A question of ethics regarding piracy ?

[eyetrip]

Yeah cos thats the same thing....

Anyway, yeah Id say it still is - but there is no way Id pay for the same game twice unless I really liked it and wanted to support the manufacturer or whatever

I was only joking

To be honest though, if I wanted a game for different platforms, then I would buy a copy for each platform.

I would not think that simply because I forked out for a game on the xbox that it entitled me to pirate it on PC.

I tend to stick with one platform though. I never understood people hwo bought games for several platforms

 

[Margaret]

I really couldn't give a **** what people do, I've pirated games, I've bought games and also bought games that friends have pirated practically in front of me, I don't think anything different of them.

Who cares, seriously. Moral high ground people are what annoy me.

I never understood people hwo bought games for several platforms

I bought Fable twice, once on PC for the extra content and of course the original Xbox version.

Also got Halo on PC after buying it on Xbox, still got my Xbox copy.

 

[Things change I've changed]

I don't really care what the law says. If publishers are to be believed, we're paying for the experience, not the physical goods.

By that logic, if I buy the game on the 360, I'm perfectly entitled to download a PC version. It's the same game, the same experience. And the publisher is still getting my money for the experience.

I have done so in the past, and will do so again. I've bought games on the 360 and downloaded on the PC. Especially games like GTA IV which I'd rather play on the PC but I don't want to wait 8 months for (Although this one I may actually purchase for the PC too!).

You see I used to think like this as well, and half heartedly still do a bit but aren't the people that do this damaging the format that their pirating the game on ?, it's all well and good that you go out and by the more expensive console version (so they do gain a sale) but when you pirate the PC version the publisher has lost a sale in terms of figures for the game on that particular platform, and therefore you are potentially contributing towards them not producing games on that platform again, especially when we're talking about PC games as there sales are already on a decline these days, I'm partly playing devils advocate here trying to look at it from different angles, although tbh it is something I think about.

 

[Margaret]

PC games as there sales are already on a decline these days

Retail sales are, digital distributing is having good figures though.

If you make a good game people will buy it.

 

[Joebob]

You see I used to think like this as well, and half heartedly still do a bit but aren't the people that do this damaging the format that their pirating the game on, it's all well and good that you go out and by the more expensive console version (so they do gain a sale) but when you pirate the PC version the publisher has lost a sale in terms of figures for that game on that particular platform, and therefore you are potentially contributing towards them not producing games on that platform again, especially when we're talking about PC games as there sales are already on a decline these days, I'm partly playing devils advocate here trying to look at it from different angles, although tbh it is something I think about.

I don't think they are losing anything as the chances are that the person who has bought a copy on console and downloaded for PC probably wouldn't have bought the PC version anyway. This is one of the things that gets me when Devs say that the second hand games market is losing them new games sales - they assume that everyonw who buys a second hand game would have bought one brand new if 2nd hand weren't available... I bet most of them wouldn't.

 

[Things change I've changed]

Retail sales are, digital distributing is having good figures though.

If you make a good game people will buy it.

Well they are buying it but just for one platform, that's the whole thing, I know quite a few people that do this now, they buy the console version of a multi-platform game but pirate the PC version becuase they feel they've already purchased the game once so why should they by it again.

 

[Margaret]

Well they are buying it but just for one platform, that's the whole thing, I know quite a few people that do this now, they buy the console version of a multi-platform game but pirate the PC version becuase they feel they've already purchased the game once so why should they by it again.

What I meant was that if you make a good game people will buy it regardless of piracy, look how well Valve are doing with their games.

Respect goes a long way, Epic dare not expect good sales after their whine about PC piracy just because the terrible UT3 didn't sell well.

 

[MikeHunt79]

Well they seem to be getting away with in Somalia....

 

[Banzai_Joe]

hmmm.... is it that piracy is pushing up game prices due to loss of sales, or is it that piracy exists because of overly priced games?
I've done it plenty in the past. But what i tend to do now is download a pc game, and if i like it, i buy it. Nothing worse than shelling out £30 for a game that has been marketed and hyped to hell only to severley disappoint, like a cinema release, but 5x the prices.
Therefore if they do their job and make a good game, then i'll go buy it, if not, then screw 'em! They should do better.
I along with probably millions globally bought BF2 for pc, and when a patch was released that royally chuffed the game up where was the support from EA or Dice? Nowhere, thats where! Forums were creqted just to moan about their lack of customer support. So, people are seriously left disillusioned by paying so much cash for an original disc and NO support! You only have to be shafted once by a software company to turn to the dark side

 

[Surfer]

I really couldn't give a **** what people do, I've pirated games, I've bought games and also bought games that friends have pirated practically in front of me, I don't think anything different of them.

Who cares, seriously. Moral high ground people are what annoy me.

I see - so you get annoyed at people who get annoyed at folk who steal whilst they are paying for the game.

heh

 

[Margaret]

I see - so you get annoyed at people who get annoyed at folk who steal whilst they are paying for the game.

heh

Just the people who make a big deal out of it and cry their eyes out.

Not like they are stealing physical items, that also annoys me when people compare piracy to going into a shop and stealing a lawnmower, now that is funny.

 

[samat2001]

A friend of mine has never pirated a single song/app/game etc..it completely baffles me but I really admire him for it. He earns quite a lot of money, so to him, paying for all the apps that most people download isn't a big problem. He also has a 360/PS3 and hasn't a single pirated game in his collection.

I won't lie, I've downloaded songs and apps before, but not games. Whilst I don't think it's right to compare it to actually going into the shop and stealing it off the shelf, I do think that it is wrong. There's no excuse for piracy (cut the BS about games being too expensive, companies putting out crap games etc...) - piracy is piracy.

 

[RoachycaL]

I was only joking

To be honest though, if I wanted a game for different platforms, then I would buy a copy for each platform.

I would not think that simply because I forked out for a game on the xbox that it entitled me to pirate it on PC.

I tend to stick with one platform though. I never understood people hwo bought games for several platforms

Oh nonono I don't think I'm "entitled" to pirate because Ive purchased - Im just saying that's what I would do.

Ive purchased 2 copies of halo 2, one for pc and one xbox (pc got me gamerpoints) same with gears of war. I only purchased the second copy because I couldnt have pirated the game and got my gamerpoints

 

[Buffman]

It's still piracy, although I suppose its not as bad I doubt the law would see it that way. If you want a pc copy over your xbox one or vice versa just sell one and buy the other or keep one till the other format is cheap =/

 

[Joebob]

Personally I think as apps like steam become the norm on then piracy will decline (at least a little) - Most of the games I have recently purchased on steam I would probably have used a newsgroup to get if they weren't available as DLC... I lead a very busy lifestyle so downloading is just the easier option than going out to purchase from retail.

I have to admit that I did pirate FC2 before it was released although I bought it legit on steam once it was out - Guess I was just impatient

 

[Banzai_Joe]

There's no excuse for piracy (cut the BS about games being too expensive, companies putting out crap games etc...) - piracy is piracy.

We've already established the rights and wrongs mate. Whether you call it BS or not, if people deem games to be to expensive they will look for alternative ways to acquire them, simple as.
Saying 'piracy is piracy' teaches us nothing. we know it is, so what?!
If games were all £10 i'd be less inclined to pirate cos if i wouldn't be so peeved if the game i bought was rubbish.

 

[Nanoman]

Piracy is one of the reasons the PC game market is dry. I admit I've pirated before but mainly down to the super excessive cost of software, mainly older versions of Office and Windows which just werent affordable a while back. Vista and the alike are reasonable priced now and its sweet not having to worry about updates deactivating your cracked license. If you own the game already on a different platform I suppose at least you have the decency to pay for goods. Its just the bell swells that promote privacy and brag about games before release and the whole 30 quid they have saved at the cost of people that work hard to release it for them in the first place that do my fruit and nut in.

 

[Bloodshot]

Here we go again...

 

[Things change I've changed]

If games were all £10 i'd be less inclined to pirate cos if i wouldn't be so peeved if the game i bought was rubbish.

It still doesn't mean that the price of games can be used as a valid excuse for pirating, gaming isn't a need, it's a want, if you can't afford it don't steal it tbh, otherwise it's like me saying "well if Ferraris weren't so expensive I wouldn't have to steal them", games these days cost MILLIONS to produce, I'll repeat that, MILLIONS, there's not a chance in hell that AAA games should be priced @ £10 with the cost of production these days, and with every console generation the cost just keeps getting higher.

If you read my original post I was trying to establish the ethics/morality behind people that do go out and purchase games for one platform but pirate the same game for another platform becuase they've already paid for one version, I think it's pretty obvious most people would consider it morally and ethically wrong to steal a game outright without buying a version for either platform which is why I was asking the proposed question in my original post.

Here we go again...

Where are we going ?, it's just that I haven't got my ticket stamped yet and I'm wondering if I've missed the stop.

 

[Kreeeee]

Thats the only thing which annoys me - by all means pirate away - just dont gloat!

Needing to gloat and spoiling things for others are pathetic character traits regardless of the background behind it.