My 7 Rules for Reducing PC Gaming Piracy

[QUOTE="dnuggs40"] Ridiculous. Yes, those games (even the ones you don't like) took a lot of hard work...in fact game development is one of the most demanding and intensive technology occupations out there. They work insane hours and when compared to engineers of similar experience get paid LESS. I make more than most game developers... At any rate, just because a game is crappy doesn't give you the right to take it. That's just greed...you aren't entitled to play that game. And yes, anybody who takes other people's work (regardless if you like that game or not) is greedy. Is EA holding a gun to your head forcing you to buy their games? Millions of people feel EA's games (and addons) are well worth the price...if you don't feel that way DONT BUY THEM...or wait until they reduce the price. EA isn't being greedy...they are investing in a product and putting on the market for people to DECIDE if they want to purchase it.Mograine

How can someone decide to purchase it if he doesn't know wheter if he's going to like it or not? He buys it and then regrets it? That surely can be done, but I bet noone likes to spend a work day's worth and then regret it after the first hour, shouldn't that be so?

If a game is crappy, indeed, I simply leave it alone: I *almost* never "took" crap games (except UT3 and HG:L, they were my first purchase after I left WoW and I almost wanted to throw the discs out of the window and they're the main reason because I want to friggin TRY GAMES BEFORE I BUY THEM, go figure :D ).

Chandu83 please note that by your logic most people who can afford practically everything (big businessmen, for example) are very honorable person just because they pay for whatever they want.

Also, note that pirating=/=stealing.

Mograine

Chandu83 please note that by your logic most people who can afford practically everything (big businessmen, for example) are very honorable person just because they pay for whatever they want.

Also, note that pirating=/=stealing.

Mograine

As for pirating not equal to stealing, let me just say, I hope someone here bans you for saying that. But this being a free speech forum to a certain extent, I doubt if that will happen.

I sincerely hope you get into game development someday, pour your heart out to create what you think is a good game, and then find it floating around on the Internet 2 days before release. Let me see you repeat the same logic then.

Judging from your statements, I think not.

[QUOTE="Mograine"]

Chandu83 please note that by your logic most people who can afford practically everything (big businessmen, for example) are very honorable person just because they pay for whatever they want.

Also, note that pirating=/=stealing.

dnuggs40

Yeah...free or $50ish,guess what a large majority of people would pick? Thats the bottom line,everything else is just claptrap.

Astaroth2k

I said thieves have no honor. I never said anyone who is not a thief has honor. You assumed that.

As for pirating not equal to stealing, let me just say, I hope someone here bans you for saying that. But this being a free speech forum to a certain extent, I doubt if that will happen.

I sincerely hope you get into game development someday, pour your heart out to create what you think is a good game, and then find it floating around on the Internet 2 days before release. Let me see you repeat the same logic then.

Judging from your statements, I think not.

chandu83

Guess what, they wouldn't have invented the word "pirating" if it would have been the same. I'm not an expert of economy terms, but I think pirating refers to "potential sale" and stealing to "lost sale". I'm glad you want me banned, since you have no clue what you're talking about you surely seem pretty confident of what you say, maybe arrogant is the best word for your attitude.

You don't even barely know me, how can you even remotely think about judging me? Because I say games should be tried before they are paid?

@dnuggs

Yup. Those are good points. But as I said before, they aren't always impartial: "professional" reviewers are paid to overrate games, trailers & screenshots only show the good parts of the game, player reviews...well, a lot of players don't write them when the experience is *complete* (finished single player and tried multiplayer). Surely demo's are the best way, but I haven't seen many around recently. So I still stand by the point games should be tried out before being bought.

[QUOTE="chandu83"] I said thieves have no honor. I never said anyone who is not a thief has honor. You assumed that.

As for pirating not equal to stealing, let me just say, I hope someone here bans you for saying that. But this being a free speech forum to a certain extent, I doubt if that will happen.

I sincerely hope you get into game development someday, pour your heart out to create what you think is a good game, and then find it floating around on the Internet 2 days before release. Let me see you repeat the same logic then.

Judging from your statements, I think not.

Mograine

Guess what, they wouldn't have invented the word "pirating" if it would have been the same. I'm not an expert of economy terms, but I think pirating refers to "potential sale" and stealing to "lost sale". I'm glad you want me banned, since you have no clue what you're talking about you surely seem pretty confident of what you say, maybe arrogant is the best word for your attitude.

