Ranting and Ravings of a Madman

I had an idea for a Gamer Bill of Rights.... then I just vomited all of this stuff out onto a page.

Buy Once, Play Everywhere
1. 1. I had thought about an example, like Super Mario Bros.. How many times should you be asked to buy it? If there is no change in the feature set, then I don't think you should have to pay for it again. There is a very malicious feel to a company that wants to make money this way
    1. There is proof that many companies have just used old ROMs from the web and done a minimal amount of advertising to make a release like this.
    2. If a Game of the Year edition is literally just a repackage of the game? WTH
    If there is a change in the features that also might be good for the player, it incentivizes publishers and developers to enrich their products before doing a double-dip.
At least the movie industry learned this with DVDs. The technology allowed for an enrichment of the product that viewers did not have with VHS in the form of subtitles, additional scenes and commentary tracks.
1. For applications available on multiple platforms and launchers (Like an Ubi Soft game for instance that is available on the Uplay store) the publisher should make licensing available in ALL places where the game is sold INCLUDING their own launchers for the same single purchase, or competitors.
  1. If a company rallies against this it means they're making money on selling more than one "copy" of an application to a single user. The user may feel compelled to make the purchase on multiple platforms to join friends or remain competitive, but that should never be necessary.
  2. The customer's choice should then include their launcher of choice.
2. No requirement should be made to make an application or game available on multiple platforms. (first party or PC only as examples) That would be at the discretion of the publisher or property owner, but in the future could be perilous to that company's profit.
No opting for mediation over filing suit
1. A player should never be forced into mediation or arbitration
2. Players are being required to enter into very specific and complicated license agreements; on changing of license agreements and end user agreements, a user or player should be allowed to seek a refund or transfer of the license.
  1. There is still a huge contingent of young players in the market. They are entering into incredibly complex and antagonistic agreements for even the simplest mobile games

