Poll: I want to have a different type of discussion on piracy.

[F4LL3N]

This is hypothetical, for discussion purposes. I'm interested to see the responses.

Let's say one day a gamer woke up and thought, "I want to help people, I want to make a difference! From this day on, I'm going to pirate every single game I want to play. With every cent I save, I'm going to donate the full RRP to a charity for children with cancer!"

What's your opinion on that? On one hand, the developer isn't getting support, which is the main reason people hate piracy. On the other hand, the money is going to, arguably, a better cause.

As a side topic if you're interested. If a developer/retail store said for every copy sold we'll donate $10 to charity, would that be more effective than the current methods? Would less people pirate?

EDIT: Mention in your post if your highly against pirating in general (you treat it like a sin). So we can get some perspective.

 

[BanicRhys]

I care about games, I don't care about bored, sick children/starving Africans/the homeless as much.

So in my opinion, it's bad.

 

[Mr Thin]

Bad.

Charity is supposed to be giving of oneself for the sake of others, without expecting recompense. At least, not beyond good feelings. If you enact the situation you described above, you're basically stealing money to donate to charity. That's not charitable at all, that's just being a scumbag.

And no, if a developer or retail store said they'd donate $10 of every sale to charity, that would not decrease piracy. The majority of pirates couldn't give less of a shit about charity or goodwill. They pirate because it's free, not because of some misguided moral intent. It would be good PR though.

PS: Though the tone of my post probably made it clear, I'm strongly against piracy.

 

[atol]

Your hypothetical isn't even about software piracy, it's about conflicting morals.

 

[erikvduyn]

If you really cared about the cancer-ridden kids, you would donate anyway, regardless of the whole pirating.

 

[erikvduyn]

If you really cared about cancer-ridden kids, you would've donated anyway without the piracy.

 

[Savagezion]

Well, good and bad here are relative. Good for the industry, or good for humanity? Good by itself is way too vague. As for "right vs. wrong" - You could look at this as a case of "Robin Hood" or you could see it as someone else deciding how you will spend your money. What if your job decided that instead of pay you, they would just donate that same money to a charity for cancer patients?

If you plan to give up X amount of dollars based on the games you want to play, why don't you donate it to the "developers who made this game for you and need to feed, house, and clothe their kids fund"?

I would have to vote bad personally. The act of charity doesn't justify theft.

 

[Berithil]

Stealing is stealing, and piracy is a form of stealing ( that's why they call it piracy), no matter how "noble" you think your intentions are. And that example is not noble at all. and I don't care about the "its nothing physical" argument. It's still wrong.

And I'm hoping no one actually thinks that pirating a game is more moral than paying the developers who made game. You must have one screwed up moral compass to think that. "stealing is more ethical than paying the creator of the product for said product". What?

 

[Rack]

The two flaws there are they are only giving someone elses money away, and they are giving it to a cause that has no solution. If every gamer in the world did this there'd be no new games and kids would still have cancer. And while I don't think it makes sense to give up games here you absolutely should be prepared to do so. If the same person gave up every other kind of luxury for this (which would have to include the kind of PC needed to play games well in the end) then the gesture runs extremely hollow.

 

[esperandote]

A gaming Robin Hood, but no, that wouldn't make it right.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Your hypothesis isn't even about software piracy, it's about conflicting morals.

This.

In effect, you're just stealing profits from the developers and giving them to charity. This is what charity gaming is for - you pay the developers, then they sort it to a separate bank account flagged for charity donation.

Kinda like what Valve did with the Japanese gear after the tsunami hit.

 

[Phlakes]

Nope. He could just donate and not get the games. I'll partially reuse an analogy from earlier today- it would be like telling the waiter at an expensive restaurant that you won't pay the bill but you'll donate that money.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

Honestly, I think that's worse than stealing from the Dev. That person is forcing the Dev to make a donation without their consent, and then turning around and claiming all the "good karma" of the donation while they get a free game. That is to say, they're acting like they're doing a charitable thing, when they're actually not making a sacrifice, the company makes the sacrifice. It's just another bull shitty way to try and justify to themselves doing something they know is wrong, while simultaneously half-assing charitability.

 

[Azulito]

Bad.

At the end of the day, you'd only be doing so to feel morally stable. You'd be donating, but it isn't out of kindness or good will. You'd be donating for something in return (A 'free' game)

 

[Ancalagon4554]

You're donating money to a cause, pirating a game, and trying to establish some strange link between the two.

The two situations are in no way linked.

 

[F4LL3N]

Your hypothetical isn't even about software piracy, it's about conflicting morals.

Yes it is. This person wants to donate to a good cause, and the best (let's also say the only way) is to use the money that would normally go towards video games. We're also assuming this person isn't just using this as an excuse not to pay for games.

The only form of entertainment this person enjoys is video games. Therefore he/she obviously doesn't want to give them up. But at the same time still wants to donate.

(I removed this last bit so I get honest opinions without making anyone feel bad, let's just say I'm surprised so far by the responses)

 

[Phisi]

I would say that it is not okay. Put it a different way, someone donates $100 a month to charity so does that entitle them to free games? I don't believe so as donating to charity should cost you as you are the one who wishes to donate. It's like stealing money to keep some and give some to charity, does the fact that you gave some of the money to charity entitle you to some of it as well? I think a more interesting question is whether it is okay for children to pirate. These are people who probably have had their parents buy a console or their family owns a high end PC but their parents only buy them a game every quarter. So would it be okay for them to pirate say 4 games, play them and then tell their parents that they want X game. Besides the fact that they would most likely be lying to their parents who don't think they should have so many games but in turn the games they do buy are because they think the developer deserves the money while at the same time it exposes them to more games and different types and allows them to develop a better understanding of the media.

EDIT: If games are the only entertainment they like and they are strapped for cash then I would be okay with it.

 

[chaosyoshimage]

This sounds like Socialism! No thanks commie!

Before anyone calls me out on my bad joke, it's a bad joke, nothing against socialists, communists, pirates, people who give to charity, and any normal person. Plenty against comedians though...

 

[ShindoL Shill]

its a good idea. but i never pirate games because the company might end up going bankrupt. we might have lost out on Halo because everyone pirated Marathon like this. then the modern FPS would be completely changed.
its still a nice thought.