Asset Store removed items... is or not a little fraud?

Buy an asset from the asset store and seeing it removed after a short time... have you ever faced with a similar problem?
It happened to me twice in the last 5 months!

And I lost more than € 95,00 ...is not a large amount, but it is the principle that counts!

I don't understand why assets can be removed from the store without any warning to those who bought.
If I had known I would have at least one backup.
So I find myself with the new PC and without these asset because I haven't yet downloaded.

I tried to ask for help to the asset store staff and they politely told me that I had to do a backup before they deleting the files.

I do not agree that the store is disinterested in this scenario because some of the money were earned just by asset store.

What do you think about that?


Kenshin

 

I had a similar problem. I bought Brain Builder, which is like Playmaker and UScript, and after speaking with the developer who told me it will never be compatible with Unity 4, I posted the answer as a review and without even notifying me it was removed from the asset store and I was left lumbered.

Not happy with it but S@#t happens as they say! :/

 

Unity tends to wash their hands a lot when it comes to Asset Store issues. I find it very unsettling.

The right way to do this is to force time windows for removals, notify owners about the removal, or (like Apple does) perpetually maintain the assets for download by those that bought them already.

 

I agree in full!

We pay both the developer and Unity, for that reason I think a good company like Unity should protect buyers.

It would be nice if someone from Unity Asset Store team could speak here.

 

Wow good to know. I just kind of assumed any assets I had bought would be available for me to download as long as the Asset store exists.

 

I just installed unity 4 on my girlfriend's computer so I can download assets because I'm on 3.4 and almost nothing is available to download, and was disappointed when some of the models I remember from a year ago are gone.

There was an RPG town/building pack for free, and I never downloaded it due to it requiring version 3.5, then when I went to download last week it's no longer there.

 

I think they should offer a refund or give some credit in the asset store. at least at active den they gave me a refund (after I complained -- although they wouldnt do it by default -- if I hadnt complained, in fact some of the assets are now in the asset store and no longer in activeden but they never gave me a refund for it). Its the squeaky wheel getting the oil, pay out to those complaining because most people wont bother with it -- rather than having a policy of simply paying out.

 

Unity has the responsibility to remove assets from the store that violate copyright or are unsupported in current versions. They don't need to keep a backup for you in this case. Do you feel you don't need to back up your own drive?

 

Why?

If your car burns in a fire, does the manufacturer owe you credit on a new one?

 

When the WarZ got removed from steam they gave a refund.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121189-How-to-Get-Your-War-Z-Refund-From-Steam

 

Be careful with that. Thought I could do the same thing but when I tried to import parts from 4 to 3.5, I ran into problems. Best bet is to import them one part at a time and set up an empty project just to test compatibility.

BTW, you probably already know that you can run 3.5 and 4 at the same time, just rename the directory in Program Files. Quite handy for this. And some people might not realize that.

 

That's a very different case. If I go right now to Walmart and buy a table, said table breaks within a few hours (heck a week) I can return it and they deal with the manufacturer.

Heck, if I don't like the table, I can go back to the store and return it just because I changed my mind, and Walmart will take it.

Same applies to most successful retailers, even the App Store (you got to go through a support ticket for refunds.)

When it comes to digital distribution, the App Store will never allow even the biggest guys like EA from robbing me access to stuff I bought.

People buy from a store hoping that for most cases, if something is wrong you will deal with the store, not have to hunt down the original manufacturer. If I am expected to hunt down the manufacturer, I may as well buy the asset directly from them and make sure they get 100% of the profits. That's what I have come to do with Prime31 plugins. No reason to give Unity a cut of the guy's sales if I'm the one expected to manage it and Prime31 the one expected to yield refunds.

 

Depends. Was it dues to a manufacturer defect or through personal negligence?

 

What happens to my 3.x mobile licenses? I still have access to them in 3.4.2f (version I'm on) even after installing 4?

 

I think the word 'fraud' is too strong here.

I realize that for lots of people here English is not their first language, and so deserve some leeway when the are posting in English but one could be more careful

You could call it a deficit in the customer service but that depends on why those assets are getting removed in the first place. If, as others have pointed out, for example the removal is due to copyright issues, Unity's hands are tied in the matter.

