Piracy

[Hayden]

Originally Posted by GuruGuru214

What's really incredible is that this is how the entire forum was a few months ago. It's nice to get a little of that back.

Agreed, for some reason things gradually changed in the forums ever since the end of the Tales of Monkey Island season.

[ShaggE]

Originally Posted by Hayden

This thread has been a good read. It's incredible how rational the discussion has been for something that's usually a pretty touchy subject.

Aye, I've been pleasantly surprised at how well it's going. I avoided this thread for awhile, imagining the usual strawmen and angry mobs.

I admitted this in the IRC channel some time ago: Piracy is actually what made me a devoted TTG customer. I was curious about this newfangled "Culture Shock" game, so I torrented it, expecting some dire, low-budget shadow of Sam & Max Hit The Road.

Next thing I knew, I was buying every new episode the day they released.

So, an overdue apology to Telltale for yoinking Culture Shock when it came out. When I saw the quality and love for the genre that went into it, I knew I couldn't keep doing that. Be assured that I've legitimately obtained all subsequent games.

[Avistew]

I used to care a lot about the physical aspect of things, namely CDs. But when I had to move continents on a couple days' notice, I just couldn't take all of that along. I took tower-cases and filled them with CDs and DVDs and I don't have anything else. I don't even have all the booklets and stuff.

And while it was incredibly hard at the time, it kind of freed me of that ever since. Now I'm like "physical CD? Why?" I never use them apart from the one time after buying them, to extract the music. And I need to either go to the store or, more often, order it online and wait for it to ship, as opposed to buying it and downloading it right away.
Now I can't talk about iTunes, never used it. I've heard horror stories about it, people buying stuff there and being unable to use them on their devices and ending up pirating a copy just to be able to listen to the stuff.

I also like the option of buying only a few tracks. While I like buying a whole CD and discovering some songs I might not have gotten to hear otherwise, sometimes there is really just the one or two songs you like on an album.

Mind you, some CDs I still buy physical copies of. I have a specific example in mind: Rouge Sang, by Renaud.

This album is a physical hardcover book. Each song has its own page with the lyrics and illustrations so that the whole album is like a graphic novel. I think it's awesome. I wouldn't get that from just the digital files.
Mind you, I would have bought the digital files+book and not cared about getting any CDs.

I think DVDs and videogames feel different to me because I use the physical object all the time. It's physically inside the drive while I use the product. If I was just coopying it somewhere and then putting it on a shelf to stay untouched forever, I'm sure I'd feel differently about it.

[OzzieMonkey]

I only pirate something if I know it is impossible to get any other way or I want something that I can put onto a disc for backup if I bought the game off Steam, eg, Monkey 1 and 2; I still bought them, but got a pirated version just to put on a disc.

I don't really know if this counts as pirating, but sometimes I crack games I have, but only because I can't be stuffed having a disc in the machine the whole time. Again, this is only with games I have actually bought.

As far as my views are concerned, I don't see it as some massive issue, but I still think that people should only do it for backup reasons.

[BoneFreak]

Originally Posted by OzzieMonkey

I only pirate something if I know it is impossible to get any other way or I want something that I can put onto a disc for backup if I bought the game off Steam, eg, Monkey 1 and 2; I still bought them, but got a pirated version just to put on a disc.

I don't really know if this counts as pirating, but sometimes I crack games I have, but only because I can't be stuffed having a disc in the machine the whole time. Again, this is only with games I have actually bought.

As far as my views are concerned, I don't see it as some massive issue, but I still think that people should only do it for backup reasons.

I don't think it really is that bad in your case. Anyone who logs into an account that has the game purchased can have it on any computer they please, so you can have multiple copies with the original purchase (just not on CD).

And, do you happen to have a snazzy CD cover for it?

[Friar]

Originally Posted by OzzieMonkey

I only pirate something if I know it is impossible to get any other way or I want something that I can put onto a disc for backup if I bought the game off Steam, eg, Monkey 1 and 2; I still bought them, but got a pirated version just to put on a disc.

I don't really know if this counts as pirating, but sometimes I crack games I have, but only because I can't be stuffed having a disc in the machine the whole time. Again, this is only with games I have actually bought.

As far as my views are concerned, I don't see it as some massive issue, but I still think that people should only do it for backup reasons.

I've been meaning to do something like that for some of my steam games. Afterall, my Printer can print on CD's, so i could have awesome artwork on them!

[BoneFreak]

Originally Posted by Friar

Afterall, my Printer can print on CD's, so i could have awesome artwork on them!

And THEN you show me them!

[Friar]

Originally Posted by BoneFreak

And THEN you show me them!

Heh, i've got to figure out how to work it first!

[OzzieMonkey]

Originally Posted by BoneFreak

I don't think it really is that bad in your case. Anyone who logs into an account that has the game purchased can have it on any computer they please, so you can have multiple copies with the original purchase (just not on CD).

And, do you happen to have a snazzy CD cover for it?

Yeah, I do. I can show some pics if you want.

[BoneFreak]

Originally Posted by OzzieMonkey

Yeah, I do. I can show some pics if you want.

