The Gamer's Bill of Rights Unveiled, Demands PC Gamers Not Be Treated as 'Potential Criminals'

There is value in a voluntary association of developers to establish a review board to rate how well a game adheres to some "bill of rights." Most of you here are looking at this from the wrong perspective. These guys are talking about a coalition developers protecting their shared interests, namely protecting and promoting the PC gaming platform in the long term as a place where you can access quality games, that don't do sneaky things in the background.

I agree with some of their points but so many of them are so vague. What does "finished state" really mean? What does "meaningful updates" really mean? What does "adequately play" mean? Something like this has to not be vague in order to be effective.

Their hearts are in the right place and I applaud them for putting this out there but with nothing behind it in the industry to back it up it's just hot air. Make some sort of industry body that rates games on these criteria. If it meets all 10 requirements (give or take some of the improbable ones) then give the game a sticker to wear in Gamestop or BestBuy or Steam (although some of these points seem to invalidate Steam) that says this game passed the Gamers Bill of Rights or something like that. I'd bet you could get a serious movement behind this to push people to buy games that meet these criteria. At least you'd know what you are getting...kinda...if we could get rid of the vague parts.

Devs have the right to develop a game and secure it through a no holds barred security system.
Publishers have the right to distribute a game regardless of content.
Retailers have the rights to sell a game at any price regardless of what the game is like, and reserve the right to refuse a refund ESPECIALLY if the game requires a key.
Gamers have the right to take it or leave it, the highway will always take you.

THAT sounds fair to me. Don't like the service then hit the road whiners.

While we are in the process of creating ridiculous, one sided, cynical, underinformed, and ultimately useless lists, I think I’ll add a few to the mix:

The Game Developers Bill of Rights:
1) Game developers have the right to NOT be responsible for games that don’t work on a Gamers spyware filled, Fry’s built Frankenstein, or off the shelf bought budget computer.
2) Game developers have the right to conjure up infinite cash in order work on a game for as long as they feel necessary in order to demand a quality and finished product.
3) Game developers have the right to conjure up more infinite cash in order to support their games post launch.
4) Game developers have the right to ensure that their 1 or 2 years of hard work are paid for at 100% retail value by every end user of their product.
5) Game developers have the right to build a game with one system specification in mind and should not be responsible for gamers that have outdated crap.
6) Game developers have the right to install whatever software or drivers they believe is required to run their game on every single user configured computer in their target audience.
7) Game developers have the right to force their publisher to host magical unlimited bandwidth internet services that contain detailed user information so every end user can download any game they have paid for legitimately on demand.
8) Game developers have the right to treat every single PC user as a criminal until the piracy rates on the PC platform drop back down under 50%.
9) Game developers have the right to ensure that their product is paid for by end users and can enforce this right by forcing gamers to connect online to verify the legitimacy of their product.
10) Game developers have the right force gamers to own a legitimate physical copy of their product and require that the physical copy be present every time the game is run.
11) Game developers have the right to always receive backend participation on their hard work, not forced into hand to mouth work for hire agreements.
12) Game developers have the right to force any publishers in the world to give them infinite money to build whatever game the developer wants made, regardless of target market, projections, or potential for success.
13) Game developers have the right to always own any IP they create.
14) Game developers have the right to walk into to any Gamers house that has pirated their product and beat the shit out of that pirate, steal anything they want before leaving, and be guaranteed protection from the possibility of any legal recourse.
15) Game developers have the right to be suspicious and assume that Game publishers, Game retailers, and Gamers are all out to screw Game developers out of their investments.

The Game Publishers Bill of Rights:
1) Game publishers have the right to rely on their limited QA and compatibility teams to ensure that games work on every spyware filled, Fry’s built Frankenstein, or off the shelf bought budget computer but ultimately are not responsible if it doesn’t work.
2) Game publishers have the right to ensure profitability of every product they invest in by creating specific budgets that Game developers must adhere to.
3) Game publishers have the right to create budgets for post ship support for a product only if the product is successful enough to warrant additional funding, and granted that the developer is still solvent and capable of providing post ship support.
4) Game publishers have the right to force gamers (via the EULA) to keep their products updated via download managers and updaters in efforts to reduce the cost of retarded call center and tech support calls.
5) Game publishers have the right to force developers to reduce their high end, graphically superior products quality down to a set of arbitrary minimum system requirements in order support the lowest common denominator consumer that fits inside the marketing departments “target market.”
6) Game publishers have the right to force gamers (via the EULA) to install the latest software or drivers they believe is required to run the game in efforts to reduce the cost of retarded call center and tech support calls.
7) Game publishers have the right to build a digital distribution system for any product they desire, allowing gamers to download, purchase, and update those products on demand as long as a system like this is affordable and has the potential for success.
8) Game publishers have the right to treat every single PC user as a criminal until the piracy rates on the PC platform drop back down under 50%.
9) Game publishers have the right to ensure that their product is paid for by end users and can enforce this right by forcing gamers to connect online to verify the legitimacy of their product.
10) Game publishers have the right force gamers to own a legitimate physical copy of their product and require that the physical copy be present every time the game is run.
11) Game publishers have the right to shop for Game developers all over the world until they find a developer that can build a game within a specific budget and on a work for hire basis.
12) Game publishers have the right to test any game idea against the target market and refuse to fund development of a game that will not be profitable.
13) Game publishers take all the risk of funding, marketing, and being legally responsible for a game, therefore they have the right to demand IP rights from developers in order to fund their game.
14) Game publishers have the right to sue the shit out of pirates and make an example out of any pirate they feel necessary in order to protect their investment and deter further piracy.
15) Game publishers have the right to do whatever they want, since they have all the money and take all the risk, period, get over it.
16) Game publishers have the right to be suspicious and assume that Game developers, Game retailers, and Gamers are all out to screw Game publishers out of their investments.