You don't even barely know me, how can you even remotely think about judging me? Because I say games should be tried before they are paid?

@dnuggs

Yup. Those are good points. But as I said before, they aren't always impartial: "professional" reviewers are paid to overrate games, trailers & screenshots only show the good parts of the game, player reviews...well, a lot of players don't write them when the experience is *complete* (finished single player and tried multiplayer). Surely demo's are the best way, but I haven't seen many around recently. So I still stand by the point games should be tried out before being bought.

I don't care to judge you. More importantly, I don't care to know you.

So how about you go to a restaurant, try the food, and walk out without paying if you don't like it? According to you, you have to try it. Oh, by the way, there are reviews for games, you know? Ever tried reading them?

But amespot sucks! It's biased, they fired Jeff, and Greg left, there is no integrity anymore. So I will pirate!

The only reason you would even argue on this point is because you probably pirate games yourself and this is your way to validate your behavior. Oh, I am not judging you. I am just guessing.

[QUOTE="pilatin1"]

[QUOTE="chandu83"]I complete agree with what you said. However, if pirates are thieves, then they obviously have no honor. They wouldn't care if the developer a whole lot of effort into it. They just want to play free stuff.
Very well written though. Good job. , chandu83

Wo Wo Wo It's Not About Honor I'M From Turkey And 70% Of My Friends Using Copies Because Video Games Are Very Expensive For Turkey's Condition... You Can't Say They Are Dishonor People ... EveryBody Wants Using Original Things But It's Not About Honor It's About Purchasing Power My Friend... My English Isn't Very Good But I Hope You Understood...

Those are exactly the kind of arguments I am referring to. If 70% of your friends cannot afford to buy PC games, then perhaps they should find a new hobby? How about that. Just because you can't purchase something, doesn't mean you are entitled to stealing it. This isn't food my 'friend'. I know this kind of mentality, I've lived in the 3rd world. Don't try to tell me that any self respecting person would condone stealing.

And since you are probably either too smart, too intelligent or really so big that your eyes didn't catch what I wrote, I'll quote myself:

[QUOTE="Mograine"]@dnuggs

Yup. Those are good points. But as I said before, they aren't always impartial: "professional" reviewers are paid to overrate games, trailers & screenshots only show the good parts of the game, player reviews...well, a lot of players don't write them when the experience is *complete* (finished single player and tried multiplayer). Surely demo's are the best way, but I haven't seen many around recently. So I still stand by the point games should be tried out before being bought. Mograine

Also, that is not a reason to argue with someone, since you said yourself you didn't care. Troll?

Hmm...if you really really don't want to pirate, you could try reading the player reviews. Send a PM to someone on GameSpot, create a thread on the forums asking them specific questions. Did that ever occur to you? Seriously, I mean, if your conscience bothers you at all, there are so many ways to find out if a game is worth paying for or not without having to pirate it.

End of the day, its a moral choice. And I think I have a fair idea what choice you are making.

In alot countries people barely make any money compared to us. That's why people pirate games there and sell them for much less. It's not their fault that they work long and hard each day and would have to work for a whole month to buy a videogame just because they were born in a specific place.shakmaster13

That was the reason I said, find a new hobby! Something that is affordable, and that doesn't require you to steal. Get it? New hobby...

Sins of a solar empire has showed us on thing.

Make a good game, add zero fuss over copy protection, and you will sell... a lot.

If you don't play illegally cracked games you have a friend that does and stop lying to yourself!THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO IS TO BUY THE GAME!YEAH REALLY!

[QUOTE="marc5477"]

[QUOTE="gameguy6700"]

1. If the games suck so much then why even bother to play them in the first place? If you don't feel like blowing $50 on a game then wait for the price to go down.

2. Most PC games already have demos and they still get pirated, so obviously the "I just want to try it out" excuse that pirates like to use isn't legit.

3. Games have tried using no-copy protection and they got pirated to oblivion. Look at what happened to Demigod.

4. So every dev who complains about piracy makes crappy games? Please. And again, this brings up the same question as your first point: if the games suck so much then why are people still downloading them to play?

5. Games do get supported after release and they still get pirated. Hence the reason you see cracked patches for games, cracked DLC, cracked expansions, etc. WoW doesn't even count because people need legit copies to even play the game. A cracked copy gets you nothing but 30 GB of wasted space on your HDD.

