KodiaX987
May 13, 2009, 09:57 PM
This applies if you meet any of the following criterias:
You believe that a game developer is in the moral obligation to patch bugs in the game.
You believe that a game developer is in the moral obligation to release content updates for the game.
You believe that a game developer is in the moral obligation to listen to its community and heed its requests.
You believe that a game developer is in the moral obligation to deliver games that people can enjoy.
Before I continue on, I will remind you that any company ever made in existence is made with the sole purpose of generating profit. It must generate profit in the quickest and most secure possible manner. A company that does not make profit is a dead company. A company that breaks even and stagnates is a dead company. A company is only concerned in its brand image to the extent that it will allow it to generate more profit.
Furthermore, a company will release patches and updates if this includes a sizeable chance to make a substantial profit that is worth the effort. A company will release patches and content updates if this will cause people to buy more of the game, or another game that this company has made.
Therefore, the truth is:
A game developer has no obligation to patch bugs in the game.
A game developer has no obligation to release content updates for the game.
A game developer has no obligation to listen to its community and heed its requests.
A game developer has no obligation to deliver games that people can enjoy.
At any time, the developer can choose to disregard the community's suggestions. In fact, the developer disregards those suggestions on a daily basis, and this is a good thing too, for the sheer majority of those suggestions are completely fucking stupid (http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/232002.page;jsessionid=5FF3A100D454E2E3441D8C63781 49756). If you believe you somehow have a flair for game design and balancing, I'll let you in on a secret: you do not. Trust me, you do not. No matter how much you want to sink in that delusion, do not even expect for a second that your is balanced.
There is no quality law for video games. None. If there had been, the makers of Big Rigs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rigs:_Over_the_Road_Racing) would have gotten arrested a long time ago and Electronic Arts would be under a severe audit at this very moment.
There is no law that forces a developer to fix its game.
In fact, a company may publish a game that simply does not work, and there will be nothing you can do about it. There won't even be a class action lawsuit because so few people will have bought the game that taking the company to court would be meaningless - and good luck on winning the suit in the first place.
You'll notice this all looks familiar to something I said a while ago. Yes, it is. But I want to be more generalized this time.
You might feel entitled to more content than you paid for in your game. You are not.
You might feel entitled to a sequel to the great book you bought that proclaims "First of an upcoming series!" on the cover. You are not.
You might feel entitled to follow-ups from a business because you bought from them. You are not.
You might feel that the business will listen to you if you threaten to stop buying from them because they won't fix something for you. They will not. In fact, businesses are more likely to refuse service to known complainers - because complainers are more trouble for a business than they are worth.
In fact, we'll cut this short and to the point: any obligations you feel a business has to you, it has not. The best thing you can ever expect from a business is for it to replace a defective product for a new and working one.
For everything else, you can pretty much suck it.
You believe that a game developer is in the moral obligation to patch bugs in the game.
You believe that a game developer is in the moral obligation to release content updates for the game.
You believe that a game developer is in the moral obligation to listen to its community and heed its requests.
You believe that a game developer is in the moral obligation to deliver games that people can enjoy.
Before I continue on, I will remind you that any company ever made in existence is made with the sole purpose of generating profit. It must generate profit in the quickest and most secure possible manner. A company that does not make profit is a dead company. A company that breaks even and stagnates is a dead company. A company is only concerned in its brand image to the extent that it will allow it to generate more profit.
Furthermore, a company will release patches and updates if this includes a sizeable chance to make a substantial profit that is worth the effort. A company will release patches and content updates if this will cause people to buy more of the game, or another game that this company has made.
Therefore, the truth is:
A game developer has no obligation to patch bugs in the game.
A game developer has no obligation to release content updates for the game.
A game developer has no obligation to listen to its community and heed its requests.
A game developer has no obligation to deliver games that people can enjoy.
At any time, the developer can choose to disregard the community's suggestions. In fact, the developer disregards those suggestions on a daily basis, and this is a good thing too, for the sheer majority of those suggestions are completely fucking stupid (http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/232002.page;jsessionid=5FF3A100D454E2E3441D8C63781 49756). If you believe you somehow have a flair for game design and balancing, I'll let you in on a secret: you do not. Trust me, you do not. No matter how much you want to sink in that delusion, do not even expect for a second that your is balanced.
There is no quality law for video games. None. If there had been, the makers of Big Rigs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rigs:_Over_the_Road_Racing) would have gotten arrested a long time ago and Electronic Arts would be under a severe audit at this very moment.
There is no law that forces a developer to fix its game.
In fact, a company may publish a game that simply does not work, and there will be nothing you can do about it. There won't even be a class action lawsuit because so few people will have bought the game that taking the company to court would be meaningless - and good luck on winning the suit in the first place.
You'll notice this all looks familiar to something I said a while ago. Yes, it is. But I want to be more generalized this time.
You might feel entitled to more content than you paid for in your game. You are not.
You might feel entitled to a sequel to the great book you bought that proclaims "First of an upcoming series!" on the cover. You are not.
You might feel entitled to follow-ups from a business because you bought from them. You are not.
You might feel that the business will listen to you if you threaten to stop buying from them because they won't fix something for you. They will not. In fact, businesses are more likely to refuse service to known complainers - because complainers are more trouble for a business than they are worth.
In fact, we'll cut this short and to the point: any obligations you feel a business has to you, it has not. The best thing you can ever expect from a business is for it to replace a defective product for a new and working one.
For everything else, you can pretty much suck it.