When is piracy your only option?

[Dan]

That's a good point. Perhaps if there were more demos (and longer ones at that) then people might be more inclined to buy.

The problem with 'try before you buy' is that even though you may end up paying for the game in the end, it still encourages the existence and spread of the various types of piracy.

Personally I use a blend of reviews (Metacritic FTW) and trailers before making decisions. It also helps that YouTube has gameplay footage for any title you can think of too.

[mcryan]

I fully agree. I will admit to slipping in my time, and there have been times when I was a scholar or student and cash was tight and I took that pirated game off a mates External, but since I got a job and started earning decent-ish money I have gone and bought many of those games that I pirated. Sometimes I do play them again. Sometimes the cases just sit on my shelf forever untouched. I won't say that I've bought all the games I've pirated, but I have bought all the ones that I thoroughly enjoyed and spent masses of time on. E.g: Half-Life 2, Oblivion, FEAR, StarCraft, WarCraft 3, Bioshock, Fallout 3 and more.

These days I'm a little more circumspect as to what I buy, and do do the necessary research before deciding if I'll buy something. Research like reviews and in game videos like you mentioned mcryan. There are too many crappy games out there for me to blindly throw money around looking for entertainment

Yeah, I also slipped a few time back when I was studying and couldnt spend money on original things. But I still wouldnt buy it pirated, I would just borrow. Good thing we've grown up and can support the people now

I think I should take a picture of my collection as well, though my collection is huge and a lot of it is packed a way (my older PC games).

Picture to follow... I hope

[phoenix]

IMHO if I've forked out for a game then I have a right to install/reinstall/play it however I want.

I have no issues using certain measure to bypass DRM on my legitimate software.

I am inclined to agree with you on this, though I do feel uneasy about the legal technicalities.

Is it not true that one is not buying the game, but only the right to play the game provided one complies with the terms set for in the EULA?


As lilDeath pointed out though, we do have more than one option in this matter.

[iOverflow]

Respect! RustBucket

[Stefan9]

That's a good point. Perhaps if there were more demos (and longer ones at that) then people might be more inclined to buy.

The problem with 'try before you buy' is that even though you may end up paying for the game in the end, it still encourages the existence and spread of the various types of piracy.

Personally I use a blend of reviews (Metacritic FTW) and trailers before making decisions. It also helps that YouTube has gameplay footage for any title you can think of too.

For some games demo's are useless. Especially story driven rpg's, a demo can never really tell you how the game is. It would take a big demo to do that and nobody is going to make or download a 10 hour demo.

Personally I listen to the opinion on forums like gamebanshee and rpg watch since the gamers there generally like the same rpgs that I do so I can see if they like the game its something I will buy.

For the other genre's its rather hit and miss for me. With RTS and FPS its more miss than hit. Which is way I generally stick to crpg's since I know I will like most of them.

Other games like football manager and pes have through the years been good so I know what to expect.

I don't use the try before you buy method and never will.

[Stefan9]

I am inclined to agree with you on this, though I do feel uneasy about the legal technicalities.

Is it not true that one is not buying the game, but only the right to play the game provided one complies with the terms set for in the EULA?


As lilDeath pointed out though, we do have more than one option in this matter.

The EULA is useless. It has virtually never stood up in the courts. The only time it has been respected by the courts is when what's said in the EULA is part of state/federal law.

The reason the courts dismiss it is quite easy. When you buy a game you don't agree to that EULA before buying the game and the retailers won't let you return a game after you have opened the game and started installing and read the eula and then don't agree with it.

[iOverflow]

The EULA is useless. It has virtually never stood up in the courts. The only time it has been respected by the courts is when what's said in the EULA is part of state/federal law.

The reason the courts dismiss it is quite easy. When you buy a game you don't agree to that EULA before buying the game and the retailers won't let you return a game after you have opened the game and started installing and read the eula and then don't agree with it.

lol? are you serious about the part on EULA?, or you just making it up

Sueing is going to be more difficult now...

[Stefan9]

lol? are you serious about the part on EULA?, or you just making it up

Sueing is going to be more difficult now...

No I am serious. The US courts have not respected EULA in most cases brought before them. Unless it has changed recently which I am not aware of. They say the customer didn't agree to the eula before buying the game and since most retailers don't allow the customer to return the game once opened . Recently some publishers have been putting stickers on their boxes that you need to accept the eula to use the game but since none of the retailers policies on returning opened games have changed I doubt that label would make much of a difference to the courts.

Basicly the courts will only accepted the EULA if the customer gets to see it before purchasing the game.

[iOverflow]

Ouch, I'm not even sure if EULA applies in SA...

[Grimspoon]

I think everyone has posted very valid and mature replies. Who said gamers were immature? Haha.

I think maybe my thread topic was a little off in the sense that you do always have an option and I by no means think that piracy is the way to go. But at the end of the day when people start to get greedy, they loose customers. And the natural thing for some gamers to do when they don’t have R500 for a game, is to copy it from a friend. If the games were reasonably priced people would much rather have the original, but @ R500 odd a game it is just crazy.

I do think more demos should be made available. That way you know what you are in for, and you know if it will run on your system or not. Try before you buy with a full version is a bit of a sketchy one, most people would probably try and keep trying until the game is done, and then forget about it and not buy the original. I know I have been guilty of that before. End of the day the devs deserve the support from us, but I feel they need to price their games better.