Zeno Clash Team Appeals to Pirates
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
Perhaps that has something to do with you attempting to project your morals onto others in a place that isn't meant for that.oneplus999 said:
If they are using the pirated version as a demo, how is that harming the game at all? The only possible thing i can think of is ad revenue from the page with the demo on it, which for me, is something that counts against buying anyway.
No they didn't. They released it with merely the standard level of DRM (disc checks etc) instead of the oppressive DRM (online activation) that's becoming more prevalent.xitel said:
So essentially they just refused to follow EA's example -- which is admittedly commendable, though also blindingly obvious from a PR standpoint. But it's not "releasing without DRM".
It's a good move on the part of the Zeno Clash team, though. I might even try to look up the game and find out what the heck it actually is
Indeed. They made a good move: actually attempting to APPEAL to the crowds of pirates instead of waving DRM torches and pitchforks around.antipunt said:
It's a valid point though: indie devs ESPECIALLY need cash to keep going. Games these days aren't cheap to make, even the indie ones, which is a pity.
It always saddens me to see things like the World of Goo piracy rate, or that time when Stardock got f'ed over by the pirates on Demigod by having them crush their servers with copies of the game, screwing their legit customers. Stardock's one of the companies that is anti-DRM, so it doesn't send a good message to them when that sort of thing happens...
I guess it's a good thing game developers have so much money that they can afford to pay for your God-given moral right to play every videogame you want regardless of your financial wherewithal.jebussaves88 said:
Did you read the rest of the post? I download to get an idea of what a game is like. If a game isn't worthy of purchase, it'll be ignored and eventually deleted after half an hour of play. Sometimes, I don't trust demos to be an accurate representation of the whole game, so excuse me if I don't base my purchasing on what the developer or publisher thought would sell it to me fastest.Malygris said:
Whups, this is a little late. Oh well, here goes anyway.Asehujiko said:
Sorry but at what point in committing copyright infringement would be more convenient for me to point out to these people that they are performing a senseless crime? Or would it be more comfortable if we just pretended all the "try before you buy" people are actually going to buy it? The messageboard for the torrent is the best place I can figure to point this out.
One of points was that the existence of the demo makes the try-before-you-buy argument pointless. It lets you get halfway through the storyline game, which should be more than enough time to figure out if they want to pay for it. And honestly, without being stopped and asked, "so you gonna pay for this now?" most people are just going to play through the end then justify never paying.
Many ninjas will be pissed that the ACE Team has somewhat allied themselves with pirates.
ninjas
don't
forgive
ninjas
don't
forgive
I like the way people seem to think that just because they don't have the money they have the right to steal what they cannot afford.
Oh great! I don't have enough money to buy myself a Prius (not that I would want to anyway, with the Toyota issue going on and all...) so what should I do then? Oh! I know I'll just go out and steal a Prius seeing how money is precious and all, I am sure the person I stole it from and/or the car manufacturer has more than enough money that I can steal this Toyota and get to use it for free!!!
Yeah somehow this logic just doesn't seem very logical...
Ok sure, you steal something it costs money to them directly whereas this is not the case with digital theft of games (aka piracy). Yet you still are costing the publisher and developers money as they are offering a service, services do not have tangible goods but can still be stolen.
I think a great example is for example public transportation. Thus by getting on the train or bus you still are getting to take advantage of the service like all the other paying customers on the train or bus, while at the same time you did not pay to use the train and bus and thus are not helping to cover the costs of running the train and bus.
It is no different with pirating games, you are getting to use a service for free that you should be paying for while not supporting the people who put money into developing and releasing the game.
I have gotten quite pissed off a few times now on chat debates on various Steam group chats as some of my Steam friends and people I know on Steam seem to think that pirating video games is not theft, yet to me it is as clear as day that piracy is indeed theft like any other theft, just as bad as riding the bus/train for free or even shoplifting.
It just pisses me off that people seem to somehow find various retarded ways to justify piracy, I have heard it all and none of them make any sense... some examples:
1) I only pirate bad games - Ok... so why are you playing it then?
2) The game has a DRM I don't support, most recent example being AsC 2 - Ok... well then don't play the game? Besides how does pirating the game help make the DRM go away? This is the reason why we are stuck with these blasted DRMs, due to people pirating it!
3) The game doesn't have a demo and I always test drive what I want before I invest money into it - This is probably the best argument I have heard, I do agree that all games should have a demo and publishers/developers only have themselves to blame for giving pirates this valid reason if they did not release a demo for the game!
