My beef with piracy.

[DracoSuave]

Yes, but in both cases, consumer protection law can come in and if the product is not as advertised, you can make claim that what you were promised was not provided, and thereby get your money back.

It would cost me more then $100 in time and effort to do so, whats the point of spending several hundred dollars to get $100 back, in fact a guy here is suing the company because of a few misleading things they said and is taking htem to court, he will certainly get his $100 dollars back, but that much wouldnt even pay the bill to talk top a lawyer about it)

Right, I forgot. America. So of course 'suing' is the first thing that comes to mind when 'seek recompense' is suggested as an outcome.

There's ways to get your money back beforehand.

Of course, those become difficult, because FOR SOME REASON companies involved with games are reluctant to give back money because, and this is fucking shocking, people copy games illegally!

Would you believe that, people would buy games, copy them, and then bring them back for a refund!

In converse, you don't get to go to a gas station, break the lock on their pumps, pump the gas into your car, and then drive until your tank is empty before deciding if the gas they've got gives you mileage you figure is fair or equitable.

Thats because i know before hand that the petrol will get me there, so theres no guess work involved

You're missing the point... you don't wait until after you've used the product to decide if you want to pay for it, unless the other party to that contract agrees to actually sell it to you.

That's how contracts work.

See, I already knew Operation Flashpoint 2 was a piece of shit game. AND I didn't waste 100 dollars on it. Because I read reviews and don't waste my time playing games I think are going to be pieces of shit. I'd rather spend my time playing games I think will be good. This 'It could be bad' argument is completely defeated by the words 'Internet access.'

Lol i wish i was god and know everything too, but i pre-ordered my copy because i was a big fan of the opflash 1, i put many many hours into the first one.

So wait.

You preordered it, thusly already spending money on it because you thought it would be good, and then you bought it, and you think piracy would have somehow magically prevented you from spending money on your preorder?

Does BitTorrent come with a time machine now?

MAKE. SENSE. PLEASE.

So my restaurant analogy might need a change.
I bought an awesome peice of steak from a restaurant, go back later and they sell me a stinking pile of turd, with the menu saying its a prime cut, but its chuck steak that the dog outside predigested

This is how contracts work tho; you have a contract with the restaurant to trade consideration. In this case, it's a fine meal for money, deliverable for when the meal changes hands and is determined to be satisfactory. You have this agreement with the restaurant, and they are fully aware of it, and cook your meal appropriately.

With product you pirate, you do not have such a contract. They do not have you bound in any way to buy the product from them if you like it. You have no agreement with them whatsoever.

The two are NOT analogous, as one is a deal you have with them that they willingly take part of, and the other is something you've unilaterally decided to impose on them against their will.

Again, the analogy still involves you breaking in without their knowledge and sneaking a meal from them, because THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

I know you'd like to avoid that part and call it 'customer protection' but... it isn't.

You want access to information? Muthafuckin' access that information. You can find anything about anything if you're willing to use the google. Don't wanna spend 100$ on a piece of shit? Be a smart consumer and actually do some research. Don't use it as an excuse to steal it, when -research takes less real time-.

Yep, but i owned the game by the time the really bad reviews come through, and there arent any reviewers that have my taste in games, so going by what some guy i have never met on the other side of the world seems odd, and by the time there was a public outcry over the game i owned it.

Again, you preordered. Piracy wouldn't have protected you as a consumer because you bought it before you actually owned it. And if you didn't, reviews are out for games usually before they're hitting the street date, or are out a week, especially for games like Operation Flashpoint 2.

In fact:

Operation Flashpoint 2 came out on October 6th in north america. The reviews were out for it, from the major reviewing companies, on October 10th, according to the wikipedia article's bibliography. Generally user reviews are out to the day of release (and sometimes a bit sooner thanks to... dun dun duuuuunnnn... piracy, early leaks, and other such shinanegans in the distribution chain's employee base)

So, you have a case where piracy could not protect you because you preordered, and even if you didn't prepay, reviews were out in a timely and efficient manner.

Yeah. Calling bullshit here.

Again, it's a bullshit argument, and there's better, more ethical, and more time-efficient (for you) ways to accomplish the same goal of 'avoid paying for shit'. What YOU want to do is avoid paying for shit but get your entertainment out of it anyways. That's a disingenuous stance, it means that you're lying to yourself about what you want to do.

Ah its good to see that you know me so well from a statement on a forum, your omniscience astounds me and i must worship your knowledge of me.

Sorry to say this, but all your arguments ARE bullshit. You're grasping at excuses to justify piracy that don't even fit common sense. They're excuses, and nothing more than that, and analogies to things that aren't even applicable or accurate to the situation.

As well, those who have played through a game for free are less likely to pay for it cause 'they like it' simply because it is human nature to pay for value perceived at the time of payment. By the time it comes to pony up, you've already gotten your value, so there's no reason to buy it any more. This 'fable' that piracy creates sales is so counter to basic human nature that the only people actually buying it are those that steal. But they aren't buying the games even CLOSE to the numbers necessary to make their 'fable' a reality that actually results in a financial gain for the company involved. So yeah, it's bullshit.

Well your knowledge of everyone who plays games is staggering, how do you keep the knowledge about all of us seperate, whew your brain must be close to exploding, but i have seen that fable in action, and a lot more then once as well.

Anecdote != data. Sales and marketing data shows that most who engage in piracy never pay for the product they steal. Your anecdote shows that you claim to be outside the standard deviation.

It doesn't happen often, not enough to base any claim of 'stealing shit means you'll buy it later.' It doesn't work that way. And if you take it as insulting that someone calling you on stealing shit doesn't buy your excuses, then come up with better excuses. You're not even CLOSE to robin hood in this.