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Ironically GOG has an even more generous refund policy. >You may request a refund for a product up to 30 days after purchase, even if it was downloaded, launch

Ironically GOG has an even more generous refund policy. >You may request a refund for a product up to 30 days after purchase, even if it was downloaded, launched, and played.

Wowfunhappy 5y ago
Yes, but reportedly if you do this more than a few times they'll get upset with you.
- josefx 5y ago
  I would expect that there is a problem on your end if you have to refund everything you buy. I can't remember the last time I bought something refund worthy, thought I was tempted the last time I bought a game on steam that required uplay.
  - Wowfunhappy 5y ago
    I suppose it depends on what the purpose of the refunds are. For example, many online clothing retailers will encourage you to buy more clothing than you need so you can try it on at home, and return whatever you don't like. A lot of people definitely treat Steam's refund system this way, and Steam's automated refund process seems built to encourage it. You could also make a strong case that this is better for everyone, since consumers are more likely to take a chance on a game they're not sure about. On the other hand, it's a problem for games that are designed to be less than two hours—and it does basically require a DRM implementation.
    - Fnoord 5y ago
      When Rocket League, a game I never played, ditched support for macOS I asked for a refund. I described how I disliked that they removed support for macOS. I wouldn't play Rocket League on my MBP, mind you, but I do have Steam installed on it. I got a refund, no questions asked (though I did buy it on sale, judging by the amount I got refunded). Steam doesn't need DRM to figure out how long a game is being played, btw. Steam tracks that without DRM, too.
      - Wowfunhappy 5y ago
        > Steam tracks that without DRM, too. Yes and no. They can track play time when you launch a game through the Steam client, and they can use DRM to enforce launching games through the Steam client. If you launch one of the few DRM-Free Steam games without using Steam, your play time won’t increase. GOG also tracks play time if you launch a game via GOG Galaxy. The difference is, every single-player game in their catalog can also be played without GOG Galaxy (and indeed, this is explicitly why I buy games from GOG—I don’t like clients, I just want an executable).
        baud147258 5y ago
        > the difference is, every single-player game in their catalog can also be played without GOG Galaxy From my (admittedly limited) experience with GOG games and Galaxy, only games downloaded via the GOG website (with 'offline backup game installers') can be launched without Galaxy; games installed with Galaxy will force Galaxy to be running alongside it
        crtasm 5y ago
        I recently installed Galaxy and used it to install 4 games from my library, testing now they all load up without Galaxy running.
        baud147258 5y ago
        You're right (and the parent too); I was using the game shortcuts in my start menu, but I checked and those shortcuts point toward the Galaxy launcher (with additional information on which game to launch), so I was launching Galaxy at the same time as the game. When I used directly, the game executables don't start Galaxy.
      - FreeFull 5y ago
        I believe Rocket League was a special case, in that they offered refunds for everybody who bought it to play on Linux/Mac, no matter how many hours of it they have played.
- BlueTemplar 5y ago
  Used to be the case for Steam with their official "no refunds" policy, but unofficial "you get one refund" policy..? But is it just a rumour ? How many times is too many ?
- da_chicken 5y ago
  I would hope so. It's easy to finish a game in 30 days, so the system is ripe for abuse. Assuming that the games have progression achievements, GOG can easily see (a) how much time you spent in game, and (b) how far you got. If you choose to abuse the system, you're going to lose the privilege.
  - baud147258 5y ago
    if you play using one of their offline game installer and not via their Galaxy launched, GOG won't see the achievements and so can't track the game time. But I'd think GOG would be tracking abuse of their system (though if one really want to get GOG games for free, since they don't have any DRMs a lot of them are available for free on the web).
- MomoXenosaga 5y ago
  I think that's reasonable. If you abuse the refund system you should get banned. But I don't think that it will happen a lot because piracy is already incredibly easy with GOG. If you want a free game why bother with buying it at all?

Ironically GOG has an even more generous refund policy. >You may request a refund for a product up to 30 days after purchase, even if it was downloaded, launched, and played.

Wowfunhappy 5y ago

Yes, but reportedly if you do this more than a few times they'll get upset with you.

josefx 5y ago
I would expect that there is a problem on your end if you have to refund everything you buy. I can't remember the last time I bought something refund worthy, thought I was tempted the last time I bought a game on steam that required uplay.
- Wowfunhappy 5y ago
  I suppose it depends on what the purpose of the refunds are. For example, many online clothing retailers will encourage you to buy more clothing than you need so you can try it on at home, and return whatever you don't like. A lot of people definitely treat Steam's refund system this way, and Steam's automated refund process seems built to encourage it. You could also make a strong case that this is better for everyone, since consumers are more likely to take a chance on a game they're not sure about. On the other hand, it's a problem for games that are designed to be less than two hours—and it does basically require a DRM implementation.
  - Fnoord 5y ago
    When Rocket League, a game I never played, ditched support for macOS I asked for a refund. I described how I disliked that they removed support for macOS. I wouldn't play Rocket League on my MBP, mind you, but I do have Steam installed on it. I got a refund, no questions asked (though I did buy it on sale, judging by the amount I got refunded). Steam doesn't need DRM to figure out how long a game is being played, btw. Steam tracks that without DRM, too.
    - Wowfunhappy 5y ago
      > Steam tracks that without DRM, too. Yes and no. They can track play time when you launch a game through the Steam client, and they can use DRM to enforce launching games through the Steam client. If you launch one of the few DRM-Free Steam games without using Steam, your play time won’t increase. GOG also tracks play time if you launch a game via GOG Galaxy. The difference is, every single-player game in their catalog can also be played without GOG Galaxy (and indeed, this is explicitly why I buy games from GOG—I don’t like clients, I just want an executable).
      - baud147258 5y ago
        > the difference is, every single-player game in their catalog can also be played without GOG Galaxy From my (admittedly limited) experience with GOG games and Galaxy, only games downloaded via the GOG website (with 'offline backup game installers') can be launched without Galaxy; games installed with Galaxy will force Galaxy to be running alongside it
        crtasm 5y ago
        I recently installed Galaxy and used it to install 4 games from my library, testing now they all load up without Galaxy running.
        baud147258 5y ago
        You're right (and the parent too); I was using the game shortcuts in my start menu, but I checked and those shortcuts point toward the Galaxy launcher (with additional information on which game to launch), so I was launching Galaxy at the same time as the game. When I used directly, the game executables don't start Galaxy.
    - FreeFull 5y ago
      I believe Rocket League was a special case, in that they offered refunds for everybody who bought it to play on Linux/Mac, no matter how many hours of it they have played.
BlueTemplar 5y ago
Used to be the case for Steam with their official "no refunds" policy, but unofficial "you get one refund" policy..? But is it just a rumour ? How many times is too many ?
da_chicken 5y ago
I would hope so. It's easy to finish a game in 30 days, so the system is ripe for abuse. Assuming that the games have progression achievements, GOG can easily see (a) how much time you spent in game, and (b) how far you got. If you choose to abuse the system, you're going to lose the privilege.
- baud147258 5y ago
  if you play using one of their offline game installer and not via their Galaxy launched, GOG won't see the achievements and so can't track the game time. But I'd think GOG would be tracking abuse of their system (though if one really want to get GOG games for free, since they don't have any DRMs a lot of them are available for free on the web).
MomoXenosaga 5y ago
I think that's reasonable. If you abuse the refund system you should get banned. But I don't think that it will happen a lot because piracy is already incredibly easy with GOG. If you want a free game why bother with buying it at all?