British Government Obligates Developers To Fix Their Games

[Patrick Gallagher]

Not sure if this is the right place for this tread, if not please move. Now this is great news for UK gamers and now maybe we won't have to wait for month's for SI to fix there game.

"However, that opens a whole new field that laws need to cover, especially when it comes to digital content as we are lately witnessing a large amount of games being released in an unfinished state, which leaves consumers deceived since they were assured that they were purchasing a fully developed game. If you buy a toaster and its broken on arrival or it brakes after some time while still in warranty you have every right to get a new product or your money back. It is as simple as that. But when it comes to games and digital content in general the story is entirely different, EA will let you get your money back 24 hours after the game has been released if you are not satisfied with your purchase. But if you believe them when the say that they will fix the game quite soon and that period gets prolonged for months you are being left with a broken game without any chance of getting your money back . A similar story is going on with Steam. This publisher doesn?t have a money back guarantee policy at all, however if you are persistent you might still get you money back but as we are informed this is a one time thing. The British government has realized the problem and is implementing new measures in order to a make a stand against rouge publishers and game developers. These measures affect for all content that is being acquired digitally including games, movies and music. Here are some things that we found the most interesting: ?The right to a refund gives the consumer, the right to receive a refund from the trader of all money paid by the consumer for the digital content ? The consumer will be entitled to a full refund if the digital content does not match the description. This also should mean that the digital content you bough should be the same quality as it was shown in the description since we all know how much people got fooled when the game wasn?t match in previously shown demo. Also if the digital content causes malfunction in your hardware you are able to ask for repairs. If the publisher changes on its own the terms of the contract, he is still bound by the old ones, unless it was made in agreement with the consumer. These tools are most welcome for the consumers since it will give them more power. The problem with getting a refund until now was that when you ask for it, the publisher or seller will just ignore you, knowing that the price of that certain game is much less than the expenses you would get if you would take them to court. The law does not specify the time frame for the seller or the publisher to fix the broken product but it also states that if you do not want to wait you can get your money back right away. We hope that this trend will continue world wide."

Source HardwarePal.com

 

[Dynamo_ZahnZee]

I think it may do the opposite and lead to an even more broken game. How are SI supposed to know what to fix if there is no one reporting bugs or beta testing? I've never seen a company like SI when it comes to patching and the work they put into fine tuning the ME. (PS. if you think a ME is easy to develope, go get a degree in 3rd AI and probability calculations. I'm sure SI will hire you since there are **** all of them available; in the gaming industry, programmers are worth their weight in gold!!!!)

I've always felt that the FM series has been delivered in high quality from the initial release dates. The game matches its descriptions and they deliver what they say they will. Most people shout "broken game" but to be honest, I think they haven't a clue what they're talking about and just need something to blame for things going wrong in their saves.

 

[miguelalves]

How are they supposed ? Well, they have a dev. team to also test the game

 

[Dynamo_ZahnZee]

How are they supposed ? Well, they have a dev. team to also test the game

The opinions of a handful of developers, who are probably too close to the project to be objective, cannot possibly even hope to match the sheer number of opinions the playing fan-base would have. Numbers alone dictate that a few thousand beta testers would spot more bugs than the people in the development team.

 

[Patrick Gallagher]

Most games companies have Alpha and Beta testers, what do SI not have any. I understand that a game can't be 100 percent at launch and may need too be patched but I got FM14 on November 14 2013 and because of the glitches in the ME I haven't be able to enjoy the game. The same till happen with FM 13 maybe this give all dev's a kick up the ***.

 

[ajt09]

What a pile of pony.

If a game is in alpha and states clearly to everyone that it is an unfinished product, and people who don't grasp the concept of an unfinished product start ******** who's fault is that? And apart from that one fact, how are they supposed to test the game effectively? for example, I'm playing the new Blizzard F2P game Hearthstone. In closed BETA i spent real money knowing the risks. The same applying to the now Open BETA. Because I have the common sense to know the risk, and won't kick up a stink when something goes wrong. Yes it's still bugged to **** at times and has issues-but I read small print. I know the risk. Same thing applies to Day Z beta aswell. And I know for a fact that if a game that was in beta has been cancelled, people have been refunded their money. I accept there may be some noob companies out there that act like knobs but I've come across very, very few of these and I've been gaming for many years and done a fair share of beta testing.

Anyway, I've always been happy with SI so if they fall into this category, I'll be appalled beyond belief.

 

[mwhitehorn07]

im an american, so I cant throw too many stones, but this is kinda embarrassing.

politicians shouldnt be making laws about video games. and if the guy doesnt understand the difference between a toaster and a video game, well... i dont even need to say it.

maybe his son played sim city last year?

whiney whiney whiney

 

[Fish Hunter]

There will never be released any Total War game anymore then.

