what can be done to avoid gaming piracy??

Microsoft only has about 30% of the server market. Apache has more. So I fail to see how this causes so many problems. There's clearly other alternatives, so much so that Microsoft isn't even able to obtain a majority, let alone cause utter chaos. So again, first few days? Yeah, there might be some panic. Six months? Probably like nothing even happened. Edit: Also should add that of the million busiest servers on the internet today, 66% us Apache. Microsoft only accounts for 18%. Not really seeing the problem.LongZhiZi

[QUOTE="FelipeInside"][QUOTE="LongZhiZi"] ..... I'm not following. Does God rely on Microsoft operating systems or something? If such a scenario happened, within the first few days, yeah, there'd be problems. Within 6 months, everything would be ported to at least one other operating system, if not many. For everything that Microsoft produces, there is a competitor with nearly-equal to far superior capabilities. I'm really afraid I can't see what cataclysm you're eluding to.LongZhiZi

So again, first few days? Yeah, there might be some panic. Six months? Probably like nothing even happened.

Edit: Also should add that of the million busiest servers on the internet today, 66% us Apache. Microsoft only accounts for 18%. Not really seeing the problem.

Piracy is not right and thats final. I understand that the $0 dollar price tag and free deilvery straight to PC is very, very tempting but it does not make it justified. Piracy is wrong no matter what stupid justifications you can come up with.

"Oh in my country you can't find legit games, so I pirate them instead!" - That is total bull! You have the internet and time to DL a pirated game then why can't find time to go on Ebay and find a legit copy or go on digital distribution like Steam.

"Oh but I was planning to buy it when I finish trying it. I mean I have X amount of friends who did the same!" - Yet again total bull! Sorry Robin Hood, just because you buy the game later on and your gazillion number of friends do the same does not mean you have redeemed yourself. The proper way to redeem yourself is to stop pirating and only buy the games.

"Oh but I can't afford games! I saved for so long to get enough cash to get a good PC!" - Also total bull! I want to live in a gigantic manson with servants every corner, two olympic size swimming pools, five tennis courts, four bowling alleys and more bedrooms than number of days in a year. But I can't afford it! Do you know what I do? I don't live in a gigantic manson with servants every corner, two olympic size swimming pools, five tennis courts, four bowling alleys and more bedrooms than number of days in a year. I am not saying you don't have rights to play games, but I definitely know you don't have rights to thief.

"Oh I want to go on Ebay or Steam to download games but I don't have a credit card!" - Fantastic Reason! NOT! You might not have noticed but we are gifted with a brain, in which I sincerely hope is used for good. I'm sure with your at least average intellect and few grams of courage you can approach your parents to negotiate some arrangments so that you can use their credit card or get your own credit card.

"Oh its all the DRM's fault that drove me to piracy!" - How in the flaming hell is that going to improve the DRM situation. You simply cannot blame a shopkeeper installing alarms and cameras because he was robbed before. I do agree that game shop staff or game install program not warning you of the DRM when you are buying or installing the game is a bit cheap. I also agree that it punishes the legit buyers as this degree of paranoia is not the fault of buyers. Hmm...then who is in fault for DRM...its at the tip of my togue...OH YEA! Why I believe its PIRATES! Then I wonder why are you pirating games?

I personally don't care how easy to crack consoles, because we are talking about PC here in a PC board and piracy is a huge problem. I'm sick and tired of self rigthous pirates justifying themselves with BS excuses and not have to guts to stick out and say "Yes, I pirate because its free and I FOR ONE LOVE FREE STUFF! And be DAMNED if I have to shed one cent from my hard earn cash!". In which I will reply shouldn't play games at all and sell your PC to work towards a car and complain about the price of petrol. At least we don't have to hear your voice.

Price cuts. That would make me buy more games. I've bought some indie games lately, just because they are cheap, and it's much lower step then to buy it.

online gaming makes me buy even the full price for games too. can you play WoW illegaly? No. well i don't play WoW, but it's pretty much the same with every online game.

e: and i buy games to support the gaming industry, to make my collection bigger (same thing with music cds), and because piracy is just illegal. digital downloads are surely the right way to go, but i personally like to own a physical copy. i like collecting :)

Piracy is not right and thats final. I understand that the $0 dollar price tag and free deilvery straight to PC is very, very tempting but it does not make it justified. Piracy is wrong no matter what stupid justifications you can come up with.

"Oh in my country you can't find legit games, so I pirate them instead!" - That is total bull! You have the internet and time to DL a pirated game then why can't find time to go on Ebay and find a legit copy or go on digital distribution like Steam.

