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Interesting. In 2017 I purchased a game on Steam that was said to work on Linux (SW KOTOR 2). It didn't get past the initial splash screen. Contacted Steam supp

Interesting. In 2017 I purchased a game on Steam that was said to work on Linux (SW KOTOR 2). It didn't get past the initial splash screen. Contacted Steam support and they refunded without question. Would that experience have been different if I wasn't an Australian?

jamesgeck0 4y ago
No. Valve has offered refunds in all countries since mid-2015. The Australian suit was filed in 2014. The usual refund conditions are “less than two hours of play, within two weeks of purchase.”
- bombcar 4y ago
  I recall some minor controversy as there are story games with less than two hours of gameplay and everyone was refunding them.
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    eh, it’s not the end of the world if games just have to provide more than 2 hours gameplay. Steam is targeted at longer form entertainment. Just extend the story out with some puzzles or challenges that send the gameplay over 2 hours.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      As another poster mentioned, some have done just that - added "filler" to a game to inflate it over the 2 hour bar, which is disappointing. There should be some sliding scale where you can make a great 2 hour or less game without the risk of infinite refunding (perhaps the game could be marked with a "half-way" point, etc, though that would involve the shop actually playing it).
  - vermilingua 4y ago
    The problem I've now noticed is that there are many games with ~2hrs of filler before real content (which may only be worth 1-2hrs) begins...
  - nigma1337 4y ago
    I know this happened a lot with Sonic Forces.
  - NeoTar 4y ago
    There is a minor genre of YouTube content with people speed-running longer games (e.g. Fallout, Skyrim) to fit into the two hour Steam-return window. Ironically because speed-running requires a lot of practice this often means purchasing two copies of the game - the first to practice with, and the second to be (potentially) refunded!
- doctor_lollipop 4y ago
  I'm still upset with them: A couple of years ago, Linux support for Rust (the game) was discontinued and the publisher said that all Linux users would get a refund on Steam, regardless of play time. I tried several times but all my attempts at getting a refund were rejected. Not much you can do - if the machines decide you don't get a refund, well, then you don't. I haven't bought anything on Steam since.
  - kadoban 4y ago
    Wouldn't that be more the publisher's fault?
    - doctor_lollipop 4y ago
      Hard to tell. It's Steam that refuses the refund, no idea how the decision is made. Apparently others managed to eventually get the refund by trying again and again; maybe I gave up too soon.
  - chris_wot 4y ago
    In Australia, take it to the ACCC. If the machine says no, then the ACCC goes to the machine’s owner and scares the living daylights out of them.
    - Benjamin_Dobell 4y ago
      Only if there's the possibility of a massive fine involved. The ACCC receive FAR too many reports to action any more than a tiny percentage of them. More often than not they respond saying they can't confirm or deny any violation, but you should try mediation.
      - Handytinge 4y ago
        The threat of the ACCC is usually enough for international companies to provide the refund, in my experience. Link them to the Repair, Replace, Refund page[0] and you're good. 0. https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/repair-replace-refund https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees...
- xaitv 4y ago
  I remember when the latest DOOM title added a rootkit for anticheat. I had like 4-5h of playtime but still got a refund when I gave the reason "I didn't buy a rootkit". Not in Australia either.
- smileybarry 4y ago
  Also, before then, Valve had a "one-time exception" to "no refunds" that you could use. I bought 2 copies of a game advertising co-op to play with a friend, only to discover it's local-only. (Steam didn't have separate "local/remote play/online co-op" labels yet) I opened a ticket and they refunded me as a "one time exception".
bebna 4y ago
I bought a game in 2020 on valves Steam that said it was macOS compatible. Did found out after starting it, that it required a dedicated GPU, which I didn't had. If I would have looked into the System Requirements I would have seen clearly that dedicated GPU was required. They refunded my game after a short and polite message without any fuzz. I said thanks by buying a different game instead. Shame for the dev yes, but it was already an older one, that the developers moved on from years ago, so I didn't felt too bad about that.
Arnavion 4y ago
Tangential, but KOTOR 2 does work for me on Linux as of a few months ago. If you're still in the mood for it, maybe try again?
- srazzaque 4y ago
  Yep. I tried again a year or so later and it "just worked". Still one of my favourite games, even though it hasn't aged well. I suppose I could have invested time to diagnose the original issue (drivers, OS upgrades, etc). But, it was good to see that Steam just refunded without insisting it was an issue on my end (which, it may well have been, given the disparity of Linux systems).

