Finally FTL on sale.

I wasn't talking about FTL. I actually bought it. In general though people won't even consider touching something that looks appalling to them.

Dungeons of Dreadmor is more of a traditional roguelike. FTL seems that everything is random, I haven't played it to know. www.neurohack.com/transcendence/ is an awesome space roguelike.

Still not related to income or taxes at all. Back when Europeans paid in dollars, there was no price hike by default. The fact is, Valve sets the $1=€1 conversion just because they can. And developers have to go out of their way to set fair regional prices. That doesn't excuse them for not bothering though.

Simply go to steamprices.com, activate a comparison with all the regions (ignore the warning, it works fine) and just randomly check games. You'll quickly see a trend:

• The UK most often gets between 95% and 140% of the US price. There seems to be more variation that the other European prices, I'll explain why below. The most common case is ~130%.
• The EU region most often gets between 95% and 135% of the US price, with fair pricing being less common than for the UK. The most common scenario is ~130% ($1=€1).
• The EU2 region has the same price as the EU region in almost all cases. Some publishers utilize it in order to give lower prices to the poorer Europeans, and this is happening more and more often, but is still uncommon.
• The DE region generally has the same prices as EU. It's not really a price region, but a censorship region.
• The RU region almost always gets a discount, generally paying about 60% of the US price. There is plenty of variation.
• The BR region usually gets a discount, paying on average ~85% of the US price.
• The AU region usually gets the same price as the US, sometimes getting ripped off.
• The JP region usually gets the same price as the US, occasionally getting ripped off.
• The MX region almost always gets the same price as the US.
• The UA region usually gets a similar discount to the RU region - to about 60% of the US price. Again, there is plenty of variation.

From what I understand, Valve offers publishers a default pricing model, which they may change if they wish. Most choose to go with the defaults or make minor changes. From the trends above, I'd say that the default is:

• UK gets the same price as EU, converted into GBP, rounded so that it ends in .99 or .49
• EU gets the €1=$1 policy, with the US price just turned into euros without any conversion.
• EU2 and DE get the same price as EU.
• RU gets a 40% discount, converted into Rubles, rounded so that it end in 99.00 or 49.00
• BR gets a 15% discount, converted into Reals, rounded so that it ends in .99 or .49
• AU, JP and MX get the US price, in dollars
• UA gets a 40% discount, in dollars, rounded so that it ends in .99 or .49

The above cannot be explained by income and taxes. Simply because, with those factors, the US would get the highest prices, certainly higher than both EU and AU, and EU2 would get about the same prices as RU and UA. BR would get a bigger discount and MX would get some sort of discount. I don't know about JP, but I suspect a discount would be needed there as well.

Also, note something important: Valve is so insistent on using the oldest, most worn out, most disrespectful trick in the book - ending every price in .99 - that they're willing to make unfair currency conversions over it. It's pathetic. It's disgusting. It's been bothering me ever since I started using Steam. It's not something any self-respecting (or rather, customer's intelligence respecting) company would ever do.

So, my conclusion: Valve is at fault for suggesting to publishers that they use an unfair pricing model, and also for using a scummy marketing trick. The publishers are at fault for going with the bad pricing, and also for sometimes ripping off specific regions purposely. Most notably the AU region. They both do it simply because they can. They will only stop if they can no longer get sales from those regions. This last sentence came from a Valve employee, mind you.

Here is my source for that last bit. It's kinda funny - either Valve are the most incompetent company ever when it comes to pricing or that guy was lying to the interviewer's face.

GOG doesn't have regional pricing, so that wouldn't be possible. And how would that redeem them for using Steam's regional prices to rip off people, anyway?

You seem to misunderstand the definition of "humble" and "pay what you want." The bundle has a minimum price-point, which anyone can purchase legitimately; it is not a pricing error or loophole. There is no obligation to pay more. However, there are incentives only available for those who beat the average, which sits at over 6x the minimum. If Humble Bundle is concerned about staying afloat, they will increase the minimum further or add more pricing tiers. Considering the very first HIB raised HALF as much as HIB7 so far and was considered a huge success, your point stands on nothing but hot air.