Possible answer to Game Copy Infringement?

[Oxide™]

Having read threads discussing copy infringement on OCuK and how to overcome it, I was struck recently by an idea that may be part of the answer to reduce it. Here we go:

Scenario 1:
You go out and buy a game for say £40. You play it for 30 minutes and quit out to never go back to it, perhaps it wasn't good and you got bored, perhaps another game has taken your fancy. What a waste of £40 and also, it sends the wrong message to that developer. The developer now thinks 'great people are buying our games' and then developes more potentially sucky overhyped games.

Outcome:
Buying crappy games actually floods the gaming market with more crappy games.

Now hold that thought

Scenario 2:
Johnny illegally downloads for eg. 10 games, he only goes on to complete 1 of them.

Outcome:
All the game developers lose out on earnings, but more importantly, the developer who actually created a game worth finishing has lost out too. This may have been a small time developer who now struggles to fund another potentially good game worth completing and dissolves.

Solution:
Only pay for games that you end up completing the singleplayer mode of. The gamer wins by not wasting cash on crappy games and the developers who make good games acquire cash and go on to produce more potentially good games.

I think the gaming market is flooded with overhyped games which are absolutely rubbish to play or are just flogging a dead horse with nothing new. In the past 2 years I have only gone on to complete 6 games (The Witcher, CoD 4 and 5, Half Life Ep2, Battlestations: Pacific, Mass Effect) These are games I really enjoyed and hopefully by paying for these games the developers go on to make sequels or more games like them.

The other games that I have spent my money on and only played the first 30 minutes of (Ghost Busters, GTA4, Fallout 3 to name a few) were so overhyped and turned out to be a waste of hard earned money.

Implementation:
I think my idea can only be applied to games that have a singleplayer section and implemented as some sort of system whereas as soon as the last level starts, payment for the game is then necessary to advance to play the last level and see how the story pans out, epic ending cinematic etc. This would work for The Witcher as an example.
Perhaps also make the singleplayer portion compulsory to complete before the multiplayer portion of the game is unlocked or at least complete singleplayer to unlock the best weapons found in multiplayer eg. CoD4

Its a win win:
1: Gamers only pay for games that they enjoy and want to complete.
2: The developers of these games get money to fund more good games.
3: Games of better quality are released less often instead of low quality games released constantly.
4: Drastic decrease in copy infringement of games as people know, if they want to complete a game they enjoy they will need to pay to access the end bits/multiplayer.

This was just an idea I had - it may have already come up before - don't shoot the messenger - discuss

 

[Azagoth]

Scenario 1:
You go out and buy a game for say £40. You play it for 30 minutes and quit out to never go back to it, perhaps it wasn't good and you got bored, perhaps another game has taken your fancy. What a waste of £40 and also, it sends the wrong message to that developer. The developer now thinks 'great people are buying our games' and then developes more potentially sucky overhyped games.

Outcome: You return the game to the store the next day and claim that there was a clause in the EULA that you couldn't accept. Therefore you want a refund.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Outcome: You return the game to the store the next day and claim that there was a clause in the EULA that you couldn't accept. Therefore you want a refund.

Outcome: The retailer tells you to go away as the game is opened and the EULA has no recognition in the Sale of Goods Act and has never been tested in UK law.

 

[Kenai]

Wouldn't work IMO.

People would just not bother with the last level. If I had played through COD4 and then it stopped me at the last level and asked for £30, i'd have just closed it and not bothered if I was that way inclined. People aren't honest enough to decide to pay after having pretty much played the entire thing. You'd also have issues if it did take off with developers making ever shorter and easier games so more people reach the end and get to the payment stage.

I think a much better implementation is as Burnout Paradise tried - give people the full game as a demo, and time limit it. I would prefer more than the half hour Burnout gave, so an hour would be good. Then when the hour is up, they can carry on with an unlock code. That gives you a decent stab at testing the game for the most part, an hour is plenty to decide if you like something enough and then you already have the whole thing ready to just grab an unlock code for.

Rubbish stuff people just wouldn't bother getting the code for.

Perhaps even make a way to implement it at retail with say a sealed code in the box, you install as a trial, if you like it, unseal the code and use it, if not, you can take it back and get a refund, which the retailer can ask for compensation for, seeing as its no longer new. If a developer is having to virtually refund 80% of their takings back to the retailers because no one bothered to play past an hour, they'd soon start putting in more effort.

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

Outcome: You return the game to the store the next day and claim that there was a clause in the EULA that you couldn't accept. Therefore you want a refund.

Does this actually work now?

I see many stores have begun adding their own seals on top of standard ones and claiming that if you open it, it can't be returned.

 

[Oxide™]

Wouldn't work IMO.

People would just not bother with the last level. If I had played through COD4 and then it stopped me at the last level and asked for £30, i'd have just closed it and not bothered if I was that way inclined. People aren't honest enough to decide to pay after having pretty much played the entire thing. You'd also have issues if it did take off with developers making ever shorter and easier games so more people reach the end and get to the payment stage.