A player should present true factual identity, and have the ability to do so within the functionality of a game, server or service
1. SWATting prevention
2. Prevent other abuses
3. Town square mentality for users
4. Publishers, developers, service providers should all have ability, and should enforce, blocks or bans on presentation of false persona
5. This would also present a benefit when providing anything like license transfers and content ownership
6. Procedures should be in place for preventing data from being used against a player without cause
A player should Always be able to object and fight against companies when the player is blocked or banned from a service or game environment
1. There must be an option to appeal any and all bans, including prevention of access or revocation of licenses
  1. The note here is a user or player should always have a path to appeal, but it doesn't necessarily mean reinstatement is guaranteed
2. There should be a distinct codified method to the ban or reinstatement process (See Blizzard 2019 Hong Kong)
3. The codified process should be available to all users and players in writing
4. It should cover things like eSports, winnings, cheating
5. Evidence should be provided to player of the reason for a ban, decision to block, or a change in prize winning
Release notes should be required in all cases of updates
1. It wouldn't be sufficient to provide "changes to improve stability" for instance. The change notes must be specific
  1. There has been some proof of companies making updates to prevent cheating or piracy. If that is the case say it plainly and explicitly.
2. Release notes should be available prior to the patch or download
3. Users should be able to opt out of a release
  1. User on-line access can be prevented if they continue with the unpatched app,
  2. But a user may be waiting for a specific item to be fixed. The user shouldn't be required to download and install a patch, for instance, to find out they're not going to end up playing
    1. I'm thinking about the data cap issue, as well as the download of a complete rehaul day one patch.
    2. An additional comment here: Developers and publishers are not making patches and downloads big on purpose to cause a player difficulties with their ISP or data cap limits. They should not be treated as if they are.
4. This goes for platform firmware releases as well
5. Automatic updates should be defined at the software level, not the system level. I don't necessarily want my Switch keeping every title up-to-date, just the ones I say to.
Ownership of data
1. Anything that requires a payment, even something as granular as cosmetics, must belong to the player, (see license transfer)
2. Play data
  1. A player should be able to access any data gathered by a company during the process of play, matchmaking, etc.
  2. I can look at the information gathered by a credit company, Facebook, etc. This should be no different
3. Information about those you play with.
  1. This would be as a protection thing. If I'm abused or otherwise harmed in the course of play I should have the ability to request to identify the offender, or there should be a path for providing that information to law enforcement.
  2. Even if the information is not provided to me I should at least get confirmation from the company that they do indeed have that information and have provided it to an authorized entity
4. Player should be able to see who data was provided to; advertisers, platform holders, other parties
License Transfer should be supported in all cases
1. This would work for users that want to have the ability to sell something they previously purchased,
2. But also should help with companies that must / need to provide refunds
3. To support Buy Once, if it is too contentious, the user should be able to transfer a license to a different platform (Selling your xbox, but still have a PS4? Just transfer a license)
4. This should work for:
  1. Cosmetics
  2. Avatars
  3. Services within a game
  4. License to the game itself, if required for play
    1. We're in a digital age, I should be able to "trade-in" a digital game, and sell off that cool duster or skate deck my character used to wear if somebody else wants it
  5. User account: If I do not play to play World of Warcraft again I should be able to transfer my character account to another individual in a supported way
Physical games should be allowed to be exchanged for a digital key or license
1. This would be of benefit to a publisher, think about being able to prevent a physical copy of a game from entering into the resale environment
2. A digital key would not be required to be built. I cannot necessarily exchange a NES cartridge for a license, but a disc copy of a PS4 game available on the PlayStation store would be acceptable
Games should be provided in physical format at request
1. This one is a little more ephemeral for me, but I should be able to get a copy/version of the game in its current and most up-to-date format.
  1. This should be for:
    1. installation and
    2. archiving purposes.
  2. I'm not thinking an executable disc.
2. I should be able to get a physical copy of a digital title with a loss of license, like if I request a disc, upon receipt my license can then be revoked to the digital version.
3. Publishers should be required to produce a release of the game that does not require a "day-one patch" after a period of time following release, or other patches.
Currency should be refundable
1. In order to prevent a player from abusing, there could be an approval path (to prevent credit card theft, laundering, etc). However all in-game currency purchases should convert to an IRL currency supported by the user's locale
  1. Administrative delay may be enough
  2. Option to convert to another currency like with the platform holder or the same publisher
2. Penny rounding problems
  1. There are times in services even as large as Xbox live where a small amount of money is left and cannot be used on the service
    1. Even my 10 year old is like "why do I still have a penny left after buying the battle pass. That's dumb"
  2. This happens in games and pushes users to buy more currency
  3. These small amounts of Itchy and Scratchy dollars then only benefit the company not the player.
3. Currency should also be transferable. And there should be a codified and approvable method for that.
Digital Sales should be in a reasonable, whole dollar amount when possible.
1. A player should not buy something for $3.74 if they are required to use a currency card for the service. (See Penny Rounding)
  1. This has a bigger impact on younger users on the services. They don't have access to credit cards to make exact amount purchases despite those choices being added in the more modern era
Cross-play should be supported whenever possible, not based on platform.
1. This kind of goes along with Buy Once Play Everywhere.
2. Destiny is not doing this right. Cross save and Cross Play are distinct and should both be supported
  1. Not everything that has multiplayer anymore is competitive, if it's co-op, or low stakes, cross play all the way
3. Crossplay should be a decision up to publishers, developers and players not platform holders (Sony)
4. This is beneficial because it keeps the communities large, and increases the number of opportunities to play
Players are responsible for any delta between the way platforms perform when using crossplay (PC versus Console).
1. It's not a developers fault, or necessarily within their control, when a game performs differently based on a control scheme (keyboard/mouse versus controller)
2. Though console platform control holders should design with as much support as possible
Internet Connectivity and Bandwidth should be considered by all parties
1. A user cannot hold a platform, developer or publisher accountable for variability in connectivity EXCEPT if the servers under their control are to blame
2. Platform, developers and publishers should work in concert with internet service providers to ensure the best most reliable connections possible.
3. There should be transparency for all parties about locations, addressing for users, locations of your connected data center or servers.
  1. There is something about having servers in a different country that may be of concern.
  2. I don't know that I would want my data housed in a country that could use that data maliciously
  3. I'm sure that it would be beneficial to players if I didn't have people tunneling in lobbies, or logging into servers I shouldn't have access to. (My kids purposely accessed Oceana servers in Fortnite to win games which I think sucks)
4. Download file sizes should be considered. If a Day-One patch is bigger than the original download/disc copy there is a problem
  1. Preloads
  2. Schedules of patches
  3. At that point why are we even bothering with a disc in the first place?
5. ISPs need to work on increasing bandwidth caps and quotas.
  1. 4K, and now 8K, cripes man
6. Publishers, Developers, Platform Holders and Players should all be encouraging this to change for the better.
  1. Feedback should be given to ISPs early, often and frank, and service providers should be held to a standard
A standard for when services are being discontinued
1. If a server is being taken offline for a game (see Battleborn)
2. If a digital game will no longer be available for purchase (again see Battleborn)
3. If a digital game will no longer be available for download
  1. If this is the case, if physical copies can be provided that should be an option
  2. There are tons of games that require on-line support but do not provide any benefit to the game, pull the DRM check
Currency doublers, Cooldown timers and other concepts in mobile games requiring purchase need to cease. C'mon man.
Loot Boxes or Surprise Features should not be available for purchase, or at least need to have odds ratios clearly explained.
Digital Storefronts need to improve
1. If a "Game of the Year" edition or similar product is placed on the store, but it includes only items I already have already purchased I should be given license to that, in addition to the licenses I had previously
  1. This would just be good for ease of re-install and reorganization in the store fronts
2. The same in the inverse, I should be given license to all individual licenses when purchasing the bundle.
3. Some storefronts are better than others (Steam will tell you when you own parts of a bundle, Xbox makes it more difficult), but I should be told what items I'm actually purchasing in that transaction versus the ones I already have
4. I should be able to hide purchases in storefronts
5. I should be able to hide material I am not interested in purchasing
6. In the case of duplication I should be given the option of transferring duplicates or discounting the purchase accordingly (good example: silver purchases of incomplete armor sets in Destiny 2 are discounted based on the number of owned items.)(If I have purchased a season pass item separately, but then buy the pass let me transfer the item license to a friend)
7. Sales and Discounts
  1. Percentages need to be used sparingly; the stores cause the penny remainder issue all the time this way
  2. There should be support for exact dollar amounts in all cases (I think this one is good for the most part), but tends to crop up during sale events. Instead of saying something is 20% off, discount should also be in the whole dollar amount when possible
Free should mean forever free
1. If I can play a game for free because of a subscription (Games with Gold, PS+) and I'm downloading all the 1's and 0's, that game should be mine. Even if my subscription lapses.
2. I get that Game Pass, Stadia and PS Now don't work like that. Epic is letting you straight up claim and keep stuff, but there isn't a subscription there.

