not charge any VAT when you buy a boxed game so they are a good deal!

Previously the price of Birth of Rome was £16.05, assuming you just forgot to add VAT and we now add it in that would mean a price of £19.26 so why are we now having to pay a base price of £17.99 and then adding the VAT for a total of £21.59 ?

[Carnium]

Yes, it's basically Ageod on Matrix template. Good enough for me, although not very inspired...

Hmm, AGEOD on Matrix template and Matrix prices....

[gekkoguy82]

What becomes of our Order History/game downloads/game keys that we accessed with our account login?

[Pocus]

The previous site is still up

[vaalen]

What is worse the prices have been hiked.

e.g. Birth of Rome - old site £16.05 (as advertised inclusive of VAT) new site £21.59 (once you add VAT on to the new, wrongly advertised and increased price of £17.99)

Recently bought the Gold upgrade for ROP (in my haste through the Matrix rather than the (old) AGEOD site) and it is a very good game. Have been considering adding AJE and BOR to my collection - not now. Was looking forward to picking up ACW2 on release - not now.

I liked Matrix a lot better before they merged with Slitherine. There is something about the Slitherine business model that I do not admire, a strong focus on profit. This focus seems to have resulted in Matrix making games almost exclusively on WW2 subjects, with some civil war thrown in. I deeply hope this will not happen to Ageod.Yet this focus on profit may be what is needed for Ageod to make it in todays harsh economy.

Wolfe, I understand your anger over the addition of VAT. it is a significant price raise. But I believe that Ageod games are worth it. They are still a lot cheaper than most Matrix games, and they are unique. There is nothing like them. I think that PON, for example, was horribly underpriced, by Paradox, and this really hurt the game. I want Ageod to continue, to survive, and to thrive. If this means paying higher prices than we did in the past, I am willing to do it. I will continue to buy every Ageod game.

[vaalen]

The previous site is still up

That is good to hear. I like the previous site much better. I know you are part of Slitherine now, but the new site is so much duller, and less interesting. Please do not lose Ageods soul.

[leftguard]

I've had a look at the new site and bookmarked it for future use. I don't know if I'm an especially slow reader, but I preferred the old style too - all those scrolling panes seem to be set to move on to the next game just before you can finish reading what it says on any of them hehe.

[ess1]

Yes indeed. Stay with it AGEOD

[vaalen]

I've had a look at the new site and bookmarked it for future use. I don't know if I'm an especially slow reader, but I preferred the old style too - all those scrolling panes seem to be set to move on to the next game just before you can finish reading what it says on any of them hehe.

To be honest, I hate those scrolling panes. They are designed to not give you enough time to read, so you will have a subconscious motivation to find the information, and to be more interested in the game. I thoroughly dislike this kind of manipulation in marketing. I much prefer the straightforward manner of the old site. I do not need these kind of games and manipulations to be interested in Ageod games.

[ian]

Previously the price of Birth of Rome was £16.05, assuming you just forgot to add VAT and we now add it in that would mean a price of £19.26 so why are we now having to pay a base price of £17.99 and then adding the VAT for a total of £21.59 ?

Thats pretty easy to answer. Matrix are forcing Ageod to fall in line with THEIR pricing policy. This penalises people buying in £ Sterleng and probably Euro's.

See this thread at matrix. http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3303077&mpage=1&key=

[ess1]

Ah well. No more Ageod games for me then
Shame.

[ess1]

Further to last post: just looked at new site and gave up. Talk about click-fest!!

[Pocus]

You might see conspiracy where there is none

The various panes and windows are indeed based on matrix layout but that's because we want to use the services provided by Matrix/Slitherine, so the layout is part of the package. The services are nice, like possibility to order boxed games (even the old ones we did not have in this format). On our side, we save a lot of administration hours from being part of this system (some others people do the admin and post news), and this is the right direction for us, as we wanted to focus more on game making.

Now on the prices variations, I got some explanations from Slitherine and it is darn complicated. Before, we calculated VAT by hand for a given currency used. Now, the system is automated : when you get to the secure page, the payment system (which is not handled by the shop, but by Plimus payment platform) is checking what is the VAT you ought to pay. And that's it, you pay VAT in accordance to the laws of your country (based on your IP address I believe).

