Re: CRAP Poll #Orange-Is-The-New-Black

On 11/07/2025 18:47, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

 Wait, didn't we just do one of these stupid things two weeks ago? And
another one just a fortnight prior to that? What's going on? Didn't
these polls used to be monthly (if that often?) Yeah, well, the thing
is that I got a list of ideas for future polls... and that list keeps
getting longer. I gotta start shoving some of them out the door before
that list evolves into a spreadsheet. I really don't need ANOTHER
spreadsheet in my life. ;-)
  Preliminaries done; let's get to this latest Completely Random and
Pointless Poll!
 ----------------
 Question: Do you ever return games you've bought for a refund?
       a) Nope. I buy the game and it's mine forever, regardless
         of any issues.
       b) Only if there is something really wrong with it (the
         disc is broken or it's missing something important from
         the box)
       c) Sure, if the game is too buggy to run on my computer
       d) If the game works but there's something about it I
         disagree with (say, discovering it has Denuvo) that wasn't
         disclosed before purchase, I don't see why I shouldn't
       e) If I try it and don't like it, back it goes!
       f) Ran it, played it, liked it but it's done before the
         return period ends; why shouldn't I get my money back?
       g) If they'll take it back, it's going back
       h) I never purchase my games, so this concept of
         'returns' does not apply to me
       &) I am an iconoclast who refuses your options and instead
         offers my own suggestion: ___________________________
   ----------------
 Ideally, I'd fall into option A but realistically, I tend to go with
option B. I'm a big believer in "caveat emptor" and if I buy something
and it doesn't suit me (or has problems running on my rig), I believe
I've only myself to blame. It's only if I pay for a game and -for
whatever reason- I don't GET it that I start making a fuss and
demanding my money back. Some examples in my own personal history
include buying a game and there was a disc missing in the box, or the
manual was missing (and it was impossible to play the game without it
because of copy-protection), or the download link doesn't work.
 I tend to be more forgiving of bugs than I should, but that's probably
because a) I'm usually technically adept that I can get a game
running, or have enough 'spare' computers that even if the game
doesn't run on one platform, I can get it working on another.
Similarly, I give the publishers a pass about unspecified DRM because
I figure that's something _I_ should have looked into before
purchasing if it was such a deal breaker.
 But that's just me. Where do you draw the line? Do you return games
for refunds?
 

In my days of the Specky 48k I would go with e) although I transformed it to b) but taping over the end. Now it's really only c) although I did refund Battlefield 1 on Steam as I didn't realise that it came with its only account/launcher.
For option c) to me that's just something companies have to accept if they want to release games on PC. There's also a difference between a technical bug because of a PC and a real bug in the game. Pillars of Eternity II I would have refunded if it wasn't too late before I realised that real-time with pause was fundamentally broken. Oh you want your character to drink a potion, maybe they will maybe they won't but to solve it just don't have their AI switched on!