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

[Your Gaffer]

Morally? 100% fine. You will still be breaking the law and exposing yourself to risk of prosecution, even if the risk is very low.

I buy a lot of games, I have well over 300 games on my Steam library and over 40 games through GOG.com, as well as the Humble Bundle stuff.

That being said if I am on the fence about something and there is no demo... well I won't admit to piracy as that is probably against the TOS but I wouldn't see anything wrong with it at all. Provided you end up actually buying the game if you enjoy it.

 

[FalloutJack]

Of course, it does. The Neil Gaiman Defense compares piracy to going to the library and picking up a book. Downloading a game just for a test is the most cut-and-dry example of that idea one can think of.

 

[Tdoodle]

I'm not normally for pirating but I think this is one of the only situations where I can't fault it (I'm also all for it when there are long delays between it being released in one country and becoming available in another).

If developers aren't going to make it possible for people to try their products without having to commit they can hardly blame the customer for trying it out some other way. I've never been in game development or the industry in general so forgive me if I'm being naive, but would it be that difficult to offer a timed download of the game that gives you a couple of hours to try the full game and play about with settings then lock you out when the time is up?

Captcha: How Interesting. Thank you, Captcha.

 

[Nihlus2]

Always said there is no justfiable reason to pirate whatsoever... at all. Can't afford? Wait, save up, borrow from a friend, or miss out.

But this is a grey area question, to which I ask myself another.

"What if 'pirating' had instead been a partial copy of the game uploaded for people to try as a sort of 'artificial demo'" or said in other words, maybe taking out the first 10-20-30 min or so of a game for trial play in such a case of a demo not existing. I could see that in a better light.

We really do need more demos for games these days. For reasons such as this. Although the thing about "I will grab the whole game now, but I promise only to take a dip to feel the temperature, and then buy a completely legit copy to actually play, if this pleases me", leaves most people a bit at unease, understandably so. It sounds however like your friend did intend sincerely to buy it, just speaking in general term here.

- Speaking of the "Borrow from a friend" could she not simply have had you open your steam account on her computer, downloaded it/installed it on there and tried it out? Seems like as easy (and less morally debateable) solution to me. I am not an expert on steam, but I do believe that's possible, somewhat easily.

 

[kyogen]

Doable: yes
Understandable: yes
OK: still no

Sorry, OP, but your friend should look at specs and say "no" to the purchase or take her chances because piracy is still basically wrong, especially in this situation where the age of her laptop is more of an inconvenience than an outright barrier to entry.

 

[Shilefin]

Is it legal? Of course! I mea- Oh, wait, we're not in Portugal or Switzerland where the goverment has decided that sharing games, music and movies is beneficial to copyright holders because of a multitude of polls and research.

Excuse me for that. It is really, really evil, people are losing jobs, small childrens candy is being stolen, alcohol stores are being robbed, gang violence is growing and hardly criminal, decent people are being excessively persecuted for nothing else other than the lack of understanding on the goverments side . Oops, didn't mean to put that in there. Sorry.

In all seriousness though, It's fine. Even if you pass a significant portion of the game before buying it, I still think you're on the better side of the moral compass, if such a thing exists, for buying the thing afterwards. There's been plenty of times I bought a game and regretted not checking it out first.

 

[Mikejames]

"That's why I illegally downloaded Skyrim. I wanted to see if it was worth paying full price. 60 hours later, I decided that it wasn't."

 

[WoahDan]

I would say that it is, with the caveat that if it works you then have an obligation to buy it. Hell i would go as far as to say that as long as you buy it later, outright piracy is fine.

 

[Woodsey]

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)

See, for me this site tells me that I can run Sleeping Dogs. I am well above the recommended specs. Thing is, I can't. It crashes all the time and the devs still haven't fixed it (and I am not the only one, check their forums).

I did buy the game, but had I tested it first I would have known that it crashes so often I can't even finish a mission sometimes. I can't get a refund either, yay steam and so on. Definitely converted me to pirating to test things... system requirements don't account for bugs and/or buggy games.

Just anecdotal evidence, I know, but thought I'd throw this in anyway.

That's because that site isn't what I think quite a few people seem to think it is. In the simplest terms possible: it only says your machine will run a game compared to what the developers claim will run the game. If they're talking out of their arse your screwed, and there's no guarantee that your particular system won't hit issues. The site is no different to having a more knowledgable friend telling you if can or can't run something.

 

[sammysoso]

No, piracy is not okay unless you simply cannot get the game.

So, an older game that isn't for sale or you live in a country where you don't have access to legally acquire games.

 

[unstabLized]

Always said there is no justfiable reason to pirate whatsoever... at all. Can't afford? Wait, save up, borrow from a friend, or miss out.

But this is a grey area question, to which I ask myself another.

"What if 'pirating' had instead been a partial copy of the game uploaded for people to try as a sort of 'artificial demo'" or said in other words, maybe taking out the first 10-20-30 min or so of a game for trial play in such a case of a demo not existing. I could see that in a better light.

