Pirates provide a better service

[Lenny Magic]

I don't know, I find that they don't tend to support multi-player servers very well, as such you are forced to download extra programs (hamachi etc.) just to play with other people. Additionally their stripping out of steamworks and other such features can be very heavy handed and leave games completely without co-op or multipayer. All the while the sites hosting links to these files make money off the advertisement, or ask you to pay to join an exclusive forum for the latest torrents.

All I'm saying is that the service they provide is only marginally better than the one that actually supports the developers. The only major difference is that one is largely free, and the other is not.

 

[Zeckt]

Just get all your PC games on steam. it's great. Till the day you move house and you can't play your games because you don't have internet and the steam client needs you to be online to switch to offline mode.

In other news GoG.com > all

Actually, I just tested your scenario using my home PC and it gives the option to play in offline mode due to not finding a connection. Where exactly are you getting your information from?

No clue. I never logged on to steam on my laptop in over a year and I can still play the steam games fine. Also, my internet crashed and steam gave the option to switch to offline mode despite no internet and I played my games just fine. His point is proven moot.

 

[thesilentman]

Isn't this a fact of PC gaming at this point? These days, I'll only get my games off of Steam/retail/GoG.com. I personally prefer physical copies, and Steam and GoG.com are ridiculously convenient services that I don't mind paying for.

The legit way:

1) Buy a game from steam
2) Download it at 250KB/s average speed,
3) Run it and it crashes at launch (Ubisoft error 1),
4) Install more DRM from Ubisoft,
5) Wait for launcher to update itself,
6) Register an account on Ubisoft DRM.
7) Then wait for launcher to update the game,
8) Then if I want to play LAN, everyone has to have bought a copy of the game and be connected to the internet!

Time taken: ~ 1 day

The pirate way:

1) Find game on torrent site
2) Download it at 500KB/s average speed,
3) Unpack it and run it
4) Copy files to other computers and play LAN

Time taken: ~ 4 hours

I was under the impression that paying customers should get a better service, apparently not.

Huh, for Steam it goes like this:

1) Buy Steam game
2) Download at 350 KB/s
3) Verify game integrity when finished to avoid issues
4) Allow redists/patches/etc to install
5) ??????
6) Profit.

Under Piracy, it goes like this:

1) Add torrent to client
2) Download torrent at 200 MB/s[footnote]Yes, I have gotten speeds like that while downloading Linux ISOs. Ubuntu 12.04 32 bit Live CD ISO on my machine in under 10 seconds. No joke.[/footnote]
3) Install game as if it's retail
4) Crack it
5) ??????
6) Profit.

I don't support piracy, but I can see how piracy is more convenient. That's my only problem with Steam; download speeds are rather slow. I just wish they'd use a BitTorrent protocol for downloading games, then I'd quit buying retail altogether (no way in hell I'm going to give up GoG.com; DRM-free games are a godsend)

 

[renegade7]

Not to mention when it's free you don't lose any money if you dislike it or it turns out to be incompatible. Steam makes no provisions for refunds.

It is a much, much better service that pirates provide, and this is something devs will need to learn to compete with.

It's not that I don't want to spend money. I want to support developers who make good games and provide a superior service. What I don't want is to spend money on a demonstrably inferior service. Not to mention that the complete lack of a refund program means simply buying a game is a risk in and of itself. I can deal with a virus very easily (and by the way torrents are quite safe-before you download one read the reviews posted). But if I'm out $60 for a game that won't run there is nothing I can do.

And it's not stealing. It's sharing.
/raises flame shield

 

[jetriot]

I haven't had any problems an Ubisoft game since the early days of their DRM system. Their new games don't even require you to be online to play. I constantly download from steam much faster than I could ever torrent and the vast majority of the time, the games work right after install. You would be hard pressed to factually argue that it is easier to pirate games than it is to buy them 99% of the time.

Honestly this sounds like more bullshit excuses to calm your guilt for stealing the work of others. T.V. shows on the other hand- it is absolutely easier to stream a new tv show than it is to watch it on tv and they are typically impossible to buy near their release. That is a model that has to change if it wants to compete with piracy.

 

[jetriot]

Just get all your PC games on steam. it's great. Till the day you move house and you can't play your games because you don't have internet and the steam client needs you to be online to switch to offline mode.

