QUOTE(Chancer @ Oct 30 2007, 05:22 PM)
Is it fair that when you damage something someone else foots bill? Hardly.
I pay a lot of money for my games and as such , treat them with respect and store them correctly. Guess what? I have never had to replace one for being scratched.
Yes I have Kids that use them and they know to take care of them as well. Where do you think the extra costs involved in replacing games for free is made up. It will be added on to the games or in some other stealth tax. So you think I should pay to have peoples games replaced for free simply because they don't look after them.
I have seen far too often the way discs are treated by people. Out of cases, Thrown on the floor etc etc.
The old " Consoles scratch the games sometimes" doesn't wash either. In the rare case a console is faulty and damages a game that one game should be exchanged or paid for by the console manufacturer after inspection of the console to verify the fact.
I have no objections to chips and backups being legal, but if that does not become the case, free replacements is not the answer.
I definately feel you on taking care of something that costs a lot. I have a child, and I'm doing my best to teach him to care for everything we have; namely optical discs. He's broken 3 movies of mine since he's been alive, but once he broke "Who's Harry Crumb?", I HAD to take it upon myself to teach him how to handle a disc(mind you, he's only 3). I've given him some "throw away media" to attempt to teach him, and he's actually doing quite well (you'd be amazed at how easy it is to teach a toddler to use a DVD player).
For any parents with children and disc problems as a result of such, read this:
Go to Best Buy or wherever and get some dirt cheap discs. Best Buy is good for having Dynex discs for Less than $10 for a 50 pack. These are horrible recordable media and are dirt cheap, so it's under $10 to teach your children this lesson (priceless...there are some things money can't buy...) You will also need a copy of a DVD your child enjoys a lot. With me, Spongebob worked just fine. Make a backup of your movie, put it in the case (or whever the retail copy would normally be) and give that to your child to practice putting in the DVD. When the child wants to watch it (feel free to suggest the idea), have them grab the case and they will be using the backup as a decoy (which still gives them the same result if they handle it properly). This is time consuming, but so are most things when it comes to your children (seriously, think about the day).
I will remind you parents that this was especially hard for me, as I'm a single parent, but sometimes you gotta take one for the team. I hate saying it like this, but it's just one of those "showing responsiblity" times for both you and your child at this point.
QUOTE(Jstraw @ Oct 30 2007, 05:53 PM)
not all people are anal about the things they own and accidents do happen! I think more than anything, Media vender's are exploiting this very thing by creating product that is easily destroyed, there wouldn't be a replacement program if product was created with integrity.
The only reason our cars aren't cardboard boxes with balloons for wheels with an $80,000.00 price tag is because the consumer spoke out about vehicle manufacturing and now there are laws to protect the people driving them. Is there a replacement program, Yes, but some of it the consumer is responsible for. Governments around the world heavily restrict the manufactures of vehicles right down to the paint, manufactures guarantee the inegrety of the vehicle because they are required to do so. Geared to protect the consumer. Money is still being made.
As for Media vender's, SCREW THEM! by the way, They deserve to be ripped off. A 50 million dollar movie is a work of art not a single serving sugar packet, the same as a video game that has thousands of hours behind it. ARTWORK! Monet, Picasso, blaa blaa blaa... So put the damn thing in a format and a package that has integrity and does not break down after 3 uses or become scratched by looking at it. Then you can arrest people for trying to rip it off.
This *IS* a problem as well. Many manufacturers of optical consumable media don't necessairly use the highest standards in their manufacturing process. Just because their ISO 9000 certified, doesn't mean anything, it just means they have a process that's "capable" of creating a quality product, but it can be poor design OR poor manufacturing that renders a poor quality product. The most drastic of differences would be to compare something like a Disney DVD to one of the $1 DVDs at wally world. Both are manufactured, but the $1 DVD is VERY poor quality, and prone to scratching. These being inferior product will also yield more drastic effects of a scratch versus a scratch of equal or lesser magnitude on a "common" DVD.
Many times, an upgrade in your DVD player can help you avoid issues with retail releases off the shelf, and subsequently, scratching (or playing with mild scratches). I have a GE from 2000 that still works, but once in a great blue moon, it will skip a bit on a movie. Most movies could have mild "hair" scratches and still play fine, as long as they were few. Anything consistant on the disc, however, would make it skip a lot. I have a cheap DVD player I bought from a crackhead for $20 (which now retails for $20 at wally world), that would probably play a pb&j sandwich if I threw it in, which is to say it plays discs that even have quite a few scratches).
Just because equipment can play a difference in how long your discs lasts, however, is no reason not to really try to come up with a solution to "accidents". I only have one child, but any "accident" on discs now will definately result in an "accidental ass-whoopin" (note quotes). The past 3 months I haven't had a single disc damaged, so I think it's accomplishable for most.
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