Poll: Piracy or Used Games - Which is worse?
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I don't, actually.
Nine times out of ten, though, if it's a game that isn't worth buying I'll lose interest before I finish it anyway.
Nine times out of ten, though, if it's a game that isn't worth buying I'll lose interest before I finish it anyway.
Piracy is worse, although I'm not against it. You just don't have a "Neither is bad" option. Although I guess "Equally as bad" could mean neither thingy is bad. Oh well.
My roommate is always complaining about this because I occasionally trade games in while he is stuck with impulse purchases... like Two Worlds.
My roommate is always complaining about this because I occasionally trade games in while he is stuck with impulse purchases... like Two Worlds.
There is nothing wrong with used games in my opinion. Books and movies are already sold second-hand a lot and nobody cares about that. With piracy on the other hand you basically steal the code of the game without paying a penny for it. So I'll pick piracy.
Some people who pirate games via steam sometimes see the offers on the games and think "Hmm, Do I pay that tiny amount so I never have to mess around with the updates?" And some of them just buy it for the ability to play it on english servers and so achivements work.
Steam has 2 amazing anti piracy methods.
1. Authentication servers.
2. Dirt cheap games. (I'm looking at you orange box)
Steam has 2 amazing anti piracy methods.
1. Authentication servers.
2. Dirt cheap games. (I'm looking at you orange box)
how is buying used games a bad thing... The company already made it's profit.
Besides How am I supposed to buy games for my old consoles like my SNES and N64 It's really hard to find new games for these systems.
And there are other older games that don't get produced anymore. And if you find a copy of them on Ebay or a garage sale or flea market why should you not buy it?
I'm pirating but it's more to see if a game is worth my cash because I bought F.E.A.R. 2 and I felt ripped off same goes with mass effect. Both great games buth their stuttering and hiccups make them a bit of a let down.
Besides How am I supposed to buy games for my old consoles like my SNES and N64 It's really hard to find new games for these systems.
And there are other older games that don't get produced anymore. And if you find a copy of them on Ebay or a garage sale or flea market why should you not buy it?
I'm pirating but it's more to see if a game is worth my cash because I bought F.E.A.R. 2 and I felt ripped off same goes with mass effect. Both great games buth their stuttering and hiccups make them a bit of a let down.
I'm assuming you're working off the internet piracy system where people just download games for free rather than the more classical piracy where you'll pay money for a bootlegged DVD.
Used console games I believe are technically legal since you don't accept any contract when you "install" them to play. In that respect they are a commodity similar to a DVD video. It's with PC games that things get nebulous: when you install the game you have to accept the EULA. This is a contract and the contract usually does not furnish you with permission to transfer ownership to another person without authorisation from the company. This is the reason why many high street retailers refuse to stock used PC games (at least, they used to, I don't know what their policy is now). However interesting this is, though, it's not really relevant so let's just pretend this legal problem is not a concern.
The thing about used games is that high street retailers are at least making some money they would not otherwise have had which makes their position a little more secure. On the other hand, piracy sees no money exchanging hands at all so nobody is benefiting, except the pay-as-you-go ISPs, I guess. But it goes even further: if you pirate a game you're probably going to use BitTorrent to do it (unless you're paranoid and get everything from UseNet) so by downloading a game you are facilitating others who also want to download the game - your actions are directly contributing to the potential loss of sales far more than just buying the game from someone who already gave the developer money.
Used console games I believe are technically legal since you don't accept any contract when you "install" them to play. In that respect they are a commodity similar to a DVD video. It's with PC games that things get nebulous: when you install the game you have to accept the EULA. This is a contract and the contract usually does not furnish you with permission to transfer ownership to another person without authorisation from the company. This is the reason why many high street retailers refuse to stock used PC games (at least, they used to, I don't know what their policy is now). However interesting this is, though, it's not really relevant so let's just pretend this legal problem is not a concern.
The thing about used games is that high street retailers are at least making some money they would not otherwise have had which makes their position a little more secure. On the other hand, piracy sees no money exchanging hands at all so nobody is benefiting, except the pay-as-you-go ISPs, I guess. But it goes even further: if you pirate a game you're probably going to use BitTorrent to do it (unless you're paranoid and get everything from UseNet) so by downloading a game you are facilitating others who also want to download the game - your actions are directly contributing to the potential loss of sales far more than just buying the game from someone who already gave the developer money.
