What would it take for you to stop pirating?

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Lifehacker ( www.lifehacker.com.au/... ) asked an interesting question: What would it take for you to stop pirating?

I doubt many of us here pirate newer games, but I think titles which are no longer sold through retail (NES, SNES, GBA) are fair game, since the developers/publishers aren't getting a cut anymore. Having said that, I have repurchased games I pirated once they were re-released on GOG.com (Fallout 1 and Tactics, the Jagged Alliance series, Ultima Underworld), since not only do the devs get some cash from it, but the games are also updated to work with Windows 7 out of the box.

And there's more. Here's my full comment from that article:

Speaking purely about video games, which is the only form of multimedia I consume in any appreciable quantity, the requirements are as follows:

1. Treat me with respect.

That’s it. Here are some common business practices that flaunt a distributor’s lack of respect for me.

a. Too much DRM, and DRM that is so restrictive that it actually hinders the proper function of the product in a worst case scenario (see Uplay, Games For Windows Live).
b. Different release dates for different parts of the world.
c. Different prices for different parts of the world. Paying 200% just because I live in Australia is stupidity.
d. Unavailability of certain titles between countries.

I actually don’t pirate games, and haven’t since I got a job a couple of years ago (and even back then it was only abandonware), but I openly import games or exploit VPNs to obtain them earlier and at cheaper prices.

What do you kids think?

19/04/2012

And I love starting sentences with conjunctions! >=D

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Leasha

For me its more tv shows to be honest.. I haven't "Acquired a game" for years.

And for me to stop the networks over here would have to keep up to date! Shows like Big Bang Theory and Two and Half men are quite up to date but other shows like Game of Thrones and Walking Dead haven't even been shown here? In fact they have both been released on Dvd/Bluray (First seasons) which to me says networks will never pick them up and show them :(

19/04/2012

In your house stealing your stuff..

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Silence

The only games I find myself acquiring nowadays are abandonware titles and the console games that haven't been released on their respective online services/haven't had a graphically boosted re-release on a current system.

While I'm not a fan of DRM, it really doesn't bother me unless it limits the number of installs.

19/04/2012

I'm from the Internet. Nothing I say is original.

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Desi

I don't mind always-online DRM in general because hey, I'm always online anyway. But there are good and bad ways to implement it. A good way is like Steam, where products are tied to a logged-in account, but can be played offline (I've never had a problem with Offline mode, but I know others have). A bad way is like Uplay, whose servers have been down maybe 30% of the time following a major release. We'll see how it is now that they've migrated. GFWL is also painful, but not as bad since there's an offline mode; this afternoon I reinstalled Viva Pinata but couldn't even play because the GFWL prompt wouldn't show up. Had to install GFWL separately to make it run. I've also had quite a bit of bad luck in the past getting GFWL to even log in (often returns errors like a busy server or something).

19/04/2012

And I love starting sentences with conjunctions! >=D

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Guyver

Since I started using Steam a few years back I have never even thought about pirating a PC game. I remember getting a few bootleg copies and computer swap meet a long time ago but since there's a good service available and price is more than fair there's no point.
Basically if there's a good enough service available and the prices are fair then most people wont pirate games. Well PC games at least.
For consoles I wouldn't even bother it's too much work besides I'd rather have a shelf filled with games than a spindle filled with DVD-Rs.

19/04/2012

right meow?