User Expanded Support to Travian

btw - as a question (no offense made Tavian) but what if I dont want my data shared with Tavian? Ive not given permission for that?

 

Yes, any perceived price difference at this time is due to the virtual goods tax in Europe. There may be other slight adjustments given the rules in Europe, we're checking on that.

 

The difference for Germany would be roughly 12% compared to the Texas sales tax I assume would apply. The prices flung around here show a MUCH bigger difference than that. Even if the Texas sales tax wouldn't apply the difference would be 19%. But we are looking at 25-30% as it seems.

 

I didn't know there was one. VAT (20% in UK, 25% DK & SE! ) is added to electronic goods and services in the EU, is that what is meant?

Maybe so far non US based purchasers from the Port' store have been lucky enough to pay lower tax rates based on US electronic or virtual products, but that's beyond my current knowledge.

If differentials after exchange rates are still greater than the tax increase, maybe some or all of Travian's margins for providing the services are in there? I guess it is what it is.

 

Probably FX translation buffer. I doubt that Travian hedges FX risk and they don’t want to adjust euro prices daily/weekly.
The new website shows me Usd prices though...

 

Yeah well. Not going to buy something for hard cash if the difference is as insane as it seems. No matter the reasons.

 

Please note that the info below is from Spoon and should be seen as an opinion based upon what Spoon deduces from the information he can find. Do not make any financial decisions based upon Spoon's advice that you wouldn't want to do anyway. This since Spoon isn't known to be infallable.



If you don't give permission then that is covered here:
https://shroudoftheavatar.game/en/data-sharing/

Then you end your end of the EULA, which means you cannot use their website or services. ie that you cannot purchase anything anymore.

Now if you are not allowed to use the Portalarium site and you are not willing to use the Travian site then you will be locked out of all your site based Pledge/Kickstarter stuff. Like the Special Rewards page - name on tombstone, heraldry, BotA etc.

However it seems that if you are going through STEAM you will still be able to access the game itself.

 

That being said, I did a quick check on the Viking bloodraven bundle. The difference is roughly 22%. Does anybody now if the Texas sales tax applies to the goods bought in the US? If yes the difference jumps to roughly 29% which would be really insane. If not....I guess it would be ok. 3% margin and risk cost aren't too bad.

 

What happens if I don't agree to this?

 

Pretty sure @Spoon got it right.

 

@Cerus

Please note that with Safari on a mobile phone your website continuously crash.

"A problem occured with this webpage, so it was reloaded."

Seems that there is no auto-resize or such stuff for mobile browsing.


EDIT
Which is strange since it should be noted that I have no such issues with other Travian web sites...
EDIT

 

I have never paid tax on items I buy from Add-On store.

Also how many games are marketed internationally? How is their store handled? How is their support handled? I don't remember any other game having these kind of issues and I have played quite a few.

I think the end result is going to be the same. they have made agreements with other publishers that are too late to change easily and this is the way it will be. Game play and forums will be fine but stores and account info are going to be controlled by which ever area tour IP says you are in.

 

Q: "Will I still be able to access the Portalarium website and store, if I live in a territory from the EU (except Baltics), LATAM or MENA?"
A: You will not be able to access the Portalarium website anymore, but we will copy all new content over to the Travian Games website. So you shouldn’t miss out on any news. The forums will be unchanged (see below).

So what you are saying is that even though I pledged a considerable amount of money, you are booting me from all the portalarium sites, well thank you for the kick in the face I did not consent to you giving any of my data to another ggrrrrrr

 

please state the different taxes then for US and Europe (for me its germany) for the product Game only (30bank slots, 1 coto, 1 Obsidian potion) - btw the Travian Game only has NO bank slots!

in germany the VAT is 19%
the price increase is about 27% atm compared to US$ at Portalarium store
39US$ (Portalarium) to 39,99€ => about 49,80US$ (Travian)

AFAIK for all purchases from Germany the seller has to pay the VAT for the country the buyer is resident...

 

I for one welcome our new european overlords.

I guess that EU in this context means Europe as geographic continent (but baltic countries, probably covered by Dark Sun), not European Union as political/economic entity.

And while I love Portalarium, Texas, US, etc. if I had to choose, I'd pick GDPR any day of the week instead of anything privacy-related coming from Uncle Sam. Not that I have much of a choice either way, because my data is already securely locked in Google, Facebook, Amazon, Valve, etc. vaults and I have no way to control how MY data is being used for THEIR bottom line. I like their services, and I'm paying with my currency: my sellable data.

The ludicrous increase in cash shop prices is worrisome. But then again, am I forced to buy anything? Not really. My pledge is still there. And I'd laugh really, really loud if someone able to purchase a $12'000 pixel crack account is complaining about high prices. You can't afford it? You don't purchase it. Vote with your wallet, young padawans. Simple as that. I don't see anyone pointing a gun at your head and forcing you to buy the newest and shiniest pair of wings. It's not a constitutional given right, so calm down and move on.

As long as the game world isn't split, or out-of-game player interaction (i.e. forums) are one and whole, why all the pitchforking?

 

I have never paid any sales tax when purchasing from the add-on store. I am asked on my NY State Income Tax form to report online purchases and pay a tax on them at that point.

 

True but we dont do taxes like you guys do - we pay at the time.. whether we like it or not, if you are buying for business you can then claim the tax back....

but Ive been bitten in the past by people like techsmith who write to you "Hey upgrade snaggit for 25 dollars" yeah turns out nearer 90 dollars for the UK to upgrade.. cos its then almost dollar for pound cost, PLUS tax... errr.. (especially when it was 2 dollars to the pound)

 

Yes, you are right : nobody has to buy things.

But if european players pay less, then it's not in the best interest of the game.

 

@Cerus @Berek @Lord British @DarkStarr please answer these questions ASAP!!!

For the rest I will keep my mouth shut, because the feeling of betrayal is too much to bear right now, and I do not want to get banned on release day!

 

Totally get it. Perhaps that's one of the main reasons behind the "store" shifts. We are definitely in the era of government tax complexity and compliance enforcement.......sigh....