To anyone who thinks piracy is ok

[Mcupobob]

Eh, I stopped pirating once I started getting friendly with steam and GOG. Piracy was more of a convenience than a money issue, the nearest gamestop is an hour drive through ungodly traffic. Only to get ripped off by gamestop then go drop another 10$ at the gas station. Half the time gamestop doesn't have the game I want. Now we have a bunch of DMR crap going on, where half the time the pirated copy is simply better and hassle free.

Uhh, what was I talking about? Oh yeah! Fuck you gamestop you assholes!! Making me go all the to town to get Fable 3, only to find out the putting in your credit card only "reserves" it. Also fuck you friend who made me drag your ass out there without reading the bolded text!!

 

[Fozza]

I buy the games I want but I do agree with those who claim that the prices are too high. They're right. I would never ever buy CoD: MW2 beacause the price won't drop and I believe that it's not worth my money.
For instance, look at Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age. Where I live the price was about 40$. Here we talk about "worth the price". And the prices on those games dropped quickly too.

 

[TheComedown]

Yes it is

No, No it isn't you don't have to play games. It's not a right, it's a privileged.

 

[tmacfan4321]

If you can't afford it you don't play it. It's hardly a conundrum.

Where's the loss for the company if the person wasn't going to buy it anyway?

The problem with piracy is that people who can afford the games aren't paying for them. People who weren't going to buy the games are not really making any impact on the company, as they were never going to buy the game in the first place.

The fact of the matter is that games are not scarce. For the foreseeable future there's going to be a constant battle between the companies who are in non-scarce industries (game companies) and people who are willing to go through the effort to use, but not pay for their products (pirates).

 

[sneakypenguin]

I find piracy purely an economic problem. Infinite supply kinda kills any desire to pay. Your not gonna stop it so why bother. Who's going to spend 60 bucks on an xbox game when you can plug in a USB drive and download games to a dvd?

 

[Woodsey]

If you can't afford it you don't play it. It's hardly a conundrum.

Where's the loss for the company if the person wasn't going to buy it anyway?

The problem with piracy is that people who can afford the games aren't paying for them. People who weren't going to buy the games are not really making any impact on the company, as they were never going to buy the game in the first place.

True, but companies have to take a pirated copy to equal a lost sale, or else they really are stumbling around in the dark with it. Higher piracy figures makes it worse off for us real customers too - DRM was born from piracy.

And just because they may not have made a profit from it doesn't make it right.

 

[Segadroid]

Even though piracy is 'bad', you can't blame them for grabbing the opportunity to get something for free. I mean, would anyone refuse a free slice of their favorite pie? Of course not. Same goes with piracy, would anyone refuse a game they can get for free?

You can also look at it in another perspective. What if they are willing to pay for it, but it's not available in their region? Or that they see said game is for sale in a local gameshop, but they don't have enough money because it's so expensive?

Latter mentioned example is especially the main reason these days. New games are sometimes ridiculously expensive, so of course some people will turn to piracy to get what they want.

 

[YukoValis]

If they started pricing right I wouldn't consider piracy. 60$ for medal of honor? 50$ for front mission evo? 40$ for dead rising 2? These games are not worth the price, and I've gotten ripped off way to many times. Oh and for anyone who says "you can wait for the prices to drop" take a look at CoD MW 2. Still 60$ after about 2 years, and it's only half as good as CoD 4. Price them reasonably and sure I'd buy it. The only time I wouldn't pirate ever would be for companies just starting.

As much as we all wish it, the marketing team for Microsoft and Sony don't take personal opinions into account when deciding the prices of games.

So they aren't getting my money unless they make a quality game. Just because they spend a fortune on garbage doesn't mean I have to feel sorry for them.

 

[InsanityBaronOfAtrocity]

Ahh noo! Piracy is awful. It'll kill the games industry just like cassettes killed the mu- oh wait. Well it'll kill it like video recorders killed tele- hmm...

After all is said and done the majority of games are overpriced shite. Bought titan quest on steam recently for £2.50. That's a fair price for what I'm getting. 40 quid for fallout new vegas? Who's going to pay that? That's mental. A fiver. That's a fair price.

Oh yeah a solution. Let me rent stuff on steam kinda thing. lets say 2 quid get's you 3 hours of play time. Sounds alright doesn't it? Then if it turns out to be overhyped garbage like it is most of the time, just delete that stuff from your drive and nothings really lost. Or if it's alright, another 2 quid for a bit more and if it's just mind blowingly amazing. 20 quid full thing. Done. Sorted. Never understood this strong arm approach they keep taking. "by are stuf lol or weel soo uuuu lol!". Whats going on there ?!

 

[tehroc]

Eh, I stopped pirating once I started getting friendly with steam and GOG. Piracy was more of a convenience than a money issue, the nearest gamestop is an hour drive through ungodly traffic. Only to get ripped off by gamestop then go drop another 10$ at the gas station. Half the time gamestop doesn't have the game I want. Now we have a bunch of DMR crap going on, where half the time the pirated copy is simply better and hassle free.

Similar story here, I can just wait for them to go on sale for $5. It's a matter of convenience (yes even looking for torrents is too much effort). The only really good reason to pirate a pc game would be to see if it runs on your computer, these days.

 

[Netrigan]

has anyone seen that video thats says "would you steal a car?", "would you steal a handbag?". piracy is stealing

erm ive just bought this film legally so why are you telling me this?

in all seriousness if they charge £8 to watch a film and a further £6 for a snack and beverage and stop you from bringing your own then they are the criminals

If it was copied from the original, then the pirated version would have that as well.

But it's irritating that they treat us as criminals. I like what the BBC have been doing lately. In pimping BBC America, they start off by saying that you bought, borrowed, or stolen this DVD, then asks those who have stolen it to think about what they have done, before launching into their sales pitch for BBC America. Just enough in there to say, "we know you're out there", but not treating the legal owners of the DVD like they're the bad guys.

 

[DigitalSushi]

If they started pricing right I wouldn't consider piracy. 60$ for medal of honor? 50$ for front mission evo? 40$ for dead rising 2? These games are not worth the price, and I've gotten ripped off way to many times. Oh and for anyone who says "you can wait for the prices to drop" take a look at CoD MW 2. Still 60$ after about 2 years, and it's only half as good as CoD 4. Price them reasonably and sure I'd buy it. The only time I wouldn't pirate ever would be for companies just starting.

You make no sense at all, You're essentially saying you pirate horrible shit?, and you haven't read the article.

I'd quit that pirate business while your ahead matey, savvy?.

 

[tmacfan4321]

True, but companies have to take a pirated copy to equal a lost sale, or else they really are stumbling around in the dark with it. Higher piracy figures makes it worse off for us real customers too - DRM was born from piracy.

And just because they may not have made a profit from it doesn't make it right.

I'll never claim that piracy is right or justifiable. DRM is used because of it and companies do lose sales because of it.

Another thing that should be evaluated when talking about piracy is used game sales. Used games could be as bad, if not worse, than piracy in that the person buying the game has absolutely demonstrated intent to buy the game, but has not given any of that money to the company that actually produced the game.

 

[Koroviev]

I don't think piracy is alright, but I stopped giving a shit when the developers stopped developing the games half way through.

Beautiful.

That sentiment may be logical with regard to careless developers, but it won't do much to support and encourage those who are concerned with quality.

 

[deth2munkies]

The problem is, with PC games, there's often no rental or demo platform for it. You have to buy the whole game and flip a coin with your $60 on whether or not its good. That's where Piracy comes in. If I were to ever pirate something (I admit nothing) it would merely be to see if the game is any good, and if I felt it WAS good, I would support the developer by buying their product. If it was shit, I would skip it.

What needs to happen is for a Steam-like digital distribution platform to come out that lets you purchase games for something like 1 week before it cuts off your access, that way we could "rent" the games before we buy.

 

[Savagezion]

Games are no different. Lets take some mega blockbuster hit, say FF XIII, for example. Though I hated the tunnel game play, the movies and graphics are amazing. Do you have any idea how much it takes to make a game of that caliber? Do you also realize that most companies don't make money on the first game in the series any more? Why do you think there are so many part 23s out now? Is much cheaper to make a sequel.

That is a crock. If a game doesn't spin profit on its first release, it is abandoned... just like the movie industry. A game has to show that people are interested and "sleepers" stand absolutely no chance of a sequel... unlike the movie industry. Plus it would only be cheaper if you use the same engine or something. If game companies would worry more about the quality of the product put out instead of shoveling games they KNOW will score an average review score of 6-7 then most game companies would probably see heavier returns on their investments.

Did you also realize that with how expensive games are, the millions upon millions they make on one hit probably would not be enough to keep them out of bankruptcy if the next game failed? Yea, take each name you see scroll by in the credits, multiply that by 60, 000 (on the conservative side), multiply that number by the number of years it took to make the game, now you have the salary costs alone to make that game. There is also the upkeep of the building they work in, equipment, actors (voice and motion capture), royalties for using graphical engines, sound engines, video engines, payments to the console maker, royalties to the property owners, ad infinitum. Still think they charge too much for a game or movie? Of course you do.

There is a valid point hidden in all that hyperbole. (And if you don't think that is hyperbole I bet you feel blessed to be charged 60 bucks for a game.) Figure all the games EA puts out in a year. Then look at how many are blockbusters. Then remember they make millions of dollars every year. Which would increase if they quit shoveling money into projects like G.I.Joe: The rise of Cobra video game which scored a 43 from metacritic. I know, I know about reviews and all that. But dude, 43. Forty... three.
Was it a throw away project? Sure, but really that means they threw money away to see what they could catch from some fanboys which wasn't much. Blizzard is a standing testament that the better your stock of games are, the more money you will make. See the counterpoint here is that it isn't the consumer's fault that EA throws money away on shit titles. But we are the one footing the bill. That is my hyperbolic statement in return.

 

[Kelethor]

Piracy is bad. and you should not do it.

 

[Koroviev]

True, but companies have to take a pirated copy to equal a lost sale, or else they really are stumbling around in the dark with it. Higher piracy figures makes it worse off for us real customers too - DRM was born from piracy.

And just because they may not have made a profit from it doesn't make it right.

I'll never claim that piracy is right or justifiable. DRM is used because of it and companies do lose sales because of it.

Another thing that should be evaluated when talking about piracy is used game sales. Used games could be as bad, if not worse, than piracy in that the person buying the game has absolutely demonstrated intent to buy the game, but has not given any of that money to the company that actually produced the game.

However, the company has already received compensation for that disk. A world in which you can't transfer ownership of your property is not a world I'm eager to live in. And yet, that is obviously the direction in which companies would like to take us, as evidenced by the current debate surrounding the "first sale." As far as some judges are concerned, companies deserve compensation for the same disk not once, but twice [http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/07/if-you-buy-an-imported-watch-do-you-really-own-it.ars].

 

[Ghost]

large corporations are evil, there only goal is to suck every last penny out of you. pirates are people who share media, sharing is a concept known as 'socialism' big capitalist corporations dont like socialism

Socialism looks good on paper, but every socialist state has collapsed/is on its last legs. Of course the Capitalist Corporations dislike socialism, why should they have to give up their money for useless benefits leeches? That's how the U.K works, unfortunately. People living off welfare can earn more than people who work 6 long days a week, sickening.

For Piracy in videogames, I take the view that it's wrong in general, but I know full well that many people will genuinely pirate the game just to 'demo' it, particularly when it comes to multiplayer games.

And why would I personally pirate games when Steam is so damn cheap? I have almost 100 games on Steam. It's faster to download games off Steam than a torrent, automatic updating, multiplayer works just fine, patches install easy enough and DRM is typically reduced, though some games have overly sensitive DRM even on Steam. I bought GRID and could never once play it because of HURRRR ANTI PIRACY. Anti Piracy measures are intrusive and easy to crack, I won't go off on a huge rant here because this guy gets the point across a lot better than i ever could.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt4BpnfAN-o

By the way, I LOVE the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R, and happily pre-ordered the sequel Clear Sky. When I saw it would include TAGES copy protection (the game can only be installed 5 times) I cancelled the order and refused to buy the game, even for £2 on Steam during the sale. The developers deserve nothing but faeces for including that garbage, which was cracked a couple of hours after the game was released anyway.