HOT TAKE! Piracy

[Phabe Jewell]

My opinion is, if a game is no longer available by conventional means, then pirate the damn thing. I can careless about copyright laws and how far that stick is up any given country's ass. But if a developer or publisher are no longer actively receiving money from game sales because the game in question isn't available for retail consumption, then there shouldn't be any moral qualms about the only way one can quire and play a game that is otherwise lost.

I would agree to that, but DRM like DENUVO is really harmful to consumers!

>DRM takes up extra space on your harddrive
>slows down performance of a game
>if your connection somehow gets cut from the service you can't play the game

[isturbo1984]

Originally posted by isturbo1984 View Post

My opinion is, if a game is no longer available by conventional means, then pirate the damn thing. I can careless about copyright laws and how far that stick is up any given country's ass. But if a developer or publisher are no longer actively receiving money from game sales because the game in question isn't available for retail consumption, then there shouldn't be any moral qualms about the only way one can quire and play a game that is otherwise lost.

I would agree to that, but DRM like DENUVO is really harmful to consumers!

>DRM takes up extra space on your harddrive
>slows down performance of a game
>if your connection somehow gets cut from the service you can't play the game

True. However, pirating indiscriminately just because you don't like something is a sure way to get developers and publishers put more restrictions on our game purchases. Wait for Denuvo hacks. Or the option to not buy the game at all works too. I mean you don't HAVE to buy the games that use Denuvo DRM. Combating issues with your money works best. Pirating games tells developers and publishers that the consumer is interested in the game, meanwhile everyone else has to suffer through the DRM.

You can't just say "This... therefore this." Think it through. Tell me your reasoning. What is your plan? Is money a factor in this? Your mood at that particular day? What rules do you have that dictate when and how you pirate games? Like I said, if a game is no longer available by conventional means, it is unreasonable to assume the only option is to not play the game at all. But you have options to Denuvo games.

[Phabe Jewell]

If I like it and think it's worth the money I will throw my hard earned cash at it, but I do not much that looks like it has value these days and only interested in a few games.
Considering how most of the big AAA companies are treating their consumers with DRM, political bs, and inexcusable laziness they deserve their games to be pirated until they get their shit together and start pouring out high-quality games!

[Yoshi]

No, they deserve to not have their games purchased. In no way do you deserve to play them without paying for them.

[ethansito]

I only support Pixel Piracy

[PriestTroit]

I've always said that pirating a game is just theft, but I admit that it's reasonable if it's a game which is no longer available commercially, outrageously priced on the secondary market, or never received an English release. A personal example of mine is that I pirated "fanlation versions" of the Witcher books before they were finally translated into English.

My personal opinion of people who pirate games, books, manga, or what-have-you just because they don't want to pay for their entertainment is pretty low.... Hey, you basically did ask.

[SnowyJess]

I think the main problem is the view that piracy must be stopped altogether, like that would ever happen. Piracy will never go away as long as companies continue to sell games. I think a better solution is to treat it as a competitor, for instance the Pink Panther cartoon collection DVD, they forced it into widescreen by chopping off the top and bottom of the picture and it has the canned laughter that was added in the TV broadcasts (Which kills a lot of the humor in my opinion), and considering amazon seems to mix reviews on similar products so it can become difficult to determine if other releases have these problems or not, and that re-releases are sometimes based on a previous re-release and can inherit any problems that release had, if I found a free version that doesn't have these problems then which version do you think I would choose?

Of course if a release has some actual effort put into it then I'll buy it, just don't be lazy and I'll buy your stuff (And do not fuck with the aspect ratio, not everything has to be widescreen). I ended up buying Yellow Submarine twice for that reason.

I know I've used DVDs as an example here but I'm tired it's the only thing I can think of at the moment.

[vippy]

Here's a way better take, OP. Piracy is not wrong and has never been wrong from a moral standpoint. Because finding solutions to make our lives easier and spreading the word to other people is in our human nature. We crack and share software because we are an incredibly social and cooperative species. We care about other people, not nebulous concepts like brands and corporations or their profits.

[Yoshi]

Those "nebulous concepts" pay people's bills, so if it was about caring about people, you wouldn't undermine their livelihood. What it's really about is selfishness and entitlement.

[Phabe Jewell]

Yoshi the devs already got paid it's the publishers who are fucked

[Aidy]

If no-one upstream makes money then the company goes under and the devs all lose their jobs.

[L3F20XX]

I support piracy. Most people who pirate were not going to buy it in the first place and if the product's really good they may become fans and purchase the original in the future. They may also show support online and encourage other people to buy the game.

There's also the case of Windows for example, they don't really care about the millions of home users who pirated their OS because it keeps them away from the competition. If MS enforced anti piracy with an iron fist those users would not buy MS but look for for the next free thing like Linux and MS wouldn't be able to boast about 90% market share.

There's many other reasons I support piracy like better subs, undubs, patch fixes (like FFTactics on PSP which had massive slowdowns) etc.

Finally piracy is not theft because it doesn't affect the original.

