Witcher 2 Dev Defends Asking €1000 From Pirates

[RagTagBand]

15 times market value is absurd. 3-4 times is sufficient.

And I don't know how they can possibly be "100%" sure. The only plausible way I can think of they can be "100%" sure is if CDPR uploaded a "Pirate" copy of The Witcher 2 themselves to a torrent site (a tactic which I can personally guarantee businesses do) which contains some sort of unique marker (that would separate it from a ripped retail version).

But that would be only half the "Proof", they would then have to be able to find the people who downloaded it, get to their computer before their HDD can be nuked, and point to this unique identifier.

IP traces are bullshit.

Depends on the release. But I believe the most common version of The Witcher 2 was the steam version that got cracked, so I doubt there was a pirate marker in those. But some companies most likely try to distribute their own "pirate" version.

I doubt that CDPR used what I said to track down the pirates, It's just the only system I can think of which would back up their "100% sure" claim.

I know its far more likely that "We're mostly sure, but the PR guys don't want us to imply we have possibly slapped some innocent people with a 4 figure fine" would have been infinitely more accurate.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

They are squandering the good will they have gained for themselves.

How, pray tell?

I see NOTHING wrong with that. CD Projekt have bent to the will of gamers, offering the game with no DRM for a cheaper price than other AAA games, and the gamers respond by pirating the shit out of it. I don't give a rip if "But some pirates are repeat-downloading"! THERE'S STILL EASILY TWO MILLION SEPARATE ILLEGAL COPIES OUT THERE.

TWO.

MILLION.

AT LEAST.

If anything, I've lost any and all sympathy that pirates had desperately tried to garner from me. They are NOT crusaders out defending the consumer, they're just incredibly greedy over-entitled freeloaders that I'm ashamed to share a species with. I hope and pray that CD Projekt win every. Single. Case. That they've sent out.

roughly this.

cd projekt has bent over backwards saying "hey, look, we understand and we totally agree, here is the game with no drm and all these sweet extra things plus free updates on the game for life!" and all those whining damn pirates choose to still say "fuck, i can get it for free, why pay?" (which doesn't surprise me, at some of the people i know, they disgust me on an economic level.)

 

[hubert]

Awesome, I support them entirely here. It discourages people who are stealing from stealing. The fine is... pushing it a little (£100 at most), but I have no issues with CD Projekt, who, from this, seem to be the only guys who are actually punishing the pirates rather than the paying customers.

Yeah, fining 16-year old boys 1300$ for copying a sequence of bytes is totally awesome!

Hence why I said they're pushing it a little. I'm totally for £100 fines for 16-year-old boys (coincidentally, a category into which I fall) who think it's OK to steal.

I don't know. I wouldn't be able to accuse a pirate of being a thief while keeping a straight face.

 

[Double A]

over 80% of the people who are enjoying your product stole it

Oh, stop with these misleading scare numbers. What matters is what percentage of the people playing it were willing and able to purchase, but didn't.

They are squandering the good will they have gained for themselves.

This.

Way to poop on your own marketing efforts.

So what? Who cares if you're being a dick to a dick?

Furthermore, what does it matter if someone can't buy the game because they don't have money? There's that analogy about a starving man stealing bread, but games aren't a physical need. They still have to pay up somehow if they get caught. That's how capitalism works: You exchange something for a service. If you give nothing in return for something, the manufacturer is well within their rights to sue the pants off of you. The people who don't buy the game because they don't want to spend money are just as bad, if not worse (which you seem to be getting at).

 

[theultimateend]

It's a tricky one. On one hand, yes, DRM probably is bad and does often punish the honest buyers.

But when there's no DRM at all on your game, it's inevitably going to be pirated. The DLC and stuff is surely DRM-free as well, so that'll just be pirated in as well.

It seems to me that CD Projekt had this "no-DRM" idea, then when they realised that they were losing literally MILLIONS of dollars, suddenly they need to start threatening people. I'm not saying that DRM is good by any means, but I think this specific approach is a tad short sighted.

I say that immortal, pink machine-gun death-scorpions should be the de-facto copy protection.

EDIT: OKAY YES, I GET IT. DRM is cracked within a week, I know. Please stop telling me now =D

They weren't losing money.

People who have DRM on their product don't gain money either.

The fallacy is assuming that piracy is any way a measure of lost revenue. There is no evidence at all to suggest that DRM leads to increased revenue nor that piracy leads to decreased revenue.

The error usually stems from people treating games as a fundamental part of life. Like water. You MUST have water, so if you can't steal it you'll probably buy it so that you don't die.

Games do not function this same way.

CDProjeckt was correct in not having DRM. However their decision to demand revenue from pirates shows that they don't understand their own philosophy well enough.

I don't pirate so this is a nonissue for me, I have the money to buy games. However it takes a pretty big ignoramus to know piracy is a problem.

