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Demos became obsoleted somewhat by refunds and youtube gameplay. You can buy any game on steam, play it for less than two hours, and if you don't like it, you c

Demos became obsoleted somewhat by refunds and youtube gameplay. You can buy any game on steam, play it for less than two hours, and if you don't like it, you can refund it. Using the refund process as a trial/demo method is explicitly allowed by valve. Having a retail person give game recommendations has kind of been obsoleted by youtube and the wider internet. "top 10" lists do a good job of showing you what the hottest stuff in each category is.

gruez 5y ago
>Using the refund process as a trial/demo method is explicitly allowed by valve. Where does it say that? The best quote I could find from them: >Refunds are designed to remove the risk from purchasing titles on Steam—not as a way to get free games. If it appears to us that you are abusing refunds, we may stop offering them to you. We do not consider it abuse to request a refund on a title that was purchased just before a sale and then immediately rebuying that title for the sale price.
- asdfasgasdgasdg 5y ago
  I've never heard of anyone having their ability to get steam refunds curtailed. I've personally refunded dozens of games without an issue.
- SilverRed 5y ago
  I was actually thinking of that last line about refunding for a sale but that doesn't quite apply. But if you read in to the first line about removing risk, that would imply trying it out with the intent of purchasing if you like it which is the purpose of a demo. I have refunded about 40 purchases on steam and never had them denied if you fit in the 2 hours / 2 weeks rule.
- void_mint 5y ago
  > Where does it say that? Literally the first paragraph on the refunds page. > You can request a refund for nearly any purchase on Steam—for any reason. Maybe your PC doesn't meet the hardware requirements; maybe you bought a game by mistake; maybe you played the title for an hour and just didn't like it. https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/ https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/
AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
Honestly games are so damned cheap these days I don't know why most people (that is, not the desperately poor) would even bother refunding them unless they're completely broken or they're being a dick. $60 is an expensive AAA game by Steam standards and almost certainly comes with entirely too much content to appease people who think they need a lot of content to justify paying $60. $60 is also what your average NES game retailed for, which would in today's money be over $200. And most of them were complete garbage. Most games today that aren't AAA titles, which is to say the actually interesting games, go for a lot less than $60 anyway. A $20 game is the cost of one decent meal out.
- SilverRed 5y ago
  I have refunded plenty of games for just not being fun. You are right that they are awesome value if they are good but I don't see why I should pay $20 if I don't feel like I will ever pick up the game again and got less than an hour playtime. Without refunds I would simply not purchase one unless I was sure it was good value, but with refunds I will buy something based on a few pictures on the store and see if I like it.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
    I think that falls under the "being a dick" category just a little bit, personally. This isn't donationware, you don't get to only pay if you like the product. There's a description, screenshots, reviews, etc. to determine if you're likely to enjoy the game or not and if you buy it but it just doesn't grab you, I think that's a lot like paying for a sandwich that looks good but turns out is bland and flavorless, it's disappointing sure but I'm not going to demand my money back since I was delivered precisely what was advertised. Of course, if what they advertise is misleading then that's a different story.
    - foxpurple 5y ago
      It’s different because it’s a digital product. If you return a sandwich, the product and some human time was wasted. If you refund a game. Nothing was lost. And if people feel free to buy more games knowing they can return the ones they don’t like, it ends up in more sales and more profit. What logical difference is there between studying the reviews and screenshots over playing the game for 30 minutes and working out yourself if you like it?

gruez 5y ago

>Using the refund process as a trial/demo method is explicitly allowed by valve. Where does it say that? The best quote I could find from them: >Refunds are designed to remove the risk from purchasing titles on Steam—not as a way to get free games. If it appears to us that you are abusing refunds, we may stop offering them to you. We do not consider it abuse to request a refund on a title that was purchased just before a sale and then immediately rebuying that title for the sale price.

asdfasgasdgasdg 5y ago
I've never heard of anyone having their ability to get steam refunds curtailed. I've personally refunded dozens of games without an issue.
SilverRed 5y ago
I was actually thinking of that last line about refunding for a sale but that doesn't quite apply. But if you read in to the first line about removing risk, that would imply trying it out with the intent of purchasing if you like it which is the purpose of a demo. I have refunded about 40 purchases on steam and never had them denied if you fit in the 2 hours / 2 weeks rule.
void_mint 5y ago
> Where does it say that? Literally the first paragraph on the refunds page. > You can request a refund for nearly any purchase on Steam—for any reason. Maybe your PC doesn't meet the hardware requirements; maybe you bought a game by mistake; maybe you played the title for an hour and just didn't like it. https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/ https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/

AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago

Honestly games are so damned cheap these days I don't know why most people (that is, not the desperately poor) would even bother refunding them unless they're completely broken or they're being a dick. $60 is an expensive AAA game by Steam standards and almost certainly comes with entirely too much content to appease people who think they need a lot of content to justify paying $60. $60 is also what your average NES game retailed for, which would in today's money be over $200. And most of them were complete garbage. Most games today that aren't AAA titles, which is to say the actually interesting games, go for a lot less than $60 anyway. A $20 game is the cost of one decent meal out.

SilverRed 5y ago
I have refunded plenty of games for just not being fun. You are right that they are awesome value if they are good but I don't see why I should pay $20 if I don't feel like I will ever pick up the game again and got less than an hour playtime. Without refunds I would simply not purchase one unless I was sure it was good value, but with refunds I will buy something based on a few pictures on the store and see if I like it.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  I think that falls under the "being a dick" category just a little bit, personally. This isn't donationware, you don't get to only pay if you like the product. There's a description, screenshots, reviews, etc. to determine if you're likely to enjoy the game or not and if you buy it but it just doesn't grab you, I think that's a lot like paying for a sandwich that looks good but turns out is bland and flavorless, it's disappointing sure but I'm not going to demand my money back since I was delivered precisely what was advertised. Of course, if what they advertise is misleading then that's a different story.
  - foxpurple 5y ago
    It’s different because it’s a digital product. If you return a sandwich, the product and some human time was wasted. If you refund a game. Nothing was lost. And if people feel free to buy more games knowing they can return the ones they don’t like, it ends up in more sales and more profit. What logical difference is there between studying the reviews and screenshots over playing the game for 30 minutes and working out yourself if you like it?