Not only does independent developer/publisher Stardock put out some great strategy games, they’re also somewhat well known for totally omitting any sort of DRM in their releases. Building upon this idea of actually, y’know, treating Computer gamers with some modicum of respect, they’ve released a list entitled “The Gamer’s Bill of Rights,” a collection of standards that we can anticipate to see the company employ from this point on.

1. Gamers shall have the right to return games that don’t work with their personal for a full refund.
2. Gamers shall have the right to demand that games be released in a finished state.
3. Gamers shall have the right to anticipate meaningful updates after a game’s release.
4. Gamers shall have the right to demand that download managers and updaters not force themselves to run or be forced to load in order to play a game.
5. Gamers shall have the right to expect that the minimum requirements for a game will mean that the game will play adequately on that computer.
6. Gamers shall have the right to expect that games won’t install hidden drivers or other potentially harmful software without their consent.
7. Gamers shall have the right to re-download the latest versions of the games they own at any time.
8. Gamers shall have the right to not be treated as potential criminals by developers or publishers.
9. Gamers shall have the right to demand that a single-player game not force them to be connected to the Internet each time they wish to play.
10. Gamers shall have the right that games which are installed to the hard drive shall not require a CD/DVD to remain in the drive to play.

Ideal list ever or ideal list ever?

Some of the items — ok, more like ALL of them — might seem like painfully obvious things to do, but, as I’m sure most of you’re aware, are still not practiced by many publishers and developers.

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