Poll: A situation in which piracy is OK? [Read first]

[razer17]

Personally I think it's alright. I don't have a PC capable of running most games, but I do intend to get one soon, and when I do I don't intend to buy the games that I already have on my Xbox.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

No its not. Its still illegal, its still morally wrong and you're not entitled to a free copy just because you bought it already. The industry doesn't work like that.

 

[gideonkain]

It's still piracy, just more of a grey area - the ultimate grey area in my opinion is Starcraft 2 - you own the game, you have to be connected to the internet to play it single player and it can only be installed on one computer - Fuck you Blizzard.

 

[evilneko]

On the one hand, I do not like the double, triple, and quadruple-dipping many companies now engage in. ie, trying to get you to pay for the same content across multiple formats and devices without any real advantage to any of them. Want a DVD? Great, shell out. Want it on your smartphone? Shell out agai--WAIT A MINUTE... it's just not right.

On the other hand, there are clear and substantial differences between the console version of a game and the PC version. Usually. I think it's fair to ask you to pay for both. However, I think buying one ought to earn you a discount on the other. Each copy should come with a coupon for the same in a different version. That way, people wouldn't feel so ripped off.

So I guess I'd have to say it depends on the game. Using your example of Skyrim I'd definitely say no. Taking something else, say, Bully, for example... well, PC version really doesn't net you much difference now does it, and is probably worse than the console seeing as some stuff in it seems practically impossible with a mouse but would be trivial with a PS2 controller. (Shop class, I'm lookin' at you!)

Incidentally I'd never be in this position as the newest console I own is a SNES.

 

[lukey94]

Kind of a hard one, I voted yes because when you pay for a game you are paying for the software, not the DVD/Blu-ray it comes on really ... if you've paid for the data it's yours right?

But then again, piracy is dodgey ... and Steam always has sales going on ....

 

[DarthFennec]

The way I see it, if you think it's alright, then it is. I'm not going to tell you what to think or judge you. You already know it's illegal, and we all understand that the laws surrounding piracy are obsolete and need to be reformed. From a moral standpoint, you did buy the game and therefore you did support the creators of the game, and if I were the one who wrote the game, I'd be perfectly happy with that, so in that case it's alright. Even so, you did agree to their terms, and their terms require you to buy the copies separately, and the fact that that's a stupid agreement to make doesn't change the fact that you made it, and pirating would be breaking it. So what it really comes down to is, do what you feel comfortable with. If you feel that you supported the devs enough just by buying the one copy, then that's good enough for me.

 

[kittii-chan 300]

So, I present you with a moral dilemma of sorts. Let's say you're awaiting a game that will be released on major consoles (xbox and ps3) and on the PC. Let's call that game Skyrim. You run to buy the copy of the game for your console of choice, due to wanting a cleaner and perhaps more graphically impressive experience while playing (depending on your computer). However you also want the game on your PC, for all the amazing modding and other benefits. You cannot afford to buy the game for both, and are worried that you will not be able to achieve optimal levels of performance if you do buy it for your pc, leaving you short of (game price here) bucks, quid or zimbabwean dollars. SO here's a dilemma. You go out and buy the game for the console of choice (xbox or ps3) and decide to pirate it for the PC. Is this fair and morally right? You have already bought the game, shouldn't you have the choice to get it for free on the PC also? discuss, please.

1) no its not right in any situation IMO
2) modding is wrong unless it is made by the company that owns the game IMO
3) you could always work for a week to get te money.
4) you forgot yen you RACIST! (/sarcasm)
5) no, its not fair or morally right (but then again neither is slaughtering an elfen family and then rooting through their droors for gold)
6) if you have paid for one game you get 1 GAME. if you have paid for 2 games you get 2 GAMES if you paid for 1 GAME and got 2 GAMES by STEALING you are a BAD PERSON.
7) no.

 

[AugustFall]

No, you have 2 different copies of the game. If you bought one version and then a backup of the same version that's fine but not over multiple platforms. Choose one.

Jesus just buy the 360 one when it comes out and then buy the PC one later on steam for like 10 bucks.

Edit:

2) modding is wrong unless it is made by the company that owns the game IMO

This is the elder scrolls series which has been pretty much made as popular as it is by it's modding community. They give you the toolset with the game.

 

[evilneko]

Yeah I think kittii-chan was a bit confused about modding in the context of PC games and was probably thinking of consoles.

