Valve being taken to court over refusal to give refunds.

[The Lach is very tired]

I'm not really a PC gamer, so I haven't used Steam. Has anyone had bad experiences?

[The Sam]

My only bad experience was buying "Cave Story" and finding out it doesn't work for Mac or Linux users, even though the store page says it does.

[wakko]

I myself have never had any issues with Steam, but no refunds can piss a lot of people off. There are constant threads about it in the Steam game forums, and someone finally did something. Can't say what this will do for Steam in the long run, but my thought is if you buy something digitally, you're stuck with it whether it be good or bad. The only exception should be if it is labeled incorrectly as the case of The Sam above me.

[Deleted]

Steam need to sort out all the broken games they sell.



Its infuriating that they actually sell products that aren't fit for purpose and then don't offer a refund.


Take Jade Empire for example, the version of that game on Steam doesn't work (it flatout won't run) when you first install it, and thats a problem that the majority of people who buy the game from Stea\m, I managed to find a fix online which is something as a pc gamer you do ocasionally have to do, but when the issue effects the vast majority of people who purchase it they shouldn't be selling the game in that state


And I never did get the version of GTA IV they sell to work.


Steam do alot of things right, but they also do a hell of alot wrongs, things a company of their size should really have a handle on, which isn't often reported on because alot of internet fanboys are blinded because of the cheap games and because Valve are behind Half Life 2

[wakko]

Aug 29, 2014 7:01:39 GMT -5 @graant said:

Steam need to sort out all the broken games they sell.



Its infuriating that they actually sell products that aren't fit for purpose and then don't offer a refund.


Take Jade Empire for example, the version of that game on Steam doesn't work (it flatout won't run) when you first install it, and thats a problem that the majority of people who buy the game from Stea\m, I managed to find a fix online which is something as a pc gamer you do ocasionally have to do, but when the issue effects the vast majority of people who purchase it they shouldn't be selling the game in that state


And I never did get the version of GTA IV they sell to work.


Steam do alot of things right, but they also do a hell of alot wrongs, things a company of their size should really have a handle on, which isn't often reported on because alot of internet fanboys are blinded because of the cheap games and because Valve are behind Half Life 2

I've never heard of a retail game flat out not working before, but that's just me.  I've had issues with games where I had to tweak a few things.  But if a game flat out wont work on majority of computers, then a refund should be given.

I'm also curious about your issues with GTA IV, cause I have never had an issue running that game.  I hear about issues from some people, but the game runs smooth on mine.

[A Platypus Rave]

The only problem I've ever had was on the preorder screen a game listed a bunch of things like online multiplayer... which wasn't included in the game when it launched proper...

[MC Blowfish]

I always had issues with Civ 5. Sometimes it would work and other times, it would sit there and I'd have to click on my task multiple times to get it to do anything. I was never sure who to go to for it. I bought it through Amazon, and I had to install Steam to get it to play.

[Deleted]

My only major gripe with Steam is that opting out of automatic updates doesn't always work.

I used to play Europa Universalis IV but I had to stop, because Paradox (the developer) releases a new comprehensive patch every week or two and I can't stand manually going through all the files to implement my own tweaks.

[67 more]

Aug 29, 2014 7:01:39 GMT -5 @graant said:

Steam need to sort out all the broken games they sell.



Its infuriating that they actually sell products that aren't fit for purpose and then don't offer a refund.


Take Jade Empire for example, the version of that game on Steam doesn't work (it flatout won't run) when you first install it, and thats a problem that the majority of people who buy the game from Stea\m, I managed to find a fix online which is something as a pc gamer you do ocasionally have to do, but when the issue effects the vast majority of people who purchase it they shouldn't be selling the game in that state


And I never did get the version of GTA IV they sell to work.


Steam do alot of things right, but they also do a hell of alot wrongs, things a company of their size should really have a handle on, which isn't often reported on because alot of internet fanboys are blinded because of the cheap games and because Valve are behind Half Life 2

This is why I'll always buy a game from GOG instead of Steam if possible.

[Deleted]

Aug 29, 2014 7:26:44 GMT -5 wakko said:

I've never heard of a retail game flat out not working before, but that's just me.  I've had issues with games where I had to tweak a few things.  But if a game flat out wont work on majority of computers, then a refund should be given.

I'm also curious about your issues with GTA IV, cause I have never had an issue running that game.  I hear about issues from some people, but the game runs smooth on mine.

Yeah Jade Empire displays an error message on launch, and looking round the internet it seems to be the case for the vast majority of people who purchased it from Steam, its easy enough to fix, but how a game that wont even launch in the state they sell it in gets on to their store in the first place baffles me.


As for GTA IV when it launches it just displays a black screen that hijacks my computer, I can't alt tab out of it or get task manager up, all I can do is get the CTRL ALT Delete screen up and chose logout, I spent a whole frustrating night trying to get it to work and just gave up and uninstalled it.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

Aug 29, 2014 6:24:11 GMT -5 wakko said:

I myself have never had any issues with Steam, but no refunds can piss a lot of people off. There are constant threads about it in the Steam game forums, and someone finally did something. Can't say what this will do for Steam in the long run, but my thought is if you buy something digitally, you're stuck with it whether it be good or bad. The only exception should be if it is labeled incorrectly as the case of The Sam above me.

Well, one could argue that should the game just not work (like the Cave Story case above), the consumer should be given a refund. I know I felt pissed off when I bought a new computer and it turned out Manhunt didn't work properly on Windows 7. I did eventually manage to fix it but it shouldn't be the client's responsibility to repair a company's broken products.

At the very least they could have something like GOG's 30-days money back guarantee.

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

Aug 30, 2014 3:08:52 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

I know I felt pissed off when I bought a new computer and it turned out Manhunt didn't work properly on Windows 7. I did eventually manage to fix it but it shouldn't be the client's responsibility to repair a company's broken products.

It is the responsibility of the developer to get the game working. Steam does give refunds if the game just flat out doesn't work on certain operating systems and the store page doesn't state that it doesn't work on certain operating systems or if the store page has blatant false advertising on it like Paranautical Activity.
However, if I purchased Fallout 3 (which doesn't work under Windows 7 as stated on the store page) and requested a refund then I'd be refused because the information was made readily avaliable.