explain pc pirating to me!

i never been into pc gaming. being on this site, i always read how pc pirating is a huge deal. anyway, someone explain it a little. do people just take a game and make copies of it, or is there more to it.

It's nothing, really. People is just overreacting to it because companies are crying with their "lolwut potential buyers" theories, while they should label them "lost" buyers (they pirate the game, companies don't get money, they don't pirate the game, companies still don't get money, so what's the point in whining? It's even better if someone pirates it because there is a chance they will eventually buy the company's following game/sequel).

It's nothing, really. People is just overreacting to it because companies are crying with their "lolwut potential buyers" theories, while they should label them "lost" buyers (they pirate the game, companies don't get money, they don't pirate the game, companies still don't get money, so what's the point in whining? It's even better if someone pirates it because there is a chance they will eventually buy the company's following game/sequel).

Mograine

[QUOTE="Im_single"]You download game files or obtain the game files without actually buying a copy of the game from the developer, you are playing the game for free and essentially stealing a game. Also pirates are trash, and it is highly illegal and if you gave a hoot about the gaming industry you would support devs and actually buy the game they put time and money into making. If you pirate a game you could just as easily have bought, then you have no excuse, you are cancer to the gaming industry.MrLions

Tell that to the former employees of Iron Lore or any other studio that had piracy rates affect their continued existence (I won't say piracy was the sole reason, but it most certainly contributed). Tell that to the company that tries to appeal to a niche market (i.e. flight sims, mech sims, space combat sims, simulations of any kind that don't have the words "The Sims" in them, adventure games, turn-based strategy games, etc...) so they might only have a viable market of 100k-300k worldwide.

Are you honestly saying that if 100k people pirated a game that is in a limited population market, that the developing company would be 'making a lot of money, the majority of PC gamers still buy there [sic] games.'? That might work for a multi-platform release of an FPS...but not for a game in a niche market. And if all you want on your gaming 'to-do' list are multi-platform FPS/TPS/GTA-city-roamers, then I feel sorry for you.

A person who says that piracy has negligible effects on a company's bottom line is straight up ignorant or are kidding themselves.

It's nothing, really. People is just overreacting to it because companies are crying with their "lolwut potential buyers" theories, while they should label them "lost" buyers (they pirate the game, companies don't get money, they don't pirate the game, companies still don't get money, so what's the point in whining? It's even better if someone pirates it because there is a chance they will eventually buy the company's following game/sequel).

Mograine

I think you are wrong: If someone pirates a game then they will pirate the sequel as well. It's wrong that these people are getting freebies while all the time I shell out my hard earned money for games. Pirates are the lowest of the low, they are digital theives. If I went around shoplifting the law would take a dim view of me and I would be locked up for it, so game piraters should be locked up for 2 years - 5 years.

My problem now days is that alot of devs can say whatever they wan't about their game and show a edited "perfect" movie, promise anything. And then when they release the game it have game breaking bugs, Entire missing areas, Content removed for "expansion packs", Gameplay and story sucks. Then when the game don't sell good they will just blame the pirates. That way they don't have to tell the people paying them that they simply just suck at making games (or that game sucked).

So blaming pirates is easier then making a new game.

So lets not remove pirates from the world... Think of all the devs that would have to think of something new to say when they release a bad game :(...

"Bring me one noggin of rum, now, won't you, matey."

I think you are wrong: If someone pirates a game then they will pirate the sequel as well. It's wrong that these people are getting freebies while all the time I shell out my hard earned money for games. Pirates are the lowest of the low, they are digital theives. If I went around shoplifting the law would take a dim view of me and I would be locked up for it, so game piraters should be locked up for 2 years - 5 years.

WarLokk1980

As I said "there is a chance" they will eventually buy the sequel, where is your evidence that they will also pirate the sequel? If they don't buy it, nothing changes anyway: if they pirate it, companies don't get money, if they don't, companies don't get money. So what's the point in whining again?

Second, pirates=/=thieves. Your example is deeply flawed: the pirate doesn't steal a copy, he is given a copy by a legitimate owner, so no one loses the copy, there is only a gain. Companies speculate that EVERY pirate would buy the game if the game wouldn't be crack-able.

