Stolen Pixels #43: Build More Prisons

[Shamus Young]

Stolen Pixels #43: Build More Prisons

You don't want to mess with videogame pirates, dawg. Those are some dangerous folks. Truly.

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[Eagle Est1986]

Is Herbert a real person? If not, where'd you come up with such a name?
Also, there's a version of World of Goo that costs money? Huh, how about that....

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

It took me a minute but I got it, and then, I commenced the "lol".

I keep hearing the numbers of the Goo pirates change though, AND that it's miscounted because all they used was high-scores to track it.

 

[Skrapt]

So anything the RIAA is involved with is still fair game then? *sarcasm if you didn't realize already*

 

[Dectilon]

No, but the point is that many pirates use DRM as an excuse for their actions. What excuse could they possibly have here? : P

 

[mlkjhgfds]

You might have to consider that the world is not limited to the USA (and that everyone doesn't have ways of paying for stuff online) before calling all the World of Goo pirates "amoral assholes". But I guess they're not worth the effort - they're pirates aren't they ? Hey let's party instead, bring your own stakes.

(World of Goo hasn't been released yet in Europe)

 

[illiterate]

That's a fair question. The makers could do a sort of those IP addresses logged as posting high scores, sort by afnic, ripe, arin, etc.

Then they could beat up their publishers "60 percent of our players are outside the US! They might give us money but we won't *let* them!"

 

[DeadlyYellow]

You might have to consider that the world is not limited to the USA (and that everyone doesn't have ways of paying for stuff online

<18

Actually, you want a bad sign of piracy? Check out campus common servers. I go to an art school and there is loads of pirated games flooding across there daily. The most recent I saw was World at War. Hell, I recall a copy of Spore being distributed by a faculty member. Schools and such places always seem to be places rife with piracy.

 

[Mariena]

The game is indeed a work of art, really original and maybe the work of a genius.. but 20 bucks for something I finished within .. 4 hours..

And I'm glad that at least someone realizes that DRM doesn't decrease piracy. Those who pirate it would not have purchased it anyway.

 

[Tryss]

I played the demo to conclusion, then continued on to buy, play, con conquer the whole game.

...Satisfying. I feel good for supporting an Indie Dev team.

Also:

No, but the point is that many pirates use DRM as an excuse for their actions. What excuse could they possibly have here? : P

Good question. Maybe people in the USA are being cheap because of having less spending money during a recession. No idea.

 

[illiterate]

Mariena --

You only get to enjoy a theatrical movie for 2 hours, but it can cost 10-20 bucks depending on whether you buy the overpriced food that comes with it.

If it's not worth 20 bucks to you, don't buy it. They have a demo.

Deadly Yellow --

No one will argue that piracy on colleges is rampant. For world of goo, however, I wonder however how much of their 80% piracy rate is those who can't buy something where they live.

Which is the point the previous poster was trying to make.. with his hastily registered single-post account

Tryss --

Everybody likes having an excuse when they knowingly engage in unethical and/or illegal behavior. "The devil made me do it", "I didn't like the price", "It's not really stealing pixels, I'm taking them under the fair use doctrine"

 

[Gahars]

Another great Stolen Pixels

 

[Halbert]

Is there something about the name? I'm not sure I get the joke there.

I don't consider something being unavailable in your region a good reason to steal it. As much as you may want to play that game, you're not entitled to such an opportunity. Deal with it and go buy a game that you can find.

 

[Spectere]

For some reason I can't help but picture Herbert talking like Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Somebody help me.

The game is indeed a work of art, really original and maybe the work of a genius.. but 20 bucks for something I finished within .. 4 hours..

I've paid $50-60 for games that only lasted 4 hours. :| $20 for four hours of solid gameplay is a bargain.

 

[gmer412]

This makes me slightly depressed. The developers are going to be disheartened by this, and they'll probably include DRM in any future games.

 

[shMerker]

I wonder how bad this is, really. I mean, it's nice to imagine that a game like World of Goo could be selling five times as many copies if people were more moral, but isn't this actually sort of normal? I've borrowed tons of books and movies in my lifetime. I share all of my games with other people. For the one copy of Mirror's Edge I purchased this week three people have already gone through the story mode. Does that mean that we should've bought two more copies?

I'm not condoning the mass distribution of illicit video game copies. It's just that a lot of "copying" goes on where no one can regulate or monitor it.

And seriously, buy World of Goo.

 

[gmer412]

because a game getting pirated is a bad thing to the people who made it. They want it to happen less. Even though DRM doesn't work, they'll probably try something like it to reduce pirating of this game in the future.

 

[Dectilon]

Good question. Maybe people in the USA are being cheap because of having less spending money during a recession. No idea.

I wasn't aware the rescesion was localized to the US : )

 

[cuthalionxvi]

Even though DRM doesn't work, they'll probably try something like it to reduce pirating of this game in the future.

I keep hearing the numbers of the Goo pirates change though, AND that it's miscounted because all they used was high-scores to track it.

Did anybody actually read the link to their article on their piracy calculations [http://2dboy.com/2008/11/13/90/] that Shamus (the author) posted in the comic's commentary? It explains how they got the number and states that they still think DRM is a waste of money. So we at least don't have to worry about that.

So if you pirated it, go pay for the game [http://2dboy.com/games.php] or live with the demo. Now. 'Cause I said so.

You might have to consider that the world is not limited to the USA (and that everyone doesn't have ways of paying for stuff online) ... World of Goo hasn't been released yet in Europe

Their website [http://2dboy.com/games.php] says it's region-free. So I would assume you can still buy it, no matter what country you're from. And seriously, 80%-90% of the people playing it have ways to pirate stuff online but no way of paying for stuff online? I'm thinking "words to the effect of 'no.'"