Why do people think it's ok to pirate games?

[lacktheknack]

1. Because the game is poorly reviewed and it's not worth paying for
2. It's from Electronic Arts
3. It's a very old game
4. You can't find it anywhere

1. Then why would you play it?
2. So what? EA has been very nice recently.
3. If they stop making money off of it, they will release it for free themselves (abandonware). You've waited this long, wait a bit longer.
4. Amazon + Ebay + Newegg = EVERYTHING.

 

[Schneizel]

@ topic question:

Because not everyone shares your values.

There's also that libraries have been allowing people to "pirate" books for millennia.

There's also that for decades, people have been recording movies for free with their VHS and DVD players.

 

[mykalwane]

Well I think it is ok, because it has lead me to purchase said games. There is a good chunk of games I wouldn't of bought if I didn't download them first to cheek out.

 

[infinity_turtles]

I believe the argument he was trying to make is that you're simplifying people's answers. Anything can be boiled down to "because I want to". If that's how you're looking at everyone's argument, chances are there's something wrong with the way you're perceiving them.

 

[Shadeovblack]

I laugh at your pathetic morality.

 

[lacktheknack]

There are 2 good reasons:
A) The devs/publisher are asses and therefor deserve it (Ubisoft, Acitivion, whoever is making Crysis 2), or
B) You can't find it anywhere.

Again, you can always find it on Amazon, EBay, or Newegg.

And ooooh, the vigilante, bravely sticking it to the man, based off of his own bizarre method of reasoning/moral code that I have difficulty figuring out (What did Crytek do to you?). Makes me sickish.

 

[Auric]

Well, its a crime, probably one of the many reasons games are so horribly overpriced in many instances, and the list goes on.

But its technically a victimless crime. If they can justify it by saying that they wouldnt get it anyway if they couldnt pirate it, then the developer hasent actually lost any money.

 

[Signa]

One example being Spore

Gah I think I am the only person who paid money for that thing, and now I can't uninstall it because I don't want to eat up the limited installs.

I'm 99.9% positive that EA, for fear of a lawsuit, released a revoke tool. I know I got one for Mass Effect which came out around the same time.

 

[Giest4life]

I really don't give a crap about right and wrong--partly because it doesn't exist--but I do see an economic disincentive for pirating games. I'm sure a lot of first time developers or low start-up capital studios go under because they just can't sell their game. Piracy is not really wrong, but if we expect to develop a vibrant and prosperous gaming community, piracy will have to go--or at least curbed to negligible levels.

 

[Cody211282]

If you're expecting a good reason for it, you're in for a long wait. Petty crimes are largely perpetrated on pathetic lack of rationale and casual ease. Doesn't help the situation much that a company attempting to take legal action on an individual will wind up costing them more than the product being stolen.

yep I have yet to see an argument that isn't just "because I want it".

Your very existence is a constant drain of resources from all of those around you. Your formative years cost your parents upwards of $200,000, not counting your college education (if you have one).

What argument beyond, "because I want to" do you have for continuing to live?

Well I'm self sufficient, I pay my own way for college including housing, books, food, everything, from when I got a job to when I moved out I payed my parents rent, I know I can't ever pay them back completely until they get old and I have to start taking care of them. And your argument makes no sense you don't need games to live.

So your only argument for continuing to live is, "Because I want to."

And I refuse to die before making this place just a little better. Also you never said how your "because I want to argument" is a relevant excuse for pirating games, your avoiding answering and dancing around the subject like first year debate.

 

[RadicalDreamer90]

I can probably say I fall into the pirating category kinda sorta, but only slightly. I think I read somewhere that if you actually "owned" the game that getting the emulator and iso for it was kind of like an extension. Since I've long since lost some of those old PS1 titles I found it quiet convenient to just snag them from the nearest Google search. Besides when your emulating games as old as the snes its about all you can do to actually see those games again. If you don't have systems like the genesis or atari now, your going to have to go through a hassle to actually get it 6 generations later. So though I find pirating new games as bad, older games that I at least owned at one point, I'm completely for.

 

[joshthor]

because everyone else is doing it - because they dont have money for games - because they want to play the games - because they wont get caught.

 

[Giest4life]

Well if he has a "moral code" he is delusional. Morals, are a childish fancy.

 

[Cody211282]

snip

But the problem is your not just looking at the game and trying the best you can to re make it, your taking a copy of the code they worked on, thus stealing.

 

[twasdfzxcv]

Well pirating is like moonshine during the prohibition. People has been doing it before, the law changed to being unreasonable, people still doing it after that.

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

There is only one game I don't mind anyone pirating.

Poke'mon Crystal.

Basically, the internal battery of all Crystal Version cartridges eventually die, rendering it impossible to save your game. I wish the guy behind the counter at Slackers had told me that before I bought it three times for $20 each.

Otherwise, you're forcing the publishers to come out with crap like DRM, which makes all of us suffer.

 

[Cody211282]

One example being Spore

Gah I think I am the only person who paid money for that thing, and now I can't uninstall it because I don't want to eat up the limited installs.

I'm 99.9% positive that EA, for fear of a lawsuit, released a revoke tool. I know I got one for Mass Effect which came out around the same time.

Ah I heard about the Mass Effect one but not for Spore, well that's good to know thanks.

 

[Orcus The Ultimate]

This is what happens when a bad crappy game get's released (works also for DRM and DLC):

gamers=puppy

if there only was a regulatory hose / entity, that made rules for gaming companies... so that they don't overdue with stupidity in their free time...