"Oh but I was planning to buy it when I finish trying it. I mean I have X amount of friends who did the same!" - Yet again total bull! Sorry Robin Hood, just because you buy the game later on and your gazillion number of friends do the same does not mean you have redeemed yourself. The proper way to redeem yourself is to stop pirating and only buy the games.

"Oh but I can't afford games! I saved for so long to get enough cash to get a good PC!" - Also total bull! I want to live in a gigantic manson with servants every corner, two olympic size swimming pools, five tennis courts, four bowling alleys and more bedrooms than number of days in a year. But I can't afford it! Do you know what I do? I don't live in a gigantic manson with servants every corner, two olympic size swimming pools, five tennis courts, four bowling alleys and more bedrooms than number of days in a year. I am not saying you don't have rights to play games, but I definitely know you don't have rights to thief.

"Oh I want to go on Ebay or Steam to download games but I don't have a credit card!" - Fantastic Reason! NOT! You might not have noticed but we are gifted with a brain, in which I sincerely hope is used for good. I'm sure with your at least average intellect and few grams of courage you can approach your parents to negotiate some arrangments so that you can use their credit card or get your own credit card.

"Oh its all the DRM's fault that drove me to piracy!" - How in the flaming hell is that going to improve the DRM situation. You simply cannot blame a shopkeeper installing alarms and cameras because he was robbed before. I do agree that game shop staff or game install program not warning you of the DRM when you are buying or installing the game is a bit cheap. I also agree that it punishes the legit buyers as this degree of paranoia is not the fault of buyers. Hmm...then who is in fault for DRM...its at the tip of my togue...OH YEA! Why I believe its PIRATES! Then I wonder why are you pirating games?

I personally don't care how easy to crack consoles, because we are talking about PC here in a PC board and piracy is a huge problem. I'm sick and tired of self rigthous pirates justifying themselves with BS excuses and not have to guts to stick out and say "Yes, I pirate because its free and I FOR ONE LOVE FREE STUFF! And be DAMNED if I have to shed one cent from my hard earn cash!". In which I will reply shouldn't play games at all and sell your PC to work towards a car and complain about the price of petrol. At least we don't have to hear your voice.

Mate I can easily download pirates games but it is by choice that I chose to buy games with cold hard cash. There is no physical barrier that is truly prevents me other than a few minutes of typing and a few more minutes of clicking. I'm upset because pirates spills all kinds of BS justifications when are fully legit solutions to their so called "problems". Can't find games in local shops? No problem, my friend, I shall introduce you to the world of digitial distribution and online ordering. Can't afford to play? Well maybe you have chosen the wrong hobby. DRM Problem? I hear you, but pirating is not the way to go.

Piracy will always continues because many will succumbs to temptation. But education is the best form of prevention, when publishers starting to go out of their way to offer you will legits ways to obtain their products, why veil your heart with dellusions? Thats what I'm upset about, people that goes "oh yea, I totally know that I can go to Steam or Ebay. But I really rather just get it for free and I don't care if its legal or not.". My question is, why break the law when there are ways equally easy, equally fast and totally legit?

why break the law when there are ways equally easy, equally fast and totally legit?

CHC999

Can't afford to play? Well maybe you have chosen the wrong hobby.CHC999

Piracy is not right and thats final. I understand that the $0 dollar price tag and free deilvery straight to PC is very, very tempting but it does not make it justified. Piracy is wrong no matter what stupid justifications you can come up with.

"Oh in my country you can't find legit games, so I pirate them instead!" - That is total bull! You have the internet and time to DL a pirated game then why can't find time to go on Ebay and find a legit copy or go on digital distribution like Steam.

CHC999

In these countries people don't download games from the net... they buy it off the newspaper on the weekend. It works like this, you ring the guy up, tell him what games you want, he burns them, and delivers it to your house paid cash on delivery.

I know... I used to do it....back then there was NO internet, there was NO Ebay. I wasn't proud of it, but it was the ONLY means to play a game, no OTHER options.

Of course I am not excusing piracy here, thank God now I have a steady income, and although I could easily have the games with a few clicks, I feel better when I buy a game knowing that I have helped the publishers stay afloat...

Make online games. It's as hard as that. Well, to a certaint extent.

Doing away with staggered release dates might help. You know, for different regions.

Doing away with staggered release dates might help. You know, for different regions.

Shanks_D_Chop

price cuts or make better games that are actually worth 50 a pop

[QUOTE="Shanks_D_Chop"]

Doing away with staggered release dates might help. You know, for different regions.

FelipeInside

Then I guess the real solution is to up the physical security at the developer/pressing plant/distributor. With all these games getting pirated before they even release, they need to look at security on their side of the fence, not ours.

because it's free and unpunishable? If you could go into a store and rob it without getting caught, believe me people aren't so nice to not do it. Besides I hate piracy like most people on these boards, but even without piracy pc gaming wouldn't be in a far better state then it is now. I really don't know what devs or gamers expect pc gaming to be.

