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

[Radeonx]

No one should care in the slightest, but people love to be moral asshats and spew their opinions onto others.

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 only reason to care is DRM, and honestly, it isn't that big a deal to handle with it.
DRM isn't that annoying.

How DARE someone think that developers deserve compensation for their work on a game!

The nerve of those people! Developers should give everything away for free!

I never said anything like that, stop twisting my words.
All I'm saying is that piracy isn't as harmful to the developers as people make it out to be, and that everyone bitches way too much and gets on such a moral high ground.

That cut is not as dangerous as an open, gushing wound; therefore nobody should care, as its not as bad as the guy in pain makes it out to be.

Right?

Oh, your genius metaphors never stop coming.
But once again, wrong. I never said they completely shouldn't care, as shown by my other posts, where I just said that the people who don't pirate should stop bitching constantly and acting as if anyone who does pirate is an inferior person.
EDIT: I did say that no one should care in my original post, but I've changed that view since then.

 

[Awexsome]

The only game I have that could be considered a pirated copy is a version of FE:6 (at least I think it is) that's been translated into English. If it's something that you couldn't buy even if you wanted to then I'd call it ok.

But piracy really hurts the integrity of the industry. And if it wasn't for piracy a lot of companies wouldn't go to such extremes to protect their products. Which I believe they're well in their right to do, but it often ends up only hurting the consumer in the long run.

Plus if you look at both extremes it's obvious which would be worse. Everyone pirated or nobody pirated. Ideally we should try to discourage and punish piracy as much as possible. I mean sure pirates aren't a massive problem that's on the verge of ruining the industry tomorrow but they're nothing but a negative force. If we could get rid of every single one tomorrow the games industry would be a much better place.

 

[moretimethansense]

Yes clearly there are times where piracy can be OK, obviously this issue isn't black and white in that sense. But if you pirate with no intention of ever buying, when a game is easily still able to be bought, how can that be justified. Sure you might say but i wouldn't have bought it anyway, but if that's true what gives you the right to play it? If you like a game enough to pirate and play all the way through then damn well buy it. If you pirate a game bay ten minutes of it and decide its shit then delete it. You can't say that they don't deserve the money if you like a game enough to keep it on your computer and play it as much as other people do.

Which is presicly why I now own a copy of The Witcher and have already Pre-ordered The Witcher 2, and before you ask: older PCs had trouble running TW and well... my processor had hyroglyphics on it, nothing an upgrade wouldn't fix, and definately worth the expense.

Another reason people pirate: DRM: I know it seems counter intuitive but many people pirate simply because they don't want to pay for the privalage of being treated like criminals.
Treat a man as though he were a criminal and a criminal he shall become.

There's a glut of games that I'd have paid a large portion of my very limited income to play were it not for the DRM, not that I've pirated them or anything >_>

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Because you are the scapegoat to blame for all the shitty PC ports, if we even get the game.

 

[Vykrel]

No one should care in the slightest, but people love to be moral asshats and spew their opinions onto others.

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.

1. some people find it wrong to steal from hard-working developers. many pirated games are 3-5 years in the making, so i assume they dont appreciate that after all that hard work to bring an excellent and enjoyable gaming experience to their "fans", those "fans" go ahead and steal the game.

2. last year, CoD: Black Ops was pirated on PC over 4,300,000 times. (the console versions were pirated a couple million times as well). at what would normally be $50 for each copy on PC, that comes to over 215 million dollars. yeah, nobody lost any money. youre right. you should stop thinking in terms of "the industry" and start thinking about the developers.

the only reason i can understand pirating is out of protest against an asshole development studio. pirating a game because you wouldnt have bought it anyway is a bullshit excuse. if you dont want it, dont pirate it.

i guarantee that if ANY pirate were to become a member of the gaming, music, or movie industry and were to see the staggering number of pirated games, they would instantly be against it.

 

[OblivionFenix]

Yes clearly there are times where piracy can be OK, obviously this issue isn't black and white in that sense. But if you pirate with no intention of ever buying, when a game is easily still able to be bought, how can that be justified. Sure you might say but i wouldn't have bought it anyway, but if that's true what gives you the right to play it? If you like a game enough to pirate and play all the way through then damn well buy it. If you pirate a game bay ten minutes of it and decide its shit then delete it. You can't say that they don't deserve the money if you like a game enough to keep it on your computer and play it as much as other people do.

Which is presicly why I now own a copy of The Witcher and have already Pre-ordered The Witcher 2, and before you ask: older PCs had trouble running TW and well... my processor had hyroglyphics on it, nothing an upgrade wouldn't fix, and definately worth the expense.

Another reason people pirate: DRM: I know it seems counter intuitive but many people pirate simply because they don't want to pay for the privalage of being treated like criminals.
Treat a man as though he were a criminal and a criminal he shall become.

