Gamer's Bill of Rights [Aug 29, 2008, 10:43 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
As mentioned above,
Edge Online
has a story on a new "Gamer's Bill of Rights" proposed by Stardock and Gas
Powered Games. Hear hear! And here goes:
We the Gamers of the world, in order to ensure a more enjoyable experience, establish equality between players and publishers, and promote the general welfare of our industry hereby call for the following:
- Gamers shall have the right to return games that don't work with their computers for a full refund.
- Gamers shall have the right to demand that games be released in a finished state.
- Gamers shall have the right to expect meaningful updates after a game's release.
- Gamers shall have the right to demand that download managers and updaters not force themselves to run or be forced to load in order to play a game.
- Gamers shall have the right to expect that the minimum requirements for a game will mean that the game will adequately play on that computer.
- Gamers shall have the right to expect that games won't install hidden drivers or other potentially harmful software without their express consent.
- Gamers shall have the right to re-download the latest versions of the games they own at any time.
- Gamers shall have the right to not be treated as potential criminals by developers or publishers.
- Gamers shall have the right to demand that a single-player game not force them to be connected to the Internet every time they wish to play.
- Gamers shall have the right that games which are installed to the hard drive shall not require a CD/DVD to remain in the drive to play.
1. Gamers shall have the right to return games that don't work with their computers for a full refund.Common sense.
2. Gamers shall have the right to demand that games be released in a finished state.That's completely subjective, making it meaningless.
3. Gamers shall have the right to expect meaningful updates after a game's release.I think that's reasonable to expect for an online game (like Valve has done with Team Fortress 2), though I see no reason to expect more for every title.
4. Gamers shall have the right to demand that download managers and updaters not force themselves to run or be forced to load in order to play a game.That would be nice.
5. Gamers shall have the right to expect that the minimum requirements for a game will mean that the game will adequately play on that computer.Again, "adequate" is very subjective. Gamers with low spec systems shouldn't be expecting miracles, which is what demos are for.
6. Gamers shall have the right to expect that games won't install hidden drivers or other potentially harmful software without their express consent.Absolutely.
7. Gamers shall have the right to re-download the latest versions of the games they own at any time.Yes. The current EA system is unacceptable.
8. Gamers shall have the right to not be treated as potential criminals by developers or publishers.Yes. Common sense, though again subjective.
9. Gamers shall have the right to demand that a single-player game not force them to be connected to the Internet every time they wish to play.Why? What happens when a game wants to stream adverts or user-generated content as a design choice? Should a developer / publisher not be allowed that option? Afterall, people can decide if that's not acceptable to not buy the game.
10. Gamers shall have the right that games which are installed to the hard drive shall not require a CD/DVD to remain in the drive to play.Yes. Absolutely.
A lot of these "rights" are so subjective that they verge on meaningless. They also omit the right to expect a demo, which many around here consider important. I think it's great that their business model benefits consumers but at the end of the day this is designed to make them more money and not some altruistic crusade to reform the industry.
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