Piracy? or Try before you buy? - General

I would like to say first. That my point is not to encourage piracy at all, but to look at it as, maybe a business opportunity. This is strictly opinion and probably would never happen, but I would like to hear others opinions about it. Personally I think that if video game company really wants to sell video games, they should release the game, much like a demo, but more then that. Give us features that are true to your word, example being Todd Howard and his so called "features" that are explained in this video [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic6dKnv3WdU&feature=player_embedded#[/url]! but some of them being interesting, and bragged about, never made it in the game. But that's a getting into something completely different, again just a small example. So back to selling video games. Most companies do release some demos. Mostly through steam now. But how much of the content that they give you, is it that interesting? That's when, in my opinion, people go to piracy because they want all the features and maps, weapons, whatever the game has. Why not put a lot of those things into the demos, maybe like a pre-install and unlock a lot of gameplay, and the game actually be like that through out. Most demos do sometimes show case "EPIC" moments, but it's one of the very few moments in the game, unless it's a triple AAA title like RRD. Which has no demo at all. But that's not to say piracy is not all that bad. AND I DO NOT ENCOURAGE PIRACY. But for an example, let's say Joe Macaroni pirates a game, He likes the game, he likes the content of the game and he's convinced, so he buys the actual game. How many people actually buy the game because of piracy, what convinced them through piracy to actually buy the game? because they weren't convinced by the demo maybe? or simply by videos and words?

I've installed games before just for the sake of trying them out. Playing the first or second level serves as a good basis for how the whole game will be, and if it's worth my time and money or not. Typically if a game has a demo I won't look to outside sources to see if I'll like it or not. I don't see any problem with pirating a game just for demo purposes.

When I pirate stuff I don't do it because I want to try the game then go buy it, I'm a working man, I don't always have the money to buy 60 dollar games. That being said, I don't always pirate games but when I do it'll be like the Sims or some older game that I cannot actually find(You can check my steam profile to see that I pretty much buy all my games) However say there is the new 2012 best game of the year and I pirate it, I would have no intentions of buying the game afterwards because why would I? I already have the game, I'm already playing it, what would convince me to go out and pay 60 dollars for a game that I've been trying for free. With that being said, I completely disagree with the fact that it's a viable excuse to say your pirating as "Just wanting to try the game before you buy it" Demos are demos for a reason, they show you a small portion of graphics and game play without spoiling you as the consumer, Demos aren't supposed to show you the full glamor or the best part of the game, It's a small example of what to expect, sometimes expectations are met, sometimes your expectations are blown through the roof, and sometimes the game just plain sucks.

[QUOTE=Dirf;36722674]I've installed games before just for the sake of trying them out. Playing the first or second level serves as a good basis for how the whole game will be, and if it's worth my time and money or not. Typically if a game has a demo I won't look to outside sources to see if I'll like it or not. I don't see any problem with pirating a game just for demo purposes.[/QUOTE] That can be done just as easily by checking out the pertinent thread in Games General, or looking on Youtube for reviews or perhaps the early parts of a Let's Play, or reading a customer review... There's seriously many different ways (quicker then pirating too) to see if a game is any good then simply pirating the entire game and "promising" you'll stop playing once you determine if the game is good or not. Pirating is pirating, no matter how many excuses you give to say otherwise.

I never pirate games, I like to see that I own it and that I can use all of the features of it. Now, if it's software that's way to expensive for me, (Sony Vegas) then of course I'd pirate that.

Honestly, I always felt like pirating games just to try them out was an excuse for actually playing them for free. If you already have the game downloaded on your pc for free, why buy it then anyway? It is much more of a hassle. But I usually buy these games after a few month, depending on what game it is. But Online distributors like Steam or GoG really convince me to buy games, because it is so easy and comfortable. Steam also features some demos.

I will pirate something to see if my PC can handle it sometimes, but only if I have a vested interest and the money to buy. I don't much enjoy pirating games, as I've never found them to be as stable as official releases. Of course, I've never had a PC that could play modern games with DRM which is another use of it but that's a different story. I think the demo approach is highly underutilized in gaming today.

I think piracy is great, a lot of people will go on moral crusades against it but it allows you to decide who deserves your money if you're nice enough to give it, and for singleplayer games can provide a very handy escape from awful DRM schemes. I recently had to use a cracked .exe to get my steam copy of Vice City to even work.

With platforms like Steam and (shudders) Origin, it definitely cuts down on piracy. The only other legitimate reason I could see a person pirating other than pirating and deciding to buy later is to get around obnoxious DRM measures (though I don't encourage doing so). DRM hurts the customer more than it hurts pirates.

I torrent e-books, and if I like them I'll buy a physical copy

I never buy games unless I absolutely have to to play them (uncracked multiplayer games). I think most of piracy is not for the purpose of trying the game before buying it, but just to get the game without paying for it. I actually bought Modern Warfare 2 on Steam, and later cracked it to play on AlterIWNet because the community was better. I must add that $60 for a video game, to me, is completely outrageous.

I pirate games all the time and say to myself if its good i will buy it, but i always finish the game and forget about it

Well, unless theres a demo to see if i can run it on my computer, then i will pirate it, play through the first one or two levels, then buy it.

