Do you sympathize with people who pirate games if..

Yeah I kind of think that's okeyish. And just like in your case it leads to people getting hooked which benefits the industry in the long run.

No. If you have money to buy the hardware, then you're not too poor to pay for the games.

I'm sure every single person on Gamespot has been some sort of a pirate.

What sucks is when Pirates get the Much better experience. simcity and Assassin's Creed II

As an above person stated, If you can buy the hardware, you have no real excuse.

Also, no one stated that you always have to get the latest and greatest, so I do not find it an acceptible reason .

The typical cases where I find it, not ok, but understandible, is in areas where games does not come out at all, and can not simply be imported. While it is still not ok, it can be the only way that people can play the game at all. So the blame there lies as much with the Publisher as with the Pirate.

We can argue (although it is a fine line) that some countries have prices of games, so high, that if you Applied the original question, then I would be inclined to agree, simply because it would not be feasable to play 200$+ for a game. Some areas have prices in that area code, which is far too high. In that case, it is likely the Goverment in said country the blame is at, and not Publishers (Pirates still has some blame in that scenario, but atleast it would be arguable in that case).

This.

I can understand, though, if the game was never released in that user's region or is out of print and difficult to find.

No. I've pirated a single game and it was Shenmue 2 on Dreamcast. The reason I pirated it was because Sega didn't release it here in America on Dreamcast and I wasn't about to buy an Xbox for one game. Also my friend had already downloaded it and all I needed to supply were 4 discs.

I would have gladly shelled out $50 for it had Sega not been douche bags.

Agreed.

I don't give a shit what other people do. Where's that option?

+1

maybe in the old days where DD sales and F2P games where unknown i would sympathize but nowdays if you can afford a $500-600 pc/console then surely you can afford a $5 game on sale that is only a couple of years old

The only excuse i give for piracy is if you are on the edge if you want to buy or not and as usual there is no demo

But... is it OK to talk like a pirate while pirating a game while pirating in the game?

in a world ruled by capitalism it's hard to say who are the real criminals and that's why I don't give a shit about piracy. There are many things that are protected by law that are just as bad or worse than those that aren't. This world is not black and white like many delusional people seem to believe where they so fervently go against piracy while pleading for the capitalist tools without understand anything.

And I'm not saying that that piracy is good but it sure is a necessary evil.

No. This isn't food or whatever. Pirating a game is theft. Games are not essential to life so there shouldn't really be much sympathizing about being too poor to afford the game.

You're not stealing bread to feed your starving family - video games are and never will be a necessity. Pirates have no excuse other than they are thieves.

This.

The only reason I would ever endorse pirating a game, is if the game is so old that it is near impossible to actually buy.

Nah, I wouldn't sympathize with boaters who stole boats because they couldn't afford the newest and greatest.

Just play what you can afford.

Wow, you guys must've grown up in really privileged homes..

no sympathy

bloody teenagers

No. Playing video games is a privilege, not a right. If you can't afford to do it, then focus on things you can afford, or if possible try and find a better paying job so you can afford it.

Also, there are plenty of free to play games out there now on IOS/Android and PC, so there are still options for people to play.

no not at all, being financially strapped is a part of being young it builds character. If you cant afford alot you make the most with what you have. its not ok to steal food even if youre starving and food is a necessity ,gaming isnt so get a hobby you can afford

Stealing is wrong legally and morally. It makes no difference the level of income of the person. I have pirated things in the past and I am ashamed thinking about it.

Yeah, I do, as someone who gave no money to Valve for Half Life 1 in 1999, and then went on to purchase every future game they ever made, and buy over 160 Steam titles, and have convinced at least a half dozen people to all get PCs with Steam, and they have collectively purchased near 1000 titles.

Believe me. Valve doesn't care that I didn't purchase Half Life 1 as a 9 year old kid with no money. No sensible dev cares about piracy.

• Option 1 - Don't buy a game because you can't afford it
• Option 2 - Pirate a game because you can't afford it, and potentially become a lifelong fan who buys all future products, and spreads the word around how awesome the game is to all your friends

Why would any dev think Option 1 is better?

Yeah it's a tough one... When I was in school, and couldn't afford a lot of games, I'd usually get my friends to copy PC games for me. However, when I had the money, I definitely bought them.

Not really. I'm kind of okay with it, if you are within a region where the game is not readily available.

I don't think a lot of western pirates have jobs and their own place. Steam is just too willing to give you games for less then an hours worth of salary for most people to bother. I figure most of the westerners who pirate games are the unemployed, and the young.

I also don't think many people who pirate buy new PCs. I would bet they get them used, or get someone's hand me downs.

At the end of the day though, I don't think most of the piracy goes down in the west. Most bootleg piracy happens outside of US/EU, so I think the same is true of p2p piracy. And no, people who live outside of the US/EU can not always lay hands on the software just because they can lay hands on the hardware.

