Best article on PC Piracy I've read in a long time

I think you'll find this very interesting, especially with what has been going on with the pirate bay and all.

Who here hasn't downloaded a game? Ok, there might come a puritan here and said "I didn't", but generally speaking, let the first who is without sin that cast the first stone.

This belief have mine has some roundabouts, I don't feel sad when someone is pirating EA's games but when you're talking about smaller games and tiny companies that produce decent games then we may be hurting the little guy. That's why I usually buy games that I like from smaller companies, but this is more like a little rant of mine, enjoy the article

It's on Page 10, get it on Page 1 to read it from the begginning if you wish: http://www.tweakguides.com/Piracy_10.html

 

It is a really nice article, nice find.

It is sad tbe direction that the PC Games industry is taking right now.

I say "boo!" to The Pirate Bay.

 

Easy to read,great article +1rep for posting the link.

 

The piratebay is awesome. I've got skills in photoshop which i could never of had if it wasnt for places like this, tbf though if i could afford it i would buy it. The sad reality what with credit crunch and all it's just not possible.

I do not pirate games however, i always buy them. Even if i already own a copy for my ps3.

And at least i admit to the truth of why i do it.

 

I hope gaming producers read your article. Its a good read.

 

It is a very good read indeed...
I wish the author would have mentioned something about Adobe CS software, I think that is a classic example of piracy and cost related affects

 

Eh, I didn't like the entire deal with TPB in the article, estimating they make $9 million from advertising and so do all other large torrent sites. The thing you have to look at is the private sites, those which don't make any money off of advertising at all, and have a respectable "we do it because we can/want to" air, just like the author was talking about. These small sites are what the true pirating culture is, and I say that we can completely disregard large sites because they're total shams. (I was going somewhere with that thought, but the train kind of drifted off... eh.)

I also don't like the disregard of console piracy. There are entire sites devoted only to console games, and even the large public trackers have a plethora of GameCube/PS2 games. I've seen games spring up a mere day after being released. The sales decline in PC games, I fear, is not because of piracy but because it truly is dying out compared to consoles. Why pay $5K for a PC which can run a $50 game, say Left4Dead, when you can have an xBox 360, Left4Dead, and 96 other games for the same price? The fact is that when you have games released on both PC and console platforms, the consoles are more likely to win out. So maybe PC gaming isn't dying out, but just isn't as strong as console gaming.

 

There are also a lot of the people who 'pirate' (such an idiotic term) programs and games because they cannot shell out the cash for them.

Between the living expenses and everything else, for numerous people the finances cannot withstand the additional cost of applications such as Adobe, Autodesk (which actually have high quality programs at their disposal that a lot of people in various industries use) or games (especially in countries where currencies are weaker).
Then you also have to take into consideration other people who live in countries with much weaker currencies where the computers/software have an additional tax on them.

Yes, people download games/applications from torrents because they can (this argument however can be applied on anything), but a lot of the time, that's not the only reason.

Given the fact we live in society in which money rules, a lot of the people have to prioritize (but they also cannot risk living without a computer that is almost a vital piece of equipment to have in this day and age).
Sure, plenty of people would like to stay on the clean fence, but with the demands that this society has in place, the cost of material aspects unrelated to computers in general, it's not exactly likely to happen.

 

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

hmm..good article yet just cliche. You know what is my honest opinion? I have downloaded pirated software. I know it's a crime and i know it's wrong. But sometimes people do crime because there are facilities and they are so accessible in this matter. But i'm not making myself the right person because honestly, i don't want these facilities gone

 

Deks:

dont come with that i cant afford games BS. If you cant afford something you dont steal it. Its calling having some morale. Dont play games if you cant afford them. Dont spend 1000$ if you cant afford to buy the games for it.

If everyone thought that way this world would go to hell. Think before you speak. Alot of people including myself are being hit by the economic crisis but that doest mean we are going to resort to being thieves.

IF YOU CANT AFFORD SOMETHING STEAL IT IS A BUNCH OF BS

 

Yes, very true. We can't do crime because we are able to. That's evil. But frankly speaking, I can't talk like you in front of real people, rot112.

