Do you "vote with your dollar" and refuse to give your money to some digital or retail stores? (Steam, Origin, Gamestop, etc.)

Nope. Not really if someplace has what I want and at a price I'm willing to pay I'll pay it.

I use to for the longest time, but I have given up. Everything I have "voted with my dollar" for keeps happening and keeps getting worse so I'm tired of wasting my time and depriving myself of things I would otherwise enjoy because I hate a certain part of it. They are going to do what they want to do and there's nothing we can do to stop them. So grab some lube, grasp them ankles, and get ready because this generation is going to get reeeeeallly bad.

I do, not for Steam or Origin or Uplay though. Whoever has the best deal at the right time gets my money.

Yes. A few months ago I stopped going to EB Games. I had always heard how awful the American Gamestops were in regards to pushing protections plans, preorders, and other extras I didn't want, but it never seemed to find its way into the Canadian stores (or at least not the ones I shopped at) and I could happily go in and complete my transactions without any fuss. But a few months ago I went to pick something up and the clerk just kept pushing more and more (the guarantee, points cards, etc) and that was enough to me. There's one area where I would say my consumer knowledge is pretty good and that's video games. I know what I want or need and don't like having someone trying to sell me a pile of things I'm not looking for.

Well usually if I don't want something I don't buy it. And I just use steam most of the time anyways; I can usually wait until a sale comes.

yeah. No Origin for me. I might go back to EA games depending on what strings they attach to their PS4 releases. We'll see what they do.

It's not even out of principle really. It's just that I have had so much trouble with their EA/Origin logins on Xbox360 games that it seemed like Origin on a PC would be a bad mistake. I still can't play ME3 reliably. There are some bugs in their EA login they never bothered to fix.

Not really. It's a pretty crappy form of democracy, although I can't remember the exact reasons why.

I dont think i've been so outraged by a publisher or developer that i refuse to buy their game even though i actually want it.

Though I don't go to gamestops anymore because they're so pushy and annoying. It's not really a boycott, its more of me just wanting to buy a damn game and avoid the "do you wanna sign up for this?" "do you want to buy it used instead?" "do you want to preorder this completely different game?". I hate it. So i just go somewhere else instead.

Wherever it's cheapest is where I'll buy it

The only company I refuse to deal with is Apple, because they directly screwed me over. I don't have an issue with any of the stores you listed.

Not particularly.

I go to the locally-owned game store instead of gamestop/best buy/etc. I'd rather support the place that stocks more games than those released in the past 5 years.

No I buy games however is most convenient for me.

For instance I have no problems with Game for Windows Live and I actually like the way it ties achievements and progress to my GamerTag. I wish more PC games offered the option to use Games for Windows Live.

Why isn't it voting with my dollar when I do buy from them? I'm just voting the opposite way.

O yeah, I refuse to give Apple a dime for their hardware, because I think shitting-out-a-new-peace-of-hardware-every-year-that-is-marginally-better-then-the-last-one is not the way I want to buy my phones, tablets and laptops. I'm old school that way, my hardware cycle is about 4-5 years, other devices soothe me just fine.

And I don't mind paying a little more if its from a service or store I like/trust/think is doing stuff better.

I do. That's our only power as consumers -- buy, or don't buy.

I've never paid for in-game microtransactions on a full-priced game, because I think the practice is disgusting. I've never bought a full-priced 'boxed' game digitally, because I'm not comfortable trading my ability to liquidate my library for the convenience of staying indoors, at the same price (consoles only, though; I'm fine at the $40 price point for Vita and 3DS).

I think it's a shame that anyone would spend money on something they don't support, just because they pretend they can't live without some new shiny. But at the same time, each person needs to judge value for themselves. I'm not interested in Xbone because I frequently use my old games to buy new games; that's important to me, and there is no bit of content they can show that will convince me otherwise. Other people don't give a shit and that's fair too.

But that's also why you can see an online uproar (Origin vs Steam), and EA won't notice, because enough people don't care. Gamers often like to make a stink but are easily tempted to ignore their principals because it's an industry predicated on unjustifiable want. You don't ever need a game. You just want it.

And there's nothing wrong with that, really, except the industry now has the expectation they can do whatever they want and gamers will just take it. The Xbone was built around that idea.

