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

[zoharknight]

No. No its not ok. Just have your friend use that Can i run it site. Theres probaly other sites that can test that stuff to. Though yea i agree that we need more demos of stuff. Pisses me off when my 360 gets a demo but my ps3 doesnt get one of a multiplatform game. I like to test the controls and see which system runs it better before i decide which to buy it for. Though there are some series i only get on certain systems no matter what.

 

[Waaghpowa]

I find it funny that the person who is telling people to check minimum system requirements is the same person who is basically the self proclaimed technically inept when it comes to the computers. You know who you are Mr. "I wouldn't know the first thing about building a PC despite never trying". Now "Can I run it" site should only be used as a yard stick comparison for PC games. In no way should anyone take it's results at 100% face value.

Now I don't agree with using piracy as an excuse to test a game, but people need to learn that some times meeting, or in some cases, exceeding the minimum requirements for a PC game means shit all. Sometimes there are problems with the game, not the system it's running on. Whether it be on the developers side in the form of poor optimization or something else. You can have the ideal "minimum" requirements to run a game but still not have it run due to unforeseeable issues.

Remember the RAGE debacle where the driver manufacturers failed to supply the required drivers for the game to work properly? Many people, including myself, far exceeded the minimum requirements for that game and still couldn't play it properly if at all.

I don't blame people for wanting to test a game out first, especially considering how absolutely crap some ports can be.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

So I'm completely blown away by how even the sides are on this topic, I came in here thinking "It is obviously okay, why would anyone say it isn't?". Still not entirely convinced why anyone would say it isn't.

Really? How isn't it? If I shoot you just to see if you will survive, is it still attempted murder? I had no intent to murder you, but I still shot you. So, if I go to Best Buy and steal a graphics card just to test to see if it will work in my computer, then if it will, I go buy it, that isn't stealing?

You just don't get it, I don't know if you are a pirate and/or just in extreme ignorant denial.

Big difference there and I don't see why I'm bothering to explain it.
Outcomes of shooting someone to see if they live:
1. They die
2. They live but are in excruciating pain
Both outcomes are pretty damn bad, which is why no one in their right mind would do it. On the other hand, possible outcomes of pirating a game to test it:
1. It works
2. It doesn't work
Neither or which I would say are negative consequences for anyone.

As for the slippery slope argument (you didn't say it, but some other people in this thread did), why don't you just say it's wrong to keep playing the game after you find out it works? You could just as easily say it's wrong to use the internet because it's a slippery slope that could lead to piracy. Judge the thing that's harmful, not the thing that could potentially lead you to doing something harmful. If you inadvertently play through half of the game and decide you don't like it in the process of testing it then yeah, that's wrong.

For the record I'm adamantly against piracy. That is the "I'm too good to pay for things" piracy, not the "I don't want to waste my money on a game that I can't play" piracy

 

[Sonic Doctor]

I'm late to the party, but whatever. What worries me is that "no" is losing to the other two answers, which is quite troubling, seeing as "no" is the only answer to this question.

I'd post the extra credits piracy video, but I'm betting that it has already been posted.

If it is against the law, then the answer is always, "No it is not okay".

This is a small subject, but the outcome does tell me that proper society really is going down the drain, at least when it comes to the rights of the company over the consumer.

People have no right to play a game that they didn't pay for, doesn't matter if, "boo-hoo, I had to do the illegal thing because they didn't release a demo." That excuse is a load of crap and the people doing it, know it is.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

So I'm completely blown away by how even the sides are on this topic, I came in here thinking "It is obviously okay, why would anyone say it isn't?". Still not entirely convinced why anyone would say it isn't.

It is playing without paying, so it is illegal. Demoing a game is not a right. If the game doesn't have a demo, you wait and make your decision, to buy the game, on reviews and other player testimonies.

