If it were known that the game tends to have issues with certain DirectX packages (or certain other things on the list), then I'd be quite a bit more willing to try those things. As it stands, though, the game seems to have crashing issues for quite a few people, and the source of the issue has proved rather elusive, for both the user-base and the developers. So once again, the various suggestions that were listed remain highly generic, and when taken in the context of random crashes that have proved elusive for even the devs, are likely to just prove a waste of my time (as well as having the potential to cause problems with some of the many other games I have installed that are all currently working flawlessly). I don't particularly mind troubleshooting if there's a good lead on what the problem may be and it's just a few quick things to try; it's the shotgun approach (like the laundry list I was asked to run through) that I take issue with, as in my experience that tends to do nothing more than waste my time (and the extent of the list shows quite a disregard for the value of my time).

I also find it rather amusing that it's now a couple of people who have brought up the criticism of "refund for no work"; when has it become a requirement to put in some given amount of work to get a refund if something bought proves unfit for purpose? I can buy a $200 item at the local home improvement store, and if for some reason it doesn't suit my needs return it the next day for a full refund, no questions asked. Yet for a $20 game I'm asked to run through a large list of steps before a refund is even considered. The discrepancy makes things seem a bit... petty.

Whenever there is a massive sale like this, I tend to notice that GOG's support slows to a crawl.

Depends if you count the time needed to document the current state of my system and make sure I have everything needed to roll back to that state if the suggested changes cause any problems. I prefer not to change things unless there are known issues- in short, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Given that my system is around 4 years old, has never needed an OS re-install, and runs pretty much flawlessly, I'm inclined to stick with this approach. Again, if there are known issues I'm happy to make fixes, but I'd prefer to stay away from the random "change all these things and see if it helps" approach, as in my experience it usually doesn't help, and somethings breaks other things.

I guess controller support on the gamecard means that the game will run with all common controllers, while other games for which it isn't stated might or might not run with certain controllers. So you should be aware that you buy such games at your own risk. I guess GOG will still give you a refund (or at least store credit) when you ask for it for the first time (they are normally quite generous and helpful).

Just got resolution on the matter, and have updated the initial post to reflect that.

To me that sounds like you want the game to work for you only if you are having the same problem as everyone else. In other words, if the reason the game is not working for you is unique or rare, then you don't want the game to work for you at all.

It seems to me that if you don't help troubleshoot your circumstance, then no one else can benefit from what you are experiencing either. If you do help troubleshoot your circumstance, then maybe it would help someone else, too.

Overall, what you have described sounds to me like more of a customer's experience with purchase decisions rather than experience with customer service of trying to get something to work. I mean from reading what you've posted all that I can learn from it is that I should research about a game and whether it'll work on my system before purchasing (which is what I do already).

I think what you copy/pasted is probably posted in GOG's troubleshooting section for just about any game (which I've reviewed before purchasing games) so that info is familiar to me and I have made sure I was comfortable with the possibility before purchasing. (I have a Mac so most of that doesn't apply to me anyway. But I did find out beforehand.) What happens after that troubleshooting would be something new, would be about the customer service itself, but you are saying you aren't going to follow through with obtaining customer service. To me all of this boils down to just your experience with a purchase decision.

Not to belittle that. I mean, it's a great reminder to do research beforehand, so thank you for that reminder. I just think it would have been more helpful to have this thread titled differently to reflect that instead of implying that you had more experiences to share.

I guess I was expecting a "hero" who helped out, but maybe it didn't work out because the issues remained mysterious regardless of everything that was tried. But no, nothing was tried, there wasn't even an interest in following through. So it's more like a story from a passerby than from a participant.

I do find it interesting that having to troubleshoot was a surprise. So I do think that this is worth knowing, that more people should become informed about the possibility of troubleshooting to get the game to work to make the purchase worthwhile instead of just giving up. Perhaps this thread will help with that so more persons will research more before purchasing and also be prepared to attempt troubleshooting (or alert a dear friend of the need for an in person visit to help out with that).

I agree with that but,if I don't wish to try all of their suggestions then money should be refunded immediately.

In principle all the measures they propose are quite meaningful as general actions on a Windows system. They probably help a lot to avoid general problems. I also understand they have to do that in order to avoid paying refunds where a simple driver update would have done the trick already. So I actually would have done all that and then ask for the refund.

However, in some specific cases GOG support might decide to take a shortcut, especially if it is a known instability. So, if many people report the same issue and it cannot be in general resolved, then they could speed up the refund. Either they didn't have this policy so far or they thought that this issue may be resolvable.

In the end, "poor customer service" is probably a bit exaggerated.

I don't think you understand what the phrase "fit for purpose" means. It means when you buy a product you are entitled to a product that works as intended. If it doesn't then you have the right to a refund. This is going by European business law. A game's purpose is to played and if the customer cannot do that then they have the right to ask for a refund. While it is okay to ask the customer to try the solutions to fix the problem but ultimately it's not the customer's job to fix it.

To call the customer an asshole and a bum for wanting a product that is fit for purpose is just asinine and make you look like a fool.

^This, and double so regarding the very last bit.

I updated the original post, but also wanted to post here in case anyone already following the thread skipped over it. According to the support rep their standard policy is to offer store credit in the initial response as an alternative to trying to trouble-shoot the process (given that people have different levels of tolerance for how much troubleshooting they're willing to do). This wasn't included in the initial response I received as an oversight (understandable since the support reps are pretty busy at the moment). So in hindsight my own response to this was an overreaction resulting from a small miscommunication. Ultimately GOG support handled the issue quickly, professionally, and courteously, for which I commend them. I also apologize for some of my initial harsh words, which in hindsight were uncalled for.

I think you are the one who doesn't know what he is talking about. Fit for purpose does not enable a buyer to do nothing. In fact, the phrase "significant effort" is contained in the law.

You are the one being a fool. So every box copy on the market one should be entitled to a refund because a patch is available but the consumer wants to be lazy and not apply it? Now you are the one being silly. A customer is still responsible to make reasonable effort.

Well, I'm glad EVERYONE ELSE is having such a better experience with GoG's customer service, 'cuz I'm not; they flat-out denied me a refund, so it doesn't look like I'll be purchasing much else on GoG for awhile, unless I know for a fact that the game supports gamepads, and is on sale for 25% of its original price.

Probably just get most off of my games DRM-Free off of Humble Bundle from now on; GoG's not the ONLY outfit that sells digital games DRM-Free, y'know! Humble Bundle, I've had great experiences with their customer service, so I'll probably end up sticking with them more often...until they piss me off, as well. :/

Man, and right after I just started getting involved in the forums here...

That's a good thing to point out. No point buying a game full price when GoG is having one of their large sales, because if it's not on sale that day, it probably will be later.

That's another good thing to point out, because I've never seen "Controller Support" on the game product pages/gamecards for (EDIT: SOME) of the games I already own, that ARE compatible with gamepads (see: Feist, Freedom Planet, Pid).

EDIT: Okay, "Controller Support" is listed under the "Features" bullet point, in the list right under the "Add to Cart" button, and I've seen for: Anodyne, Braid, Dust: An Elysian Tale, Shovel Knight, Valdis Story.

This is good to know, and thank you for updating. I would gladly take store credit, rather than having to go through the 10+ steps originally posted. I am glad it all worked out.