try a game before purchasing it

[seven7ty]

i would like to see an option to try the game for 10 or 15 min before purchasing it in order to save me the trouble of asking for a refund.

[Cathulhu]

Or simply ask the developer to publish a demo.
Refunds do not exist so you can demo games. That is abuse of the refund system.

[ploppo]

One of the odd things I found with demos on Steam is developers sometimes remove a demo when a game is released - therefore the only option is to buy.

I often wondered why they remove a demo so quickly - almost like it is redundant because the game has released.

[Leonardo Da Pinchi]

Keep in mind, the refund option only exists for games that won't run and stuff like that. Not as a means to test a game to see if you like it or not.

Abusing the refund option will end in removal of your ability to claim refunds.

[Washell]

Originally posted by ploppo:

I often wondered why they remove a demo so quickly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QM6LoaqEnY

[Theblaze]

People constantly complaining about how bad the two hours of playtime is regarding the refunds to "try out" a game when the refunds was never meant to replace demos in the first place.

You know, if people are not fine with the two hours, I doubt they'll be fine with the "10-15 minutes free-to-try" clause.

So I can tell you right now, people would rather wait for a big sale, buy the game, play it for less than two hours, refund the game then repeat the same thing over and over to play a game for free, until they get warned to stop abusing the refunds for such purpose.

[City Builder]

Originally posted by Cathulhu:

Or simply ask the developer to publish a demo.
Refunds do not exist so you can demo games. That is abuse of the refund system.

And yest I've read statements from developers on Steam forums advising potential buyers to try it and refund it if they don't like it.

[Gwarsbane]

Originally posted by dbmobile770:

i would like to see an option to try the game for 10 or 15 min before purchasing it in order to save me the trouble of asking for a refund.

Watch youtube videos
Read the forums
Read reviews from a few different sites
Ask questions in the forums

Lots of things you can do without 10 to 15 minutes of playtime which is almost useless to find out what a game is actually like without doing all those other things.

And as others mentioned, if you keep refunding you will soon have that option removed from you. So go ask for demos or go ask for a free weekend or even for them to generate a pass which some games have.

[nullable]

Originally posted by City Builder:

Originally posted by Cathulhu:

Or simply ask the developer to publish a demo.
Refunds do not exist so you can demo games. That is abuse of the refund system.

And yest I've read statements from developers on Steam forums advising potential buyers to try it and refund it if they don't like it.

Which they are free to do. And you can refund a game if you don't like it. What makes it prohibitive is if you're refunding too many games you'll get notified about abuse and eventually lose the privilege. So it's fine once in a while, but the reason we say the refund system doesn't exist to demo games it because of the limits makes it a pretty bad demo system.

[City Builder]

Originally posted by Snakub Plissken:

Originally posted by City Builder:

And yest I've read statements from developers on Steam forums advising potential buyers to try it and refund it if they don't like it.

Which they are free to do. And you can refund a game if you don't like it. What makes it prohibitive is if you're refunding too many games you'll get notified about abuse and eventually lose the privilege. So it's fine once in a while, but the reason we say the refund system doesn't exist to demo games it because of the limits makes it a pretty bad demo system.

Yes, i know as i refunded 3 games out of maybe a dozen i bought a few seasons ago during a sale and got a warning about how they (steam) didn't like my doing so and if i continued they may reject further refunds

[B l u e b e r r y P o p t a r t]

There are more and more demos getting on Steam over the past years, so go and ask if they can upload one. Watch youtube videos, live streams, ask questions on the forums about it, read reviews, etc.

[seven7ty]

there is nothing like trying the game for yourself in order to see if you like it or not, you can benefit from reading the forums and watching videos to some degree but nothing will compare to the overall experience when trying it.

not all computers are the same, some game engines gives me nausea.
i wish there was a demo for each game but unfortunately there isn't.
we live in an era that we have the technology to make life easier in order to try games before you buy them by making these things automated, do not forget that most of the people that are buying games from steam are not buying 1 or 2 games they are spending a lot of money on a lot of games so they have the right to buy something without being called "abusers".

btw, if as you say the refund system in not for testing the game, why is there an option "it is not fun"?

[seven7ty]

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Originally posted by seven7ty:

why is there an option "it is not fun"?

All the options are there for feedback towards the game developers, not for being "refund reasons". It doesn't matter which one you put in.

didn't think of that, good point

[kitt]

maybe games should do it like movies. Put out a 2-3 minute Trailer which shows everything and spoilers everything just so you can spent the money differently, no need to try or buy the game anymore.