In other news GoG.com > all

Actually, I just tested your scenario using my home PC and it gives the option to play in offline mode due to not finding a connection. Where exactly are you getting your information from?

personal experience. test it all you want, i know what happend to me. Try your test again but this time actually click the offline mode button. see what happens.

Just get all your PC games on steam. it's great. Till the day you move house and you can't play your games because you don't have internet and the steam client needs you to be online to switch to offline mode.

In other news GoG.com > all

Actually, I just tested your scenario using my home PC and it gives the option to play in offline mode due to not finding a connection. Where exactly are you getting your information from?

No clue. I never logged on to steam on my laptop in over a year and I can still play the steam games fine. Also, my internet crashed and steam gave the option to switch to offline mode despite no internet and I played my games just fine. His point is proven moot.

sorry, i got confused and forgot what universe i was in. Thanks for making me realise this is the universe where my personal experiences are a lie.

Out of curiosity, did you buy WarZ?

Your personal experience is wrong. It is like saying your car won't start so it is broken and someone else goes to your car and starts it just fine. Turns out you forgot to put the key in the ignition. Either it was a one time fluke or you did something wrong. Doesn't mean the car is broken.

 

[CAPTCHA]

The major difference between piracy and commercial service is that piracy has no, or very little overhead. But that means that it also provides no support. I think that digital media is at a point now where payments should be used to gain/reward service rather than goods. The OP is only considering the instant gratification of piracy for the user and not the societal implications. At the end of the day piracy builds nothing but the wealth of the individual. That could easily be considered morally wrong in our present social economy.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Pirates do provide a better service, but the problem is that their service defeats the expected economic aspects of producing and purchasing a game. I might be getting a game I was interested in with close to zero effort, but the developer won't see a single cent from me if I do that. Considering this, if you're adamant about keeping pirate habits as part of your gaming lifestyle, I think it's easier to set yourself a precedent.

If it's from a trusted developer or an indie I'm familiar with, both deserve my support. I'll purchase a copy.

If it's from a money-grubbing publisher and an exhausted developer that's more or less been put to irons to work on a franchise day in and day out - I'll pirate.

Sometimes, Option B still puts out a good game. I then quite willingly go back and pay for the thing legitimately.

That's how it goes if you're part of the lucky few who do have legal access to games. In some countries, piracy is the one and only option - especially if you're in a corner of the world where publishers can't reach you, or if your country has restrictive laws on content censorship. The only way Australians can have access to the true Left 4 Dead experience is if they find a way to import a North American copy of the game. Past that, they have to pirate their way to unrestrained versions of the titles they're interested in.

 

[N3squ1ck]

Ubisoft don't have intrusive DRM any more. Bad example.

Yeah, thy mostly stopped, but they still use the horrendous 3-machine activation limit (at least the steam description of anno 2070 says so. That is why I haven't bought it yet, despite absolutely loving the series)

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Yep, I think Jim had a video on this very thing. Publishers fail to understand that if they offer a worse service than pirates do then they're just inviting piracy.

*Not endorsing piracy

 

[peruvianskys]

Just because something's convenient doesn't make it right.

Yeah, why is the discussion ever framed in terms of ease of use instead of moral worth?

I could go out right now and buy a stolen car for far less than manufacturer's suggested retail price, and it would probably be in nice shape if I look in the right places; does that mean that I have the right to do so?

If it's from a money-grubbing publisher and an exhausted developer that's more or less been put to irons to work on a franchise day in and day out - I'll pirate.

Thank you for describing your approach - now, would you be so kind as to tell us why you think such action is justified, either morally or economically?

 

[Doclector]

This is what dumbass publishers will never goddamn realise. This is what big business will never goddamn realise.

Hell, it happens to a lesser extent with films. I pick up one of my many DVDs, I have to wait through the logos. I have to wait through the piracy warnings. Oh yes, warning me that I shouldn't commit piracy when I already didn't. These can never be skipped, and sometimes, they have the balls to show the same warnings twice in one way or another.

It's a minor inconveniance, but when you know that pirated versions, the free versions, do not even have the warning on them, I start to get a little pissed that I'm not even allowed to skip their useless warning.