There's a glut of games that I'd have paid a large portion of my very limited income to play were it not for the DRM, not that I've pirated them or anything >_>

I applaud you for buying the game , and yes i agree DRM sucks. If all pirates were like you, willing to buy after piracy, then I would have no issue. But i seriously doubt that most pirates are like you. As far as I'm concerned most people that pirate or crack their consoles are simply looking to get something for free even though they would probably like the games their stealing enough to buy them.

 

[Merkavar]

well i hate people who pirate games cause they steal sales from the publishers etc so maybe next time they wont bother making a sequel so we all miss out.

imagine if cod got pirated too much that they wouldnt release a sequel. we would all miss out on a carbon copy of the previous game.

 

[jackpipsam]

because there getting something which they haven't earned for and is making games worse and worse

 

[EOD Tech]

Not that my opinion matters at all, BUT...I used to pirate games. Then I played Max Payne 2. One of the best games ever made, and if you disagree then you have no taste. I finished that game (my cracked copy) and immediately went out and bought it. Have done the same ever since.

This is America. We thrive on capitalism. The marketplace. If you want a product, you BUY it. If you hate it, return it and maybe you'll recoup some of your loss; but honestly, if you can't tell whether you'll like something BEFORE you buy it then you're a moron. I haven't seen a movie I hated in probably ten years because I do my homework. Ditto reading a book. Ditto playing a game. The point is, capitalism. Great producers keep making great products SOLELY because of greed. So: give them your money (that is, DO NOT pirate and actually BUY games) and get more great games. If that "feels" wrong to you, then screw you, you smelly commie.

 

[FatherSpleen]

Game devs need to eat, too!

 

[Arsen]

A good amount of retailers won't allow you to return games you've tried and have had no luck in fulfilling your needs. Guess what? It makes for a point in the Pirate's Corner. Just because "it can be copied" isn't an overall excuse to not give me my money back just because others might steal or pirate the game.

Also, the gaming industry has been, as of late, hijacked by titles that overly trying to compete with each other in terms of being multi-million (sometimes billion dollar) companies. Valve, Blizzard, Square-Enix, etc. They care more about the graphical settings within most games, what's compatible to which High Definition Screen, and many other essentials that gaming has missed since around the mid 90's. Not to mention that there isn't much mainsteam, creative competition these days from other companies who deserve to have a greater chance than the ignorant first person shooter.

Another thing that comes to mind is the overall product I am paying for. There's barely any reason for me to pay full price for a product, that can be inferior to it's predecessor (which the company seemed to pour their creative heart and soul into), when it isn't worth that much just because they need to pay certain people for their overpriced hourly wages. Modern technology is not a reason to add to the price tag. This is the reason to this very I haven't owned a PS3. Then there is the games themselves, which lack for the most part.

For instance, Final Fantasy 13. The story didn't have the quality of the previous installments, was only worthy in terms of being a random combat engine, and basically didn't live up to the $49.99 price tag on graphics and game design alone. The story component was missing.

I thought the band Radiohead did something ingenuius several years back. They allowed customers to decide what they wanted to pay for the in terms of the album, In Rainbows, quality. It was a genuine step in the right direction for an artist to directly show appreciation and care towards their fans. It also showed a willingness to accept modern standards and conventions for the times.

Even then, it's the videogame industry's job to make sure I the consumer obtain a superior product. If the product is over-rated, not worth the overall price tag because of certain lacking features, then guess what? Morally speaking I could just download it, send them a $20.00 "donation check", and I'd be guilt free forever.

What am I saying, in the end? That I the customer should have the right to determine for myself whether or not I have made the moral decision.

And guess what? I don't even pirate. Everything was just hypothetical, and here I am feeling better that in this scenario I didn't pay extra for content and quality that doesn't exist within the game. Give me a bad product, I will give you a negative response.

Treat the consumer the way you as the company wish to be treated.

Edit - I didn't even go into the multitude of games which are just rehashed versions of previous titles, copies, etc. Take risks instead of wanting the Halo Gold.

 

[nomzy]

Well it would he hypocritical for me to care about other people pirating games. So no, I don't care.
What I do in my free time isn't exactly anyone else's business, nor should it be.

 

[Radeonx]

2. last year, CoD: Black Ops was pirated on PC over 4,300,000 times. (the console versions were pirated a couple million times as well). at what would normally be $50 for each copy on PC, that comes to over 215 million dollars. yeah, nobody lost any money. youre right. you should stop thinking in terms of "the industry" and start thinking about the developers.

Pirating doesn't cause a direct loss of money, though. Only potential sales. It is still wrong to take potential sales, but I guarantee you that not all of that 215 million was going to be spent on CoD if it wasn't a pirateable game.
When you combine that with the pirates telling their friends to buy the game or not, it doesn't make it as bad as people seem to think it is.
It is still bad, though, so don't get me wrong on that point.

