Poll: Would this be ethical...

[Moth_Monk]

Imagine this situation:

You have just purchased Diablo 3 and you're happily playing the game when inexplicably you lose your internet connection. Two hours later, despite your best efforts, the connection is still down and there is no reason to think it will be back up any time soon.

Of course you can no longer play your game even though you really, really want to. Now you have a friend whom you know has downloaded a pirated copy of the game. You could ask this friend to give you a copy to install and play - just so that you can get your Diablo fix until the internet connection comes back.

My question is: Would it be ethical to install and play the pirated copy of the game?

Now remember, I am not asking whether it would be legal to do this, just whether it would be ethical. Also remember that laws are not always ethical.

 

[Zhukov]

I can't see anything wrong with doing that.

They have your money, you are playing their product. Everyone wins.

 

[Jynthor]

Since the internet problem is not Blizzard's fault but yours(Well, actually your ISP's, but still) it would probably not be ethical. But you should do it anyway. Down with the system and all that.

 

[wintercoat]

Yeah, I highly doubt that you'll have fun on buggy beta server emulators...

On the question: Ethical? You have the licence, you bought the game, why not?

Legally? I did not read the EULA of D3 but I'm sure they have a paragraph forbidding that so no.

I'm sure one of the three walls of text you have to check the yes box for has at least one paragraph explicitly stating that playing a legal copy owned by someone else is against their terms of service...this is probably covered in three.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

If you knew anything about the game, then you knew it was 'always online'.

If this bothered you, then you shouldn't have bought the game.

 

[tippy2k2]

Yes, it is still unethical. Everyone is acting like this is a giant slap in the face of gamers and they were blind-sided by this but you all KNEW that this was the case. I think my mother, who barely knows what my Wiistation 360 is, knew that Diablo 3 needed to be online to use. Now I haven't bought the game but if this "online-only" fact has evaded you, I would assume it's on the box somewhere.

People ***** and complain about this kind of practice and then they bend over and present themselves when a game they want comes out. You knew what bed you were getting into here, now you get to sleep in it.

 

[Rumpsteak]

To be honest I can't vote as I find the idea that something is fundamentally right or wrong to be a little laughable. Do it if you want.

 

[Manji187]

Final phrase suggests you're doing it anyway and in the end that's fine cuz really, who the hell cares?

 

[Thyunda]

Yes, it is still unethical. Everyone is acting like this is a giant slap in the face of gamers and they were blind-sided by this but you all KNEW that this was the case. I think my mother, who barely knows what my Wiistation 360 is, knew that Diablo 3 needed to be online to use. Now I haven't bought the game but if this "online-only" fact has evaded you, I would assume it's on the box somewhere.

People ***** and complain about this kind of practice and then they bend over and present themselves when a game they want comes out. You knew what bed you were getting into here, now you get to sleep in it.

But...there is an option otherwise...you've paid for your game and your online spot. Now you're deliberately not using that online spot, by illegitimately playing the game that you legitimately own. By costing the servers less, too.

Your logic. Not here.

 

[Irridium]

I don't have a problem with it. It's how I was able to play Spore. After I tried installing the legit copy three times, ran out of my "install credits", and was told by EA to buy the game again...

 

[Scow2]

The question is: Where are you going to get a server?

Diablo III doesn't come with the game you think you're purchasing. All you have is a client loaded with lots of data it doesn't know what to do with. You need a server to straighten the mess out into a playable game.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

If you knew anything about the game, then you knew it was 'always online'.

If this bothered you, then you shouldn't have bought the game.

I really don't get this argument. It's like saying "If you knew anything about ME3, then you knew it had 'tacked on multiplayer'. If you don't like that then you shouldn't of bought the game. I think buying the game should give you the right to play it, so doing something like this is fine. Also, what if the person wasn't bothered by the DRM, but his internet becomes shitty one day and now he can't play the game. He has every right to be pissed off/play a pirated version.

 

[Simonism451]

Sure thing. You bought the game and with that the (at least moral) right to play it.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

If you knew anything about the game, then you knew it was 'always online'.

If this bothered you, then you shouldn't have bought the game.