 

[EternalFacepalm]

2) modding is wrong unless it is made by the company that owns the game IMO

...What? Modding is wrong unless it's the company... modding their own engine? WHAT?

Anyhow, I'd say it's okay, to be honest. You've bought the game, you own it. That's just my opinion on the subject, though.

 

[Pandaman1911]

Piracy is stealing. Stealing is wrong. There you go, moral dilemma solved. Jeez, I swear I've said this before...! Can't recall when though.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

If you have to ask, then it probably isn't.
Also, no because you're talking about 2 different copies of the game. It takes quite a bit more effort on the devs part to make the game work on all the different platforms available; which means extra time and money that they need to recuperate.

 

[daydreamerdeluxe]

2) modding is wrong unless it is made by the company that owns the game IMO
6) if you have paid for one game you get 1 GAME. if you have paid for 2 games you get 2 GAMES if you paid for 1 GAME and got 2 GAMES by STEALING you are a BAD PERSON.

2) Some of the better parts of Minecraft were mods made by non-Mojang employees, a few of which have been implemented into the game. If a mod enhances a game, but, as mods are, doesn't charge for it, I can't see any game developers complaining.
6) But they're buying 1 GAME, on 2 PLATFORMS. They would, thereby, be paying the price of 2 GAMES for the content of 1 GAME. GAME does not equal PLATFORM.



To put it in an even greyer area, a few years back, if you wanted to game on a Mac, you had to buy a different copy of the game from on a PC. Playing, say, Civilisation IV on OSX had absolutely no difference to playing it on Windows, and yet you would have had to pay twice for the same gameplay. The difference between ports of games between consoles and PCs aren't often very different. Why should you pay twice for two copies of the same game?

As mentioned, it's similar to buying a film on DVD to watch on your DVD player, and then having to buy it again to watch it on your laptop or smartphone. Arguably, you ARE often supposed to buy it again to watch it on a smartphone; I have only seen ONE film that came with an .mp4 version of the film, and ripping a film off of the disc is morally dubious.

 

[Richardplex]

I'd normally say if you can't get it, go nets, and if you own a copy already, but say your brother stepped on it, then it's cool, because you already bought the game. This however, isn't affected by my second rule, as although they are both the same game in name, they're different. One is bought specifically for modding, one is for good graphics. 2 completely different playing experiences, and thus 2 different games, thus you should buy both, in my opinion. Though the fact that the game has been bought and its not being distributed means overall I don't really care.

 

[Nudu]

I got Oblivion for PC. Then I traded it for an xbox copy to up the graphics as my PC wasn't to strong back then. And now I've bought it for PC again, so I have it on both.

If you can't afford it, then though. I don't consider owning several versions of a game a human right.

But honestly I consider Oblivion modding overrated. I only use a very few mods on Oblivion(mainly Midas Magic), while Morrowind turns into a different game with mods. (Morrowind Overhaul is more like a remake then a mod, and Tamriel Rebuilt is incredible as well)

 

[Giantpanda602]

If you bought it for PS3/Xbox FIRST then that is fine. If you buy it on the PC first, then you can not because you didn't pay the extra fee to play the game on that console (why console games are more expensive).

 

[evilneko]

and ripping a film off of the disc is morally dubious.

I have to ask: why?

 

[Kryzantine]

I feel it is right that if a game on the PC doesn't have a demo, that its piracy is OK only to test its performance prior to purchase. I remember I had to upgrade my computer when I bought Oblivion and my computer could not play it, setting me back a bit (I don't upgrade my computers often, I'm don't care about graphics at all, I just want to play games). I would say it is OK in this case, not to pirate it on the PC after buying the 360 version (because they are 2 different games, really); but pirate it to test if the game works well enough on your PC; then buying it for the PC if it does, buying it for the 360 if it doesn't. I feel that is a good reason.

Like I said, though, this only applies if there is no legal means to test the game's performance on your computer before purchase. If there is a demo, that is infinitely preferable. I actually feel that PC games should have demos for this reason exclusively.

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

This thread is kinda biased considering this forum bans anyone who advocates piracy.

On topic, I don't see anything wrong with it, and it's stupid of developers to not release demos for the PC. I don't know anyone who buys a game blindly for the PC without knowing if they can run it, even people with top end machines. Using "system requirements" is pointless.