The Stomping Land Refund

[Richard]

I'm going to make this as quick as possible. The Stomping Land came out as an early access game about killing dinosaurs and other people and stuff for $20(or $25). It seemed pretty cool so me and a couple of friends bought it. All of us have 2 hours on it. It is an absolutely terrible game. It's pretty glitchy, the developer of the game, Alex Fundora, literally disappeared off the face of the Earth, and the game was even taken off the steam store. If that isn't enough to deserve a refund then I have no idea what is.

By the way I'm writing this on the steam discussions because there is no Stomping Land Forum. Yet another I deserve my money back. I've already sent in a support ticket and they responded with:

Hello Twilliethefirst,

Thank you for contacting Steam Support.

We do not offer refunds for Early Access Games.

Early Access games may or may not change significantly over the course of development. When purchased, you gain immediate access to download and play the game in its current form. As you give feedback, the developers of the games continue to update the games and add content.

Steam support does not provide support for Early Access titles. Please contact the developers directly for any issues you encounter.

I would love to contact the developer, however, he left with his $100,000 from kickstarter and completely deserted the game. Steam can't give refunds on early access games, however, I've seen people get plenty of refunds on ARK: Survival Evolved. Why can't I on The Stomping Land? This was already longer than I had planned so I'm going to end it hear. Hopefully, someone from steam will respond to this with real reasons why I can't refund this game.

[Satoru]

Its already been over 2 hours and the 2 week period.

No refunds

[Spawn of Totoro]

Refunds for ARK: Survival Evolved is due to the new Steam Refund Policy that was in place at the time the game was released. Early Access games follow the same refund policy as a regular purchase.

The policy does not apply to purchases that were out of it's time table of two weeks, two hours.

Your purchase falls well out side the two weeks and show as more then two hours on your profile, so it does not qualify for a refund.

[Richard]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Refunds for ARK: Survival Evolved is due to the new Steam Refund Policy that was in place at the time the game was released. Early Access games follow the same refund policy as a regular purchase.

The policy does not apply to purchases that were out of it's time table of two weeks, two hours.

Your purchase falls well out side the two weeks and show as more then two hours on your profile, so it does not qualify for a refund.

Its not like I knew the developer was going to disappear and never come back to his game at all. I mean you have to know where I'm coming from. By the time the two weeks had passed I thought the developer was going to update the game and it would be really good. And steam really can't make an exception to this game? They literally took it off the store. I mean come on now.

[thom-22]

Originally posted by TwillieTheFirst:

Steam can't give refunds on early access games, however, I've seen people get plenty of refunds on ARK: Survival Evolved. Why can't I on The Stomping Land?

Within 2 weeks of purchase and 2 hours of playtime, refunds are mostly automatic. If the game does not meet both of those criteria, then refunds are at Valve's discretion, Early Access or not. I suspect EA games are less likely to get refunded simply because the store page and purchase both come with warnings about what EA means, that you're buying "as is".

I'm sorry for your trouble with this, but it's nice to know that the game was removed from the Steam Store. I'm curious as to how that came about, whether initiated by the developer or Valve.

[thom-22]

Originally posted by TwillieTheFirst:

By the way I'm writing this on the steam discussions because there is no Stomping Land Forum.

Actually, the Game Hub still exists and the forum is still live: http://steamcommunity.com/app/263440/discussions/

[Radene]

Hopefully next time you won't throw money at something just because it "looks cool". That might sound pretentious, and I suppose it is, but the only reason that unscrupulopus individuals keep getting away with this kind of stuff is that people keep falling for it.

Depending on where you live, you might have better luck taking this to your consumer protection agency instead of dealing with it directly via Steam.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by TwillieTheFirst:

Its not like I knew the developer was going to disappear and never come back to his game at all. I mean you have to know where I'm coming from. By the time the two weeks had passed I thought the developer was going to update the game and it would be really good. And steam really can't make an exception to this game? They literally took it off the store. I mean come on now.

I own a couple of EAGs. Two of them have been rumored to be abandoned at one point or another. I bought them knowing there is a possibility that the game may no be finished. I accepted that and knew that I may have to take a loss if that happened.

So no, I don't understand where you are coming from. Buying an EAG has risks with it, if one is unwilling to accept those risks, then they should buy EAGs to begin with. I read the blue banner and click the "find out more about Early Access" button before making the first EAG purchase. I was informed and have remained so.

In the gaming industry, many games get made. Less then half make it to the point where they will announce it. Even after a game has been announced, there is no guarantee it will be finished. Publishers know this and only put in what they are willing to lose.

EAGs simply cut out the middle man. The user becomes the investor and takes on the risk.

There is no reason to make an exception when all the information was there to let you make an informed decision on a purchase.

There have been many games removed from the store, for one reason or another. That is not unique in this case.

There was a no refund policy at the time the game was taken down. The games was removed in 2014, so the current policy doesn't even apply.