Steam Change in Policy

[RitualClarity]

https://www.eurogamer.net/steam-updates-subscriber-agreements-to-remove-arbitration-clause

Apparently Steam changed tehir policy where there isn't abartration now? You have to go through their local court system?

Is this a good thing?

[Kendo 2]

I have no idea what Steam is thinking since the first step in a civil suit is court-mandated arbitration.  Doesn't matter what Steam wants since they'd be the defendants.  They could always refuse arbitration but that shows the judge you're unwilling to be reasonable and they don't like that.

My somewhat informed opinion.  TL;DR a purchased software license trumps the whimsy of community TOS.

Spoiler

Internet TOS can't stand up to any light shined on them in court.  Bethesda learned that with FO76 and the class action lawsuits that were filed; but according to their TOS you waive class action when you install their software.  Don't know about the rest of the planet but in the US that's not valid.

Then there's the question of licensing and TOS site rules.  Look at Youtube, Jack Dorsey's era at Twitter, Dork0ne's Nexus or the cretinism at Lover's Lab; if they prove anything it's that TOS site rules are not binding.  'Because we said so' isn't an axiom that will stand up in court.  The licensor violating terms of a license is something that can be held to account legally.

Example; You violate the TOS Steam because you said something they don't like, and they ban you.  Steam community TOS doesn't supersede your license to access the software required to launch an application you paid for, i.e. a game.  Claiming there are only three genders (male, female, Thai ladyboy) can send some Steam community moderator into a meltdown, but it doesn't violate the licenses you agreed to when you installed game software.  Deny someone access to a license they legally have a right to and there's going to be a problem.  Do it to enough people and you have a class action level problem.

 

[Jim_UK]

This does a good job of explaining it.

 

 

[AtomicGlitch]

A bit of a necro of a thread but I didn't see anything else regarding this. 

Steam is . I used to love them. I used to trust them but they drank the same water that many of the companies have recently. 

I had a p problem purchasing a game. Wanted to use Credit and the balance credit card. Cool right? Well they claimed I put in the wrong address. However, it was good enough for the credit card company to accept the charge?  You wouldn't accept the credit being used but allowed part of the charge to go through. They kept blaming me. I tried to enter a support ticket and soon learned I couldn't. "Cloud Services" (VPN) That was what glitched the system. However, nowhere do they say that can happen. Even after several contacts made to Steam they still blame me for the mess up in the purchase. 

I stated I loved them. They returned games that were glitched even after the return policy. They stood up for the customer against credit cards trying to force their polices etc. etc. So I thought, get the game (I was off) and then ask for them to adjust it. NOPE.  OH HELL NO.  A series of blaming me, and not reading my request tickets focusing on something else. Lord knows what, however it wasn't related to my previous post. Bullshit here and bullshit there. 

Well, I removed all my Wishlist games, Used up my credit for some DLCs for my games to get it out of their pockets (and gaining interest ) and purchased the games I wanted to purchase elsewhere. (GOG for the most part. At least there you can download the installer and install it off line any time you want) as well as other sites. (yes, I avoided EA especially now that they were bought out. )  Now I have a nice bit of fresh gaming (some were older games) to play and Steam got jack. 

To think I was thinking of buying their hardware. The handheld and the computer as well. Supporting them . I am SO HAPPY this happened now before I did that. 

Perhaps eventually once my games get so old and you can buy them for pennies on a dollar I might sell or give my game account over to someone else that can't afford games.