6. Usually all media gets released at the same price. The vast majority of DVDs cost $20. Most music CDs cost $20. Movie tickets are usually centered somewhere around $9.50. Most PC games are $50 and most console games are $60. And games do get their prices changed based on supply and demand, hence the reason most games see a significant price drop 1-3 months after release. It's absurd to claim that publishers ignore supply and demand since if they did they would be out of business.

7. Developers tend to forego making PC games exclusively for PC because the piracy rates are so high. Not only that but most devs and publishers like to make their games multiplat as much as possible in order to maximize revenue. And again, if you think that these ports and multiplatform releases are so poor quality then why the hell are you downloading them?

Quit making excuses. Just admit that the reason people pirate games is because of the mentality "why pay for what I can get for free".

TheBigBadGRIM

1. Its called English comprehension. Reread his post to find your answer.

2. Most games do not have a demo. Please do some real number crunching before proclaiming you know anything. Go down the list of modern PC games and you will find that less than 25% offer a demo.

3. Demigod was a horrible game. Good for those that did not buy it. On the other hand, look at Galactic Civilizations. No protection and they went from nobody to multimillion dollar company even with people pirating it.

4. An IQ over 100 should be your priority in life... Your question, again, was already answered and yes, so far every dev that has complained made a crap game that most pirates probably deleted a few hours later.

5. WoW has been pirated in every way possibly. Again you speak without research. The other point about pirating patches is not relevant but new content is usually cheap to make and even with piracy you stand to make some good money and you garner more interest in your game.

6. I agree that there are some companies that actually practice good marketing but for the most part others are stuck in this old school thinking that they should take as much as they can without any heed to quality and that is exactly what bred piracy. You keep disappointing people without offering some sort of refund then expect to see a lot of angry people. Unfortunately for media, its not viable to offer returns so either they need to stop angering their fan base.

7. It has nothing to do with piracy and everything to do with profit. Consoles have outgrown the PC because PEOPLE are buying them in droves not because PC gamers have shrunk. Its just business but as some companies are now finding out, without a monopoly in consoles they are failing at being profitable there as well and they cant blame that on piracy. So you tell me why are so many games failing on the consoles? The answer is simple, everyone thinks they can make a game and some twit keeps giving them money to do it. This will eventually balance in the end.

Lastly all this anti-piracy and pro-piracy talk is moot. The minute they stop piracy on the PC, the pirates will move to full time console piracy and the devs will just move back to the PC. Its all pointless. Find a way around it or go do something else.

I know plenty of people who pirate. Not only do all my friends do it but even my research mentor pirates her DS games. None of them make up stupid excuses as to why they download games, movies, music, etc. My professor outright says it's stealing and my friends find the concept of actually paying for your PC software to be a strange, rather stupid idea.

I don't give a **** if you pirate or not. But when you try to make up stupid excuses like "I was never going to buy the game anyway so no one is really getting hurt" then I have no respect for you because you aren't man enough to even admit to yourself what you're doing.

It seems that censorship is alive and well on this site. I had posted an answer commenting about the plain truth we all know about this issue, but it got deleted and I received a warning (it said some rubbish about things I didn't post).

Maybe some people still believe in Santa Claus, or that their governments work hard to protect them, or that the big sized companies who're producing games these days, just like the ones who produce motion pictures and music, love their fans and only want justice and unconditional world peace and love.

I'm not going to insist on the same point because, well, THOSE OF US WHO MATTER, KNOW THE SCORE, and the rest is hypocrisy and old news. LOL!

Live happy, play many cool games :)

2. Most PC games already have demos and they still get pirated, so obviously the "I just want to try it out" excuse that pirates like to use isn't legit. 3. Games have tried using no-copy protection and they got pirated to oblivion. Look at what happened to Demigod.TheBigBadGRIM

Most of the time i will find a game buy play hate and sell but on the other hand there are games that i buy play love and keep. samething i would like to see happen is a trail version which is free if you like you pay if you don't like you return. will thats what i think

Most of the time i will find a game buy play hate and sell but on the other hand there are games that i buy play love and keep. samething i would like to see happen is a trail version which is free if you like you pay if you don't like you return. will thats what i think

Forsaken-Soul