This is almost completely untrue, only really hardcore gamers would then decide to spend a few more bucks on games, others would simply stick to what they already have or eventually wait until they have the chance to buy the game at a dramatically lower price, may it be because of a special deal like Steam's weekends, or someone who already beat the game wants to re-sell it, whatever.

[QUOTE="WarLokk1980"]

I think you are wrong: If someone pirates a game then they will pirate the sequel as well. It's wrong that these people are getting freebies while all the time I shell out my hard earned money for games. Pirates are the lowest of the low, they are digital theives. If I went around shoplifting the law would take a dim view of me and I would be locked up for it, so game piraters should be locked up for 2 years - 5 years.

Mograine

As I said "there is a chance" they will eventually buy the sequel, where is your evidence that they will also pirate the sequel? If they don't buy it, nothing changes anyway: if they pirate it, companies don't get money, if they don't, companies don't get money. So what's the point in whining again?

Second, pirates=/=thieves. Your example is deeply flawed: the pirate doesn't steal a copy, he is given a copy by a legitimate owner, so no one loses the copy, there is only a gain. Companies speculate that EVERY pirate would buy the game if the game wouldn't be crack-able.

This is almost completely untrue, only really hardcore gamers would then decide to spend a few more bucks on games, others would simply stick to what they already have or eventually wait until they have the chance to buy the game at a dramatically lower price, may it be because of a special deal like Steam's weekends, or someone who already beat the game wants to re-sell it, whatever.

I think you are totally wrong in what you have said. Where is your evidence that someone who pirates a game will purchase the sequel? I know of one individual who pirated Gears of War, liked it and then pirated Gears of War 2 (X Box 360) Your opinion is totally flawed regarding pirates not equalling thieves. In most cases people use peer to peer software or newsgroups to obtain their games and for every one legitimate game owner uploading an image of a game there will be at least 10 people downloading the same file (and I have deeply underexaggerated this it would be more like 100 people). Also if you were a developer you wouldn't like to see your blood sweat and tears stolen, would you? You state that that "no one loses the copy, there is only a gain", well my friend the only people that gain is the pirates, the people that lose are the game publishers, honest gamers like myself forced to pay high prices and society in general. If piracy was ok it woudn't be a crime. In the UK you can face 1 - 5 years imprisonment for commiting piracy related crimes so is it really worth it. Now you'll probably say that the law is wrong and basically you must be some kind of anarchist who has no respect for the law. I think your post is a bit deeper than you're letting on and you're probably trying to justify yourself I think. You entitled to an opinion, don't get me wrong but I am just pointing out that you are wrong, it's nothing personal.

I think you are totally wrong in what you have said. Where is your evidence that someone who pirates a game will purchase the sequel? I know of one individual who pirated Gears of War, liked it and then pirated Gears of War 2 (X Box 360) Your opinion is totally flawed regarding pirates not equalling thieves. In most cases people use peer to peer software or newsgroups to obtain their games and for every one legitimate game owner uploading an image of a game there will be at least 10 people downloading the same file (and I have deeply underexaggerated this it would be more like 100 people). Also if you were a developer you wouldn't like to see your blood sweat and tears stolen, would you? You state that that "no one loses the copy, there is only a gain", well my friend the only people that gain is the pirates, the people that lose are the game publishers, honest gamers like myself forced to pay high prices and society in general. If piracy was ok it woudn't be a crime. In the UK you can face 1 - 5 years imprisonment for commiting piracy related crimes so is it really worth it. Now you'll probably say that the law is wrong and basically you must be some kind of anarchist who has no respect for the law. I think your post is a bit deeper than you're letting on and you're probably trying to justify yourself I think. You entitled to an opinion, don't get me wrong but I am just pointing out that you are wrong, it's nothing personal.

WarLokk1980

I said there IS A CHANCE. It's logically different from "HE WILL DO IT", if you don't believe me ask one of your teachers.

