The ethics of stealing video games
- Thread starter TecKnoe
- Start date
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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Sorry should have been more clear. There's nothing inherently illegal about torrenting, we just don't deal with the illegal content here.
Gravel
Mr. Poopybutthole
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We don't? I swear every single movie and TV thread probably talks about downloading them at some point.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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Prodigal
Shitlord, Offender of the Universe
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So you pay for multiplayer games because that's all you really like and don't really care for the single player games - but you download them anyway and play them? Should this be about the ethics of wasting bandwidth on games you don't really like? Am I missing something?
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You have to assume a special level of stupidity when reading teck's posts. I knew he was asking about Witcher 3, that was just the wrong thread to ask such a question. And it was. Especially in such a manner that he did.
I was guessing it might be the wrong subforum because I rarely see discussion of outright torrenting in 'Other Games'. Elurin is right, it's discussed more openly in the other digital content subs and is sometimes met with hostility too. And while our intellectual juggernaut is right that it merits ethical discussion, the two cannot be directly compared due to how different the markets are.
yes i dont care to spend money on a single player game im going to get 15-20 hours of playtime out of, yes.
and dont come in here with "sandbox 111110000 hours of gameplay shit" beating a game 4 times on 4 different difficulties is not included in the playtime, 1 play through is all you need in a single player game, even in faggoty sandbox games like dragon age, and skyrim, as much as you wanna pretend its this awesome vibrant world, their still NPCs' and its still the same shit NG+
Quaid
Trump's Staff
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The only thing I still pirate is Game of Thrones, but I'd happily pay for it if HBO made it easy for me. They treat Canadians like second class citizens, unfortunately. Other than that, I've been totally 'clean' for around 5 years now.
Only brokeass people still pirate shit given the access to digital product that exists these days.
Only brokeass people still pirate shit given the access to digital product that exists these days.
sukik
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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I have sympathy for people who pirate games who are too broke to buy them, or who want to try them before they buy because $60 is a lot for some people. But it's cringe inducing to hear an adult bragging about pirating games. Some people are just going to be too cheap to pay for anything they aren't forced to buy.
TV show piracy is more of a distribution problem that won't go decrease until most shows are available digitally for a cheap price. Netflix, Amazon prime and Hulu are starting to fill the gap but they have a long way to go. Even then the TV shows would be split up amongst the competitor services so you'd have to be subscribed to multiple services to get everything so it could get expensive. Also, like games you're going to get people who are too cheap to pay for anything they aren't forced to buy so it'll never go away.
TV show piracy is more of a distribution problem that won't go decrease until most shows are available digitally for a cheap price. Netflix, Amazon prime and Hulu are starting to fill the gap but they have a long way to go. Even then the TV shows would be split up amongst the competitor services so you'd have to be subscribed to multiple services to get everything so it could get expensive. Also, like games you're going to get people who are too cheap to pay for anything they aren't forced to buy so it'll never go away.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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I guess more importantly is if these multi-player games were piratable would you pay for them?
Caliane
Avatar of War Slayer
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I don't think we have any real rules against it.
I think its more "we" are more salty about games, since we have a few game devs. If we had some tv or movie producers maybe we'd be more proactive in arguing against it.
Nature of content too. Sukik's right about the distribution issue with TV shows, etc.
I'd rather people read comics, then get annoyed when people pirate them. yes, I would LIKE you to buy them. but eh, you are more like to buy them if you are invested in reading them. So you will likely never really see me bitch about people pirating comics, unless they are being a real dick about it. and often I'll be helping with it, story timing, etc..
Araxen
Golden Baronet of the Realm
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The only thing I pirate is HD porn nowadays and the occasional movie. Spotify made torrenting music and trying to get a ratio on what.cd seem like a huge PITA. Steam Sales broke me from pirating games. Netflix and Blu-Ray's quality have almost broken me from pirating movies. The digital PPV before blu-ray bullshit has lost the movie studio's a few sales from me.
Fucking hypocrites everywhere. Step down from that horse. You know you all do it or have done it in some way or another.
Don't try to make excuses why pirating X over X is less wrong.
Don't try to make excuses why pirating X over X is less wrong.
Phazael
Confirmed Beta Shitlord, Fat Bastard
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Yeah, I am not going to lie and say I never pirated anything in my life, but the last time I did that (other than to try something from a company that has burned me before) I was ramen noodle eating poor in college. My wife works as a software developer and is even more against piracy than I am, be it software or entertainment. The people who relentlessly mooch are why RIAA goons make it such a pain in the ass for the legitimate media buyers.
yeah because you can pirate most multiplayer games now and use tuungle to play with other people IF YOU REALLY WANT TOO, yes i would pay for the multiplayer game for the multiplayer experience.
so you deprived yourself of playing games you wanted because? ethics? or did the flood change you as a person.
i dont get how people have pirated shit, but then slowly their conscious creeps in and they feel bad? lol wtf is going on here.
its like half of you pirated then out of no where you felt bad about it?
please leave a name when you neg me, i personally would love to PM a dick pick to the last guy with FOH on it
Gilgamel
A Man Chooses....
