Jimquisition: Piracy - Trying To Kill It Makes It Stronger

[Kanatatsu]

That's why I get really annoyed whenever somebody gets up on their righteous horse and says, "It's the companies' fault!"

NO. IT. ISN'T.

Yes. It. Is.

See, the pirate doesn't have any obligation to the customer, because he's not providing a service. The company is providing a service, and it isn't my problem if other people pirate games.

No, it isn't. It's the pirates fault. It's the companies fault if people don't buy. However that is an entirely separate issue from if people pirate.

People not buying is directly related to how many people pirate.

People pirating is directly related to how palatable the companies make buying over pirating.

See how this is connected?

 

[Vault101]

while I was unsure about his previous video

YES FUCKING YES I agree 100%

I still dont like piracy. but its a vicious circle

 

[M.C.Dillinger]

No, the best that could happen (according to you) is what's happening to megaupload right now, which is WHAT IS happening. So you actually have nothing to complain about, because no matter what people say and wish for here, is *not* happening. I also wish for the easing of DRM. But I also don't have faith in people trying to follow a moral code or societal pressure.

And I also don't think people would just turn and say "don't shop from those pricks" if they put people through excessive measures to prevent theft, because what corporations do through society even better is marketing, and peer pressure...every kid wants those shoes as much as they want those games, they will go through to get it. They believe they need it, as much as people need to fly on airplanes despite the extra crap we have to do to get on one nowadays.

Wait, what? Someone responded to something post on the Internet? This might seem more confrontational than I would like but you seem to be agreeing with me but your tone suggests you disagree. I believe that I've stated that megaupload's upcoming trial is part of a solution and you seem to share my pessimism towards the populace.

Please forgive any awkwardness. I'm not accustomed to people interacting with me, I usually observe society from a distance. I'm more accustomed to writing a blog to an imaginary audience (http://mcdillinger.blogspot.com/) and writing a piece of Warcraft fan fiction at the speed of a ice glacier.

 

[M.C.Dillinger]

Sorry, double post.

 

[Doom-Slayer]

The simple reason they don't do more stuff like steam is look what happened with origin as soon as it was announced everyone came out and said they hated it and would never use it and just pirate EA games so I can see why publishers would be put off this kind of service.

The difference is, Origin didn't need to exist. Steam exists already.

That's how a competitive market works; one company sets up a business in a pre-existing market to try and get some of the profits from it. Should Microsoft not have bothered with making the Xbox, as it didn't need to exist, due to the Playstation 2 and Gamecube already existing? Of course not.

In a way, it should have been a good thing, as Steam hold a virtual monopoly over digital distribution for PC games. The problem is, Origin has nowhere near the level of good service and pricing that Steam offers currently.

QFT. THe main reason Origin failed, ignoring the EULA nonsense disconnects exclusives game etc etc, is that it has a bad lineup and nothing new or better to offer. Origin has nowhere near the games library that Steam does, and absolutely no new features that make it better. The Xbox worked because it was different, had new and interesting games, and wasn't trying to slot into the market 8 freaking years too late.

Wow..has it been 8 years since steam came out...wow..

OT: Love this video. I started off amongst most people as a bit of a hater, but Ive pretty quickly come around to these now. Very informative, now to send a link to every publisher on earth about this video.

 

[comando0110]

and you forget that these buisinesses STILL make alot of money despite pirates.

 

[Aeonknight]

Ok.... when did we get so ridiculously entitled that a company deserves to burn at the stake and have their property stolen from them... because they made us finger in a code that takes all of 45 seconds of your life to punch in. Really? Fucking really?

EA may not have won any favors with enforcing Origin for Battlefield 3... but I haven't seen them abusing their playerbase with it either. Newsflash: EA doesn't give a shit what porn you watch. As if Origin even scans for those kind of files...

But if you truly must condemn EA for their use of Origin... there's always the console version. No Origin on that, only a registration code. But apparently that's a crime against humanity as well.

I like ya Jim, but lately your crusade against registration codes is just getting old.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

No, the best that could happen (according to you) is what's happening to megaupload right now, which is WHAT IS happening. So you actually have nothing to complain about, because no matter what people say and wish for here, is *not* happening. I also wish for the easing of DRM. But I also don't have faith in people trying to follow a moral code or societal pressure.

