"How I learned to love the game pirates"

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/11/games.piracy1

For the past three years I've been running a one-man games company from home, programming games and selling them direct to gamers all over the world.

Over that three years I discovered that all of my games were being pirated and 'shared' online. It's pretty hard to describe the feeling of finding your work pirated. The worst cases are where the person copying and posting your game on the internet insists other pirates 'thank them for their work'.

They mean their work copying the game, not my work actually making it. I had long been a fierce opponent of internet piracy, arguing endlessly and aggressively on web forums against the pirates. I'd actively fought against piracy of my games, getting copies of them removed as soon as they were found, in a never-ending battle.

A while ago I realised that although I thought I knew what the causes of people pirating my games were, I really had no idea. The only people who could really explain why so many people pirate games is the pirates themselves. So, rather innocently, I asked them to email me and tell me why they did it. I promised to read all of them and to keep an open mind. They replied in their thousands and it became a major topic on gaming news sites.

My website crashed as a result and people who couldn't contact me or email me had to post their responses on other sites. It seems nobody had ever bothered to ask this question before. The big games companies had occasionally reached for their lawyers, and the music companies are constantly issuing legal threats, combined with vast efforts to engineer technical methods to prevent piracy, but nobody had ever asked them why they did it.

Some of the responses ran to several pages, a few put Tolstoy to shame. It seems there are a lot of people who have waited a long time to tell the entertainment industry what they thought, and they had a lot to say. The top reasons seemed to be the high price of games, the copy-protection used on them, and the quality of the games themselves. Many of the pirates said they found the majority of games not worth the money, others were resentful of the way copy-protection treated honest customers as criminals. Time and time again people claimed they were happy to buy good games, at sensible prices.

As a result of what I found, I'm changing the way I make and sell my games. I already dropped some prices, and will keep future games cheaper, I abandoned copy-protection on all my games the next day, and resolved to work harder than ever before to make the best games that I can. I went from being demoralised and depressed by pirates to being motivated and encouraged by them. I asked them what they thought, then listened. Given the inability of big media companies to do either, I think I suddenly found my competitive advantage.

Cliff Harris is the founder of Positech Games

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/11/games.piracy1

For the past three years I've been running a one-man games company from home, programming games and selling them direct to gamers all over the world.

Over that three years I discovered that all of my games were being pirated and 'shared' online. It's pretty hard to describe the feeling of finding your work pirated. The worst cases are where the person copying and posting your game on the internet insists other pirates 'thank them for their work'.

They mean their work copying the game, not my work actually making it. I had long been a fierce opponent of internet piracy, arguing endlessly and aggressively on web forums against the pirates. I'd actively fought against piracy of my games, getting copies of them removed as soon as they were found, in a never-ending battle.

A while ago I realised that although I thought I knew what the causes of people pirating my games were, I really had no idea. The only people who could really explain why so many people pirate games is the pirates themselves. So, rather innocently, I asked them to email me and tell me why they did it. I promised to read all of them and to keep an open mind. They replied in their thousands and it became a major topic on gaming news sites.

My website crashed as a result and people who couldn't contact me or email me had to post their responses on other sites. It seems nobody had ever bothered to ask this question before. The big games companies had occasionally reached for their lawyers, and the music companies are constantly issuing legal threats, combined with vast efforts to engineer technical methods to prevent piracy, but nobody had ever asked them why they did it.

Some of the responses ran to several pages, a few put Tolstoy to shame. It seems there are a lot of people who have waited a long time to tell the entertainment industry what they thought, and they had a lot to say. The top reasons seemed to be the high price of games, the copy-protection used on them, and the quality of the games themselves. Many of the pirates said they found the majority of games not worth the money, others were resentful of the way copy-protection treated honest customers as criminals. Time and time again people claimed they were happy to buy good games, at sensible prices.

As a result of what I found, I'm changing the way I make and sell my games. I already dropped some prices, and will keep future games cheaper, I abandoned copy-protection on all my games the next day, and resolved to work harder than ever before to make the best games that I can. I went from being demoralised and depressed by pirates to being motivated and encouraged by them. I asked them what they thought, then listened. Given the inability of big media companies to do either, I think I suddenly found my competitive advantage.

Cliff Harris is the founder of Positech Games

ElectricNZ

Why would you quote the large wall of text, when your post is directly under it. You don't need to quote my post for people to understand that you are talking about him (even if you are the 100th poster).

Low prices, no protection and better quality of games are 3 very important factors that pirates consider if they buy a game or not. It definately helps. People will never stop pirating games completely, but he's doing himself some good.