Oh, you know one individual who pirated Gears of War and then Gears of War 2, too? How mean of him, really. Microsoft and Epic are really starving to death because of him now. Since you are basing your facts on 1 person, I too will base my facts on only one person and say "every pirate that liked a game will buy its sequel". Well, I have evidence like you do, so who's right here?

My "opinion" regarding pirates not equalling thieves, well, if you can't understand something as basic as the difference between "there is a chance" and "he will do it" and that you can't base your "evidence" on one person, I won't waste my time any further.

edit: bloody typos.

I said there IS A CHANCE. It's logically different from "HE WILL DO IT", if you don't believe me ask one of your teachers.

Mograine

Yes you did say THERE IS A CHANCE and it is different to HE WILL DO IT, but you are missing the point here. The chances are that when someone gets away with something they are very likely to do it again and again and again until they get caught (and if they don't get caught they will just carry on regardless) I only made one example because I couldn't be bothered explaining the countless hordes of people round my area that are involved in piracy in one way or another. I know a person who copies PSP games, I know a person who deals in Nintendo DS games, I know someone who mods XBox 360's and gets the games also, I know someone who gets PC games. If I wanted to I could have any game I wanted, free, but I don't because I have principles and that is where you and me differ and before you say I'm being judgemental your opinion speaks volumes regarding your actions. And another thing why would I want to ask one of my teachers? I left school (and college) years ago.

Piracy has actually helped the gaming industry . It brought up the whole idea of buying games online and then sharing it via Peer to Peer (Steam etc...) Piracy opens up a bigger market , making gaming alot more socially accepted due to everyone doing it . Now i'm not saying it's the right thing to do , but it's got some positive effects .dannenissan2

I think you need to understand how Steam works before stating that Steam is a peer-to-peer file sharing network...

I think you are totally wrong in what you have said. Where is your evidence that someone who pirates a game will purchase the sequel?WarLokk1980

Yes you did say THERE IS A CHANCE and it is different to HE WILL DO IT, but you are missing the point here. The chances are that when someone gets away with something they are very likely to do it again and again and again until they get caught (and if they don't get caught they will just carry on regardless) I only made one example because I couldn't be bothered explaining the countless hordes of people round my area that are involved in piracy in one way or another. I know a person who copies PSP games, I know a person who deals in Nintendo DS games, I know someone who mods XBox 360's and gets the games also, I know someone who gets PC games.

WarLokk1980

/facepalm

I don't know how to say it in an easier way, really.

guy pirates a game --> guy likes the game --> there is a % guy decides that the company deserves his money, goes to the local shop and buys an original copy of the game/sequel or buys a key off steam/d2d/whatever

If the % is not in favour of what I just said, what you said happens and the cycle beings again, then there is AGAIN a chance that the guy might buy the game.

If I wanted to I could have any game I wanted, free, but I don't because I have principles and that is where you and me differ and before you say I'm being judgemental your opinion speaks volumes regarding your actions. And another thing why would I want to ask one of my teachers? I left school (and college) years ago.WarLokk1980

You really are simple, aren't you?

[QUOTE="dannenissan2"]Piracy has actually helped the gaming industry . It brought up the whole idea of buying games online and then sharing it via Peer to Peer (Steam etc...) Piracy opens up a bigger market , making gaming alot more socially accepted due to everyone doing it . Now i'm not saying it's the right thing to do , but it's got some positive effects .Ein-7919

I think you need to understand how Steam works before stating that Steam is a peer-to-peer file sharing network...

[QUOTE="Ein-7919"]

[QUOTE="dannenissan2"]Piracy has actually helped the gaming industry . It brought up the whole idea of buying games online and then sharing it via Peer to Peer (Steam etc...) Piracy opens up a bigger market , making gaming alot more socially accepted due to everyone doing it . Now i'm not saying it's the right thing to do , but it's got some positive effects .dannenissan2

I think you need to understand how Steam works before stating that Steam is a peer-to-peer file sharing network...

For the purposes of your post that I quoted, this copy/paste from Steam's page doesn't help you at all.