 

[scruffy_bear]

im an american, so I cant throw too many stones, but this is kinda embarrassing.

politicians shouldnt be making laws about video games. and if the guy doesnt understand the difference between a toaster and a video game, well... i dont even need to say it.

maybe his son played sim city last year?

whiney whiney whiney

Not whiney at all, what about PS3 owner that bought Skyrim it took over a year to get it playable on the PS3, this is a quote from Bethesda:

"?We understand how frustrating it can be when your game is having issues, and we thank all of you for your continued feedback and patience. Rest assured we take your gameplay experience seriously and will continue working on this until it?s resolved.?

According to Bethesda, the problem is not one giant bug, but a combination of problems arising from background autosaving, SPU AI updates, and the way the game is saved in the PS3's 'dynamic system memory allocation'. Unfortunately, the incoming 1.3 update will not take these issues into account, however Bethesda did pledge to address them in ?future ones?.

If I pay ?39.99 for a game I want to be able to play it not wait around for ages till it fixed. Look at the last line highlighted it won't be fixed in update 1.3 but a future one, this arrogant behaviour needs to stop. Also they released Fallout 3 another unplayable game at launch.

Sorry I went of topic a bit I know this is a FM forum, just waiting on new patch can't wait to see LFC updated players.^^)

 

[Sean]

Football Manager has never been released in an unfinished state.

Sports Interactive are fixing reported bugs in their game every day. However, they have to test these fixes and make sure more issues aren't created by making these changes. This is what delays the process of releasing patches/updates.

Would you rather they released daily bug patches which were rushed through testing? Of course not.

 

[Aannddyy]

This law isn't about games like FM, from what I've gathered. It's about company's that released unfinished/ broken games on purpose.. Skyrim on PS3 being an example already given. In a situation which something is given to you in a broken state you should be well within your rights to receive a refund regardless of whether the product in question is in fact a toaster, or a PS3 game you bought digitally.

This law can only be seen as a good thing. Now I can't think of many games that have been released in an unfinished or broken state, but I think it's mostly for small time PC games that try to take advantage of Steam's no returns policy.. Think "The War Z" - which has been renamed so many times due to bad publicity.

I think people who are criticizing SI and saying this law is about them are a bit naive.. SI have never released a broken or unfinished game. Anyone who partakes in Alpha/ Beta testing [should] know exactly what that is and that this is nothing to do with the new law.

We do need more laws on digital content because there are some rogue publishers out there who like to scam consumers while company's like Steam aide them by ignoring the consumers shouts for help.. At the end of the day, this is a small step in giving British consumers more security with digital content but it's a step in right direction, I'm sure.

 

[Fanty111]

i think the big mistake SI make in publishing is having the beta open 2 weeks before the launch and jump staright in raher thn have the beta test, maybe a month gap to fix things, then launch

 

[miguelalves]

handful of developers, who are probably too close to the project to be objective ???? Their work is precisely to be objective and what's the great deal with looking at a GK that makes direct passes to the opponent striker ??? How much is it needed to be objective and release a game without bugs that every one can see ??? Secondly, you've already said it: Beta testers! Beta! After 4 months I think we aren't at the beta stage, are we ? We can all be comprehensive with a few bugs, that's ok, but this is a complete different issue when you buy a game that is a complete mess during almost 6 months, come on, even PI are a chaos with bad labelling (wingers with crossing instructions unavailable for the player's role; trequartistas that hold position and roam from position at the same time). If SI needs more time, than stop releasing a new game every year and start doing it every two years.

 

[Sean]

i think the big mistake SI make in publishing is having the beta open 2 weeks before the launch and jump staright in raher thn have the beta test, maybe a month gap to fix things, then launch

That is just the public beta test. I imagine that they begin closed beta testing well before then.

 

[ajt09]

handful of developers, who are probably too close to the project to be objective ???? Their work is precisely to be objective and what's the great deal with looking at a GK that makes direct passes to the opponent striker ??? How much is it needed to be objective and release a game without bugs that every one can see ??? Secondly, you've already said it: Beta testers! Beta! After 4 months I think we aren't at the beta stage, are we ? We can all be comprehensive with a few bugs, that's ok, but this is a complete different issue when you buy a game that is a complete mess during almost 6 months, come on, even PI are a chaos with bad labelling (wingers with crossing instructions unavailable for the player's role; trequartistas that hold position and roam from position at the same time). If SI needs more time, than stop releasing a new game every year and start doing it every two years.

You have heard of Bethesda right? And of course not forgetting the complete and utter horror show that was Battlefield 4

 

[miguelalves]

You have heard of Bethesda right? And of course not forgetting the complete and utter horror show that was Battlefield 4

one more nail helping to have legislation about this issue.