Why would you quote the large wall of text, when your post is directly under it. You don't need to quote my post for people to understand that you are talking about him (even if you are the 100th poster).

Low prices, no protection and better quality of games are 3 very important factors that pirates consider if they buy a game or not. It definately helps. People will never stop pirating games completely, but he's doing himself some good.

ElectricNZ

lol@thinking pirates will stop if he lowers prices, takes away copy-protection and makes better games.ElectricNZ

Sins of Solar Empire (yes again) is UNPROTECTED,cheap and great game = SELLS WELL

[QUOTE="ElectricNZ"]lol@thinking pirates will stop if he lowers prices, takes away copy-protection and makes better games.Lidve

Sins of Solar Empire (yes again) is UNPROTECTED,cheap and great game = SELLS WELL

lol@thinking pirates will stop if he lowers prices, takes away copy-protection and makes better games.fetelth

Your right. It's not like we've seen this exact same senario work out successfuly for companies like Blizzard and Stardock....ohh, wait...it DID work out for them perfectly. Imagine that

[QUOTE="fetelth"]lol@thinking pirates will stop if he lowers prices, takes away copy-protection and makes better games.TeamR

Your right. It's not like we've seen this exact same senario work out successfuly for companies like Blizzard and Stardock....ohh, wait...it DID work out for them perfectly. Imagine that

proof?fetelth

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/sinsofasolarempire/news.html?sid=6197305&mode=news

Stardock and Ironclad Games' critically acclaimed DRM-free spaceborne RTS for the PC hits half-mil milestone after seven months.

ins of a Solar Empire has surpassed 400,000 units at retail, with another 100,000 units digitally distributed through Stardock's online store, since the PC game went on sale in February. That's not a bad figure, considering Sins reportedly cost under $1 million to make.

uh...cause all of Blizzard's games are heavily multiplayer based and Sins sold like 300k, that's not much.fetelth

Blizzard gives people what they want, and they buy it

Stardock spent less than a million dollars on SINS and it is one of the biggest selling strategy games of the decade. It outsold UT3 and they barely have an advertising budget. Epic blamed piracy for their poor sales....

The only reason people pirate is because they can, and they can with a 99% chance of not getting caught. This is the only honest reason. If anyone tell you otherwise, they are being dishonest.farrell2k

yeah. because everyone is exactly the same. we're all just clones of each other and we all do the same thing for the same reasons

[QUOTE="ElectricNZ"]lol@thinking pirates will stop if he lowers prices, takes away copy-protection and makes better games.Lidve

Sins of Solar Empire (yes again) is UNPROTECTED,cheap and great game = SELLS WELL

fail quote, I didnt say that...

[QUOTE="farrell2k"]The only reason people pirate is because they can, and they can with a 99% chance of not getting caught. This is the only honest reason. If anyone tell you otherwise, they are being dishonest.TeamR

yeah. because everyone is exactly the same. we're all just clones of each other and we all do the same thing for the same reasons

Anyone who tells you they're pirating a game to "stick it to the man" because of high prices or copy protection is flat out lying. That may be part of the reason, but the real reason is because pirating is easy and risk-free. They can get a game offline for free with less effort than going to a store and buying it.

Anyone who tries to attach some righteous ideal to their actions ("I'm protesting against copy protection because it's ruining gaming!") is not only a thief, they are also a liar.

Pirating a game is the same as going into a computer store and stealing the game off of the shelf. The vast majority of people who pirate games would never do that.

Do you know why?

It's not because those copies on the shelves come with copy-protection on them. It is because they could get caught. Pure and simple, if they tried to shoplift the box out of the store, there is a good chance they'll be caught.

If there was a risk of someone being caught when they download a game there would be less who do it, but there is virtually no risk.

Sins of a Solar Empire sold 500k copies after 7 months. Great for them, and tout that as proof that pirating isn't harmful all you want, but ask yourself... how many copies of SoaSE were pirated during those 7 months? I can guarantee you it was more than 500,000. There have been numerous companies which have had to close their doors because sales were underwhelming, while pirated downloads far outnumbered the sales.

[QUOTE="TeamR"]

[QUOTE="farrell2k"]The only reason people pirate is because they can, and they can with a 99% chance of not getting caught. This is the only honest reason. If anyone tell you otherwise, they are being dishonest.sircyrus

yeah. because everyone is exactly the same. we're all just clones of each other and we all do the same thing for the same reasons

Anyone who tells you they're pirating a game to "stick it to the man" because of high prices or copy protection is flat out lying. That may be part of the reason, but the real reason is because pirating is easy and risk-free. They can get a game offline for free with less effort than going to a store and buying it.

