It's a string of letters and numbers calculated from the contents of a file. It's usually a good way to compare a file you have to another file that you know that is good, as the md5 check being the same almost always means the files are identical, and being different means the file has been modified/corrupted in some way.

I once had an issue with them, and I contacted the support. They never replied back to me.

As it was about less than a dollar purchase, I didn't bother to spend any more time on that, I accepted the loss and decided to buy less from them in the future. I couldn't help feeling the way you do though.

Either once they get the money, they don't care about what happens afterwards. Or maybe they prioritise customers who actually bring in money, not just few random cents. Whatever the case may be, the lack of even automated reply that they would get back to me was really disappointing. The fact that they never got back to me at all even more so.

Yeah, that really stinks.

At least I had a few email replies.

In the first two though, they seemed clueless about what a failed MD5 means. Kept focusing on me using different download methods just to be sure, clearly not getting the clues that I know more about MD5 than they do. Whether they ever wised themselves up or were just deliberately playing it ignorant I don't know. Perhaps I made the mistake of saying the zip file still opened. I probably also erred by saying I wasn't going to install the game either, as that would not tell me anything definitive ... other than if that failed altogether. No-one wants to get partway through a game and have it always crash at the same point.

Like so many places (stores etc) it would be a mater of priorities, so even if my issue was passed on, those who know about MD5 may be too busy with other stuff to bother.

Basically a reproducible value that represents the integrity of a good copy of a file.

If a copy of that file fails an MD5 check, that means it has been corrupted, often by the downloading process, but sometimes corruption happens in storage or during a relocation.

Sometimes a bad MD5 check might just mean a file has been updated and they forgot to create a new MD5 for it. But in my case I checked the file with 7-Zip, which also reported an error. So a confirmation of sorts.

Also a publisher : https://www.gog.com/games?devpub=humble_games&page=1&sort=title

true , they made some indie games

Interesting, they probably ignore their stuff here too.
I think I am becoming too jaded.

I have been wary of Humble (and avoided their store) ever since they started selling unethical, DRMed products.

I sadly think so too. It was a great site 5 years ago or something, but now it's beyond redemption I suspect. It's essentially just a shteam key reseller.

With GOG degrading too, I fear there will soon be a future where there is no store I can buy games any more :( Have to rely on indies. But if they then tie themselves to shteam, I will still have nowhere to actually get the games.

The industry really has turned to crap.

I am also on the bandwagon of missing the old days of HB. Not only the good game bundles, but even being able to buy drm free apks of android games was nice, as mentioned earlier in this thread.

Slightly different issue, but ended up at the same place.

The Humble Store certainly does have some "interesting" charities. You might think you're doing some good when you're actually enabling some bad.

Many would be horrified if they spent the time to track organization's actions and money (BTW, you can follow IRS paperwork online for many corporations). "But I thought they were doing good?" "But their name sounded like a good thing!?"

Food for thought.

I have always been in doubt about that aspect of the Humble Store ... them seeming so altruistic ... seemed more like propaganda to me.

I'm not sure that it has actually, though you could certainly argue the case for some elements, but those would be common elsewhere beyond games too. So the price of progress it seems.

In fact, until GOG and Indie games came along, which were shining lights in the darkness, buying games had become painful in many, maybe most cases, even before the advent of Steam ... which in some cases got rid of the nastier DRM.

So one could argue, that in some instances we are now better off, even though GOG seem to be slipping a bit. We now also have the likes of the ZOOM Platform and Itch.io etc to help keep things a bit better ... to some degree anyway.

At the end of the day, Publishers and Developers call the shots ... decide where and how they release their games, and in what condition.

good, dont give money to haters
I dont trust humble to respect buyer's choices, they probably take more money than deserve

agree, most of the charities are just scams and even if they are not they are very inefficient way to help people
imho if someone wants to help they should do it themselves locally

oh and some of these "charities" are just a bunch of women on twitter probably hating on us gamers and wants to push their agendas to ruin our games like uglifying female characters, who wants to support this behavior ?:O