Stardock, the dudes behind the Galactic Civilizations series, have taken it upon themselves to write up a "Gamer's Bill of Rights", in light of a lot of the silliness going on in the game industry these days. They mainly focus on PC gaming, of course, but a good bit of it you can apply to console games, too. So here you are, gamers, your ten rights worth fighting for:
1. Gamers shall have the right to return games that don't work with their computers for a full refund.
2. Gamers shall have the right to demand that games be released in a finished state.
3. Gamers shall have the right to expect meaningful updates after a game's release.
4. Gamers shall have the right to demand that download managers and updaters not force themselves to run or be forced to load in order to play a game.
5. Gamers shall have the right to expect that the minimum requirements for a game will mean that the game will play adequately on that computer.
6. Gamers shall have the right to expect that games won't install hidden drivers or other potentially harmful software without their consent.
7. Gamers shall have the right to re-download the latest versions of the games they own at any time.
8. Gamers shall have the right to not be treated as potential criminals by developers or publishers.
9. Gamers shall have the right to demand that a single-player game not force them to be connected to the Internet every time they wish to play.
10. Gamers shall have the right that games which are installed to the hard drive shall not require a CD/DVD to remain in the drive to play.
Oh, and Matt Peckham of PCWorld has one he'd like to add:
11. Gamers shall have the right to expect members of the gaming press to challenge game companies when they violate any of the above principles.
The press is an engine of inquiry, not a press-release patsy. There's supposed to be an element of bias in expert reporting. You wouldn't accept on its face what a politician tells you, and you shouldn't uncritically accept what a game company does as in everyone's best interest. As history shows us, time and again, that's not always the case.
Amen, brother!
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