Fixing Total War: The Bigger Picture

[sapi]

And what, pray tell, would be the incentive for any company to abandon the current scheme in favour of this consumer-friendly one?

[Didz]

I suppose legally speaking, if a deposit was paid on purchase which, in effect, granted you a limited duration user license of say 30 days after which you were required to pay the remainder of the purchase price. Then the consumer would have a chance to evaluate the quality of the product and reject it if they felt it was poor, and the vendor would get a positive acceptance of the product and whatever terms and conditions were stipulated in the license.