When do abandoned EAcc Games get removed from Sale?

[Scorcher24]

I can't ask Support about this without abusing the categories, so I am asking here and I'd really like an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ answer, even though I doubt I will get one.

But what exactly is Steam doing to protect their customers from abandoned Games? Yes, there is Steam refunds, but still. I know 2 Games where the Developers publicly said that they abandoned the game. One I own, the other one I didn't buy because the Developers from Towns where involved.
Both are now pretty much abandoned. No more updates since a year for the second one.

Does Valve even have checks in place to review titles that didn't receive a new build after a certain amount of time? How can we, as a Community, make Valve aware of it? There is no "Not updated in a long time" Category when reporting a game. Leaving bad reviews helps, but sometimes it is not enough. The first game is sitting at "Very Negative", the other one only on "Mixed", which may not keep people from buying it.

I find this very concerning, that there is some sort of nonchalance on Steam's part towards this behavior from developers.

[J4MESOX4D]

Valve can't do anything. The devs/pubs have paid their money to be published and it's then up to the user to make a determination on whether a game is viable in its current state and going forward. Refunds are also not for this reason and have their own policy in place.

[Moderate my posterior.]

Never, you are still getting exactly what is being advertised so there is no reason to remove it.

[Washell]

Early Access Game
Get instant access and start playing; get involved with this game as it develops.
Note: This Early Access game is not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

When will these games release?
Its up to the developer to determine when they are ready to 'release'. Some developers have a concrete deadline in mind, while others will get a better sense as the development of the game progresses. You should be aware that some teams will be unable to 'finish' their game. So you should only buy an Early Access game if you are excited about playing it in its current state.

That's the protection, a note on every early access page warning you not to buy it because it may not get finished. There are no checks or reviews, devs are allowed to stop developing their titles.

[Tux]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Scorcher24:

I can't ask Support about this without abusing the categories, so I am asking here and I'd really like an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ answer, even though I doubt I will get one.

But what exactly is Steam doing to protect their customers from abandoned Games? Yes, there is Steam refunds, but still. I know 2 Games where the Developers publicly said that they abandoned the game. One I own, the other one I didn't buy because the Developers from Towns where involved.
Both are now pretty much abandoned. No more updates since a year for the second one.

Does Valve even have checks in place to review titles that didn't receive a new build after a certain amount of time? How can we, as a Community, make Valve aware of it? There is no "Not updated in a long time" Category when reporting a game. Leaving bad reviews helps, but sometimes it is not enough. The first game is sitting at "Very Negative", the other one only on "Mixed", which may not keep people from buying it.

I find this very concerning, that there is some sort of nonchalance on Steam's part towards this behavior from developers.

I heard Gabe answer this question rather well

'when people stop buying them'

that is a paraphrase but that is the answer

[Scorcher24]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Washell:

That's the protection, a note on every early access page warning you not to buy it because it may not get finished. There are no checks or reviews, devs are allowed to stop developing their titles.

Yes, but when it is clear that it is abandoned, it should either be removed from sale or the banner changed to "Unfinished Prototype".

[Tux]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Scorcher24:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Washell:

That's the protection, a note on every early access page warning you not to buy it because it may not get finished. There are no checks or reviews, devs are allowed to stop developing their titles.

Yes, but when it is clear that it is abandoned, it should either be removed from sale or the banner changed to "Unfinished Prototype".

what in the love of god would 'unfinished prototype' change a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ thing about about anything other than being a distraction?

look the answer to the question is basically this

'once people stop wanting to buy it then we should remove it'

simple
as
tat

[Scorcher24]

If you are just going to repeat yourself and start being hostile, I am going to stop interacting with you. Thanks. I am interested in discussion about abandoned Titles, not a flame war.

[Tux]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Scorcher24:

If you are just going to repeat yourself and start being hostile, I am going to stop interacting with you. Thanks. I am interested in discussion about abandoned Titles, not a flame war.

then just explain how putting a label that says 'Unfinished Prototype' would make any difference.
I personally dont even understand what that tag even means

[J4MESOX4D]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Scorcher24:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Washell:

That's the protection, a note on every early access page warning you not to buy it because it may not get finished. There are no checks or reviews, devs are allowed to stop developing their titles.

Yes, but when it is clear that it is abandoned, it should either be removed from sale or the banner changed to "Unfinished Prototype".

Valve cannot remove a product from its store unless its in violation of their Steamworks service agreement. Most devs/pubs of neglected games aren't going to state their game has been abandoned - they are more likely to go underground or hope it falls off the radar. A few more reputable ones may apologise and explain the situation further but existing licences and ones still on sale will remain available. If people don't do their homework and they get burned; it's their fault in all honesty.

[Moderate my posterior.]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Scorcher24:

If you are just going to repeat yourself and start being hostile, I am going to stop interacting with you. Thanks. I am interested in discussion about abandoned Titles, not a flame war.

In short "I'm looking for an echo chamber where people who agree with me circle jerk each other"

You really ought to be more honest with yourself.

[cinedine]

Popcorn time!

Anyone taking bets how this thread will develop?

[Tux]

Diposting pertama kali oleh J4MESOX4D:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Scorcher24:

Yes, but when it is clear that it is abandoned, it should either be removed from sale or the banner changed to "Unfinished Prototype".

Valve cannot remove a product from its store unless its in violation of their Steamworks service agreement. Most devs/pubs of neglected games aren't going to state their game has been abandoned - they are more likely to go underground or hope it falls off the radar. A few more reputable ones may apologise and explain the situation further but existing licences and ones still on sale will remain available. If people don't do their homework and they get burned; it's their fault in all honesty.

thing is I dont know that it really even matters.

I mean, yes if I game is in early access its clearly nice that a developer is working on it rather than not. However....at the end of the day the real bare bones point is this, if people want to buy something why should we stop them?

if early access games was getting some kind of goverment grant I could see the point but in early accesss just like in normal games, you pay for what you get at that time...peroid end of story.

[Scorcher24]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Tux:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Scorcher24:

If you are just going to repeat yourself and start being hostile, I am going to stop interacting with you. Thanks. I am interested in discussion about abandoned Titles, not a flame war.

then just explain how putting a label that says 'Unfinished Prototype' would make any difference.
I personally dont even understand what that tag even means

Because it makes it more clear that a title has ceased development and that there will be no further updates, which outlines the risk more clearly to the buyer, especially if said banner is in a different color.

For example, on the second game, it still says this:

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?
“Looking back at the year many unexpected changes have been made to the game because of suggestions from our forum users. We highly value the feedback from anyone that plays the game, and we are not interested in releasing a game that isn't up to everyone's expectations. The final release will probably not be until Summer 2017, but even after that we still want to keep on expanding on *** as its potential is endless.”

This implies that the game is still receiving updates. It does not. The dev had to pick up a full time job, because he ran out of money. There was no update for a year. Also, one of the devs involved has already a very negative game on Steam. Towns. But that is not clearly visible, since the main developer and Publisher is different. The publisher are the Towns Devs. One of them works as game designer for this game. However, for publishing, they chose another company name so it cannot easily be backtracked to Towns.

If you ask me, that is already misleading enough.

[Shadow Slayer]

More likely than not, they put something in their TOS that did not make then liable for unfinished products. So, there's nothing you can do. If their TOS is lacking that however, feel free to sue them. Good luck defining what exactly "unfinished" means tho.

[Scorcher24]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Shadow Slayer:

Good luck defining what exactly "unfinished" means tho.

The needed definition here would actually be "abandoned" .