Quick question, is this stealing?

[Canadamus Prime]

Well EA would probably claim that it is, but personally, I'd say no. Since you already paid for the disc you should be entitled to all the content on the disc. If EA wanted you to pay extra for that content, they shouldn't have put it on the bloody disc.
On-disc DLC is one of the stupidest things a publisher can do, and you just proved why.

 

[Lt.Snuffles]

I assume to buy such a game off EA Origin you agreed at some point down the line that you agree not to alter game files to unlock such DLC. Therefore, what you are doing is breaking the agreement between you and EA which I believe means that what you are doing is against the law. Not stealing, but breaking an agreement.

 

[Isalan]

No, theft is depriving someone of something. Your more on the fraud area from a legal perspective.

Are EA gonna be pissed? Probably not, though I wouldn't rub your balls in their face while shouting about it.

 

[Nuke_em_05]

You bought a content license. You accessed content that you did not purchase a license for.

You aren't paying for "the disk and all it holds", you are paying for the content on the disk.

Microsoft and Adobe, among other software developers, sell install disks of their software for pennies or dollars plus shipping, they send out most MSDN disks for free, actually. You can buy the disk, but you can't legally install the software without paying for the software license.

There's a huge misconception that the price we pay for these things is completely for the media. It isn't. Books have had terms of service agreements printed in the first few pages of them since the 70's. The price you pay for a book, DVD, blu-ray, CD, or software disk is not for the material and labor used to create the media on which it is distributed, but for a right to access the content contained therein.

You did not purchase the right to access the part of the software you "unlocked", so it is stealing.

 

[ManOwaRrior]

Let's see...
You didn't download anything from an illegal source.
You didn't circumvent any mesure of copy protection (an option written in plain text is not copy protection).

So no, what you did was not theft. It was EA beeing stupid. Sure, they want you to pay 10$ for the DLC, but they don't actually make sure in any way, that you have to. They hand it to you and basically hope that you are kind or stupid enough to actually pay. I don't know how the laws are in your country, but where I live, none of what you did is illegal.
Having options hidden in a .ini file is common practice with PC Games, Players as well as Developers know that. As a player, if you find an option in a .ini, you can assume that you can alter it.

 

[poppabaggins]

all you did was manipulate a few bytes on your harddrive. you neither sent bytes to someone else nor did you receive bytes. you're allowed to rearrange bytes however you want. not theft.

 

[TheSolemnHypnotic]

It's not theft, it's genius. Good for you.

 

[Csae]

I'm not sure how it could be illegal seeing as you purchased the disk not rented it.

Once you purchase a good you have a reasonable amount of right to do with it as you please, whether that be modifying it partly or not.

This is once again a case of publishers trying to licence properties, its a purchase not a licence not a rental.

Do with it as you please aslong as you don't commercially redistribute or otherwise.

 

[fenrizz]

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.

The legality of the EULA is not universal.
It is not, in any way or form, legally binding where I am from.

Besides, EA should face harsh penalties for destroying a market they do not like.
I very much doubt that car or housing manufacturers would ever be allowed to pull shit like that.

 

[Doclector]

Well, legally, I'd say yes. But providing you bought it new, which, of course, is the only way to do so on steam, it's a massive dick move by EA not to include the original on steam, so if you're looking to shut up a guilty conscience, there you are.

But if you're worried about the legal implications, i'd say you're in trouble.

 

[FrostyChick]

I hate to play the devils advocate here. But all of those saying no are wrong. Legally when you are buying a new game, you are buying only a license to use that software, not the actual software itself. If you unlock the content without paying EA you are stealing. There are no grey areas, no if or buts. It is stealing fullstop.

On the subject of DLC on the disc/DLC in new updates. I would like to point out that in the case of multi-player games this is a necessity, else you'll end up splitting your fanbase into "those who can afford DLC" And "those who can't" with little to no interaction between the two. For single player only games, yeah, the practise is completely retarded and should be stopped as it only causes incidents like the OP. Putting DLC on the discs of single player games is like giving a small child a loaded gun without a safety catch. Things are going to get ugly quickly.

Yeah the system sucks, I know that. But when we're talking about tiny little things like character outfits and maybe a new map or two. It really does seem too much like spoilt kids crying that mommy (i.e. the games companies) won't give them new toys for free.

 

[Odbarc]

Think of it as having bought a brand new car from a dealer ship who just filled it with a full tank of gas.

 

[snowpuppy]

No it's not theft, it's just dip-shittery on EA's behalf for putting it in there but not giving it to you.

