Matrix Games Forums

The no refund policy is unacceptable. "Steam" will refund on products that won't run properly after I purchase. I have been told by someone here that 99% of sites don't refund. But "Steam" does refund. I will not purchase from this site again. Thank you

It’s been perfectly acceptable for over 20 years for thousands of war gamers. So if your not a real war gamer and just a causal player then I get your angst, but for the many war gamers here we want and need no refunds.

ORIGINAL: PeteS

The no refund policy is unacceptable. "Steam" will refund on products that won't run properly after I purchase. I have been told by someone here that 99% of sites don't refund. But "Steam" does refund. I will not purchase from this site again. Thank you

You should have read the policy first, then purchased. Then followed the advise given on installing the game. Remember, you actually have to be smarter than what you are working with.

steam is a gaming platform and doesn't for one make games, only sells others, the rule there is simple, and has a 2 hour use windows to refund, site games have a one use serial number that once used can't be sold, traded or re sold / returned

so no refund, but plenty of free advice and support forum wise for any gaming issue, all that's needed is to work with the advice and if someone asks for hardware and drivers reports etc, then more depth of the issue is needed before a propper reply is given, so not just guess work

ORIGINAL: zakblood

steam is a gaming platform and doesn't for one make games, only sells others, the rule there is simple, and has a 2 hour use windows to refund, site games have a one use serial number that once used can't be sold, traded or re sold / returned

so no refund, but plenty of free advice and support forum wise for any gaming issue, all that's needed is to work with the advice and if someone asks for hardware and drivers reports etc, then more depth of the issue is needed before a propper reply is given, so not just guess work

Yes, many other people have had problems installing and running WITP:AE and were given help. Now the game is running fine for them and they are having fun.

Apparently, this individual did not read the "readme" file about switches.

I have bought many a wargame only to realize, once again, my addiction happened again

But I require no refund policy, and I couldn't care less if Steam offers it.

Plenty of wargames here ARE offered on Steam though. So the reality is to buy your games the way you buy a car, or a house, or any other major purchase. Not that a wargame is a major purchase, it isn't. But if you value your money, look before you leap.

Not that Steam's extremely finite trial period is of much real use. Most of our wargames originating from Matrix Games and or Slitherine are sufficiently complex, that just installing it tells you almost nothing. Getting it to run, is almost worth nothing for analysis of whether you liked your purchase. Most wargames take days figure out. Often require us to print out the sizable pdf document. Even when fully understood, some of our wargames simply take hours and more to play a turn though.

They don't sell mainstream games here, which come with a finite playthrough experience 'beaten' in x hours.
We don't label arcade designs like Call of Duty as 'wargames.
These are seriously challenging designs.
The majority of us are hardcore and seriously smart.

We are easy to talk to. We LIKE helping new comers. If you are looking for a gaming experience, the right choice is to ask for input. Describe your own gaming experiences, talk about your expectations. We know these games back to front and top to bottom.

No one here thinks your just a wad of cash to obtain.

Add to that, the simple fact, that almost all of our wargames of choice will run adequately on a 5-10 year old rig that is worth almost nothing currently. Plenty wargames will run just fine on a computer from the 90s. I've never once bought a video card to run a wargame. I've never once needed more ram, or a faster processor in the 30 years I've owned a computer. That's the beauty of wargames, they will run on junk.

How does one "return" a digital program, after installing it on your PC?

Used to, you had to have the disk just to run the game. That's been replaced by license codes. Once you have that code, how do you give it back, short of a lobotomy?

Steam's installation, as I understand it, requires one to run the game through Steam. So, they retain an ability to block its use. Matrix doesn't.

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay

How does one "return" a digital program, after installing it on your PC?

Used to, you had to have the disk just to run the game. That's been replaced by licence codes. Once you have that code, how do you give it back, short of a lobotomy?

Steam's installation, as I understand it, requires one to run the game through Steam. So, they retain an ability to block its use. Matrix doesn't.

Oh, Curtis Lemay is actually correct.[;)]

GOG also offers refunds on their games, and they're drm free. I've never refunded there, so I don't know how they make it work, honor system? I've used steam refunds for 1 game because it wouldn't launch without changing some files and I couldn't be bothered for an impulse sale purchase. But other than those sites, I've never expected a refund on a game in 25+ years offline or digital.

For potential customers new to Matrix and the Matrix store, the product pages for the older titles give no indication if the user is going to have make any changes just to get the game to run properly. I think a prominent warning notice on the store product page with links to tech support for known installation/display issues would be helpful. While most wargamers expect to do these things, I can see where its a hindrance for some potential customers.