REVIVED!!

And yes, please show me the pictures

[Andorxor]

I accidentally pirated Torchlight.I got it from the library and keeped the installation for the case when i borrow it again.And than i found out that it runs without CD.

[Darth Marsden]

I can't remember if I've posted in this thread before or not. I'll check quickly.

[Goes and Looks]

Nope! Ok, here we go.

I pirate stuff. Quite a bit, actually. But it's only ever games, because that's all I really care about downloading, with the exception of a few American shows that would take 6 months to come across to the UK.

When it comes to games, I'll generally download them, give them a try and then decide what to do with them. If they're good, I'll keep an eye out for them in Steam or IRL stores, and if they're cheap enough (</= £7, usually) then I'll buy it, if only to say 'hey, that was a good game, I'll support the devs and buy it'. If I don't enjoy the game, the pirated copy gets put on a shelf and left to gather dust, if it's not thrown out altogether (it has to be pretty bad for that to happen, but I have done it in the past and will probably do so in the future).

I know full well that it's not legal, but there's not really any impetus to stop doing it. Games are so easy to download. And the main draw for me is that this way I get to try games that I would never normally consider buying. Dark Sector is a good example of this - wouldn't have bought it, but downloaded it, tried it, liked it and bought it on Steam for £7. The Force Unleashed is another one I did the same for.

The only games that have really done a good job of putting me off downloading them have been the Ubisoft ones, but even then I've only bought the game once they're cracked and I've tried them to see if I like them or not, by which time they've gone down in price a bit. In some cases, the cracked version is even better then the retail one - I couldn't get the Malik or Sand Wraith skins for Forgotten Sands with the retail version, but they're nicely activated on my offline copy.

So, yeah. I pirate stuff. But it's not just because I can. It's mostly just to see what a game's like.

[Kjella]

I don't pirate music since between iTunes and Spotify, I don't see a reason to as they're both convenient and legal. I won't pirate for the money, but I will pirate if the pirate version is better.

Non-game software in general I try using as much free software as possible, so not many buy-or-pirate decisions. I really should have paid for the Windows version I dual boot into for gaming, but that's mostly it.

I pirate plenty TV, particularly US shows and Doctor Who in the UK because it takes forever to get here, if at all, at reduced quality. I sometimes remember to buy the box set when it finally arrives here, but I don't actually use it for anything.

I wish I could say I didn't pirate movies but as long as the movie industry keeping pulling their DRM shit making it impossible to play under Linux, use a media server or play it on my laptop that has no BluRay drive I do. The pirate versions are by far more convenient.

Games are mixed, those that have so offensive DRM I'd have to install a crack anyway I pirate, since if I'm first going to do it I might as well go all in. The one-time activation of Telltale games don't count as offensive though, those I all buy and many others.

Many people here love Steam but I've experienced it when it's not working (not even offline mode), suddenly your whole game library is gone. If possible I buy the DVD version and use that. I got no ethical problems installing a No-CD exe on it if I can though.

If Steam is absolutely required and there's no crack in sight I might buy, I only consider it semi-offensive. Any shit on top of Steam (or on top of a simple CD check, no StarForce infestation) is an instant "pass or pirate", and yes I do pass up some games I'd really like to buy.

If this was AD&D, I'd probably be somewhere around chaotic neutral. I know what I want, and I do have the money to pay for myself. But I also have no problems breaking the rules if pirates deliver me better service or if I feel that it comes wrapped up in crap.

I'd gladly pay $100/month for what I get from my private torrent site membership, if I could get a legal service like that. But then the TV and movie industry has to get their head out of their ass like the music industry did. And they only did because Apple pulled it out.

[Martindn]

Grey area for me, i find the reasoning to increase prices and/or give you ridiculous copy protection to defend against piracy ludicrous, piracy will always be there, always, so its best to cater you're games to invite people to enjoy them and pay for them. If a "customer" for lack of a better word has a good understanding with a developer then this will dissuade them to pirate the game, i would of gladly paid full price for any Bioware game 6 years ago for example, but now with the rampant DLC and destruction of my favourite franchises thats no longer the case, atleast not until i try them.

Which brings me onto my next point, i heard about the walking dead from a friend, having never tried any telltale games in the past, i new nothing about it. I downloaded the first episode from a certain site and immediately fell in love. Ofcourse i purchased the pass straight after episode 1. I believe piracy is okay in these situations, if you are like me and are fed up of being burned by greedy corporations and feel its necessary to try the game (i realize many people use this excuse and still dont pay for it). I would never have purchased TWG without pirating it as strange as that sounds.

TL;DR I will buy games if and only if i feel i am getting a just amount of bang for my buck as it were, and with companies i trust, Stardock, CD Projekt etc. I would probably add TTG to that to with the actual deliverance of promises with TWD, which is a noble thing in the games industry of late, keeping you're promises.

[Noname215]

I’m Captain Shitface, and I pirate the high seas of Videos!

[darham175]

Will there be grog?

[nOmArch]

I pirate shedloads of stuff, if it's worthy then I pay for it otherwise I watch/listen/play and then delete.