We recently submitted the following complaint to the local 'Better Business Bureau' in which Valve Corporation is located.

COMPLAINT
Valve Corporation operates an online business called Steam. Steam provides an outlet for PC game publishers to sell their games via download content.

There are occasions when a game is released with issues that will not allow the end user to use the game application as it described in the sales description.

In such an instance Steam will not provide a refund and instead refer the customer to the publisher's website to ask for technical support.
Steam justify this stance by saying they simply sell the product and offer no other support.

However, I have 2 issues with this stance:

1) The product supplied does not match the advertising claims.

2) It is not possible to play the game as a standalone product. Users must install the Steam application and play the game through that portal. Attempting to start a game without running it through the Steam application installed will be met by a message that the Steam application needs to be installed.

RESOLUTION
I am seeking the following.

1) Refund in full when the product fails to meet advertisement claims.

2) Recognise your relationship with the publisher as more than just an online retail outlet. Ensuring the end user has to have the Steam application installed to play a purchased game warrants a level of responsibility that goes beyond the realms of purely sales.

The Sandcrawler Network is hosting an RC Fightweek Event from early January 2010. If you experienced an ER BattleWeek event then it'll be something along those lines.

http://www.sandcrawler.net/forum/afw.php?setsite=afw

A couple of random prizes (Killing Floor and Frontlines: Fuel of War) are up for grabs to any players who complete. As the prizes are random, it's activity that counts rather than performance.

Get your clan and players registered and clean off those blasters.

If you're familiar with Killing Floor then this will make sense...otherwise just go with it.

With a lack of Horzine Troopers to stop the advancing Zombie Horde, the Horzine Corporation has drafted in the help of a Star Wars Republic Commandos. This is a Killing Floor model with SWRC overlays to provide that RC feel.

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv191/arramus/Killing%20Floor/repcommdude.jpg

The new SWRCPA avatar was submitted by group member (MK)Mr.Roboto. Thanks for keeping the images flowing over the past few weeks. They all look great.

http://www.planetfeedback.com is an online consumer feedback website that contacts companies on your behalf and keeps your issue in the public domain. LucasArts is already in the Planet Feedback database and sending a letter to them through this method of communication was a simple and smooth process. The letter is as follows:

Type: Complaint
To: LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC
Subject: Star Wars Republic Commando (PC) - Steam Digital Distribution Platform

Message: In July 2009, LucasArts released 'classic' software on the digital distribution platform, Steam.

LucasArts' President, Darrell Rodriguez described this release as follows; "This effort is going to make it possible to introduce a whole new generation of gamers to LucasArts' classic games."

One particular game, Star Wars Republic Commando, was one of the classic games released.

My complaint is this. Star Wars Republic Commando contains many gameplay issues due to a lack of compatibility with current computer hardware and gaming trends. In fact, one major issue has been reported by LucasArts itself on its customer support website.

Main issues include:

A known bumpmapping issue that causes the game to crash.

Client side console commands that cause game servers to crash.

A known mouse scroll issue when in the game menu that causes erratic mouse movement.

Developers and publishers have always been shy to update content primarily used for online gameplay past the original stock files but since the 'Multiple Gaming Mode' of SWRC is being advertised as a game feature in the sales introduction, I think it's fair to expect that will also be online gaming ready.

With the effort to attract a new generation of gamers to LucasArts' classic games, I would like to see these known issues fixed with a patch release.

Additional patch support to ensure this title is fitting with today's gaming trends are; Server Admin Support Tools and Auto Downloading of Files.