Anyone who tries to attach some righteous ideal to their actions ("I'm protesting against copy protection because it's ruining gaming!") is not only a thief, they are also a liar.

Pirating a game is the same as going into a computer store and stealing the game off of the shelf. The vast majority of people who pirate games would never do that.

Do you know why?

It's not because those copies on the shelves come with copy-protection on them. It is because they could get caught. Pure and simple, if they tried to shoplift the box out of the store, there is a good chance they'll be caught.

If there was a risk of someone being caught when they download a game there would be less who do it, but there is virtually no risk.

Sins of a Solar Empire sold 500k copies after 7 months. Great for them, and tout that as proof that pirating isn't harmful all you want, but ask yourself... how many copies of SoaSE were pirated during those 7 months? I can guarantee you it was more than 500,000. There have been numerous companies which have had to close their doors because sales were underwhelming, while pirated downloads far outnumbered the sales.

Lemme guess, you also support the Patriot Act and DRM, because everyone is guilty until proven innocent... right?

Lemme guess, you also support the Patriot Act and DRM, because everyone is guilty until proven innocent... right? PunishedOne

And I'm not American, so I don't care about the Patriot Act.

As for DRM, that's been around in business software long before games were using it. If it actually helped prevent piracy on the large scale I would support it, but it doesn't. It just prevents little Jimmy from giving Billy his CD so he can install it too. That kind of piracy is small-time compared to what is actually harming the industry.

Actually yes, everyone is exactly the same when it comes to this issue.

Anyone who tells you they're pirating a game to "stick it to the man" because of high prices or copy protection is flat out lying. That may be part of the reason, but the real reason is because pirating is easy and risk-free. They can get a game offline for free with less effort than going to a store and buying it.

Anyone who tries to attach some righteous ideal to their actions ("I'm protesting against copy protection because it's ruining gaming!") is not only a thief, they are also a liar.

Pirating a game is the same as going into a computer store and stealing the game off of the shelf. The vast majority of people who pirate games would never do that.

Do you know why?

It's not because those copies on the shelves come with copy-protection on them. It is because they could get caught. Pure and simple, if they tried to shoplift the box out of the store, there is a good chance they'll be caught.

If there was a risk of someone being caught when they download a game there would be less who do it, but there is virtually no risk.

Sins of a Solar Empire sold 500k copies after 7 months. Great for them, and tout that as proof that pirating isn't harmful all you want, but ask yourself... how many copies of SoaSE were pirated during those 7 months? I can guarantee you it was more than 500,000. There have been numerous companies which have had to close their doors because sales were underwhelming, while pirated downloads far outnumbered the sales.sircyrus

[QUOTE="PunishedOne"]Lemme guess, you also support the Patriot Act and DRM, because everyone is guilty until proven innocent... right? sircyrus

And I'm not American, so I don't care about the Patriot Act.

As for DRM, that's been around in business software long before games were using it. If it actually helped prevent piracy on the large scale I would support it, but it doesn't. It just prevents little Jimmy from giving Billy his CD so he can install it too. That kind of piracy is small-time compared to what is actually harming the industry.

Piracy is not stealing. It is copyright infringement.

If there was a risk of someone being caught when they download a game there would be less who do it, but there is virtually no risk.

Sins of a Solar Empire sold 500k copies after 7 months. Great for them, and tout that as proof that pirating isn't harmful all you want, but ask yourself... how many copies of SoaSE were pirated during those 7 months? I can guarantee you it was more than 500,000. There have been numerous companies which have had to close their doors because sales were underwhelming, while pirated downloads far outnumbered the sales.

sircyrus

Your right. If there was a greater risk of being punished for pirating software, less people would do it. Thats obvious. But where you and all the big companies seem to get confused is that that theory doesnt answer the question "how many people would turn around and actually buy the game instead of pirate it?"

The answer is: not many

No matter how you try to spin it, the fact of the matter is that people pirate because they don't want to buy. If, somehow, you could stop a pirate from pirating, doesnt mean you'd make him buy it. I may never walk into a store and steal a game off the shelf, but i'm not buying it either!

Sins is special because they basically gave the game away. They even encourage piracy in some aspects. However, they made a product that was worth buying, and instead of the EA route which is to treat everyone like a criminal, they reward legit customers with added features and content. They were rewarded with much love from the pc gaming community, and great sales. Sins is probably one of the most profitable games released so far this year.

