Steam should not allow broken games or bad ports to be sold

[Angelus BR]

I just bought an old rpg called Gothic (I've heard many good things about it). Then I tried to play it and, to my surprise, the game doesn't go past the "new game" button without crashing. Yes, I've read that there are some third party mods that may fix it (with some mixed messages because some people reported that not even those work). But this is a scum practice to say the least.

Needless to say I asked for a reffund and it, thankfully, was approved.

I'm actually baffled by so many games that need the goodwill of fans to fix the games for the devs. Dark souls 1: prepare to die edition comes to mind.
However, the worst part is that Steam allows it. I know that Steam allows anything to be sold now, but this is related to the contents of a game. If the game is buggy, broken or fflat out doesn't start, it shouldn't be allowed to be sold.

And fanboys of said game will say: "what's so bad about downloading a free mod?"

My answer: It rewards devs and steam for being lazy. Why spend money to make a game bug free and make a decent port if the fans will do it for free? besides, what if the mods are taken down? Then what? You spend money on a thing you can't play anymore.

There are many games (especially the older ones) that need some kind of third party mod or patch in order to become playable on steam. This kind of thing should not be acceptable. either steam itself fix the game or force the devs or owner to fix it (after all someone IS getting the money form th old games) or remove them from the store.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

If you feel the need to report the game, there is a report function on the games store page.

But it works perfectly fine on my Win 10 PC.

[Angelus BR]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

If you feel the need to report the game, there is a report function on the games store page.

But it works perfectly fine on my Win 10 PC.

:qr:

I already did and the game is still there. What is report fuction even for?

[wuddih]

just because you reported a game it will not be removed. it works fine for 180 people right now. which is a large number considering the game is 17 years old.

lets make this easy
request a refund:
https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/

and consider a gaming console if you want to have a plug and play experience. on PC this is not gonna happen.

[Angelus BR]

Originally posted by wuddih:

just because you reported a game it will not be removed. it works fine for 180 people right now. which is a large number considering the game is 17 years old.

lets make this easy
request a refund:
https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/

and consider a gaming console if you want to have a plug and play experience. on PC this is not gonna happen.

Okay, let me ask you this: have you read what I wrote? There is a THIRD PARTY mod/patch that fix the issue that allws people to play it.
And to prove even more that you did not read what i wrote, I already said that i requested a reffund and that it was approved.

[Winged One]

Originally posted by eduardouchoa:

Originally posted by wuddih:

just because you reported a game it will not be removed. it works fine for 180 people right now. which is a large number considering the game is 17 years old.

lets make this easy
request a refund:
https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/

and consider a gaming console if you want to have a plug and play experience. on PC this is not gonna happen.

Okay, let me ask you this: have you read what I wrote? There is a THIRD PARTY mod/patch that fix the issue that allws people to play it.
And to prove even more that you did not read what i wrote, I already said that i requested a reffund and that it was approved.

first, you are never going to run into a piece of software that is free from bugs,


second, i just launched the game.. works fine for me



third, no software developer is going to support their game indefinitely, and as you said yourself the game is older.. after a certain point, it is not cost effective to develop further patches for a product..

part of PC gaming is you have to be willing to do the occasional edit or fix to get games to work, due to how many software and hardware combinations there are..

[Start_Running]

^This.
Especially that last point. PC gameing since day one been about being willing and able to fix the problems.

[Angelus BR]

So it's moraly valid for a dev get money for something they don't want to update? And from the forum's comments I'm not the only one with issues.

PC gaming should be about enhancing the experience, not fixing lazy devs' mistakes.

[Winged One]

Originally posted by eduardouchoa:

So it's moraly valid for a dev get money for something they don't want to update?

yes, and a matter of fact back in the day we used to get no updates..


when you purchase software, you are purchasing the software as is.. updates are a mere good will gesture, but you are not entitled to them (despite what some younger gamers seem to think these days).. after a certain point, good will gestures are not cost effective..



if you want to play an older game, you have to be willing to do some configuring to get it to work..

some developers back catalogue consists of dozens upon dozens of games, do you truly expect them to constantly push updates for that back catalogue for all eternity? if they did, they would never be able to make new games and quickly declare bankruptcy

[Kent Standit]

Granted I'm not a fan of a lot of the garbage that is released these days either (although i rather have the choice to buy them than not) but throwing old games in that same category is just wrong.

I can't say how buggy Gothic has been back in the days but if I buy a game that's not supported by my operating system anymore I make an informed choice to go the extra mile to get it to work. I wasn't duped into buying a broken game, I choose to buy it knowing fully well that my system requirements are not met.

[Niele]

Originally posted by Kent Standit:

Granted I'm not a fan of a lot of the garbage that is released these days either (although i rather have the choice to buy them than not) but throwing old games in that same category is just wrong.

I can't say how buggy Gothic has been back in the days but if I buy a game that's not supported by my operating system anymore I make an informed choice to go the extra mile to get it to work. I wasn't duped into buying a broken game, I choose to buy it knowing fully well that my system requirements are not met.

aaa the good old days, when i needed a patch for a game i had to buy some videogames magazine with the associated dvd full of demoes and patches

[Winged One]

Originally posted by Il Neromiele:

Originally posted by Kent Standit:

Granted I'm not a fan of a lot of the garbage that is released these days either (although i rather have the choice to buy them than not) but throwing old games in that same category is just wrong.

I can't say how buggy Gothic has been back in the days but if I buy a game that's not supported by my operating system anymore I make an informed choice to go the extra mile to get it to work. I wasn't duped into buying a broken game, I choose to buy it knowing fully well that my system requirements are not met.

aaa the good old days, when i needed a patch for a game i had to buy some videogames magazine with the associated dvd full of demoes and patches

better than having to place a mail order directly with the developer for a floppy containing only 3 files.. think I still have one of those floppies actually

[Paratech2008]

I remember games requiring specific video cards to run. Anyone remember games requiring Voodoo video cards?

[Winged One]

then we had early flight sims. which were specifically designed to only work with a specific model of flight stick

[Gus the Crocodile]

Of course, in order to be making an informed choice, customers need to be informed. I don’t have a problem with stores selling software that needs a bit of fiddling to run on modern systems, but in cases where that’s a necessity, the store should tell people what it is they’re purchasing.

I don’t think system requirements lists are necessarily sufficient for this purpose since they’re so often read as “X or above is required”.

[SpunkyJones]

Originally posted by Paratech2008:

I remember games requiring specific video cards to run. Anyone remember games requiring Voodoo video cards?

I remember needing to make start up discs for allocating memory, and other resources.