If something is given to you for FREE, do you have the right to complain or rant about it?

DementedSheep

New member
Jan 8, 2010
2,654
0
0
Ranting no (well you can though it will make you look bad) but you don't have to like something because it's free and in terms of media and games you can give (hopefully constructive) criticism so long as you keep in mind that it is free so don't be an ass about it.
 

happyninja42

Elite Member
Legacy
May 13, 2010
8,577
2,981
118
Sure you still have the right to complain. If I didn't ask for it, and didn't want it, and you give it to me anyway, I'm under no obligation to be grateful for it, especially if there is something wrong with it.

If I come to your store to buy a lamp, and you decide to also give me a free pair of sunglasses, (that I never asked for), and they break, guess what, I have a right to ***** about it. "I can see why they gave them away for free, because the things are cheap pieces of crap that didn't last 30 minutes!" etc etc.

The quality of the free thing is very important, as well as whether or not it was even desired. I frequently turn down free stuff, because I don't want it. A lot of people are of the mindset that if it's free, it's good to have it anyway. I disagree, if I don't find the item to have any value what so ever, all it does it clutter up my place. So keep your stuff thank you, if I want it, I'll let you know.

Now, if I specifically ask you for something for free, "Hey man, can you pick me up something when you hit the burger joint? I'm starving" Then no, I don't think you've got much of a right to complain. I mean, you can, but it will look more like you being a dick. But if I don't specify to you that I don't, for example, want onions on the free cheeseburger you are buying me, I"m not going to ***** about the onions. I'm perfectly fine with taking the onions off, and eating my burger that I got for free, because I asked you to get it for me. But if you get me a burger, and I never asked you for a burger, and I am not hungry, while I will personally thank you for the kind thought, I'm not going to eat your burger.
 

RealRT

New member
Feb 28, 2014
1,058
0
0
It really depends on the intention of the giver and whether the giver is a person or a company. If somebody gives away gifts just to be nice, then no, I don't think I have a right to complain. If a company gives away gifts, again, for no reason, then I won't complain. I'm not really fond of Mirror's Edge, but I really appreciate EA giving it away for 24 hours. Now if they do it to make up for doing something bad, then the person gets far more sympathy than a company. And if a company gives away discount codes, which to me sounds like "Sorry we done goofed, spend money on our store!", I'm not being grateful.
 

Pyrian

Hat Man
Legacy
Jul 8, 2011
1,399
8
13
San Diego, CA
Country
US
Gender
Male
Unless they're complaining about the price (or the value, which is dependent on the price), then sure, why not?
 

Redd the Sock

New member
Apr 14, 2010
1,088
0
0
I have an old saying for this kind of thing: you have every right to complain about anything. you also have the right to hit your thumb with a hammer every day, it doesn't mean it's smart, or that I advocate it.

Basic rules of thumb for me say anything downright non-functional is open game, free or not, while things about convenience, or personal tastes might be fair, but it's evenly fair to say that those that actually paid for things (thus supporting the creator) should be given preference in such issues. On the other hand, with internet content usually being free, this can be a mindset that leads to complacency in creators: it's free, don't complain = less acknowledgement of faults and less desire to improve. I've seen a lot of content creators that wallowed in crappy output because "it's free, don't complain" let them only hear praise and never fix faults, thus, never improved enough so that they actually could get paid for their work.
 

Parasondox

New member
Jun 15, 2013
3,229
0
0
Jiffex said:
Dungeon Keeper Mobile anyone?
That wasn't free, that was a bloody con. In the EU, EA along with Google and Apple now has to tell customers that the game has "in-app purchases" and take off the "Free" label. Don't know about the US and what they say about "free" labels on games that clearly isn't.
 

Crayven

Plum tickler
Mar 28, 2011
81
0
0
I Work for a chain of supermarkets, who give out free drinks everyday to people for getting a free card. Even then people can complain, belittle or try to abuse me and the people i work with for more free things, not having sugar, spoons or making it with extra ingredients without paying. add to that some people refuse to get the free card and want to just take the free drink. I had a person throw a cup of coffee at me for daring to ask her to scan her card after her leaning over and taking a cup without asking.

Unless it makes you ill, costs you in repairs or somehow causes you trouble you would have avoided without the free thing, you cant complain. just dont take it, or take it and be grateful.
 

Jiffex

New member
Dec 11, 2011
165
0
0
Parasondox said:
Jiffex said:
Dungeon Keeper Mobile anyone?
That wasn't free, that was a bloody con. In the EU, EA along with Google and Apple now has to tell customers that the game has "in-app purchases" and take off the "Free" label. Don't know about the US and what they say about "free" labels on games that clearly isn't.
I suppose, I just thought it was worth mentioning :p
 

Crayven

Plum tickler
Mar 28, 2011
81
0
0
Montezuma said:
STDs are often free.


So Yes.
Yeah, but unless it was rape, you took part in an act. paying with effort and receiving someone else's effort. the STD is an extra not a freebe.
 