If I ran a gaming company, it wouldn't matter your excuse, if you don't pay and are playing, I would bring the full force of the law down upon you.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

So I'm completely blown away by how even the sides are on this topic, I came in here thinking "It is obviously okay, why would anyone say it isn't?". Still not entirely convinced why anyone would say it isn't.

It is playing without paying, so it is illegal. Demoing a game is not a right. If the game doesn't have a demo, you wait and make your decision, to buy the game, on reviews and other player testimonies.

If I ran a gaming company, it wouldn't matter your excuse, if you don't pay and are playing, I would bring the full force of the law down upon you.

It's not your right to know if you're throwing away $60? Let's for a second not think about what's legal or not. Let's say that you illegally download a game that you want to buy to see if it works on your computer. Case 1, you turn it on, walk around for a minute and say "Hooray, it does work!", and then go to Steam and buy it. Case 2, you turn it on and are met with a black screen so you don't buy it. Does anything bad happen? Let's say EVERYONE in the world who was skeptical about whether they'd meet the requirements did that. Would anything bad happen? At all? Worst case scenario would be that the game publishers now don't have the money of people who can't play their game.

 

[BoogieManFL]

I can see both sides. I'm sure it sucks to lose money to pirates who download your game and enjoy it, and replay it without you seeing a penny. But it also sucks to pay 50-60 bucks for a game that was shit, and you would have known it was shit if there were a demo for it.

Skyrim is good, and I do like the game quite a bit. But it doesn't need to be $60. $50 is good. Basically, it's level design and that's the end of it. Almost everything else is just adjusted by your level. There is ultimately little reason to explore side dungeons other than just to play a game. It's rare to see anything new or unique in the design of the dungeon, it's enemies, or even the items. Pick 50 random dungeons in the game and the differences, beyond layout, is minimal.

From what I've seen and heard of Dishonored, it's kinda nifty, but I'd peg it at $40. Not $60. Black and white "morality system" and nothing really new or innovative about the play style and very linear.

Some games just aren't worth what they ask for them and it really sucks when you don't feel like you got your money's worth. Even more so when you feel like it was wasted. A game without a demo is like making a movie and your trailer is simply the name and nothing of it's content. It seems most developers only release movies, or specially arranged screenshots that don't tell you crap about what it's actually like to play the game. If you don't release a demo and/or good detailed information about your game you're basically asking to get it pirated. People don't need specific reasons to do it in the first place, so giving them a good one is just dumb.

You shouldn't have to wait for the game to be released to get all the relevant and useful information from other players. Some times, it's downright criminal what some developers (probably mostly their publishers) do. Like what happened with Legends of Pegasus. Trying to sell a game as complete when it's really somewhere in the late alpha stage.

 

[00slash00]

pirating a game to test it is a very slippery slope. in fact its pretty much just a straight drop. once you have pirated a game it is incredibly easy to think of justification to keep playing the pirated copy and never pay for the game. im sorry but no, in my opinion the case you described is not justification for piracy. i know you want to play with your friend but if it seems like her computer cant handle the game, just forget about playing with her until she upgrades her machine

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

I can see both sides. I'm sure it sucks to lose money to pirates who download your game and enjoy it, and replay it without you seeing a penny. But it also sucks to pay 50-60 bucks for a game that was shit, and you would have known it was shit if there were a demo for it.

A game without a demo is like making a movie and your trailer is simply the name and nothing of it's content. It seems most developers only release movies, or specially arranged screenshots that don't tell you crap about what it's actually like to play the game. If you don't release a demo and/or good detailed information about your game you're basically asking to get it pirated. People don't need specific reasons to do it in the first place, so giving them one is just a dumb idea.

I wonder how many people voted in the polls without reading the OP. The OP is talking about testing in the sense of seeing if your computer can run it, not a demo.

 

[BoogieManFL]

I can see both sides. I'm sure it sucks to lose money to pirates who download your game and enjoy it, and replay it without you seeing a penny. But it also sucks to pay 50-60 bucks for a game that was shit, and you would have known it was shit if there were a demo for it.

