You are killing PC gaming. (Updated)

[Valiance]

Can't believe I only lasted 4 threads today.

I can't go through every single comment in this thread and contradict them all, but I'm just going to say that PC gaming is in fact more economical than most here think. Especially when you can keep your keyboard, mouse, headphones, monitor, case, power supply, hard drives, RAM, and video card when upgrading to a new motherboard/CPU.

Oh, and I don't pirate games.

I do, however, get No-CD fixes for games like GTA4 with secu-ROM.

 

[Akai Shizuku]

http://x60.xanga.com/760d622277d35113908893/w81385995.jpg

All joking aside, why purchase a disc made of fossil fuels when you can just download data? It's better for the environment that way.

 

[Katana314]

I don't pirate, and I'm pretty much facepalming at anyone who does. And that INCLUDES the Activision and EA haters. Here's my typical response system with them.

Q: Why are you pirating the game?
A: Because they did a freaking horrible job of X, Y, Z, and L. They're just greedy bastards.
Q: Then why are you pirating the game?
A: Huh?
Q: If the game is so utterly horrible as you say, why do you want to play it?
A: I do want to at least play through it, I just don't think it's worth paying for.
Q: But you just said you "want to at least play through it." That means you'd be willing to pay something for it, don't you?
A: Not necessarily...
Q: If the game were 1 cent, would you buy it?
A: Well, I don't even know about that. It's more about sending a message.
Q: Pirating a game sends the message "I want to play this game but don't want to pay for it because I'm cheap." not "stop doing a horrid job". When looking at how satisfying a game is, they include piracy numbers in that statistic. Here's how it goes; "Well, 10 jillion people loved our game. Unfortunately, 90% of them are filthy pirates." "Oh dear. Well, the 10 jillion means we're definitely in the right direction, we just need to add more DRM." "Oh yes. Please pass the money-flavored ice cream."

Aw shit, now I have a hankering for money-flavored ice cream.

 

[JWAN]

Madden is failing because Madden IS fail

how many times can you release the same game anyway?

 

[Redfefnir]

I like how everyone is complaining about pirating. Yet games like MW2 have been leaked for the 360.

OH! Also. One of the only games I've pirated that would be considered "New" (I.E - 2005+) would be Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2. Funny thing is. I'm stareing at my completely legitimate copy of GRAW 2 for the PC as we speak. It won't install because I have had Daemon Tools on my computer, so Securom decided it would crash the install. So I had to pirate it to play my game.

 

[Imat]

fair enough, my pc is a laptop, therefore if i were to walk a game past it it would throw itself out the window and die.

i'm into 360, and honestly other than some RTS (the Total War series, i use it because i know it), flight sims, and maybe a handful of others i can't think of, computers aren't really designed to play games.

no, no... no shut up and let me finish. the only real advantage the PC has over the 360 or the PS3 (i refuse to call the Wii a games station) is that it has many many many more buttons you can use as a control.

stop and think. the PS3 sells for, what? £300? if you try to get a bling one? second hand ones in my area are £225... the 360 is, well i don't know but i can pick up a second hand mid range one for £75. using this as a comparasion the pc can't compete, a decent games PC costs a limb, a soul, and prefereably a child.

i can understand why companies stop making games for the PC, piracy et al, but there is a fairly compelling reason to stop making shooters racers etc for the PC all together.

p.s. is it possible to pirate a 360 or PS3 game?

...And because keyboard/mouse is by far the best implementation of aiming software in existence (Opinion of mine, shared by many but not fact). It's not perfect, but it beats the completely unnatural movements of the joystick. Shooters are simply unplayable on a game controller (Again opinion), and RTS are unplayable on consoles (Fact). Consoles are, despite them being just a prebuilt PC, only good for Sports games (Which I don't play) and racing games (Same story). So...Show me this "Fairly compelling reason to stop making shooters...for the PC," when the PC has just about every advantage. And hey, here's something interesting: My old(er) PC cost right around $500 and lasted 4 years (Ran the gambit from Starcraft to CoD4, and I could push it into L4D if necessary). My new computer cost me about the same, reused 2 HDD's, and will probably last me even longer (I opted for a higher end GPU and CPU this time, got 'em at good price points). So tell me, would you rather have a system with superior controls, no extra internet fees, extreme flexibility in displays and storage space, and the ability to Mod or just play the game as is? Or do you want a console which'll last you a tiny bit longer, has inferior controls, can't play RTS, has limited capabilities and storage space, is basically tied to your tv, and costs you about the same?

See how I took your way of thinking, that there are absolutely no highlights to the other machine in terms of games, and twisted it around? PC's are big gaming machines, if you build the thing yourself instead of buying the same thing prebuilt for 5x the price. And they'll last just as long as most consoles (PS2 excluded) while giving functionality beyond just a console. Notice how consoles now have internet connections, storage space, music players, chat programs, etc? It's because they are trying to be more like the PC, to try and attract those gamers who like the advantages of the PC. Yet the PC is still a solid pillar. It won't go away just because you've gotten used to controllers and thinking that PCs are more expensive and last less time, which doesn't have to be true. Consoles have their place, PCs have their place, and both of them fit into the set of gaming rigs. PCs just fit into the set of everything else computer related as well.

