1. #21

    Re: Greenhearts Answer to Piracy!

    A lot of people pirate (or at least claim to) to try out games, you're assuming what their intentions are.
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  2. #22
    RetiredRonin's Avatar Senior Community Manager
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    Re: Greenhearts Answer to Piracy!

    Do you really believe that?
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  3. #23

    Re: Greenhearts Answer to Piracy!

    Well... considering I've done it, yes.
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  4. #24
    RetiredRonin's Avatar Senior Community Manager
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    Re: Greenhearts Answer to Piracy!

    If piracy wasn't viewed as such a widespread problem then software companies wouldn't invest so much time and money into trying to prevent software piracy.
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  5. #25

    Re: Greenhearts Answer to Piracy!

    So we're just switching topics then? K

    So you're saying that how companies view piracy is the problem, right? If they just accepted it they could save time and money and cut down on DRM that literally no one likes and we'd all be happy. Win win.
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  6. #26
    RetiredRonin's Avatar Senior Community Manager
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    Re: Greenhearts Answer to Piracy!

    Not sure how my talking about DRM and piracy in a topic titled "Greenhearts Answer to Piracy!" is changing the topic, but let's look at the numbers pertaining to Greenheart's specific example.

    3318 people were playing the game.

    3104 people did not purchase the title.

    214 people did purchase the title.

    Even if you see that as EACH PERSON in their team gaining $8 per sale, that is $1712. If even HALF of those who stole (because it is stealing, regardless of the Robin Hood-esque slant some would like to put on it) the game actually did BUY it, you are looking at closer to $12,416.

    $2k will buy you a nice TV, $12k will get you a decent car.

    See the difference? And these guys are a smaller indie studio. Sure, I inflated the prices some, but these guys are making even LESS off of a single sale. Let's say it was a "Triple A" title, and let's say that it was only pirated, globally, by 20,000 people. Let's also say that fully 50% of those people later bought the game, so only 10,000 people "really" pirated the game.

    That is still $600,000 lost. Enough to pay 24 people a $25,000 salary. Enough to feed, house, and provide clothes for 24 families. The next time you feel like "trying out a game" by downloading a cracked version off of the net, I hope you imagine someone going to your place of business, stealing $600,000 worth of worth of goods while you watch layoffs tear through your industry.

    Would you be angry if your boss put up a gate and hired a security guard? Would your customers? Most likely, but it would probably be worse if those products were simply no longer produced due to the amount of theft. Should you just leave the building unlocked? No, that would be a silly thing to do.

    When you torrent games, you aren't just messing with a huge faceless corporation, you are jeopardizing another person's livelihood.
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  7. #27

    Re: Greenhearts Answer to Piracy!

    You're making some assumptions

    A) Piracy is theft - when someone downloads a game, what has been taken from the developer? A sale? By that logic every person who chooses to not buy their game is a thief. Your store analogy has a major flaw in that when someone breaks into the store and steals $600k worth of merchandise, that merchandise is actually gone. The store can't sell it because it no longer has it. When I downloaded Minecraft to check out the survival mode, nothing changed except what I thought of the game (which is that it didn't hold my attention and wasn't worth buying).

    Now if you want to call piracy what it is (copyright infringement) that's fine, but don't try and tell me that when I "try out a game" I'm suddenly some destroyer of families and livelihoods. As if downloading Minecraft is somehow worse than going over to my friend's house and playing games that I didn't pay for myself. If you want to accuse everyone who has ever played something without giving the developer money of being some kind industry-wrecker that's fine too, but realize that you're accusing basically anyone who has ever had friends or played videogames.

    B) Every person who pirated that game would have bought it otherwise - this is just absolutely ludicrous. While I'm sure there are people out there who have the means to buy games and simply choose not to, there are absolutely people who would simply pass up the opportunity to play something if it meant they had to spend money. A lot of people choose between piracy or not playing the game at all. Chalking up every download as a lost sale is as ridiculous as counting a lost sale as someone who saw an ad for something and chose not to purchase it.
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  8. #28

    Re: Greenhearts Answer to Piracy!

    Also, with regards to switching topics

    I quote you: So you're a mindreader?
    you: it's pretty obvious, no?
    me: I disagree
    you: really?
    me: yes

    *post about general badness of piracy*

    'twas a bit non-sequiter. Not exactly off-topic for the post I guess, but it came out of nowhere
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  9. #29
    D2Dahaka's Avatar Senior Member
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    Re: Greenhearts Answer to Piracy!

    Originally Posted by PenguinFTW
    Chalking up every download as a lost sale is as ridiculous as counting a lost sale as someone who saw an ad for something and chose not to purchase it.
    This I agree with and a point I made in another post somewhere. Where is the evidence to suggest that there is a 1 to 1 relationship between a pirated copy of a piece of software and a sale?

    I admit I have pirated the odd game in the past for the purpose of trying before I buy. Why? Because the investment is often not small and quite often misleading claims about games are made by marketing or there's no demo. If heavy restrictions and regulations are going to be placed on pirated software, what about the regulations to ensure developers stop trying to sell us turds and market them as though they aren't? In any other industry that is illegal.
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  10. #30

    Re: Greenhearts Answer to Piracy!

    Originally Posted by D2Dahaka
    Originally Posted by PenguinFTW
    Chalking up every download as a lost sale is as ridiculous as counting a lost sale as someone who saw an ad for something and chose not to purchase it.
    This I agree with and a point I made in another post somewhere. Where is the evidence to suggest that there is a 1 to 1 relationship between a pirated copy of a piece of software and a sale?
    Theres is no evidence for that. But even it´s just 1 out of 10 people who would buy they game if there was no way to get it illegaly that´s a lot of money lost for a game company...
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