So much publicity that I'm only hearing about it long after despite already being a big Neil Gaiman fan? I agree that some of it must be account for by that but no way all 300%. Also, what about the success of things like kindle?Bobic said:
Poll: Neil Gaiman on Piracy.
- Thread starter Chairman Miaow
- Start date
Yep he's 100% right, that's the same with anime fansubs. I wouldn't be so much into the culture being a typical Greek hid have there not been for the internet allowing me to experience things not normally available to typical Greek kids 
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Yes and no. It all depends really. Some games may get an increase and some may not(or anything that is pirated)
Reminds me of my experience the other day trying to buy a copy of a book I wanted, online. Im in Korea at the moment, so I didnt much feel like buying a physical copy, and I recently got an ebook reader anyway so what the hell, might as well try it right?MikailCaboose said:
Ebook site number 1:
Does not have this book as an ebook, only physical copy. Ok, moving on - undeterred as yet.
Ebook site number 2: Only sells books that work with the kindle, unless you illegally strip them of their DRM. I was still feeling law-abiding at this point so, next.
Ebook site number 3:
Does not sell to South Korea. Starting to feel a bit annoyed here.
Ebook site number 3:
Only works with Sonys "Reader". ...... No, really.
Ebook site number 4:
Does not accept credit cards outside the US, despite letting me choose a non-US location when signing up... thanks for the waste of time I guess?
Ebook site number 5: Does not have it.
Ebook site number 6: Fuck you guys, Im going to torrent this shit.
I mean really, ever since Steam became a viable option for getting games, Ive very rarely felt the need to pirate well, almost anything. But even steam sometimes has these retarded location based restrictions (i.e title only sold in some regions), which just... Man, its just shooting yourself in the foot so hard.
I haven't really been active before about the beginning of this year, so yeah...ciortas1 said:
but oh ok. But surely there are a lot of poorly made cracks and hidden viruses that do cause problems?
I said me and many people, not everyone. Also, the kindle and ipad and whatnot aren't that popular. I'd say most of the people that stumbled across his online book read it on a laptop or computer screen.Chairman Miaow said:
Also, I still don't think books=videogames in this regard. For example, his experiment with getting people to put their hand up if they learned of their favourite author through lending wouldn't quite compare with videogames. I'd say most people found their favourite gaming series through reviews, word of mouth, or even good old fashioned advertisement. Books don't get advertised that much.
Piracy is the best form of advertisement. Piracy is here to stay, deal with it. YARR!
And well, the most pirated thing is music. And artists no longer earn the big cash from selling records, but from concerts. So in theory, piracy CAN be a boost in their income. Note, ---->CAN<---- Depends on how things are.
And well, the most pirated thing is music. And artists no longer earn the big cash from selling records, but from concerts. So in theory, piracy CAN be a boost in their income. Note, ---->CAN<---- Depends on how things are.
I can only speak from my own experience.
My favorite author by far is Terry Pratchett. I found his books by getting recommended them at one time and being curious I torrented all, by then, available audio books so that I could listen to it at work. I instantly fell in love with his works and have since bought most of the books in physical form. I'm not gonna deny that I listened to all those audio books anyways though, it's just easier while working compared to actual books.
I've read the books a few times as well of course, I don't belive in having unread books in my bookcase =)
My favorite author by far is Terry Pratchett. I found his books by getting recommended them at one time and being curious I torrented all, by then, available audio books so that I could listen to it at work. I instantly fell in love with his works and have since bought most of the books in physical form. I'm not gonna deny that I listened to all those audio books anyways though, it's just easier while working compared to actual books.
I've read the books a few times as well of course, I don't belive in having unread books in my bookcase =)
Well shit.
From an ethical and consumer standpoint, I applaud Mr. Gaiman's statements, and he re-affirms everything I ever thought about him in this interview. God bless that man.
From a debater standpoint, however, my case kind of hinges on the idea that Russian Piracy is a very bad thing that we need to address and that they'll do so in return of exempting them from Jackson-Vanik. So, here's hoping that none of my fellow Gaiman-fans are in the STOA league >.>
From an ethical and consumer standpoint, I applaud Mr. Gaiman's statements, and he re-affirms everything I ever thought about him in this interview. God bless that man.
From a debater standpoint, however, my case kind of hinges on the idea that Russian Piracy is a very bad thing that we need to address and that they'll do so in return of exempting them from Jackson-Vanik. So, here's hoping that none of my fellow Gaiman-fans are in the STOA league >.>
It's easy to say that when you are already a famous author. He also doesn't address the potential loss of revenue in major chains.
It's not him that may loose out. In all media industries, especially games and music, there are thousands of people working who will get affected by loss of revenue from people pirating. Books, films and music etc will all be around, even if the industry collapses, but the jobs wont.
Another thing to consider is that this rush of slaes hasn't been properly calculated in a scientific way. Sure loads of people have bought today, but does this have an impact of future sales? Is the rush directly related to online pirating, or are there other factors? He writes a lot of comics, many of which are gaining reputation, and his stories are being adapted into films. Have these not had an influence on that?
Considering this as advertising is all good and well, and he does sort-of have a point, but piracy does have an effect on sales, especially in other media.