What you just copy/pasted is for custom content/multiplayer hosting. NOT the actual games themselves. Steam is not the peer-to-peer network that you're referring to (i.e. one where you buy a game and then share it for other people to download). All games are distributed through dedicated Steam content servers...definitely not through other users' computers.

/facepalm

I don't know how to say it in an easier way, really.

guy pirates a game --> guy likes the game --> there is a % guy decides that the company deserves his money, goes to the local shop and buys an original copy of the game/sequel or buys a key off steam/d2d/whatever

If the % is not in favour of what I just said, what you said happens and the cycle beings again, then there is AGAIN a chance that the guy might buy the game.

You really are simple, aren't you?

Mograine

I'm simple now? I just rang one of my unscrupulous friends and asked him if he really liked a game that he has pirated and his reply was "you must be mad" I then told him that he would benefit from having an original box and an instruction manual to which he stated " Why bother paying for something when I can get it for next to nothing, I've got printable dual layers to copy the discs, photo paper for the covers so I basically get everything you get for the price of blank disks and some paper" You just don't get it do you? In todays society with most people there is a 'owt for nought' mentality (Northern slang) where if someone will get away with something he will do it. I only own about 7 games yet my friends have in excess of 20. It all boils down to principlesand you, my friend, are dearly lacking in them. True there is a chance that the pirater may buy a game but it is a very slim chance and 9 times out of 10 that chance fails. Like I said before you are entitled to your own opinion but so am I so let's just beg to differ on this one, I don't want to argue with you, I have better things to do than argue with some kid.

Piracy is a result of bad PC ports...

I'm simple now? I just rang one of my unscrupulous friends and asked him if he really liked a game that he has pirated and his reply was "you must be mad" I then told him that he would benefit from having an original box and an instruction manual to which he stated " Why bother paying for something when I can get it for next to nothing, I've got printable dual layers to copy the discs, photo paper for the covers so I basically get everything you get for the price of blank disks and some paper" You just don't get it do you? In todays society with most people there is a 'owt for nought' mentality (Northern slang) where if someone will get away with something he will do it. I only own about 7 games yet my friends have in excess of 20. It all boils down to principlesand you, my friend, are dearly lacking in them. True there is a chance that the pirater may buy a game but it is a very slim chance and 9 times out of 10 that chance fails. Like I said before you are entitled to your own opinion but so am I so let's just beg to differ on this one, I don't want to argue with you, I have better things to do than argue with some kid.

WarLokk1980

Lacking principles is a positive thing in the eyes of someone who actually thinks "what is better" instead of "what is it that they want me to do".

I prefer being called a kid rather than a puppet, and I also prefer to think law is made to give a general idea on how to behave, not a limit to freedom.

Your friend, by saying that, failed at thinking what is better because he didn't consider the possibility that if the company doesn't get enough success from a product they will stop making similar products and therefore he won't have any more content to play, having a loss instead of a gain.

Now, why don't you call the police and tell them your friend is pirating a game? Isn't it "lacking principles" to not report a thief?

[QUOTE="WarLokk1980"]

I'm simple now? I just rang one of my unscrupulous friends and asked him if he really liked a game that he has pirated and his reply was "you must be mad" I then told him that he would benefit from having an original box and an instruction manual to which he stated " Why bother paying for something when I can get it for next to nothing, I've got printable dual layers to copy the discs, photo paper for the covers so I basically get everything you get for the price of blank disks and some paper" You just don't get it do you? In todays society with most people there is a 'owt for nought' mentality (Northern slang) where if someone will get away with something he will do it. I only own about 7 games yet my friends have in excess of 20. It all boils down to principlesand you, my friend, are dearly lacking in them. True there is a chance that the pirater may buy a game but it is a very slim chance and 9 times out of 10 that chance fails. Like I said before you are entitled to your own opinion but so am I so let's just beg to differ on this one, I don't want to argue with you, I have better things to do than argue with some kid.

Mograine

Lacking principles is a positive thing in the eyes of someone who actually thinks "what is better" instead of "what is it that they want me to do".

I prefer being called a kid rather than a puppet, and I also prefer to think law is made to give a general idea on how to behave, not a limit to freedom.