Velociferocks

New member
Jul 20, 2009
94
0
0
Isn't that how "professional" critics do it? they go to a movie/restaurant/whatever-else-people-review completely free and then complain/rant about how bad it was. Either way, I'd say it's perfectly fine for people to complain about "free" stuff.
 

DementedSheep

New member
Jan 8, 2010
2,654
0
0
oggebogge91 said:
Isn't that how "professional" critics do it? they go to a movie/restaurant/whatever-else-people-review completely free and then complain/rant about how bad it was. Either way, I'd say it's perfectly fine for people to complain about "free" stuff.
That's a bit different. They are getting it for free specifically so they can review it to inform the people who aren't getting it for free of the quality. They should be reviewing it as if they paid for it.
 

Sigmund Av Volsung

Hella noided
Dec 11, 2009
2,999
0
0
Sure you can, but with a disclaimer in mind if the item in question is good in its function.

If it's bad though, it's open season so long as it doesn't directly involve doing something that upsets others that you care about without reason.
 

LegendaryVKickr

Senior Member
Jul 20, 2012
104
0
21
I get freebies all the time, lots of games. For example, though I pay $5 a month for PS Plus, I sometimes get hundreds of dollars of games worth per month (Some are better months than others). Do I complain about the games? No. I may see a month with nothing I like and think "bummer". But I never actually complain or rant angrily.

And when I play the free games, if they're god awful, I don't complain about how it was free. I may complain that it's an awful game, and people shouldn't play it. Just like if I'd paid for it. I just don't use the "I paid X amount for this and it's not worth the price!" As part of the rationale.

In other words, free doesn't really impact my rants of gaming. It's usually whether the game is good or bad. Free usually doesn't impact my decision, nor do I tend to complain about the price (I.E. The Order is bad, because it's lackluster and bland, not because it's short as balls and not worth the price--that's a debate for a separate thread).
 

Johnny Impact

New member
Aug 6, 2008
1,528
0
0
Right to complain? I suppose so. Free speech and all that.

Right to be taken seriously or not look like a turdmongler for complaining about free stuff? That's something else.
 
Sep 24, 2008
2,461
0
0
Parasondox said:
It's a shame though that the constructive criticism is often over shadowed by the bitter and stupid complaints. Mostly,

"They gave me a free 32GB iPad but I wanted a 64GB iPad"
or
"You are just shit and just selling out trying to make many by having short 10 sec ads in your videos AND SELLING t-shirts. SELL OUTS"

Something like that, I guess.
Honestly, we're all looking at it through internet colored glasses. People take pride of being their absolute worse on the net because there are no repercussions. It's quite hard to do the same face to face because someone can legitimately snap and punch you in the face. People keep that in mind.

Parasondox said:
Do architects really need to save and show off their work on an iPad? And bullshit scenarios are my speciality.

Also, I am being neutral on the matter. Taking constructive criticism is a good and listening to complaints that may sound whiny because then your next product might take their whining away. Or they still aren't happy because the shade of blue you used isn't the shade of blue they like.
As an architect's son who once worked in the business, I'd be legitimately surprised if that's not how it is nowadays. Going through walk throughs, you have the bankers, the contractors and the owners telling you everything that needs to be changed. Having a iPad on you that you can change those things on the fly and send it to a blueprinter who can have those changes printed out within an hour and a half instead of maybe a day or two would be everyone's dream.

Well, not the architect. Or draftsperson.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/autocad-360/id393149734?mt=8

Yeah, after finding this, I'm now assured this is how they actually do it. But I've been out of the business since before iPads, so who knows.
 

Signa

Noisy Lurker
Legacy
Jul 16, 2008
4,749
6
43
Country
USA
Given the context of the tweet, I think he absolutely has the right to complain. He's spending his time (which still has value) to find that what is being offered doesn't stand up to the professional quality standards he's expecting. I'm not a big follower of LPers, but I know the internet well enough that if it's a greater problem where people say "hey, I can make ad money by posting my play sessions online" and then they don't make it entertaining, it's something to tweet about, at least. His job is still to find some "professional" LPers and just stick to watching them. The problem is, that still takes time.

In the greater context of "free" I think it's still OK to complain, but it does heighten the threshold of what is appropriate. A free game can suck ass, but if it's still a good time waster while being free, then it had better suck really, really badly before you start complaining. Something like a free iPad would be pretty shitty to complain about, but if you were in the process of saving up for the better models, I can see some levelheaded complaints. The fact is, it will probably be functional enough to get the job done, but if you're still inclined to spend you money to get the version you wanted/needed, then the gift may be more of a burden than a help. It's not like you're going to just throw away the lesser iPad, it's going to hang around uselessly. There's also the possibility of reselling it, but then you have to deal with the headache of appraising it (is it in good condition, or last years model?) and then finding a buyer. More pains when the point of getting it was to avoid having to put any more effort in at all.