A game without a demo is like making a movie and your trailer is simply the name and nothing of it's content. It seems most developers only release movies, or specially arranged screenshots that don't tell you crap about what it's actually like to play the game. If you don't release a demo and/or good detailed information about your game you're basically asking to get it pirated. People don't need specific reasons to do it in the first place, so giving them one is just a dumb idea.

I wonder how many people voted in the polls without reading the OP. The OP is talking about testing in the sense of seeing if your computer can run it, not a demo.

I didn't vote at all.

Also, the exact question is "So I ask you this escapists, is pirating okay if you're planning to test a game and then later on, buy it? Is pirating ever okay, under any condition?"

It doesn't directly specify that the intent is to only pirate it to test it's stability or performance. As written, it's simply the circumstance that prompted the post. Also, the last sentence of particular importance. "Is pirating ever okay, under any condition?".

Personally I think while laws are required for a good stable civilization, some laws are crap, and can't stand up upon their own merit and are often supported for only the simple fact that they are a law. Not because it's good or well defined and effective. There are so many laws about what one cannot do, when there needs to be more about what one MUST do.

Like not having a garbage product, or exaggerating it's content/capabilities. I think it should be against the law to above a certain percentage of profit on products that are clearly of poor quality. Like selling a game in an alpha/beta state without making such a state public. Or Walmart and their shitty furniture that is so often not even cut right so you at least have a symmetrical bookself. Or those Free Credit Report commercials. They make it sound like you can simply visit their website and get a free credit report. Yeah, you can get a free credit report. AFTER you give them money and sign up with them. It's misleading and misrepresenting the product. There aren't enough things in place to protect consumers from being cheated.

Tiny fine print in commercials and documents, or the turbo gibberish speaking disclaimer asstards on the radios shouldn't be a way to get away with blatantly misleading advertising.

It's all very similar to me and I generally place ethics firmly above laws.

 

[Twilight_guy]

According to the law, no. According to ethics, It's as muddled and subjective as every other argument about piracy.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

It is if you want it to be.

Morality is the most varied thing in the world. There is no set in stone way to interpret moral questions. We all make our own brand.

I would say yes.

Many agree, many disagree (like the law).

You are the only one who can decide for you.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

I didn't vote at all.

Also, the exact question is "So I ask you this escapists, is pirating okay if you're planning to test a game and then later on, buy it? Is pirating ever okay, under any condition?"

It doesn't directly specify that the intent is to only pirate it to test it's stability or performance. As written, it's simply the circumstance that prompted the post. Also, the last sentence of particular importance. "Is pirating ever okay, under any condition?".

Fair enough, given the amount of people who have been using the word test as a synonym for demo, which isn't how the OP was using it, I assumed you made the same mistake

 

[GameMaNiAC]

Yes. It does. We all did it, stop seeking our approval and feeling bad for yourself.

Next question?

 

[veloper]

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

Playing videogames is also wrong then.

 

[EtherealBeaver]

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

Damn I better settle for a C- then because trying to justify that I would actually qualify for A+ clearly means Im wrong here. And I better stop complaining to companies about horrid treatment as well because me trying to justify that they did wrong means Im the one who is wrong. And making myself donate to charity even though I am a rather poor student has to go as well - if I try and justify sharing the little I´ve got, I am also clearly wrong and must thus keep it all for myself.

It would be nice if it was that black and white, but like all other aspects of life it isnt. If an argument doesnt hold up to casual scrutiny it is hardly very convincing.

 

[Oly J]

here's my point of view

example of acceptable pirating: "I pirated a game simply to see if my computer could run it, it it could so I bought it, (or it couldn't so I didn't bother)

example of unacceptable piracy: I pirated a game to see if it was worth paying for...after playing through every facet of the entire game, I decided that it wasn't

so yeah, I think pirating a game to test it is fine as long as you buy it if it does work