 

Wow... This article is truly astounding.

It'll be a long time before I pirate a game.

 

I have done in the past, but now i can afford to buy games as i have a job i do pay for them all.


Piracy is not going to die anytime soon, people see the option of having something for free or paying for it they will pick the former choice.

 

Here's my opinion on morality:
Nothing more than a made up term by humanity so 'society' can function, people could be subjected to certain rules and limit themselves mentally.
Oh yes, morality also has a tendency of coming with a very high price at times.
I agree though that just because people don't have the money to get something, they shouldn't resort to stealing it.
But we hardly live in a 'perfect world' that is black and white (thankfully, life/everything else is much more complex and 'gray' than people like to think).

If you read my post then you would have noticed I included higher profile programs, stated that other factors come into play (ultimately that I have not just mentioned games).

There are other things to be taken into consideration.
For example ... if people followed present rules to the letter, over half the planet would be broke and/or using outdated technology/software (actually, we already live in that world).

Technology isn't available in every part of the world at a same cost.
Shipping/importing costs (customs), then you also have to include the fact that the local taxes get slapped on it. If people didn't employ numerous schemes to reduce those costs (so they can get it at the same price like those that can afford it easier) they'd be in numerous debts (again, a fact for many individuals).

For some people who already live in areas where certain things are accessible/affordable, it's easy, and plenty of such individuals have this kind of an outlook:
'If I can afford it, so can everybody else, despite where they live. So if I can follow the rules and be legit, others can be as well.'

Different situations produce different outcomes.
Different parts of the world function in a different capacity.
People are individually different and have different perspectives on how the world functions.

 

As you yourself pointed out, now that you have a job and a decent supply of cash at your disposal, you opted to pay for games and software.
Many people will do the same thing, but I also agree that many others (but not everyone) won't and will still pick the option of getting something for free.

The point of what I wrote was to show that money plays a great part (but also isn't always a factor) on why people opt to get programs for free instead of paying for them.
Also, many people today (myself included) would not have developed certain skills with computers or accomplished what they/we have if they haven't resorted to torrents in the past for example or broke the rules in some kind of a way.

 

Guys...just go with it. When there is no more free software, stuffs are all premium and hard-locked, and all we can do is using paypal, only to download firefox, rivatuner, or this brilliant 180.84.1 Dox driver, then u will realize what piracy really means to the world. Enjoy the internet while it's still good..

 

Its really complicated like the article says...
I dont think that solving piracy is going to save the gaming world...
Maybe a small part of those pirates will buy the games that are pirated so badly but even if the half of the pirates did go buy games, it wouldnt solve that many problems...
I think what publishers need to do is be creative... Look at Sins of a Solar Empire, its still going strong despite not having any DRM...

 

I buy games / music / movies I feel are worth my money.

My take on all piracy is that I'm not hurting the industry at all because they would never be getting my money anyway. The huge, glaring, overarching flaw in all anti-piracy logic is that they falsely dichotomize buying vs pirating, when the real choice is buying vs pirating vs not buying. There is zero financial difference for a game developer between pirating and not buying -- if anything there's a net gain from pirating as word of mouth gets out that a game / movie / album is worth your money. Rampant piracy is the best viral / informal advertising anybody can ever get or hope for, and it's at no cost to the company. The only games or albums this hurts are the bad ones, since word of mouth gets around that it sucks.

TL;DR version: It is not buy vs pirate, it's buy vs not buy, and if the company was never going to get my money anyway, they're not losing any money because I was never a potential buyer to lose.

Call it rationalization, say "Well it's still stealing", but in my mind and many others, intellectual copyright laws are fundamentally flawed and our actions are only 'illegal' because of extremely dated and extinct regulation of intellectual property.

 

reducing prices is a great way to combat piracy. in some third world countries, movie and music industries have reduced the prices to slightly affordable range. they reduced the gap btw buying a pirated and original. when priced so near, people went for original.

 

I pirate nothing and buy all my software. You people who pirate should be ashamed of your pirate bays and your torrents and what not. Purchase the software and do the world some good.

 

People that claim they only pirate games they wouldn't buy anyways, here's my 2c on that:

If its not worth playing, its not worth pirating.

