this platform can be saved if we do something about piracy.

It can be saved if developers make good games. People buy good games.

Steam is great, but not the savior of pc gaming.

It can be saved if developers make good games. People buy good games.

Steam is great, but not the savior of pc gaming.

robertlie

Efectivamente.

The way to combat piracy is going to be a very complicated and strategic battle. Copy protection is not the answer, because it is so easily cracked.

First you must educate people, and try to instill some strong morals and ethics, and explain in detail why it is a good idea to support game developers with money. Hopefully this will prevent more people turning to piracy simply because it is 'an easy option'. If some people do not even think that piracy is wrong, or that they have no effect as an individual, then that is a steep hill to climb. But I think it is still worth climbing.

At the same time you must strike at the piracy distribution systems, and that means tearing down piracy/torrent sites, and keep on doing that every time a new one goes up. Hunt down and find those running such sites and take legal action against them to make examples of them.

Peer pressure is also important. How many people posting on this site know friends or associates who have pirated a game? Did you report them for their activities? Most likely not, because who really wants to betray a friend, right? Do you try to reason with them that piracy is a bad idea? Do you constantly badger them to stop pirating and pay for their games instead? If all you do is sit back and allow them to continue unhindered, and you know what they are doing but do nothing yourself to change it, then you are part of the problem.

From the other side, publishers and developers need to stop punishing their legitimate paying customers, because at the very least they are going to end up losing sales, and at worst they will be pushing even more people towards piracy.

There are many other things that could and should be done, but I see those as the main issues. You have to change people's mind-set first, you have to tackle the pirate sites head-on, and you have to make paying for your games the more attractive option. Even so, you also have to accept that your best hope is to minimise the prevalence of piracy, because you can never stamp it out completely. A more realistic and sustainable approach has to be taken, otherwise the PC as a gaming platform is doomed.

Well i guess developers dont really take those countries that seriously. Main targets are people in Europe, America and East Asia (Kina, Korea, Japan)

So even if a good game came out and everyone in india and pakistan pirated it, there would still be plenty of western people buying it. But of course it sucks that you guys get those steep prices.

It can be saved if developers make good games. People buy good games.

robertlie

+ 400 billion is simply not enough for this statement.

[QUOTE="robertlie"]

It can be saved if developers make good games. People buy good games.

z4twenny

+ 400 billion is simply not enough for this statement.

He's quite a genius! :P

The way to combat piracy is going to be a very complicated and strategic battle. Copy protection is not the answer, because it is so easily cracked.

First you must educate people, and try to instill some strong morals and ethics, and explain in detail why it is a good idea to support game developers with money. Hopefully this will prevent more people turning to piracy simply because it is 'an easy option'. If some people do not even think that piracy is wrong, or that they have no effect as an individual, then that is a steep hill to climb. But I think it is still worth climbing.

At the same time you must strike at the piracy distribution systems, and that means tearing down piracy/torrent sites, and keep on doing that every time a new one goes up. Hunt down and find those running such sites and take legal action against them to make examples of them.

Peer pressure is also important. How many people posting on this site know friends or associates who have pirated a game? Did you report them for their activities? Most likely not, because who really wants to betray a friend, right? Do you try to reason with them that piracy is a bad idea? Do you constantly badger them to stop pirating and pay for their games instead? If all you do is sit back and allow them to continue unhindered, and you know what they are doing but do nothing yourself to change it, then you are part of the problem.

From the other side, publishers and developers need to stop punishing their legitimate paying customers, because at the very least they are going to end up losing sales, and at worst they will be pushing even more people towards piracy.

There are many other things that could and should be done, but I see those as the main issues. You have to change people's mind-set first, you have to tackle the pirate sites head-on, and you have to make paying for your games the more attractive option. Even so, you also have to accept that your best hope is to minimise the prevalence of piracy, because you can never stamp it out completely. A more realistic and sustainable approach has to be taken, otherwise the PC as a gaming platform is doomed.

RobertBowen

well said.

imho component manufacturers and the PCGA can also play a very big role in reducing piracy. if it can be tackeled at the hardware and software level...itll creat even more problems for pirates and hopefully not interfere with legit customers.

hehe....mod chips for the PC.

like for example, you have to install your game to a program like, steam, before you install it to your computer, and you have to have a cd key before you can do this.nickelarcade

The President of Stardock (Sins of a Solar Empire / Galatcic Civilizations) disagrees.

[QUOTE="nickelarcade"]like for example, you have to install your game to a program like, steam, before you install it to your computer, and you have to have a cd key before you can do this.SpaceMoose

The President of Stardock (Sins of a Solar Empire / Galatcic Civilizations) disagrees.

This guy has so many good points its almost scary. We need more developers like him

Well i guess developers dont really take those countries that seriously. Main targets are people in Europe, America and East Asia (Kina, Korea, Japan)

So even if a good game came out and everyone in india and pakistan pirated it, there would still be plenty of western people buying it. But of course it sucks that you guys get those steep prices.

robertlie

Which is both funny and sad at the same time. Those countries you listed along with China and Russia has well over a 89% piracy rate yet it seems like only US purchasers are held responsible. I'll never understand why they don't focus on oversea issues and leave us alone :)

Piracy cannot be stopped. Almost every home has a computer, but not everyone has a PS3, 360, Wii, etc... If developers started focusing on good gameplay and lower system requirements then more people would buy PC games. But PC enthusiasts always want the latest gear. Notice how it gets posted in people's sigs? So as long as people keep throwing down for new hardware, developers will also develop for newer technology. I built my current PC in 2005 and it is about 2.5 years old but still runs great. I don't have money for 2 new $500 video cards every year to stay on top of things. That's why I got a PS3. But there are still plenty of good PC games (RTS, MMORPG, Space Sim...) that consoles can't seem to get right.

Please Developers Lower System Reqs and Save PC Gaming.

[QUOTE="robertlie"]

Well i guess developers dont really take those countries that seriously. Main targets are people in Europe, America and East Asia (Kina, Korea, Japan)

So even if a good game came out and everyone in india and pakistan pirated it, there would still be plenty of western people buying it. But of course it sucks that you guys get those steep prices.

Krall

Which is both funny and sad at the same time. Those countries you listed along with China and Russia has well over a 89% piracy rate yet it seems like only US purchasers are held responsible. I'll never understand why they don't focus on oversea issues and leave us alone :)

This is one of the good things that Steam could work on. Iv seen alot of post in this forum from people from India, Pakistan etc complaining about steep prices with the exchange rate etc...Could it be possible for steam to take advantage of this "untapped resource" buy maybe making some sort of national system that could sell games at fair price for those living in these countries? I mean so that gamers in India could get these games at the same prices we in Europa\USA have ?

Even if the devs wouldnt get the same amount of money that they gets from us, they still would make more than they could by just not giving a damn about the asia minor pirates

Just a thought.

[QUOTE="SpaceMoose"]

[QUOTE="nickelarcade"]like for example, you have to install your game to a program like, steam, before you install it to your computer, and you have to have a cd key before you can do this.robertlie

The President of Stardock (Sins of a Solar Empire / Galatcic Civilizations) disagrees.

This guy has so many good points its almost scary. We need more developers like him

Yeah totaly agree with him. + death to EA, the worst factor of PC Gaming X_X

EA's not the worst, Starforce is the worst. God, was that a wreck...

Anyways, I like what Stardock is doing. There is no copy protection on the disc, but you have to register your CD Key to download patches. And since they're moving towards digital distribution, they could probably keep track of which CD Keys have been given out and check against those when people try to dl patches for the cracked games.crucifine

And once it's registered, you can download the game from them, even if you bought a store copy.