ORIGINAL: ThomasJay

GOG also offers refunds on their games, and they're drm free. I've never refunded there, so I don't know how they make it work, honor system? I've used steam refunds for 1 game because it wouldn't launch without changing some files and I couldn't be bothered for an impulse sale purchase. But other than those sites, I've never expected a refund on a game in 25+ years offline or digital.

For potential customers new to Matrix and the Matrix store, the product pages for the older titles give no indication if the user is going to have make any changes just to get the game to run properly. I think a prominent warning notice on the store product page with links to tech support for known installation/display issues would be helpful. While most wargamers expect to do these things, I can see where its a hindrance for some potential customers.

Or a person could look at the threads about the game. [8|]

ORIGINAL: ThomasJay

For potential customers new to Matrix and the Matrix store, the product pages for the older titles give no indication if the user is going to have make any changes just to get the game to run properly. I think a prominent warning notice on the store product page with links to tech support for known installation/display issues would be helpful. While most wargamers expect to do these things, I can see where its a hindrance for some potential customers.

Oh do you mean like this:

WOW! That date, 7 December 19141, is a long ways away! [;)]

LOL [:D]

ORIGINAL: Zovs

LOL [:D]

Observe and REPORT things of interest! [:D]

ORIGINAL: ThomasJay

GOG also offers refunds on their games, and they're drm free. I've never refunded there, so I don't know how they make it work, honor system? I've used steam refunds for 1 game because it wouldn't launch without changing some files and I couldn't be bothered for an impulse sale purchase. But other than those sites, I've never expected a refund on a game in 25+ years offline or digital.

For potential customers new to Matrix and the Matrix store, the product pages for the older titles give no indication if the user is going to have make any changes just to get the game to run properly. I think a prominent warning notice on the store product page with links to tech support for known installation/display issues would be helpful. While most wargamers expect to do these things, I can see where its a hindrance for some potential customers.

Well after checking just now GOG has once again changed their refund policy. It looks like they will trust anyone to be honest again. [:D]

Maybe they'll have better luck than last time.

site games have a one use serial number that once used can't be sold, traded or re sold / returned

Actually JTS allows users to trade games. It's in their terms and I have done so.

I always find the matrix games I have bought are done by some careful research and following this forum since 2008. Plus, good group of people who are helpful, sometimes it would be nice if a person could sell something they didn’t like and the serial number thing gets in the way. Oh well, I hope you try matrix again, good stuff

Hi Pete,

ORIGINAL: PeteS
The no refund policy is unacceptable. "Steam" will refund on products that won't run properly after I purchase. I have been told by someone here that 99% of sites don't refund. But "Steam" does refund. I will not purchase from this site again. Thank you

If we can't get help you get the game working, there are options available. Please create a ticket with our Help Desk and reference this thread and we'll see if we can get it to run for you.

Regards,

- Erik

ORIGINAL: PeteS

The no refund policy is unacceptable. "Steam" will refund on products that won't run properly after I purchase. I have been told by someone here that 99% of sites don't refund. But "Steam" does refund. I will not purchase from this site again. Thank you

Steam refunds because they have a DRM system in place. When you buy a game on Steam your account gets the game's key and this key is really invisible to you and you can't give it away to other people. It's linked to your account. You have 2 hrs to test the game and if you don't like it you can get a refund because they can remove this key from your account AND no one else will ever get this key from you AND you will not be able to play the game anymore.

However, with Matrix games, there's no real DRM system; a customer gets a visible key (you can actually see the combination of letters and numbers) and so refunding would be susceptible to fraud, as dishonest customers could actually give the key away to other gamers before refunding OR they could still keep the game on their HDs and the key in their Windows registries (because this is where they are located) after the refund... That's probably why there are no refunds...[:-]

An interesting and informative thread for sure. I hope the OP is okay with things and can get his game running. I know Zakblood has tested many games for Win10, and is one of many supportive people here.

It's crazy, but I've got pretty much every game Matrix sells, including WitP AE and the really old GG Bombing the Reich. And yet, after purchasing Fantasy General II on Steam, it just stopped running after an update. As always, embarrassed to admit I probably have 1,000 games that will run, but not that one. So the two-hour Steam policy did not help me here.

Now to give the OP a little love, if I was saving up money for that game and got burned, I'd be pretty bummed out. But in my case, I didn't think FGII was so great anyway, so wrote it off.

It's a mistake I often make: Needing to put myself in someone else's shoes. This guy might have had his heart set on a game. But I am confident if he is patient and civil, Matrix staff will do its best to help. God bless!