Fact is, I know these companies piss themselves because they think "Oh shit, we can't compete with people who charge precisely jack shit." but...they can. A good service makes you feel privileged. Valued. A good service gives you the feeling of everything being so easy and simple that it's definately worth paying for. And certainly, at no point, should the pirate be able to play their games and watch their films far quicker and easier than the legitimate buyer. That's when people get pissed. When you have to wait for ubisoft's servers to work in order to play AC3's single player, that's when you've lost people. When you have to wait for bullshit piracy warnings despite the fact that you are already watching a legitimate DVD, that's when you've lost people.

 

[Signa]

1) Buy a game from shop
2) Put it in 360 at disk tray to start up screen 30 seconds.
3) Play game

Time taken about 5 minutes.

Sorry i shouldn't of wrote that just wanted consoles to be seen as a better alternative than pirating games

Not trying to hate on your console, but I timed how long it took to get into gameplay from my desktop in Borderlands 2 the other day, and it was 35 seconds. I don't even have a SSD. Most games on the 360 take 20+ seconds just to get to the main menu. Really though, if you want fast loading times, go find yourself an old console like a SNES. I've been playing mine lately, and my TV loses to the SNES's load times just by trying to change the inputs with the remote.

 

[Odbarc]

Pirates have more pride in what they release.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Here's what happens when I buy a game from Steam:
1) Buy a game from steam
2) Download it at 3,4MB/s average speed,
3) Run it and it crashes at launch (Ubisoft error 1)
4) Install more DRM from Ubisoft
5) Wait for launcher to update itself
6) Register an account on Ubisoft DRM.
7) Then wait for launcher to update the game
8) Play game

Time taken: <1 hour, depending on the size of the game.

this is the average experience with Steam.

in fact the only time your example of DRM getting into way is when i forge to check for it. Steam is just fine as far as DRM goes, there's no reason for GFWL to be on anything, ever.

can't comment on Ubisoft's DRM, i don't buy games from them

 

[BlazeRaider]

I bet it's much easier to provide more convenient service when you don't have to worry about profitability or actually maintaining the infrastructure required to make the game in the first place.

 

[Colt47]

Just get all your PC games on steam. it's great. Till the day you move house and you can't play your games because you don't have internet and the steam client needs you to be online to switch to offline mode.

In other news GoG.com > all

Actually, I just tested your scenario using my home PC and it gives the option to play in offline mode due to not finding a connection. Where exactly are you getting your information from?

personal experience. test it all you want, i know what happend to me. Try your test again but this time actually click the offline mode button. see what happens.

Just get all your PC games on steam. it's great. Till the day you move house and you can't play your games because you don't have internet and the steam client needs you to be online to switch to offline mode.

In other news GoG.com > all

Actually, I just tested your scenario using my home PC and it gives the option to play in offline mode due to not finding a connection. Where exactly are you getting your information from?

No clue. I never logged on to steam on my laptop in over a year and I can still play the steam games fine. Also, my internet crashed and steam gave the option to switch to offline mode despite no internet and I played my games just fine. His point is proven moot.

sorry, i got confused and forgot what universe i was in. Thanks for making me realise this is the universe where my personal experiences are a lie.

Out of curiosity, did you buy WarZ?

Yeah, I went and played Ys Origin just fine, so I think it was a fluke. Also, why are you asking me about that? I don't think anyone I know bought War Z, let alone myself...

 

[bafrali]

As a former pirate who now has a steam profile with over 100 games (not to mention my GOG profile) I disagree with your opinion.

Thanks for that useless insight. Try and put reasons for your opinion next time you post.

viruses, slow downloads, broken links, leftover rars, CD images, pain of conscious, religious reasons. Take it or leave it.

[youtube.com=pLC_zZ5fqFk]

This guy brought me to the light.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Most of those steps were to do with Ubisoft. In the immortal words of Adam Savage: "Well, there's your problem." Steam is also definitely nowhere near as slow as 250kb/s most of the time, and your statistic doesn't show TPB as being much faster - maybe you should get a new router or switch to Google Fiber, or something like that.

 

[Madman123456]

Or are you saying you avoid everything to do with them. The latter I would be okay with but if it's the former than you are just condemning game developers to unemployment.

That one. I wouldn't even download any of their Product. To be perfectly honest, that's partly because i'm scared i'd catch something like the GTA 4 securom thingy again which has been literally harder to get rid off then the Plague.
No really, if you manage to catch the Plague today, take two pills a day for two weeks. Done.
Have securom on your drive? Find bits and pieces of it in your registry a year later.