Drag’s refund request for Planescape Torment was denied by Steam. The game has sat in drag’s inventory for several months, but drag has only played for 8 minutes and in that time decided not to play it.
Drag would like advice on gaming the Steam refund system, because drag doesn’t agree with their reason for denying the refund. Are there any gamebreaking bugs or problems like that which Steam might accept?
Drag will post the reason for wanting a refund in a comment, and asks that you confine discussion of drag’s reason or why drag should just enjoy the game to underneath that comment, so that the rest of the thread can be about the actual question.
Well, since you’ve invited us to argue…
The Nameless One is not much different from The Master Chief or Geralt. The game is telling the story of a specific character. In this case, that character is a man. The fact that it’s based on D&D is kind of irrelevant; it sounds like you made an assumption that wasn’t stated anywhere, and are now trying to finagle a refund far outside of the refund window as a result.
While I certainly understand and sympathize with not wanting to play a character that doesn’t match your gender, it strikes me as kind of hypocritical to be okay with doing so for some games but not others. Personally I’d say, don’t play it if you feel strongly about it, but it’s not grounds for a refund.
Where’s the character creation screen in Halo Combat Evolved? Where’s the creation screen in the Witcher 3? Can you assign stats to the Master Chief? Can you decide Geralt’s class?
Halo and The Witcher aren’t roleplaying games, other than Halo Reach. So it’s not the same.
The games clearly aren’t the same, but the premise of Planescape: Torment is that the game is telling you a predefined story about a specific character. That character happens to have lived many, many unique lives. You aren’t deciding who he is on a fundamental level, just what his skillset is right now, similar to spending ability points in Witcher. Unlike e.g. Baldur’s Gate, where you are a Bhaalspawn but you get to decide the specifics, Torment’s protagonist is largely predefined.
That’s still not enough information to determine that gender customisation isn’t in the game. Commander Shepard is a predefined character with a set story. The Courier and the Sole Survivor have defined stories. The choice to deny gender choice does not follow logically from anything you’ve said. Drag simply asks that the store page list the fact you are leaving unsaid: that gender is predefined. Gender is not personality, as Fallout and Mass Effect demonstrate.
Take it up with Steam, I guess. Ten seconds on Google could have answered the question before you bought the game. If you feel this strongly about it, maybe you should be checking for each game you buy before you buy them.