Bottom line is that all of the data generated by a player or user should be theirs. I spent money? That thing I got is mine. I earned an emblem or icon or avatar? Also mine. I caused the application to duplicate something, I should get the product. I don't think anyone should be able to make a living out of doing any of this, but there has already been a serious erosion of people's ownership. At least before music became popular on MP3, people had assets. Books, movies, music, there is no coming back from the path we're on with regards to gaming. Vinyl makes a comeback, somewhat. Books are already is a very tenuous position. There is still a healthy demand for disc based movie watching. But we are well on the way to the system in gaming being broken. What's also unhealthy is the apathy that arises when a service based game closes shop. But imagine how interested people would be if they were invested into the world and gaming economies?

Some of this still goes back a desire to show off. Lot's have said achievements and medals and trophies are useless, but I still have some interest in seeing the things that others have earned. Those things should follow me, forever.

Not sure how this stuff would get valued. I get there would need to be some sort of depreciation, but I think it's pretty reasonable to expect that a Guild Wars account that I spent a number of hours on should be worth something. I think there is also a certain group of people that would be interested in legitimate forms of "farming", "guiding", "trading". I could seriously see my side hustle being a item trader in a game I actually like to play.

There was this idea presented in Ready Player One, a movie derided in the mainstream gamer consciousness, that showed characters with assets that they ACTUALLY owned. These were actual things in the Oasis that they owned. You could live in a trailer park in the middle of nowhere but could be the proud owner of one of the most sought after in game items. And sell it or use it. We should be able to get to that point.

Steam trading cards.

Blockchain Cats.

Cred Sticks.

Cyberpunks.

Isn't a man entitled to the sweat from his own brow?

Let's live in the future.

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