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About LinkBacksRead more.A platform game which can be completed in an hour suffers from 72pc refund rate.
Read more.A platform game which can be completed in an hour suffers from 72pc refund rate.
If Devs were forced to publish expected completion times (or categories, 1-2, 2-5, 5-10, 10+ hours etc) then the refund limit could be set to, say, 10% of the expected time rather than a fixed 2 hour period.
Unscrupulous developers could advertise their games as taking less time to complete to minimise the number of returns, but potential purchasers may then see the short game length and not buy it due to poor value for money - i.e. it's self limiting.
kalniel (09-06-2015)
It will probably lead to DLC or episodic releases in that case - doubt you can get refunds for the same game twice so people wanting the next dlc/episode will have to buy again.
The refund period could be based on the average time taken to get the 'game completion' achievement, or achievement progress. The only problem with that I can see is the period between when the game is released, and when the refund eligibility time is determined, and how refunds are handled during this time.
Its early days, you would expect quite a few people just trying it out.
Swings and roundabouts. Its good for gamers, less so for devs. Though maybe people will try things more? So you get 3 out of 10 returned, but you would have only sold 5 before.
It certainly seems that having a "Micro-Game" category for games with 1 to 2 hour completion times would fix this. Of course, games in this category would have a far lower price ceiling within the Steam store.
I know it's a bad analogy, but a Micro-Game could be seen to games as an episode of Bugs Bunny is seen to a full length cartoon film (e.g., Madagascar).
If a game just had achievements of % complete and you can't get refunds after reaching a certain % (say 25%) - if you don't enjoy a game or it didn't run then why would you get to 25% complete... Seems like Steam need variable refund terms depending on the games, lower priced games can't be expected to last weeks. It's also probably a good thing to allow refunds far past the purchase time if you haven't played it until 5 mins ago - people get distracted.
Why pirate when you can just play and get a refund.
From the sound of it this really does need to be sorted before it kills small devs or they just stop bothering, for me I don't have time for 100 hour games so solid short games work well for me but if devs can't make any money due to people playing and not paying then they won't make games for those of us who want to play an are happy to pay.
Because if they catch you repeatedly making refunds they'll ban you from doing it again.Originally Posted by Percy1983
Even Google Play gives you two hours (from purchase) to try an app/game and refund it. I'd argue that if your game is less than 2 hours of play time and people don't think it was worth the money, you need to lower your price or try harder.
bae85 (10-06-2015)
Many are nitpicking over this issue. It's a brand new feature to the service, people are testing the waters so expect to see a lot of refunds early on. Some devs have literally said, they seen a huge spike in refunds and then it got less and less. It's now at least safe to experiment, see if a game is actually worth that $10-30 for almost no content.
Have something worthwhile and engaging, people won't likely leave the game. The whole "Beyond Gravity" issue is so overblown, it just means people have to make a game to actually hook you. Watch many of them put in 3-4 hours of "good" content, and the rest is garbage just so they can keep your money. The 2 hour limit is an experiment, because in the end they can't give infinite time. People could simply beat the entire game, delete the achievements and ask for a refund.
Do a lot more digging into something, other than hearing the vocal minority up in arms. Of course bad developers will be upset, because it means they can't scam you of your money now. Should we start naming a lot of bad games, that shouldn't be even be touched to avoid upsetting everyone? Then it'll be a lot of mud slinging as a result, because people would be outraged for being put in a spotlight.
Just set minimum price for refund (law permitting). So games under £10 or £5 are non-refundable. Thus people won't get games which are very short and return them after completing the story. Or use in-game tracking to track a player's progress. Most big games nowadays have a progress tracker.
Completed all story missions and want a refund? No can do. Only completed first mission and want a refund? More reasonable.
Total biscuit did an awesome video and proved that the devs complaining have misrepresented whats actually happening. The qwiboo sales stopped and thats when the spike dropped down ergo people buy things when the prices are more attractive. Qwiboo are also blocking people on their twitter for calling them out. The bottom line is that its less riskier for people to just pirate the game than to buy it on steam and then apply for the refund and then wait days if not weeks for the money to return into your bank account.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPUToCNq-iA
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
I'm not really sure how you can get a refund for a game and keep playing it on Steam. Shouldn't be possible unless you cracked the game, and then you'd have a whole different situation.
I'd also say, that a game with less than 2 hours of content wouldn't really be worth my while *unless* it was dirt cheap. In which case I couldn't be bothered getting a refund. I might be the only one who thinks this way, though.
There is nothing wrong with this at all. This is exposure the games would never otherwise have gotten.
Most great games you want to play again and you can only get that refund once. This is great for gaming companies whether they see it or not.
It's very simple. Don't make sh*t games then no one will feel cheated or robbed and wanting their money back.
ChinesePate (10-06-2015),Gunbuster (10-06-2015),outwar6010 (10-06-2015)
Sadly a lot of people given the choice of a free lunch will take it irrespective of how nice it is.
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