 

[RollForInitiative]

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

If I sell you a car, but I put a clamp on one of the wheels, and I charge you extra money to remove that clamp after you've purchased it, is it stealing if you cut it off so you can drive?

They make it clear at the time of purchase that this is how it works. If you don't like it, don't buy the game. If I don't want to pay you to take the clamp off, then I won't buy your car.

Piss-poor analogy, by the way; a clamped car can't run at all, whereas a game with some locked DLC affects very little. It's more like selling me a car that has a locked stereo (which I still wouldn't buy if I disagreed with it). =)

I'm a firm believer in putting your money where your mouth is. Disagree with a company or a store, then don't buy from them. You don't get to steal from them and then justify it with some bullshit ideology; law is law, theft is theft. Twisting the spirit doesn't affect the letter.

It really is that simple.

Somebody actually gets it. How nice. RFI approves +12. I may not agree with the practice of including DLC on the disc but I respect the letter of the law. Hell, I make games for a living and I think putting DLC on the disc is a terrible idea but I'm not going to turn around and steal because I disagree with somebody's manufacturing and marketing strategies.

Besides, let's be honest for a moment here: would people rather have draconian DRM or Project Ten Dollar's DLC-on-disc? It's going to be one or the other in the end and it's not that hard to tell which is the lesser of two evils.

Naturally, this will queue the "but gamers are honorable people and don't need to be bound by DRM or DLC-on-disc" argument but that's a spectacular fail of a lie. Stardock made the effort to release DRM-free games and what did they end up with? An 8-to-1 ratio of pirated to legitimate titles activated on their servers. Very honorable, my fellow gamers. So very, very honorable.

 

[matsugawa]

For starters, I really just have to outright laugh when people complain about the cost of games to begin with. Games are a frivolity, they always have been, so any discussion of bargains or values essentially break down right out the gate. If you think you're being nickel-and-dimed now, ask any SNK fan about the NEO GEO console. Sonic the Hedgehog was 50 full US dollars in 1991, and now I can get it plus every other game in the Sonic, Phantasy Star, and Shinobi series on a single disc for less than half that. Do I feel cheated? Of course not, because I like those games and no one forced me to buy them.

Second, look at it this way: I downloaded a demo of a game called Winemaker Extraordinaire. The file is several hundred megabytes, this being because when you actually purchase the game, you "unlock" the demo. I had the full and entire game right there on my hard drive, but I paid to use whatever the demo otherwise cordoned me off from.
If I'd hacked the demo so I could play the game without buying it, that's taking advantage of content they put out to earn a livelihood from. That's stealing.

Having the content on the disk just makes it so you don't have to sit and download it when it comes out. Yes, it's a bit of a dick move that EA essentially baits you like that, but that doesn't justify taking from them. If you don't like how a business does... well, business, then don't support that business. Hell, if you really had a beef with the publisher and wanted to stick it to them, send a check for the cost of the DLC to the developer directly.

 

[kasperbbs]

Yup, but i would do the same thing without a second thought. But then again you paid for these files, so you should be able to do whatever you want with them since they were already on the disc. If they don't want you to have that DLC then they shouldn't include it with the purchase..

 

[woodwalker]

I'd say you're okay. If it's in the disk/data files, then technically, it's yours to edit and mess with. So long as you don't distribute it, you'll be okay in my books.

Actually, unless the product in question is released under a different license than games generally are (like if it where released under the GNU GPL), then you are not allowed to alter the code in ANY way. It is not stealing, but it is illegal. Of course, I make a distinction between illegal and immoral. You are in the clear, morally speaking, in my opinion.

You know, that's a real dick move to have stuff on a disk that you bought that you cannot use unless you pay MORE money. Oh well, I guess that it is a good thing that they couldn't find a better way of having unlockable content than a file that someone somewhat knowledgeable about computers can easily modify...

 

[Reaper195]

In the eyes of EA, courts, lawyers, blahblahblah, yes it is stealing. But since you paid for the game and own the disc, everything should be yours. Unfortunately, I think this is not true. Yes, you own the disc, but you only 'lease' the software on it, or something along those lines. I find this bullshit, and hate red-tape bollocks. But that is how EA gets your money.

....Don't quote me on that though, I'm not entirely sure.

 

[superstringz]

Its not theft until you get caught. I'd never post any of my DRM cracks (what cracks, officer ;D), cause I can't be sued/jailed if there's no evidence. Ethically, you're in the clear: EA's just being BS with DLC