Crysis 2 and Call of Duty most pirated PC games of 2011

Frenzy · 4 Jan 2012 at 10:40

To be honest enough people youtube gameplay for you to know if a game is good enough these days. This is always my first port of call.

See a game I like the look of.
Youtube the trailer.
Youtube the gameplay.
Youtube a review and checkout some written reviews.

Really is no need to pirate a game to try it out these days, this is coming from someone who pirated thousands of games in his teenage youth

Internet wasn't like it is now back then!

Edit: The gameplay/review combinations are always the best. Especially when you find a reviewer with similar tastes to yourself.

Engram · 4 Jan 2012 at 10:43

Andy__C said:
Of course they are.

Do you really 17.5m downloads were purely to try?

I think the point he's making is that if the pirates were unable to download the game (for whatever reason) they would not buy it instead. They just wouldn't bother with it all.

RaMDOM · 4 Jan 2012 at 10:48

Engram said:
I think the point he's making is that if the pirates were unable to download the game (for whatever reason) they would not buy it instead. They just wouldn't bother with it all.

Is this not the reason behind all theft? They do it cause they can and do not want to pay for it.

Limenote · 4 Jan 2012 at 10:50

agnes said:
When I was on PC, yes, I downloaded all the time before purchasing anything simply because I was tight and wanted to actually see if I liked the game. But now I am on console, I am forced to shell out so much more money!

Its wrong to pirate a game regardless of how you want to spin your moral compass, if you want a game you buy it, its your responsibility as an informed consumer to not buy bad games or ones you wont like.

Fr0dders · 4 Jan 2012 at 10:50

RaMDOM said:
Is this not the reason behind all theft? They do it cause they can and do not want to pay for it.

That is one type of downloader for sure.

I think we all know at least one person who refuses to pay for anything and just downloads everything.

But can we all truthfully say that everybody in this thread has never downloaded anything ? of course not. So to say that every single one of those 3 million downloads was by that sort of person is wrong. Theres a whole bunch of different types of people who download, for different reasons.

Kanifee · 4 Jan 2012 at 10:56

NVM lazy me.

I would not mind knowing if these numbers are how many times the torrent file is downloaded or how many times the file has been completed. I imagine its the former.

RaMDOM · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:00

MrLOL said:
That is one type of downloader for sure.

I think we all know at least one person who refuses to pay for anything and just downloads everything.

But can we all truthfully say that everybody in this thread has never downloaded anything ? of course not. So to say that every single one of those 3 million downloads was by that sort of person is wrong. Theres a whole bunch of different types of people who download, for different reasons.

One of the main reasons why Theft of property and cars etc etc is not absolutely rampant on every street in the UK, is because of the consequences if you get caught; and people do get caught. However by downloading it is really hard to get caught and attempts by companies to catch people have not been successfull and have ended up being a PR nightmare for them when they accidentally accuse a person who did nothing.

Hence more people download and think nothing of it and would would never even think about stealing a physical items.

We all know how the human mind works as we all have one and enough imagination to know how a fellow man thinks. Therefore I think it would be safe to assume that a vast majority of those downloads will be from people outrightly stealing it with absolutely no intention of paying for it.

imo anyway.

For me personally - I have never ever illegally downloaded anything, music, games, films or anything. However I know plenty of nice people who do and in doing so have not gone and bought the item in question. I just have to forget they do it as it makes me angry, so I just do not talk about games with them.

Kamwah · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:01

It seems devs are releasing less and less demos aswell which is terrible for Console Gamers. I personally don't see the problem though, I've NEVER paid £50 for a console game even on release day of AAA titles so I'm not sure where people are getting their figures from =/

I used to pirate quite often on PC for games I knew I wouldn't play longer than 3-4hours unless they were unexpectedly good.

Frenzy · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:04

Let me clarify on the reason I used to pirate, I was young. I didn't care about whether it was right or wrong but the main thing was.. I had a lot of free time and very little money and I was REALLY hooked on games. I wasn't one of these kids who got a weekly/monthly allowance.

I suspect most of the pirates are young people who can't actually afford the games aren't willing to wait for them to drop to silly prices.

iamtheoneneo · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:09

ignorance is not an excuse for piracy .... theres a thing called reviews. the whole 'try before you buy' notion is immature to say the least.

Kanifee · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:09

also it is very misleading for consoles to use these numbers as a guide, pc games are generally downloaded and installed by the user them self's. console games are usually downloaded and then burned multiple times by some joe bloggs making money from his front door off of all the kiddys he has also charged to flash there consoles.

RaMDOM · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:10

Frenzy said:
Let me clarify on the reason I used to pirate, I was young. I didn't care about whether it was right or wrong but the main thing was.. I had a lot of free time and very little money and I was REALLY hooked on games. I wasn't one of these kids who got a weekly/monthly allowance.

