Stardock, publisher and developer of Sins of a Solar Empire and Galactic Civilizations II and the intiator of the Gamers' Bill of Rights, released today a revised and updated version of the aforementioned bill of rights.
The interim update rewords each of its ten original declarations to include less ambiguity. It also changes the 10th commandment to address the first sale doctrine which became an issue lately.
The new bill is as follows:
1. Gamers shall have the right to return games that are incompatible or do not function at a reasonable level of performance for a full refund within a reasonable amount of time.
2. Gamers shall have the right that games they purchase shall function as designed without defects that would materially affect the player experience.
3. Gamers shall have the right that games will receive updates that address minor defects as well as improves gameplay based on player feedback within reason.
4. Gamers shall have the right to have their games not require a third-party download manager installed in order for the game to function.
5. Gamers shall have the right to have their games perform adequately if their hardware meets the posted recommended requirements.
6. Gamers shall have the right not to have any of their games install hidden drivers.
7. Gamers shall have the right to re-download the latest version of the games they purchase.
8. Gamers whose computers meet the posted minimum requirements shall have the right to use their games without being materially inconvenienced due to copy protection or digital rights management.
9. Gamers shall have the right to play single player games without having to have an Internet connection.
10. Gamers shall have the right to sell or transfer the ownership of a physical copy of a game they own to another person.
Stardock noted that the document "is still being discussed with various publishers" with the intention "to provide more precision in what is and isn't acceptable.