Also: Piracy isn't a PC problem. The major difference between the perception of PC piracy and the perception of console piracy is that the first is internet based, and the other is disk based. That means when someone pirates a PC game, the site they download it from puts it up on their web page as a statistic everyone can see. When someone buys a console bootleg, the number isn't publicized all nice and neat. I am pretty sure if you could pull up the number of bootlegs sold of PS and Xbox games, it would dwarf pirate bay's console game downloads.

No, that changed nothing

When I was in school, I donated plasma to buy games and beer. Gaming is cheaper than it has ever been. Low income is no excuse for dishonesty, especially now. I do understand people who pirate games that are not available in their region, though. If a company chooses not to sell their product in a region, it's not like they are affected in any way when somebody from that region downloads the game.

That is true. It's much easier to get things cheap now than it was before.

No, stealing is stealing. Besides, video games aren't something you're entitled to; you don't a right to have them if you can't pay for them.

Since when were you a mod?

And if you are, you should have thought about that before buying the hardware.

@clyde46: for about a month now, give or take.

I don't really see a problem with it. There's so many shitty games released today that expect you to shell out $40+ for around 4 hours of content that's mediocre at best. Especially on steam, the quality control just isn't there.

It's also a great way for word of mouth to circulate about a great game, you'd be surprised at how many people use Piracy as a way to Demo games that they actually end up buying.

Just because you can't buy something don't mean that you should go out and steal it.

DRM is the Real enemy.

Atleast I haven't forgotten that.

You know, it shows real character when a child/teen doesn't have the money and finds other means to acquire it. The way I did it was, I saved up my lunch money for extra video games.

Nope. If you can buy a Pc that plays modern games, you can afford the games that go with it.

Pretty much how I feel. Do I sympathize with any kind of piracy? No, I simply don't care. Granted the whole premise of this board is easily "FWP" but even in comparison to other video game related problems the morality of piracy is such a non-issue. People pirate games for various reasons and really, the idea that I could express some kind of disapproval of them doing so is just embarrassing to think about.

I NEVER sympathize with Pirates and never will. I buy my own games and the ones I can't or in the past I couldn't, I wait for. I worked odd jobs, I sold baseball cards on the playground, whatever it took, I sold candy, I did landscaping, door to door sales, etc. Things weren't handed to me on a silver platter and I'm thankful for it.

When I was growing up, if we couldn't afford something, we didn't steal it. You dealt with it and you found other things to do. I value things now growing up like that and I will never sympathize with piracy. I don't pirate music, movies, or games. It's not the right way to think or act, but yes, it's incredibly easy to do. I don't tell people how to live their life, but if asked this question about sympathizing, I'll say it outright loud and proud, NO I DO NOT SYMPATHIZE WITH PEOPLE THAT CHOOSE TO STEAL FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ENTERTAINING THEMSELVES. If we are talking a Jean Valjean situation from Les Misérables, I certainly sympathize for stealing to survive...but not stealing to play games or whatever.

Generally speaking, the sense of entitlement I see around in the western world disgusts me...not online, but in RL. I keep it to myself, but if I was engaged in discussion, I tell them. It's not the worst thing ever, but it's certainly a mark on their character as far as I'm concerned, a piece of their integrity they will never get back. It's gone.

It's not the end of the world, but I don't ever sympathize with pirates...but in the world we live in and as time goes on, I know I'm swimming against the tide and the sea of apathy will only gain momentum. I also accepted that, but it's certainly sad to me.

Gaming is a luxury in the first place, if someone can't afford participating in the industry, supporting their own passion, and the entertainment luxury, there are other things to do like learn to play an instrument, read books from the library, watch TV, play outside, spend time with family...no need to go and steal things like movies or games to keep up with the Joneses.

Copying a game isn't stealing by the way.

You guys bring up valid points, but most kids don't really think of it as a moral or legal dilemma. They're just like any other kid, just want to play and have fun. No one wants to feel left out. And it's not like they're trying to sell for profit.

True, but it is just as bad.

Sadly, some do. I had some school associates in different schools that turned their piracy into a small side business. It also depends on how the kids were raised. I know I wasn't in a privileged home, yet I was raised with brothers and sisters and morals were a key point in my upbringing.

I also know that sort of upbringing with character in mind is evaporating more and more as I get older and see how kids today behave.

I can't afford a game so I'm gonna go to a store and take one of those without paying.

Do you sympathise with those people?

Wrong. It is stealing. You are appropriating someone else's right to earn income without explicit permission from the rightful owner.

I used to download cracked versions but haven't in a very long time. Now that I have a computer that can play games on good settings I no longer have to worry about it not working which was the main reason I did pirate. Games are cheap on pc so I just buy them now less hassle and you know it works as well as your not stealing something.