It would seem that refunds are only offered when due to purely technical problems. In my quest for a refund, this is the response:

Please review our refund policy located at:
https://store.stardock.com/policy.aspx

We offer full refunds for Stardock products after technical support is utilized and is not able to resolve any technical issues you have. Specifically, we need to know:

1) Your product name and your subscription/serial number
2) Your hardware configuration (video card and CPU are the most important ones)
3) What version of Windows you are running
4) A complete detailed report of the issue including any errors that you received and how the problem can be replicated

Please reply to this email with the information described above. If technical problems cannot be worked out by reasonable means, technical support will instruct you on how to receive a full refund.

If you do not wish to work with support on technical problems, or you do not have any technical issues, I can only offer a partial (75%) refund.

Please let me know how you would like to proceed.
Curt Hendzell
Consumer QA Manager
Stardock Corporation
http://impulsedriven.com/ 

So it would seem that the standard reply in this forum in the form of "STFU and go get at refund" is not really an option. And it would also seem that Stardock does not live up to the standards that they are so busy touting in their Gamers Bill of Rights.

Offcourse, I could get at 75% refund, but somehow that just doesnt live up to the impression I get regarding Stardocks fantastic refund policy. I've bought the game directly on Impulse, so its not like they need to retract some retailers cut from the amount.

So is this the officiel Stardock policy towards customers who prefer not to pay for beta-state releases? Do we have to eat at 25% loss because Stardock sells an unfinished product?

http://www.gamersbillofrights.org/

#1 Gamers have the right to return a game that does not function or is incompatible with their machine or does not perform at a reasonable level of performance within a reasonable time.

"I didn't like it" would not fall into that.  We still offer partial refunds. You not liking the game does not make the game a "beta". In the future, I would recommend waiting for a demo.

Your other option would be to opine what sorts of things would make you happy with the game so that the development team can try to address those needs.

This response has completely destroyed any good faith StarDock might have ever built with me.  Brad and the rest of the team are fully aware of the state the game is in and the number of game-ending bugs users are experiencing on a variety of platforms.  Making customers jump through hoops to get a refund for a game with such pervasive and well documented issues is disingenuous and underhanded, and makes me seriously reconsider the possibility of ever buying something from this company again.  And I say that as someone who is *not* contemplating a refund, even though those same bugs make it impossible to complete a full game.  I paid for beta access and frankly consider this state of the game's release a continuation of that, but expecting someone who paid for a finished product to continue to devote their time and attention to helping StarDock fix the broken product they received is beyond the pale.

Stardock should be offering full refunds for digital downloads of this product no questions asked, and for physical purchases with the return of the game disks.  Even if someone takes advantage of the lack of copy protection, without the continuing updates they won't have a fully playable product, so there is no concern about exploiting the system for a free game.

it clearly says that you can get a refund if the game has performance issues AND is not fixed within a reasonable amount of time.  the game has been out for a little over a week.  do you think that is reasonable?

true better w8 for the version 1.1 it promises alot

I realise that the Bill of Rights have been changed since originally used to clobber other companies on the head. Here is the original:

http://www.next-gen.biz/blogs/the-gamers-bill-rights

2. Gamers shall have the right to demand that games be released in a finished state.

This game is not finished. Not even close to it. But it would seem that my right is purely to demand the game is finished at release, and if Stardock chooses to ignore my demand then thats just tough luck for me (and everyone else that expect to get a finished game when the pay for it).

This has later been changed to be:

2. Gamers shall have the right to that games they purchase shall function as designed without technical defects that would materially affect the playing experience. This determination shall be made by the player.

Wow, talk about a rubber paragraph. All the developers have to do is claim that their unfinished game was designed to be so poorly balanced, devoid of content and without a functioning AI. Well, except for the second sentence:

This determination shall be made by the player.

I'm the player and I determine that EWOM is not functioning as designed. There are technial defects that materially affect my playing experience. As an example (one of many) I present the problem of AI's dysfynctionality. The AI will either do nothing and let you walk all over it OR it will be bugged in a way that allows it to spend unlimited amounds of Gildar by going into a huge deficit. In the latter case they can then swarm you with the ally type units that can be bought for Gildar (spiders, sions, dragons and so on).

I defy the developers to tell us that this kind of AI behavior is "functioning as designed"! Does anyone from Stardock have the nerve to make a post here telling us that the AI is supposed to work like that? If not, then give me my refund.

I've already stated quite clearly that if the game one days reaches a state where its worth buying, I will consider buying it again. But that obviously depends on whether Stardock stand by their CEO's fancy Gamers Bill of Rights and are willing to live up to it. If they fine me 25% of the purchase price for a refund on a defective product, then I'm not buying anything again later.

I asked from the very beginning for a refund with the reason that the product is unfinished, and I referred to the Gamers Bill of Rights, as explained above. I'm not angry that the customer support employee is offering to help me work out any technical problems that prevent the game from running. Thats fine and would be much apreaciated if the main problem with the game was purely technical. Besides, angry is such a strong work.

I am unsatisfied to find out the I have been sold an unfinished piece of software, and now have to pay a 25% fine if I want my money refunded.

I'm on the same boat, Jasper.  They want to fine me 25% for trying to return an unfinished beta product.

I dont know about you, but I live in a country (Denmark) where anything bought through mail-order, internet sales and similar sales channels come with a law-determined 14 day period where you can return it for a full refund without needing to justify that request in any way. This law is in effect for anyone who sells anything to consumers living in Denmark, no matter where in the world the company has its headquarters. That means that Stardock is required by law to fully refund the purchase on the condition that I delete it from my computer. Otherwise they could technically be sued and forced send a high-priced lawyer all the way to Denmark in order to lose the case and the be forced to refund the game.

Now, I'm a realist, so I am aware that a lawsuit obviously is out of the question for small change like the amount we are talking about here. However, that doesnt change the fact that Stardock are breaking a law that they are obligated to obey since they have chosen to sell their products in the country that law covers. Not that this will have any real consequence, since the matter is way to small to actually consider taking any action. But it sure is food for thought that they are willing to break the laws protecting consumers in the countries they do business.

Feel free to study the details if you can read Danish. The relevant information is in §19, which deals with the right to return products.

https://www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=1843

Peace and love my friends ! Flower power !

Ah that explains it then. That is something you should bring up much eariler in a converstaion like this.

I was thinking the only logical reason for your expectations would be if you lived in a country with much stronger consumer protection laws.

As a persecpetive check - Where I live and where Stardock is based out of the laws and industry norms are that a person in a situation like your self would be told to stfu and go away - you are not legally entitled to anything. Which is why I expressed some incredulity at your demand for a 100% refund over a 75% one.

State side a 75% no questions asked refund on a software product is a god send.

Stardock Policy and their gamers bill of rights reflect the consumer culture here, where no refund is the norm. thats why they say and stand by gamers getting a refund in those situtations.

As you have an legitimate reason for your expectations I will recuse my self from this conversation - as I still agree with Stardocks handling of the situation.