What is Digg?681 Comments
- biergutlol, on 08/11/2008, -11/+363When i was reading the headline i seriously thought he was making a game about pirates and asked real life ones about their motivation to board ships and rob people.
- samard2002, on 08/11/2008, -34/+344In his survey, he will get one of five canned ***** answers:
1. Piracy actually helps developers because it promotes their game and people are just "trying before they buy". The moment they like the game, they immediately stop playing and go buy the game.
2. Piracy does not affect the bottom line of companies, because the people who pirate would not buy the game anyway. Sure, game playing is one of their main hobbies and how they spend most of their free time, but they would not have bought it anyway.
3. Most games are crap and suck. That's why pirates spend time searching for the game, a day downloading the game and dozens of hours playing the game. Because it sucks. It's also the main reason why the big, crap titles are also the most pirated.
4. Because software companies don't reward the true artist fairly. The barely pay them for their work. So pirates download it to make sure the artists don't get anything. And to give companies more ammunition why developers can not be paid more.
5. Because games are too expensive and pirates can't afford it. Why should a person pay $60 for something they are only going to play for 80-100 hours? That's like 80 cents an hour!
In his survey, he will not get the one true answer:
1. Because it's free and they can, therefore they will. The simple fact is that the morality of most people is simply held in check by what they are able or unable to do. They have the ability to pirate games, so they do. It's sad, but it's reality. People have no shame on this issue. - blackrage, on 08/11/2008, -41/+322Um...because I can.
Plus 98% of games suck.
But don't get me wrong...I'll buy a game if it is quality.
Games I've gone out of my way to pay for:
The Orange Box
Bioshock
Cod4
DodS
City of Villans
Civ4
...and maybe 10 others.
Games I've played 10 minutes of, then never touched again:
TOO MANY TO COUNT - lukemeister, on 08/11/2008, -14/+115Nothing wrong with going up against piracy of games. It sucks if somebody doesn't pay for something that they should, and it happens, so why should it be a bad thing to call out those who rip of software developers?
- inactive, on 08/11/2008, -23/+121The whole "because most games suck!" argument is such a cop out answer. Try the demo.
The reason we pirate is because we are ***** who don't feel like paying money for something we can get for free (illegal or not). In short, we're all cheap ***** and we don't have a reasonable defense. You can all try to deny this or make up excuses, but I'm going to be honest. We do it simply because we can. - sockpuppets, on 08/11/2008, -3/+100I pirate because my parrot tells me to.
- Varz, on 08/11/2008, -10/+80Exactly, I'm really glad you went to the trouble of listing the ***** justifications people make. It is all about getting something for free, that's all there is to it. There may be a couple of benefits (like making the game more popular) but they're unintended, but they're not the reason why people actually pirate the game.
- Ismith988, on 08/11/2008, -1/+54just to see if Crysis actually worked.
UPDATE! it doesn't. - SmartedPanda, on 08/11/2008, -10/+601. We're Broke/Cheap.
2. Want a Challenge?
3. Hate big corp? Linux/Free Community supporter-type.
4. Read one, over and over. - Meowfaceman, on 08/11/2008, -3/+53How do you know it sucks if you've never played it?
- bromac, on 08/11/2008, -2/+49Occasionally I "pirate" games that I have already bought because the CD's are scratched up or have taken a walk. More recently, the CD rom drive on my laptop stopped working, so the only way to install some games was to download copies.
Of course, whether or not I was actually "pirating", since I do own licenses, is debatable, but the truth is that there may be exceptions to your "everyone's a freeloader" brush.
Though I do agree, most people are just cheap freeloaders. - Loonacy, on 08/11/2008, -4/+51There are other reasons.
Convenience: I've never pirated anything that's available on Steam, and if it's good i'll buy it later.
Prereleases: There's no way you can buy it when it's not out yet, and it's just too tempting to get it before the release date.
Starforce: I won't buy it. - ZeeZee2k, on 08/11/2008, -0/+46that game was fun.
- AmyVernon, on 08/11/2008, -3/+47aaarrrrrghhhhh!