Your friend, by saying that, failed at thinking what is better because he didn't consider the possibility that if the company doesn't get enough success from a product they will stop making similar products and therefore he won't have any more content to play, having a loss instead of a gain.

Now, why don't you call the police and tell them your friend is pirating a game? Isn't it "lacking principles" to not report a thief?

Touche you've got me there I'm afraid but to be honest I don't agree with my friend for what he does and I tell him to his face but I couldn't sell out on him like that, no way, their have been times when we have fought each others battles as kids when we were growing up. I'm not a puppet at all I have made a decision to not play pirated games - now what is wrong with that. Fair enough you're right that I lack principles because I won't grass my mate up but would you grass on a life-long friend for copying games? I'm not a police officer, it is not my job to enforce the law. I don't play pirated games because the developers want me to but because I WANT TO. My money is money well spent as it gives me hours of enjoyment.

I am not going to go into much details but I will say this. I don't believe people should Pirate. However, i don't like how companies have become very greedy. A lot of companies try to make games as quick as possible even though they aren't good. They just try to gain a profit from a game that doesn't offer too much. A lot of games don't offer MP, Story, a lot of content..etc. There are games that do and they are the ones making money. The use some of that profit that they gained from those people that bought the game and make another game. This goes on and on. People start to get pissed off because they spend $50+ for a game that should be longer then 1 weeks play.

If developers really want to stop piracy. They should use the profit to prevent piracy. They shouldn't make hundreds of games in one years and only 1 comes out good. They should lower the amount they make. Focus more time on the game. Expand it, and it will bring more buyers. That money should be used for content. They can even charge people for like 1$ for Online(Rpg's, MMO's) to get extra content...etc. If they could, try lowering the price from 50$ to 40$. Less of a rip off.

Piracy is a result of bad PC ports...

cluclap

Piracy is a result of bad PC ports...

Do What You Want, 'Cause A Pirate Is Free.

Touche you've got me there I'm afraid but to be honest I don't agree with my friend for what he does and I tell him to his face but I couldn't sell out on him like that, no way, their have been times when we have fought each others battles as kids when we were growing up. I'm not a puppet at all I have made a decision to not play pirated games - now what is wrong with that. Fair enough you're right that I lack principles because I won't grass my mate up but would you grass on a life-long friend for copying games? I'm not a police officer, it is not my job to enforce the law. I don't play pirated games because the developers want me to but because I WANT TO. My money is money well spent as it gives me hours of enjoyment.

WarLokk1980

Lol, you said I lack principles and that I probably am anarchist, how could I do such a thing?

I do not entirely agree with piracy, but overreacting to it to the point you call pirates thieves weights a lot more on my scale, and most (if not all) of people do both of these *blasphemies* out of ignorance - that is, being used as puppet.

If you decided to not play pirate games, that's the best course of action, at least most of times. Just don't act like pirates are bringing the world towards a massive nuclear war.

Well to address the original post, instead of continuing this rant:

People who work for the companies in manufacturing will steal a copy of the game, and then they will mail it to members of 'the scene'. The scene is a bunch of people just like you and me, except they have knowledge in the tech field. Someone's job will be to 'crack' the exe. file, so the game can be played without the dvd. Someone else's job will be figure out the equations that generate cd-keys, and then create a 'keygen' so you can get by without an official cd-key. Another person's job will be to rip the stolen game in .iso format and then .rar it for faster FTP transfer. The 'piraters' will probably pick this game up in a day or two via rapidshare, bittorrent, limewire, usenet, or a similar file transfer method. The scene releases only to other scene members, but since you can buy access to this most releases they do will get leaked to the general public. Well all this in just a general summary, it doesn't work exactly like this but you'll get a general idea. Hope this helps. Oh, and don't pirate, it's bad ;)

I do not entirely agree with piracy, but overreacting to it to the point you call pirates thieves weights a lot more on my scale, and most (if not all) of people do both of these *blasphemies* out of ignorance - that is, being used as puppet.

