So, I should start this out by saying this is the first time I have considered using steam refunds. My situation is I have been keenly interested in learning paradox games for a few years now and I have been waiting for a setting that grabbed my attention. Turns out two of these such games have been launched (basically) a month apart. These being Stellaris and Hearts of Iron IV. Me being more interested in Hearts of Iron. However knowing this could be quite the learning curve and hearing that Stellaris was a little more gentle I decided to buy Stellaris. My plan being to play Stellaris to get back into the Grand Strategy genre and get a bit of an introduction to the how some of Paradoxes systems function. That said I am aware that the cross over of systems from Stellaris would be very minimal compared to EU 4. I haven't had time since buying Stellaris a week ago and still have yet to start playing it.

I do think I would enjoy Stellaris, however there is no way I will be playing it along side Hearts of Iron (due to time issues). I am curious of what people think of refunding under not just these but similar circumstances? Would it actually be a hurt to the developer considering these two products are the exact same prices? Would Steam frown upon these refunds requests and what would happen if you ever wanted to buy the game again in the future? Turns out you can re buy games down the road that you refunded.

I thought it would be interesting to see other peoples opinions on this.

P.S. I am new to using the forum and did read the rules but if I have messed something up kindly let me know :)

Nah, you didn't mess up.

Steam offers refunds for any reason and I don't think there's anything immoral about taking them up on that. However, if you think you'll enjoy Stellaris and you bought it to learn these games, then why don't you just keep playing Stellaris and play Hearts of Iron a few months from now or something.

For me, the only ethical question regarding Steam refunds is from folks playing all the way through very short games and then getting full money back on them. You can't get much out of Stellaris in under two hours, and in fact you haven't played it at all. You changed your mind about a purchase, and that's a totally reasonable refund situation when it comes to real-world goods, so I don't see why it should be different here.

You are describing why that system exists. You're torn between two games and you can only afford one and you want the best game you can afford. Neither game can be completed or nearly completed in 2 hours. So it isn't like you're trying to have your cake and eat it.
Demo as you need to here. Steam already has your money so they win regardless.
If you want to buy one of them again later feel free. There isn't anything stopping you.

Now if you were debating between lets say a 2hr game and a 40hr game and you basically finish the 2hr game and get that refunded to then go play the 40hr game... Well I'd call that gross. But that's still how the system works.

One of the examples on the Steam Refunds page is if you simply didn't like the game.

@justin258: Yea that would be the sensible thing to do. I was under the impression that Hearts of Iron didn't release till July so I thought I had a little more time. I tend to be the kind of person that likes historical and more realistic games (not excessively though). I just like to stretch my gaming budget to get as broad a taste of games as I can. I just don't want to have a nagging feeling in my head that I could be playing this other game in a similar genre that I might enjoy more. As irrational as that sounds it unfortunately comes up more than I would like to admit while gaming. That said never really know which one you would prefer till you play though. It's a bit of a catch 22.