 

Nothing. Still works in 3.5 no matter if 4 is also installed to a different directory. I assume it's the same for 3.4.2 as well.

 

In this case, it sounds like personal negligence - no backups.

 

The asset store already gives refunds for non-working or broken packages. The poster is accusing unity of fraud because he didn't back up his data, and can no longer download a deleted package. This is in no way fraud, nor even their responsibility to keep backups for him.

 

From my point of view, you can't compare that. A game is usually finished after the release. When there are major problems, it is because either Steam made a bad job, or the publisher/developer.
As someone who has some packages in the Asset Store, I guarantee you, the work is not over after it is published. With about every Unity update, the code needs to be modified. That's not happening because the initial coding was bad, but because there are so many changes going on in Unity. You may try to work with the old Lerpz tutorial. It simply doesn't work anymore, because there were too many changes in Unity.

What I basically mean, Steam and the Asset Store are different worlds that are not comparable in general.

 

In the past, t hat has not been my experience. I have been directed to the asset maker. There have not been many chances to test this again, as that experience was enough for me to not trust the asset store for anything that cant be visually evaluated (now I only buy textures or models, and only if the seller is not hosting his own shop on the side.)

As for the OP: the word fraud is only on the subject and not directed at the asset store specifically. I'll let him clarify but he may be saying the vendor that removed the asset is the one doing "a little fraud."

 

A content brokerage that's hit with a DMCA takedown notice (in the case of an alleged copyright violation) either has to take it down or be willing to contest it and risk their safe harbor. That's one possibility.

Also, it doesn't take many complaints about a product to entirely eliminate its profitability. There's a pretty high cost associated with selling and supporting a highly technical product.

 

I see that the discussion is enlivening

Maintaining good point in the speech I want to remind you guys that I personally like and respect very much the Unity company, but I feel that the management of the asset store could be improved to eliminate this problem.

The issue is not whether I do or not to back up, but the fact is that potentially I can buy a new asset now and in a few hours it could disappear by the asset store.
Because the asset store is a business tool for the Unity company is right that delivers a service that protects customers, just improve the current procedure:
when a developer wants to remove an asset from the store, the system generates an automated email alerting all customers within 48 hours that the asset will be deleted from the store.

So everyone is warned and if it deems it necessary he can save a local backup.
For me is not a bad idea!

 

Totally wrong analogy.

It would be equivalent to the Car Manufacturer shutting down, and your car vanishes.



Either way, if you paid for goods, and those goods cease to exist, then you can demand a refund (quite easily from a credit card, or you method of payment).

But yeah, Unity should be all over S*** likes this, because all it takes is bad reputation to ruin a good thing, and seriously harm a company.

 

You could be right. Maybe I was mislead by the title

What OP could be trying to say is:
Vendors who remove items from asset store without any explanation or warning are committing fraud and in his opinion Unity should be doing more about it

If so, my bad. Apologies

 

I believe the analogy is correct, because unity does not delete the asset on your hard drive. it does not vanish. It's still available for you to use and import. The poster got a new computer and did not back up and restore his data - that's the gripe. If you buy something, and lose it, you are not entitled to replacement. Unity is great in allowing you to re-download your items if they have them. But if they don't have it anymore, and you don't even bother to keep a backup, the problem is all yours. They're not your backup.

Anyone running without a backup needs to reconsider how important their data is. You can't always replace it, as has been shown.

 

Ummm..... Really? I assumed that if you download something, you better make a backup on your HD. Never trust anything on the internet to be there tomorrow. I thought this was common sense.

 

Sorry Jaimi, but the point is not if your example is correct or not even Unity is or not is a great company (yes it is!):
when you buy an asset, often it is reasonable to expect updates, and when you have payed you have payed also for it...
I normally work every day and do not have time to watch all day if all my assets have been updated, at least until it is time to use them.

What if before I download the last update, the asset is removed from the store?
Simply I lose something that would be rightfully mine as it was paid with good money! ...this is the point!

In this discussion, we see positive and negative opinions of the management of removed assets from the store; therefore improving the management of this issue Unity company would have a greater number of consents.
Notify before removing the assets from the store to give you time to make a backup is just a win-win solution.

