Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: The moral high ground.

  1. #1
    The Piper Necuno's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    10,306

    Question The moral high ground.

    I really don't want to go into the discussion of piracy VS stealing VS wtf. This is merely to trot out the moral ground on the following. If you do need to feel to discuss piracy and stealing please rather make a new thread thereof.

    Additionally fight clubs should be kept outside please.




    Presented with a choice here:

    1) Do not buy the game
    2) Torrent the game.
    3) Buy the game.

    However choice 3 is not so simple as it is not released in your country yet. Now you can fake you way in, but that would still be wrong right?

    What is driving your need to have the game... Should that not be the very first question you ask yourself? Obviously there are some games you can't just torrent and well have to go the legal route one way or the other to play it. These are obviously MMOs like TOR/WOW.

    Haven gotten my key through something like g2play or a friend abroad, everyone was paid and no fraud was committed. This seems to be the ideal win win.

    Now comes the more gray area. Looking at LA NOIRE on steam I had to get my key by using a vpn connection, dropping it and then paying as I would normally do. In essence only wrong I did was spoofing my IP. Next up comes Mark of the ninja and steam has gotten smarter. Now I have to flip my country to US and add a US code, rest of the detail is as it was.

    However now I'm bordering on fraud... But how different would this be from my US Apple ID or my US and UK Live account. All three of them are on the same method.

    Seems that if you take the high ground here you will go with option 1 or 2, but 2 no one gets payed and noted this was a guaranteed sale not for tryouts. If I go with 3 and fake my way in, I'm lying about my origin and billing, but still the developer got paid.

    White lie much ?

    I think I would feel more in the wrong in using a key sale place that just sells the key and you need to get the ISO. How would I know for sure that anyone got paid by using their services. For all I know they skimmed the keys. Option 3 then seems more likely to be good than bad...
    // Previously known as Blind Faith or Pr⊕phet
    // Sign up to Greenman Gaming and get $2 FREE in-store credit.

  2. #2
    Crzwaco's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Saldanha
    Posts
    15,634

    Default

    You bough the game I don't see whats the problem. How you did it does it really matter?
    Evil meet my Sword. Sword, meet Evil!


  3. #3

    Default

    I feel in that particular grey area everyone needs to make their own choice. Its an artificial restriction & breaking it via artificial means doesn't *really* harm anyone directly like stealing their car would. That being said its not exactly squeaky clean either.

    I've never encountered the situation & probably wouldn't do the VPN thing if push comes to shove, but totally understand people who do. Going forward I'd recommend stopping though...Valve is cracking down on account with activities like that & presumably you've got a couple of bucks invested in you game lib.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pr⊕phet View Post
    However now I'm bordering on fraud...
    Personally I wouldn't classify that as fraud. More like misrepresentation & perhaps unethical depending on one's point of view.

    Fraud - Noun
    1. Wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.
    2. A person or thing intended to deceive others, typically by unjustifiably claiming or being credited with accomplishments or qualities.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pr⊕phet View Post
    But how different would this be from my US Apple ID or my US and UK Live account. All three of them are on the same method.
    Kinda weak argument there tbh.

    Grey areas like this are always very much a matter of opinion & people will disagree quite energetically. Ultimately the only things that matter is 1) legal consequences 2) whether you can line it up with your own moral compass. Regarding the 2nd people have wildly different tolerances for dark grey & black.

  4. #4
    Assassin of Accountants Ike_009's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Pretoria
    Posts
    7,799

    Default The moral high ground.

    I feel it is important for the guys to get paid. Most of these dev are under a company,thus shareholders and a focus on a healthy Net profit. Thus in order to keep us happy they need money to keep investors happy which allows dev to grow and create better games.
    On a desperate note I find series more fun than single hits since they provide a better world to be drawn into and if a great series doesn't sell it's very easy to can a story half way.

    Thus my view is to give credit where due and to reward them for their investment. Once you start pirating you start a cycle that leaves gamers starving, one which PC games are already feeling. So long as devs get a cut then the cycle of happy gamers will continue
    My ignore list: n/a

  5. #5
    Jase's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    In die Oos, Koos...
    Posts
    479

    Default

    My view is the same as what Ike has. As long as you are buying the game legitimately, I see no real issue other than the 3rd parties here in our country not getting their cut.

    One of the reasons I get so p'd off with our country is having to buy everything through a re-seller and not directly through a manufacturer (even though I do understand and support re-sellers) and finding a reasonably priced re-seller is often difficult as their mark ups can range from okay to ridiculous.

    Example:
    Randomly googled re-seller selling an Alienware M18x: R78k
    Similar Specc'd from Dell: [email protected]: R43k
    So R35k for import costs, duties and markup.... The only benefit I can see is the on site warranty (which is a big thing when spending R78k on a laptop!)
    Take everything I say with a pinch of salt. Infact, goto your nearest beach and snort some seawater.

  6. #6

    Default

    Region blocking is a pain in the ass. I have no problem using a US account in order to gain access to a product which is otherwise not available to me.

  7. #7
    Stefan9's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Pretoria,for now
    Posts
    2,060

    Default

    Have no issues with people bypassing region blocks in order to buy products. Should not be any region blocks anyway imho.

Similar Threads

  1. Watch a Nexus 7 tablet hit the ground really hard
    By Jeremy in forum Gaming News Articles
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 20-11-2012, 06:04 PM
  2. DmC: finding the middle ground between Bayonetta and God of War
    By qornea in forum Gaming News Articles
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 13-04-2012, 06:47 AM
  3. Aliens use earth as a battle ground???
    By bradbear117 in forum Off Topic
    Replies: 17
    Last Post: 29-11-2011, 07:07 AM
  4. Do you choose Good or Bad in moral choice games?
    By bradbear117 in forum Gaming Discussions
    Replies: 54
    Last Post: 28-09-2011, 01:03 PM
  5. Moral choice in gaming
    By Tinman in forum Gaming Discussions
    Replies: 22
    Last Post: 11-06-2010, 09:08 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •