jedikv

@misfittoy: I'd say refund, there's no reason to let them keep your cash for a defective product. Who knows how much they will fix it, given Arkham Origins was dumped pretty quickly, leaving a lot of big bugs unpatched.

I'm going to be a bit different:

Mass Effect 3 - despite how much of a let down it all was, kind of hard to top (in terms of threats) the whole Reaper stuff.

Modern Warfare 3 - As much as I enjoyed the adventures of Capt. Price, that trilogy feels complete.

The Pokemon franchise - if there's going to be follow ups, I'd rather they didn't increase the Pokemon count (maybe they stopped doing it in recent titles).

Metal Gear Solid series (post MGSV) - That looks like it's going to end, but yeah, just like Old Snake, we should leave it to rest.

Halo Series (Story) - Hard for me as a Halo fan to say it, but I feel like there's not a lot left to tell in the universe, the promeathans while interesting feel like a stretch for a villain. After the flood, it doesn't feel like there's much of an escalation. I could be wrong with Halo 5, but it feels like they're clutching for way too much in the expanded universe.

@zevvion: You know I agree with you that we should vocalise to developers. Not sure how you're making it one choice or another, you can both not pre-order something and voice your opinion on it. That's what happened during the Xbone reveal, a combination of bad PR from the DRM as well as low pre-order rates forced Microsoft to change their tactics. Due to the lower sales, they've been trying to win over the public ever since. Games series like Tony Hawks, Guitar Hero and Sim City all fell due to lower sales. Besides, it's great to see a decline in preorders, it shows consumers are getting wise, it also means potentially less pre-order DLC bullshit too.

That's an ideal/naive world scenario that doesn't really work. Most people don't buy cars, televisions, phones etc without reading reviews or testing it out, games are not some special exception. Like the aforementioned items, there's a lot of moving parts in a game that need to be evaluated before one can make an informed purchase. (Books and movies don't have the same issue). Not to mention the fact that in a lot of places, getting a refund for a game is still pretty hard outside of Steam and Origin.

I'm not discounting vocal feedback from customers (it works when it's organised and large enough e.g. Xbone DRM), but ultimately, money is what keeps these companies running. When they see their revenues slip, they're more motivated to take action.

Aside from pre-ordering in this day and age being completely stupid, if you want to buy a game day one and fall for all the hype and that circus, go ahead - but it's not the most wise move to make as a consumer.

@ds9143: I don't see how sales shouldn't be suspended. If the product is busted, you take it of the (virtual) shelves.

PCs aren't limited to those that know their way around .ini files and there's a huge risk when it comes to directly modifiying game data like that. It's still an issue if the developer is unable to implement basic options in an easily accessible fashion.

This is what was promised - full effects & textures running at stable 60fps. They have not delivered it in any shape or form. Caveat emptor is an poor excuse to cling to and rightfully considered legally indefensible in most civilised countries.

@spacecouncil said:

If a car doesn't work optimally (doesn't quite accelerate right), stereo doesn't work, seats aren't the right trim - you are still entitled to a refund/replacement or if it's systemic, there would be a recall. Games should be the same, I don't see how you're able to defend such an anti-consumer practise.

In 2015 the standard requirement for PC games should be 60fps (Stick of truth probably gets a pass given the nature of the game). Just like games on consoles should operate at least with a resolution of 720p (cos apparently 1080 is kind of stretching it these days :/ .). Every platform has a minimum standard that is informally (or formally in terms of marketing of the consoles) agreed upon.

@spacecouncil: And if thousands of PC customers complain about unacceptable framerate and poor performance, then maybe that's a not-so-subtle-hint to the developers and shouldn't be dismissed as something trivial.

As for Ubisoft, they should have pulled Unity till they fixed it. Same with 343 and Master Cheif collection, rather than continually to take money from a broken product. Recalls exist for other products, I don't see how games get some special exception.

@spacecouncil said:

If only one person complained per issue, it would indicate to the developer that it was an isolated case and most likely not do anything. Multiple complaints for the same issue is a big hint to the developer to the scale of the issue and will more likely motivate the developer to do something about it.