In real life environments I never just go out and buy something myself, though in games I have done it a few times and sometimes glad, sometimes really pissed off that I have bought it. So yeah, all games should have a demo! Since I don't even buy a keyboard and mouse without first trying it in a shop, why should I be forced to buy a game before I even get to try it, it also always makes me wonder if the developers aren't trying to hide something from us? (thus if the game is no good and the developers know it and thus won't risk releasing a demo)
4) etc...
If anyone here has any other reasons I'll be happy to debate them
But so far the only more or less valid one is the try before you buy and this one of course is only valid for games without a demo. But since I myself do not support piracy I usually just risk it or wait till I can try the game at a friend's house or something (or wait till a demo comes out, but usually a demo doesn't come out if there isn't one out already at release).
Oh great! I don't have enough money to buy myself a Prius (not that I would want to anyway, with the Toyota issue going on and all...) so what should I do then? Oh! I know I'll just go out and steal a Prius seeing how money is precious and all, I am sure the person I stole it from and/or the car manufacturer has more than enough money that I can steal this Toyota and get to use it for free!!!
Yeah somehow this logic just doesn't seem very logical...
Ok sure, you steal something it costs money to them directly whereas this is not the case with digital theft of games (aka piracy). Yet you still are costing the publisher and developers money as they are offering a service, services do not have tangible goods but can still be stolen.
I think a great example is for example public transportation. Thus by getting on the train or bus you still are getting to take advantage of the service like all the other paying customers on the train or bus, while at the same time you did not pay to use the train and bus and thus are not helping to cover the costs of running the train and bus.
It is no different with pirating games, you are getting to use a service for free that you should be paying for while not supporting the people who put money into developing and releasing the game.
I have gotten quite pissed off a few times now on chat debates on various Steam group chats as some of my Steam friends and people I know on Steam seem to think that pirating video games is not theft, yet to me it is as clear as day that piracy is indeed theft like any other theft, just as bad as riding the bus/train for free or even shoplifting.
It just pisses me off that people seem to somehow find various retarded ways to justify piracy, I have heard it all and none of them make any sense... some examples:
1) I only pirate bad games - Ok... so why are you playing it then?
2) The game has a DRM I don't support, most recent example being AsC 2 - Ok... well then don't play the game? Besides how does pirating the game help make the DRM go away? This is the reason why we are stuck with these blasted DRMs, due to people pirating it!
3) The game doesn't have a demo and I always test drive what I want before I invest money into it - This is probably the best argument I have heard, I do agree that all games should have a demo and publishers/developers only have themselves to blame for giving pirates this valid reason if they did not release a demo for the game!
In real life environments I never just go out and buy something myself, though in games I have done it a few times and sometimes glad, sometimes really pissed off that I have bought it. So yeah, all games should have a demo! Since I don't even buy a keyboard and mouse without first trying it in a shop, why should I be forced to buy a game before I even get to try it, it also always makes me wonder if the developers aren't trying to hide something from us? (thus if the game is no good and the developers know it and thus won't risk releasing a demo)
4) etc...
If anyone here has any other reasons I'll be happy to debate them
But so far the only more or less valid one is the try before you buy and this one of course is only valid for games without a demo. But since I myself do not support piracy I usually just risk it or wait till I can try the game at a friend's house or something (or wait till a demo comes out, but usually a demo doesn't come out if there isn't one out already at release).
I Actually saw that when I was looking to try out the game. Didn't even bother downloading it from the torrent site. I felt an almost strange amount of respect for the direct plea from the developers and bought the game immediately. Good decision on my part.
It is a fact of life that some people will want to try a product before they buy it. Trying to bring in some fake morality to attack people who use a given means to do this is a waste of time. When you put people into a situation where things are all or nothing and they loose more out of the whole exchange, they absolutely will find a means to level the playing field. If I see a game I am interested in I will rent it or see if my brother has it. If there is no demo or I can't rent it. I'm not going go throw my money out there only to be laughed at if I even attempt to ask for my money back because the game was ass.
I go ahead and pay for Gamefly because I can try games for as long as I damn well please. If I like it enough I will buy it, if not it is getting sent back. If you don't want piracy make demos available, make renting a possibility. Hell make returning a possibility. I respect Zenoclash devs for leaving that message. They may not see support in the comments on these sites, but I think it will have a positive effect amongst people.
One other thing they might try is putting up a donation link on their site.
I go ahead and pay for Gamefly because I can try games for as long as I damn well please. If I like it enough I will buy it, if not it is getting sent back. If you don't want piracy make demos available, make renting a possibility. Hell make returning a possibility. I respect Zenoclash devs for leaving that message. They may not see support in the comments on these sites, but I think it will have a positive effect amongst people.
One other thing they might try is putting up a donation link on their site.