Poll: What's wrong with piracy

[Dexiro]

-snip-

It would easily support open source and crowdsourcing projects. In all honesty, that's the approach we need to take, not more power to the triple-A titles and their respective corporations behind them.

Yeah but we already have that Of course more of that would be good but those type of projects don't devalue big-budget development completely.

The 2 parts of the industry work side by side rather than in competition with each other and both have different strengths and weaknesses, I'd hate to see either disappear completely.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

If you intend to play the game, you should purchase it.

Now this is clearly wrong. What if I haven't enough money? Now i'm not suggesting that I should pirate it (it seems everyone likes to put words in peoples mouths ITT), but just pointing out that determining whether someone "intends" to do something isn't as simple as you make it out to be. If we're going to have a useful discussion, we can't keep making absurd leaps of logic.

 

[Savagezion]

What about those of us that pirate simply to bypass the asinine DRM nonsense? (Asscreed 2 is a perfect example here) I have my retail copy of Skyrim sitting on my desk, still nice and sealed with the price tag on it. Been playing the pirate copy just so I dont have to deal with Steam or other 'surprise' DRM shenanegians.

There are just as many reasons to pirate as there are to not. All that matters is how much you actually support the Game industry, as opposed to how much you want a game.

Well put. Especially, the last sentence. If someone spends $2,000 a year on gaming and pirates 1 game for ANY reason this community would lynch the shit out of them.

 

[Lightnr]

Because Piracy has the capacity to Kill the Video Game Entertainment Industry.

When it comes down to it, the investors in the companies hold the purse strings. If they can't see a viable profit to be made in the venture of 'make video games' simply because a huge chunk of the profit is lost to Theft... then they will just take their large bags of money and go else where. Invest in something that has safer or more reliable returns.

No more money = You won't see games like Modern Warfare 3 or Skyrim.

Although it is very 'gloom and doom'-y.
But it is something that is entirely capable.

it is undoubtable that many major investors have stopped putting money into Design studios and publishing companies simply because they did not feel that a +30-40% loss of profit due to Theft was acceptable.

Just because something (like a business model) exists in one way, doesn't mean that that is the ONLY way it must exist.

Some early game studies had very little expenses but made creative masterpieces that still astound people today. Just because rockstars make rediculous amounts of money doesn't mean that that is the ONLY WAY the music business can exist. Look at plumbers. Most plumbers are lower class (financially) individuals. Yet your pipes don't burst because of their shotty work. And good plumbing is way more vital to life than songs by a particular artist. If the music industry suddenly becomes something that you can be middle class (financially) at best by doing, there will still be music out there. Perhaps it might even be better since artists won't (generally) get PICKED by record labels who have advertising power but will have to sell themselves to a proper audience directly.

Personally I am a software engineer, who is responsible for outstanding products. If I learn that someone steals my product, then so be it, if they have the technical aptitude to do so, and if they really object paying - that's alright with me. What we should be concerned with is NOT punishing piracy, but teaching future generations that if you like something you ought to lend your support - and whats the easiest way of doing that? Buying / donating from the people who make that product. And if there are NO people who would rather pay some REASONABLE amount for your product, then guess what? perhaps your product doesn't need to exist. Look at one of the most powerful tools humanity has ever seen: Wikipedia. Completely free, no adds. Basically allowing whoever whats to to "pirate" it. BUT if we want it to keep existing, we better donate some minuscule amount. And if we cant see far enough ahead to see how good it is for the human race, then we don't deserve it.

 

[Awexsome]

If you intend to play the game, you should purchase it.

Now this is clearly wrong. What if I haven't enough money?

Then... you get enough money to buy it. Anything else is clearly wrong. If you don't have the means to buy the game then you don't have the means to play the game. Sucks to be you but that's how the world works.

 

[tthor]

oh dear lord... I hate people sometimes...

Too many people have this false sense of entitlement, thinking they deserve to have anything they can grab..

I.. hate.. people...

 

[SonicKoala]

I'm

That's not what I said and if it was, I would disagree with it. There are laws for dealing with intellectual property - copyright law. Theft law is for a different purpose - the securing of property.

