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General discussion (archive)APB shuts down tonight(50 posts)(50 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted September 17, 2010
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DarrkPhoenix: While I know the US has very little in the way of consumer protection laws, I'd be curious to hear some input from someone in the UK on how a shutdown like this works in light of the Sale of Goods Act. Can anyone who bought the game in the UK now demand a refund? Or are there enough loopholes or enforcement difficulties to prevent people from being able to force a refund?

The question becomes: Why would you deserve a refund?
If you just bought the game in the last month or so: Probably do. I think someone said Walmart was giving refunds.
If you bought the game in the past: Why the hell would you deserve a refund? You were buying a subscription-based game in the first place. Those servers go down eventually. This was sooner than expected, but so be it. If you got your initial month or so of gameplay out of it, you got your money's worth.
Posted September 17, 2010
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Gundato: The question becomes: Why would you deserve a refund?
If you just bought the game in the last month or so: Probably do. I think someone said Walmart was giving refunds.
If you bought the game in the past: Why the hell would you deserve a refund? You were buying a subscription-based game in the first place. Those servers go down eventually. This was sooner than expected, but so be it. If you got your initial month or so of gameplay out of it, you got your money's worth.

Yup. If you bought the game within the last month and never got your included time then I could see a refund, but otherwise no dice. When you buy an subscription game you know what you are getting.
Which is a main reason I don't like boxed games being subscriptions.
Posted September 18, 2010
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Gundato: The question becomes: Why would you deserve a refund?

That's not a question that interests me, which is why I asked specifically about the Sale of Goods Act, and not "do people deserve a refund." My understanding is that the Act allows consumers to request goods be repaired, replaced, or refunded (in part or full) if there's an issue within six months of purchase that's related to the state of the goods when they were sold. I'm interested to hear from someone a bit more familiar with UK law than I am about whether the Sale of Goods Act would apply to this case, or whether there are nuances that I'm not familiar with that make it not applicable.
Posted September 18, 2010
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DarrkPhoenix: That's not a question that interests me, which is why I asked specifically about the Sale of Goods Act, and not "do people deserve a refund." My understanding is that the Act allows consumers to request goods be repaired, replaced, or refunded (in part or full) if there's an issue within six months of purchase that's related to the state of the goods when they were sold. I'm interested to hear from someone a bit more familiar with UK law than I am about whether the Sale of Goods Act would apply to this case, or whether there are nuances that I'm not familiar with that make it not applicable.

If that is a part of that law then I would be VERY eager to see that play out. Everyone knows I have a hatred for games as a service, and that law could cost a lot of stores a lot of money for selling boxes that are actually service codes.
Posted September 18, 2010
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michaelleung: I heard that the UK laws on refunds are very janky and depend on goods sold, that type of stuff. But if you're in the EU refunds are easier to get.

The UK is in the EU.
Posted September 18, 2010
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michaelleung: I heard that the UK laws on refunds are very janky and depend on goods sold, that type of stuff. But if you're in the EU refunds are easier to get.
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Wishbone: The UK is in the EU.
and actually has better refund laws in some areas as we tend to add extras onto laws both those good for and bad for the public but thats another matter.
In other news APB has apparently been bought by another company at least thats the rumor floating around.
Posted September 18, 2010
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wodmarach: In other news APB has apparently been bought by another company at least thats the rumor floating around.

As far I'm aware, the rumours only got a far as companies taking an interest (specifically Epic). Would be surprised if it got resurrected now.
Posted September 18, 2010
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DelusionsBeta: Would be surprised if it got resurrected now.

I don't think it's feasible to even attempt to resurrect it without a major overhaul of both the game itself and the payment model.
Posted September 18, 2010
APB is awesome ("is", not "was", since the servers are still up, it's free to play for anyone who has an account etc, but no one knows for how long). After they added recoil, new sound effects and a vastly improved matchmaking system, it was pretty much what it should have been at launch. It's a shame for such an ambitious project to go to waste... It had a lot of potential but, due to a few fatal mistakes, failed to show it off to the world. Reminds me of my fav game of all time - PlanetSide...
And, like with PlanetSide, APB's failure will make sure that no one will ever try to make a similar game ever again. Only WoW clones, cause any pencil pusher type decision-maker can see that APB failed and WoW is a great hit and money factory... :P
Post edited September 18, 2010 by Firek
Posted September 18, 2010
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Firek: APB is awesome ("is", not "was", since the servers are still up, it's free to play for anyone who has an account etc, but no one knows for how long). After they added recoil, new sound effects and a vastly improved matchmaking system, it was pretty much what it should have been at launch. It's a shame for such an ambitious project to go to waste... It had a lot of potential but, due to a few fatal mistakes, failed to show it off to the world. Reminds me of my fav game of all time - PlanetSide...

I think it's main problem, past the mechanics they were fixing, was the pricing model. For the 5 hours I played the game during the demo event it felt like pretty standard team-on-team counter-strike style gameplay in an open city, like GTA4's multiplayer... there was nothing that made me want to pay a subscription for it.
If it was "free to play" after you bought it, or if it was a free download and then you paid for hours, I could have seen more appeal in it.
Posted September 18, 2010
The sign is still lit on Realtime Worlds Offices as I pass them everyday on my way to school. There's definitely something going on in there.
This is really a big disappointment as Dundee was trying to make themselves one of the centres of game development, this will definitely put a wrench in the works.
Posted September 18, 2010
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evilguy12: The sign is still lit on Realtime Worlds Offices as I pass them everyday on my way to school. There's definitely something going on in there.
This is really a big disappointment as Dundee was trying to make themselves one of the centres of game development, this will definitely put a wrench in the works.

They're closing up shop.
I also wonder how stupid that "Human Avatar" guy feels now, the one who got the tattoo, piercings, etc. all for the game.
Posted September 18, 2010
Looks like Epic Games may be picking it up.
Post edited September 18, 2010 by Lou
Posted September 18, 2010
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Lou: Looks like Epic Games may be picking it up.

*sounds the RUMOUR siren*
Posted September 18, 2010
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evilguy12: The sign is still lit on Realtime Worlds Offices as I pass them everyday on my way to school. There's definitely something going on in there.
This is really a big disappointment as Dundee was trying to make themselves one of the centres of game development, this will definitely put a wrench in the works.

Dundee: The Next Silicon Valley
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General discussion (archive)APB shuts down tonight(50 posts)(50 posts)
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