Briefly: YouTuber Totalbiscuit collected feedback (and some stats) from 26 developers, with stories ranging from refund surges to tumbleweeds. It’s enlightening stuff, though — as ever — it’s too early to say anything definitive about how the feature will affect Steam games in the long run.
Wanna Hear More About Developers’ Experiences With Steam Refunds?
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13 responses to “Wanna Hear More About Developers’ Experiences With Steam Refunds?”
Regardless of what the devs said I really dislike total biscuits videos because they are literally all the same, just him complaining about things
That’s his shtick, he’s cynical… and British.
It’s better to have character that only a few people like than it is to have no character in an attempt to not displease anyone (paying attention, British/Australian politics?!).
I think we really need to let the refund thingbsettle out for a while still. It IS a necessary thing as a part of our consumer law, but the abuse needs to be weeded out.
The internet will try to be a dick at every opportunity.
I also find his general video’s a bore. But he does release video’s that tackle the current problems head on. Steam mods, Youtube censorship… And right claims by gaming/companies, the gaming industry in many different aspects good and bad.
He has a cynical style. But he is very smart with how he articulates and constructs video’s. hot topic video’s can be 20 minutes or longer but are well written often looking at both points of views, well researched and to the point, I never get the feeling he simply talks because he likes the sound of his voice. He also sticks to his morals and is transparent when earning money for covering a game (he needs to earn a living). I support him in these cases not because I particularly like him but because the industry needs more people like him.
The link leads to a tumblr. Each developer has a paragraph or so accounting for their perspective and as far as I can tell there is nothing written by TotalBiscuit, so you don’t even have to imagine his terrible voice while you read.
Just to reiterate, the linked tumblr is an interesting read, and there’s no video, no rambling affectation of cynicism, and no annoying as buggery voice. Kudos to TotalBiscuit for making a not completely shit thing *two thumbs up*.
I’m glad that consumers finally have some power here. It’ll make devs step up and not release a broken game like we’ve seen recently. They’ll try to offer a fulfilling enough experience to keep the consumer happy to not warrant a refund.
Welcome to real life get over it
I might be wrong but isn’t the author of this article the same guy that ran an article saying Steam refunds are hurting developers?
You mean this?
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/06/a-lot-of-people-are-using-steam-refunds/
Thats the one
Well, this isn’t an article. Its a link. And the original story was about indie developers that Nathan has a personal relationship with, which he didn’t mention.
I have a hard time imagining this will have anything but a positive impact. Might force a level of quality control from the development end and help stem the tide of absolute dreck on the service.
Half and half: Grayson did write an article, the article did not take the position that Steam refunds are hurting developers.
The article morkai linked to presents preliminary data and opinions of select data. The overall tone of the article is that it is too early to indicate one way or another what impact the refund system will have, but that its current use suggests there will be an impact and that impact will be unveiled in time.
If you look into it, you’ll notice that a majority of games being refunded are badly made or are just very short for their pricing. It’s good to see that the power is going back to the consumer rather than the previous way of “Too bad, we have your money, and you can’t do shit. Enjoy your lackluster, buggy, short game losers!”
I agree. Think of what would of happened with Watch dogs or Unity. The amount of refunds would be astronomical. It really has put the pressure back on the dev to make sure games ship in a fair state.