I really don't get this argument. It's like saying "If you knew anything about ME3, then you knew it had 'tacked on multiplayer'. If you don't like that then you shouldn't of bought the game. I think buying the game should give you the right to play it, so doing something like this is fine. Also, what if the person wasn't bothered by the DRM, but his internet becomes shitty one day and now he can't play the game. He has every right to be pissed off/play a pirated version.

What?

You don't need to play ME3's multiplayer to play the single player game, so I don't understand the comparison.

You agree to the terms of service when you boot up the game for the first time. Don't like those terms, don't play the game.

I don't agree with their methods, but if people are going to throw money at them, despite draconian DRM, then they're gonna keep doing it.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

If you knew anything about the game, then you knew it was 'always online'.

If this bothered you, then you shouldn't have bought the game.

I really don't get this argument. It's like saying "If you knew anything about ME3, then you knew it had 'tacked on multiplayer'. If you don't like that then you shouldn't of bought the game. I think buying the game should give you the right to play it, so doing something like this is fine. Also, what if the person wasn't bothered by the DRM, but his internet becomes shitty one day and now he can't play the game. He has every right to be pissed off/play a pirated version.

What?

You don't need to play ME3's multiplayer to play the single player game, so I don't understand the comparison.

You agree to the terms of service when you boot up the game for the first time. Don't like those terms, don't play the game.

I don't agree with their methods, but if people are going to throw money at them, despite draconian DRM, then they're gonna keep doing it.

What if you've payed for the game. You've got an amazing internet connection, one that never goes down. You play say act 1, then BAM something happens that turns off your internet. No game for you, you've wasted your 50 pounds. They didn't know that was going to happen, but due to the crappy DRM they can't play singleplayer without internet. Yeah sure, you can counter this by saying "Well, you buy a car even though the next day you might crash/it get eaten by truckosaurus". But Diablo 3 is very different because it's a game, and it's the companies fault that you can't play SP when your internet's down.

 

[Woodsey]

They have your money, go nuts.

 

[Tanakh]

I don't agree with their methods, but if people are going to throw money at them, despite draconian DRM, then they're gonna keep doing it.

And I'll trow my money at them when HotS comes

OT: Stupid scenario; I think your question is rendered moot by the fact that you will need an internet connection to play the pirated copy too.

What if you've payed for the game. You've got an amazing internet connection, one that never goes down. You play say act 1, then BAM something happens that turns off your internet. No game for you, you've wasted your 50 pounds. They didn't know that was going to happen, but due to the crappy DRM they can't play singleplayer without internet. Yeah sure, you can counter this by saying "Well, you buy a car even though the next day you might crash/it get eaten by truckosaurus". But Diablo 3 is very different because it's a game, and it's the companies fault that you can't play SP when your internet's down.

So you are saying no one should buy an Xbox 360 ever? Because the chances of failure of it are higher than that of the internet providers.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

If you knew anything about the game, then you knew it was 'always online'.

If this bothered you, then you shouldn't have bought the game.

I really don't get this argument. It's like saying "If you knew anything about ME3, then you knew it had 'tacked on multiplayer'. If you don't like that then you shouldn't of bought the game. I think buying the game should give you the right to play it, so doing something like this is fine. Also, what if the person wasn't bothered by the DRM, but his internet becomes shitty one day and now he can't play the game. He has every right to be pissed off/play a pirated version.

What?

You don't need to play ME3's multiplayer to play the single player game, so I don't understand the comparison.

You agree to the terms of service when you boot up the game for the first time. Don't like those terms, don't play the game.

I don't agree with their methods, but if people are going to throw money at them, despite draconian DRM, then they're gonna keep doing it.

What if you've payed for the game. You've got an amazing internet connection, one that never goes down. You play say act 1, then BAM something happens that turns off your internet. No game for you, you've wasted your 50 pounds. They didn't know that was going to happen, but due to the crappy DRM they can't play singleplayer without internet. Yeah sure, you can counter this by saying "Well, you buy a car even though the next day you might crash/it get eaten by truckosaurus". But Diablo 3 is very different because it's a game, and it's the companies fault that you can't play SP when your internet's down.

Well that's an issue with your ISP, not the game devs.

Much like saying it's Ford's fault that I can't run my car because my local petrol station has ran out of fuel.