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

[GBlair88]

I don't approve of stealing and I hate the 'I steal games because of DRM' arguement. It just ends up becoming a vicious cycle of pirating a game to avoid DRM so companies up the DRM to stop games being pirated, which causes the games to be pirated more, which ups the DRM and blah blah blah.

If there is no other way of getting the game or a demo then ok I can understand that, even if I don't approve of it. Providing you buy the game after trying and liking the 'demo'.

 

[sheogoraththemad]

I don't like piracy either, but charging 70 euro(my country's currency) for a game is also criminally expensive either.
and I have for about 1050 euro of games in my possession so don't tell me I never bought a game

 

[Citrus]

Here's my good reason for pirating a game:

I drove to three different stores looking for Age of Mythology and none of them had it, I don't have a credit card so I couldn't buy it online, and I'd already wasted about $20 in gas looking for it. Furthermore, Ensemble Studios doesn't even exist anymore so the $9 it would have cost me wouldn't have gone to anybody who deserves it. So I pirated the game.

I challenge anybody to try to make me feel guilty about that.

 

[Ewyx]

While morally and ethically unjustifiable, it bears mentioning that the reason pirating is so common is because it's done in the privacy of ones computer with relatively no risk. They don't have to explain themselves to anyone, and there's no one to try and stop them in any serious way.

Meh, same shit as buying used stuff, why do you think zero day DLC and limited installs is becoming popular? So you can't resell games or at least motivate people to buy legal games instead. Piracy is a legal issue first, a moral and ethical second. The industry sees both things as part of the same issue, they're loosing sales to piracy and second hand sales, the only thing that differs is, that they can't say second hand sale is wrong. Though with the fact that you're not buying a game but borrowing it as far as licensing goes... that probably might change.

But why do I think it's ok? Well it's not. I'd love to support the devs, but for the most part, I can't afford games. Drop them to 20E after a few months they've been out, and I'll gladly support the developers. Keep the insane 60E price tag when they're released, but don't make me wait 2 years before you decide to drop the price. The industry needs a better business model anyway.

What I'm trying to say, the issue isn't as clear cut as you're presenting it that's all.


p.s. Seriously? Is this community stuck in a loop? I swear to god I've seen this discussion about 20 times, and it never gets anywhere...

 

[KingTiger]

While I'll agree that they have no right to the game, the rest I'll discuss.

You are assuming that the law is absolute and correct in all things. It isn't, hasn't been and likely never will be.

You are also assuming that "getting a better job and improving your living situation" is an easy thing to do. Again, it isn't.

Having money doesn't mean deserving. How is any child that is bought something by their parents, or buys something with money gotten from their parents, deserving of what they get? I know some royal cunts that have money coming out their arse, while some pure legends have very little.

Also, while I'm not saying that this is true for @KingTiger, someone who has a lower standard of living surely needs the entertainment more than those who have money to burn, and therefore it'd be morally wrong of us to deny them their pirating of games which, as I said in my previous post, makes absolutely no difference to the producer of the game, or anyone at all.

This is all in reference to those that can't afford the games. For those that can and still pirate, I have no respect for and feel that they should be held accountable for their actions.

Edit: I've bungled the quotes somehow, I think it's sorted but pshhh.

Good argument. Atleast you are reasonable, the thread maker is all "PIRACY IS WRONG GRR UNLAWFUL" without taking into account conditions of the person or the reasons you had listed :/

reminds me of that crazy religious that I met once, He was all "YAAR HAAR KILL THE INFIDELS!! ALL INFIDELS! Celebrate Their DEATHS!! I am RIGHT! you are WRONG LISTEN TO ME, You ARE BEING IMMORAL by not doing what I say! JIIIIHAAAAD, you dont kill them?? YOU ARE IMMORAL! ALLAH DAMN IT!" He did remind of of the GLA in command and conquer generals :3 good times

@Cody211282
Piracy might be immoral to you, but moral to others. Just like that nutjob finds it moral to go "YAY DEAD AMERICANS"...hehehe but he was so funny.