If you decided to not play pirate games, that's the best course of action, at least most of times. Just don't act like pirates are bringing the world towards a massive nuclear war.

Mograine

LOL that's the wisest thing you've said all day. I know piracy won't lead to nuclear armageddon but there is a market for pirated games and people make money from this. You can go to a car boot sale in Salford, UK and buy copied games for £5. How these people get away with this I don't know and who knows, maybe terrorists are using money from selling bootleg games, we know drugs get sold to fund terrorism. It just leaves a nasty taste in your mouth that's all and I would rather avoid it at all costs.

I myself will never admit to piracy because of the possibility of getting banned or what not. But my friend... johnny has tried it once way back. In the process of trying to do so I got... I mean my friend Johnny got a system crippling virus that ultimately ruined his pc. Lesson learned hes never taking a foot near that stuff again.

While piracy is a problem no doubt, it pisses me off that companies overuse that excuse to explain why their games fail instead of focusing on what the real issues are, like releasing unfinished products or games with faulty system requirements. Pc games have no return policy. If the system requirements on the box are wrong and someone buys the game based on what the box says only to find out the game still doesn't work, who is ripping off who now?

I myself will never admit to piracy because of the possibility of getting banned or what not. But my friend... johnny has tried it once way back. In the process of trying to do so I got... I mean my friend Johnny got a system crippling virus that ultimately ruined his pc. Lesson learned hes never taking a foot near that stuff again.

While piracy is a problem no doubt, it pisses me off that companies overuse that excuse to explain why their games fail instead of focusing on what the real issues are, like releasing unfinished products or games with faulty system requirements. Pc games have no return policy. If the system requirements on the box are wrong and someone buys the game based on what the box says only to find out the game still doesn't work, who is ripping off who now?

lenson

When I bought neverwinter nights 2 that game was so poorly optimized that even though according to the box my pc met the recommended it still ran so laggy it wasn't even playable. When I tried to take it back to best buy they told me the best they could do was let me exchange it for another copy of NWN 2 like that would help me at all. Stupid best buy.

When I bought neverwinter nights 2 that game was so poorly optimized that even though according to the box my pc met the recommended it still ran so laggy it wasn't even playable. When I tried to take it back to best buy they told me the best they could do was let me exchange it for another copy of NWN 2 like that would help me at all. Stupid best buy.

lenson

Pirating is like Dark Magic. Thou shalt not dwell deeper into it's evil!

The Solution

1. Increase laws - search and destroy ALL torrent websites and severs (not just the owners eg.TPB)... Laws at the moment are tooo weak!

2. ISP's MORE STRICT! - Open a linked system between ALL ISP's so that if someone is ever caught on a torrent site they are suspended from all internet providers for 4months. (although this may not be too effective to to proxys)

3. We wait till it badly damages the gaming industry untill they stop making games (This is the most effective but the most troublesom)

any others? AcesTranquility

1. Torrents are not illegal, torrent sites aren't either

2. It's against their own interests as it is a privacy violation and everyone would abandon the ISP like it was a sinking ship

3. lolwut? And you think they are going to stop making games because they think the pirates will eventually be moved?

WarLokk, now you have the perfect example of what I was talking about. Amazing timing, Aces, and truly spoken out of utter, absolute, pure ignorance.

Now I'm not going to lie, i do pirate but i pirate manly only the games i own (rare i pirate games i don't own). Now i enjoy getting movies etc for free, but that doesn't mean i like the idea or piracy... I HATE IT and i wish all torrent sites would be shut down FOR GOOD.

The fact is, time will heal this "cancer" called piracy. It will get bad, VERY BAD but then it will get much much better (Governments will truly address the problem and people will now decide to pay for games - either they pay or the entertainment industry stops)AcesTranquility

Lol, didn't even read the forum rules :lol:

I think that pirates are either ex-game developers, or geniuses. They can crack through DRM like nobody's business, and they know how to compress games from 18gb's to 3gb's. They are truly in the know, so should game developer's look toward their inner circles to find the culprits behind their most pirated games? How many times have we heard stories of employees, just waltzing off with a BETA version of a game? (Assassin's Creed)