I don't think either side is scum. Some people pirate and some people don't. If people are pirating so much it actually causes damage, something will be done about it. Otherwise I don't really care.
As said, with ridiculously old games which have sometimes gone up much higher in price, it doesn't really matter if you pirate it. More likely than not that cheddar isn't making its way back to the creator and is instead just lining the pockets of someone who happens to own the game and doesn't want it anymore, but know it's worth a pretty penny.
Pirating brand new stuff, especially from the "little guy", is just a giant assholeish thing to do over all imo though.
Yeah, stealing from indepent/really small companies is really lame, because that can make a difference to them.
For a company like, EA, a few people won't matter, they're large enough so the profits will be covered. But homebrew companies need that cheddar to run.
So pirate responsibly, kids.
[5:06:23 PM] Yeili: this is kind of cool, i've beaten a murderer in mario party.
Crush Bandicoot wrote:Waaah, my one purchase is sure tearing down the game company.
but imagine all the people who think "one game won't count". it builds up, fast.
Except it doesn't, since most game companies make sure that they have the "casuals" lined up. What do they care in the long run, Casuals are a bigger cheddar pool than the downloaders who are mostly hardcore, and even then most are so uppity that they'd rather just not touch/look at art if it might be something different.
Ugh, I really want Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Memory hanging in my home, but I don't want to buy the portrait or the cheaper rollout poster version. And he doesn't exactly make more of these, so what should I do? I also don't want to buy some used version at a garage sale or thrift art shop--they're notorious for vomiting over and then lighting the products on fire. Guys, what should I do? How do I procure media without having to pay?
Crush Bandicoot wrote:Waaah, my one purchase is sure tearing down the game company.
but imagine all the people who think "one game won't count". it builds up, fast.
Except it doesn't, since most game companies make sure that they have the "casuals" lined up. What do they care in the long run, Casuals are a bigger cheddar pool than the downloaders who are mostly hardcore, and even then most are so uppity that they'd rather just not touch/look at art if it might be something different.
Actually, I got Empire Earth II, lost the serial key after uninstalling it and then copied down the key from my friend's copy so i suppose that's cheating
My thoughts on pirating videogames. Plasma can call it "bullcrap to justify" or not, I don't really care. This is the reality of how it works.
1. I buy around 4-5 videogames a month.
2. Any videogame I really want I buy.
3. I'll pirate games that cannot be bought anymore new (AKA, not current Generation)
4. I'll pirate any game that I'm like "Meh, whatever, doesn't look good enough to spend cheddar on"
5. If it turns out I really liked it, yay, I'll actually buy it because I want it to be a part of my collection.
*shrug* In example. A few years ago I pirated Megaman Battle Network (the first game). I ended up giving Capcom $175 from buying several games in the series that I would not have otherwise bought, because I did not originally think it was good enough to be worth buying.
In the long run, pirating doesn't hurt companies, because the people who pirate either...
A. Don't buy videogames ever.
B. Buy videogames, but wasn't going to buy that game anyway.
C. Often get hooked on a series and will go out and buy other games in the series after they pirate one of them.
D. The game was out of circulation, and thus has zero affect on profit.
It's also worthy to keep in mind that in general, most brand new games cannot be pirated, and that (with a few exceptions) a game has to be several years old before piracy technology catches up with the games. Once again, not affecting company profits because by that time the game is out of circulation. There are exceptions, usually in computer games, but by large that is a simple fact. And when talking computer games, pirates cannot use multiplayer services, which you quickly realize is what you are actually buying when you pick up that computer game box.
Hell, to use an example, there is no such thing as pirating World of Mormoncraft. You can download the game for free off of Blizzard's website. What you purchase in the box is an "account," the game is just thrown in for free. And without purchasing the account, you can't play the multiplayer service.
Last edited by Karilyn on Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:25 pm, edited 8 times in total.
I'm not soulless. I have plenty of souls. They're just not mine.
[img]http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/9691/signature3final.png[/img]
I wouldn't go as far to say that piracy doesn't "hurt" companies.
Because lets face it, most people that pirate games don't end up buying them. I usually snag up games at LAN parties and will buy them down the road if I like them. I have a huge binder full of my collection of PC games, not to mention all of the games I own from digital distribution between steam, GOG, Direct2Drive, and soforth.
Some people pirate and some people don't. If people are pirating so much it actually causes damage, something will be done about it. Otherwise I don't really care.