Although I do promise you once I make enough money I will buy the games for the developers that I like

 

[brumley53]

I pirate because im 14 and in australia i legally cant get a job but when i do i will buy games and i will stop pirating and possibly buy games i had previously pirated.

 

[Crossborder]

I'ts hard enough for me to save money for a decent gaming PC. The one I use now is getting old. I haven't bought anything above ?10 for 6 months, and I still don't have enough. I can hardly play the 5 games I pirated.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Pirating puts developers and publishers in their places. Simple.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

If you happen to live in a country where a game is banned then its ok to pirate it, since the company isn't selling it there they aren't losing any money. Or if content were stripped to make it legal, but its only ok if you bought the stripped version and wanted to experience the full game. Or if you pirate a game because its local release was set back several months, its ok to pirate if you intend to get it later.

Generally I dont think its ok to pirate if you can legally afford it, but if you get a copy of a cracked version of a game where the company put some ridiculous permenant-internet-connection-required-to-play style DRM then its ok to pirate it because if you buy it you should be able to play it whenever you want to not whenever your able to.

 

[Mister Shades]

I have been tempted to start pirating because I'm tired of being bullied by these fat cat companies. With one breath they tell you that you basically have no consumer rights, and with the next they cry about piracy. By opinion: fuck them.

 

[SextusMaximus]

My copy of Oblivion Knights of the Nine broke, I figured that they already had enough money, and I shouldn't have to have payed it again.

 

[bluepilot]

I have never pirated a game, mostly because I do not know how, there is no moral high ground here.

I think that people like to pirate the games that you cannot buy anymore.

It is kind of unfair how the game industry brings out new systems that will not play the old games. I really admire nintendo because they allow you to play gamecube games on the wii and re-release old titles. However there are some old N64 games that I miss and would pirate if I could.

The argument of `too expensive` is kind of weak. I can admit that 50 dollars or so is too much money, but if you wait a few months you can get it second hand for cheaper.

The second-hand game industry is also kind of frowned upon, as well as borrowing games.

Plus if you really want to `try before you buy` there is rental.

 

[Code Monkey]

They don't think it's "o.k", they just want games, and don't want to pay for them. I doubt many pirates make up some excuse about what they're doing. They either ignore the fact that what they're doing is stealing, or they don't care.

 

[Rayansaki]

If you weren't gonna buy the game anyway, they didn't really lose any money from you pirating it.

I have a budget of around 75~100? per month for entertainment, that includes games and movies. I spend it every month, and then if there is more stuff I want to see I'll pirate it. I wasn't gonna buy it anyway, because I didn't have money for it, and if I like it, it's possible that I'll buy a sequel or spinoff or something like that, so developer's didn't actually lose anything from it, and got some publicity.

I don't see it as an excuse, because I don't think piracy needs to be excused anyway. It's like if you buy a replica of a famous painting. You aren't paying millions of dollars for the real thing but getting a free/cheaper copy of it. Same thing as piracy.

As for crappy DRM like ubisoft, if I hadn't bought the PS3 version and was waiting for the PC version and was greeted with the new bullshit DRM they employed, I would have totally pirated it instead.

 

[Loonerinoes]

Some people have a very different ideology about intellectual property than the mainsteam.

"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it."

- John Lennon

This is very similar to how I view music, speaking from the perspective of a somewhat less famous (completely unknown) musician.

This ideology can also be applied to games.

Pretty much this.

Granted it can be used as an excuse, but then again - what argument can't be used as an excuse? But quite frankly I find this to be the best reason of all. The future comes and some people prefer to be happy consumers while others prefer to embrace it. All the more power to both I say and screw the politics.

 

[Pyotr Romanov]

My other reason is because these greedy ass companies and artists REALLY need to learn that their assholes are NOT lined with gold, and they don't need to make millions of dollars a year so they can buy the moon, or enough cocaine to give them a heart attack, especially when the economy is in shambles.

That's my opinion, anyway...

Funny thing is, they DO need to make millions of dollars a year, otherwise they won't be able to make new games, which usually cost quite a bit more than 'a few' millions.