Pirating Games

I used to warez a lot, but for some reason I don't like doing it anymore. That goes for all software really, not just games.

Maybe I like the feeling of actually owning something and not having to do the crack hunt/etc, and then do the same again when they update/patch the software. I don't know. I just feel better when I own stuff properly, as if there's less weight on my shoulders.

I know what you mean though. I was in school when I did most of my warezing and of course couldn't afford to buy stuff. Now I'm old enough to work and pay for stuff I don't see it as excusable in the same way anymore. If I'd spent my time working on something I'd want paying for it too.

With video games here in Norway costing anything from 400kr to 600kr (6,2kr is 1$), and being a student, I understand that it's hard.

Downloading music in Norway is leagal for personal use, so nothing wrong there

Downloading games then buying them if you like them I think that is fair. Cause no studios these days release a demo before the game is out, so you have no way to test the game before you buy it.

I only warez stuff if i dont have the money for it(aka maya and 3dmax and zbrush)

And the excuse of checking out the game before buying it is useless as well since you can just download a demo and see.

Music is very rarely warez by me same goes for games i dont download games at all.

I have no e-ethics.

I tend to refer to warez as full demos, because that's what I use them for. I use it to check out if it's something is good or worth supporting, and always buy the product if I played through it or even just half way through, even if its something that ends up being kinda shite

Legally thats not justifiable, but I think its totally okay to use as a better showcase of the games, and to see if its something you want to spend your money and time on.

This shit with working in the industry and not respecting others work by downloading this kinda stuff is bullshit in my opinion. If you like their work and think they deserve support you should buy it, and in Skjalg's regard then I totally understand. I was there for a couple of years too, with too much school and way too little cash for the amount of games I played. However now I'm paying them back (Buying way too many games actually )

Sadly not everyone who can afford it thinks this way :G

I was one of the people who found it very off that Vivi said he was gonna pirate CoH, as frankly, I didn't see why it would be a joke. Now, as you rightly predicted Skjalg, I'm not perfect for buying all my products, and I've obtained plenty of things, particularly music, through...other means. That said, as I work in the games industry, I find it rather ridiculous not to support that industry by buying games, and I would hope that everyone else in the industry does the same.

Yes, I completely acknowledge they are expensive. Way back in the day I used to pirate loads of Amiga games - as a primary school boy there was no way I could afford to buy many at all and the ease with which I could get copies made it very hard to resist. Once I got into secondary school I got a PS1 and from that point I did start buying everything - perhaps because it wasn't quite so easy to pirate, but that is somewhat besides the point. Since then the only games I've pirated were rare or obscure games I wanted to get after a system's demise - finding Rez, Vib Ribbon, or Skies of Arcadia through any official channels that would help support the developers was just, well, impossible.

I do appreciate that I'm somewhat hypocritical by whining about game piracy while dabbling in it a bit with other media, but my problem with it is just how short sighted and self-defeating it seems to pirate games while planning to work (or already working) in the games industry.

Music: I download 75% of my music albums, it's mostly stuff that I can't buy

in the store (trance and small underground artists). I rarely pirate anything

"mainstream".

Movies: New stuff I'll see at the theater. Old stuff I'll buy in the form

of a dvd. The ones I do download from the internet are (just like in music)

the movies I simply can't buy from the stores in Finland. I don't like to order

movies from abroad or the internet.

Software: I almost never buy software. Things like 3dsmax, Photoshop

etc. tend to cost too much. Also I have the mentality to think "I'm using them

for a good purpose ".

Games: I buy around 90% of my games. I've bought 10+

games this year, and downloaded 1. I actually regretted buying a few

of the games and wish I would have downloaded them at least to test them, because they weren't worth the money tbh.

I guess that's the point of demos though. Any game that doesn't have a demo is just asking to be warezed.

I know I've based more than a few of my purchase decisions off of gameplay. Battlefield 2 is one.

if i werent a pussy who didn't want to get sued, id download music like a crazy motherfucker, half of what i listen to is by people who are dead anyway musicians are rich out the ass and other nonsense. games on the other hand are a different story in my opinion, i'd like to support the developers and such.

also, anyone who doesnt download photoshop sucks

while talking about demos and warezing:

valve did a really great job while offering the "free" weekends. this was the best idea seen for a while. anybody had plenty of time to check out the game. probably a complete weekend which means 48 hours of play. getting a full game for a that long time will make you pick the right decision (buy or not buy)

in my eyes this is the best way to promote a game and keep warezing low. there would be no excuse for "oh but didnt have the money" or "there is no demo"

greetings

hessi

Huh, Bic-B@ll? I admit that Photoshop is still something that lies on my OS illegally, but I'm planning to get CS3 properly once it eventually comes. Same goes for my OS itself.