_Pedro_

Like I said already getting something for free whether its legal or not is very very tempting. I'm sure I can go out this afternoon handing out $50 and crying out loud "These 50 bucks are absolutely shady, ill-gotten and definitely obtain through illegal ways, so get your 50 bucks here!". A fair number of people will flock to me to get 50 bucks and probably come back and get another 50 bucks if I'm not arrested by police by then.

I almost definitely don't know what developers expact PC gaming to be, but I know what I as a PC gamer want PC gaming to be. I want games to be continually release on PC and not some crappy console ports. With all those bad rep that PC is full of pirates, I don't blame Devs moving away from PC just as I don't blame tourist going somewhere else because of war or swine flu.

In these countries people don't download games from the net... they buy it off the newspaper on the weekend. It works like this, you ring the guy up, tell him what games you want, he burns them, and delivers it to your house paid cash on delivery.

FelipeInside

Maybe they should also consider the option of digital distribution. Im just suggesting thats all. Sure, depends on what internet you are on, it might cause havoc on your monthy usage. However there aren't as much good games as they to be at PC shop front (I wonder who is to blame here:evil:), personally I haven't brought a game over 2 months. So a big game download a month shouldn't be too big of a deal.

I think that's a sticking point. This is probably one of the few hobbies where if you can't afford to take part in the hobby... well, hell, it doesn't matter and you still actually can.Makari

I also would like to collect sport cars as a hobby, but I can't afford it. Is stealing cars my only ticket into the hobby?

price cuts or make better games that are actually worth 50 a pop

BLaZe462

I pirate because of this... make a game worth 50 bucks and i'll buy it, I'm tired of s*%t games. example being the new termanitor game I mean wow sometimes i'm proud I steal that s*&t even tho I delete it 10 minutes after DLing it.

[QUOTE="BLaZe462"]

price cuts or make better games that are actually worth 50 a pop

I pirate because of this... make a game worth 50 bucks and i'll buy it, I'm tired of s*%t games. example being the new termanitor game I mean wow sometimes i'm proud I steal that s*&t even tho I delete it 10 minutes after DLing it.

I say lower the price abit, and make the games available on the online download stores. Of-course they need to have patches for the DL games as well.

They tend to ignore their DL versions when it comes to patches. I never go to the store any more to buy games, i like having all my games in a list ready for download.

price cut or price adjustment according to local market prices..like in asian market prices set to suit them, this could help reduce piracy definitely.

[QUOTE="Makari"]I think that's a sticking point. This is probably one of the few hobbies where if you can't afford to take part in the hobby... well, hell, it doesn't matter and you still actually can.CHC999

Make yee walk the plank, Yaaaaaaaargh!

How about throwing everyone who distribute and pirate downloaded games in jail? When they get out of jail a special issued ISP from the federal government with a number of sites blocked, such as torrent websites and their computer is randomly scanned to check to see if they have any ripped copies of games. would this work?Jd1680a

This is abit extreme, the government has hard times tracking all the sex offenders and you want them to track all the people who doanload....

Some major price cuts would certainly reduce piracy.jimmyjammer69

You could be right but you know that there's people who pay €10 for a pirated game when the original copy could be bought for just the half of the price? It's not the price to me, but the mentality. Anyways to me piracy it's stupid because if you have a passion for something why don't you invest something in it? In this way you'll support the developers to make more great games.

ON LIVE, if it actually comes out it will make piracy very hard to achieve

ON LIVE, if it actually comes out it will make piracy very hard to achieve

JosemlopesBFly

Cut the game prices to half of what they are today. ^^

But that's never going to happen thanks to the money-loving publishers.

I thinkthe Steam system is relatively clever, because you can play your games on as many different computers as you like, provided the content isn't already in use somewhere else. I am adamantly against install limits, since that is a breach of the International End-User Agreement. A main thing would be to remove the incentive to pirate in the first place, but that is extremely difficult.