To be complete, if some prices also changed, this is because Ageod calculated prices by hand at the moment a game was proposed and so variations in exchanges rate were not impacted often. Now, the system being automated, the prices are updated daily based on exchange rate, leading to a rise right now, but if exchange rate changes, price will drop dynamically.

As for the subjects we will tackle, you might be surprised by the next one!

[Erik Springelkamp]

Your reasoning makes a lot of sense. (of course all the support calls come in the weekend).

Just like to say that your own AGEOD site was much more civilized and stylish, but as I only have to use the new site a few times a year, I will get over it.

[wosung]

we wanted to focus more on game making.

Sounds good.

As for the subjects we will tackle, you might be surprised by the next one!

Sounds mysterious. You mean game subjects? Fantasy or historical?

Best regards

[leftguard]

Your reasoning makes a lot of sense. (of course all the support calls come in the weekend).

Just like to say that your own AGEOD site was much more civilized and stylish, but as I only have to use the new site a few times a year, I will get over it.

Yep, and I agree with Erik - the shifting panes might not be to my taste, but if clicking them is the new way to purchase Ageod games, then click them I shall

[ess1]

Pocus,

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to reply in detail. I wish you every success.

[ian]

Now on the prices variations, I got some explanations from Slitherine and it is darn complicated. Before, we calculated VAT by hand for a given currency used. Now, the system is automated : when you get to the secure page, the payment system (which is not handled by the shop, but by Plimus payment platform) is checking what is the VAT you ought to pay. And that's it, you pay VAT in accordance to the laws of your country (based on your IP address I believe).

To be complete, if some prices also changed, this is because Ageod calculated prices by hand at the moment a game was proposed and so variations in exchanges rate were not impacted often. Now, the system being automated, the prices are updated daily based on exchange rate, leading to a rise right now, but if exchange rate changes, price will drop dynamically.

Well Pocus I'd like to believe you, I really would. I don't accept this as an explanation for the 34% rise.

The real reason is to harmonise your price with Matrix. Thats why they are going up.

When Matrix got involved they took your Dollar prices and used them on their web sites. They then converted them to £ using their own weird conversion system. They now want Ageod to use this £ conversion figure as the real price for £ buyers.

I find it very strange that you Ageod originally set a price in £'s and then converted it to $'s for the convenience of US buyers, BUT now have to use the $ as the real price and convert it back to £'s for £ buyers?

You might see conspiracy where there is none

Well that sort of confirms things.........no doubt the man from Slitherne will chip in shortly....over to you Iain....

[Pocus]

About the $ thing, I can assure you that everything is thought and calculated in $ at Slitherine/Matrix. I get my monthly 'funding' in $, and it is converted back in euros when it arrives in France, at the exchange rate of the precise day it has been issued. So on that, I'm pretty sure this is quite standard and normal. You may think that Slitherine being a British company, their base currency is the £ but that's not the case.

[ian]

Yes I know that Iain is very much in favour of the $ Dollar and the Matrix amalgamation/takeover thing. You just have to read the thread I posted above.

Thats why I'm waiting on him jumping in here with his large size 12's boots to rubbish what I've written.

So games are now valued in the Dollar price and the price to US Buyers doesn't change but everyone elses will do......and has to. Doesn't seem fair but this decision is obviously out of your hands.

[wolfe]

You might see conspiracy where there is none
To be complete, if some prices also changed, this is because Ageod calculated prices by hand at the moment a game was proposed and so variations in exchanges rate were not impacted often. Now, the system being automated, the prices are updated daily based on exchange rate, leading to a rise right now, but if exchange rate changes, price will drop dynamically.

To quote one of my own posts in the above referenced Matrix forum thread

When did you last review the exchange rates $24.99 = £17.99 (approx £1 = $1.40) hasn't been the exchange rate since March 2009 (and that coincidentally was it's lowest point for the past 5 years), for the last 2 years the exchange rate has been in the range of £1 = $1.50 - $1.60


There has been no change in the £ price of Matrix games so the idea that "prices are updated daily based on the exchange rates" doesn't seem to be the case at all.

If prices are updated daily based on the exchange rate why isn't todays price £16.46 + VAT ?

If prices are updated daily based on the exchange rate why hasn't the price varied by even a single penny from £17.99 + VAT since it was first available in the new ageod.co.uk store ?