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

[Divine Miss Bee]

*after reading the topic and posts*

all i have to say is, WE ARE HAVING THIS DEBATE HAVING ACCEPTED THE FACT THAT THESE PEOPLE SELL US PRODUCTS THAT DO NOT WORK.

instead of having the piracy debate, let's go back to that issue. as far as i'm concerned, it's not even worth stealing if the product is shite to begin with.

(that said, my stance on piracy is "not okay." if you're interested in the game enough to want to play it, everyone involved deserves your money. they sell intangible experiences that give you intangible feelings and satisfaction, and that includes the intangible feeling of "WANT." pay for that, and if you don't like the game later, think about why and avoid games that include those elements you dislike. it's the same as trying a new food. you don't get your money back for a partly eaten box of muffins that you saw and thought looked good if you wind up not liking them. so don't steal muffins or video games. do your research if you want to know you'll like/be able to run a game.)

 

[Dark Prophet]

I'd say it is ok, I have done it several times, if I'm interested in a game and there is no demo or the demo is 10 minutes of gameplay and shit load of nothing then I pirate it and see if I like it. Sometimes if I really liked the game it has led me to buy the whole series, like in case of DoW I even bought the shit one you know the one. Also I have a personal rule of mine, if I enjoy a game enough to play it up to about two hours I'll go and buy it as soon as possible.
While we are on the subject what is it with games not having demos any more.

 

[Dark Prophet]

Another thing, right now I have 4 pirated games on my PC the reason being that the originals that I actually have bought just won't work with my 64 bit windows 7 no matter how much I patch them but the pirated versions run just fine.

 

[USSR]

These two suggestions should be the adequate response to the morality of PC pirating.
(Excluding unobtainable games.)

Just tell your friend to watch a playthrough online and see if he likes the plot/has an impression on gameplay.

And thanks to youtube, you can see how gameplay is on similar specs to your computer.
Assuming you know the basics of PC hardware, it shouldn't be hard to compare.

There are sites that you can go to that will tell you these things.
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri (like this one! I'm sure there are others but this is the one I personally use)

*Note that I only agree with this section of your post.

And then there are sites like these to reassure you.
Sysreq can be a tad strict sometimes.
http://www.yougamers.com is a tad more lenient.

 

[Auberon]

As long as worthy developer gets supported via payment, it doesn't matter.

 

[LetalisK]

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.

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.

Edit: Never mind, I see where you're coming from now.

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

As already stated, there are several free sites that will tell you if your computer's specs can handle the game.

According to them, my computer can run Fallout 3.
It cannot.

do you have windows 7? i had that problems. i got it working but the game is still more unstable the fallout New Vegas. saying new Vegas is more stable is not say much because i got it running pretty fuck stable.

fallout 3 for windows 7 had a multicore problem
adding this file helps. d3d9.dll helps-http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/13245
there is the Codec Pack problem
there are might be a few more i can't come up with off the top of my head

yeah steam is not kidding when the say "Fallout 3 is not optimized for Windows 7"

 

[Aethren]

I won't admit to whether or not I pirate games for demo reasons, because, well, *cough*. But some people don't have very good systems, and would much rather pirate a game to see if it could actually be played on said systems, purchasing it for real if it can be. And if it can't, well, beats wasting $60 on a product that can't even be used. Hell, some people, by using this method, end up buying games they wouldn't have even considered purchasing otherwise. Pirating, when used in this context, is nothing more than a demo, and generally the deciding factor on whether to purchase a game or not.

 

[Entitled]

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

I once played Elder Scrolls: Oblivion on a slightly above the required system. It had a viewing distance of about 5 meters, with the trees being flat, blurry, cauliflower-slice shaped textures constantly rotationg in my direction.

Also, it was lagging hard.

You can't buy your cake and steal it too.

No, but I can buy my cake while illegally baking myself another cake based on someone's copyrighted recipe.

Hypothetically speaking.

 

[George Faux]

No it is stealing.

If your asking the question "Is this morally dubious thing I am doing wrong."

Then it is wrong!

Finding other people who will try and assuage your feelings about it does not make it any better.

If you want to play a game buy it.

I you want to test it play a demo.

If there is no demo, read a review.

No one 'needs a game'

If you need a test go to a store and ask.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Nope. I don't think piracy is ever okay. Unless the game is old(as in PS1 or GBA old) and you have no possible means of playing these games with a physical system and game, then I think emulators are free game. They aren't actually selling these games anywhere anymore, and the copies that ARE being sold are on places like or eBay or from another individual. So the developers won't be losing out on any money anyhow.

 

[BernardoOne]

I sure love living in a country where pirating is legal.

 

[Entitled]

Nope. I don't think piracy is ever okay. Unless the game is old(as in PS1 or GBA old) and you have no possible means of playing these games with a physical system and game, then I think emulators are free game. They aren't actually selling these games anywhere anymore, and the copies that ARE being sold are on places like or eBay or from another individual. So the developers won't be losing out on any money anyhow.

If you pirate a game then it works and you buy it, developers still won't be losing out on any money.

And if it's so bad that you don't want to get it properly, then the developers SHOULD be losing out on money. Getting rich from tricking you into a game that you couldn't run or that is secretly bad and you wouldn't want to play it after all, shouldn't be a legitimate business model.

 

[aguspal]

Do whatever makes your heart content.

Pirate it and then dont buy it ever or buy it or dont pirate it in the first place or omfg.


I dont get why people make such a big deal for this whole piracy thing. The companies have right to be offended. Maybe. Let them combat piracy with actually usefull stuff (Not the retarded thing that ubisoft does for one).

 

[Dogstile]

Oh its perfectly fine if you're not an arse and can exercise restraint. People who assume that you'll "keep it for a bit longer, just a bit longer" assume you're an idiot who can't control your urges.

If there isn't a demo and you'll buy it if it works, you should go right ahead. If you download it and it doesn't work, you don't get ripped off and don't buy it.

Not everyone is awesome like me, this is very true.

But I must also be the only person who has heard of the word "demo", or "borrow from a friend" or realises that different people can log in to Steam on the same computer.

Get a load of this guy everyone. This is an example of someone who is privileged. "You can't afford to spend money on games that might not work? Well, I must just be awesome then". Great start, really.

Now stop ignoring that companies are doing everything they can to stop demo's, borrowing from friends or logging onto your friends steam account. Especially because the last one has actually been proven to get you banned if they catch you.

 

[themyrmidon]

Legally? Of course not.

Ethically? Go ahead, I don't have a problem with it.
My personal example would be when I was choosing between Starfox Adventure and Metroid Prime for $55 at a local KMart when I was young and foolish. It was my hard-earned money and I wasted it on the crapfest that was Starfox instead of getting one of the greatest games ever. If I could have demoed Starfox I would have known immediately not to buy it, but since the demo for Metroid left me without strong feelings I took a chance and paid the price.

 

[Tinygiant]

If it's possible to rent it, no. Do that instead. Worst comes to worst, you're out the rental fee.

If you can't rent it, yes. But only - ONLY - if you either buy the game afterwards or delete everything as soon as you realize you don't like it/it won't run on your computer.