FaeTerra

[quote][b]Warning: Third Party Account[/b] This game requires you to create a third party "Custom Server" account... there's no valid reason for this in a PC game when SteamWorks is available. This is often done to harvest private data and profile you, with potential sale and transmission of your private data to third parties. The developers will probably argue that you can trust them, but if they were trustworthy they wouldn't demand you create a third party account. This represents a considerable risk to gamers due to the privacy and security implications of developers that wish to bypass Steam and harvest user data. Remember, sometimes if the product is free, YOU are the product.[/quote] [quote][b][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microtransaction]Warning: Microtransaction infested mobile app(?)[/url][/b] This game is infested with a toxic mobile app style cash shop. You will be prompted to and expected to give money to the developers through this cash shop to buy in-game goods so you can play the game.[/quote] FaeTerra is one of thousands of nasty mobile apps infesting the "free" section of Steam, but it's not really free. There's only a superficial "game" here. Well this looks a lot like your usual mobile app "autobattler" (aka "Pay money in the cash shop to progress") garbage but I couldn't see it on the mobile phone app stores. Apart from lack of availability on the iPhones it was designed for, this has all of the qualities of a mobile app and I'll refer to what little of a "game" there is as such. So really, the mobile app "game" is just a veneer, a thin skin wrapped around a nasty, predatory mobile app cash shop. Thus, the true purpose of this mobile app is to get you to hand your credit card details to the greedy mobile devs so you can buy stuff in the nasty cash shop... it shouldn't be considered a real game because it's a mobile app cash harvester, and has no place in your game library. Putting that toxic mobile app monetisation aside... this is a mobile app. I didn't spend thousands on a gaming PC so I could pretend it's an iPhone, and I don't think you did either... this kind of mobile app has no place in your Steam library. Despite having no up-front cost, this failed to appeal to the 120 million+ gamers on Steam. SteamDB showed the game peaked at only 3 concurrent players... this is a dismal public reception. This was so bad they couldn't even give it away. Bearing in mind that free games don't add +1 to your game collector count, should you bother adding this to your library and downloading it? Nope. This isn't worth downloading. While this didn't cost me any money up front, I still feel ripped off. [quote][url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/reviews]Developer Response![/url][/quote]The developer has weighed in to inform everyone they didn't read the [url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/reviews]Developer Usage Rules[/url] for Steam "partners", or they deliberately ignored the part where Valve says: [quote]Though it may be tempting, not every review needs to be responded to. A developer response will frequently draw more attention than the original statement, potentially turning a small issue into a much larger community discussion. It's also not a good idea to use this feature to refute customer opinions. Your direct attention can be seen as validation or a defensive attempt to silence your customers.[/quote] This is a little disturbing as the developer indicates they started stalking me and feverishly reading through my reviews... either just obsession with me on their part, or desperation to try find something in one of my other reviews that would somehow change the objectively terrible quality of this failed "game". Whatever their motivation, creeping on reviewers like this is [b]not okay[/b]. The "developer" argues that I review a lot of games, therefore this game review isn't valid or truthful. Huh. If I changed all my other reviews to positive, would the graphics and gameplay of this crap game suddenly improve? No. Would the cash shop disappear? No. Would the developer stop trying to get your email address? No. The developer seeks any possible angle to throw shade at me personally to discredit my review. You can see what they are trying to do. If this was the only review I have ever written, would that change any of the properties of this game or alter the facts contained in my review? Of course not. [b]My reviews for other games have no bearing on the dismal quality of this failed product[/b]. The developer seems to know nothing about their own game. The game launched in October 2024, many months ago. The game prompts you with a registration as the developer attempts to harvest your password and other private datails. The developer failed to bother to read my review which clearly states why people who request your email and attempt to control and co-erce you through EULAs and toxic privacy policies simply cannot be trusted. [b]If the developer could be trusted he wouldn't be so eager to get your private email address![/b] The Steam store page carries the clear warnings about the EULA, the third party account requirement and the toxic in-game cash shop. My review accurately echoes these warnings to ensure gamers are adequately informed about harmful cash grabs like this garbage. The developer seeks to lie and mislead gamers specifically to maximise the data he can collect and the cash he can harvest from the mobile app cash shop. I'm just providing the facts, what gamers do with that information is up to them. Nothing in the developers pointless breach of Valve guidelines changes any of the objective facts of my review. My review stands unaltered. I cannot recommend this game to anyone.