- NuttySquirrel, on 08/11/2008, -7/+50Here's one good reason, which relates to #3: because buying a game is a risk, and "pirating it" is much less of one. If you buy pants that are the wrong size, you take them back. If you buy a keyboard and it sucks, you can take it back. If you buy a bedroom set and you don't like it, you take it back. If you buy a game, and it sucks, doesn't run on your computer, crashes every 15 seconds, you have no recourse except to hope the game developers patch it. You lose your $50-$60 no matter what. If you "acquire" a copy to try first hand without the initial investment, you're playing it much safer. Let's face it: most companies that put out, for example, movie-themed games do it because they can sucker a whole bunch of people into buying it completely on the name, and once it's sold, it's sold, there is no taking it back.
- zarcu, on 08/11/2008, -5/+44One Christmas I got a few hundred dollars and spent it all on games. Out of all those games I bought (used cheap games) I kept but one. The rest I traded in for less then a third I paid for the. (I bought probably twenty games)
- atomicpoet, on 08/11/2008, -19/+58I have my own good reason to pirate games. It was 2004. Mickey McGoolahan programmed a video game involving my mom. Then he released it on the internet and made $10 000 from it. Ever since then I realized game developers are bad apples. They laugh it me in my sleep. Since then, I pirate all my games.
- inactive, on 08/11/2008, -5/+43I pirate games and donate it to starving children in third world countries.
- LMN8R, on 08/11/2008, -6/+43Pirates exist because piracy is easy, plain and simple. These are jackasses who don't give a ***** about the industry, and the same jackasses who will go on to complain about how games supposedly suck these days or are getting consolized to hell and back.
Plainly and simply, for most games, there's a demo you can download, and for the rest, you can talk to others who bought it and see how it runs, see if it's your cup of tea. Yeah, there are always people who say they download it first to see if they like it and if they do, they'll buy it, but that's just utter ***** most of the time.
The thing is, however, that developers/publishers need to take their heads out of their collective asses and realize that buying games needs to be *EASIER* than pirating it. This is exactly why Steam works. I enter my credit card or paypal information, it downloads, I play. Done. Automatic patching, no boxes cluttering up my desk or closet, no CD keys to remember or store with the discs, nothing like that.
Pirating suddenly doesn't look so hot when it's a pain in the ass to manually download patches and then cracks for those patches, only to find out you screwed something up along the way and have to do it all over again.
But in the meantime, pirates are still douchebags who try to justify their way out of everything. - MadOgre, on 08/11/2008, -2/+38Come on. Just take this guy on a walk through any store that sells PC games. Have him pick up a couple games and guess which one doesn't suck for that 60 bucks.
- OgonGuitarist, on 08/11/2008, -1/+36Time to move out of the house!
- sockpuppets, on 08/11/2008, -0/+33It's a grammar parrot. You've angered him.
- Thater, on 08/11/2008, -1/+33I played that game, your mom was amazing... If it's any consolation I grabbed it of pirate bay.
- AzureRise, on 08/11/2008, -5/+37I played a game with your mom. It didn't involve video games though. Or clothes.
- mikedub1219, on 08/11/2008, -8/+35because its free
- sjmulder, on 08/11/2008, -5/+30"A bad story, repetitive gameplay elements, and poor AI lead to the downfall of one of the more promising games in recent memory. Assassin's Creed could have been one of the great games of this generation. Instead, it turned into just another action title."
–IGN
Took me a lot less time to find and read this than it took you downloading and installing the game. - inactive, on 08/11/2008, -1/+24Maybe you should pirate the English version of Rosetta Stone.
http://www.rosettastone.com/personal/languages/eng ...
I'm pretty sure it's on tpb. - atomicpoet, on 08/11/2008, -1/+24Then that makes it okay.
- NecroSexy, on 08/11/2008, -2/+24He's negotiating with terrorists!
- chadszinow, on 08/11/2008, -2/+24How are you going to make it right in the eyes of your Lord then? You've defied and lied to your parents and also ripped off game developers. BUSTED!
- se1zure, on 08/11/2008, -5/+26I think the honest best solution is to let people download and begin the game for free, and link it to their paypal. If they play a level and want to unlock the next, charge them a dollar. And by the time they finish the game, then they will have paid the full $25 or $50 or whatever. that way they pay for what they play. if the game goes bad half way through, they can forget the rest and know they have only spent money on the portion they enjoyed.
- bennovw, on 08/11/2008, -6/+26I am only planning on buying one PC game this year... and it will be Starcraft II. If I like a game(or a series) I will pull out the cash without arguing!