I feel that you can't complain about practices you actively support and expect anyone to take your gripes seriously. That's where we're at now, I think. Xbone is right behind PS4 on presales. All that noise, and it's still number 2 on Amazon.

Almost all of my PC games are from Amazon/Humble Bundle/GOG.... Steam still freaks me out and Origin is janky. The community part of it never appealed to me (don't play multiplayer PC shooters), and I am not a huge fan of DRM. And for larger games, I prefer paying a retailer than buying digital (PC and console). It's worth it to me to have a physical copy of something that I am about to throw 10-70 hours at.

PSP games are the exception, because it is simply harder to find those games at retail, and they are worse than the download versions in terms of load times and battery life on the device.

I also don't buy Papa Johns, ChAIR games and Call of Duty games. There's enough alternatives to those that I don't need their experiences and for my hard-earned dollar to go subsidize their sketchy ethical policies.

I don't actively refuse to purchase from specific services or retailers I just don't use them if it's not worth the money. If the game shops in my area weren't trying to rip everyone off with outrageous prices I'd buy from them.

I got UMVC3 for £25 brand new on the day it came out. I shouldn't be paying the same for a second hand copy over a year and a half later.

@mattyftm: "...stores I listed"... I'm from Croatia, I have no idea what stores to list for you american people :P It's more of a question in general I guess

@yoshimitz707: It totally is. But the "voting with your dollar" was used by the GB crew to mostly highlight something along the lines "if you don't like the companies policies or sum-such, dont buy it". Giving money to something you believe in is great, I do it all the time. What I'm saying I guess is, are you voting about that stuff or are you callous with the money.

@crusader8463: Yeah, I know. I think like that about every other big picture thing, politics, laws, voting, human rights, economy and all that. But, things I pay with my own dollars? With that, I'll keep fighting the good fight :D

I'm getting physical in-store always, when it comes to big purchases like pre-orders.

Small purchases like non-region locked games for non-region locked systems? I order from Canada and save over half the money..

Not intentionally, really. I will spend my money wherever I can get the best deal but I don't ever buy games used; I am very much a believer in paying the developers for their hard work.

I vote with my dollar inasmuch as I think my local Play-N-Trade has a terrible selection of games which is why I don't buy from it. But I'm pretty utilitarian about game purchases most of the time. Whoever can offer me the cheapest price is usually going to be the recipient of my dollar.

If there was something I truly believed in taking a stand on then I would. Like when people were talking about how the PS4 might not allow used games, I was thinking pretty hard about ways to play next gen games without supporting those policies.

The closest I come to this is purchasing all of the new games that I can on disc, so that companies know I don't want to see physical media go away.

As for the Origin vs Steam thing, that's dumb, competition is healthy. The fact that you're actively encouraging a monopoly on PC purchases sucks.

I bought games for those services, but never through them. I usually buy things on sale from amazon and they just have a steam code or origin code etc. I have like 2 games on origin, crysis 3 and syndicate (both bought on sale from amazon)

I stopped/don't go to Gamestop, EB Games, Game or otherwise franchise game stores. For one, they are often extremely overpriced. Secondly, their employees are annoying and often tries to sell me on things as if I'm some schmuck who doesn't read up on the things I buy. But most importantly; they break seals of authenticity to put discs somewhere else. They handle those discs questionably and when the transaction is complete, they put a sticker over the side that once removed lets off some "the seal is broken" sticker that takes strong chemicals to remove without damaging everything by trying to peel it off.

I try my damn best not to buy anything at Gamestop/EB Games. I'll do it maybe once a year when there's a game I can't find, but otherwise I don't want anything to do with it.

I can't really think of any other place though.

Not really. I buy my games from the same place all the time, but that has more to do with me being pleased with them, rather than displeased with someone else.

Only for Chick-fil-a

I've been doing that lately. I've stopped buying from Steam as I've grown less comfortable with online DRM, and thus stick with GoG for digital games. I don't do business with Wal-Mart because of how hard it is to find people who speak English among their workers. Oddly enough, I've never had a problem with GameStop. Must be a west coast thing...