 

I don't think the asset store is selling you assured download convenience for all time, they are selling you what you download. The person updating their asset is not required to do so, it's an added bonus for the customer. You're not buying a guarantee that your assets will be updated. This is the nature of virtual assets.

Unless something was outlined when buying, nobody in entitled to assurance that your asset can always be downloaded and you never need to keep a copy on your computer (I honestly can't believe people thought they didn't need a copy on their computer) or are you entitled to the asset store ensuring you get the latest versions of your product before they become unavailable.

Could the system be better? Sure, but calling it fraud is ridiculous.

 

Sorry Khyrid , this is not a "bonus" but is a service that allow the publisher to gain more reputation and customers.
Please, be serious, we are talking about business... people put asset on asset store to make money and customer pay with real and good money!

As I explained, this is not my thought... it's just your interpretation of the post title.

 

Pretty sure it's already been established that the OP wasn't accusing anyone of fraud (also, question mark in the title, so no accusations made).

And a notification before assets are removed really is a good solution, a lot can happen even if you've made lots of backups and it's good to know (unless notified otherwise) that you can download them again anytime.

 

Yet, the publisher is in no way obligated to make a single update. Of course they choose to make updates to increase their reputation, the reason why doesn't mean it's not a bonus. It's an extra the customer gets for free, thus it's a bonus.

Ok, then let me rephrase my statement. 'Could the system be better? Sure, but IF* anyone is maybe perhaps insinuating that it may be a scam, then that is ridiculous.'

I agree, a notification would be reasonable.

 

Thoughts:

1) This is more of a recall than the other scenario's posted.

2) While one can in theory back up individual packages - this is a hidden ability. UT makes no provision for this, hides the downloaded packages etc.

At the end of the day this sounds about par with most of Unity - half baked and not really looking out for the customer.

 

That seems like a better solution then rather than deleting it without any warning.

The only I know how you could "back it up" is to create a new project and import the asset.

 

I was going to post my thoughts on this, but you've already voiced my thoughts perfectly.

 

If you back up your hard drive, it will get the packages. Unity is storing the packages where they're supposed to be stored in Windows - in the AppData folder in your user profile. If you do not know where this is, it is no ones fault but your own. You should back up your hard disk. They will fail, and it's more common than you think.

Or, you could just buy a Mac, and let Time Machine do all the backing up for you. Best thing about OSX.

 

But it's also about management of customer expectations. A service is provided to let you download prior purchases, other online stores let you do this perpetually after making the purchase, and there's no overt communication that this store is any different. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the inability to download purchases is unexpected by the user.

To be honest I think that in this context the current policy is a reasonable one. If someone takes a product down it's probably because they no longer want to provide support for it for whatever reason. (And that's fair enough. We've had support requests at work related to Asset Store sales that aren't even related to the asset we sold. But even the time taken to respond and explain that and politely point our customer in the right direction has a cost to our business.) But I do think improvements can be made - make sure that users are explicitly informed about areas where this store may operate differently than others they've used, and make sure that there's a grace period after deletion of an asset where people who may not have downloaded it yet are able to do so.

 

Actually no - Unity stores the packages on their own end, and then downloads them to your machine as requested. Any argument based on the assumption that you have the asset on your HDD is flawed.

 

Exactly.


So, trying to steer the discussion in a constructive way I think that implement the functionality of notification before cancellation can be a solution acceptable to all.

Then I hope that Unity Asset Store team can read this thread and will add this usefull feature!

 

Very dis-heartened to hear about this. I would assume from a download service that the product I bought would always be available, its one of the main selling points of using 'cloud' based services. Even in the case where a developer no longer wants to support a product it should be switched so new users can no longer purchase, but its still available to download.

I'm not sure I buy the argument about infringing assets as these should never be allowed onto the store in the first place and if they are then the buyer should be entitled to a refund, it would then be up to Unity to claim that money back from the seller.

After all asset developers are paying Unity 30% of their takings, so Unity has a level of care to provide to both parties and which should be covered by the profit they are making.

