Star Citizen – Terms Of Service

[dsmart]

So today, Kotaku wrote this article: Star Citizen Changes Terms of Service to Make it More Difficult to Get a Refund

“The article completely ignores the more serious issue: that being the one related to, you know the REMOVAL of two key (refunds, financial accountability) provisions which backers previously had.

This issue is not just about the ability to get refunds going forward. It’s a LOT worse than that.

This is why most of the gaming media get under fire a lot and gamers have completely lost trust in most of them. These people were part of the massive hype train, writing puff pieces etc. Yet, once the wheels started to come off, gamers being fleeced like sheep, they’re all strangely silent.

Even with something as serious as a MATERIAL CHANGE in a ToS that was used to build and fuel said hype train, it’s pretty much like “yeah, whatever”.

I feel the key issue here is that nobody wants to be the first to admit that I was **right** this whole time. I mean, at the end of the day, it all boils down to “Smart v Roberts“. And most people simply can’t reconcile that.That’s on them. Just wait when the inevitable collapse comes.“

This is an article by PC Powerplay  The Star Citizen honeymoon is over Opinion: Derek Smart is probably right.

“So, I’m probably right. But let’s carry on and ramble about how this is about (hint: you’re a fool, it’s not) Line Of Defense“

Not to mention the fact that the author has $1800 in the project. Star Citizen and the fleet of folly

[dsmart]

[Ranger Man]

Again, kind of lets them off the hook but then one of them is a backer who is “happy” and what about the we may never ever deliver a product part of the TOS.  They mention it and the missed deadlines, not delivering what was sold to us but really it all seems like it’s okay to them.  Waste of electrons to make that footage.

The gaming media is worse then today’s media like CNN, etc.  None of them will rock the boat and point out when their favorites screw up.  One reason I never go to a gaming media site to find out about a game.

 

[dsmart]

So following the new ToS update, according to this poster, they now have a form letter that CS sends out to people inquiring about, or requesting a refund:

“Thank you very much for contacting us.

I am very sorry to hear that you no longer wish to back Star Citizen, however we have reviewed your account status and we regret that we are not able to accommodate your request for a refund since it was received outside of the statutory 14 day period. I understand that this may seem unwelcoming, but unfortunately we are now obligated to send over the following information as protocol:

You made your pledge to the crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the development of “Star Citizen.” When you contributed your pledge it was applied to the building of the game and the team and resources needed to make it happen. The funds are not idly maintained in a bank account for months or years in case someone wants his/her money back. Cloud Imperium Games has been working diligently on the development of the game and has published extensive information on the development process on its website at robertsspaceindustries.com. We are very serious about accomplishing what we set out to do, which is to build a great game. We endeavor to keep everyone informed and educated on the progress of game development and what is accomplished with their support: reports, updates and web shows have been made available regularly, and our first gameplay offerings came online as early as fall of 2013. These offerings have been progressively and incrementally expanded over time to share access to the work in progress. We have created a substantial foundation for the game, and early release versions are currently available (see further detail below).

As noted above, your payment was a deposit to be used for the “Game Cost” as defined in your crowdfunding pledge agreement (see Sec. 4 of the Commercial Terms, and Sec. IV.A of the subsequent Terms of Service, as applicable,https://robertsspaceindustries.com/tos), and the deposit has since been “earned by CIG and become non-refundable” since it was “used for the Game Cost…” You also agreed to “irrevocably waive any claim for refund of any deposit amount that has been used for the Game Cost and Pledge Item Cost ….” The only exception would be a return of unearned funds remaining in case of an abandonment of the project; this exception does not apply as we have not abandoned development. If you pledged on Kickstarter, you agreed to these terms when you transferred your pledge account to robertsspaceindustries.com.

Terms to this effect have been in the Terms of Service and/or Commercial Terms ever since Star Citizen’s crowdfunding began. They are consistent with the specific nature of crowdfunding and the foreseeable use of your pledge –it would not be appropriate to use current backers’ development pledges to refund an earlier pledge which has already been used for Game Cost. Put simply, “takebacks” are not in the spirit of crowdfunding, the effect would be to pull the rug out from under a team that is working hard to build what the crowd has asked them to build with their pledges.

While quite a lot of the promised gameplay is now available, we acknowledge that delivery of some game elements has been delayed. This is a direct result of the community’s declared desire to have the initial release version of the game developed to a much greater depth, detail, and fidelity than contemplated originally upon start of the campaign. It is inherent to the nature of crowdfunding that such an adjustment to the project may occur. We acknowledge that some individual backers may find the additional wait undesirable. However, as per Sec. VII of the Terms, you did “acknowledge and agree that delivery as of such date is not a promise by RSI since unforeseen events may extend the development and/or production time.” Ultimately, this evolution of development will benefit all backers including yourself, since every backer will be receiving a much greater value for his/her pledge, but it may – as in this case – cause an extension of the delivery dates.

Star Citizen is a project for gamers, by gamers. By financing the project using crowd funding, our team is not beholden to a publisher who would insist we ship a game unfinished, de-featured, or broken to meet a particular schedule. Thanks to continued backing of our community, we have the needed creative freedom over the project to push the boundaries of what is possible in gaming technology and to create a unique game with a unique approach. We feel the results such as unparalleled immersion and fidelity which have been highlighted in many reviews and community reactions, are already speaking for themselves!

Please try out, if you haven’t already, the significant gameplay which is now available (seehttps://robertsspaceindustries.com/feature-list) and we encourage you to download the installer from this url:https://robertsspaceindustries.com/download to patch up and play the latest version of the game.

Again, we regret that we can’t comply with your refund request for the above reasons and sincerely hope you enjoy the updates both current and future in the Star Citizen ‘Verse.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter, and if there is anything else we can assist with please let us know, thanks.“

[Author]

Posts