• True state of PC piracy revealed by Sports Interactive
    45 replies, posted
[url]http://www.pcgamesn.com/footballmanager/true-state-pc-piracy-revealed-sports-interactive[/url]
"a quirk of the process meant the dev team were able to track the IP address of every player who downloaded it." that sounds like a load of bull.
[QUOTE=Higginz511;42859028]"a quirk of the process meant the dev team were able to track the IP address of every player who downloaded it." that sounds like a load of bull.[/QUOTE] Why exactly? care to explain?
I'd be interested to know how those numbers compared with the numbers sold. We always hear of 95% piracy rate, or 80% piracy rate, but they're mostly just estimations. If they really have that accurate of data, it'd be a real test case.
I remember 2D Boy did a similar thing with World of Goo [url]http://2dboy.com/2008/11/13/90/[/url] Their consensus though was that DRM or no made no difference, the levels of piracy were about equal so it's a waste of resources to bother
Isn't this the kind of game that releases a new version at about the same frequency as Call of Duty or Farming Simulator? If so, it wouldn't surprise me that people are switching over to pirate the next version if they had bought the last version recently. (I do recognize that only 18% that downloaded were real fans, but I do see that guy in the suit show up on the steam store quite a bit.) Now, take what I say with a grain of salt, as I have never played a Football Manager game, but if they are having a problem with piracy, I'm not so certain that the piracy is the root of the cause. Not that I am advocating piracy as that is a very polarized topic, but describing the symptoms doesn't mean you found the cause, it just points you in the right direction. You don't say you've got the cough, you have the fever or that you have the vomits. You say you have the flu. Coughing and vomiting can be very damaging, but it isn't the cause, only an effect. Now, if they are noticing an increase of piracy, I reckon it would have something to do with the release frequency. Would many of us buy Minecraft 2 if it came out one year after they slapped a 1.0 on it? I'm sure a hefty sum would, but many of us would be repelled by the immediate sequel. I mean, even Left 4 Dead 2 had a problem with being announced so shortly after Left 4 Dead was. People were very upset at the news for that, that they even started the whole L4D2 Boycott.
So for this, every 57th pirated download is 1 lost sale, granted the "sales missed" is extrapolated from before/after crack available.
[QUOTE=Looter;42859105]Why exactly? care to explain?[/QUOTE] Well im not sure... If it's uploaded to say piratebay how can they track the IP? Unless they programmed it so it tracks your IP address, in that case isn't it against the law?
[quote]Intriguingly, 18% of those who downloaded the game illegally turned out to be real fans - playing the game five times or more.[/quote] How do they know this?
[QUOTE=Adarrek;42859875]Well im not sure... If it's uploaded to say piratebay how can they track the IP? Unless they programmed it so it tracks your IP address, in that case isn't it against the law?[/QUOTE] In France there is a law that lets the government spot the IP of every single person downloading a torrent dimmed illegal and send them warning emails up the point they can just give them a massive fine and cut off their internet entirely. It only works with torrents though. And, yes, it does mean you can successfully set up someone else by using his IP to download torrents, and you'll get away scott free while they'll get all the shit.
I used to pirate games when I was a kid and had no money.
Nothing wrong with trying games first. When I want to play a second time I buy it. Fair deal me thinks.
I pre-ordered the game full price while I was in Brasil, only to find out that I can't play it in Portugal (even though there was no warning that the game would be region locked until the game released). So now I have to re-buy the game again. Shit like this is what drives piracy up.
[QUOTE=Adarrek;42859875]Well im not sure... If it's uploaded to say piratebay how can they track the IP? Unless they programmed it so it tracks your IP address, in that case isn't it against the law?[/QUOTE] They can track IP addresses on a per launch basis because the executable calls home on launch. And no, its not illegal.
[QUOTE=xianlee;42859897]I used to pirate games when I was a kid and had no money.[/QUOTE] I used to buy games when I wasn't being ripped off. All one have to do is look at how much a game costs at launch these days and how many hours of gameplay are included. Paying 60 dollars for a game that barelly gives you 6 hours of content is a no-no to me.
[QUOTE=JesterUK;42859891]How do they know this?[/QUOTE] It's right in what you quoted, they played the game for longer.
No surprise the 3.2 million are from china, they probably can't even get access to those games normally.
[QUOTE=Ragekipz;42860473]I used to buy games when I wasn't being ripped off. All one have to do is look at how much a game costs at launch these days and how many hours of gameplay are included. Paying 60 dollars for a game that barelly gives you 6 hours of content is a no-no to me.[/QUOTE] Same, I hardly pre order games these days, the last one I did was GTA 5 and got my moneys worth. I just look at gameplay vids, watch 1 review [normally totalhailbut] not really for his opinion but to see if there are any technical issues like crashing, performing issues etc. Then buy a game if the price is right.
[QUOTE=Leintharien;42859163]Isn't this the kind of game that releases a new version at about the same frequency as Call of Duty or Farming Simulator? If so, it wouldn't surprise me that people are switching over to pirate the next version if they had bought the last version recently. (I do recognize that only 18% that downloaded were real fans, but I do see that guy in the suit show up on the steam store quite a bit.) Now, take what I say with a grain of salt, as I have never played a Football Manager game, but if they are having a problem with piracy, I'm not so certain that the piracy is the root of the cause. Not that I am advocating piracy as that is a very polarized topic, but describing the symptoms doesn't mean you found the cause, it just points you in the right direction. You don't say you've got the cough, you have the fever or that you have the vomits. You say you have the flu. Coughing and vomiting can be very damaging, but it isn't the cause, only an effect. Now, if they are noticing an increase of piracy, I reckon it would have something to do with the release frequency. Would many of us buy Minecraft 2 if it came out one year after they slapped a 1.0 on it? I'm sure a hefty sum would, but many of us would be repelled by the immediate sequel. I mean, even Left 4 Dead 2 had a problem with being announced so shortly after Left 4 Dead was. People were very upset at the news for that, that they even started the whole L4D2 Boycott.[/QUOTE] This is why I love Train Simulator on Steam. I bought the 2013 copy last year, this year I automatically got the 2014 edition. THAT is how you keep a happy playerbase.
[quote]But he hoped the data would help publishers and developers understand that the problem of piracy is a real one.[/quote] Greeeaaaaaattttt. More fuel for the DRM fire, and right as it was about to go out too. [quote]Our Tim’s conversation with a developer about PC port delays would suggest they’re already listening. Should they be?[/quote] No. Every industry has its hazards. Piracy is the media industry's main hazard. There's nothing that can be done about it, shit happens. The way to combat it is to build a good product, sell it for a fair price, and DON'T treat your customers as if they pirated the game until they prove otherwise. Like how Kerbal Space Program is sold. [quote] What’s your take on this?[/quote] It's going to re-ignite the DRM fires we've only just gotten down to a smoulder, I'm afraid. Big publishers are gonna see this and go "LOOK! PIRACY IS BAD! WE NEED TO CRACK DOWN ON IT!" all over again.
Stop making copy + paste games and incrementing a number and people might actually want to buy it.
[QUOTE=Electrocuter;42860507]It's right in what you quoted, they played the game for longer.[/QUOTE] No, I mean how do they know how many times pirates played the game and for how long.
[QUOTE=Electrocuter;42860507]It's right in what you quoted, they played the game for longer.[/QUOTE] ...and how do they know that?
[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;42860998]Stop making copy + paste games and incrementing a number and people might actually want to buy it.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.fmscout.com/a-football-manager-2014-new-features.html[/url]
[QUOTE=elowin;42861062]...and how do they know that?[/QUOTE] I'd assume something pings their servers every time the game is launched.
[QUOTE=elowin;42861062]...and how do they know that?[/QUOTE] As I said earlier, the executable probably calls home every launch.
Aren't pirates also the biggest consumers?
Do they have stats on how many of those that phoned home as pirated later bought the game legit?
[QUOTE=Cliff2;42861399]Do they have stats on how many of those that phoned home as pirated later bought the game legit?[/QUOTE] Probably, but depending on the position they're taking on piracy we'll probably never get to see it.
[QUOTE=Leintharien;42859163]Isn't this the kind of game that releases a new version at about the same frequency as Call of Duty or Farming Simulator? If so, it wouldn't surprise me that people are switching over to pirate the next version if they had bought the last version recently. (I do recognize that only 18% that downloaded were real fans, but I do see that guy in the suit show up on the steam store quite a bit.) Now, take what I say with a grain of salt, as I have never played a Football Manager game, but if they are having a problem with piracy, I'm not so certain that the piracy is the root of the cause. Not that I am advocating piracy as that is a very polarized topic, but describing the symptoms doesn't mean you found the cause, it just points you in the right direction. You don't say you've got the cough, you have the fever or that you have the vomits. You say you have the flu. Coughing and vomiting can be very damaging, but it isn't the cause, only an effect. Now, if they are noticing an increase of piracy, I reckon it would have something to do with the release frequency. Would many of us buy Minecraft 2 if it came out one year after they slapped a 1.0 on it? I'm sure a hefty sum would, but many of us would be repelled by the immediate sequel. I mean, even Left 4 Dead 2 had a problem with being announced so shortly after Left 4 Dead was. People were very upset at the news for that, that they even started the whole L4D2 Boycott.[/QUOTE] To be honest they define a real fan as a person who turns it on 5+ times. I'd wager the actual number of a fair bit lower since a lot of people will go trough turn on turn off cycles before deciding theyr'e not interested in the end. [editline]14th November 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Adarrek;42859875]Well im not sure... If it's uploaded to say piratebay how can they track the IP? Unless they programmed it so it tracks your IP address, in that case isn't it against the law?[/QUOTE] Probably uses internet activation. The crack removed the closure in the case the call returns as false but they didn't remove the whole calling process. So they probably got a lot of hits from people that never bought the game.
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