 

[TheSeventhLoneWolf]

Right, well I'll openly admit to pirating one game in my life, Red alert 1. I'm against pirating though, and i get my games fairly - But If PC gaming dies, the piraters will work out new ways to pirate, it'll get around and console after console will be destroyed.

 

[katsabas]

Ok, I confess. When the PS came out, I pirated each and every game I bought but I did not know what I was doing. And even so, the cds stopped working from a point on cause the console would overheat. After that, in the PS2 era, I did not pirate a single game. It does kill the industry and when I think about the effort that someone put into this, especially if the game is good, I HAVE to support the guy. By God, I know how it feels to be unappreciated and piracy is a very effective catalist when it comes to programmers' work being thrown down the drain. Pirates do not place themselves in the shoes of the developers and that is why they suck as human beings. I am against pirating except in the cases of 15 year old games that are not in the PSN and that I cannot find any other way.

People do not get that piracy actually makes the industry end up with less money. Without money, where the fuck are new games supposed to come from? Sure, it is not visible now but once it starts raising its pretty head, noone will like it. And to the guys that think the PC gaming is not dying, it is like a human being. You start dying from the moment you are born. And that does not go only for PCs. It is like Yahtzee said. At some point, the pinnacle of realism and gameplay will be touched. And then what? Maybe gaming is pointless. Yeah, maybe. But piracy amplifies this since noone gets any money out of this deal. So do not give in. Support the community. Plus, it is fun watching the counter-measures being deployed (like in Arkham Asylum)

Oh and to all pirates reading this, to quote Chucky: Fuck you very much.

 

[i did it 4 the lulz]

Im happy to help

 

[Dommyboy]

What makes you think I care?
I don't play games on the PC anyway.
Nor do I pirate.
You're the PC gamers, you fix the problem.

It certainly isn't my concern.

Why do you post in the thread then if it doesn't concern you? Wasting time or adding to your post count? Your contribution was pointless. If you're going to add something, make it provide a bit better assortment of contribution, please.

The countless piracy upon piracy threads on the Escapist always end the same. There's the majority that hate digital pirates, the majority that raise arguments over how bad it is, and there's the pirates who don't care about what they do.

 

[Ph33nix]

i don;t pirate

 

[vede]

This is strange. You all seem to be under the impression that people need money to make games. That it would be impossible, for some reason, for gaming to thrive without big business behind it.

Personally, I'm an FPS guy. Let me tell you some of the FPS games I play:
Cube, Sauerbraten
Assault Cube
Blood Frontier
<a href=http://icculus.org/alienarena/rpa/aquire.html>Alien Arena
Open Arena
Tremulous
Nexuiz
<a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokin%27_Guns>Smokin' Guns
<a href=http://www.urbanterror.net/news.php>Urban Terror
Warsow
<a href=http://www.theprodukkt.com/kkrieger>.kkrieger

Hey wait! Isn't every single one of those free? Yes, they are. Hell, for all but one (kkrieger) I can go get the damn source code and modify it however I wish.

And you can't try to say that you can't be innovative unless you've got a huge company behind you. Rogue was developed by a couple kids in college for the hell of it, and that marked the beginning of an entire genre. Without Rogue we'd not have NetHack (also free, and open-source), which, as I recall, is a massively influential game on its own. It also influenced Dwarf Fortress (holy crap, that's free too), which is basically the most complex game you can find in existence. And Spelunky (this is almost overwhelming now) spawned from NetHack and La Mulana (cough*free*cough).

Yeah. PC gaming will certainly die because people don't throw money at game developers. Game developers make games because they want to, not because they want people to shower them with cash. If anything about the PC dies, it'll be mainstream gaming, because the massive corporations that currently think they control it will buckle under how free the PC truly is. What then? Oh no, it looks like the people who care about making games more than getting dollars will finally be the center of attention. Tell me, please, where is the downside to this?

We don't need game companies to play games. I survive without them every single day.

 

[metalhead467]

I only pirate games I would never actually buy. So the developer isn't losing money.

Bullshit. If you didn't have the ability to pirate, you're telling me you wouldn't touch any of these games? Then why touch them now? It's called dollar votes, if you like a game well enough to play it then you like it enough to buy it and support it.

He brings up a valid point. I don't have a job, so I don't have very much money to spend on gaming. I can only buy a few games a year, so I can't AFFORD to buy every game I have any interest in. So, a game like FEAR 2, which I would like to play, but can't afford, I might pirate. So even if I hadn't pirated it, I wouldn't have bought it. I wouldn't care THAT much about it to pay for it.

Are they really losing money if I wouldn't have bought their game in the first place?

EDIT: Or a game like Spore with ridiculously invasive and restrictive DRM. When I buy a game, I want to OWN it, not rent it.

 

[KingTiger]

I actively pirate and distribute free games to my friends. Why? because they are too pour to afford it! set the prices at decent levels and I wouldnt.

