Poll: Does pirating a game to test it make it okay?

[predatorpulse7]

I wanna say it's wrong but pirating a game for testing purposes does it have its merits. Most companies don't bring out demos and testing websites(such as systemrequirementslab, to see if the game will run) are hit and miss. And I certainly won't trust the mostly sold out gaming press who praises almost every AAA game out there. And gameplay videos don't tell me the whole story.

I took Sleeping Dogs(PC) off a torrent site, played for about 2 days(still early in the story), loved the heck out of it and promptly bought a cheap cdkey online for it. Do I feel guilty for pirating it? Nope. In some cases(actually most cases if we are talking about triple A games) they expect us to give 60 bucks for a game that we don't even get to test drive a bit. I'm sorry but I'm not giving 60 bucks to just any game out there.

I think most publishers/developers who point fingers at pirates would be surprised to learn how many people pirate the game just to see if it worth their money. If the game doesn't grab you by the balls in the first hours that you play it, then it's a no purchase. I started gaming back when demos were out for most games and I really miss those demos. They didn't give out the whole story of the game but you could get a feel for at least some of the gameplay and how it would run on your machine. They wet the appetite so to speak.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Seems like just another excuse to steal a game. You can look at the recommended stats or a quick google search to see if the game can be played on the computer.

 

[predatorpulse7]

Protip: Turn the box over, the system requirements are written on the back.

There is no excuse, and nothing makes piracy okay. If you're going to do it, then do it. But don't try and pretend you're in the right while you're doing it. You can't buy your cake and steal it too.

System requirements don't tell you s**t about how it will run on your particular machine, it just gives you the big picture.I don't know, for example, how many FPS will by game reach - it's one thing to play a game at 12 FPS and quite another at 30-35. On my old machine, Witcher 2 ran at 13 FPS(unplayable) on low settings but according to the back of the box and producers, the game would run so no problems, right? WRONG. Though I shouldn't pick on TW2 cause at least they had a demo. But what if it was the same situation with another game, which didn't have a demo out? I would've been in the clear with the requirements according to the guys making the game, I would've bought the game and realized that, while I can start it up, the low FPS made it nearly unplayable.

I kinda want to be 100% sure of what I am buying if the game is around 50-60 bucks. That used to be the case with demos but nowadays publishers are scared to release demos(but what it they won't like it!!!) so I have no way of judging how the game will run on my machine before I go out and buy the full version.

The guys releasing the games don't want to take ANY risks but they want us to go on blind faith when buying their 60 dollar games, trusting gameplay videos(and I heard that some want to ban those as well), game reviewers that they've payed off and other parties involved.

It's like someone telling you to buy a car, giving you the specs, praising it to high heavens and getting others to do so as well but staunchly refusing you a test drive before you give your hard earned cash for it.

I pirated a game that I had doubts would work on my machine, played it for a couple of hours over the course of 2 days and bought a Steam key online for it. I pirated the game(I made a demo for myself so to speak) and then gave money to the developer. What does that make me? A honest pirate?

 

[DanDanikov]

Piracy generally increases the potential for more sales, both for the games in question and gaming in general as a market.

Pirating a game because there is no demo is a service problem. It's down to individuals to only do so for genuine testing reasons and purchase a game if/when the test is successful. In my head, if you really enjoy games and can afford to pay, you're shooting yourself in the foot not to.

From what I can tell of the actual piracy community, they are big fans of games and are NOT interested in subverting the financial models of developers. They may have no love for marketing departments and publishers who have the power to negatively effect games, especially when it comes to copy protection, but they do like the developers and believe in them being compensated for their work so they continue to make more games.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

I'd have to come up with a precedent for other media. Like a library (taxpayer funded) or rental store. Wait, there used to be video game rental stores. Do those still exist?

It's kind of a weak excuse, but an oft heard one at that. I'd argue that a chunk of games market themselves strictly for the purchase, well aware that upon actually getting into the game you'll realize it's dross. Movie video games are (or were) a great example of this.

ET sold exceptionally well for Atari, yet is cited as one of the worst games ever. If people pirated that to test it it would have never sold so well. 'But that's a good thing, that means quality games rise to the top!' I hear you say. That's debatable. Battlefield and Modern Warfare continue to sell in huge quantities while games like Bulletstorm fall by the wayside.

 

[predatorpulse7]

Protip: Turn the box over, the system requirements are written on the back.

There is no excuse, and nothing makes piracy okay. If you're going to do it, then do it. But don't try and pretend you're in the right while you're doing it. You can't buy your cake and steal it too.

Excuses

If you're going to pirate the game, then pirate the game. But don't delude yourself into thinking you're on some idiotic moral highground and expect others to fall for your bullshit. What you are doing is illegal, right and wrong are irrelevant and meaningless.

