6 ms·

Yes they wanted 45% so Valve slapped on another 30% while not providing any or minimal QA from Valve or Bethesda for that other 75%?. As with the Store or Gree

by mxfh 12y ago

Yes they wanted 45% so Valve slapped on another 30% while not providing any or minimal QA from Valve or Bethesda for that other 75%?. As with the Store or Greenlight before outsourcing tasks to the community (reviews/greenlight votes) doesn't mean Valve isn't responsible for the stuff they offer in their store. A 24h hour refund policy is simply laughable when non-waiveable EU consumer rights regulations require 14 days. The other thing is the quite astronomic payout cap at $100 which means any hobbyist has to sell $400 ore more, depending on taxes before he see any of his efforts compensated. This further shows that Valve was not interested in amateurs but this was all about professionalizing the modding scene to a few contributors.

grovulent 12y ago
And don't forget they were trying to minimise the potential competition and challenge to their revenue streams that modding represents.
Vespasian 12y ago
> non-waiveable EU consumer rights regulations require 14 days I don't think this is true in the case of purely digital products. As far as I am aware of the german implementation of this regulation it explicitly allows to waive the rights before the first download. Like many companies steam does this during checkout ("I agree..").
- mxfh 12y ago
  That Steam allows it doesn't make it legally binding or compliant with current regulations which override any TOS/EULA in a given legal region. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/consumer_rights/distance_selling.html http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consum... «In the case of digital content, the cooling-off period expires when the downloading or streaming starts.» Says you can't waive it; for digital downloads the 14 day period get's annulled once you start downloading/streaming, not at checkout. Since many more things can go wrong with software(games) then compared to linear media (books/music/video) that implementation is still questionable. Untouched by this, at least in Germany every product sold (including Software) comes with two years of warranty ("Gewährleistung") which is established between the consumer an the reseller (at point of final sale, in this case Valve SARL) which first requires the reseller to provide a working product ("Nacherfüllung") if that's not possible the customer is entitled to a refund. Not that that this is found in many online shops in Germany, but those are the regulations that Valve has to follow by when selling software (games) to German customers.
mcphage 12y ago
> so Valve slapped on another 30% while not providing any or minimal QA from Valve Valve was charging 30% for operating the storefront, handling payment, the value of having spent years building a site where people are willing to come and pay for things, the value of having built a service that would allow modders to make money building off of another company's work, and so on. Valve's 30% was well deserved.
- mxfh 12y ago
  Heaving dealt with Valve customer service a few times, the 30% is definitely not going into training, hiring more or providing responsive and helpful customer service. Valve only get's away with it because they run a de facto monopoly.
  - mcphage 12y ago
    > the 30% is definitely not going into training, hiring more or providing responsive and helpful customer service It should, certainly, and it's not, but I didn't claim that it was.

by mxfh 12y ago

grovulent 12y ago

And don't forget they were trying to minimise the potential competition and challenge to their revenue streams that modding represents.

Vespasian 12y ago

> non-waiveable EU consumer rights regulations require 14 days I don't think this is true in the case of purely digital products. As far as I am aware of the german implementation of this regulation it explicitly allows to waive the rights before the first download. Like many companies steam does this during checkout ("I agree..").

mxfh 12y ago
That Steam allows it doesn't make it legally binding or compliant with current regulations which override any TOS/EULA in a given legal region. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/consumer_rights/distance_selling.html http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consum... «In the case of digital content, the cooling-off period expires when the downloading or streaming starts.» Says you can't waive it; for digital downloads the 14 day period get's annulled once you start downloading/streaming, not at checkout. Since many more things can go wrong with software(games) then compared to linear media (books/music/video) that implementation is still questionable. Untouched by this, at least in Germany every product sold (including Software) comes with two years of warranty ("Gewährleistung") which is established between the consumer an the reseller (at point of final sale, in this case Valve SARL) which first requires the reseller to provide a working product ("Nacherfüllung") if that's not possible the customer is entitled to a refund. Not that that this is found in many online shops in Germany, but those are the regulations that Valve has to follow by when selling software (games) to German customers.

mcphage 12y ago

> so Valve slapped on another 30% while not providing any or minimal QA from Valve Valve was charging 30% for operating the storefront, handling payment, the value of having spent years building a site where people are willing to come and pay for things, the value of having built a service that would allow modders to make money building off of another company's work, and so on. Valve's 30% was well deserved.

mxfh 12y ago
Heaving dealt with Valve customer service a few times, the 30% is definitely not going into training, hiring more or providing responsive and helpful customer service. Valve only get's away with it because they run a de facto monopoly.
- mcphage 12y ago
  > the 30% is definitely not going into training, hiring more or providing responsive and helpful customer service It should, certainly, and it's not, but I didn't claim that it was.