On a side note, but pretty relevant, since when did people start thinking putting joke options in Polls what a good idea? People stopped doing that ages ago on this site, and I've been disappointed to see that over the last few days, they've returned. STOP doing this please, it isn't funny.
It's not him that may loose out. In all media industries, especially games and music, there are thousands of people working who will get affected by loss of revenue from people pirating. Books, films and music etc will all be around, even if the industry collapses, but the jobs wont.
Another thing to consider is that this rush of slaes hasn't been properly calculated in a scientific way. Sure loads of people have bought today, but does this have an impact of future sales? Is the rush directly related to online pirating, or are there other factors? He writes a lot of comics, many of which are gaining reputation, and his stories are being adapted into films. Have these not had an influence on that?
Considering this as advertising is all good and well, and he does sort-of have a point, but piracy does have an effect on sales, especially in other media.
On a side note, but pretty relevant, since when did people start thinking putting joke options in Polls what a good idea? People stopped doing that ages ago on this site, and I've been disappointed to see that over the last few days, they've returned. STOP doing this please, it isn't funny.
He has a point. Pirating, or just putting things out for a group to have, are good ways for good media to spread around. Youtube is definitely helping out artists, even musicians who already have record labels. The only problem is that there isn't much of a system for controlling that, or ensuring those artists get something outside of spreading their name. Even with book lending, it's an issue, especially so because we should probably be cutting down on the numbers of actual books in circulation and instead have better public library systems.
Advocating piracy is not against the forum rules because it's just expressing an opinion and your support for something. It falls under free speech that's protected by these boards. Telling someone to actively go pirate something or saying you've pirated before or will pirate in the future (although I've seen former ignored at times) is an expression of intention or encouragement to commit an illegal act and is thus bannable.Chairman Miaow said:
OT: Didn't watch the vid (don't have time atm), but I agree with the summary you gave about what he said. I don't consider it to be fully descriptive of piracy but in quite a significant proportion, possibly even a majority, I do agree.
While he has a point, I would also guess his books are reasonably priced. So his theory doesn't really hold true when the people selling the content are charging an absolute premium. Don't get me wrong, I understand that a game with a huge dev cost needs to be pricier, but what kills me is for console games at least, they are all $60 at release whether they offer a hundred hours of content or 7. Smells like bullshit to me.
At least most PC games offer some breaks, whether it's being released for $40-50 or at least going on sale every so often. But all the console ports are $60 at release. The fact is, not all games are created equally and they shouldn't all cost the same! It's like charging $80,000 whether you buy a Kia or a Ferrari. There's really no longer incentive for the industry to produce a significantly better product, because by simply making an inferior product they improve their profit margin. It's like they aim to make a game "good enough" rather than totally awesome. Not all games, of course! But when you get Guitar Hero 5, CoD 6 (is it 6?), FFXIV... anything Mario, etc... they sell based on reputation. It stifles the market I think.
Well I think I went a little off course here but anyway, that's my thoughts.
At least most PC games offer some breaks, whether it's being released for $40-50 or at least going on sale every so often. But all the console ports are $60 at release. The fact is, not all games are created equally and they shouldn't all cost the same! It's like charging $80,000 whether you buy a Kia or a Ferrari. There's really no longer incentive for the industry to produce a significantly better product, because by simply making an inferior product they improve their profit margin. It's like they aim to make a game "good enough" rather than totally awesome. Not all games, of course! But when you get Guitar Hero 5, CoD 6 (is it 6?), FFXIV... anything Mario, etc... they sell based on reputation. It stifles the market I think.
Well I think I went a little off course here but anyway, that's my thoughts.
Neil Gaiman is my second favorite author and he makes a solid point. However I still see pirating a brand new game as wrong unless you can't get the game in a legal manor. However i think that video game companies should start to look into doing something like what he did with American Gods.
Lets say for example that Bioware goes ahead and allows ME and/or ME2 to be free via XBL and Steam for a month or two before the release of ME3. Now most people who wanted to play these games probably already have... and even if they were they would probably just buy the game used from gamestop anyway where they will see none of the sales.
Anyway i think by doing that you would see an increase in sales for the ME3 when it gets released as more people will have experianced the first two and will want to know what is going to happen.
Lets say for example that Bioware goes ahead and allows ME and/or ME2 to be free via XBL and Steam for a month or two before the release of ME3. Now most people who wanted to play these games probably already have... and even if they were they would probably just buy the game used from gamestop anyway where they will see none of the sales.
Anyway i think by doing that you would see an increase in sales for the ME3 when it gets released as more people will have experianced the first two and will want to know what is going to happen.
I do the joke option because some people will vote regardless of whether that is their opinion or not, and I would rather them vote for the joke option than skew the poll.Verlander said:
Books tend to be a whole lot cheaper than videogames. Most people can drop $15 for a nice physical copy that they can read on a bus, whereas who really wants to spend $60+ on a game when they can easily get the exact same experience (without DRM) for free?Chairman Miaow said:
Look at something like boardgames, which are pretty much completely exempt from piracy. It's clear that the effects of piracy vary radically across different media.