If someone from my country wanted to buy an original game, he must go without paying his phone or electricity bills, because thats how much it costs (100$), whenever I meet up with friend I give them up to 17 pirated games free just to spite capitalist eggheads who act like vampires.

a 300$ windows 7 is almost 1/3 or 1/4 of a salary here(An Arabian country)! how can people afford it without starving to death? the answer is piracy. When developers become more sane and set reasonable prices then I would stop pirating(Example Valve, I never pirate them as they are concerned with the gamers, they just offered Team fortress 2 for 2.5 $ in holloween)

I am a proud pirate just to piss off blood sucking capitalists.

 

[mrtenk]

Have you, yes you the consumer that's reading this, ever tried to keep a PC maintained for new releases? Have you gone too newegg.com, bought an i7 for $300, a GTX295 for $450, a motherboard for 150, a power supply for 200, a case for 50, and a brand spankin new operating system for an extra 200, and a Hard Drive for 100?? After your done doing that, have you seen the large dent in your wallet?

Sure, your computers gonna last for maybe 2 - 3 years, but when your time to update comes and nothings compatable what then? Go out and buy another motherboard with a PCI Express x16 3.0 PCI slot on it? another GTX4 series card? another octocore processor? A hard drive with atleast a Terabyte on it??? and god forbid, ANOTHER OS?

There's a good reason people don't buy PC games, and its not because they don't love em. It's because PC gamers need to be the rich few who can afford to constantly renew there PC's for upcomming requirements.

Gaming PC's are impractical. They are expensive to maintain and they are expensive to upgrade. Games luckily are priced lower but at a huge expense to the consumer. If your game is well optimized, chances are it'll surpass your ol' and busted gamin rig by a year or two. Most PC gamers will tell you its aggrivating to play a game on an expired PC because everything that's been advertised about that particular game has been dumbed down. Sure, not by much, but that's the plesibo effect for you.

So why pirate? simple. most people don't want to pay for somthing they don't think will work on there machine. Whether its because the game itself isn't optimized for the PC (GTA IV anyone?) or your PC can't run it (Crysis). I think, in order for the PC gaming market to get off its face, we need to make a PC gaming Constitution. By the people, for the people. Somthing that all company's can abide by. somthing that protects the consumer from shitty console ports and somthing that will give leeway to those with older computers.

I mean, Xbox has an approval system, PS3 has an approval system, why can't PC gamers have there own universal approval system? It would vastly improve the quality of our games and decrease piracy.

 

[General Vagueness]

PC gaming won't die, and it won't it some kind of much-feared persistent vegetative state, it just won't happen
not much else to say IMHO

 

[Guy32]

I don't pirate games that have good online multiplayer, i.e. mmos and borderlands. I do, however, pirate games that are too old to find copies of at stores.

I did pirate mass effect, oblivion, and fallout 3 which i feel sort of bad about. But then again, its not like the console sales didn't do insanely well.

 

[Gaderael]

What makes you think I care?
I don't play games on the PC anyway.
Nor do I pirate.
You're the PC gamers, you fix the problem.

It certainly isn't my concern.

Why do you even bother commenting if it doesn't concern you?

Because it is infinitely entertaining pissing off PC gamers who are now forced to play games that are on the level of what everybody else is playing. Oh the agony.

What's sad is that you think it's fun to piss off PC gamers. Instead of laughing at us PC gamers as we are being pulled down to the console level, where there are no mods, no tweaks, where updates take forever, you should be pissed off at the publishers and developers who decide that console players aren't intelligent enough to handle what PC gamers do to every game.

!noitisiuqnI hsinapS eht stcepxe eno oN

 

[BonsaiK]

Yes, YOU. If you are one of the vast majority of people who pirate copies of video games, you are causing a huge problem.

Wow. You're pretty ignorant of the current landsdcape of game piracy.

Most of the software piracy that goes on where I live trades in "chipped" consoles and burnt Xbox/Playstation games. These are ludicrously expensive at retail and therefore very profitable for pirates. Most console owners I know would rather do without the XBox Live "abuse service" (which only raises the ire of Mum and Dad when they walk in the room) and have cheap, hacked games. Backyard mod shops who sell pirate games will "chip" your console for a small fee, no technical or soldering knowledge required, and broke parents are often delighted that little Timmy has worked out a way to save them money on that Christmas present, and if it means they can't use XBL all the better.

On the other hand, most PC gamers where I live have't pirated a single game since Steam became an online distribution service and made computer games affordable in my country at reasonable prices for the first time since the mid 1980s. PC games are also a lot harder to pirate now, and pirates themselves realise that it isn't as profitable so have mainly moved onto consoles where the big money is.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

i used to copy friend's copies in my youth, still have some burned discs lying around from old copy-parties LAN parties. But generally, if I ever really wanted a game, I'd end up buying it. The only game I ever completely fell in love with that I didn't pay for was Doom: lo and behold, 15 years later I end up buying it for 5 bux on steam.

I'm a huge believer in the try-before-you-buy system, which is why I like demos and have always been a huge fan of shareware. If a demo isn't available, I'll try to borrow a copy from a friend rather than outright pirate a copy. Now that I understand how important it is to compensate the developers (and how expensive it is to make games) I will not do it. But now I hardly ever buy new games...