One of the most hilarious things I've read on the internet.

And you seem to forget that I PAYED for the game. The guys making the game didn't lose a sale but I did have to demo it myself first. I'm not gonna waste lots of money on something I don't test, if only for a little bit. Obviously a lot of people in my position wouldn't have bought the game afterwards(even if they liked it) but that's another matter alltogether.

As others have told you, if I were portuguese or swiss, it would have been quite alright.

Piracy is not a clear cut issue and it has never been so. That is why I have to laugh when some people use it in analogies with stealing or murder, which are punisehd all around(in civilized countries at least). The very fact that some countries decriminalized or are trying to decriminalize file sharing(which is pretty much piracy) objectively shows that the issue isn't black and white.

 

[predatorpulse7]

Piracy generally increases the potential for more sales, both for the games in question and gaming in general as a market.

Pirating a game because there is no demo is a service problem. It's down to individuals to only do so for genuine testing reasons and purchase a game if/when the test is successful. In my head, if you really enjoy games and can afford to pay, you're shooting yourself in the foot not to.

From what I can tell of the actual piracy community, they are big fans of games and are NOT interested in subverting the financial models of developers. They may have no love for marketing departments and publishers who have the power to negatively effect games, especially when it comes to copy protection, but they do like the developers and believe in them being compensated for their work so they continue to make more games.

Good post and this is something people don't seem to get. When I started gaming, it was unthinkable for a game NOT to have a demo. Nowadays it seems to be the exception. Hell, I couldn't wait to get hold of a computer magazine when I was a kid just because they had lots of demos(this was way before I had any serviceable internet connection) on the cd that the magazine came out with. It not only gave you a taste of the game to come but you could see if it ran on your machine as well. The consumer wasn't as shafted back then and the smart companies would put out enticing demos that left you wanting more.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

I made the mistake to buy a game that should have run on my machine by the stats on the box and then it just didnt at all, THREE times last year. I wont buy any game without testing it EVER. If they lie about the requirements i dont care if its right or wrong. I will test it on my machine, by rental, borrowing from friends, or just downloading it.

 

[terzho]

Look,I've always believed that if you're going to pirate a game, just be honest with yourself about it. You want to pirate the game because you want to play something and you don't want to pay for it. Don't try to make it seem like it's an honest "robin-hoodesque" thing and that you should have the right to.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

Protip: Turn the box over, the system requirements are written on the back.

There is no excuse, and nothing makes piracy okay. If you're going to do it, then do it. But don't try and pretend you're in the right while you're doing it. You can't buy your cake and steal it too.

Excuses

If you're going to pirate the game, then pirate the game. But don't delude yourself into thinking you're on some idiotic moral highground and expect others to fall for your bullshit. What you are doing is illegal, right and wrong are irrelevant and meaningless.

I think you've missed the entire point of the thread. I don't think anyone is seriously debating that it's illegal, because it rather blatantly is in the eyes of the law. The question IS whether it's right or wrong, it's neither irrelevant or meaningless, it's the entire discussion.

And I would argue that the system requirements on the back of the box don't tell the whole story, it's a decent general indicator but when it comes to certain games, the only way to truly know is to play, and lacking demos I can completely understand why some choose to use piracy as a demo, most aren't willing to take a $60 gamble like that and I can't blame them.

Illegal, yes. Morally reprehensible, no. I don't see why the consumer's the one who should be forced to bite the bullet on this one.

This is why I think demos should be outright required on the PC, I'm presently in the process of downloading the XCOM:EU demo to see if it runs on my rig. This WILL be the deciding factor in whether or not I purchase the game, if this game lacked said demo no purchase would have been considered at all.

I'm just glad I live in the UK, meaning I can get a refund pretty fast should something not work because delicious UK law. Seriously, if you live in the EU, this is a non-issue. Not wishing to bring politics into this but I'm genuinely surprised that certain countries don't actually have any such law that allows to return faulty stuff.

 

[Kikosemmek]

It's okay as long as game developers keep trying to milk you for more money via DLC, exclusive content, and rushed gameplay. It's better to pirate and test than to buy and regret. There are developers I don't ever bother pirating from: Bethesda, Paradox Interactive, Valve, and The Creative Assembly, because so far they've been nothing but consistent and faithful to their users.

Bioware, Ubisoft and Blizzard recently fell off that list for some of their recent releases and antics. Why pay them $60 (which is quite a lot of fucking money, mind you) for a game that has a good chance to be unsatisfying, include exclusive content, feel rushed, and have obnoxious DRM? It's better to find out if their games are actually worth it first before giving them your hard-earned money. As I see it, it isn't the studio losing out, it's me being safe. They're going to sell millions of copies anyway, but I only have a limited budget to spend on games, which are my favorite hobby. Why let cynical business practices ruin that for me?