The Game Retailers Bill of Rights:
1) Game retailers have the right to refuse to refund gamers if they have opened the product or if a product doesn’t work on their spyware filled, Fry’s built Frankenstein, or off the shelf bought budget computer.
2) Game retailers have the right sell products at any price regardless of how much it cost developers or publishers.
3) Game retailers have the right to force Game developers and Game publishers to never release post ship DLC or updates, instead those further updates must be converted into retail product that can be sold for profit.
4) Game retailers have the right to demand that publishers do whatever it takes to ensure that Gamers do not return copies to their store, this includes forcing users to update their products by any means necessary.
5) Game retailers have the right no not care what publishers or developers put on the box in regards to system requirements and ultimately leave the task of determining if a game will run or not up to the well informed purchasing consumer.
6) Game retailers have the right to not be responsible for what is inside the game box and what the software does to a Gamer’s computer.
7) Game retailers have the right to re-sell copies of games to Gamers that are too stupid to keep their disc in good working order or lose their products using whatever means necessary to ensure that Gamers come back to the store to spend more money.
8) Game retailers have the right to refuse the return of opened PC games since the user is likely a criminal that has just bought the game, copied to their hard drive, and is now returning it.
9) Game retailers have the right to demand that Game publishers and Game developers force games to connect to the internet at all times so that pirating becomes harder, ensuring that Gamers actually come in to the store to buy physical copies of the games they are playing.
10) Game retailers have the right to demand that Game publishers and Game developers force games to require a physical CD/DVD to be present in order to run the game, ensuring that Gamers actually come in to the store to buy physical copies of the games they are playing.
11) Game retailers have the right to not be required to pay publishers any profits on “used” copy sales.
12) Game retailers have the right to protect against losing money by not carrying a single copy of a game that has not received any pre-orders.
13) Game retailers have the right to open every product making it “used” so when gamers attempt to return the product, they can buy the product back as “used” instead of issuing a full refund, then turn around a sell that product for 90% of the new price.
14) Game retailers have the right to be suspicious and assume that Game publishers, Game developers, and Gamers are all out to screw Game retailers out of their investments.

And one more to add to the Gamers Bill of Rights:
11) Gamers have the right to be suspicious and assume that Game publishers, Game developers, and Game retailers are all out to screw Gamers out of their hard earned money.

Now, if you put all four of these lists next to each other, you can easily see that the business of game development contains many contradictory elements since there are essentially 4+ parties involved with radically different requirements and expectations for each and every product.

... stupid document is stupid.

You want a bill of rights for gamers?

You have the right to give or not give your money to a publisher for any reason. ANY reason. Further, you have the right to talk to other people about these reasons. These two rights alone are enough to force publishers to change whatever behaviors you want. Well... any behavior outside of making a profit. That's what a business is for, after all. ;-)

At any rate, DRM, buggy games, bad games... so long as you continue to pay for these things, publishers will look at this list and laugh. Now, if you started penalizing publishers for these behaviors by not giving them your money and convincing others not to give them money, then you might be on to something.

You already have the rights needed as gamers to get what you want. Use them. Tell other people to use them, and let publishers know WHY you're using them.

1. I do not agree, that is why they list Min Specs on the box.

2. Wishful thinking.

3. Agreed, no matter if the game is complete or not, bugs will be found.

4. Agreed.

5. Agreed, see # 1

6. AGREED

7. Agreed, but with some type of security.

8. AGREED

9. agreed

10. agreed

That is what i think of the list.

Well, numbers 2 and 3 are in contradiction ... if the game is 'complete' why would I *expect* meaningful updates?

Numbers 4 and 9 would throw Steam out the window.

And number 10 is so well entreenched that I don't see it failing.

They get a C- grade on this from me.

People don't actually think digital downloads can be sold without DRM do they? The industry cannot survive on the honour system. I too would like less strict protection, but wake up. Without the crap like securom the games would be far easier to pirate.

Also the first point is stupid. Return games? I can't agree, as CD-Keys are now a major part of online games. How can you return a CD-Key? Not unless a system is put in place to delete the key and provide the retail outlet with a new one to slap on the game.

