Quick question, is this stealing?

[Jegsimmons]

yes and no.....they dont intend it to be played without purchase but you did by the game and it did come with it....so...both.

 

[JPArbiter]

Technically, yes, it's theft.

However, that's not how I would view it. You bought the code needed to run the game, ethically you should be able to do anything you like to your copy of said code.

But, if you signed a contract saying that you wouldn't do something like that, then you're breaking that contract, which is where I see the ethical dubiousness of your situation.

the End User License Agreement in the instruction manual takes care of that. by popping the disc in the X Box (or console of your choice) you are legally agreeing to not "sell the software to the commies" so to speak.

 

[AgentBJ09]

-Referenced-

If the game's page said that it is supposed to come with said DLC for new buyers, since on Steam every buy is new, that action you took, from my perspective, is nothing more than circumventing what may be a sign-up process to get an unlock code for the DLC you rightfully own.

So no, I don't believe it's theft, so long as you know it was supposed to come with that content, which from what you've said, it does.

 

[Elzam]

theft requires that you must take something from somewhere so it doesn't have it, the whole "piracy is theft" campaign is silly because by definition it isn't... however still illegal

 

[Sn0wLeppard]

No. If they taunt us by forcing us to pay again for something we've already purchased, then they should expect and deserve people to find a way around. All this overpriced DLC BS is getting way out of hand, and this helps stand up to it.

 

[AngelicSven]

by letter of the law, yes you have comitted at least petty theft, and at worst computer fraud. regardless of how shitty and unethical you think Project Ten Dollar is (and I am on your side there) Theft is theft. check out this EC episode for a refresher.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2068-Project-Ten-Dollar

I'm slightly confused, they're talking about circumventing used game sales, I bought it new so EA did get some of my money (According to EC, I should have gotten a code for it if I bought it new anyway.) and if they did put the DLC on Steam, I would have bought it. They're greediness with Origin and all their other shit they've been doing made them too self-important to think about other people who used different means to buy their games.

 

[RollForInitiative]

Yes, it is, no matter how you'd like to spin it to justify your actions. Theft is theft, digital or otherwise.

 

[Appleshampoo]

You know if you're feeling this confused about it I have a solution - PM me with how you did it, then I'll do it too and we can both be guilty people together!

But seriously, putting DLC onto the disk and not letting you have it is bullshit. It's like if they locked out the last level of Mario until you bought a £10 level card or something back in the NES days. Fuck that.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

The thing is you already know the answer to this question, don't you? Otherwise why would you ask us? You know that it is dishonest and you are getting content for free that you should be paying EA for the experience of using. The only reason you are asking this is to get some comfort from the people saying, "Oh EA are all evil turds, you deserve this content you haven't paid for, and they don't deserve to get money for their work". And if 10 people said it was wrong to do so, and 1 person said it was right, you would ignore the 10 people in favour of the 1 who was telling you what you wanted to hear.
Take the content if you want, but don't pretend it isn't wrong to do so, or you are somehow justified.

 

[littlealicewhite]

I suppose it *is* theft sorta, but I doubt you'll actually get in any legal trouble for it.

As for me, I only find three crimes completely unforgivable:

Intentionally and maliciously causing mental, emotional or physical harm
Intentional and malicious murder
Rape of any sort

As long as you don't do the above, you're good in my books.

 

[Pappytech]

*Snip*

Alright, thanks for clearing that up.

So, yes, it is illegal then. But, I think that you're ethically OK. That probably won't hold up in court though :\

 

[AngelicSven]

The thing is you already know the answer to this question, don't you? Otherwise why would you ask us? You know that it is dishonest and you are getting content for free that you should be paying EA for the experience of using. The only reason you are asking this is to get some comfort from the people saying, "Oh EA are all evil turds, you deserve this content you haven't paid for, and they don't deserve to get money for their work". And if 10 people said it was wrong to do so, and 1 person said it was right, you would ignore the 10 people in favour of the 1 who was telling you what you wanted to hear.
Take the content if you want, but don't pretend it isn't wrong to do so, or you are somehow justified.

I didn't ask because I feel bad about it. It's actually way common to go into .ini files to alter the game. I really asked, is it really stealing when the 'activate DLC text' is right by where I put my screen's resolution. Actually, Alice had some hidden options only in the .ini file like a 'Mature Language Filter' and an extra high option for Phsyx. I don't care whether it's supported or not. I already did it, beat the game, and moved on. I mentioned this to a friend and he questioned me if that was stealing and I was curious what the community thought.

If I did something to make EA cross, have them take it up with me.

 

[Flare Phoenix]

Well it is theft... I don't think there is much question on that. Even if you don't agree with Project Ten Dollar, you are modifying the game in a way the developers didn't intend to get something, you were meant to pay for, for free.

I'm not going to argue whether or not what EA is doing is wrong, because really that's not the issue here. It's basically having a feeling of entitlement because you feel EA is ripping you off. A lot of other people have similar feelings. How many people feel justified to completely pirate a game simply because they feel its buggy, or they don't like the developers? It's basically the same here.

Put it this way: could you walk up to anyone at EA and tell them what you did without receiving any reprecussions? I wouldn't think so.

 

[coolkirb]

yes, its that simple

 

[razer17]

If it's actually on the disc, then definitely not. It's yours to do with what you want. I'm fairly sure cracking games you own is perfectly legal too, which is pretty similar to this.

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

Uh...

In my opinion? No. It's on the thing you bought.

Legally? I don't know.

I've heard that people have bought chests and stuff, the seller forgot they left something in the chest, sues the buyer, but the courts nomrally say that the buyer keeps it because they payed for the chest.

So, probably not.

I ALMOST wish that you would get sued, and then win so we don't have to deal with disc locked shit.

Almost.

Hi everyone, this is about Project Ten Dollar.

So, I recently bought Alice: Madness Returns when it was released some time ago on Steam. Well, I was told there was a neat little DLC that gave me extras. EA pushing Origin so hard and didn't put it on Steam so I couldn't buy it, this DLC is like most/all of EA's, it's following the Project Ten Dollar template.

For those that are unfamiliar with this, it's essentially EA having DLC on the disc/data you purchased. So you still pay for it, but instead of downloading it, they simply 'unlock it' for you. So, as it was, it was actually there, I just couldn't use it. Well, being on PC, I just changed the 'Engine.ini' file to 'unlock' it.

So, I was curious, would you consider this a theft?

 

[Devornine]

If you have to ask if it is stealing then it probably is.