Crysis 2 has been leaked, is even now being pirated by thousands of unscrupulous souls.

[Angryman101]

Can you prove it beyond hypotheticals?

Show a constant trend, across a number of different games on a number of different platforms, where higher levels of piracy have caused higher levels of sales.

Here.
Here's an artist whose sales were boosted by pirating.

 

[Radeonx]

Have fun trying to convey that point to 3/4 of the people here. They see "pirating" and associate it with "DRM" and anything else they don't like and then suddenly you are akin to someone on the level of a murderer. I mean, if anything, I'd say that piracy is a dick move. In my honest opinion, it definitely isn't theft.

There's most definitely a close-minded attitude against it. It seems to be one of those situations in which those against it are dead set against it no matter how much proof is presented to the contrary, while those who are at least suggesting that it's not theft are acknowledging the other side's opinion while explaining their own side of the argument in a patient and logical manner. Meanwhile the other side bleats "blah blah THEFT WRONG!"
Kind of like right vs. left wing politics in the united states right now. Hum.

I think the main problem with how many ignorant people spout are there opinions is that, in pretty much everything, the most vocal people are the ones who are the most close-minded and stubborn on their opinion.
I think that a large chunk of people who pirate will admit that while it isn't terrible, it isn't necessarily great for the game companies, so they at least have the logic to admit this and the rationality to acknowledge both sides.

 

[Therumancer]

Well, I've been of the opinion for a while that a lot of early leaks like this are actually pepetuated by the companies themselves. It's very rare when I see a new game coming out that doesn't have people playing it and putting up screenshots, reviews, and sometimes even faqs and walkthroughs a long time before release. I think the piracy tends to generate a lot of hype, and honestly while "anyone can pirate" I have my doubts as to whether a substantial amount of the core audience for any given game even knows how to torrent, never mind frequent the various pirate torrent sites.

This is no more shocking than say how there were people doing gameplay videos of say "Soul Calibur IV" a month before release, or any other game occurance. Heck, I remember people playing "Resident Evil 5" on live feeds with people making commentary before that game was officially released too.

My immediate guess here is that either we're going to find these copies rapidly locked out by the company by release time, due to some planned countermeasure, or they really don't care since they figure the piracy as part of the business model and figure they might as well exploit it for free advertising. If the game is worth going through all that trouble to steal, it's doubtlessly worth buying... or so might think people hearing about this and seeing footage from pirate copies.

This isn't any real justification for piracy, just that I'm wary about certain kinds of claims. See if you've got the game on store shelves, it's one thing for someone to buy a copy, take it home, and crack it. However when your dealing with a game that probably isn't even packaged and distributed yet, there are questions as to how the data got out there. It's possible the issue is review copies of the game and like, but even so you'd figure the leak would be tracked down and dealt with, and really I haven't seen many reviewers or companies being blackballed for this kind of thing. It's also possible that a disgruntled employee could distribute the game as some kind of payback against their own company, but with the frequency with which we see things like this it's unlikely. That makes me think the companies intentionally leak the game in a lot of cases for promotional purposes.

I don't recommend pirating the game under any circumstances, but at the same time I wouldn't be shedding tears for Crytek either unless they can explain how the data got out there without their involvement.

 

[IamGamer41]

Id like to know how the hell did this get out to begin with? Did someone go Splinter Cell and infiltrate Crytech and steal the hard copy? People should be after the person responsible for leaking it to start with.

 

[Angryman101]

Robin Hood stole from corrupt lords who scammed and corrupted to get where they were. The pirates are stealing from honest people who worked hard to make a game.

I'm not saying nor expecting people to give the money back. People naturally feel entitled to things, even if they've done nothing to deserve it. This pirating is a perfect example.

And why shouldn't people be against it? Why shouldn't developers be rewarded for their work? Why do you, as a person, feel entitled to take something that doesn't belong to you?

So shitty, greedy producers can take the lion's share of the profits off these honest working people, even though they put in none of the work, and you can draw no parallels?
It's not about feeling entitled to anything, and that's a rather elitist way of looking at things. The people on the street see an opportunity for free resources and they took it. The pirates are doing the same thing. Once it's dust in the wind, it's up for grabs, it's nobody's but who can snatch it up.
The game doesn't really belong to the developers, either, it belongs to the production company that hired them to create the game.
It's in limbo. Once it's online for free, it is the money in the wind. It doesn't "belong" to anyone, and it's just sitting there. It will be there regardless of whether or not you download it, and other people will sure as hell be downloading it while you sit there and do nothing. It's there to be enjoyed for free by the masses, whether or not they feel 'entitled' to it or not.