- UtahApocalyse, on 08/11/2008, -2/+22There was a new PC game out that I was interested in. The specs showed that my PC *should* meet the requirements. However one part mentioned very specific video cards needed. The game was almost $50 and the store has as No software return policy.
I decided not to buy the game just yet. i went home looked up the game site for better details, and it was only the same I had seen in the store. I checked for a demo... none. I googled for a demo.... none.
It was at that time I searched for a bit torrent, downloaded, installed, and ran a "crack" file to allow the game to run with no CD or serial number. I fired up the game, and it loaded.... But the graphics could not be sized correctly. I could only view half the screen, and could not access any graphic settings. I determined that it was likely do to the graphics card not supporting a widescreen mode. The game would not function on my PC.
So was I wrong to sample the game before buying? I tried to find a legal method of a demo, the company however did not provide one. Should I have wasted $50 on something I would not be able to use or return? I feel that with so many PC types, game requirements that you need to have a way to check anything you will want to run on a system before spending the money on it. - Ellipsys, on 08/11/2008, -17/+36Why do you call the first 5 ***** answers? With the exception of number 5 (Come on, most games aren't even 10-20 hours of play time, much less 80-100) I think they're all very valid. When companies like Stardock and S2 Games listen to gamers when they say "Price it fairly, make it for multiple OSes, no ***** copy protection etc", they are rewarded by sales. Could I pirate Savage 2 or Sins of a Solar Empire? Easily! However, will I? No. I respect those developers and how they reach out to the community? Will I pirate the latest $50+ EA title that requires a product key, a "launcher" and the CD in the drive, to see if its a ***** or not? Yes. I won't feel bad about it either.
- herrshuster, on 08/11/2008, -7/+26For me, honestly it's a little different. I just turned 18, still live with my parents and they won't allow me to buy first-person shooters. (Why yes my family is conservative Christian, why do you ask) so I pirate games and play them till I'm bored. I like others will buy good games when I move out next year
- theclaw1, on 08/11/2008, -3/+22DRM encourages pirates, the exact opposite effect of why companies include it. I've noticed the games with little or no protection sell very well.
- inactive, on 08/11/2008, -0/+19When they come back from somewhere be in the living room playing CoD4, jacking off, and yelling "I'm going to vote for Obama"!
- frozen1, on 08/11/2008, -7/+26There is a fundamental, philosophical, problem with the traditional means of distribution: the product is abundant.
Cars are not abundant. It takes a significant expenditure of materials and effort to put one together. When I drive off in one, I cannot simply dupe it and give the dupe to my friend. The laws of physics dictate a level of scarcity to this good, and as such it makes perfect sense to expect to receive money from every person who obtains a car.
The world of "data" follows different laws of physics. Once I have the data in my hot little hands, I can dupe it and give it to my friends at zero direct cost to the producer. There is no deprivation of use nor loss of mineral resources nor expenditure of manpower nor anything of the sort on the part of the original developer when I dupe the game. None. And I can keep duplicating this ad infinitum, at the same cost (of zero). Furthermore, my friends can do the same thing with the copy I gave them...there is no quality loss. Once the good exists, it can instantly exist everywhere. It is "abundant."
So, since data follows these laws (rather than the laws of physics as they apply to physical goods) people feel like they are being cheated when they are asked to pretend like data follows the laws of physical matter. They feel like they are buying into a game of control that is unfounded in reality and ultimately to their detriment (since they have to pay money for something that doesn't cost anything to produce *at this point* (excluding initial development costs).
I think that is the crux of the issue. We all know the good is abundant, and we all feel like pretending it is not abundant is just silly, and harmful to us (our money is valuable and if we can get games for free then we have optimized our entertainment budget and have more money left over to spend on things like real cars or educations for our kids or what-have-you).
What about the potential sale that we are "stealing" by copying a game? We tend to respond to such a representation of the situation with great cynicism. We feel like the only reason you feel entitled to every single "potential sale" is because of your insistence in everyone pretending that an abundant good is not abundant. We also feel that the dog-eat-dog world of capitalism doesn't guarantee a ROI on any kind of development project, so when you pound your fist in frustration at your inability to monetize your efforts we just say, "so try something else...thats what every other entrepreneur in the world has had to do...what makes you special? If you can't make money making games, do something else, and stop whining." That is the same answer we get when we complain about being downsized, or having low-paying jobs, or what-have-you...so we are just responding in turn.