It also doesn't help that downloads are hard-coded to a specific folder. I've requested in the past that this be changed and allow users to choose where to install them. I don't make back ups of my OS very often, so having to hunt down that folder is a pain. If I could specify a folder in my Unity partition then it would be much easier to back up and manage.

I agree with a previous statement, that Unity whilst great at bringing inovations to their product are often lacking in their implementation and not giving users the options they need. Apart from the aforementioned download folder, i'd also like to see asset sellers being able to provide multiple Unity versions, so you are not forced into minor/major upgrade cycle just to download a previous purchased asset.

 

You are mistaken. If you are using Windows, They are stored on your machine in your user profile, in the AppData folder:

C:\Users\{your account}\AppData\Roaming\Unity\Asset Store

On OSX, they are stored in

"~/Library/Unity/Asset Store".

You do not need to be online to install your purchased assets. Go to the asset store window, select the download icon on the toolbar (looks like a tray with an arrow pointing down), and you can import any of your purchased assets without re-downloading.

Nope. Not exactly.

I agree - This would be a good enhancement to the asset store.

This is OK, but you can still install it from the asset store, even if it's removed. Assuming you didn't delete it.

You don't have to hunt them down - they're in your user profile. You should always back up all of your user profile - it includes your desktop, favorites, all the app data, etc. It has the added bonus, if you are on a domain, of following you around to whatever computer you log in to. All backup programs should allow you to backup/restore your user profile. The default backup program in Windows will back this up by default - you just have to turn it on.

I'm not really sure why people think Unity has a responsibility to go farther than this. Seems like people just don't want to backup their system. This will bite you - 2% of drives fail in the first year. By year 3, around 10%. By year 5, around 50% of hard drives fail.

 

No, just no.

I have no idea why you're so intent on defending Unity for what amounts to shoddy customer support, but this thread has put a giant red flag on the asset store for me now.

So Unity takes a 30% cut of all the sales and they can't be bothered to store what usually amounts to rather small assets (in file size) for posterity? I don't really care whether the asset is taken down due to some sort of infringement, developer asking to have it taken down, or Unity deciding they feel like its not useful anymore. As a customer, none of this is my problem, as when Unity provides products for sale on THEIR store it becomes their problem and liability, not mine.

When I buy a game on Steam, I can always go back and download it whenever I want. They don't just decide "oh it's been two years since anyone bought this, we're going to just delete the files and if someone forgot to back it up they're SOL". The fact that Unity does this, and without notice, is appalling from a customer service standpoint.

You don't offer me goods from the cloud and then tell me that next time I go online, they may or may not be available to me later.

The whole process is built so as to make the user believe that these assets will always be available from the Asset Store servers, there are no prompts, no dialogs, no messages telling you that they may take it down at any time.

When Unity starts shipping me DVDs with asset store packages I purchased, maybe then, your point will stand.

As a customer this is what I expect:

1) If there are copyright or any sort of legal issues, Unity should not have put up the asset to begin with. Their problem, I should get an automatic refund and a detailed explanation of what's happening.

2) If they are selling their goods on a cloud based service without providing users hard copies of said asset, I expect they will remain available for me to download indefinitely.

3) If an author takes an asset down, the asset store should still allow me to download the last version of said asset, even if other people can't buy it. If they wish to take it down entirely, I should get a notice, and physical media containing said assets.

There is no guarantee that I will have an internet connection tomorrow. There's also no guarantee I have the tools available to me to back things up, not everyone does, and not every Unity user is technically inclined.

Anyways I don't really expect this issue will get resolved, so from now on, I think I'll be nixing the asset store. I'd rather all the money go to the authors if this is the kind of support and security we should expect from Asset Store purchases. I buy things through the asset store for peace of mind, so if they can't give me that, I see no reason to purchase things through that medium any longer.

 

Good luck with that. No one does it, not even Amazon. I'm telling people how to solve the problem NOW. backup. restore. You don't have to be technically inclined to backup. You plug in a USB drive, and run backup. Windows is notifying you that you need to do it. You don't even have to think about it, just follow the directions in the notification.

I've purchased about 200 or so assets, and only one has been removed from the store - and I can still import it, because it's on my drive. Time Machine backed up my old machine, and I restored from it when I moved to a new one. And my packages are all still there to import, even the "deleted" one.

