Well, the point can't be answered without short legal analysis..
1.
Did you know you were in a Beta ? Answer is
yes (I hope you can't ignore that point).
2.
Are things, objects, gameplay, values, etc... supposed to be frequently modified in a Beta ? Answer is obviously
yes.
-> Conclusion n° 1 : You accepted that all your in-game stuff will be frequently and deeply changed.
3.
Are all these MechLab upgrades bought with real money ? Answer shall be qualified : if you only won C-Bills by gaming, no. But if you converted part or all of your MC in C-Bills to then buy/upgrade stuff with these C-Bills, the answer is definitely
yes !
4.
If something is broken in stuff you have bought with real money, is the seller supposed to refund money (or to repair/replace the stuff) ? Its depends on countries and legal systems, but the answer is generaly
yes.
5.
Are you in a case where PGI is a seller, you a buyer and MWO stuffs the objects of a sale ? Answer is negative, because sale contracts need generaly a material object (such books, DVD,...) to be delivered, or the transfer of property on a material or immaterial right (such a domain name). Were you granted the transfer of ownership on anything in MWO stuff ? Answer is of course
no.
-> Conclusion n° 2 : You are not in a sale terms situation, in which you can claim for refunds
6.
If it's not a sale, is it a service ? Answer is probably
yes !
7.
When someone pays for a service and this service is broken or not completely provided, has he the right to claim for refund ? Again, it depends on countries and situations, but generally the answer is
yes !
8.
So, is PGI service broken ? -> please refer to Conclusion n° 1 : playing a Beta game, you accepted the fact that PGI service is just supplying a test platform, where everything will change every day. So answer is
no.
-> Conclusion n° 3 : PGI meet obviously his service conditions.
9.
So, being admitted that PGI service is OK even when providing moving/costs changing/overpowered/overnerfed stuffs, is it just normal that we PAY for such unstable gaming conditions ? Answer is clearly
NO.
10.
But...so ? Why did we pay for that ? THAT's the main question ! I was really wondering about it : WHY do we pay to do the testers' job ? Answer is quite obvious and announced in many parts of the site and forum : we SUPPORT the game creation / launching. We accept to give money to help this enormous and ambitious project !
-> Conclusion n° 4 (and last one ) :
Until end of beta, your money is not a payment. It's a DONATION. And you are free not to give it, to give more, stop to give or wait to have more stable stuff before giving again. And when donations, no way to claim
!
Edited by Kazooal, 13 November 2012 - 07:02 AM.