So what if I pirate games, why should you care?

[Luthir Fontaine]

What can I say? I hate crooks and pirates should get charges pressed.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I think one thing the OP is kinda forgetting is that piracy just seems for prevalent on the PC as you have more hard data and closer to the actual numbers. This is because PC pirates are not lazy(no offence to proper console gamers). PC pirates actually go out of their way(relatively speaking) to find a decent virus free torrent and crack. Console pirates get some guy/gal in a back alley to install a chip and then buy games off him/her. This means that for 1 console download it could spawn anywhere between 1-500+ spin off pirate copies that actually make money. At least most PC pirates(that I know) don't actually give money to anyone. I don't really know if that is better but anyway.

OT: Anyway it is pretty simple if you weren't going to buy it no matter how popular it is don't pirate it. If you don't have the money don't pirate it. Also if you don't have the money how the fuck did you get a PC/Console and TV in the first place? No matter what excuse you use for pirating unless you actually intend to buy the game(and even then) still makes it wrong.

Yeah, I've never understood the argument "I would have never payed for it anyway". If you're willing to break the law in order to get something, clearly would would've done anything to get it.

I don't know really it is just one of the arguments to justify. One of the few cases this kinda thing can be ok is if you have a game but lost cd and get a crack or some SNES game because in those old games the batteries are actually starting to die in the cartridges making the save function non-functional. Even at that there are usually rehashes of them on XBLA and PSN(when they get it up) and the Wii one.

 

[zehydra]

And before anyone says that they lose money from pirating; they don't, so don't say "Because it directly harms the industry blah blah blah", because it doesn't. It just causes a loss of a sale that may not have even been a sale to begin with.

The fact is, it might have been a sale. If the person would have bought a game if they hadn't pirated it, it's a lost sale

But that's besides the point. Why should pirates have to pay for something that a team has put a lot of time and effort into creating? Regardless of whether or not they would have bought it, they did not buy it, and therefore are getting a product for free that should have cost them money

A think that a lot of the reason that people dislike pirates is the sense of entitlement. Why should anyone get something for free that others have had to pay for, and that a team has spent a lot of time and effort creating?

I dunno man, I pirate games because I want to see if they're worth buying. Mirror's Edge great example - pirated it, got about a quarter of the way through, and knew I would buy it (have since bought it again but on PS3 for my housemates). Contrastingly, I pirated MW2 and played a few levels, wasn't really impressed so deleted it and never got very far through. I think it's only fair to reward developers, but I don't see why I should have to risk such a large amount of money for something there's a pretty good chance I won't like. All that said, I really don't pirate games much, and where I do, I'm probably more choosy than most people buying their games (I really don't like the idea of buying a bad game, and the conversion rate of pirated-to-bought is over 50% - a figure that also doesn't reflect the sales that companies have garnered from releasing sequels to games I played, enjoyed, and bought, only because I pirated them in the first place.

I'm not sure about the figures but I wouldn't be surprised if new IPs did proportionately better on PCs than on consoles because of this lower barrier to trying them. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if it was the other way round either, I'm not convinced that that many of those giving these IPs a chance would then go on to buy them.

You can always sell the game. It's not THAT big of a monetary risk.

 

[b3nn3tt]

And before anyone says that they lose money from pirating; they don't, so don't say "Because it directly harms the industry blah blah blah", because it doesn't. It just causes a loss of a sale that may not have even been a sale to begin with.

The fact is, it might have been a sale. If the person would have bought a game if they hadn't pirated it, it's a lost sale

But that's besides the point. Why should pirates have to pay for something that a team has put a lot of time and effort into creating? Regardless of whether or not they would have bought it, they did not buy it, and therefore are getting a product for free that should have cost them money

A think that a lot of the reason that people dislike pirates is the sense of entitlement. Why should anyone get something for free that others have had to pay for, and that a team has spent a lot of time and effort creating?

I dunno man, I pirate games because I want to see if they're worth buying. Mirror's Edge great example - pirated it, got about a quarter of the way through, and knew I would buy it (have since bought it again but on PS3 for my housemates). Contrastingly, I pirated MW2 and played a few levels, wasn't really impressed so deleted it and never got very far through. I think it's only fair to reward developers, but I don't see why I should have to risk such a large amount of money for something there's a pretty good chance I won't like. All that said, I really don't pirate games much, and where I do, I'm probably more choosy than most people buying their games (I really don't like the idea of buying a bad game, and the conversion rate of pirated-to-bought is over 50% - a figure that also doesn't reflect the sales that companies have garnered from releasing sequels to games I played, enjoyed, and bought, only because I pirated them in the first place.

I'm not sure about the figures but I wouldn't be surprised if new IPs did proportionately better on PCs than on consoles because of this lower barrier to trying them. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if it was the other way round either, I'm not convinced that that many of those giving these IPs a chance would then go on to buy them.

But many people don't do this. Although I think that game companies could drastically reduce this kind of pirating by releasing much longer demos for games. Say a demo was actually the first 15-20% of a game. That's plenty of time to determine whether or not you're going to enjoy it. If so, go out and buy it. If not, don't

 

[zehydra]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeTybKL1pM4

The problem is, we live in a society where we need to make money to live. If you deny the Gaming industry the right to make money off of its products, then you're essentially killing the industry.

 

[Sikachu]

And before anyone says that they lose money from pirating; they don't, so don't say "Because it directly harms the industry blah blah blah", because it doesn't. It just causes a loss of a sale that may not have even been a sale to begin with.

The fact is, it might have been a sale. If the person would have bought a game if they hadn't pirated it, it's a lost sale

But that's besides the point. Why should pirates have to pay for something that a team has put a lot of time and effort into creating? Regardless of whether or not they would have bought it, they did not buy it, and therefore are getting a product for free that should have cost them money

A think that a lot of the reason that people dislike pirates is the sense of entitlement. Why should anyone get something for free that others have had to pay for, and that a team has spent a lot of time and effort creating?

I dunno man, I pirate games because I want to see if they're worth buying. Mirror's Edge great example - pirated it, got about a quarter of the way through, and knew I would buy it (have since bought it again but on PS3 for my housemates). Contrastingly, I pirated MW2 and played a few levels, wasn't really impressed so deleted it and never got very far through. I think it's only fair to reward developers, but I don't see why I should have to risk such a large amount of money for something there's a pretty good chance I won't like. All that said, I really don't pirate games much, and where I do, I'm probably more choosy than most people buying their games (I really don't like the idea of buying a bad game, and the conversion rate of pirated-to-bought is over 50% - a figure that also doesn't reflect the sales that companies have garnered from releasing sequels to games I played, enjoyed, and bought, only because I pirated them in the first place.

I'm not sure about the figures but I wouldn't be surprised if new IPs did proportionately better on PCs than on consoles because of this lower barrier to trying them. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if it was the other way round either, I'm not convinced that that many of those giving these IPs a chance would then go on to buy them.

But many people don't do this. Although I think that game companies could drastically reduce this kind of pirating by releasing much longer demos for games. Say a demo was actually the first 15-20% of a game. That's plenty of time to determine whether or not you're going to enjoy it. If so, go out and buy it. If not, don't

I wholeheartedly agree with you, and really enjoy Steam's occasional free weekends when they include a game I'm interested in. If that was the state of the industry I think a lot more people would literally never pirate.

 

[Sikachu]

And before anyone says that they lose money from pirating; they don't, so don't say "Because it directly harms the industry blah blah blah", because it doesn't. It just causes a loss of a sale that may not have even been a sale to begin with.

