A Story About GP2

...ask Kenny.

Most games and programs will fully install on a user's system. If the retail store has a policy for returns that includes opened items, then they should honor it (within their right not to though), and not use some niggly-lil-excuse like "a patch." Kinda' like saying (to a green-looking customer): "Hey, you already took a bite, and could digest what little you took. I hear there's a couple more fast-food joints around here, and if you took a bite from each, then you would have a whole meal!!" =P Cheers! Marc J. Nelson Sim Racing Online / Sim Racing News / The Sim Project http://members.aol.com/simracing

<SNIPPETY> Any shop that takes back opened software is stupid. There are dozens of No-CD utilities. For instance, if you wish to use the ***-Raider patch you need to install a No-CD version of Tomb-raider. The shop-owner is really foolish to accept opened software. When one uses a Jazz-drive, one can copy the game to the Jazz drive from the CD and run it from there. Really really stupid thinking of the shop. And in my view, anyone who uses cracked software should burn in hell. Just IMO. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flush The Seatbelt! Ekul in Sraw Rats ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Straight from Dragon's DAK Kubelwagen: Photo-etched PRATS included 1/35 Panther Ausf. F under construction ------------------------------------------------------------------------- [link lost in import: /~t666442] [link lost in import] -------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Wed, 05 Nov 1997 00:29:25 -0800, "John P. Wilson"

Quoted text (28 lines)

>I was looking around in Star Tech (computer/software store) today, and >saw a young man walk in with a copy of Grand Prix 2 under his arm. >Trying not to look conspicuous, I saw him approach the employee, and >tell him that this was not to his liking; it would not run very well on >his computer (FYI Star Tech accepts returns with the package opened) and >that he would like to exchange it for another title. Now, I work in >retail, so sometimes returns are a little funny, but this was wild. >Moving closer, and pretending to study the back of 'X-Wing vs. TIE >Fighter', I heard the employee (who I later found out to be named Kenny) >tell the customer 'I can't take that back...I've seen the patches on the >web that let you play the game without the CD, and some people return >the CD and get the game for free.' The customer said he has no internet >access (ack!) and has no idea what he's talking about. Kenny still >insisted that 'if I let you return this, I have to let everybody do it, >even the ones who use that patch'. The customer spoke to the manager, >and was still unsuccessful (because, of course, Kenny had a lil' chat >with the manager on the way over). Needless to say, he stormed out very >unhappy and insulted. Well, blowing my cover, I walked up to Kenny and >said 'were you talking about a patch for that game?' He said (and I >almost don't want to write it) 'yeah, some idiot on the web made a >program that copies, like, 100MB of the game to your hard drive, and you >can return the game, and get it for free.' >Well, that's about it. Thoughts? Comments? By the way, this is IN NO >WAY an insult or rant to the guy who made this utiltiy. I merely wanted >to expose this little tidbit, and wonder what they would've said if he'd >brought back IndyCar Racing I or something (something that fully >installs to the HD).

If the store is in the US and posts a policy for returns that allows returns of opened software, it is likely that the store would be legally obligated to accept the return, patch or no patch. That certainly would be the case here in NY (which is the only state in which I'm admittted to practice law, and therefore the only state regarding which I can express a specific legal opinion). The policy may be dumb, as one poster suggested, but they didn't have to adopt it. And the purpose of the patch isn't to allow piracy, though that's certainly a possible (and likely) side effect. The reason for it is that season editing is impossible with the game on the CD.