Your thoughts on Piracy?

[Pain]

No, not the Somalians.

Is it right, is it wrong, is it somewhere in between?

Do you pirate software? What do you pirate and why?

Discuss.

*edit*
Let's not discuss methods of doing so though.

 

[sub]

This is a trap. I'm onto you, Maj.

 

[The Deco]

Well im more interested in understanding how come most people don't pirate games and software (how the hell does Ubisoft even reach 1.4 billion a year this days)

I don't get it because it is so easy to pirate games, and what are the chances for getting caught?

I Just don't see the motives NOT to pirate games (assuming you don't care about moral behavior)

It could be only my country though, since here we pirate games on left and right.

 

[sub]

Deco, why do you think most games have moved to the consoles away from PC? The piracy rate on PC is atrocious, its hard pirating on consoles

 

[Pain]

Putting aside moral issues, people that don't pirate likely aren't aware how to do so, or simply don't have the means.

 

[The Deco]

Well I just paid 100$(the thingie installed to the console) to do so, its nothing, here it is like 2 games, and then you can get games for like, 5 bucks, or get them urself

 

[Mkilbride]

Actually, on the sites I go to, Halo 3 was pirated over 800,000 times. Not bad, I'd say.

 

[sub]

It was also bought like 10 million times

 

[TehMuffinMan]

Piracy is a horrible thing in the gaming industry. if you dont think you'll like the game, read the reviews, watch the previews, try the demo, ask a friend, try a friends copy out at his house, pop down to the shop and try it on the console there.

there's a plethora of things you can do to see if you think the games worth your money. if its not? don't buy it as its obviously not worth your time. pirating a game just discourages developers from pooling too much time and money into games, watering down the quality over time

 

[Damaera]

The question is, who doesn't pirate? I'm sure almost 90% of the active community including myself has pirated something at least once. Is it wrong? Yes. Do people do it anyways? Hell yeah they do. Software is pirated more than games, correct? Despite the huge popularity of video games, many people pirate software because of how expensive it is (correct me if I'm wrong). For example, 3ds max or Maya.

It's still wrong if you pirate a game and then eventually buy it. It's like stealing something and then eventually returning what you stole. It's definitely not cool, but it's still better than not buying the game at all. There are plenty other methods of seeing how the game is. For example, game reviews, demos, and personal opinions. I, myself, have pirated a few PC games before, but now I usually just either read a game review or ask for personal opinions.

 

[sub]

It's still wrong if you pirate a game and then eventually buy it. It's like stealing something and then returning whatever you stole. It's definitely not cool, but it's still better than not buying the game at all. There are plenty other methods of seeing how the game is. For example, game reviews, demos, and personal opinions. I, myself, have pirated a few PC games before, but now I usually just either read a game review or ask for personal opinions.

Shades of grey, Dam. Pirating something and then buying it is nothing like stealing something and then paying. If you steal something, the seller looses that money. If I pirate something, they don't lose any money, they don't gain any. If anything, it gives them a slight delay in when they receive my money. Is that so morally wrong? I don't think so, and if you think it's a huge crime, well then that's too bad, I really don't care. I'm going to keep pirating and I'm going to keep buying games that I think deserve to be bought.

 

[Barney]

Wow, I'm surprised no one has started talking about music yet.

I do pirate both software, music, and movies, but I don't think as much as other people, especially when it comes to the software/video games part. For software (like photoshop and 3d proggies) I don't really think it's a problem if you're not making a profit off of it. Should students who want to learn how to touch up digital photos really pay hundreds of dollars for a program when they're only learning the trade and not actually participating in it? Same goes for 3d programs, many of which are very expensive. I think once you have a salary and a steady job then pirating software is fine, beyond that I think people shouldn't have much of an excuse. Of course I'm sure some companies provide such software for the people who need it.

As for music/movies, I would like to someday own every album/movie I have downloaded (which is a ****ing ****load), but on my current budget of a college students who can't get a good job yet (a.k.a. ****all) I can't be going out and buying every new Britney...I mean Anal Goat Rape album that comes out.

 

[Pain]

So it looks like we've got the three sections.

Those that pirate everything regardless if they believe it's worth their money or not.
Those like Sub, who pirate and buy the good ones.
Those like Maj, who pirate nothing.

Personally, I'm somewhere between the first two. If I pirate something, chances are I'm not going to buy it regardless of it I enjoyed it. There are also games where the thought of pirating them doesn't even cross my mind.

Example:
I pirated CoD4 and DMC4, thought both were great games worth my money, but I never got around to buying either of them.
I bought the Orange Box, and L4D1, and am going to buy Diablo 3 and SC2.

The main differences I see in these is both the reputation of the game company, as well as multiplayer components.

Do these factors effect you guys in your decision to pirate?

 

[Snowm@n]

I'm not giving 20€-25€ for for a music cd or 15€-35€ for a movie dvd, knowing that a low percentage of that money will actually reach the artirsts, it's just to expensive. If it wasnt for piracy those products would even be more expensive, so I guess I support it. As for games, i'm not much of a gamer, and when I play I usually go for free games.

 

[Prozac]

Remember how cassettes DESTROYED radio.
Remember how the vcr DESTROYED tv.
Remember how piracy DESTROYED gaming/movies

I mean we don't have any blockbusters that make more money then ever before, and popular games like sims3 don't sell 10 million times within a week either.
OH WAIT.

oh and as far as music goes, Piracy is a definite helps you break through as a smaller less famous band.


It's not oké, but it's not as negative for business as the middle man, who makes the money off other peoples back, wants you to think it is.

 

[Mkilbride]

Ever see the movie. "THe Man from Earth." ? The guy thanks pirates. His movie became popular when it was pirated and got him MORE sales. So see, if yer nice to pirates ,they're nice back.

 

[Prozac]

I pirated CoD4 and DMC4, thought both were great games worth my money, but I never got around to buying either of them.
I bought the Orange Box, and L4D1, and am going to buy Diablo 3 and SC2.

The main differences I see in these is both the reputation of the game company, as well as multiplayer components.

Do these factors effect you guys in your decision to pirate?

Yes, heavily even. offline games that are good probably won't be bought, however I might pick it up later if it becomes available on a platform like steam.
I guess I'm too lazy to go outside and buy it.
If only steam was a bit cheaper, because you don't get the cd's etc.

 

[Snowm@n]

Is it even explainable why steam doesnt make the same prices to every countries???

 

[The Deco]

Remember how cassettes DESTROYED radio.
Remember how the vcr DESTROYED tv.
Remember how piracy DESTROYED gaming/movies

I mean we don't have any blockbusters that make more money then ever before, and popular games like sims3 don't sell 10 million times within a week either.
OH WAIT.

oh and as far as music goes, Piracy is a definite helps you break through as a smaller less famous band.


It's not oké, but it's not as negative for business as the middle man, who makes the money off other peoples back, wants you to think it is.

How did VCR and cassettes destroyed the TV and radio?

 

[ESFVoltage]

I'll reply to this after I finish this movie I torrented.

Okay, done. Let me turn on that music I got from LimeWire.

Okay, cool. Anyway, yeah I don't think I've ever payed for a program or a CD.