 

[Scotty98TR]

I think SI do a **** good job, but I still think this is a good idea (Not that I see how it can be implemented effectively). It might make EA actually get off their arses and fix their games - along with their shocking help centre!

 

[Mike.]

Most games companies have Alpha and Beta testers, what do SI not have any. I understand that a game can't be 100 percent at launch and may need too be patched but I got FM14 on November 14 2013 and because of the glitches in the ME I haven't be able to enjoy the game. The same till happen with FM 13 maybe this give all dev's a kick up the ***.

They have an alpha, a closed beta, and then a public Beta.

The funny thing is, this wouldnt even apply to SI. Because they actively seek to release patches anyway.

Respectfully, if you are going to argue this, make sure its from a point of strength.

 

[dazmaz]

handful of developers, who are probably too close to the project to be objective ???? Their work is precisely to be objective and what's the great deal with looking at a GK that makes direct passes to the opponent striker ??? How much is it needed to be objective and release a game without bugs that every one can see ??? Secondly, you've already said it: Beta testers! Beta! After 4 months I think we aren't at the beta stage, are we ? We can all be comprehensive with a few bugs, that's ok, but this is a complete different issue when you buy a game that is a complete mess during almost 6 months, come on, even PI are a chaos with bad labelling (wingers with crossing instructions unavailable for the player's role; trequartistas that hold position and roam from position at the same time). If SI needs more time, than stop releasing a new game every year and start doing it every two years.

you do realise FM is a simulation game. it is designed to simulate real life.

Every week in the PL alone you can bet your house on a keeper passing the ball to the opposition. Because it happened to your keeper doesn't mean its a bug.

Again every week you can bet a striker will miss 20+ chances, but the other teams striker will score with his first attempt. Take Barca Vs Chelsea in 2012 for example -
Chelsea Barca
[TABLE="class: data-table"]
[TR="class: row2"]
[TD="class: left first"]28%
[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] Possession

[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] 72%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: left first"] 254
[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] Passes attempted
[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] 776
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: row2"]
[TD="class: left first"] 117 (46%)
[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] Passes completed (success rate)
[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] 660 (85%)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: left first"] 7
[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] Attempts on goal
[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] 22
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: row2"]
[TD="class: left first"] 3
[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] Attempts on target
[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] 5

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

No striker in the world will score every chance he gets every game he plays. again just because it happens to you doesn't make it a bug.

And for every apparent bug everyone complains about, do they complain when it goes their way in game?


FM is not broken, it isn't as buggy as people make out and it certainly is playable.

This law is to protect people from falling victim to publishers like Hammerpoint Interactive (the WarZ)

 

[miguelalves]

you do realise FM is a simulation game. it is designed to simulate real life.

Every week in the PL alone you can bet your house on a keeper passing the ball to the opposition. Because it happened to your keeper doesn't mean its a bug.

Again every week you can bet a striker will miss 20+ chances, but the other teams striker will score with his first attempt. Take Barca Vs Chelsea in 2012 for example -
Chelsea Barca
[TABLE="class: data-table"]
[TR="class: row2"]
[TD="class: left first"]28%[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] Possession
[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] 72%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: left first"] 254[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] Passes attempted [/TD]
[TD="class: left"] 776[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: row2"]
[TD="class: left first"] 117 (46%)[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] Passes completed (success rate)[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] 660 (85%)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: left first"] 7[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] Attempts on goal[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] 22[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: row2"]
[TD="class: left first"] 3[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] Attempts on target[/TD]
[TD="class: left"] 5[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

No striker in the world will score every chance he gets every game he plays. again just because it happens to you doesn't make it a bug.

And for every apparent bug everyone complains about, do they complain when it goes their way in game?


FM is not broken, it isn't as buggy as people make out and it certainly is playable.

This law is to protect people from falling victim to publishers like Hammerpoint Interactive (the WarZ)

Well, first of all I did not mentioned anything about strikers, neither I complained that my strikers don't score. So, it's irrelevant bringing that argument to the discussion. The issues I pointed are issues reported at the SI Forum - bugs section, known and recognized by SI as issues to be fixed. You pointed ME issues, the only one I've pointed was the GK issue that SI is fixing, the other issues I've pointed are labeling issues with PI's... ****, even translations were a mess before version 14.2

Second, I think football is not only about the EPL, neither FM only allows to manage EPL teams, so if you have bad GKs in the EPL that every match makes an assist to the opponent striker, that's a specific reality of your league and not the reality of other leagues and if FM pretends to be a simulator and allows to manage in almost every country, than it has to simulate the reality of other countries and not just the EPL. But ok, I guess you misinterpreted what I wrote because I didn't say bad passes from the GK, I said direct assist to the striker. And you see this every weekend in the EPL ???? hummm, you'd better not make that bet lool