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I'm all for supporting game creators who create products I enjoy. I'm just fed up with companies releasing shitty products and the unavailability of good information upon release. I could wait a week for the youtubers to get real reviews up, or I could torrent it and see if I like before buying it. I have zero moral qualms about this because the video game industry is one of the worst consumer industries out there and I've been burned four or five times in the last five years and I'm just sick of it. Even when I preorder a game(Pillars for example) I ended up having to torrent the first patch because my platform was two days(two weekend days) behind and I wanted to restart that Friday. I don't feel remotely bad about it either, because I've spent a ton more money on games I wouldn't have even tried in the first place because I torrented them first than on games I would have bought no questions asked and then decided to pass on once I torrented it.
I give no shits about gamergate or any of that mess, but I hate being sold a false bill of goods and the only industry consistently trying to do that right now is this one. So fuck them. I support the companies who deserve it and the rest can go to hell. Buying SimCity and then not being able to get a refund despite it basically not functioning was the last straw for me.
stay strong friend, even if i torrent it and like it im not buying it unless theres a multiplayer function, that requires me to purchase the game to use.
like i said, i can download any multiplayer out there grab a few friends get on tuungle and we can all play together no shit, FREEE!!! did this with borderlands as those games arent worth more than 1 play through, forgot what other games ive done this for, but yeah it works pretty well theres even forums etc to find groups of people to get together and game with, the only thing i NEED to buy to play would be an MMO or a FPS like battlefield, theres fucking CS:go on tuungle with full fucking lobbies and maps.
Your "I only pay for multi-player games" is just some strange excuse/ethos you've made for yourself to make yourself feel better about pirating games. At least be honest with yourself.
Either you enjoy something and understand it's worth the money, or you don't. Bottom line.
Have you NEVER been to the movies then? You are paying over $10 for less than 3 hours of entertainment. Have you NEVER purchased a book before? Talk about lack of multi-player. Have you NEVER gone out to a fancy restaurant before? That's another expensive 3+ hour experience.
You're just cheap. Nothing wrong with that, I would have felt similarly when I was younger. I did my share of pirating when I was in high school. Now that I'm older I understand the value of supporting businesses, just like I value people supporting my business. I support local businesses over big corps like Wal-Mart because I want to strengthen and help the people in my community. I do that with how I choose to spend my dollars. You might consider it stupid that I probably spend twice as much as I need to shopping for clothes/food/etc. because I refuse to set foot in a Target or Wal-Mart, but I view it as spending my money the way I want to.
Lastly, from all the reviews, it would seem like you would get over 100 hours of gameplay from Witcher 3. That is well-worth the $60 price tag, as it comes out to less than a dollar an hour. I am sure you have played some shitty multi-player games that you didn't spend 100 hours on, so again, stop with the "it's not multi-player, therefore I refuse to pay for it" nonsense. What's important is whether or not the game is good, and therefore worth supporting with your dollars, not whether or not it's a single or multi-player game. Good games are worth supporting, bad games are not, it's that simple.
Either you enjoy something and understand it's worth the money, or you don't. Bottom line.
Have you NEVER been to the movies then? You are paying over $10 for less than 3 hours of entertainment. Have you NEVER purchased a book before? Talk about lack of multi-player. Have you NEVER gone out to a fancy restaurant before? That's another expensive 3+ hour experience.
You're just cheap. Nothing wrong with that, I would have felt similarly when I was younger. I did my share of pirating when I was in high school. Now that I'm older I understand the value of supporting businesses, just like I value people supporting my business. I support local businesses over big corps like Wal-Mart because I want to strengthen and help the people in my community. I do that with how I choose to spend my dollars. You might consider it stupid that I probably spend twice as much as I need to shopping for clothes/food/etc. because I refuse to set foot in a Target or Wal-Mart, but I view it as spending my money the way I want to.
Lastly, from all the reviews, it would seem like you would get over 100 hours of gameplay from Witcher 3. That is well-worth the $60 price tag, as it comes out to less than a dollar an hour. I am sure you have played some shitty multi-player games that you didn't spend 100 hours on, so again, stop with the "it's not multi-player, therefore I refuse to pay for it" nonsense. What's important is whether or not the game is good, and therefore worth supporting with your dollars, not whether or not it's a single or multi-player game. Good games are worth supporting, bad games are not, it's that simple.