The fact is, it might have been a sale. If the person would have bought a game if they hadn't pirated it, it's a lost sale

But that's besides the point. Why should pirates have to pay for something that a team has put a lot of time and effort into creating? Regardless of whether or not they would have bought it, they did not buy it, and therefore are getting a product for free that should have cost them money

A think that a lot of the reason that people dislike pirates is the sense of entitlement. Why should anyone get something for free that others have had to pay for, and that a team has spent a lot of time and effort creating?

I dunno man, I pirate games because I want to see if they're worth buying. Mirror's Edge great example - pirated it, got about a quarter of the way through, and knew I would buy it (have since bought it again but on PS3 for my housemates). Contrastingly, I pirated MW2 and played a few levels, wasn't really impressed so deleted it and never got very far through. I think it's only fair to reward developers, but I don't see why I should have to risk such a large amount of money for something there's a pretty good chance I won't like. All that said, I really don't pirate games much, and where I do, I'm probably more choosy than most people buying their games (I really don't like the idea of buying a bad game, and the conversion rate of pirated-to-bought is over 50% - a figure that also doesn't reflect the sales that companies have garnered from releasing sequels to games I played, enjoyed, and bought, only because I pirated them in the first place.

I'm not sure about the figures but I wouldn't be surprised if new IPs did proportionately better on PCs than on consoles because of this lower barrier to trying them. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if it was the other way round either, I'm not convinced that that many of those giving these IPs a chance would then go on to buy them.

You can always sell the game. It's not THAT big of a monetary risk.

Sell a PC game? Really?

 

[Luthir Fontaine]

I'm usually almost always against pirating Games. Most of the time it's because they are too lazy to work for enough money to get the game.

What's the opinion on pirating a game that has been banned in your country.
I live in Australia and one of my friends have pirated Mortal Kombat. they were rather shocked to find I was not opposed to this. I feel if it's almost impossible to acquire (you can actually receive a fine for importing that game here from another country -_-") I am willing to make exceptions.

For me this is fine too. If you live in a place that you can not get it legally then by all means jolly rogers.
But other then that just pay for it
You claim you were testing it out bull read reviews, watch clips, talk to friends....like the rest of us
You claim you werent goin to buy it anyway. Bull you stole it so you wanted it

Just pay for the work you are enjoying.

 

[Flare Phoenix]

I think one thing the OP is kinda forgetting is that piracy just seems for prevalent on the PC as you have more hard data and closer to the actual numbers. This is because PC pirates are not lazy(no offence to proper console gamers). PC pirates actually go out of their way(relatively speaking) to find a decent virus free torrent and crack. Console pirates get some guy/gal in a back alley to install a chip and then buy games off him/her. This means that for 1 console download it could spawn anywhere between 1-500+ spin off pirate copies that actually make money. At least most PC pirates(that I know) don't actually give money to anyone. I don't really know if that is better but anyway.

OT: Anyway it is pretty simple if you weren't going to buy it no matter how popular it is don't pirate it. If you don't have the money don't pirate it. Also if you don't have the money how the fuck did you get a PC/Console and TV in the first place? No matter what excuse you use for pirating unless you actually intend to buy the game(and even then) still makes it wrong.

Yeah, I've never understood the argument "I would have never payed for it anyway". If you're willing to break the law in order to get something, clearly would would've done anything to get it.

I don't know really it is just one of the arguments to justify. One of the few cases this kinda thing can be ok is if you have a game but lost cd and get a crack or some SNES game because in those old games the batteries are actually starting to die in the cartridges making the save function non-functional. Even at that there are usually rehashes of them on XBLA and PSN(when they get it up) and the Wii one.

Well I reckon some people are going to start using the PSN hack as an excuse to pirate Playstation games. Honestly, it's not the fact people pirate games that gets to me more than it is the fact those people feel they are justified in pirating the games. I've heard people use the argument that a game brought out by a developer wasn't that good, so that gives them the right to pirate any game the developer brings out regardless of quality (thankfully this is rare, but still scary how some people's mindset works).

 

[bushwhacker2k]

It's pretty much an example of a lack of compromise, the devs/companies want more money so they make DLCs and DRMs to fight against piracy which according to just about everyone I've heard is just annoying and hurts legitimate consumers more than pirates, and the pirates are bothered by prices or the companies themselves, more often the companies probably, as we've already stated if they're in a situation where they can't afford new games then gaming probably won't be #1 on their minds anyway.

I mean we can all point fingers and say one of the groups is totally wrong and the other group is in the right, but both are right and wrong to some extent.

Though of course I just take the lazy middle to make myself feel like I'm neither... Steam

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Well I reckon some people are going to start using the PSN hack as an excuse to pirate Playstation games. Honestly, it's not the fact people pirate games that gets to me more than it is the fact those people feel they are justified in pirating the games. I've heard people use the argument that a game brought out by a developer wasn't that good, so that gives them the right to pirate any game the developer brings out regardless of quality (thankfully this is rare, but still scary how some people's mindset works).

Ah people will use any excuse that justifies pirating as because they aren't taking a physical product they don't see it as wrong or stealing. The only thing about Gaming V other industries is that there are other ways to support them aside from buying a disc like seeing the movie/concert. Games are really only getting this extra boost through in some cases pointless DLC>

 

[McNoobin]

Well because it all started with a few people saying "it's just one loss in sales" but when like over a thousand think the same way, then it's not just "another lost sale" it's much more. And I don't see how anyone can even think that they have a right to pirate. If you don't have enough to afford a video game, what the hell are you doing playing games in the first place?

 

[cthulhumythos]

BECAUSE I NEED TO IMPOSE MY OPINIONS ONTO EVERYONE!!!!!!

also if i buy something and then someone else downloads it for free,don't i get to be angered at the unfairness, or do i just deserve to be called a sap?

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

For the same reason I would care if somebody fucked up a bunch of stuff in my neighborhood. The crackdown will eventually affect me. Piracy directly affected me not buying Assassin's Creed 2 because of the heavy handed DRM requiring online connection. At the time, I didn't want to deal with the fact that my internet was shaky and thus there was a chance I wouldn't be able to play a game because I couldn't touch the net.

So yea, piracy affects the consumer because the actions of the developer against the pirates will eventually affect the honest consumer by assuming they are dishonest from the beginning.

 

[The Random One]

Because I cannot rent Xbox 360 games, the place that used to rent them over the mail like Gamefly went bankrupt, and I can't even find or sell used games at a fair price, because everyone here in Brazil uses pirated games so there's no market for me, who wants to use Live without risking getting banned on every turn. So if you pirate games, you've ruined it for me. jerk.

 

[rupyTN]

Dumb Topic.


Pirating software is a stealing, ergo is a crime.

Why should console players care, it doesn't affect them?

As a comparison for the morally bankrupt: if you steal from my house it's personal (PC gamers to PC gamers), if you steal from my neighbour, so by your argument, I'm not directly affected by your crime, (PC software thieves to console gamers), then I shouldn't care at all, be offended, empathise with the owner for the violation of their rights due to property being stolen etc, ... or, feel that you might then turn your attention to property that is mine or might affect me in the future.


Anyone who would be angered by some toady coward sneaking in to 'somewhere' somehow and stealing their stuff, couldn't support the notion of piracy, (theft by another definition), being okay.

IF you don't get that, then sadly for you, you're just a petty criminal ... who maybe hasn't got the balls, or had the opportunity yet, to rob someone 'for real'.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

The Alan Wake game pretty much panned, yet it was pirated by well over a million people, and I believe Remedy is a relatively small developer. Now they are almost certainly making a sequel, but only just, it was apparently a hard decision, as the game did not sell as well as they had hoped, and since the decision to make a sequel is based on sale numbers, sooner or later some company will make a game that will get the ass pirated off it, won't sell enough copies to gain a sequel, or the sequel won't have much effort put into it as they know it won't turn a large profit. and the consumers will suffer.