 

[DonTsetsi]

I don't think it's relevant. The only relevant thing is whether playing without paying is legal in your country or state. In my country it's legal as long as you don't use it for profit. In some others it isn't. Moral or not, the law is the law.

 

[Do4600]

That would be like sneaking into a movie and only paying if you liked it. How is it morally grey? Then only way it comes close to morally grey is if you pirate it to test then buy it next time it discounted even if you couldn't run the game.

you can't be serious...

It is nothing like sneaking into a movie, at all.
Maybe if you have new, fancy replacement cybernetic eyes and you are not sure if your new eyes are compatible with the 3D glasses at you local cinema and you kindly ask the manager to check it out for a minute and if it works then you buy a ticket.

Even so, paying for a game (even if it is discounted) you know for a fact you cannot play is rather ridiculous.

I think a better analogy would be a clothing store with no changing rooms. It's stupid for them not to have changing rooms but does that make it morally upright to break in in the middle of the night and try on their clothes?

I'd say, no, it really doesn't; even if you pick the locks, don't cause any damage and put everything back where it was the action still isn't ethical, it's just kinder than breaking all the windows and stealing everything you can get your hands on.

O.T.
All of these threads about piracy are trying to veil an unethical action in a cloak of justice. For some reason everybody pirating software wants piracy to be considered just. It's not. It's very much like the Kantian theoretical situation of a starving man stealing a loaf of bread, except you aren't starving.

Of the pirates I've known, none of them have been so naive that they think they are righteous when they pirate something. Anybody that tells you piracy is ethical under "specific situations" is lying. It's never ethical, why should it matter to you that it's ethical or not? You'll pirate it either way, you just want to feel as if you hold the moral highground before doing it.

I'm not for or against piracy, I'm against mental self-indulgence which is what this is. You're just revving up your engine before you go off the ramp and break through several federal laws and the probably the intentions of the media's creator. If you're going to do that, do it, more power to you, welcome to the club, but never dilute yourself into thinking while your doing it that you're a white knight vanquishing a dragon.

 

[Smeggs]

The only time I feel pirating would be "okay" would be either when the game is unobtainable, such as so many emulator games, or when they are not released in your country. If there's no demo, then watch some videos. If you don't wanna do that, rent the game for an evening.

If pirating were just used as a means to test out a game, it would be okay, but sadly, and not pointing fingers at anyone here, there are many who don't feel that way. Just because some people will be just about it doesn't mean they all will. You're still doing something illegal, whether it's for slightly less selfish reasons isn't the point.

 

[MagunBFP]

Wow, I flicked through these pages cause there's alot of people with excuses for why piracy is ok.

To the rocket scientists who say a demo would make everything better, you've obviously never had a demo run fine and then had the full version glitch, or vice versa. That being said if you were supposed to have a demo to test the game out then one would have been made, the publisher didn't make one, then make your own mind up based on what has been released

To the crowd that says you want more info about how well it will run on your very specific computer config. Suck it up. The publisher is giving you as much information as they'll give you, wait until after release day, read reviews or just buy it and test for yourself.

To the guy that said its ok to pirate it if you're boycotting the company and don't want to give them your sale... you're a thief and a hypocrit.

Then there is my favourite group of people... the ones who want to pirate it to make sure they'll like it. Thats literally got to be the most pathetic attempt at justifing piracy ever. Read a review, oh you think they've all been bought and paid for... watch a full playthrough on youtube... thats not fun and boring watching someone else play the game... Buy your own damn copy and play it.

When all is said and done the publisher owns the rights to all those bits of code we love to play with so much, you can't take their toys, digital or otherwise, without their permission and being anything other then a thief. You might say you're just "borrowing" the game, but legally you're not. Piracy is piracy, do or it don't but don't pretend that your being all virtous and right about it.

 

[FabiotheTurtle]

A friend of mine once came up with the phrase:
"The fact that you're trying to justify it means it's wrong."

That being said, depending on how you pirate it/how many updates you keep/what your testing motif is, determines how badly the piracy is. Whilst it does make some sort of sense in a few situations, wholeheartedly I'd go with a no.

But really. You're the one trying to do good, whereas millions of people pirate games every day...

 

[TwentyPercentCooler]

If I try it and it doesn't run on my computer, I'm not buying it.

If you take away that option, I buy the game, and it doesn't run on my computer...well, fuck you, I will never buy another one of your games and I'll tell my friends, too.

Stop treating your potential customers like assholes and sheep, put out a decent product, stop wasting $70 million on the advertising to keep budgets to non-insane levels...it's not that hard, but the big publishers are morons that are run by executives that have probably never played a video game in their lives.