I think a much better implementation is as Burnout Paradise tried - give people the full game as a demo, and time limit it. I would prefer more than the half hour Burnout gave, so an hour would be good. Then when the hour is up, they can carry on with an unlock code. That gives you a decent stab at testing the game for the most part, an hour is plenty to decide if you like something enough and then you already have the whole thing ready to just grab an unlock code for.

Rubbish stuff people just wouldn't bother getting the code for.

Perhaps even make a way to implement it at retail with say a sealed code in the box, you install as a trial, if you like it, unseal the code and use it, if not, you can take it back and get a refund, which the retailer can ask for compensation for, seeing as its no longer new. If a developer is having to virtually refund 80% of their takings back to the retailers because no one bothered to play past an hour, they'd soon start putting in more effort.

mmm well yes now that you say it - that does work better lol I never played BO paradise

 

[Azagoth]

Does this actually work now?

It's worked a few times for me before. The last time was with 'Spore', so not all that long back. It also helps if the people behind the counters don't particularly care and just want to get shot of you when you start babbling about how their 'shop rules' do not over-rule the legality of the EULA.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

I'm not really sure how this prevents copy infingement?

Scenario 2:
Johnny illegally downloads for eg. 10 games, he only goes on to complete 1 of them.

Johnny still illegally downloads 10 games, they have been cracked so he doesn't have to pay to go to the next level, he will still complete the good game for free.

 

[Glaucus]

What a tiotally stupid none thought out idea
A)how do you check if it's been completed
B) what stops me from stooping 30 seconds from teh end and taking it back
C) who pays for the manufacturing, shop, wages, overheads for all these returned games
D) I haven't completed any single play game in years maybe even a decade. Online play. I haven't even started the single player in COD3, BF2, COD:WAW and have no intention of starting them


Just like music copying, all that needs to be doen is continue to grow online download sales. And the problem just like with music starts to ease as it returns to the fringe.

 

[Tute]

How about more companies make demos of their games, or use something like Steam to give out a limited time trial of the full thing, so that the buyer can make an informed decision on if they want to buy the game or not.

 

[Kenai]

I'm not really sure how this prevents copy infingement?
[..]
Johnny still illegally downloads 10 games, they have been cracked so he doesn't have to pay to go to the next level, he will still complete the good game for free.

One would assume that logically, if you aren't paying until the last level, then the game would be legitimately free to download in his hypothetical scenario, thus eliminating the popularity of an illegal download instead.

 

[tedmaul]

Who decides whether a game is crappy? Just because you don't personally like it doesn't mean the company that made it deserve no money for their efforts.

That would be like going to the cinema and then expecting your money back because the film was crap.

For whatever reason you made a decision that the game or film or whatever sounded worth playing. Just because it doesn't live up to your expectations shouldn't mean you get it (or everything up to the last level at least!) for free....

 

[[TW]Fox]

when you start babbling about how their 'shop rules' do not over-rule the legality of the EULA.

Perhaps you could explain the legality of the EULA with particular reference to UK case law which has established that a contract cannot be applied retrospectively?

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Fox, do you work in a game shop? Most workers are on minimum wage and under 21, I highly doubt they could give a toss and will just take the game back if you stand your ground.

 

[Azagoth]

Perhaps you could explain the legality of the EULA with particular reference to UK case law which has established that a contract cannot be applied retrospectively?

Perhaps I couldn't either! I know jack **** about the legality of it, but if you sound confident enough to the shop staff they're easily fooled, and quite frankly they just want you gone as soon as possible. I'm just dreading the one time I try it and the person behind the counter that particular day is a consumer law student.

 

[Oxide™]

snip....

Thanks it was just an idea, no need for personal attack mate, as it turns out it does appear to be stupid.

How about more companies make demos of their games, or use something like Steam to give out a limited time trial of the full thing, so that the buyer can make an informed decision on if they want to buy the game or not.

That's also a good idea

Who decides whether a game is crappy? Just because you don't personally like it doesn't mean the company that made it deserve no money for their efforts.....

It would be a personal choice. If you didn't enjoy it then you wouldnt pay to progress through it likewise if people did enjoy it they would pay to continue.

Actually after you guys picked apart my idea - it does sound kind of lame - much better suggestions by others already

 

[[TW]Fox]

Fox, do you work in a game shop?

Actually yes

 

[demon8991]

You played 30 mins of Fallout 3?

That is one of the best games ever made! You need to give at least 2 hours for the storey to start to unfold!

 

[Kenai]

You played 30 mins of Fallout 3?

That is one of the best games ever made! You need to give at least 2 hours for the storey to start to unfold!

Obviously a time limited demo could be implemented differently for different games. Fallout 3 for example, as you say, doesn't really take off until you make it outside, so that case, the game could start a half hour timer from the point you first get outside. There isn't really much to do inside, so let people mess around in there for 5 hours if they so desire and then let them demo half an hour or an hour of the 'proper' game, before asking for an unlock code as I described earlier.

 

[Oxide™]

You played 30 mins of Fallout 3?

That is one of the best games ever made! You need to give at least 2 hours for the storey to start to unfold!

ye I got to the point where you just leave the bunker - maybe I was expecting an updated Fallout 1 or 2 but just wasn't the same to me. TBF though, it's the next game on my list to go back to after finishing Battlestations Pacific on veteran