Just buy your games. I don't have a huge budget either, but that's what sales are for (thank you Bioshock for 15$)

 

The nigerian 419 are scammers that scam people because they think that since they live in a poor country they can steal from others.

To me its the same thing. You think you can steal because you cant afford it.

/rant

im in school. I hate murry bergtraum high school!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The only games I haven't pirated are the ones that I wish to play online. NWN2, WoW, EQ, Vanguard etc. I have downloaded most other games, but I would never have bought them, and probably played them a few times before being bored.
Now, if you could rent PC games like console I think, that would be the only way that I could spend money on a PC game. They just don't hold my interest longer than a week, with the exceptions of MMORPG's.
It's just not worth 50 bucks to me to pay for something that I'm going to play for a week, and not be able to resell.

 

Please people. Save ur intellegence, you are all good poet. Talking global issues in a forum like this won't change a thing. It's just your words against theirs. You guys talk a lot when are online. Shutdown your computer and talk to the person nearest about anti piracy. Then we're making business. Other way, just trash.

 

People who dislike piracy have no clue about how our global commercial system is set up. Admiralty law = piracy, it happens in every business every day, by law.

Now, when it comes to pirating "software" or "music" they put a negative moral spin on it. Why doesn't that same morality issue arise when we speak of lawyers who are pirating for the republic? If you care to increase your knowledge of commerce and the current benefit privilege system we live in, you'll stop referring to downloading software as piracy because it makes no sense. Piracy is what the mainstream media has coined the term to make you think it is bad. Now here's your choice - continue being brainwashed or wake up and gain some knowledge.

 

This is the best post have seen so far in this thread. People are very narrow minded when it comes to piracy.

 

Not faster when your with virgin media broadband in UK. They cap your speeds all the time.

 

its all cool that we can justify pirated downloaded , and maybe those justifications are valid, who knows. But the one thing that remains the same is that pcs games will suffer due to piracy

 

The article makes some good points but falls veruy short by making a number of assumptions without anything other than personal opinion to back it up. I agree though that most people pirate due to the accessibility and lack of legal retribution.

For applications that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars such as adobe illustrator or Arc-GIS it is very difficult for many people to develop skills with these programs without access. I used ArcGIS for a period in school and had started to become a bit adept at it, and could definitely have applied it in a work setting. However several years later, without having the program on-hand I have lost most of that skill, and therefore employability. So I have a cracked version that I hope to refresh myself on so that I can begin to apply for work in this field. I'm not using it for work, or in any way that earns money. But it is not fair that people are unable to develop or maintain the necessary software skills without paying extrodinary amounts of money. This essentially keeps those without money to begin with from obtaining better jobs with companies that can afford the software - essentially minimising the number of these companies, and therefore the number of software licences sold. SO in the end, these companies probably lose out. 30 day trial versions are not good either, because it takes months of work to even begin to develop the necessary expertise in some cases.

 

pc games suffer because of greedy developers like EA, who just want money, not piracy.

nuff said, this is total nonsense.

 

bad games from EA like NFS and The Sims aren't exclusive to the PC. they are shoddy games released across the board.

the article makes some goods points but its not the complete picture.

and no one pirates left4dead. seriously. if they do, they probably end up liking it and get frustrated by the inability to play online (and the fact that valve games get updated regularly, which must be a pain for pirates as well).

and yet, games from EA like crysis get officially bailed on a few months after release. GTAIV is a horrible horrible port that runs poorly and looks ugly. and still, left4dead sells. (PREORDER sales doubling the sales of the orange box!)

so who is to blame?

pirates, definitely. overly large and evil game companies attempting to please stock holders before customers, definitely.

 

It sounds like half of you didn't even read the whole article. The fact is that a lot of his points are backed up by hard numbers. Until you've read the whole freaking thing, just stop talking, because you're saying exactly the kind of crap the article refutes.

PC game piracy - which is entirely what the article is about, not Adobe, etc. so stay on topic - cannot be justified. It just can't.