Seriously, look at Spore. How does that DRM method help in any way? Pirates play an unrestricted version while paying customers have limited installs and 1 account per box. The pirates have a vastly superior product and people are surprised that it's the fastest pirated game in history? If you treat your paying customers like criminals then you shouldnt be surpised if they turn into one. If EA is going to charge me 50 bucks and accuse me of pirating anyway, I may as well just pirate it and save myself the cash.

encourage me to buy and i'll buy.

encourage me to pirate and i'll pirate

I'm not paying for an inferior product that treats me like a criminal

One less pirate doesnt equal one more customer....unless you encourage him to pay out. And you can't do that with intrusive, draconian DRM

Anyone who tells you they're pirating a game to "stick it to the man" because of high prices or copy protection is flat out lying. That may be part of the reason, but the real reason is because pirating is easy and risk-free.sircyrus

Excuses, excuses.. stupid pirates.

1. If games are too expensive. don't buy it. Dont swipe that credit card. Video games are expensive because of production costs. As technology improves and grows, it becomes more expensive, especially with the ever-changing economy. You expect to get more advanced graphics and better games without paying more money to make them? It's costing developers and publishers an arm and leg and to make and distribute these games. Get a clue!

2. Copy protection was there to stop you stupid pirates in the first place!

3. "Many of the pirates said they found the majority of games not worth the money," - So they find that these games are not worth their money yet they pirate them and play them anyway. If it's not worth their money, then why are they so interested in pirating them and playing them? Hypocrites.

To find justifiable reasons to give these pirates another day to breed off pirated games is spineless. It's stealing, end of story. There is no discussion. If you think piracy is justifiable, then you are too, a pirate, a thief. Cliff Harris fails at life.

Pirating isn't stealing, +10 e-points to whoever figures out what it is.unrealplaya55

It's the equivalent of stealing if not worse.. wow.. gtfo...

[QUOTE="unrealplaya55"]Pirating isn't stealing, +10 e-points to whoever figures out what it is.Elann2008

It's the equivalent of stealing if not worse.. wow.. gtfo...

See I can do it too

[QUOTE="unrealplaya55"]Pirating isn't stealing, +10 e-points to whoever figures out what it is.Elann2008

It's the equivalent of stealing if not worse.. wow.. gtfo...

First of all I'd like to say that I don't condone piracy.

However, you can't call it stealing to duplicate something and then give it to someone else. Someone had to buy the original copy, and all of the duplicates that follow it are at no expense ot the company who made the game. End of story.

That is all.

[QUOTE="unrealplaya55"]Pirating isn't stealing, +10 e-points to whoever figures out what it is.Elann2008

It's the equivalent of stealing if not worse.. wow.. gtfo...

It's not worse, just more wide spread.

Excuses, excuses.. stupid pirates.

1. If games are too expensive. RENT them! Video games are expensive because of production costs.

Elann2008

Rent PC games? Where?

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]

Excuses, excuses.. stupid pirates.

1. If games are too expensive. RENT them! Video games are expensive because of production costs.

Captain__Tripps

Rent PC games? Where?

Piracy is not stealing. It is copyright infringement.PunishedOne

You can try to split hairs or attempt to make it justified all you want, but pirating is stealing.

When you pirate you are illegally acquiring a game which cost a developer large sums of money to create. By using the game without paying for it, you are withholding the revenue that the developer would have had if you were legally using the program.

Someone else mentioned that not everyone who pirates would have purchased the game, so it's not all lost revenue. It is irrelevant if you wouldn't have purchased it if the option to pirate had not been there. You are using it, and therefore you're stealing the product they are selling. You are getting something for free that you were not meant to.

To put that arguement into perspective, if I shoplift a package of gum from 7/11 and chew it, does it make it any less illegal or wrong if I wouldn't have bought the gum had I not been able to steal it? Of course not. That I wouldn't have bought it doesn't change the fact that I have still stolen it.

And before anyone claims you're not costing the developers anything since you're not stealing CD's or whatnot, the major costs of game development do not come about in distribution. They come about during development. That is the cost they would be recouping if you did not having the option to steal the game.

I've seen people attempt to justify pirating for a variety of reasons in the past, and it never ceases to amaze me that people defending pirating truly believe that they're in the right.