So basically, according to these rights, we should demand that retailers allow us to return PC games after we've installed them on the machine which doesn't require the game CD/DVD to be in the drive? What the fuck is wrong with these people?

Unfortunately, it seems like now developers havre hoined the "in denial about piracy" crowd.

Until the people being the pirate bay anre behind bars and their site shutdown, developers have the right to protect their work.

praise stardock. fuck everyone else. finally somebody who gets it - if you make your consumers your enemies, they WILL BE your enemies.

It sounds good - but in the end the consumer has enough power to decide and support developers that follow at least parts of this bill of rights.

Personally I agree to about 7 / 10 of the points, not all are currently realistic, especially 1, 5 & 7 may be impossible to consequently offer to all consumers by a smaller publisher/developer.

Oh, by the way, since this bill has been proposed to the public, can we propose an ammendment to the document? Clearly, there are people who don't like this and want to change something..

This is a bit much with all the "shall"s isnt it? Some are good but some are a bit whiny sounding.

OMG I can't believe what I'm seeing, I mean, I like the concept and all but what the hell? Stardock and Demigod dev. made this? Then Published it to game sites?

I can't help but laugh, even if it is for the greater good.

This is a bastardization of the concept of rights, as each of the "rights" listed involves an abrogation of the publishers right to property. As others have said, buy the game if you think it's worth it, and don't buy it if not. It's called voluntary exchange, with no conditions forced on either actor. It's a radical idea embraced by our founders, and still not fully understood or accepted to this day.

It's a nice idea. That said, oof. They stretched it to reach 10, maybe they liked the round number or wanted to draw comparison to the 10 commandments. Their language is loaded and clunky. Stardock's choices talk up the style of game that they favour and do not - and should not - apply across everything.

It's a mixed bag. They are drawing attention to some really important issues and it's fantastic that they are but it feels cheapened by their implementation.

Developers, publishers and their shareholders have the right to protect their investment.

I agree with the vast majority of this list but there are some things on here that if I were a games developer I would implement. And I pretty sure most of you would too.

a-fucking men to number 4

I'm all for rights and I'd rather us have a problematic set of rights than no rights, but #10 is usually how you prevent having to do #9 - and I hate #9 more than I hate #10...

The original Bill of Rights was written by arguably the best minds of the time.

We all want those things, we the players should vote with our wallets about what is a good and bad game. We don't need a document to tell publishers what we expect.

Dear Publishers,
You only need to know one thing. If your shit sucks we wont support it.

I vote for Stardock!

Read that 200 times, PCGA idiots!

#7 is especially annoying to me. EA has the temerity to to try and sell me the privilege of being able to download my game more than once within a 3 year period. They pulled this with my downloaded version of Crysis.

I simply went to the Pirate Bay and saved myself the insult.

#10 would be great for laptop gamers. I don't want to tote a damn sleeve of CDs around to play a few games.

I'd like to know Safedisc's response, among others, as I think I hear in the faint distance their funeral being called for.

Unfortunately this is a pipe dream. Piracy is a huge problem and anyone who's been to a torrent aggregation site or been to a LAN party can tell you. Developers/publishers have to take some measures to try and protect their investments, no matter how feeble they are. Otherwise they'll abandon the platform or make only MMOs or casual games.

Oh wait...

Did anyone care to notice the express wording of this list?

It says you have the right to EXPECT and DEMAND.

Hell we've always had the right to EXPECT and DEMAND....doesn't mean it ever got us anywhere...

good lord, only in a wet dream would even a fraction of those ever happen.

this is embarassing

#3 is completely retarded.

#1 is probably a bit unrealistic, but kinda goes with #2.

I think right of sale should have been included. We're already losing that one, but I think it is salvageable.

I will be happy if Only #2 was on the list

Gamers shall have the right to demand that games be released in a finished state.

There's a lot of stuff I'd like to see happen in there, but I wouldn't say I have the "right" to any of it.

I dont like the fact how this seems to feel more like a joke and not written in a serious tone.

Yeahhhh. This is a great idea, but not particularly well executed. Some of it could and should happen pronto, some of it will not. I mean, CD checks and the like are so easy to defeat, I don't know why anyone bothers to use them. I routinely use cracks for games I legitimately purchased, just because I don't feel like swapping discs all the time.

breaking number 9 is the only way to solve piracy.

Most important thing to me would be to reduce the price for games here locally. So instead of paying $100 for a new title, make it < $70 or whatever the price is overseas. Make Steam or something similair to become the windows pc standard for game distro with the option to have a hardcopy sent to you.

It doesn't solve piracy, but when games are a reasonale price and easy to buy its frightening how quickly you will snap them up instead of going to a torrent site.

This sounds good and all, but it will never work.

What is this? this is retarded. somebody at stardock needs something to do.

GPG's Space Siege may have been finished, but it still sucked. Where's the no sucky games right?

Fucking signed.

This struck me as kind of stupid. Instead of such a profound title, this thing should be called "things PC gamers want" or "how to make PC games more consumer-friendly" or even "things PC gamers don't like about DRM and game licensing."