I used to pirate games to see if I could run them. I cannot express the frustration of buying a game and then not being able to play it because they didn't put out a demo, and sometimes the minimum specs suggested were the absolute bare minimum. If that's happened to you, then you know what I mean. Now, I don't do it so much because I've been lucky enough to upgrade, so I just check out online reviews and the like. My point is, I don't see the problem in pirating for testing purposes.

I tend to pirate alot, since most of the games I pirate are either to see if its worth the money, or if its just a singleplayer only game. If I do end up enjoying it, I buy it on sale on Steam (if its even on it).

Depends. I'm more on the try before you buy side. Since there aren't demos on some games (Fallout 3, GTA IV) I can't really try before I buy, so I pirate it.

Watching videos on YouTube of gameplay of a game is also a good compromise for those that want to see what a game's like, but don't want to step into illegal territory. This is what I'd do if I wanted to see what a game looks like but there isn't a legal demo for it.

I torrent shit all the time but I will literally never pirate any Valve game. Is that weird?

I pirate everything I have interest in. If I like it, I keep it. If I really like it, I buy it... Usually.

Am I the only one who calls bullshit when someone says "most pirates pirate games [I]just[/I] to try them out?" It's untrue. Why would a pirate feel the need to buy a game that's already sitting on their harddrive, ready to play with no DRM?

[QUOTE=milkandcooki;36732814]Am I the only one who calls bullshit when someone says "most pirates pirate games [I]just[/I] to try them out?" It's untrue. Why would a pirate feel the need to buy a game that's already sitting on their harddrive, ready to play with no DRM?[/QUOTE] Maybe to support the developers if it's a really good game?

I'll be honest here, I got a cracked copy of Crysis 2 last year to try it out and ended up beating the game. I thought "Wow, that was a fun game. I want to buy it." But after I said that... I realized I wasn't interested in the shallow multiplayer at all, and had already finished singleplayer on the hardest difficulty. There was zero incentive for me to buy the game I had already milked dry. I'm sorry guys, but you can't just play a shit ton of games, then decide who deserved your money after you've played the life out of them. The fact that they push obtrusive DRM on their games is entirely your fault, and is not an excuse for your lack of self control and maturity. Don't like the business practices of the publisher or their DRM? Boycott it. Don't download it. If you pirate it, you still tried out their little game. They win.

[QUOTE=milkandcooki;36732814]Am I the only one who calls bullshit when someone says "most pirates pirate games [I]just[/I] to try them out?" It's untrue. Why would a pirate feel the need to buy a game that's already sitting on their harddrive, ready to play with no DRM?[/QUOTE] Friend of mine does that all the time. He pirated Skyrim, Just Cause 2, Deus Ex HR, and ended up buying them all. He does the same with movies and shows if he really likes them.

[QUOTE=milkandcooki;36732814]Am I the only one who calls bullshit when someone says "most pirates pirate games [I]just[/I] to try them out?" It's untrue. Why would a pirate feel the need to buy a game that's already sitting on their harddrive, ready to play with no DRM?[/QUOTE] Because some people like games. It's more about collecting rather than just playing it. Most games aren't worth pirating, especially multiplayer-based games since they can't play it the way it was meant to be played. Like Mass Effect, the first time I played the first game was a week before the release of Mass Effect 3. I played through the first two back-to-back and when I figured out that the ending was going to be generally harder to get and I would be missing a big part of the experience because I had no way to play with people, I was pretty upset.

Surprized to see people being honest in here, most people here are super anal about this kind of thing.

I used to pirate, pretty cautiously too, until Skyrim came out and I wanted it so bad that I was an idiot and tried to pirate it on release day. Safe to say, I was caught, and the FBI tracked it, and called my house.

[QUOTE=Zero Vector;36732045]I must add that $60 for a video game, to me, is completely outrageous.[/QUOTE] I never can understand how you use this to justify piracy. Games/music/e-books aren't vital commodities that are necessary for your well being. Don't like the prices? Don't buy them! Just because the price isn't right doesn't mean you can steal it.

[QUOTE=King Tiger;36733412]I never can understand how you use this to justify piracy. Games/music/e-books aren't vital commodities that are necessary for your well being. Don't like the prices? Don't buy them! Just because the price isn't right doesn't mean you can steal it.[/QUOTE] Except torrenting isn't stealing. And I fail to see how pirating a game apparently means you have a lack of maturity and self control.

[QUOTE=King Tiger;36733412]I never can understand how you use this to justify piracy. Games/music/e-books aren't vital commodities that are necessary for your well being. Don't like the prices? Don't buy them! Just because the price isn't right doesn't mean you can steal it.[/QUOTE] You find it really suprising that people will do something illegal to get satisfaction in terms of enjoyment?

I think the last game I pirated was Jedi Outcast. In my opinion, if you're going into something like this thinking 'Oh, I'm just gonna try it and if I like it I'll spend money', you've gotta be pretty careful. It's really, really easy to rationalize putting off that payment 'just a little bit more' until suddenly you've done everything there is to be done and there's no longer any reason to buy the game.