As a result of what I found, I'm changing the way I make and sell my games. I already dropped some prices, and will keep future games cheaper, I abandoned copy-protection on all my games the next day, and resolved to work harder than ever before to make the best games that I can. I went from being demoralised and depressed by pirates to being motivated and encouraged by them. I asked them what they thought, then listened. Given the inability of big media companies to do either, I think I suddenly found my competitive advantage.

Cliff Harris is the founder of Positech Games

ElectricNZ

So did this work ?

Excuses, excuses.. stupid pirates.

1. If games are too expensive. RENT them! Video games are expensive because of production costs. As technology improves and grows, it becomes more expensive, especially with the ever-changing economy. You expect to get more advanced graphics and better games without paying more money to make them? It's costing developers and publishers an arm and leg and to make and distribute these games. Get a clue!

Elann2008

Better games? Hardly. Flashier? Yes. Very few great/good games come out anymore and I'm sure I and many others would say that the games of yesterday with a lower poly-count far outshine the games of the present in terms of quality. Why? Because since graphics weren't the thing the developers HAD to put effort into gameplay and story. I'd rather buy Wolfenstein 3D, used but fine condition, for $80.00 off Amazon.com than a new copy of Gears of War. Just because it's "advanced" doesn't mean it is worth the price tag.

2. Copy protection was there to stop you stupid pirates in the first place!

Elann2008

Yeah, but it never works. DRM only ever proves to be a hassle to the honest customer while being a fun challenge for the crack-team overnight. It is a redundant attempt by the companies to secure the flow of money into their pockets.

3. "Many of the pirates said they found the majority of games not worth the money," - So they find that these games are not worth their money yet they pirate them and play them anyway. If it's not worth their money, then why are they so interested in pirating them and playing them? Hypocrites.

Elann2008

PC games are not rentable and few have demos. Illegally downloading them would be the only other option to test the game to see if you liked it and judge whether it's worth the money or not. If they don't it's wiped from the drive. However those who do like the game find themselves too lazy to get the real copy or simply found that they got away with the fake copy and said screw it. It's not hypocritical. I'd rather try something out before I buy it. The differance is that I don't and if I did I'd be sure to support the company that made such a great product by buying the game.

To find justifiable reasons to give these pirates another day to breed off pirated games is spineless. It's stealing, end of story. There is no discussion. If you think piracy is justifiable, then you are too, a pirate, a thief. Cliff Harris fails at life.

Elann2008

While they may not be justifiable, there are reasons. It's not stealing, it's copyright infirngement. He doesn't fail at life. He took the time to ask his target audience what they wanted and delivered. I wouldn't be suprised if he succeeded in selling more copies of his games. Get off your high chair and go home.

Btw, I in no way or form condone piracy but I'm not going to blindy spout nonsence and insult those whom may have a differant viewpoint.

regarding proof for sins of solar empire seling well despite no copy protection: search the game here in gamespot, look for the latest news. A week ago it was claimed that it had sold 500k games!

[QUOTE="farrell2k"]The only reason people pirate is because they can, and they can with a 99% chance of not getting caught. This is the only honest reason. If anyone tell you otherwise, they are being dishonest.TeamR

yeah. because everyone is exactly the same. we're all just clones of each other and we all do the same thing for the same reasons

Nope, but 99% of the time if you were given the choice between a £2.49 Big Mac or a Free Big Mac but McDonnalds won't like you because of it I assume you'd choose the formeer not the latter.

That is how pirates think, they think games companies are evil people with tonnes of money who horde games like gems and drib them out to gamers at extorionate prices. When infact it is the opposite in the games industry, most devs can't make a profit on pc games any more because of piracy.

[QUOTE="TeamR"]

[QUOTE="farrell2k"]The only reason people pirate is because they can, and they can with a 99% chance of not getting caught. This is the only honest reason. If anyone tell you otherwise, they are being dishonest.hongkingkong

yeah. because everyone is exactly the same. we're all just clones of each other and we all do the same thing for the same reasons

That is how pirates think, they think games companies are evil people with tonnes of money who horde games like gems and drib them out to gamers at extorionate prices. When infact it is the opposite in the games industry, most devs can't make a profit on pc games any more because of piracy.

Actually, the pirates aren't wrong.

Nope, but 99% of the time if you were given the choice between a £2.49 Big Mac or a Free Big Mac but McDonnalds won't like you because of it I assume you'd choose the formeer not the latter.