And I also don't think people would just turn and say "don't shop from those pricks" if they put people through excessive measures to prevent theft, because what corporations do through society even better is marketing, and peer pressure...every kid wants those shoes as much as they want those games, they will go through to get it. They believe they need it, as much as people need to fly on airplanes despite the extra crap we have to do to get on one nowadays.

Wait, what? Someone responded to something post on the Internet? This might seem more confrontational than I would like but you seem to be agreeing with me but your tone suggests you disagree. I believe that I've stated that megaupload's upcoming trial is part of a solution and you seem to share my pessimism towards the populace.

Please forgive any awkwardness. I'm not accustomed to people interacting with me, I usually observe society from a distance. I'm more accustomed to writing a blog to an imaginary audience (http://mcdillinger.blogspot.com/) and writing a piece of Warcraft fan fiction at the speed of a ice glacier.

No no, you got it the first time, I am also very pessimistic about people's self-reformation, but at the same time I disagree with the disbanding of Megaupload (not just the trial, which in itself could be a turning point). But, it could be part of a solution. See, if digital distribution platforms are the future, and this is what makes it convenient for people, then we should find a way that benefits who matter the most - the creators. Rather than lining pockets of old record labels and big greedy developers, if the creators and artists got more out of the deal rather than the ones who are already rich and desperately hanging onto this old model of distribution, then prices could go down at least. So what I'm getting at is something in between Megaupload and buying a CD off the shelf, more along the lines of iTunes (but without that DRM crap that forces you to use apple products, but iTunes is apple's platform so whatever).

And this goes back to Jim's video, where his vision of things being cheaper, and easier to obtain and enjoy. Heck, this would even wind down the "problem" of used sales a bit, because a)there would be less in this model, and b) you *should* be paying less without all the physical distribution factored in, or you could wait for sales.

Anyway, sorry also for the awkwardness, I was just trying to point out that while you were implying no one "here" is going to listen to you, it doesn't matter because what's going on in the wide world is nothing like what is going on "here" anyhow.

 

[MB202]

Coincidentally, I just saw the Game Overthinker's SOPA episode, where he, too, talked about Napster, iTunes, and the desire for individual songs over albums, as well as the need for the entertainment industry, specifically Hollywood and the gaming industry, to seriously look into digital distribution and NOT try to dictate terms.

By the way, Street Sharks FTW!

 

[Orks da best]

The simple reason they don't do more stuff like steam is look what happened with origin as soon as it was announced everyone came out and said they hated it and would never use it and just pirate EA games so I can see why publishers would be put off this kind of service.

The difference is, Origin didn't need to exist. Steam exists already.

Really, only having one sole provider for games online is a good thing, heck no, in fact origin should recive more support for trying to create some competion in the DD market, monopolies are not good.

 

[KageUsagi]

This was the episode yet for the sole reason of Gitaroo Man.

 

[spectrenihlus]

No, the best that could happen (according to you) is what's happening to megaupload right now, which is WHAT IS happening. So you actually have nothing to complain about, because no matter what people say and wish for here, is *not* happening. I also wish for the easing of DRM. But I also don't have faith in people trying to follow a moral code or societal pressure.

And I also don't think people would just turn and say "don't shop from those pricks" if they put people through excessive measures to prevent theft, because what corporations do through society even better is marketing, and peer pressure...every kid wants those shoes as much as they want those games, they will go through to get it. They believe they need it, as much as people need to fly on airplanes despite the extra crap we have to do to get on one nowadays.

Wait, what? Someone responded to something post on the Internet? This might seem more confrontational than I would like but you seem to be agreeing with me but your tone suggests you disagree. I believe that I've stated that megaupload's upcoming trial is part of a solution and you seem to share my pessimism towards the populace.

Please forgive any awkwardness. I'm not accustomed to people interacting with me, I usually observe society from a distance. I'm more accustomed to writing a blog to an imaginary audience (http://mcdillinger.blogspot.com/) and writing a piece of Warcraft fan fiction at the speed of a ice glacier.

Except you forgot to take in the fact that the government is already going to basically delete all the data that was saved on megaupload. If the government all of a sudden seized a storage company because a few people where selling cocaine out of the containers people would be up in arms and heads would roll. What the government has done to megaupload is TERRIFYING. The government before due process will destroy megaupload so if mr dotcom wins his day in court he would have to build up his business from the ground up.

