Fixing Total War: The Bigger Picture

[Kobal2fr]

That´s got nothing to do with being evil. I work for a finance company (in a different field, but still) as well, and I have to damn well make sure that the money we fork out (around one million € for a game, according to a recent interview) comes back in. Because it doesn´t appear on our accounts out of nowhere, either.

That's what I meant, yes : SEGA doesn't give CA pots of cash out of the goodness in their heart, nor do they patron CA's Michaelangelos to commission the best and most awesome game the world has ever seen. I think Pratchett worded it best when he said "every publisher's dream is to have so much money in his pockets that he'd need suspenders to keep his pants from falling down". But that's ok, I mean, don't we all ?

The "evil" part comes from the fact that they are absolutely necessary to gaming studios, and they know it, which gives them leverage. Combined with the fact that most of them wouldn't know a good game from a flying turd, and you have the basis for very, very wrong decisions when we players are concerned... and pushing for early releases is only a minor part in that. What sells better is not usually what makes a game more interesting.

Kind of like an "Anthony and Cleopatra" screeplay could end up set in the Bronx and include friendly aliens, a female rapper and lots of 'splosions after going through the "Hollywood producers" stage, see ? .

(EDIT : And that's not even considering the fact that "It's not evil, I do it too !" is not exactly likely to win the "most bulletproof of arguments, ever" award )

[Rhedd]

Kind of like an "Anthony and Cleopatra" screeplay could end up set in the Bronx and include friendly aliens, a female rapper and lots of 'splosions after going through the "Hollywood producers" stage, see ? .

I saw that movie!

No, wait, it was Romeo and Juliet... But it had Jet Li in it! ^_^

Actually, that wasn't all that bad a movie, but just because I like Jet Li.

[Kobal2fr]

I don't remember there being any aliens in "Romeo Must Die". That stupid fat guy might fit the bill though :]

[Ciaran]

(EDIT : And that's not even considering the fact that "It's not evil, I do it too !" is not exactly likely to win the "most bulletproof of arguments, ever" award )

That is not how I meant my statement.

@Ditz:

Incidently, in the UK you absolutely can walk out of a cinema and demand your money back because you didn't like the film. You can also refuse to pay of a meal in a restaurant.

I´m no lawyer, much less for Britain law, but that might as well be accomodation. I have no idea what precisely might be covered by warranty (bugs, by the way, might, under certain circumstances, like causing crashes), but I´m rather sure that not liking the content is not.


All things considered, I´ll go with Tyrac.

[Kobal2fr]

That is not how I meant my statement.

Don't worry, I know that. It just struck me as funnily worded afterwards

[Whacker]

I'd just like to add that your sig is both priceless and precious kobalt.

[Didz]

I´m no lawyer, much less for Britain law, but that might as well be accomodation. I have no idea what precisely might be covered by warranty (bugs, by the way, might, under certain circumstances, like causing crashes), but I´m rather sure that not liking the content is not.

Well the basic and fundemental test in English Law is whether the product or service provided satisfied the reasonable expectations of the consumer.

What is a reasonable expectation is a judgement based upon the way the product or service was described by the vendor prior to the contract of sale and what 'any reasonable person' would expect from a product or service of that type.

Thus if one paid to go and see a film called 'Arthur: The true story of King Arthur.' and 30 minutes into the film it was apparent that it was a pile of dog's turd and not historically accurate at all you could quite reasonably walk out and demand your money back. The cinema might refuse to give you a refund, in which case it would be up to a court to decide if your objections to the content of the film were justified, but for the most part a cinema will simply pay out, unless you decide to sit through the entire film before complaining.

As far as restaurants are concerned I've actually witnessed a family on a table next to us in a 'Little Chef' eat and entire meal and then flatly refuse to pay the bill because they did not enjoy the it. Personally, I thought it was a damned cheek but they got away with it. The manager wanted them to leave their names and addresses so that he could follow up their complaints but they refused and just walked out.

Getting back to computer software, it seems to me that any reasonable person buying a peice of software would expect it to be fully functional and capable of being used for whatever purpose it was purchased. So far every CA game I've purchased has been capable of being played, but I've certainly bought others which were not, the most notorious being Napoleon 1813 and Lords of the Realm 3.

Usually, there is no problem in the UK if you decide to take these games back to the shop for a refund. Most Uk gaming stores operate a 'no questions asked refund policy' and HMV even offered a full refund on my Blizzard: Burning Crusade Collectors Editions despite the fact that it had been signed by several lying Blizzard employee's.

Returning bug ridden software is probably the best solution to poor software quality. If software houses begin to get a poor reputation for returns with their distribution agents then eventually their credibility will suffer. Blizzard definately damaged their reputation with UK distributors over the BC collectors edition, not least becuase they left them unable to fulfill their legal obligations to their customers under UK consumer law and triggered an investagation into unfair trading practices by both the Uk and European offices of fair trading. Blizzard basically dropped their distributors in the doodah's and left them to it which won't be forgotten in a hurry. HMV's European Customer Service Manager was absolutely livid about the situation she was left to deal with thanks to their intransigence and stupidity.

[Kobal2fr]

Well, I don't know how things are in the US/UK, but here in France most video game retailers operate on a (completely moronic) "we won't accept returns if the box has been opened" policy, because of software piracy.

They have a point I suppose, since it was common back in my high school years to buy a game, copy it, then bring it back to the store, but it completely shafts every legitimate buyer... and I'd wager those are more common than pirates. Especially since, what with broadband and kazaa and everything, most pirates these days just dl. their games.

@Whacker : thanks, mate ! (It's one of Sinan's oeuvres, of course)

[Didz]

Well, I don't know how things are in the US/UK, but here in France most video game retailers operate on a (completely moronic) "we won't accept returns if the box has been opened" policy, because of software piracy.

Yes! I gathered that from French consumers caught up in the Blizzard rip-off. The UK used to be like that about 25-30 years ago but I think the distributors got their wrists smacked often enough to make them change their policies. After all, until you install a game how can to tell whether it works or not, fortunately English Courts still operate on basic principles of common-sense and justice, and our small claims court system makes it quite easy to sue retailers without the need for expensive lawyers.

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[Kobal2fr]

Your forget #6 - in the end it'd be more of an incentive to HAVE bugs than to fix them. Let your modern, materialistic cynicism think about it.