That is how pirates think, they think games companies are evil people with tonnes of money who horde games like gems and drib them out to gamers at extorionate prices. When infact it is the opposite in the games industry, most devs can't make a profit on pc games any more because of piracy.

hongkingkong

oh put a sock in it

You can't generalize about anything. Look at spore for an example. How many of the people pirating spore would you say are doing so because they just want a free game, and how many would you say are pirating spore because the cracked version is flat out BETTER than the legit version that treats everyone like a pirate anyway? And how many are pirating spore just to piss EA off in a DRM protest? And how many are pirating because they want to try the game out, but never planned on buying it anyway?

You see what I mean?

Because of the harsher than usual DRM, Spore is on it's way to becoming the most pirated game in the history of gaming, and it's still on pace to sell over 2 million units before xmas. That says alot of things about piracy, DRM, and the state of PC gaming in general. What does it tell you?

If I had to choose between a £2.49 Big Mac with a worm in it, or a Free Big Mac, call me a dirty pirate but i'd choose the free one.

Excuses, excuses.. stupid pirates.

1. If games are too expensive. RENT them! Video games are expensive because of production costs. As technology improves and grows, it becomes more expensive, especially with the ever-changing economy. You expect to get more advanced graphics and better games without paying more money to make them? It's costing developers and publishers an arm and leg and to make and distribute these games. Get a clue!Elann2008

Rent...PC Games? :|

2. Copy protection was there to stop you stupid pirates in the first place!Elann2008

True. Was that every questioned?

3. "Many of the pirates said they found the majority of games not worth the money," - So they find that these games are not worth their money yet they pirate them and play them anyway. If it's not worth their money, then why are they so interested in pirating them and playing them? Hypocrites.Elann2008

Lots of movies don't look good enough for me to see them in the theaters, so I'll get them via Netflix when they come out on DVD or I'll watch someone else's DVD. The same thing is done when people rent games or borrow another person's game. They're not sure the game is worth $60 or $50 so they rent it/borrow it first. How is that hypocritcal?

Note: I'm not talking about piracy here. I'm talking about your insinuation that a pirate is a hypocrite because they don't want to spend $50 to $60 on a game, but they still want to check it out.

Pirates are all full of s***. Sure, 12% of them may actually be pirating to further their agenda, but the other 90% are just lame kids who jump on the "gimme games for free!" bandwagon and will pirate just because they are cheap and disrespectful for the rest o' their lives.flclempire

Or they don't have money.

The piracy problem isn't as simple as most people want it to be. It's not just black and white.

Excuses, excuses.. stupid pirates.

1. If games are too expensive. RENT them! Video games are expensive because of production costs. As technology improves and grows, it becomes more expensive, especially with the ever-changing economy. You expect to get more advanced graphics and better games without paying more money to make them? It's costing developers and publishers an arm and leg and to make and distribute these games. Get a clue!

2. Copy protection was there to stop you stupid pirates in the first place!

3. "Many of the pirates said they found the majority of games not worth the money," - So they find that these games are not worth their money yet they pirate them and play them anyway. If it's not worth their money, then why are they so interested in pirating them and playing them? Hypocrites.

To find justifiable reasons to give these pirates another day to breed off pirated games is spineless. It's stealing, end of story. There is no discussion. If you think piracy is justifiable, then you are too, a pirate, a thief. Cliff Harris fails at life.

Elann2008

You have no intelligence at all do you?

Pirates are all full of s***. Sure, 12% of them may actually be pirating to further their agenda, but the other 90% are just lame kids who jump on the "gimme games for free!" flclempire

lol

I nominate this for the Quote of the month award

Question for those who are really against Piracy: Do you think developers & publishers should spend more time & money on security measures or should they look into the reasons why pirates pirate and try to make better games? Which approach do you think is more practical?

I think this is what the original post was about and this thread was side tracked into yet another "are pirates good or bad" thread. This is a dead horse methinks.

I don't think piracy will ever be ended. The latest "Game Activation" method with Mass Effect didn't work. I don't agree with the guy who claims the reason all pirates do what they do because it's easy and there's a small chance of getting caught. That's only one of the reasons and those people will probably never be convinced to pay for a game even if it's excellent and worth every penny. They'll pirate because they can & because it's easy. But I do believe that there are pirates who want better games and are willing to pay for them & those are the kind of pirates who can be swayed into paying for a game...as long as the game is worth it.

So I think the second approach I mentioned in that first paragraph is the way to do it. Now I can see how some of the fiercely anti-pirate people won't like that, because it may seem like a developer is trying to "appease pirates" but I still think that's the more practical approach. What do the rest of you think? Try not to get too emotional or flame others8)