I suspect most of the pirates are young people who can't actually afford the games aren't willing to wait for them to drop to silly prices.

Fair enough - still not a excuse though.

You have to accept that.

Kamwah · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:11

Frenzy said:
Let me clarify on the reason I used to pirate, I was young. I didn't care about whether it was right or wrong but the main thing was.. I had a lot of free time and very little money and I was REALLY hooked on games. I wasn't one of these kids who got a weekly/monthly allowance.

I suspect most of the pirates are young people who can't actually afford the games aren't willing to wait for them to drop to silly prices.

You think older gamers who generally have more responsibilities have got the money to waste on games? The way I see it is that I can take a car for a test drive, if I buy a TV I have 30days to return it etc etc...
So why can't I download a game (They hardly release demos these days) and try it before I buy? It makes sense IMO.

Limenote · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:15

Kamwah said:
You think older gamers who generally have more responsibilities have got the money to waste on games? The way I see it is that I can take a car for a test drive, if I buy a TV I have 30days to return it etc etc...
So why can't I download a game (They hardly release demos these days) and try it before I buy? It makes sense IMO.

that's just being ignorant, there is so much news and marketing media available these days that it doesn't take long to make an educated assessment, most demos are out of context and a poor informer of overall game quality anyway.

Fr0dders · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:15

iamtheoneneo said:
ignorance is not an excuse for piracy .... theres a thing called reviews. the whole 'try before you buy' notion is immature to say the least.

yeah because every review is completely impartial and true to life. Not to mention the whole idea of taste and whether or not the reviewer shares yours ...

Frenzy · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:16

RaMDOM said:
Fair enough - still not a excuse though.

You have to accept that.

Accept what? I know it's not an excuse. I buy all my games, check my steam account.
Edit: you missed my point, I was saying most of the pirates are probably younger people who cannot afford the games. It is wrong I agree, but if you can't afford it but want it all then you don't really care.

Kamwah said:
You think older gamers who generally have more responsibilities have got the money to waste on games? The way I see it is that I can take a car for a test drive, if I buy a TV I have 30days to return it etc etc...
So why can't I download a game (They hardly release demos these days) and try it before I buy? It makes sense IMO.

I think if you have an income and want to game then you should pay for the game. If you want to see what a game is like then watch some gameplay videos. It is exactly the same as playing the game, what exactly do you miss out on apart from doing whatever the person is doing yourself?

Demos aren't made anymore because the public demand games quickly and frequently. Developers aren't going to waste valuable man hours on a demo that could be put into a game.

Zhokel · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:23

iamtheoneneo said:
the whole 'try before you buy' notion is immature to say the least.

edit: I'm assuming it's because of reviews, might of misread

But I don't find reading reviews the same as playing the game? They could show all the best bits of the game in a review but none of the boring stuff. I mean obviously not all reviews do this, but I personally find demo's more reliable, I prefer my oppinion of a game, and there is a lack of demos about.

For the record I don't download any games, not even for trying before you buy.

RaMDOM · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:24

Kamwah said:
if I buy a TV I have 30days to return it etc etc...

Bit off topic, but it is not your right to return it and get your money back. In fact most stores nowadays would give you store credit or another tele. In the worst case they could refuse to take it back unless it was faulty.

Just saying

Kamwah · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:26

Limenote said:
that's just being ignorant, there is so much news and marketing media available these days that it doesn't take long to make an educated assessment, most demos are out of context and a poor informer of overall game quality anyway.

It really isn't. News and Marketing Media are always a sham, I remember reading how the new CoD was going to be so different and refreshing and it was the same old **** i've been playing since CoD4.
I also remember the same about the new Star Wars MMO, how it was going to be something that all MMOs would strive to be like and I played it and while it's a great game it's not anything to scream about.

Frenzy said:
Accept what? I know it's not an excuse. I buy all my games, check my steam account.

I think if you have an income and want to game then you should pay for the game. If you want to see what a game is like then watch some gameplay videos. It is exactly the same as playing the game, what exactly do you miss out on apart from doing whatever the person is doing yourself?

Demos aren't made anymore because the public demand games quickly and frequently. Developers aren't going to waste valuable man hours on a demo that could be put into a game.

Videos are never the same as hands on experience, refer to my text above to Limenote.

Yea I realize that but it's a shame, I remember back years ago when Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast was coming out i'd play that demo for hours just messing around with force powers on the same level over and over waiting for the game to be released. I did the same for the next one in the series aswell (Jedi Academy)

Kamwah · 4 Jan 2012 at 11:28

RaMDOM said:
Bit off topic, but it is not your right to return it and get your money back. In fact most stores nowadays would give you store credit or another tele. In the worst case they could refuse to take it back unless it was faulty.

Just saying

You learn something new everyday, o well. Store credit is fine =P