 

[moretimethansense]

I applaud you for buying the game , and yes i agree DRM sucks. If all pirates were like you, willing to buy after piracy, then I would have no issue. But i seriously doubt that most pirates are like you. As far as I'm concerned most people that pirate or crack their consoles are simply looking to get something for free even though they would probably like the games their stealing enough to buy them.

Oh undoubtably, you'd never be able to convince me that more than 20% of those that pirate buy every game they've enjoyed (even that's a rather generous figure) but frankly most games that are pirated would not have been bought even if piracy was impossible, either because people don't have the money, or they are unwilling to risk wasteing good money on something they may not enjoy or even use.

EG: I pirated the entire collection of 40k sourcebooks simply because I was in no way, shape or form willing to pay hundered of pounds to pick an army that I'd have the privalage of paying several hundered more pounds to build a compatent army for.
And yes, once I'd puck an army I did buy the book, lugging around my desktop to every battle would've been too much work

 

[Nieroshai]

You realize the only genuine difference between consoles and PC is the control interface anymore, right? Also, any situation where a copy of a product has not been bought from the producer initially is theft of intellectual property.

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

Okay, let's look at it this way:
I walk over to my friends house. He's got a new game, so I'll ask if I can try it out...

Option 1: After playing a while I decide to buy the game and own it myself.

Option 2: After playing a while I decide this isn't worth my money.

And the other way:
I find some random torrent side and download a game...

Option 1: After playing a while I decide to buy the game and own it myself.

Option 2: After playing a while I decide this game is utter shit and isn't worth my money.

What's the damn difference?

I can't believe none of you haven't tried a friends game and decided to buy it or drop it.

Third Option is my way: I don't care what people do... You want to pirate a game? Go for it...
I wouldn't have bought 90% of my games If I hadn't downloaded and tested it first..

Rant over...

 

[Vykrel]

2. last year, CoD: Black Ops was pirated on PC over 4,300,000 times. (the console versions were pirated a couple million times as well). at what would normally be $50 for each copy on PC, that comes to over 215 million dollars. yeah, nobody lost any money. youre right. you should stop thinking in terms of "the industry" and start thinking about the developers.

Pirating doesn't cause a direct loss of money, though. Only potential sales. It is still wrong to take potential sales, but I guarantee you that not all of that 215 million was going to be spent on CoD if it wasn't a pirateable game.
When you combine that with the pirates telling their friends to buy the game or not, it doesn't make it as bad as people seem to think it is.
It is still bad, though, so don't get me wrong on that point.

well, ya... not all of the downloads would have been actual sales... but its complete bullshit for someone to pirate a game and play through the whole thing when they supposedly werent want to buy it to begin with

 

[OblivionFenix]

I applaud you for buying the game , and yes i agree DRM sucks. If all pirates were like you, willing to buy after piracy, then I would have no issue. But i seriously doubt that most pirates are like you. As far as I'm concerned most people that pirate or crack their consoles are simply looking to get something for free even though they would probably like the games their stealing enough to buy them.

Oh undoubtably, you'd never be able to convince me that more than 20% of those that pirate buy every game they've enjoyed (even that's a rather generous figure) but frankly most games that are pirated would not have been bought even if piracy was impossible, either because people don't have the money, or they are unwilling to risk wasteing good money on something they may not enjoy or even use.

EG: I pirated the entire collection of 40k sourcebooks simply because I was in no way, shape or form willing to pay hundered of pounds to pick an army that I'd have the privalage of paying several hundered more pounds to build a compatent army for.
And yes, once I'd puck an army I did buy the book, lugging around my desktop to every battle would've been too much work

I find that tough to swallow. Every friend i have that has a ds with an r4 cartridge uses it to get games like pokemon black, the world ends with you, bowser's inside story and the list goes on. These are AAA titles that sell everyday. Heck last month most of my friends got dragon age 2 through piracy, and i've seen plenty of other people playing games like mass effect 1 and 2, crysis 2, battlefield BC 2 all though pirated means. Saying these games wouldn't sell is just bullshit. The only title ive heard being actually paid for by them is Portal 2...If that is peoples excuse it is unjustifiable.

You cant seriously tell me that the games that get pirated the most are games that wouldn't sell. People pirate games that are good not cheap crap they dont want to pay for

 

[mjc0961]

Okay, let's look at it this way:
I walk over to my friends house. He's got a new game, so I'll ask if I can try it out...

Option 1: After playing a while I decide to buy the game and own it myself.

Option 2: After playing a while I decide this isn't worth my money.

And the other way:
I find some random torrent side and download a game...

Option 1: After playing a while I decide to buy the game and own it myself.

Option 2: After playing a while I decide this game is utter shit and isn't worth my money.

What's the damn difference?

That you're actually willing to go out and buy the game if you enjoy it, whereas some people are just going to say "I already have the full copy for free, why bother buying it?"

And you could still be caught and be in trouble if you get caught trying it the torrent way rather than the "go to a friends' house" way, but if that's a risk you're willing to take, fine.