Can't get a refund for a game that's unplayable?!

[Fancy McPantsy]

I downloaded ARK: Survival Evolved earlier today after making sure that my system could handle it without issue. After installing the game, I realized that the graphics were too blurry/crappy to be usable even on "High" settings. I had to put the game on "EPIC" settings to get a clear enough image that I could actually see what was going on around me.

(A sidenote here: this game relies on constantly picking out fine details in a natural environment where everything is camoflauged. So clear graphics aren't just for aesthetic reasons in this case.)

Obviously, on EPIC mode my framerate tanked and the game became unplayable also. By the time I realized I had to request a refund, I was 4 hours, 56 minutes into playtime. To my disappointment, I was informed that the max playtime for a refund is 2 hours.

2 hours. Are you kidding me?

Even EA gives you 24 hours, and I thought they were being stingy. Let me break this down for you... I played the game for about 10 minutes straight "out of the box," then proceeded to fiddle with the settings for about an hour. I tried playing the game some more on crappy graphics mode for about 45 minutes, and then I left the game open in a background window on the home menu while I searched forum posts for a solution.

If I had known that all I got was a measly 2 hours to decide, I wouldn't have gone to all the trouble. There's a slim to none chance that anyone can conclusively diagnose a display issue top to bottom in under two hours. Why am I being punished because this game is so terribly optimized? No game should look this terrible on "High" graphics mode, and any game that does shouldn't be for sale yet.

To add to this, I'm not even requesting an *actual* refund, instead I'm requesting a refund to my Steam Wallet (aka store credit). So Steam, you get my money either way. I've been with you guys since the HL1/TFC days, but this is friggin' ridiculous.

[Washell]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από SANDVICH:

Even EA gives you 24 hours

This would have been EA's response:

We're terribly sorry, but ARK: Survival Evolved is a third party game that doesn't participate in our "Great Game Guarantee" program. To our regret we have to inform you that your refund has been denied. We recommend contacting the developer for an attempt to try and get the game into a playable state.

Ark thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/playark/comments/38bu68/ways_to_make_the_game_not_look_shit_but_maintain/

[Gishank]

A game looking terrible is a subjective argument. The refund policy states that refunds are granted within 14 days of purchase (date of release for preorders), and with 2 hours or less of gameplay. You can still submit a refund request explaining your case to Steam's support; however, they are not likely to refund you.

[«Gғм» Kid Of The Century]

Note that the 2 hours/2 weeks rule is for refunds "no question asked".

You can still ask for a refund, but you better be very convincing about the issues you had and how you tried to solve them. Then they *might* accept your refund request.

But let me be brutally honest here, the "I left the game open while looking for a solution" excuse is terribly, cringe-worthy lame.

[yo]

Submit a ticket on Steam Support.

[Fancy McPantsy]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από «Gғм» Kid Of The Century:

But let me be brutally honest here, the "I left the game open while looking for a solution" excuse is terribly, cringe-worthy lame.

Why? It seems perfectly normal to me. It's not like I've submitted a bunch of other refund requests -- this would be my first in a decade. Why would anyone think I'm doing this just to squeeze three extra hours of sweet, sweet blurry gameplay our of ARK?

I guess my point is that reputable companies listen to their customers and take everything on a case by case basis. Unfortunately, since the average Steam customer is a tempermental 15 year old, this is how it's being handled.

[ReBoot]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από ;358415206083914621:

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από «Gғм» Kid Of The Century:

But let me be brutally honest here, the "I left the game open while looking for a solution" excuse is terribly, cringe-worthy lame.

Why? It seems perfectly normal to me. It's not like I've submitted a bunch of other refund requests -- this would be my first in a decade. Why would anyone think I'm doing this just to squeeze three extra hours of sweet, sweet blurry gameplay our of ARK?

Well, that's your word. The refund system and the support workers doesn't care if the gameplay is blurry. Besides, the game is advertized as Early Access, that is it's essentially advertized as broken anyway.

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από ;358415206083914621:

I guess my point is that reputable companies listen to their customers and take everything on a case by case basis. Unfortunately, since the average Steam customer is a tempermental 15 year old, this is how it's being handled.

I think we can agree here. I bet Steam support would be less annoying if they had no moron customers yelling at them.

[Fancy McPantsy]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Gishank:

A game looking terrible is a subjective argument. The refund policy states that refunds are granted within 14 days of purchase (date of release for preorders), and with 2 hours or less of gameplay. You can still submit a refund request explaining your case to Steam's support; however, they are not likely to refund you.