It still seems to me that you're suggesting that a piece of digital property - in this case, a video game - cannot be stolen (only copied, I suppose). If I'm wrong about that, please correct me.

Now, I'm aware of what you're getting at; Bethesda does not lose anything when someone pirates a copy of Skyrim. Then again, let's think back to the age of physical media - if someone were to steal a physical copy of a game, the game publisher didn't really lose anything, did they? Just packaging and a game disc which could be easily replicated; they still possessed the original "master copy" of the game. However, I don't think that anyone would deny that if someone were to steal that theoretical physical copy, they would be guilty of theft. Personally, I'm failing to see any fundamental difference between a physical copy of a game and a digital copy of a game. If someone is going to be considered a "thief" for stealing a physical copy but not a digital copy, then it would seem as though what we are really concerned about is that packaging and game disc...which is silly, since that is evidently not the case.

 

[dvd_72]

I pretty much agree with you.
I mean, piracy is the lost of a potential sale, but all of the top pirated games are still selling massively well and are still making a fuckload of money for the creators of the game.
It isn't good, but I don't think it is as bad as a lot of people here make it out to be.

But if they bought the game instead of pirating, immagine thier proffits then!

No matter how you slice it, pirate a game and companies loose money. That's usually why people don't like it.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

You are taking something for free, without permission, that doesn't belong to you. That is why it is wrong.

 

[FEichinger]

-snip-

Go capitalism! Yay! ... And again I know why I'm left-wing...
When will our precious humans realize that they shouldn't be as individualistic and start caring about the collective more? ...
When will we finally get true communism instead of the socialist bull we have seen in the past?


Never, I say. Simply because everyone always demands something in return for whatever they do. Gosh.

Don't get me wrong, the "I don't have the money for it." argument is very weak, and doesn't work in a capitalist system ... But to the core, the capitalist system is cancer to the world in the first place.

 

[ryanxm]

Devs don't make money from it, that means less pay, that means they won't want/ be able to work on anymore games, that means that there are less games for everyone to enjoy.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

But when I see people complain about piracy I often wonder, why are you against it?

Because I paid for my game, so should everyone else. What sets them above and beyond me or anyone else who bought the game? There are no valid excuses to not purchase a game.

At the end of the day, Pirating is stealing, no matter what anyone says.

At the end of the day, ducks are fish, no matter what anyone says.

No matter how humorously you spin it, downloading and using an unauthorised copy/key should be a crime on the same level of theft. The logic that 'nothing taken doesn't make it bad' is just plain wrong. By that logic why should anyone have to pay for videogames? We aren't taking anything from the developers, they can create as many copies as they like!

 

[AngloDoom]

If you intend to play the game, you should purchase it.

Now this is clearly wrong. What if I haven't enough money? Now i'm not suggesting that I should pirate it (it seems everyone likes to put words in peoples mouths ITT), but just pointing out that determining whether someone "intends" to do something isn't as simple as you make it out to be. If we're going to have a useful discussion, we can't keep making absurd leaps of logic.

I don't think it's an absurd leap of logic to suggest that by owning something you want it, and that if you want something someone else is legally trying to sell you should purchase it off of them.

I think you may have misinterpreted my words - I did not suggest that if you pirate something you had the intention of paying for it initially. I only said that if you want something you should have to pay for it, and should not expect to receive that 'something' unless you do.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

If you intend to play the game, you should purchase it.

Now this is clearly wrong. What if I haven't enough money?

Then... you get enough money to buy it. Anything else is clearly wrong. If you don't have the means to buy the game then you don't have the means to play the game. Sucks to be you but that's how the world works.

That's one of the options, yes. Which makes the statement "you should purchase it" incorrect, which is all I intended to show.

 

[Twilight_guy]

I believe in copyright laws and I want to get a job in the games industry. Piracy violates copyright and also hurts the game industry. (no, shut the fuck up it does, don't even try to argue that one).

 

[Luke Cartner]

Just FYI technically if you have brought a preowned game you are a pirate as you have acquired a copy of of the game without contributing to the copyright owner.