In no way and I saying you are an ignoramus, I'm sure you are a fine smart person, I'm talking about people who say they know it is so as opposed to thinking it might be the case.

I don't know. I wouldn't be able to accuse a pirate of being a thief while keeping a straight face.

Hmmm Sanity...I don't know if I'm comfortable with this on the escapist.

You stick around, I want to see more of you.

 

[UrieHusky]

But when there's no DRM at all on your game, it's inevitably going to be pirated. The DLC and stuff is surely DRM-free as well, so that'll just be pirated in as well.

On average it takes 2 days to crack any DRM that gets released =P so it really is just a pointless punishment for the legal buyers.


OT: I fully support this reaction from Projekt, I'm glad they aren't going back on the no DRM thing, the level on DRM these days is just getting stupid, I hate having to prove myself every single time I want to play a game when pirates don't.

Here's hoping people start getting the message soon =/

 

[peruvianskys]

Even if you could prove that number was correct, you can't prove that they would have bought the game at all.

That's not how it works. I can't walk into a store, take a sandwich, and say "I wouldn't have bought it anyway." If you take a product, you should pay for it. Simple as that.

This just shows the pirate-friendly crowd's true stripes. They claim some kind of moral legitimacy for their actions by saying they're fighting against DRM and consumer-unfriendly actions but not only do they still pirate the shit out of a great game without DRM and with heavy post-release support, they get upset when the publisher - who has done literally everything right - wants to stop it.

So pro-pirate interneters, just admit that you want to steal stuff because you're too cheap to buy it - the reaction here shows that there is no other moral or ethical or philosophical backing behind the actions of pirates.

 

[Signa]

They are squandering the good will they have gained for themselves.

By asking software counterfeiters (remember it's not theft, it's fraud) to do the right thing and pay up? How is that being a dick?

The article said nothing about counterfeiters, only that common pirates were being "fined". Where did you get that bit of info? It completely changes the meaning of this news.

 

[FamoFunk]

Agree 100% with this guy. What's more, I love how these pirates have to pay $1300 for trying to weasel out of paying for an $80-ish game. Bunch of wankers who deserve no sympathy.

Yeah. I'm going with this guy.

I don't understand what's so bad about chasing up people who knowingly steal a game for free while the rest us pay over the odds?

 

[hubert]

Agree 100% with this guy. What's more, I love how these pirates have to pay $1300 for trying to weasel out of paying for an $80-ish game. Bunch of wankers who deserve no sympathy.

Yeah. I'm going with this guy.

I don't understand what's so bad about chasing up people who knowingly steal a game for free while the rest us pay over the odds?

Edit

 

[hooksashands]

Here's an idea: Instead of making the people who pirated your game pay you over a grand, have them pay the game's regional shelf price and call it even.

This just makes me want to pirate it out of spite.

 

[Ashendarei]

You know, I didn't even know that The Witcher 2 released .... I saw ZERO hype or buzz about the game, and if it weren't for this post I wouldn't have known anything about it except that The Witcher 1 was a pretty decent game and that I heard there was a sequel in the pipes.

 

[Pendragon9]

No, screw all of you pirates.

They give you a good game, without DRM, with free DLC.

You should be shot on sight if you pirate it, and then don't buy it.

You're not allowed to call it bad either. Otherwise you have no taste in games.

 

[Char-Nobyl]

No, screw all of you pirates.

They give you a good game, without DRM, with free DLC.

You should be shot on sight if you pirate it, and then don't buy it.

And if the pirates didn't think that DLC was worth the price of the game?

Honestly, the devs here are working under the "combating used game sales" mindset rather than one for "combating piracy." Good DLC and long, fun, and replayable games are what you do to make people keep your game after they buy it.

You're not allowed to call it bad either. Otherwise you have no taste in games.

...wait, what? Is that for pirates, or...everyone? Because it seems like whether a game is good or not wouldn't depend on whether your stole it or bought it.

 

[ResonanceSD]

They are squandering the good will they have gained for themselves.

How, pray tell?

I see NOTHING wrong with that. CD Projekt have bent to the will of gamers, offering the game with no DRM for a cheaper price than other AAA games, and the gamers respond by pirating the shit out of it. I don't give a rip if "But some pirates are repeat-downloading"! THERE'S STILL EASILY TWO MILLION SEPARATE ILLEGAL COPIES OUT THERE.

TWO.

MILLION.

AT LEAST.

If anything, I've lost any and all sympathy that pirates had desperately tried to garner from me. They are NOT crusaders out defending the consumer, they're just incredibly greedy over-entitled freeloaders that I'm ashamed to share a species with. I hope and pray that CD Projekt win every. Single. Case. That they've sent out.

I'm with you on this one. A large number of self-entitled little twerps are ruining it for everyone. Gaming isn't a right, it's a luxury.