 

[Tony2077]

well I'm not one of them i plan to buy dw7 and then maybe at some point get this game

 

[Vibhor]

Uhh, did anyone think that whose fault it was getting the game leaked in the first place?
Its not like pirates went into their offices and stole a CD in a holdout.

 

[Angryman101]

Have fun trying to convey that point to 3/4 of the people here. They see "pirating" and associate it with "DRM" and anything else they don't like and then suddenly you are akin to someone on the level of a murderer. I mean, if anything, I'd say that piracy is a dick move. In my honest opinion, it definitely isn't theft.

There's most definitely a close-minded attitude against it. It seems to be one of those situations in which those against it are dead set against it no matter how much proof is presented to the contrary, while those who are at least suggesting that it's not theft are acknowledging the other side's opinion while explaining their own side of the argument in a patient and logical manner. Meanwhile the other side bleats "blah blah THEFT WRONG!"
Kind of like right vs. left wing politics in the united states right now. Hum.

I think the main problem with how many ignorant people spout are there opinions is that, in pretty much everything, the most vocal people are the ones who are the most close-minded and stubborn on their opinion.
I think that a large chunk of people who pirate will admit that while it isn't terrible, it isn't necessarily great for the game companies, so they at least have the logic to admit this and the rationality to acknowledge both sides.

This is usually the case, unfortunately.
The reason I'm such an adamant...I don't think 'proponent' is the right word, but defender of piracy is I know that, in my case, special as it may be, I'm right. My friend pirates shit all the time and then tells me whether or not it's good. If it gets a recommendation, I buy it almost immediately, and pop!, there's a sale. And if I find it good, I recommend it to more people, and pop!, more sales. If the product is not good, I don't buy it, and hello, two people who would not have bought the product regardless have not bought it because of piracy.

 

[Lucifron]

Crytek can thank their CEO for jinxing everything by whining about PC piracy so damn much.

;D

 

[zehydra]

The pirates should get in just as much trouble for stealing them as the guy who leaked it.

Why? Some guy posted a leaked copy of an item that could not be procured elsewhere, why wouldn't they take advantage of that?
It's like when artists leak out their music months early to generate hype, except it's kind of a surprise for everyone involved in this case.

They shouldn't take advantage of it because they're still stealing the product, even if someone else enabled them to do so.

Its nothing like that. Its more like the artists friend giving out free copies behind the artists back, and without his permission.

How are they stealing anything? It's not for sale. Someone else stole it and then distributed it. Like a bank robber robbing a bank and throwing the cash to the wind. You can't blame the people who pick up the money, only the robber for stealing then distributing it.
And it's a lot like that. Multiplayer will be salvaged from this, and those who downloaded the game may buy the game for the multiplayer feature if they so choose. Do you honestly believe those that won't would have bought the game anyway?

In the case of your metaphor, yeah, its still stealing, because you are taking stolen money. Regardless of who got it for you, it was stolen, and you taking it is still stealing.

And no, honestly, I don't. I really, really don't. I personally know a bunch of pirates, they haven't bought the full game for the games they pirated. Why should a bunch on the internet be any different?

Oh man, you must think Robin Hood was a real douche then, huh?
So, it's still stealing. Is it really WRONG, though, morally? Those people didn't ASK to be given the money, they merely saw an opportunity and took it. Do you expect them to line up like cattle and give the bank it's money back? If you do, you're stupid.
And in this case, it isn't even to that 'level' of theft. You can't prove that the company is even losing money. For all you know, this is making it GAIN money because of word of mouth. But that will only happen if it's a GOOD game, which, going by the first one, it will not be, so it will flop anyway.
"Why did this game flop?!" will cry the publishers.
"Oh, it was leaked! And people PIRATED IT! THAT MUST BE WHY!" and, yet again, piracy is used as a scapegoat when a game does poorly, and this will be used as an example for those who are against it for all time.

it's not that one should expect people to line up like cattle to give the money back, it's that they should. It's not an expectation of how people often behave, it's an expectation of how people OUGHT to behave. A person who as any moral sense at all would realize that it would be wrong to take what has been stolen by another person.

 

[mr_pants66]

well i feel bad for crytek, BUT it has to be SOMEONE at cryteks fault so yeah it is there job to stop this from happening and they didn't so they can only really blame themselves

 

[Angryman101]

it's not that one should expect people to line up like cattle to give the money back, it's that they should. It's not an expectation of how people often behave, it's an expectation of how people OUGHT to behave. A person who as any moral sense at all would realize that it would be wrong to take what has been stolen by another person.

Oh? And what, pray tell, gives you the authority to make such a bold statement on morality? Who are you to decide what people OUGHT to do? As morality is subjective, it kind of sounds like you expect people to behave in a way YOU like or approve of, and if they deviate from this they should be branded as criminals.
I'd scoop that shit up post-haste, and use it to treat my parents to a nice meal. I guess that makes me a bad ************, huh? And me stealing this figurative money will cost the figurative bank roughly as much as me pirating this game would cost the developers of this game-that is to say, nothing at all, because both losses are fictional.

 

[Estocavio]

You see, how does this help anyone? There's already a demo so you can't use the "try before you buy" excuse.

This is literally just for those looking for a free lunch and all it does is convince the industry that further anti-piracy restrictions are necessary, which leads to Ubisoft DRM. Do we want that again?

Im glad im not the only one who noticed this from the very beginning.
Not just relating to this game either.
If anything, DRM needs to be more strict, but easier to use so it isnt too much hassle.

 

[spartan231490]

ugh...

see. this is why i never defend the pirates.

try as you might, pirates are pirates for a reason.

greedy.fuckers.

Exactly. Pirates are really just a bunch of spoiled children who want to play games without paying for the, with no regard for the consequences.

And what consequences would those be?
Other than more DRM (Which honestly isn't that bad for most people), there aren't too many negative consequences that can occur from a pirated game.

The impact to the industry. The potential legal consequences if you get caught.

 

[spartan231490]

this is unfortunate news. i feel sorry for the devs

Exactly. Pirates are really just a bunch of spoiled children who want to play games without paying for the, with no regard for the consequences.

and this is blatant stereotyping. im sure there are ppl that pirate for this reason, as well as being just plain malicious. however, there are other factors in play that your spoiled arse may not consider, such as pricing by the dev's and distributors that prejudice against regions.

or perhaps the biggest fucking thing is that some gamers do not trust dev's anymore after releasing buggy ported PoS, charging a premium for it and ignoring complaints; and perhaps wish to see if the game is worth the cost.

I don't care. Video games are a luxury product, if you can't afford it/don't want to pay/don't want to risk it being buggy, then you shouldn't get it. If you can't get a legal copy, that is the only excuse. In any other situation, it is just plain stealing, which is wrong. You can justify it all you want, but at the end of the day, those justifications are hollow because you are taking value from someone without giving any in return.

 

[Radeonx]

it's not that one should expect people to line up like cattle to give the money back, it's that they should. It's not an expectation of how people often behave, it's an expectation of how people OUGHT to behave. A person who as any moral sense at all would realize that it would be wrong to take what has been stolen by another person.

1. You have no right to decide what is/isn't morally right for other people. Your moral sense isn't equal to anyone else's.

2. This is much more pedantic, but technically you don't have to steal a game to upload it as a torrent.
You can use a purchased copy if you really wished.

 

[Twad]

How did the pirates manage to get their hands on the game?

If i was the crytek guys, i would identify the "serial" or whatever from the pirated game, then realease a special/sneaky "patch" that will ruin the pirated version if you install it. The naive ones will cry and whine (and easily identified for what they are), those who dont will have to play the game offline forever or else their pirated copy will break.

Then for legit users, since the "serial" is different, they have no problem.

 

[Danpascooch]

You see, how does this help anyone? There's already a demo so you can't use the "try before you buy" excuse.

This is literally just for those looking for a free lunch and all it does is convince the industry that further anti-piracy restrictions are necessary, which leads to Ubisoft DRM. Do we want that again?

The demo got pulled from the 360 after just a few days, I never got to try it

 

[Assassin Xaero]

First they announce that Crysis 2 will be multiplatform...
After that they release multiplayer game play and it looks like MW2 with nano suits...
Then they give the demo to 360 first...
Now, if I was paranoid, I'd think that they leaked this themselves just to give them an excuse to abandon PC because of the pirates in favor of the 360...