What are my rights on a Software Purchase?

jasey9

I recently bought a game - TrackMania2 - Canyon, mainly on the back of its prequel. The great part of the game was competing against real people online.

In fact, one of the advertising selling points is, and I copy/paste direct from the website:

A FUN AND MASSIVE MULTIPLAYER GAME
Up to 200 players can challenge each other at once on the same track! Plus, check out the official rankings to see how you rank in both solo and multiplayer modes.

Now, I am not ususally a grumpy ole so-so, but I tried and tried to find a game server (they control this list) with any other person online.

It seems though they say "up to 200 players can play..." but they do not put the subtext (may never be above 1)

A bit disgruntled at this, I asked for a refund. I was told:

We are sorry you are experiencing problems with the game. Unfortunately, as it has been activated, we cannot refund your purchase as per our terms and conditions.

Now, I am sure nobody reads t&c's, and I don't want to have to download 1.2gb to check them out. But surely if I have bought a game due to a specific, advertised feature, and the company do not supply this feature... and I have to accept their t&c's and activate the software to find out that they're a bit pants... what can I do?

I have raised a paypal case, but I doubt they'll do anything.

Ok, the game was only £20, but it is more the attitude that has narked me.

Valli

but assuming the 'specific, advertised' feature you're referring to is 'up to 200 players can play' that's not a specific feature - if they had advertised a minimum number of players online in your game at any one time then they have failed. But they didn't. They have worded it in such a way that there is no guarantee of number of players playing.
I don't think you stand a chance with this one!

Moreover I bet they covered this in their T&Cs. Which you chose not to read. But I BET you ticked the 'I have read the T&Cs' box.

jasey9

Valli wrote: »

Moreover I bet they covered this in their T&Cs. Which you chose not to read. But I BET you ticked the 'I have read the T&Cs' box.

I've just checked the t&cs... a 2,600 word document.

It's all about downloading and not being rude or naughty online.

There is one part saying you are entitled to a refund as long as you have not activated the game. I suppose they could cover their backsides here saying that I shouldn't have accepted if I didn't agree that 1 person does make a great multi-player game... however, I couldn't find that out until I activated it.

So much for supporting the software industry. :mad:

Nilrem

As said, "Up to" doesn't mean there will always (or ever) be that many players at one time as they cannot garuntee it.
It's the limit the game allows for.

A lot of games allow "up to" a set number of players to play against/with each other (some thousands) but only if they are actually playing, something the games producer has no say in.
If it's a newish game it can take time for people to buy it, or it may even be the time you are playing, or some setting on your game (depending on the game some have the option to limit online play based on user settings - IE players in the same region, or within a set ping).

Even the choice of track/map can have a big influence on the number of people you'll play against as if it's a track they don't like...(I used to play Team Fortress and sometime there would be hundred of players on one map, and barely any on another).

zaax

jasey9 wrote: »

I've just checked the t&cs... a 2,600 word document.

It's all about downloading and not being rude or naughty online.

There is one part saying you are entitled to a refund as long as you have not activated the game. I suppose they could cover their backsides here saying that I shouldn't have accepted if I didn't agree that 1 person does make a great multi-player game... however, I couldn't find that out until I activated it.

So much for supporting the software industry. :mad:

I think they may fall foul of The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Anything as harsh as that has to be individually agreed. You would have to take it to a judge though.

bod1467

I play Canyon from time to time. I never seem to have problems finding servers with people on them. You may need to select ALL then click the UP arrow to see all servers worldwide.

Right now cos||FullSpeed has 55 players, Short Mini Fun V2 has 52, ManiaCs>>Canyon 1 has 33, etc.

But I agree that's it's not as busy as Nations Forever or Trackmania United Forever. However many people prefer the gameplay of TMF versus TM2.

arcon5

They could also argue it's designed for play with up to 200 friends online.

arcon5

zaax wrote: »

I think they may fall foul of The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Anything as harsh as that has to be individually agreed. You would have to take it to a judge though.

How is that "harsh"?

Considering the nature of the purchase, I very much doubt having such a cancellation policy would be considered unfair.

zaax

arcon5 wrote: »

How is that "harsh"?

Considering the nature of the purchase, I very much doubt having such a cancellation policy would be considered unfair.

But it is a 'core term' and should not have been under stuff and about not being rude or naughty online.
Also I notice it falls foul under Control of Misleading
Advertisements Regulations 1988 part of the advert is it state it is a MASSIVE MULTIPLAYER GAME's - isn't.

bod1467

Where was it bought from? The people who make TM2 (Nadeo) are in France, so UK law won't (directly) apply unless bought from a UK company?

Nilrem

zaax wrote: »

But it is a 'core term' and should not have been under stuff and about not being rude or naughty online.
Also I notice it falls foul under Control of Misleading
Advertisements Regulations 1988 part of the advert is it state it is a MASSIVE MULTIPLAYER GAME's - isn't.

It is however capable of what it claims.
The retailer/publisher cannot be blamed if people don't want to play it.

I've played MMORPG's where you can sometimes only have a handful of players on the server at times.
I've also played the same games when I've been unable to login due to demand.