I must admit that I do obtain some of my software, games, movies and music through other channels. I do buy a lot of it, but it would be damn impossible for me if I had to buy it all.

Games and music I usually buy, especially if it's smaller companies/artists which I want to support.

Software is probably the thing which I buy the least of. I need PS, max, etc. and buying it would ruin me, so warez is kinda the only option I got. It's bad I know, but...

Yes hessi I agree, those free weekends are awesome. It's only really popular thanks to Steam too, since otherwise people'd be hacking the files like mother fuckers to get it free permanently. Another reason I'm a fan of Steam.

I'll download music and if I like it I'll buy the album, which I've done more than I'd expected to this year.

Games wise i'll find a demo and give it a go, if the demo is lacking (Hitman Blood Money, I don't want a really linear level to mess around on) I'll give the full game a torrent, which I did, enjoyed and bought.

XSI, CS2 on the otherhand...If I won the lottery then yes I'd buy XSI advanced but I don't have £3k lieing around atm.

I used to download a lot but quit doing so since i became lazy, earned enough money and the downloads became too big.

Two things about pirating tho:

-I personally don't care at all if people download the games I worked on since most of the time we as dev's don't see a penny of the sale anyway. And even if we do its not enough to make us rich in any way so... I find it most importantly that people like it and play it a lot than if they pay for it.

-Without pirating the game industry wouldn't be what it is right now. Every single game or mod out there has been created with either warez or at least some influence of warez on it. Every dev pretty much started with a copied photoshop or 3dsmax. By downloading mods you indirectly support software warez. All those people who think so holy of themselves shouldn't download any mod.

Like many people have said, I only pirate games to use as "full-demos". If there is a game that I am sure I want I will go out and buy if, but if I am on the fence with one, I will pirate it and try it out. I do the same with music, I try it out then if I like it I will go out and buy the cd.

Quote from Hourences

I used to download a lot but quit doing so since i became lazy, earned enough money and the downloads became too big.Two things about pirating tho:

-I personally don't care at all if people download the games I worked on since most of the time we as dev's don't see a penny of the sale anyway. And even if we do its not enough to make us rich in any way so... I find it most importantly that people like it and play it a lot than if they pay for it.

-Without pirating the game industry wouldn't be what it is right now. Every single game or mod out there has been created with either warez or at least some influence of warez on it. Every dev pretty much started with a copied photoshop or 3dsmax. By downloading mods you indirectly support software warez. All those people who think so holy of themselves shouldn't download any mod.

QFT

Quote from Hourences

I personally don't care at all if people download the games I worked on since most of the time we as dev's don't see a penny of the sale anyway.

Fair play if that is true for you, but you can't just make a statement like that and assume it applies for us all. Working for a small company, I can say that we are very much dependant on revenue from sales.

Quote from Hourences

All those people who think so holy of themselves shouldn't download any mod.

I think this is a fair point, but I don't agree with it. I don't pirate games, as though they are fairly expensive, they are still very much within the price bracket that makes them affordable to average people. Photoshop or 3dsmax? I don't think so. $3000 or something around that mark means that these aren't products aimed at enthusiasts, and it is enthusiasts that make mods. Your point that it is through the piracy of these products that our industry is what it is today is completely true, but you can't take that argument and say it also means pirating games is ok - that just isn't a logical step. I'm against pirating games but I don't mind so much when a software developer has their product used by people who were never potential customers anyway.

Another pretty important point I totally forgot (Dont know if anybody else mentioned it though), is games that are released later in Europe (*Insert regions of choice*) than in the US.

Actually Company of Heroes is a good example, it'll be out in the US on the 11th of September and the 28th in Europe. Now when this is a game you really want to try out, and you're sure you'll buy it when its released, then my logic sees that as doing what the incompetent distribution system cant do, and get you the game at the same time as everybody else.

When Hitman Blood Money was released on the net a full week before it hit stores in the US (Or anywhere else), I thought it was fine that people downloaded it. Hell, I'd rather have them play the full version than the horrible training level demo and actually see how the game is, and then buy the game if it appealed to them.