Force online checks, but make them reliable, make gamers download extra files before they can install the game, lock those files before launch day.nutcrackr

Oh, yeah, so i have to find more cracks to install games on my gaming pc that is internetless... Btw, here in Italy, not everyone has internet and there are still a lot of 56k modems... If I need to download more files when installing, i'm screwed... (Clearly I'm not writing from home now)

we live in a world where verything is money and money is knowledge. in other worlds u have to pay for knowledge where this should be the only thing people should have access for free. pirated books, music, movies, games, even history and any other forms of informations r just a form of distribution in places where people cannot aford to buy the original. can u blame them?? on the other hand, developers have to live too - they cannot distribute these accesories for free. and here is the big BUT. how can u bring these opossite elements toghther: free access and the survival of the develepers?? DROP prices people!!! its inhuman tu ask from a kid, lets say from Ecuador to pay 100 $ for whatever products. and he deserve that - hes just a kid and he needs to learn. piracy is a form a rebelion and it should be like this. most of kids have an excuse: they simply dont have the money to buy. knowledge is the fundation of every form of education. kids are not supose to pay for it - at least not this much. they have a good excuse: they need access to info. what excuses big companies have???? companies work for money. they employ brains not to spread knowledge but to build financial plans upon it. the better the info is the more money they ask. is it right??? can u deny people need for knowledge???? we want to stop piracy not because we want more and better info but because we have the money to pay for it. would we think the same if we live for under 1 $/day and still need to learn??? I am a student and wanna learn, I wanna improve my skills. I am not rich but I can afford to pay for a book. sometimes though I have to pay 100 $ for a book and I cant pay that much. what should I do?? I need that book!!! I really need it...

cheers

For anyone interested, here's a chart showing how music CD pricing is composed.

Taken from http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9026/radiohead_shocks_record_industry_with_free_download_of_new_album//

The industry must think of a method to provide benefits for those who buy a copy. That would include physical items in the box, to add-ons or additions that make the game much more enjoyable.Luminouslight

In the 80's, 90's and early 00's when games still used to come in those big cardboard boxes, there were lots of cool stuff usually included in the box (posters, maps of the game world, backstory of the game, other items etc.) plus the boxes looked cool.

Nowadays we're lucky if we get a printed manual, which is probably about 10-20 pages long.

If the industry would bring back more stuff in the game box (+ long manuals & big boxes *prays* :oops: ) I'd definitely buy more games.

Force online checks, but make them reliable, make gamers download extra files before they can install the game, lock those files before launch day.nutcrackr

Only thing wrong with that is you have basically cut out and inconvenienced anyone with poor, unreliable, slow or no internet access (much of the world). You also put them at the mercy of the company itself. What's to keep the publisher or developer from saying, 5 years down the road, "This server is costing us money, take it down" or "Crap, we're out of business, close everything up". Now you have a very expensive, shiny coaster. Of course, maybe you trust the publishers to do the right thing, but I don't. I read the occasional EULA, and it's pretty clear from those that the publishers are going to do exactly what they are required to, no more. They aren't going to go to any extra efforts to allow us to play a several year old game.

Besides, downloading extra files worked so well for Bioshock... not. It was still cracked, and it used the exact method you discuss. Once the files are in the hands of the pirates, they will be cracked, period.

I almost definitely don't know what developers expact PC gaming to be, but I know what I as a PC gamer want PC gaming to be. I want games to be continually release on PC and not some crappy console ports. With all those bad rep that PC is full of pirates, I don't blame Devs moving away from PC just as I don't blame tourist going somewhere else because of war or swine fluCHC999

Since the first time I started gaming on the pc, the most popular hardcore titles on the platform barely passed a million while console games of a simular stature have always been selling 10x the same amount. The only difference now is that consoles finally have a platform which supports shooters. Which means that the epic's and id softwares can finally start selling the same amount, the console genres have all been doing for decades.

I also believe your comparison is flawed. A better comparison would be like selling Arsenal T-shirts in madrid (or Yankee caps in LA), it may go well for you but really don't belong there. Some devs start selling madrid shirts(Blizzard, Popcap, Sims) others move to london (Epic, Id Software) and the most will probably start selling both.(Bioware, Valve)

Onlive.

Well Well Well.. I think It's an endless discussion. Whatever we say, people who support piracy will continue to do that s**t. Whereas others who sincerely buy games will, definitely, not be affected by it... let's hope so!

Price cuts.

I mean would it kill the developers to cut the price a little. More than 3/4 of PC games are pirated according to some research's so that means if they could just appeal to some 5-10% of people who pirate but would buy the game if it was cheap. Look at the Orange box for proof. If you appeal to gamers through the price you also killed the excuse of every pirate who says games are toexpensive.

yep price cuts

look @ killing floor on steam

highest selling game the week it comes out on steam..20 bucks

20 dollars is a very good price point for games...50 dollars seems to imply that its something other than entertainment like an investment

game companies take themselves too seriously

Sure with this form of media piracy will never cease to exist but 10-20 years in the future, who knows how content will be delivered.

I had a great talk with a person that made 150$/month... Can you guess the price for a PC game over there? converted it was 120$... And then publishers go OMG DONT PIRATE IT!!