The Needles: Piracy: Bad For You, Good For Them?

[Lt. Sera]

There used to be a rootkit in BioShock though. I guess they removed it when the outrage about it started.

As far as cracks, I've had (mainly EA games) run more stable after i used cracks. I use no-cd cracks for all my games, because i don't want to switch cd's all the time.

 

[Odjin]

@Malygris: The games in question had been ( funny as it is looking at the Spore DRM drama ) EASports games. I had only a CD-Rom drive back then since I did not do cd writing. Now it happened the game tried to verify the CD ( the "corrupted" sectors trick back then ). The CD-Rom obviously did not work with this and skipped for ages not running the game. A no-cd crack prevented this broken DRM check. Some times later ( maybe a year or a bit less ) I got myself a cd-writer for backup purpose and noticed that this driver could read the cd-check. So I'm pretty sure I'm not the one lying here

@Lt. Sera: Another argument I forgot to add. I hate switching CDs. MagicDisk and company are great to play on laptops... especially if you are like me having an additional battery plugged into the media bay instead of the cd-rom for longer battery life. Without no-cd cracks there's no way to play games without a cd-rom drive.

 

[mark_n_b]

Firstly, I know precisely zero people who initially purchased a PC for the ability to download wares. And I know exactly that many who have ever tweaked their system specs to get the most efficient pirating capabilities out of their machine. Yes a lot of people do it and yes everyone understands that this is something you can do on the internet, but in that I don't see it as being much of a tool for retail sales.

This is the old iPod discussion. If you do not support the piracy of music then why create a piece of technology that focuses on one of the most common formats of piracy?

The problem with piracy is that it is a large and functional part of gaming culture. If piracy never existed, gaming would not be the size it is today, which would mean considerably less money for everyone. It's not a black and white direct translation, for every million dollars worth of piracy that is stopped it is rare that a million dollars is funneled back into the industry. In truth it ultimately means that a lot less people are playing that title. Which meas less overall money being earned by the industry, which means smaller budgets, which means less games, which means less variety, which means less interest, which means less money... and so on. I'm sure there is a plateau somewhere, but the gaming industry almost died once already, do we really want it to happen again?

 

[Imitation Saccharin]

The idea that PC builders take advantage of contemporary attitudes toward piracy - ie., gimme! - really has less to do with the PC industry, or the videogame industry, than it does with consumers themselves. It's a reflection of widely-held beliefs that there's an entitlement to this stuff, that the cost of a PC is some kind of admission price to a club of unlimited music, movies and games.

Or the fact those industries have intentionally tried to antagonize consumers in the past?
Or the sentiment that information is free?
Or having little respect for corporations who make billions on markups?
Or little interest in supporting a massively redundant entertainment system?
Or an unwillingness to buy products without testing them?

No, I'm sure you're right. We're just assholes. That's the entire reason.
Sheese. Well, now I know what executives must be thinking, anyways.

 

[Andy Chalk]

So if I'm reading this correctly, you're willing to accept several weak, lame excuses routinely rolled out by people who pirate games, but one far more rational and demonstrable reason for the widespread acceptance of file downloading is beyond the realm of belief?

That's a pretty interesting worldview you've got there.

the gaming industry almost died once already, do we really want it to happen again?

With all the contempt and hatred for the gaming industry as it currently stands being expressed here (and elsewhere), I'm honestly wondering what you think there is to defend. If the industry did "die," it would obviously bounce back again, likely in a scaled-down, lower-budget version, but so what? Obviously there is widespread dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs, so perhaps a complete reboot is called for. Unless, of course, the true sentiment isn't so much a genuine desire for change as it is a continuing desire for all the good stuff without having to pay for it.

And once again I will explain: The point is not piracy. The point is the laissez-faire attitude toward piracy among entry-level consumers - not serious file-sharing dipshits, who are irredeemably beyond the pale, but first-time family computer buyers, as an example - and why it's so commonplace. Honestly, I don't see what's so difficult about this to comprehend.

Also, there was never any rootkit in BioShock.

 

[Imitation Saccharin]

So if I'm reading this correctly, you're willing to accept several weak, lame excuses routinely rolled out by people who pirate games, but one far more rational and demonstrable reason for the widespread acceptance of file downloading is beyond the realm of belief?

Actually all these arguments are based on inductive reasoning and thus are absolutely useless.

But ignoring that for a second, you speak of a culture of entitlement without regard for its propagation or initiation. If your position where true, those stealing online would just be as likely to steal a wallet with with similar levels of guilt. Yet such is not the case. Clearly a divergence exists in the perceived severity of the two activities. And THAT is the question (why).
To which my answers are above.

EDIT: Oh, and intellectual property is not inherently wrong to steal as no one is negated the usage of the information thus it is utilitarian arguments that sway the validity of the activity blah blah blah you know the rest

Unless, of course, the true sentiment isn't so much a genuine desire for change as it is a continuing desire for all the good stuff without having to pay for it.

I think I might actually still have an old copy of Jazz Jackrabbit on floppy somewhere. I'm just that naughty.
Oh! But that was back when it was useful, and thus not "immoral". I'm sorry.

 

[milomalo]

since bioshock for the pc i havnt buy another game... its frustrating the way they try to impose something in you... when you are not doing somethingo wrong... im happy whit my ps3 and my mac... and there... will be able to play diablos 3 if everything goes allright

 

[DanDeFool]

No consumer would ever have to buy a hard drive > 320 GB if this were not the case.

CD and DVD burners would have flopped if not for this.

Certainly DSL and Cable internet services would not be popular in speeds >= 1 Mbps if not for this.

So... yeah. Bad for content publishers, an unexpected boon for hardware manufacturers.