That's the problem, I've already submitted 2 requests and they've been denied it with a form response, which means no one is actually looking into my actual argument.

Of course it's subjective, but I feel that in my case it's not about how good the game looks but the ability to play the game. I can't tell what creatures are until I get into their aggro range. Sometimes things don't render out at all until they're right on top of me. This is pretty much a deal breaker in my eyes.

And I might understand all that if I was playing on Low or Medium settings, but High should really not be suffering from these issues.

[Carolynne]

I'm a little bit confused, why do you need 4,9 hours to realize that the game's visuals is not appealing to you? Two hours is a tremendous amount of time to be able to make such judgement as yours.

[ReBoot]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από SANDVICH:

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Gishank:

A game looking terrible is a subjective argument. The refund policy states that refunds are granted within 14 days of purchase (date of release for preorders), and with 2 hours or less of gameplay. You can still submit a refund request explaining your case to Steam's support; however, they are not likely to refund you.

That's the problem, I've already submitted 2 requests and they've been denied it with a form response, which means no one is actually looking into my actual argument.

Of course it's subjective, but I feel that in my case it's not about how good the game looks but the ability to play the game. I can't tell what creatures are until I get into their aggro range. Sometimes things don't render out at all until they're right on top of me. This is pretty much a deal breaker in my eyes.

And I might understand all that if I was playing on Low or Medium settings, but High should really not be suffering from these issues.

Hint: Any form of "should really not be" doesn't apply to games explicitely advertized as unfinished.

[Fancy McPantsy]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από ReBoot:

Hint: Any form of "should really not be" doesn't apply to games explicitely advertized as unfinished.

I took into consideration that this is an early access game, but that doesn't mean that it's okay to charge money for something that isn't playable. It's also not okay to publish system requirements that don't actually match what a playable gameplay experience is. Also, precisely because the game is "broken" as some people have stated is a reason why they should actually be a little more forgiving with their refunds on this title. Any way you slice it, two hours is not enough time to figure these things out.

What sucks is they can get away with terrible customer service like this, because instead of dealing with it directly like a company with a reputation to uphold, customers are forced to take their complaints to the forums, where OTHER customers who for some reason defend Steam's crappy customer service seem to enjoy duking it out. It's some kind of retarded gladitorial social justice that only works to Steam's benefit.

[ReBoot]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από SANDVICH:

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από ReBoot:

Hint: Any form of "should really not be" doesn't apply to games explicitely advertized as unfinished.

I took into consideration that this is an early access game, but that doesn't mean that it's okay to charge money for something that isn't playable.

Except it is playable. Right now 50k players are playing that game. FIFTY THOUSANDS PLAYERS. If the game was unplayable, it would be more like 5. Without thousands.

[Carolynne]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από SANDVICH:

but that doesn't mean that it's okay to charge money for something that isn't playable.

Your opinion is not the equvialent with facts. Your opinion is a subjective matter. Evidently the game is perfectly playable for the majority of their playerbase, including myself.
The issue could be because of your hardware system or your monitor, or perhaps you've dwelled upon too much of your expectations.

They're far too forgiving with their refund policy providing any user over 432 000 seconds of gameplay, within over 1 209 600 seconds from the time of purchase.

[Spawn of Totoro]

It is quite playable for me and many others. I've got 26 hour in the game already.

I run on a mix of high and medium setting. I don't notice any blur, nor has my setting effected my ability to find resources. I don't see where fine detail would help as these resources are quite obvious.

What are your system specs?
Are all your drivers up to date?

[Satoru]

4.9 hrs on record

No you're not getting a refund

[Fancy McPantsy]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Carolynne:

I'm a little bit confused, why do you need 4,9 hours to realize that the game's visuals is not appealing to you? Two hours is a tremendous amount of time to be able to make such judgement as yours.

Because of troubleshooting. I spent a good deal of time fiddling with every option (and there are a lot!) and reading up on this while the game was siitting idle. If I wanted to play a game so much that I would spend money on it, why would I open it up and immediately give up? Every game I have on my computer has taken a lot more than 2 hours to get the running the way I like it.

Your argument is easy to make in hindsight, but like most customers, I had no idea I had a 2 hour window to request a refund until after the fact. Knowing that now, I would have done things differently of course... but sometimes the troubleshooting path takes you to the realization that a refund is the only option pretty late in the game.

What this comes down to is an extra 3 hours of gameplay (which weren't actually spent playing/enjoying the game) in exchange for the entire cost of the game, which seems pretty lame to me.