First of all, PC gaming hardware is CHEAPER than buying a console. The suggestion of a gaming PC costing $5k from a previous poster is fundamentally flawed bordering on asinine. You know what the price of entry to PC gaming is? A VIDEO CARD. My girlfriend just got a $70 Radeon HD 3850 for her PC. Clearly, PC gaming's cost of entry is prohibitive.

Anyone pointing to themselves as evidence of this point or the other is using anecdotal evidence that willfully ignores the bigger picture. Using anecdotal evidence allows me to assume that since I buy just about all of the games I initially pirate, the majority of pirates must be "trying before they buy." This is crap, and we can point to Satyrion as proof of that.

Even without all the numbers, here's a simple fact: if you want something, it is immoral and unethical not to pay for it (gifts, etc. not withstanding of course). I want Call of Duty: World at War. Is it the least bit reasonable to just TAKE it? The anonymity and easy access of pirated games on the internet changed the rules of the game for a lot of people, and as seems to be human nature, we'll do anything we can to justify something that we know is wrong because we benefit from it.

But here's the simple fact: if someone makes a product you want, it's not unreasonable to buy it. If you don't want to support what you feel is an evil empire (like the RIAA for example), you just don't buy it. It's not like you NEED it.

 

I like the suggestions about the production of more and better demos, and digital distribution prices.

The marketing case of Steam speaks for itself. Whenever they do a promotion of any title, you see its sales spike. And Steam makes buying games so easy worldwide that I think it is the strongest anti-piracy weapon nowadays, DRM be da mned.

The demos are critical also, im my opinion. I have a limited monthly budget for games, so I always try the demos first. If there isn't a demo available, I download a pirated copy and try it before deciding if I buy it or not. If all or almost all games had a demo available, I wouldn't do it.

 

All I can say is that every single attempt to justify piracy on this thread is pathetic, self-serving nonsense.

The most ironic thing, as was best pointed out in the article itself, is that much of this drivel comes from the very same mouths that decry "greedy corporations" for their failure to contribute more to society's overall welfare; to wit:

The bottom line is this: if you engage in piracy, if you use a single item of pirated software, then you're nothing more than a parasite, someone who takes from everyone else and contributes nothing in return.

In fact, that makes you worse than the so-called "greedy corporations" that take the time, effort, and expense to produce the software you pirate because, at the very least, those companies contribute to the welfare of their employees by paying the staff who do the actual coding and development work involved in making a game; you, on the other hand, haven't contributed a single thing to anyone else.

 

tbh i dont feel immoral in pirating games or any software for that matter... and yes most of the games i have are pirated. i mean these companies make millions already- why they just can't be happy with that? to all of you who are against pirating.. be against it.. but don't attack those who do pirate... reasons such as not being able to afford a piece software, are reasonable reasons IMO...
feel free to disagree

 

Ahh, you're right. So, I can assume, then, that you'll have not the slightest objection when I walk off with your computer tucked under my right arm, will you?

No, I didn't think so. Guess what, that makes you a .... hypocrite.

 

LOL. If everybody thought the way you did would the game companies be making millions.

It is because of the few that do buy their games that these companies are making money. Saying that it is OK to steal from a wealth company is the same as being envious towards someone who is successful. Just because they make money doesn't justify you stealing their products that a group of people worked hard on.

 

i probably would... but then again i'm not a company... and i dont have millions of computers lying around... and i'm not super rich....

since when did u become such a suck up to those companies anyway...

i understand what you mean rot112... but isnt that reality anyway??? the rich subsidise the poor? the reason the rich may more tax than the poor.... i think you get my point

 

I find it annoying that, now I have the money to buy my games and I do so, I am sorely disappointed in most of them. That rarely happenend back when I was copying games as a poor student. Did games get crap, or do I just need to start illegally copying them again to enjoy them?

To think that the prediction is that PC games will just get even worse and thinner on the ground for those I am putting money into is infuriating. Still nowhere near enough to make me want a console though.

 

Ahh, so stealing just from those whom you've unilaterally decided are "rich enough" is fine, eh? Ok, I'll send my little brother around - he doesn't get much allowance, so I'm quite sure that you're richer than he; that should fully satisfy your ... erm... sense of ethics.