Lastly...the age-old mantra that if you can't get money for every copy of a game sold then nobody will produce games. I call BS. Piracy has been alive and well since before the computer games industry even existed...and since long before DRM existed...and the games industry thrived anyway. And it still thrives, despite the continued piracy. Enough people pay for the games (even though they don't have to) that the industry remains profitable. If that model suddenly stops working, alternative models will take its place (subscription-based games and so on). If that doesn't work, and we actually reach a state of utter cultural impoverishment where no games (or music or movies, for that matter) are being produced because nobody can figure out how to make a living doing it (and no hobbiests manage to churn out anything but crap)...which I maintain is an economic impossibility...but if it actually does occur THEN it might make sense to talk about legislation...and there would be a conscious buy-in to the legislation from the masses who are hungry for cultural enrichment. However, this has not happened, and I therefore submit that it makes no sense to try to preemptively pass laws based on the premise that it might happen (given that it is unlikely and that the situation could be remedied after the fact anyway). - TitanX7, on 08/11/2008, -10/+28Because I can't afford it. A 16 year-old-kid with no car and no method of getting to any sort of job cannot afford to shell out $60 every time a remotely interesting game comes out. I'll buy it if it's good enough but seriously, the money!
- KloroFormd, on 08/11/2008, -7/+23A demo would have never allowed me to find out that Assassin's Creed quests are the same 5 things 100 times each in different areas.
That's not worth $50. - snapcase, on 08/11/2008, -0/+15Not that it's necessarily the case for TitanX7, but not all places have reliable public transport, and not all places are within walking distance. Just because it's a lame excuse for you doesn't automatically mean it's a lame excuse for everyone else when circumstances vary so widely.
- pixelfox, on 08/11/2008, -18/+33It's your right to protest against crap DRM which is way more intrusive then it should be, but I don't think that protest extends to stealking. And just stealing it for the hell of it does take a disproportionate bite out of the indie developers, same as music. If it's not any good, then find out by playing the demo.
- inactive, on 08/11/2008, -3/+18I feel you. I, personally, like to buy my games (I have a sizable stack of recent PC games). I know what type of work goes into making games (even bad ones) and I like to support the developers.
But if other people think that pirating games (especially second-rate ones) is OK, then more power to them.
My advice to the PC games industry is "Make good games and target paying customers".
It seems also that games are getting more expensive... I think that if they lowered the price, more people would buy them and it would balance out the field. Adding bonuses to buying the game, such as art books, soundtracks, basically any kind of cool swag seems like it would bring more people to buy the games they love.
Just my 2cents. - AgentD, on 08/11/2008, -2/+16The main deterrent to piracy, at least for me, is multiplayer, because in most cases you can't play games on the official servers unless you have a retail product key. But when a game has lame multiplayer or none at all, its kind of an encouragement to pirate because you know you're not gonna get as much playtime out of something without multiplayer.
- ed19, on 08/11/2008, -1/+15because it's not free.
- stridox, on 08/11/2008, -4/+18Demos hardly exist anymore, and PC never gets demos.
- SpectreFire, on 08/11/2008, -3/+17Wow. These comments suck. Either people here don't read, or they're just idiots.
The guy's an indie developer. He's not tied to any big publishers. He's trying to make a living from making games. How can you complain about games sucking, without giving people like him a chance to produce a big budget game?
The reason there's not too much originality in games, is because pirates don't give indie dev teams a chance. And please, stop using opensource as an example. Not everyone has the time to make things for free. Some people need to make a living. - arjie, on 08/11/2008, -2/+16Actually, most Free Software fans don't pirate too much. Because Free there doesn't mean pirate what you want, it means we support games whose source code and associated stuff is open. Don't give us a bad name.
Besides most commercial games are made for Windows anyway. - TotalHalibut, on 08/11/2008, -0/+14Your problem seems to be a lack of product research on your part.
- LongBong, on 08/11/2008, -6/+20Explain to them that god is a myth. Kinda like Zeus, or the Cake
-
Show 51 - 100 of 688 discussions
No big deal, vassever. Bruno is our latest guest for Digg Dialogg. 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is