And of course, I waited until the GOTY version to get Markham City, because the original locked Catwoman behind an online pass (the GOTY has no online pass). I will also not be getting an Xbone.

who really doesnt do this? if you dont want to support the destruction of the video game industry and art itself you need to pay attention to where your money goes.

a game has to be EXTREMELY next level must buy for me to consider giving money to activision or EA.

Fuck Gamestop because fuck leaving my house to buy things.

Fuck Origin because fuck their logo.

I do vote with my my money. I don't like Origin or the way EA does business so I don't usually buy EA games and I don't have an Origin account. I do break that rule occasionally with cheap games but I never drop a full price on them. I'll probably make an eception with Mirror's Edge 2 which would in fact count as voting with my money.

I don't like the way Icelandic retailers handle game prices, too high at launch and the drop in price happens way late and is never all that much. So, I don't buy games in Iceland. I use Steam, PSN and Amazon UK.

I go wherever the game I want is. I don't care who's selling it.

I do and today it is easier than ever. I like games but I don't feel compelled to buy or play everything so if something is off I can easily avoid sending them any money.

Refusing to buy games because they're not on Steam seems like the most illogical thing to me. "I don't care how good your game is. I won't buy it unless you give Valve 30% of your proceeds."

Not really. If a store/website/whatever is selling me a product I want at a price I'm willing to pay, I have no problem with it. Unless of course that store has done something unforgivable or boycott worthy.

I only give my money to whom ever I want. If they treat me in a way I dislike they lose a costumer. That never happened before outside the realm of game publishers and hardware developers.

i haven't given any business to origin. this is foremost due to a lack of exclusives i actually want to play- but i also like having all my games in a single client (steam).

this

Wouldn't say I boycott the more heavily DRM'd stores, but they gotta make it a somewhat worthwhile tradeoff, such as Steam's ridiculous sales and decent community, or Gamer's Gates really odd library (where else can I buy weird Russian space sims or stuff like Europa Universalis?), but generally, if a game is available on GOG and isn't missing a bunch of significant features that the Steam version would have (Steam Workshop or something like that, don't really care about the achievements), I'm buying the GOG version even if it's more expensive. In most cases I go with the GOG version even when the Steam version has more features, and grab the Steam version later on one of those 95% off sales (Legend of Grimrock, Hotline Miami, Dyad and FEZ for example).

On occasion. I refuse to have anything to do with Origin, for instance.

No because I go to where I feel the better deal is regardless of retail store or digital service.

I boycotted Modern Warfare 2 on the PC does that count?

I don't know if this counts but I refuse to buy a digital game for 60 dollars.

To some extent, sure. I haven't bought anything through Origin, and all of this business with console DRM has really made me take pause and rethink where I buy my games and the DRM that comes with them on PC (that is to say, I'm thinking most of my purchases will be from places like GOG and Humble from now on, rather than Steam)

I don't know that it's necessarily voting with my dollar so much as it's just that I have no interest in the service Origin offers and I'd rather have software I buy on PC be DRM Free if I can from here on out.

I used to do a ton of buisiness with my local GameStop, but when they annoyed me I gave Amazon a try with my gaming buisenss (non-PC) and haven't looked back. I pre-ordered big bundles for the PS3 and 360 to ensure I got at launch, this time I'm ordering from Amazon.

I only really buy digitally now, primarily steam. But that's more to do with price and convenience than any vendetta against a company. Also, it sounds like you want a Steam monopoly. Which is fine I guess. I just find the idea a little troubling.

Oh man, if I could do that it'd be glorious. Australia's Steam/online prices mean most "big-budget" games start at above $60 until about a year into release.

I haven't bought from Gamestop for years and will continue that trend, Amazon only if I get a boxed copy. Same with Origin. I might miss out on EA games, but they haven't made a game I wanted since DA2 and that game was totally awful. So, I'm not missing much there.

I don't buy games at my local game store because one of the dudes that runs it has a ponytail.

Repeat after me: I do not matter.

A single person can do nothing (in terms of policy). 20,000 people can do nothing (in terms of policy). Only when the general popluace, a.k.a. the herd, veers off an uncomfortable path that strikes at the heart (e.g. the wallet) of these grand companies, only then will they react.

Yes, #PS4noDRM was a massive success, in that Sony addressed it. In the end, their response is somewhat analogous to Microsoft's - publishers will have the final say.