Since when did you become a common thief without even the honor to be honest about your thievery? No doubt you leech, as well.

Undoubtedly I've strayed rather close to NBR's line, and I suppose that simply replying tit-for-tat won't necessarily excuse my simply calling the facts as they are; so with that I'll leave you to the game of name-calling.

 

Beyond that "You're a thief!/I'm a rebel!" discussion, one point to discuss is if a person who downloads pirated games is really harming the gaming industry, i.e., Do you think that a person who downloads games illegally can be convinced to buy games legally. If that's not the case, the industry isn't losing nothing really.

If is the contrary, then these discussions and repression aren't the answer, I think, but making buying games easier and cheaper. Don't want to sound like a fanboy, but again digital distribution services like Steam show its valour here. And stressing the multiplayer component of games. The L4D example is a good one. Or waiting for a breakthrough in the sales model. Trying to sell digital games as if they were hardcopy books and not wanting to suffer with piracy is childish, in my opinion.

 

Ah well. There will always be people who try to justify there stealing. Using very common old robin hood Bull crap.

It's too bad we have to withstand these "gamers".

You not a gamer if you pirate games. If you love something you support it. Doing anything diffrent is showing how much you dont care about the gaming industry and how indiffrent you are towards that people who work hard to make these games for us.

 

lol, not thtat im going to, but is Pirated Wow allowed?
one thing as an anti-piracy is online and offline games, i mean you can pirate cod4, but get mad when you cant go onlone O_O, to be honoest i think the only single player games are getting the worst of it. just my 2 cents.I usually just buy the game O_O. lol i got bioshcok for cheap....Muwhahahhaha
also a lil thing to contribuite to the piracy....idk if this happens for PC games but, i know for ipod, you can buy software from the app store and put it on your ipod, now the ipod has piracy to, were you can get every app For free , anyways most people pirated these apps cause there lazy...or don't feel like paying but the point that im showing you is that it's not aviable in there country. either for w/e reason the publisher is racist or w/e, idk if games are released in every country, but if their not you could see why every1 in that country pirated that game, lol sorry for my typeing im getting eye strain :\

 

Most companies are greedy, I buy my games but...some companies are just greedy like EA..:/, or Nexon, I hate nexon the most. EA actully has some good games, nexon is just a host for games and then makes you waste so much money on their maplestory lmao.

 

The case doesn't actually need that level of proof to be made - all that's required is a demonstration that there exists one person who was dissuaded from buying one game because of the existence of a stolen copy s/he could download for free. If that state of affairs exists, then yes, piracy hurts people - it hurts the industry, it hurts responsible people who do the right thing by contributing something back to the people who made their gaming fun possible, and it hurts the individuals who spent their time, effort, and money to develop the game and publish it.

That case is very, very easy to make - in point of fact, several of the posters on this thread have already made that very case. So, end of discussion on that point - since the availability of pirated software has caused at least one person who would otherwise have purchased a legal copy to instead download a pirated copy for free, piracy "harms the gaming industry." QED

 

Most people are greedy; in particular those who want something for nothing (note, I'm not saying that you're one of those people, I'm merely pointing out that the statement "most companies are greedy" is essentially beside the point). Everyone, and I mean everyone, attempts to maximize their own welfare by obtaining as much as possible for the least outlay possible, and anyone who tells you they don't is simply lying to you.

 

Problem is Shyster, your attitude doesn't exactly help the industry also. If you only see things as black and white, the only results will be flame fests in webforuns, the old "you're a thief!/I'm a rebel" discussion I refered a little ago.

For example, what did you or rot112 do to change jisaac's mind about pirating games? Exactly none other than calling names to each other, so he will continue to download illegally and you'll continue to grumble about that, and nothing to help the gaming industry was actually done.

Case in point, what you think helped more against music piracy, the RIAA strikes against individual downloaders, or the creation of the Itunes stores?

 

lol i like the part where people say its a revolution. xD

Viva la resistance! xD

also very commendable suggestions for reduction on piracy. esp steam what a monopoly. go Games for Windows xD

 

Shyster's bottom line is based on archaic intellectual property laws and failed content distribution systems.