I think Steam just sold me a game that I can't legally play.

[Signa]

Let me get this straight, you just returned a game (a half-way decent one too) not because you thought you'd get in trouble for playing it, but because you thought you had to agree to terms that didn't exist anymore? As someone who is in customer service, I guarantee that the rep that handled you will be telling this story about his customer to his friends for a while.

 

[Scars Unseen]

People really should read the EULA and ToS of services like these....

Just a note about that last bit... In most cases, you don't get access to the EULA/ToS until you've already paid for the product service. At that point, even if you disagree, money has changed hands and in most cases refunds are not an option. Even in this case, the OP isn't being given a refund, but rather a credit. And this is wrong. It should not be legal for a company to demand payment for a service prior to showing you the contract that governs it.

 

[wulfy42]

Outside of the fact that most EULAs are not binding and have never been enforced in any way, there is also the fact that it is the sellers responsibility to make the EULA available to the buying, and if that is not done, then the seller would be at fault and you would never even end up in court (if that would ever happen in the first place).

Even if, in some strange alternate universe where people have time for this crap, it did end up going to court, STEAM would be the entity that would have to deal with the problem, and.....at worst, would have to remove the game from it's stores, and remove it from all players accounts (and obviously give them a refund for it at that point).

You, as the customer, would NEVER be in trouble or have to deal with the issue. So enjoy the game and stop worrying about it.

 

[Morti]

I would expect that you could still click agree as you are agreeing to nothing. If they then do anything you can claim that no such documentation was presented when you made the agreement. They're effectively saying "do you agree to this blank piece of paper?"

 

[The White Hunter]

No court on earth would convict you over this even if it is an issue, and if you are in Europe the EULA is null anyway because it would supersede your civil rights and is not allowed to do so.

 

[SinisterGehe]

People really should read the EULA and ToS of services like these....

Just a note about that last bit... In most cases, you don't get access to the EULA/ToS until you've already paid for the product service. At that point, even if you disagree, money has changed hands and in most cases refunds are not an option. Even in this case, the OP isn't being given a refund, but rather a credit. And this is wrong. It should not be legal for a company to demand payment for a service prior to showing you the contract that governs it.

I was referring to Steam's EULA and ToS, not the product.
In the bit that you seem to have cut out of my original post.

But the purchase was under legal contract, no one got conned, no one cheated. You might feel shit about it granted. Steam should supply more information about 3rd party elements involved with their products - granted - they don't have to, but should.

I stand by this, Valve should add option to read the ToS and EULA of all of the licenses being sold in Steam service. They do not have to legally, but they should. But 99% of people wouldn't read them anyway. Then get upset when there is a thing in there they do not agree with, after agreeing.

In Finland the Terms of contract are always interpreted for the consumer - it is in the law. I do not and will not speak about other countries specially of those outside of EU directives.

 

[Strelok]

~snip~

EA left Steam long ago, they created their own client, Origin. Not even sure Gamespy Comrade is even used anymore, pretty sure it was integrated into Origin, but having created their own client I doubt EA has much motivation to fix up the Steam version, when they can just keep collecting income with no effort. I have the Steam not Origin version of Crysis as well so I don't know if they install it. Steam really has nothing to do with the EULA or the installation of the program, you should contact EA for issues with it.

Here is a thread on Steam forums to block Gamespy Comrade from ever installing.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1753244

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I don't like that they're making it out like it's a favour to you that they're refunding the game and that they'll only give store credit. I'm pretty sure there's a law for that. But as for the EULA, while that does seem to pose a legal problem technically, European courts have been shown not to have much love for EULAs and it probably just means you don't have to agree to the privacy policy. If there's a problem with the EULA, it isn't your problem. It's the problem of the people supplying the EULA. You're not disagreeing with something, something is missing.

 

[Davey Woo]

I think you've made a bit of fuss over nothing, honestly. I have never read the TOS's of any game I've installed, I assume that the publishers/developers have made a reasonable request in the TOS and just click accept. I leave it to others to alert me to any weird EULA's and such (like the EA origin incident a while ago). But in this case I don't think there's a problem.

Also I think steam refunding you in store credit is a pretty standard procedure, nothing fishy about that.

Another thing, I didn't get a 404 error when directed to the IGN agreement, I got sent here:
http://corp.ign.com/policies/user-agreement

 

[shootthebandit]

So you are THE guy that actually reads this bollocks. I along with 90% of the population simply click "I agree" and I go on my merry way

 

[Signa]

So you are THE guy that actually reads this bollocks. I along with 90% of the population simply click "I agree" and I go on my merry way

I think that's an understatement. You really think 10 out of a group of 100 people actually read it?

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well it would be a fair point if EULA was a legally binding contract, but it isn't, it's just a list of rules the company wants you to follow and will affect your relationship with them... nothing else.

 

[Vargras]

Steam straightup says they can't give you a full refund (I.E. actually giving you your money back) because you're purchasing electronic goods, which are instantly delivered to you and cannot actually be returned, other than just deleting it from your library. Them giving you Steam Wallet credit is not "fishy". You're lucky they even did that much.

 

[Kanova]

Wait, you actually read all that stuff? I never knew anyone ever did that.

 

[Shuu]

Yeah, the whole licencing thing has gotten out of hand.
That's why there is still a reason for me to sometimes buy physical games, because you purchase those outright rather than just license them, and while many of them still have ridiculous EULA's to sign before installation, since you own the disk and any information stored on it (they'll tell you that you don't, but you do) you're not doing anything wrong by bypassing any requirements that you don't like.
Like with copyright law, what a company can demand of you legally is really out of date, I think there should be some sort of legal framework to determine just what you can and can't put in an EULA. But that will never happen

 

[Tsaba]

well, let's look at this at a different angle, why did you purchase a game you did not do the research on before you bought it. Is it their fault you didn't look into the game to see if you where able to play it be it the graphics or the legal agreement?

So is this a question of steam sold you or a question of look what I bought.

 

[gunny1993]

You know that the Bar exam is instantly passed if you are anal retentive enough to actually read through this rubbish. You should study to become a lawyer.

 

[AuronFtw]

So you bought an old game (ancient by internet standards), noticed 1 broken link to an unsupported unrelated program, and decided that must invalidate your entire purchase?

What the dick. I can't figure out if this is plain old making mountains out of molehills or if you just don't understand that URLs aren't permanent, and it's not reasonable to expect one will remain active for the rest of eternity... especially if the product or service related to it is itself outdated and unsupported.

You should really do some reality checks. Expecting a refund for this is ridiculous. Just play the damn game.

 

[Vigormortis]

This is going to seem blunt, but this sounds like you're making a mountain out of a molehill.

Seriously, you're upset over not being able to view, because of a dead URL, the privacy policies of a dead program/service? A program/service that isn't even required to run the game?

So you bought an old game (ancient by internet standards), noticed 1 broken link to an unsupported unrelated program, and decided that must invalidate your entire purchase?

What the dick. I can't figure out if this is plain old making mountains out of molehills or if you just don't understand that URLs aren't permanent, and it's not reasonable to expect one will remain active for the rest of eternity... especially if the product or service related to it is itself outdated and unsupported.

You should really do some reality checks. Expecting a refund for this is ridiculous. Just play the damn game.

Yeah, pretty much what AuronFtw said...