Condensing your post to it's important points: "I won't use the asset store, because there is a small chance they might remove a package, and I might install a new drive without backing up and restoring". hmm.

 

USB drive is free... (for a time machine, it has to be at least twice has big as your original drive)
Making a backup regularly don't slow down your computer....
You need to save your entire hard drive...

Don't talk to me about Time machine, hey great, my last backup with the time machine don't work anymore.... I lost all my previous backup. Thanks Apple.

Stop with this non sense backup. I know you are eager of denfending Unity on every things, but that's not a good fight there.
Backup are there when something WRONG and UNEXPECTED happen.
You need to save things that you can't get back => not asset available on unity online asset store one day ago.

Apple do this, steam do this, Humble bundle do this, we pay 30% to Unity (like Apple) for the same kind of service.
NO WARNING of any kind.
Steam have a "Backup" button.
Unity should also have a backup button that ask you the folder you want to and save all asset.

I myself purchase asset that I've never downloaded yet (for futures projects), will I lost them ?

If we don't always download the last version and the asset is pull out, do we lost the possibility to access the last update ?

And for pro-backup:
Do Unity do also backup ? Can they look at their backup and send the asset to customer that have lost their data ?


PS: Apple do this even on free games...

 

I was burnt once too. One of the extension I bought got removed after poor sales - the developer didn't even bother explaining and just left and took the asset down. While I meticulously check all my Assets Store purchases - sometimes, I may MISS AN UPDATE to the latest version which can become the FINAL VERSION. So when UT remove them from Asset Store, they are effectively removing the support that's rightfuly mine. I think UT should maintain a copy of the removed asset AT VERY LEAST the last version for Asset owner who purchased the said item.

 

This is exactly what happened to me.... I know Jaimi will say it's your fault because you haven't backuped it, but S***s happens!

Even because currently when an asset is removed from the store it just disappears from the asset store window in Unity3d editor.

As you said some other stores keep files permanently, so it does not seem so "outrageous" to ask this to Unity or at least implement a notification system to warn customers before file deleting.

 

Except Amazon does do this. All the games I buy digitally from them are available at all times to download from my Digital games library. Just like Steam. That's exactly the point, this is the standard by which Unity should be judged. They are not a charity, we pay money for our goods, we should hold them to the same standards we use to judge all our other digital providers.

I never said I couldn't back things up, I said that's an assumption that you cannot make of everyone. Good job, you posted it on an internet forum. Does every Unity Asset store user visit these forums? They will see your post for instructions, right?

And yes, I will vote with my wallet. No more Asset Store purchases from me until Unity adheres to industry standards of customer support, for which they are taking their 30% cut on their end. Until then, I will buy things from the makers directly since there's no added security to using the Asset Store at the moment.

 

When did this happen? Did you purchase an asset, then somehow not download it even though it's automatic, and then were unable to download it the next day? Sounds to me like you should request a refund.

The poster is complaining about having to get a new computer, and not being able to get an asset that had been deleted. Sounds like something WRONG and UNEXPECTED happened to him. Otherwise he would have his assets, since they download automatically on purchase, and are stored locally.

Some of you obviously don't care about backing up, even though it would solve this issue for you. Not sure why, perhaps it's too much of an inconvenience. I don't buy the whole "obviously I could, but this is better for everyone else" argument. You don't need a drive that is twice the size of your machine - go exclude the folders that don't need to be backed up all the time.

You can still get to the deleted file - It's in the downloads section of the Asset Store, even if it's deleted, and even if you're offline.

 

That sounds like a good idea. I would also like them to push down updates to the repository on my local machine.

 

I know I know man... you sayed this 100 times!
I was just explaining the Unity3D editor behaviour ... that's it.

 

Any service that hides files you are expected to keep track of and backup yourself in hidden directories (\AppData\ and Library are both hidden by default on their respective OS) is doing it's users a disservice.

It takes a very far reaching apologist to push that not only as the right solution, but one people should be blamed for not knowing about or keeping track of.

Is that a "workaround"? Yea, sure. Is that enough for Unity to say they did all they had to do? No. No way.