We really do need more demos for games these days. For reasons such as this. Although the thing about "I will grab the whole game now, but I promise only to take a dip to feel the temperature, and then buy a completely legit copy to actually play, if this pleases me", leaves most people a bit at unease, understandably so. It sounds however like your friend did intend sincerely to buy it, just speaking in general term here.

- Speaking of the "Borrow from a friend" could she not simply have had you open your steam account on her computer, downloaded it/installed it on there and tried it out? Seems like as easy (and less morally debateable) solution to me. I am not an expert on steam, but I do believe that's possible, somewhat easily.

This is what we ended up doing in the end. I do admit that my mind was playing dumb that I didn't even think of lending my Steam account, but we figured that out later. Turns out, despite all the negatives, she was able to run the game flawlessly on medium specs, even though every sign said that she wouldn't be able to. This is exactly why games need demos. I don't know about you, but I reaaaally don't want to spend money blindly.

 

[Compatriot Block]

The question is never whether or not you should be able to test it on your system. I think that's ethically fine.

But how many people just never end up buying it, even if it does end up running fine? If there was a way to force someone to buy it after they determined it works, or uninstall it, maybe, but that's all in a pretty gray area, and unenforceable besides.

I know too many people who manage to finish the game as part of their "testing" and only then decide that they don't like the game enough to buy it.

 

[TheTim]

Is stealing money from a small business to make sure it's not counterfeited okay? no, and neither is pirating a game even for a little bit.

 

[The]

So long as you buy it afterwards if you like it, sure.

Captcha: Who am I

Silly captcha, you're captcha. I'm The.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

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.

How isn't it? Technically you aren't "stealing" anything. Nobody is "losing" anything. If I paid $10 to see a movie and it turns out to be shit, then I'd be pretty pissed. Just like if I go buy a game that I can't run on my PC (which has happened before). Pirating is still pirating, no matter what bullshit excuse you use for why you are doing it.

 

[MiriaJiyuu]

Legally, no, you know that.

Morally? As long as you buy the game if you intend to play it. Using a pirated copy as a demo is fine, so long as you ultimately buy the game or don't play it any further your conscience should be safe.

 

[Signa]

Is stealing money from a small business to make sure it's not counterfeited okay? no, and neither is pirating a game even for a little bit.

That sounds like a FANTASTIC argument against DRM, but I'm failing to see the analogy for this scenario.

 

[maxben]

No it is not (although I've found my stance on piracy to be one of the harshest on this site...basically, it's never OK unless you literally can't get the item in question due to it's age).

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)

EDIT: Not that I mind all this attention but please see post 8 and 108 before you quote this saying how wrong I am; I have probably responded to it. Thank you!

This topic has blown up so much that I don't hold it against you if you missed it but my poor inbox is getting flooded

If you take a harsh stance than you cant say that its ok to pirate if the game is unavailable.
If the game is unavailable due to region, than you have no right to play it. The company that owns it chose not to sell it to you, and as the company that owns it they have every right to make that kind of decision.
If the game is unavailable due to age, its the exact same situation. Just becuase the company that owns the rights to the game do not want to re-release it does not mean you have a right to it. Buy it second hand if it is posible or through an auction site, or don't play if that is not available.
If the game is public domain due to age, than its not pirating at all.

My point of view is much the same provided protection for consumers existed: We ought to be able to exchange a purchase that is not working either because a flaw on the disk/download or by a flaw in its interaction with the machine required to play it (if for example it refuses to accept your sound card, which is working fine, but not if your sound card is broken and somehow this causes bugs in the game). I have no problem with a strict view on piracy, I do have a problem with a lenient view on the responsibility of producers.
Whether you ENJOYED the game is not a reason to get the money back, and therefore using the pirated copy as a demo is illegitimate. However, it is their responsibility to make their product workable on the minimum specs they set, or else what is the point of having minimum specs on the box if they are not?

 

[Xanadu84]

Yes, downloading a game just to test the system requirements is absolutely okay. However, doing so ALSO makes you quite likely to be a liar. "I'm just testing it" is a pretty common excuse, even if it is a valid reason if it were true. But if you TRULY are just seeing if it runs, then what you are doing is giving the publisher a potential sale, and saving the distributor the hassle of a return. There is literally no downside if you can be trusted to resist the temptation to use something valuable that you already downloaded for free with almost no chance of getting caught. Its reasonable for publishers to be skeptical, but you can go ahead with a clear conscious.

However, may I suggest something? Cracked copies can have hiccups in their performance, and not be perfect. Why don't you log on to your friends laptop with steam, approve steam to run on their computer, download it through steam and test a 100% legit copy completely legally, probably more quickly, AND if she does buy it, it will already be downloaded?

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

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

The OP wanted to see if their friend could run the game on her laptop.

OT: Pirating to test? A.O.K.


Wait... I'm not gonna get hit by the mods again am I?