Gamer's Bill of Rights

[MajorMcCain]

This came up in a post I made a while ago regarding one of EA's latest advertisement schemes for RA3.

I was making a point, but that's a different tale. The reason for this is that, that Bill has been updated by Stardock.
If anyone else finds this interesting and hopes it gets ratified then feel free to discuss.

The Revised Gamer's Bill Of Rights (interim)

1. Gamers shall have the right to return games that are incompatible or do not function at a reasonable level of performance for a full refund within a reasonable amount of time.
2. Gamers shall have the right that games they purchase shall function as designed without defects that would materially affect the player experience.
3. Gamers shall have the right that games will receive updates that address minor defects as well as improves gameplay based on player feed back within reason.
4. Gamers shall have the right to have their games not require a third - party download manager installed in order for the game to function.
5. Gamers shall have the right to have their games perform adequately if their hardware meets the poste d recommended requirements.
6. Gamers shall have the right not to have any of their games install hidden drivers.
7. Gamers shall have the right to re - download the latest version of the games they purchase.
8. Gamers whose computers meet the posted minimum requirements shall have the right to use their games without being materially inconvenienced due to copy protection or digital rights management.
9. Gamers shall have the right to play single player games without having to have an Internet connection.
10. Gamers shall have the right to sell or transfer the ownership of a physical copy of a game they own to another person.

Related:
"Stardock Amends Bill of Rights": http://kotaku.com/5064014/stardock-amend...-of-rights
Quasi-related:
RA3 topic: http://discoverygc.com/forums/index.php?sh...mp;#entry364811

[chovynz]

"...irrespective of timeframe installed."
I.e if I want to reinstall and play a singleplayer game 10 years down the roadon a machine that is around the recommended specs, it should still work and function normally.

---

Seek fun and you shall find it. Seek stuff to Q_Q about and you'll find that, too. I choose to have fun.

[Capt. Henry Morgan]

It sounds like that's a direct response, at least in part, to the various Steam enabled games. I agree that they need to change how that works.

---

Natio Octavarium
Faction Information and Status • Recruitment
Faction Feedback • Internal Affairs

[EverBlue]

The Editor-in-Chief of PC Gamer touched on this in their December 2008 issue, and it pretty much sums up my feelings towards this bill of rights.

I am 100 percent committed to the belief that, as consumers... PC gamers deserve to feel confident in their purchase... But the Gamer's Bill of Rights is riddled with ambiguities, which is why I and others are eyeing it with some suspicion.



What constitutes a game's "finished state," and who determines it? What makes for a "meaningful update"? And is it really my right to play a game without the disc in the drive - even if it increases the possibility that the game can be pirated?



I applaud Brad Wardell of Stardock and Chris Taylor of GPG... But if the Gamer's Bill of Rights is to transcend publicity-stunt status and become a catalyst for real change, it needs to be the starting point for a tough conversation about which rights PC gamers should really expect to enjoy - and which, as the result of enjoying the freedoms of an essentially open platform, they may need to give up.

---

[Gimpochino]

you forgot tthe 11th "right of a gamer"



We should make our own gamers bill of rights.

like....

1. It is a gamers right that if a game does not live up to the hype publisied by the games publication house. we the gamers should be refunded our full money ( or its worth in liars blood) if the game was pre-ordered. Im not pointing any fingers Spore but if i was, they would all be pointed at you.
2. The right of any gamer to take the "pieace of crap" game that wont work on any machine that is well over the "recomended" system requirments and burn the place to the ground in a fit of rage and dispair
3. one copy of the game should work for LAN games. why would two people in house buy 2 copies of a game?

any other ideas?

---

I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.

Hunter S. Thompson (1939 - 2005)

[Monk]

Rights? What [incredulous]rights[/incredulous]?

IMO, if you continue to purchase games from a certain developer then you are approving of however they produce their games. There are no rights regarding return policy. Granted, places that have favorable return policies get more business anyway.

Regardless, video games are an entertainment industry. On this level of consumerism, free market is proven to provide the best results (note: not saying free market policies apply well to all things like education or military). I find it pathetic that a marketing campaign can be fairly effective by playing on patriotic heart strings. Somehow they think they can make you feel proud and even nationalistic about being a gamer. PFFT

[Boss]

Nice gravedig. Though I do agree.

---

Just go play the game and have fun dammit.

all in all the conclusion is that disco doesn't need antagonist factions, it doesn't need phantoms, it doesn't need nomads, it doesn't need coalition and it doesn't need many other things, no AIs, the game is hijacked by morons to confuse the game with their dickwaving generic competition games mixed up with troll-of-the-day.