 

[Lotet]

Steam is convenient for a lot of people but it forces me to download patches and wouldn't let me play my physically bought Shogun 2 Total War, even after I installed it, untill it finished downloading the entire game again plus the patches, which was the next month since the download hit the limit and my home has better things to waste time on than downloading a game at a Psuedo Dial-Up paced internet.

this makes my copy COMPLETELY USELESS because it's not like I can lend it to anyone and it can't help me in any way what-so-ever.

I can only assume this doesn't happen all the time but it means that if a game on PC needs Steam then all the mods on the internet couldn't convince me to choose it over the Console version.

 

[Carnagath]

I wonder if Diablo 3 will either not be pirated at all or pretty much exclusively, cuz given the way their DRM is heading that's the only 2 options I'm seeing.

Noone is going to pirate a game that is so online/coop focused. Still, not allowing the option to play your private offline session is a major inconvenience that they don't give a fuck about, just like they didn't care to add LAN to Starcraft 2, which turned most of the tournaments into lagfests just like every single member of the e-sports community had foreseen and warned them about. Blizzard make good games, but since WoW was released they turned into massive dicks.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

I wonder if Diablo 3 will either not be pirated at all or pretty much exclusively, cuz given the way their DRM is heading that's the only 2 options I'm seeing.

Noone is going to pirate a game that is so online/coop focused. Still, not allowing the option to play your private offline session is a major inconvenience that they don't give a fuck about, just like they didn't care to add LAN to Starcraft 2, which turned most of the tournaments into lagfests just like every single member of the e-sports community had foreseen and warned them about. Blizzard make good games, but since WoW was released they turned into massive dicks.

Blizzard's decision to remove Lan from starcraft cost them at least 3 sales from me and two friends I game with. The decision to not have offline Diablo cost them at least 5 sales I can think of off the top of my head.

I know blizz probably doesn't care about a the few "antisocial" gamers left but I'm just throwing that out there.

 

[Gather]

iTunes was great... Then I formatted my hard-drive and lost everything I bought. iTunes refused to let me re-download all my files from their server. What makes it even better is that I couldn't re-buy what I lost because "I had already owned these files".

So, while they provide convenience of buying they aren't exactly accessible in the acquisition of files (Unlike steam)

 

[infohippie]

Also as for netflix... It's soo easy to get acess to it. Anroids, ipods, wii, ps3, xbox, pc, mac, and everything you can imagine plays netflix lately...

Sooo easy... if you live in the US. No such service in Australia!

 

[Metalrocks]

iTunes was great... Then I formatted my hard-drive and lost everything I bought. iTunes refused to let me re-download all my files from their server. What makes it even better is that I couldn't re-buy what I lost because "I had already owned these files".

So, while they provide convenience of buying they aren't exactly accessible in the acquisition of files (Unlike steam)

thats why itunes always asks if you like to backup the music you have downloaded on to a disc. i sure do that to be sure, since i had this experience that my HD suddenly broke down on me from one day to another.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

It seems like both sides are to blame, people pirate games because the game companies can't put out games right... and so on and so forth *SIGH*

 

[Saxnot]

Ok.... when did we get so ridiculously entitled that a company deserves to burn at the stake and have their property stolen from them... because they made us finger in a code that takes all of 45 seconds of your life to punch in. Really? Fucking really?

EA may not have won any favors with enforcing Origin for Battlefield 3... but I haven't seen them abusing their playerbase with it either. Newsflash: EA doesn't give a shit what porn you watch. As if Origin even scans for those kind of files...

But if you truly must condemn EA for their use of Origin... there's always the console version. No Origin on that, only a registration code. But apparently that's a crime against humanity as well.

I like ya Jim, but lately your crusade against registration codes is just getting old.

look at what you're saying: 'well, EA has been scanning my personal files and invading my privacy, but at least they won't use it to tell people about all the porn i watch'

WHAT? WHAT?

Yes, we are entitled. Because we should be. Because we don't owe these companies ANYTHING.
They are not a charity. They are not a worthy cause. They are a company. It is their point and purpose to find a way to get people to buy their product.

If they fail to find a way to make it more attractive for to you buy the game instead of pirating it, then they are failing as a company.

EA wants to convince you that you have a moral obligation to choose their service. This is a lie. You as a consumer have no moral obligations. You choose what you feel to be the best option for yourself. If a company wants to make money, they must become the best option. If they don't, they go bankrupt.

This is the way of capitalism.