Personally I dont pirate or buy preowned games. With steam, indie devs and open source there is more than enough inexpensive good quality software that I just dont buy it if the compannie makes doing so hard (thus why I havn't bothered with assassins creed or saints row)

Stating piracy is a moral choice is too black and white. Unless you are talking about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_in_Somalia (which is amoral) it isn't as simple as a pure moral choice.
I'm not saying in the age of steam I advocate software piracy, however with software companies taking part in price fixing; zone locking; late release in some area's; forced redundancy of applications and other practices I'm not condemning all software pirates either.

The sad thing is many developers work long overtime with no additional financial recognition and computing's forefathers basically gave away their I.P. both of which these companies who in rage when people who were in no position to buy their games obtain a copy out of copy right have built their empires on.

 

[Something Amyss]

No matter how humorously you spin it, downloading and using an unauthorised copy/key should be a crime on the same level of theft. The logic that 'nothing taken doesn't make it bad' is just plain wrong. By that logic why should anyone have to pay for videogames? We aren't taking anything from the developers, they can create as many copies as they like!

One the same level does not mean is the same thing.

You claimed the latter but are arguing the former.

 

[tthor]

It has been said before, piracy is pretty much stealing, regardless of how many units the game sells. If you download a game you already own, that´s another story, but unless you do, it´s really that simple.

Yeah, it's theft, and people who don't pirate end up paying for it, because the gaming industry punish EVERYONE for it. piracy caused online passes, the SOPA bill (mainly movie piracy for this one), Game CD Keys, Pay-to-play, The Fees on XBOX live, etc. Gaming companies are trying to make money any way they can, because pirates are making it hard for them to survive, therefore they're being tightwads because THEY HAVE TO in order to survive. if they don't we might not get any new games at all. I don't like this moneygrubbing, but I don't blame the game industry, i blame the pirates. they need to be caught, fined, and the money given to the game devs.

This. You know, I am hugely against the the SOPA bill, but after reading this thread, and seeing just how many little selfish assholes there are, I find myself agreeing that maybe, sadly, we DO need something like this...

god I hate people...

 

[Magnicon]

The amount of ignorance from the "right fighters" on this subject sickens me.

A Musician saying piracy is great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCkX0KcNwrI

An article of independent game developers explaining why piracy INCREASES SALES.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/118/1184550p1.html

A list of the 10 most pirated movies of all time and how much they made at box office.
http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-all-time-111012/

The brilliant Stephen Fry talking about piracy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCk9Cheiqqg

Article about Paulo Coelho, author of "The Alchemist", one of the best selling book of all time explaining that he supports piracy and that it increased his books sales.
http://torrentfreak.com/paulo-coelho-supports-the-pirate-bay-090415/

Piracy has been around forever. It has never stopped the Entertainment industries from making god awful amounts of money. Anyone who thinks piracy has a negative effect is simply ignorant on the endless amount of evidence to the contrary.

- Entertainment Corporations ignorantly and stubbornly assume piracy losses them money.
- They spend hundreds of millions fighting something that is functionally impossible to stop.
- They continue to post profits in the hundreds of millions or billions.
- wat

As for the music industry specifically. Independent musicians have the most to gain. As it has been well known for some time, the real profit for them is ticket sales.

Piracy > awareness > more fans > more ticket sales.

The reason the music studios are losing money, is because of legal song downloading.(the actual musicians get very little from cd/song sales) The consumer is spending far less money by only buying the songs they like, instead of gambling on the whole cd. This is positive for the consumer, but negative for the studio. It has NOTHING to do with piracy.

Since the Napster explosion, there has been endless independent study of piracy. It has shown time and again that piracy is a positive thing for all artists in every field, as has always been the case. At the end of the day, if you make a product worthy of money, you will almost always get it.

We are moving into the digital age. If they corporations don't want to get with the times, its their own fault. Piracy has nothing to do with it, and never has.

P.S. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is currently most pirated game on top torrent site.
"The title grossed more than $775 million globally in its first five days of availability, exceeding the $650 million record set by 2010's Call of Duty: Black Ops and the $550 million one achieved by 2009's Modern Warfare 2.[71] To be exact, it has beaten theatrical box office, book, and video game sales records for five-day worldwide sell-through in dollars."