Man, what world have I been living in!? Yeah, I knew people who pirated games. I even did a little before I had a job so I could play with people at LAN parties. (I usually always liked to buy the games I really enjoyed. But now, thanks to disposable income + Steam sales - very specific knowledge of games I am certain I won't want to play, I can buy anything I want and don't need to pirate anything, ever! It's awesome!) But, man, now everyone I know either plays a few games or pays for the ones they play! I must be living in some... dare I say... alternate universe! Because, if I'm a measly 5%-7%, then I've either somehow managed to obtain contact information with the only people in the world who aren't pirates (I feel this is like staying in contact with only people who have developed a rare form of cancer without having to seek them out, or winning something on every scratch-it I've ever bought since I've lived on this planet), or everyone I know online has not only pirated the game, but hacked the main servers and can connect as though they own the game (those ninja-hacking bastards)! Or Ubisoft has absolutely no idea whatsoever that you can talk to customers, read things on the internet, get involved with the culture, and find out why someone would pirate a game. But that's completely outlandish and silly, right? Right?
Truth be told, this is OK by me. Most free-to-play games usually wind up as pay-to-enjoy for me, and I'd rather not pay for something I'm not currently enjoying. This will keep me from wanting to purchase Ubisoft products, which is especially comforting after the Uplay-can-let-hackers-take-over-your-PC-for-funsies deal, since that scared the pee out of me. Honestly, when pirating is not only cheaper, easier, and SAFER than purchasing product, I don't have too many legs to stand on as a legit customer (fear of epic lawsuit is all I've got in this situation). At least with them producing products I don't want, I won't have any reason to buy OR pirate. A win/win for me.