Piracy is not as big a problem as many developers make it out to be IMO. Used games on the other hand makes the developers no money and yet pretty much everyone will buy a used game if it works and is cheaper than the new copy.
I would say that used games are hurting the industry more. Piracy has, and always will exist. People complain about piracy in every entertainment medium and yet the world still has best selling music, bestselling novels and box office hits. There are still games that sell 10 million copies.
Piracy is a problem but not really that big of a deal. Used games are. I'm not saying they shouldn't exist, they should but in terms of effect of the industry, piracy is just a scapegoat for devs to explain away bad sales or bad support for a certain console (PSP).
I would say that used games are hurting the industry more. Piracy has, and always will exist. People complain about piracy in every entertainment medium and yet the world still has best selling music, bestselling novels and box office hits. There are still games that sell 10 million copies.
Piracy is a problem but not really that big of a deal. Used games are. I'm not saying they shouldn't exist, they should but in terms of effect of the industry, piracy is just a scapegoat for devs to explain away bad sales or bad support for a certain console (PSP).
It's strange, I know a lot of people who primarily illegally download everything, but all of them will go out and buy a game instead of downloading it. Mostly, I assume it's because of the hassle it takes to mod a console, and then void the warrenty.
But I would be interested to know if other people did that, if games were less likely to be pirated then other media.
And in answer to the question, it's definitely piracy.
But I would be interested to know if other people did that, if games were less likely to be pirated then other media.
And in answer to the question, it's definitely piracy.
The OP's question is along the lines of "What's worse: Drowning kittens or throwing potatoes around?", basically implying that second hand game trading is something bad and needs to be exterminated.
Piracy is worse by default because there's SOMETHING wrong with it. There is nothing wrong with selling your used stuff. Publishers crying about lost sales due to second-hand dealerships seem to forget that every other (non-consumeable) product industry has a second hand market (cars, clothes, music, etc.). Why should gaming get special treatment.
You can't be "guilty" of buying used games since it's not in any way bad, wrong or illegal...
Piracy is worse by default because there's SOMETHING wrong with it. There is nothing wrong with selling your used stuff. Publishers crying about lost sales due to second-hand dealerships seem to forget that every other (non-consumeable) product industry has a second hand market (cars, clothes, music, etc.). Why should gaming get special treatment.
You can't be "guilty" of buying used games since it's not in any way bad, wrong or illegal...
Used game sales are worse - I buy a second-hand game, enjoy it, sell it to a friend, who sells it, and so on. The developer gets nothing.
I pirate a game, decide to buy it because it rocks, and recommend it to 10 friends, and 3 of them buy it. The developer wins.
I pirate a game, decide to buy it because it rocks, and recommend it to 10 friends, and 3 of them buy it. The developer wins.
the Second-Hand market is in every god damn media out there. Books, TV box sets, Movie box sets, music, etc....they all do fine with it. Video Games can do fine with them to.
So, my answer is Piracy. It's illegal, you're not "sticking it up to the man" when you do it, all you do is make things worse for the legitimate customers as they have to deal with more and more restrictive crap that the developers impose because you god damn pirates are making them think it's getting worse!
Piracy starts a chain reaction of bad, and while I won't say that I never succumbed to the occasional downloading of music, the rampant piracy for games to "stick it up to the man" has done nothing but make the situation worse. Spite Piracy is perhaps the worst way of striking a blow to developers.
So, my answer is Piracy. It's illegal, you're not "sticking it up to the man" when you do it, all you do is make things worse for the legitimate customers as they have to deal with more and more restrictive crap that the developers impose because you god damn pirates are making them think it's getting worse!
Piracy starts a chain reaction of bad, and while I won't say that I never succumbed to the occasional downloading of music, the rampant piracy for games to "stick it up to the man" has done nothing but make the situation worse. Spite Piracy is perhaps the worst way of striking a blow to developers.
But the thing is, the developers don't see a difference. You still pirated the game, that just jumped the leechers count up 1 too many. How do they know that that one pirate chain-reacted to other sales? Most likely they think that it also made more people pirate the game, not buy new ones. Especially if the pirate count is bigger than the sales count.Draxis said:
