Poll: Does pirating a game to test it make it okay?
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i dont think its wrong as long as you pay the price.
but a question. is piracy justified when you have NO means whatsoever to get the original games?
i mean its like buy the pirated game or not buy at all cause you cant buy the original version. what about then?
but a question. is piracy justified when you have NO means whatsoever to get the original games?
i mean its like buy the pirated game or not buy at all cause you cant buy the original version. what about then?
No, it's not. There are only two reasons in which pirating is acceptable:
1. You cannot get the game legally where you live.
2. The company no longer makes money off the game.
Any other reason is just people making up shit and excuses for stealing.
That being said, the people who do pirate it for the purpose of trying it out aren't entirely at fault. The fault also partly lies on the developer for neglecting putting a demo out.
1. You cannot get the game legally where you live.
2. The company no longer makes money off the game.
Any other reason is just people making up shit and excuses for stealing.
That being said, the people who do pirate it for the purpose of trying it out aren't entirely at fault. The fault also partly lies on the developer for neglecting putting a demo out.
No, no, an no.william124 said:
And now that we are done with this unrelated detour, let's go back to discussing whether it is OK to infringe on a corporation's government-granted monopoly on stopping the creation of new copies being made without their permission.
Most PC games have demos or at least specs (if u only have the minimum required u can't play it well) to test the game or at least let you know if you can run it. Especially steam games, theres tons of demos. I really hate it when people don't want to admit they just don't wanna pay for a game.
Be honest.
Be honest.
No but it's okay to ask someone for a taste and then buy the same thing if you like it.william124 said:
No but it's okay to take some clothes into a changing room and then buy them if they fit.
No but it's okay to take a car for a test drive and then buy it afterwards.
EDIT: Awh...someone already said the same thing.
I've always believed that piracy is a multifaceted gem. Once I formatted one of my hard drives that had my Starcraft I data on it, and I thought I had the case but ended up losing it, so I didn't have the CD key, and none of the CD key finders I used could find it. So I pirated a copy and ended it at that. I already had paid money for the original game years ago, I just needed to replace it.
As for testing a game--there are usually demos for the game available, which are what I always use. Though of course this is not true for every game. So yeah, I don't see what the problem is if you're only testing the game out; if the developers don't want to release a demo, that's their choice.
Have you considered, though, websites like 'Can I Run This?' which will tell you what you want to know without having you download the entire game?
As for testing a game--there are usually demos for the game available, which are what I always use. Though of course this is not true for every game. So yeah, I don't see what the problem is if you're only testing the game out; if the developers don't want to release a demo, that's their choice.
Have you considered, though, websites like 'Can I Run This?' which will tell you what you want to know without having you download the entire game?
You really can't rely on those things though. According to one of those sites I don't meet the requirements to play Crysis, Crysis 2, Darksiders, Darksiders 2, Saints Row 3, Dark Souls and a few others yet I can play all of them just fine.ETERNAL-chaplain said:
Only reason I got Battlefield 3 on PS3 was because it told me that my PC couldn't run it. Now I'm thinking I'll be just fine but like the OP, I don't wanna shell out money for something that might not run. Only reason I took the risk on the examples mentioned above is because they were on sale at massively reduced price.
I went with yes. I'm a Mac user, and for the most part there are no demos out there for me, no physical copies that I could return if it was not working with my computer, the games that have listed minimum requirements often lie (I should not be able to run Batman Arkham Asylum, yet I was running it no problems, same with Witcher, I should be able to run Dragon Age, yet it runs crap even on the lowest settings).
So yeah, I check the game out, if it runs reasonably I will buy it, but I don't think it's OK to release a pricey thing that you then will not use, because the minimum requirements listed are not right.
If there was a demo out for these games, I would have no problem with it, yet now I'm stuck with false information about products that cost pretty great sum of money, without the means to try them beforehand.
So yeah, I check the game out, if it runs reasonably I will buy it, but I don't think it's OK to release a pricey thing that you then will not use, because the minimum requirements listed are not right.
If there was a demo out for these games, I would have no problem with it, yet now I'm stuck with false information about products that cost pretty great sum of money, without the means to try them beforehand.
That's not analogous to the OP at all. You don't have to hotwire a car to test drive it. The dealership will most likely give you a set of keys if you're looking to purchase a vehicle. And you can read a few chapters in a bookstore just fine.KingsGambit said:
Ah, fair enough; honestly i haven't used those sorts of sites before; I have only been told about them by friends. I suppose it really is hard to beat the accuracy of a demo.anthony87 said:
Let's stick to the subject at hand, which is not theft.william124 said:
I'd call it ok.sagitel said:
As long as the game is out of print and not available through Steam or similar services, it's not a problem.
Then again, I also think intellectual property should expire after 10-20 years and become public domain.
I was originally going to say yes to the OP but then you posted this... Thank you so much! My laptop is crap and I have been scared to get so many games because I wasn't sure if I can run them, now I can know for sure!tippy2k2 said:
You sir, have made my day and have my thanks.
Straw Man arguments are fun, right? Your response reminds me of the old "you wouldn't steal a car" anti-piracy ads; it's such an over exaggeration to compare a minor offense to a petty crime.KingsGambit said:
Also, a lot of people must have a disposable income if they can afford to waste money on a game which might not work. I probably buy 6 games a year, because I can't justify wasting more than a couple of hundred pounds on video games; but you can so that's cool.
Its one of those grey areas not as far as the act goes I find but as far as who you talk to as everyone has widely differing views on it.
I have done this myself, a prominent example being Bioshock 2, the first one ran fine on my PC but after seeing videos of the second and looking at the system specs, despite having above the recommended specs, I was still dubious. I found out it ran on my PC but average at best, poorly at other times, so that very night I uninstalled it, went to Amazon and bought it for the 360
From a legal standpoint its not right, but from a moral standpoint that's all up to the person and whether they do intend to actually buy it afterwards or are using that "I'm going to test it, that's all" as an excuse to justify them searching for torrents or what have you in the first place.
The slippery slope with it in my opinion is that once you've downloaded it, its on your hard drive, a full game right there and the temptation to just play it all and forget about it can be too much. Even if you simply wanted to test it to begin with now you have whatever the latest hot release on your PC for free. Whether you give in to said temptation is down to the person in question.
I have done this myself, a prominent example being Bioshock 2, the first one ran fine on my PC but after seeing videos of the second and looking at the system specs, despite having above the recommended specs, I was still dubious. I found out it ran on my PC but average at best, poorly at other times, so that very night I uninstalled it, went to Amazon and bought it for the 360
From a legal standpoint its not right, but from a moral standpoint that's all up to the person and whether they do intend to actually buy it afterwards or are using that "I'm going to test it, that's all" as an excuse to justify them searching for torrents or what have you in the first place.
The slippery slope with it in my opinion is that once you've downloaded it, its on your hard drive, a full game right there and the temptation to just play it all and forget about it can be too much. Even if you simply wanted to test it to begin with now you have whatever the latest hot release on your PC for free. Whether you give in to said temptation is down to the person in question.
Be wary, that site has been known to be very wrong in the past (check some of the posts here). So double check before following its advice.Ham Blitz said:
Wait, are you suggesting that there's a legal route to test driving a car, such as going to the dealership, instead of smashing the window and hotwiring it? Amazing! I wonder if there are lawful avenues for testing a game as well? Like renting, borrowing, downloading a demo, logging into Steam with an account that already has the game, or waiting for a free weekend? Nah, that would be silly; doing something the unlawful way makes *much* more sense. Pirating a game is obviously the only way a game can be tested.LetalisK said:
RedDeadFred said:
psyco said:
Cowabungaa said:
Ilikemilkshake said:
TwiZtah said:
Holy smokies, I'm popular! (or what I've said is disagreed by a lot of people). If I missed your quote, I apologize in advance.
Now all five of you I believe have the same point so I am just doing one super quote to respond. If I'm incorrect and you had a different point, feel free to re-quote me to get my attention.
Again, I would be surprised if I didn't have the most dictatory view on piracy on this site but yes, PC gaming is an inherent risk that you take when you purchase a game. You can do all the research you want but there is still a chance that it won't work on your system due to your flux-capacitor not playing nicely with the coding and that is a risk that you have to take if you are going to be a PC gamer. If you are unwilling to risk the money, download a demo. If (like most PC games), there is no demo, you either take the risk with the money, research forums to see if there are problems people are having, or you wait until the amount drops to an acceptable risk. If a company takes your money and runs...well, you know what companies to hold off purchases for until their stuff has plummeted in price.
If I purchase a console game and it doesn't work due to shitty coding, you don't get your money back on that (stores will swap it out for a new copy once it's opened but shitty code isn't going to get fixed with a new disc). Sure, there's less risk because all consoles are the same but that's still a risk that I accept when I purchase a game on my 360.
Yeah, I just figured that out when I tested Killing Floor on it. I have played that game for so much time with very little problems and it says I can't handle it.Iron Criterion said:
Though, upon checking the problem, this is what I see:
Features: Minimum attributes of your Video Card
it says I need 2.0, 2.0 and 64 MB for my Pixel Shader version, Vertex Shader version, and Dedicated Video RAM respectively then says I have 4.0, 4.0 and 128 MB
So it technically says I can by stats, but for some reason comes up as a failure.
This site doesn't always tell the truth, it told me that there was no way i could run crysis on my old PC, but i tried it anyway and it ran on medium/high settings perfectly fine. Therefore i often used OP's method of testing games before i bought them, since demos became extinct. I had a shitty job back then so i simply couldn't afford to spend 1/5 of my monthly pay on something that might not even work.tippy2k2 said: