An indie developer says Steam's refund policy cost his well-reviewed game 55,000 refunds

[Loadedaxe]

I don't care what his opinion is, it's the way he talks. "I didn't think I'd have to spell this out" blah blah kind of thing, like he thinks his opinion is gospel.

You're dumb for defending him.

So your issue is that he talks like his opinion is gospel, and your solution is to call someone dumb for not agreeing with you?

Bold strategy.

I never said his delivery was perfect. I said the point had merit. Those are two different things, and adults are usually able to separate them without throwing a tantrum in public.

 

[Mrfus]

For the same reason that you buy a movie less than 2 hours. The important question that no one is asking is did they find value in the entertainment they received from the money they spent? It sounds like people did. If this was a AAA game instead of an indie game, people would be rallying behind the users. And they did make a bunch of money off the game even after the refunds. This is why I think the solution is to close the loophole and move on. EULAs, HR departments, contracts. They are meant to protect both consumer and business. For decades, it has been mostly to serve businesses which is why I think it is why so many people are able to justify. If Sony hadn't had such a performance lately, I doubt this would have ever happened. the fact of the matter is that it did happen. Write the EULA to serve both parties equally so it can be abused by neither.

I buy a movie that last 2 hours because offer repeated enjoyment, if I pay for a game that is fun but lasts only 2 hours from beginning to end it better be a game that offers me the possibility of a second run with some changes that keep me engaged...

While I don't doubt that some of the people who asked for refunds are using and abusing the system I'm sure there are some other users who enjoyed the game, but didn't find it interesting enough to play over and over so I think requesting a refund under that circumstances is completely valid.

 

[theyneedtoknow]

How about making a game that offers replayability, instead of a game that will be beaten so quickly only to be left rotting in the steam library never to be played ever again.

1 and done games even though they are good and fun are just that... play it then refund. Thats it.

 

[flamespear86]

Devs should make their game over 2 hours.

We all know the terms. Players and devs.

I’m not trying to be insensitive, but if there is a game that is locked to a narrative less than 2 hours and people seem to like it, extend it to be longer. Why should Valve change their policy?

I feel this is the wrong take. On the one hand a game that can be beaten in under 2 hours does feel like it should almost be free.... that's little more than a tech demo....but on the other hand it is almost free at 3 dollars. It's pretty lousy to use a refund policy if you enjoyed something so cheap, but on the design side not making something replay.ble enough to last more than 2 hours is also a choice. The return policy isn't perfect, there should probably be an alternate version for very small games tied to a percentage of game completion. An old fashioned demo would fill the gap.

 

[Loadedaxe]

How about making a game that offers replayability, instead of a game that will be beaten so quickly only to be left rotting in the steam library never to be played ever again.

1 and done games even though they are good and fun are just that... play it then refund. Thats it.

And... you're part of the problem.

You buy a $2 game, knowing what type of game it is, finish it, and then refund it. That's pretty low.

You can try to justify it however you want, but abusing a refund policy doesn't make you clever...it just makes you unethical.

 

[jkp67]

For the same reason that you buy a movie less than 2 hours. The important question that no one is asking is did they find value in the entertainment they received from the money they spent? It sounds like people did. If this was a AAA game instead of an indie game, people would be rallying behind the users. And they did make a bunch of money off the game even after the refunds. This is why I think the solution is to close the loophole and move on. EULAs, HR departments, contracts. They are meant to protect both consumer and business. For decades, it has been mostly to serve businesses which is why I think it is why so many people are able to justify. If Sony hadn't had such a performance lately, I doubt this would have ever happened. the fact of the matter is that it did happen. Write the EULA to serve both parties equally so it can be abused by neither.

Unless you're buying a physical movie, how on Earth are you going to return it?. Most places don't offer refunds.

And steam has a strict policy only because of political stances from the EU were were 2 hours or under. You can get a refund. Everyone knows that.

The dev literally had to make their game just over 2 hours and it would be a non-issue. Making excuses for a lazy developer.

 

[yRaz]

Unless you're buying a physical movie, how on Earth are you going to return it?. Most places don't offer refunds.

And steam has a strict policy only because of political stances from the EU were were 2 hours or under. You can get a refund. Everyone knows that.

The dev literally had to make their game just over 2 hours and it would be a non-issue. Making excuses for a lazy developer.

It's a multi-player coop game designed to be played multiple times.

 

[jfftck]

Valve can add an additional term to their refund policy, achievements could be used along with play time to ensure that gamers aren't fully playing games for free and that developers don't put a lot of easy achievements to make the return policy null and void. This would give Valve a way to control and tweak the thresholds, and maybe add game completion percentage as another metric to collect. The developers should be able to make some money, how would they be able to create the next one if they don't?

 

[Loadedaxe]

Unless you're buying a physical movie, how on Earth are you going to return it?. Most places don't offer refunds.

And steam has a strict policy only because of political stances from the EU were were 2 hours or under. You can get a refund. Everyone knows that.

The dev literally had to make their game just over 2 hours and it would be a non-issue. Making excuses for a lazy developer.

Did you read the story?

 

[KokoPuppy]

The dev wants to ruin the entire policy that allows players to return a game they don't like, or is bad, or is not what it seems...because he made a game that was beatable in the refund window? That's his fault. Honestly if it's that short to me it's not even a game. I need a game to be something I can enjoy more than...you know...2 hours for the bare minimum lol. Learning experience for him. Take the L and make a deeper game now that you have your feet wet.

 

[squidge]

No sympathy. He should've done his research. Everyone knows steam has that policy, so why not release it on a different platform? That's his fault, not steam's

 

[RudyBob]

Crooks on both sides of the gaming aisle