[Murray]

I think Accursed Farms makes an excellent point about piracy, as he is playing Carnevil on Mame. Basically, he's asking the question of when should piracy no longer be illegal? Just because a game is no longer being sold by the original company, doesn't mean the game should be unavailable. Getting a massive arcade cabinet for a game like Carnevil from ebay for ludicrous amounts of dosh is just unreasonable when you can just get the ROM and play on Mame. It's no longer supported by the devs, Midway Games is defunct, no one from the original dev team makes any money from it. What's the point of enforcing piracy laws at that point?

[Aidy]

I want things but I don't want to pay for them.

Cool story bro.

[L3F20XX]

Oh no bro, just like you I pay for every porn video I watch and I personally avoid youtube videos not uploaded by the copyright holder. I also make sure not to take notes from a friend's course book since that's theft.
You got it all wrong bro, I don't even listen to internet radios since all music I listen to is streamed from official sources, heck I even cover my ears when I'm passing by a house with loud music because I don't want to steal from them.
I wouldn't dare download a car.

[Aidy]

I have 100 ways to try and justify my theft

I know, all thieves do.

[Yoshi]

I think Accursed Farms makes an excellent point about piracy, as he is playing Carnevil on Mame. Basically, he's asking the question of when should piracy no longer be illegal? Just because a game is no longer being sold by the original company, doesn't mean the game should be unavailable. Getting a massive arcade cabinet for a game like Carnevil from ebay for ludicrous amounts of dosh is just unreasonable when you can just get the ROM and play on Mame. It's no longer supported by the devs, Midway Games is defunct, no one from the original dev team makes any money from it. What's the point of enforcing piracy laws at that point?

There are decades old arcade games that are just being ported now, allowing the rights holder, which is potentially the original developer, to earn additional income from it. Night Slashers on Switch is a perfect example.

You are not entitled to play any game you want. It's ironic that you specifically mentioned Carnevil, because I'm in discussions to buy that cabinet right now, so I don't think it's all that unreasonable.

[Murray]

The ownership of said franchise is dubious at the moment, just like No One Lives Forever, it's unclear who is allowed to release the game, so even if some companies can make re-releases, in the instance of games like Carnevil, that game would essentially be at death's door if it wasn't for piracy.

[AnarchyInBlack]

Yoshi Just from reading your posts, you come across as well off financially, so, dropping big bucks on retro cabinets or retroware, what-have-you, seems to effect you little-to-none. Congrats on being able to afford your hobby. Most people, however, do not have that commodity, so, "piracy" is the only means they have to play the games they wanna play. Don't even get me started on your "you're not entitled to play every games you want to" comment. Just makes you sound like a pretentious child.

Anyway

As above stated, sometimes, piracy is the only avenue gamers have to play old games. A great Youtuber, Raycevick, has commented on the subject in many of his reviews of older titles. My personal belief is if Devs/Publishers give me a way to buy it, I will, otherwise, I'll obtain it by other means. I also believe if we move back to the time of demos (which I am seeing more floating around Steam), we will see a decrease in piracy (given the individual had an experience in which they decided to buy the game, of course). We all suffer from the plague of DRM, however.

[Yoshi]

Your first paragraph is ironic, because understanding that you're not entitled to everything you want is one of the hurdles to reach adulthood. It's literally the opposite of being a child. When I was a child and could not afford games I wanted to play, I would rent them. I fully understand the basic business models have changed, but with services like Xbox Game Pass out there, people still have legal access to a wide assortment of games at a very low cost.

[Aidy]

Yoshi Just from reading your posts, you come across as well off financially, so, dropping big bucks on retro cabinets or retroware, what-have-you, seems to effect you little-to-none. Congrats on being able to afford your hobby. Most people, however, do not have that commodity, so, "piracy" is the only means they have to play the games they wanna play. Don't even get me started on your "you're not entitled to play every games you want to" comment. Just makes you sound like a pretentious child.

I love fast cars but I can only afford a Ford Fiesta so I steal Ferraris instead. After all if I can't afford it legitimately then what other option do I have? I mean I have a right to have anything I want to have, don't I? Now please focus on the word "steal" if your interpretation of it and ignore the actual point of the argument

HOT TAKE! Piracy

a.k.a. "Entitlement: The Tread"

[AnarchyInBlack]

I love fast cars but I can only afford a Ford Fiesta so I steal Ferraris instead. After all if I can't afford it legitimately then what other option do I have? I mean I have a right to have anything I want to have, don't I? Now please focus on the word "steal" if your interpretation of it and ignore the actual point of the argument

Comparing something outrageous, like a car, for example, to a video game, is always the comeback I hear from the anti-piracy crowd. Frankly, it's gotten old.

[Aidy]

Comparing something outrageous, like a car, for example, to a video game, is always the comeback I hear from the anti-piracy crowd. Frankly, it's gotten old.

So it's ok to steal things if their value is below a certain threshold? What is that threshold? Now please focus on the word "steal" if your interpretation of it and ignore the actual point of the argument

[Phabe Jewell]

So it's ok to steal things if their value is below a certain threshold? What is that threshold? Now please focus on the word "steal" if your interpretation of it and ignore the actual point of the argument

>I love fast cars but I can only afford a Ford Fiesta so I steal Ferraris instead

boy were you dropped on your head as a child? there's a clear difference between stealing physical things and making a copy of the software.

The Devs already got paid but the publishers are the ones getting fucked.