jamesgeck0 4y ago

No. Valve has offered refunds in all countries since mid-2015. The Australian suit was filed in 2014. The usual refund conditions are “less than two hours of play, within two weeks of purchase.”

bombcar 4y ago
I recall some minor controversy as there are story games with less than two hours of gameplay and everyone was refunding them.
- Gigachad 4y ago
  eh, it’s not the end of the world if games just have to provide more than 2 hours gameplay. Steam is targeted at longer form entertainment. Just extend the story out with some puzzles or challenges that send the gameplay over 2 hours.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    As another poster mentioned, some have done just that - added "filler" to a game to inflate it over the 2 hour bar, which is disappointing. There should be some sliding scale where you can make a great 2 hour or less game without the risk of infinite refunding (perhaps the game could be marked with a "half-way" point, etc, though that would involve the shop actually playing it).
- vermilingua 4y ago
  The problem I've now noticed is that there are many games with ~2hrs of filler before real content (which may only be worth 1-2hrs) begins...
- nigma1337 4y ago
  I know this happened a lot with Sonic Forces.
- NeoTar 4y ago
  There is a minor genre of YouTube content with people speed-running longer games (e.g. Fallout, Skyrim) to fit into the two hour Steam-return window. Ironically because speed-running requires a lot of practice this often means purchasing two copies of the game - the first to practice with, and the second to be (potentially) refunded!
doctor_lollipop 4y ago
I'm still upset with them: A couple of years ago, Linux support for Rust (the game) was discontinued and the publisher said that all Linux users would get a refund on Steam, regardless of play time. I tried several times but all my attempts at getting a refund were rejected. Not much you can do - if the machines decide you don't get a refund, well, then you don't. I haven't bought anything on Steam since.
- kadoban 4y ago
  Wouldn't that be more the publisher's fault?
  - doctor_lollipop 4y ago
    Hard to tell. It's Steam that refuses the refund, no idea how the decision is made. Apparently others managed to eventually get the refund by trying again and again; maybe I gave up too soon.
- chris_wot 4y ago
  In Australia, take it to the ACCC. If the machine says no, then the ACCC goes to the machine’s owner and scares the living daylights out of them.
  - Benjamin_Dobell 4y ago
    Only if there's the possibility of a massive fine involved. The ACCC receive FAR too many reports to action any more than a tiny percentage of them. More often than not they respond saying they can't confirm or deny any violation, but you should try mediation.
    - Handytinge 4y ago
      The threat of the ACCC is usually enough for international companies to provide the refund, in my experience. Link them to the Repair, Replace, Refund page[0] and you're good. 0. https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/repair-replace-refund https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees...
xaitv 4y ago
I remember when the latest DOOM title added a rootkit for anticheat. I had like 4-5h of playtime but still got a refund when I gave the reason "I didn't buy a rootkit". Not in Australia either.
smileybarry 4y ago
Also, before then, Valve had a "one-time exception" to "no refunds" that you could use. I bought 2 copies of a game advertising co-op to play with a friend, only to discover it's local-only. (Steam didn't have separate "local/remote play/online co-op" labels yet) I opened a ticket and they refunded me as a "one time exception".

bebna 4y ago

I bought a game in 2020 on valves Steam that said it was macOS compatible. Did found out after starting it, that it required a dedicated GPU, which I didn't had. If I would have looked into the System Requirements I would have seen clearly that dedicated GPU was required. They refunded my game after a short and polite message without any fuzz. I said thanks by buying a different game instead. Shame for the dev yes, but it was already an older one, that the developers moved on from years ago, so I didn't felt too bad about that.

Arnavion 4y ago

Tangential, but KOTOR 2 does work for me on Linux as of a few months ago. If you're still in the mood for it, maybe try again?

srazzaque 4y ago
Yep. I tried again a year or so later and it "just worked". Still one of my favourite games, even though it hasn't aged well. I suppose I could have invested time to diagnose the original issue (drivers, OS upgrades, etc). But, it was good to see that Steam just refunded without insisting it was an issue on my end (which, it may well have been, given the disparity of Linux systems).