On downloading games illegally

[Leefank137]

You definitely make a good point about not being able to return a game in some situations and I certainly understand your frustrations. It sucks when games pull that kind of crap and you get stuck with a bad game, and I suppose it's ethical if you are trying a game and intend to buy it later, treating a pirated copy as a sort of extended (and more true to form) demo. Unfortunately people don't always have such noble intentions, and I'm sure there are people who will download a game, say they're just trying it out, play through the game in it's entirety, and then say they wouldn't have bought the game. While you have a good point, I do think that there are those that use that as an excuse for stealing games.

 

[Comieman]

I have downloaded Civs 5..not because I did not have money or because I like piracy. But because they refused to sell it to me because I am Russian.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

OK, so I know this might be ahrd for you to understand, but get this. I said in my post, quite directly that I did not call anyone who buys used games thieves. Quote me wherever I said that and win a price. I dare you to.

Now because you wont listen to reason I wont care to write an elaborate post with several arguments for my case.

If we had no publishers and no developers, would GameStop exist?

Used game sales cut into sales records no matter what great example you and your friend set. No money to the publishers wont turn into money to the publisher in any world. Loss of sales might lead to games not getting sequels. This is not just the case of bad games.

No. If it wern't for Publishers and devs, GameStop would not exist. Your point? If it wern't for book publishers, libraries wouldn't exist.

Keep in mind, the publishers are just as responsible for creating a demand for second hand sales.

There is only so much a person can spend on entertainment each year. They make far to many games, and compete against themselves (Not as a group, I'm talking Bioware vs Bioware) for sales.

GameStop gives the option to trade in games you no longer wish to own in order to buy more games. As their numbers show from their 2010 report, they bought over $1 Billion in games that year, and that $750 Million of that went to buy NEW games on the part of gamers who traded it in.

Further, Gaming isn't exactly starving. It's a multi-billion dollar industry.

 

[RomanceIsDead]

You definitely make a good point about not being able to return a game in some situations and I certainly understand your frustrations. It sucks when games pull that kind of crap and you get stuck with a bad game, and I suppose it's ethical if you are trying a game and intend to buy it later, treating a pirated copy as a sort of extended (and more true to form) demo. Unfortunately people don't always have such noble intentions, and I'm sure there are people who will download a game, say they're just trying it out, play through the game in it's entirety, and then say they wouldn't have bought the game. While you have a good point, I do think that there are those that use that as an excuse for stealing games.

Maybe game developers should start releasing more demos. It sure seems like that would solve a lot of the issues that people here have complained about. Of course, there is probably still an overwhelming majority of pirates that never intend to buy a game legally and would have no interest in a demo.

 

[Savagezion]

That's a shame. I was gone for about a week and looking forward to an intelligent response but instead I get greeted with a rhetoric post. I love how I am the one not listening to reason when I already answered all of those points in the very quote you posted. I just made it through a 5 hour road trip looking forward to this, so, this is gonna happen.

OK, so I know this might be ahrd for you to understand, but get this. I said in my post, quite directly that I did not call anyone who buys used games thieves. Quote me wherever I said that and win a price. I dare you to.

Watch this.

Men who play sports tend to be more socially active and thus are more likely to have success in dating.
Men who play video games tend to be less socially active and thus have a hard time expressing themselves to women.

Quote me exactly where I said being a gamer means you are bad with women.

THAT is what you are doing.

If we had no publishers and no developers, would GameStop exist?

Well, since my previous answer in the post you quoted was probably too in depth and we are deciding to ignore it, I would say - Probably. They could sell ONLY used games and undercut publishers even more. Way to think inside the box.
EDIT: Actually, unless you mean "ever" then, Maybe. Gamestop did sell DvDs for a while. But then again, those need publishers I think. So yeah, if ALL media didn't have publishers there wouldn't be a demand for retail outlets for it because the industries wouldn't exist. Just like all publishers need a retailer or an outlet. Oh wait, this might be getting too in-depth as I am starting to look at it from both sides. Of course, one could also self publish and utilize a retailer. But then again that creates a "publisher" of sorts. Oh what silly rules this question poses, almost like it is co-dependent relationship. We could break this down to a publisher, developer, distributor, retailer level if we need to. For someone being so literal about the "Quote me" thing you are being very figurative and assumptive in your other arguments.

Used game sales cut into sales records no matter what great example you and your friend set. No money to the publishers wont turn into money to the publisher in any world. Loss of sales might lead to games not getting sequels. This is not just the case of bad games.

That is such a loaded statement. There is a LOT of assumption going on there. Hell, it is practically seeping out of the statement. The ONLY statement that isn't loaded with assumption is sentence #2.

Now because you wont listen to reason I wont care to write an elaborate post with several arguments for my case.

I actually, somehow, totally believe that you believe that.

 

[Baldr]

I probably wouldn't have a problem with used game sales, most retail not a problem, then there is GameStop. The way they push used game sales is sickening. I know the industry loves to publish every game between September and December. But to start putting out used copy of games, less than a week after release and sell them for two or three dollars less than a brand new copy, and to push these copies over brand new copies(because they make more profit from these copies.)

Come on people, your telling me that people can not afford shell out another two to three dollars, because they would if a used copy was not there. I think this is what upsets developers/publishers the most.

Here an independent study of the cause.
http://interpretllc.com/_downloads/impact_of_used_game_sales_on_the_industry.pdf