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I'd like to talk about this topic, but a disclaimer first, no talking about sites to get pirated material and no linking to pirated material, this is specifically the discussion of piracy, whether you do or don't pirate things, if you think it's wrong, or don't care, essentially a debate if you will.
I pirate things, and the reasons on why I pirate things has changed over time at first it was an easy way to get games because I had no money, then after I got a job and could pay for games I mostly use it to either get import games, or try out a game before I buy it, sometime I'll still pirate a game because I know I'm not gonna play it for more than two hours anyway. My thoughts on the morals of doing this is that pirating doesn't exactly harm sales because the people who pirate games can't or won't buy the games and will only opt for the free version. For instance with my pirating of games because I didn't have money, I would never have bought any of those games because I simply pirated them because it was free and convenient, I mean sure maybe some of the games I might have bought over time, but I found all those game with the intention of pirating them, I wouldn't have gotten online and looked for games to purchase, I wouldn't care because I wouldn't have money and it was inconvenient for me because I lived in a small town I had to take a 40 minute drive to a city to get games. As for the won't someone with a bunch of money but is a cheap ass, or maybe someone won't buy a company's games but still pirates them just to smite them.
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I've never been much a tuned to the idea personally. I didn't really care and I'm not really for it, but I see a value.
The byproduct of these activities is a large library, I guess you could say, of what will more than likely become abandonware without its former support. So, am I supportive of the current trend? I can't say I am. Do I see potential in these things? Well, I see potential in a lot of things.
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I don't mind piracy that much. I watch movies and series online, though I do tend to buy my favorites or watch them on TV anyway. What I do mind is when some dickwad leaks the game and then a bunch of cheapskates go and download it weeks before the actual release date when people who have paid good money for their pre-orders still have to wait. It's bullshit and there should be at least some decency in pirating, like having the pirated versions available a week after the release or something.
If I want to try something out without investing too much money on it I buy it during a Steam sale for a steal or snatch it off of PS+. I much prefer having an actual collection of games instead of just a ton of useless data on my hard drive so I buy my games from stores or online. Of course that means a lot of used games which in turn is just as bad for the devs as piracy. This is why I can't really blame piracy for being that big of a problem, unless it's a case like I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Besides, some games are just so ridiculously rare and expensive, especially for older consoles, that emulation really is the only reasonable option unless you are a hardcore collector and willing to pay hundreds or thousands of bucks for a couple of games.
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I don't really have a problem with it, considering I pirate GBA and PS1 games all of the time.
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I think piracy in general is a gray area. There are clear distinctions between doing wrong and "well maybe it's not that bad".
Is it bad to pirate inFAMOUS: Second Son, sure. Because it's still a current game that has value going directly towards the developer.
Is it bad to pirate GBA games. Not really no. Those games aren't being commercially sold anymore so there's no way for Nintendo to profit from them.
Another point being that people from another country that have poor conversion rate or games that're priced incredibly high aren't really in the wrong either. Dunno. There's different ways of seeing piracy.
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I have issues against it. However, I still think Weird Al's satire of music piracy is the greatest voice on much of the issue:
After all, most of your big names aren't actually really hurt by it, but it can actually harm smaller developers.
But in the end, it still technically is illegal. Now, I myself have used emulation for years. It's become more important to me recently, with how great it is to learn speedruns/small tricks. But, I'm playing old games that aren't being sold, aren't making money and that I already own.
It's just a tough call.
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I don't really care for it. It will happen because it's easy, and you will do it because it's easy.
Sure, I'll pirate a game, and if I like it I'll buy the game, but if I don't well the game was shit and I didn't like it.
Piracy is pretty good for that, if you don't want to pay for the game if I think it's going to be shit, and it turns out to be shit, I haven't spent any money on it, and so I haven't made a loss, apart from the time I spent playing it.
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(04-15-2014, 10:14 AM)CosmykTheDolfyn Wrote: I have issues against it. However, I still think Weird Al's satire of music piracy is the greatest voice on much of the issue:
After all, most of your big names aren't actually really hurt by it, but it can actually harm smaller developers.
But in the end, it still technically is illegal. Now, I myself have used emulation for years. It's become more important to me recently, with how great it is to learn speedruns/small tricks. But, I'm playing old games that aren't being sold, aren't making money and that I already own.
It's just a tough call.
That can be said for anything. The surprising thing is, there are a lot of indie developers who also don't care. They give out their music for free or have no problem with free downloads. Often they'll have a donation button or a 'pay what you want' button which I find is a much better system.
You'll still get the cheap scumbags who'll torrent the humble bundle without even wanting to pay 1p for the package.
In all honesty the one main reason I pirated Wii games is so that I can keep 'em sealed. I collect games so if I want my Zelda game to increase in value, download it but still it at full price on launch. It's not illegal to make backups either if you own the game.
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I watch The Daily Show and the Colbert Report via the Comedy Central website. It's great, because it's legal and I onl need to sit through ads to enjoy it. Colbert is moving to the Late Show. I tried watching one of these shows and it's region locked to the U.S.. That's basically asking people to pirate your shit.
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It's a mixed bag, and definitly way more complicated than the usual responses of PIRATING STUFF IS BAD GUYZ or YO HO, YO HO, YOU ARE A PIRATE!
With shows, I feel no qualms pirating them because of how hostile TV networks and streaming services are to customers. This comic sums it up really well
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Some games have the best Anti-piracy stuff. For example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e91q5BtlxK0
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I don't typically download stuff, but I streamwatch Game of Thrones, because I don't have HBO. Then I buy the Season DVD afterwards. I don't even watch it. It's just sitting, unwrapped, in my room.
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I tend to pirate things, but it's because I don't have any money and will not until I get a job or wait till my birthday. Most of the time I'll end up just playing for a hour or two then forget to delete it off my computer. Most ROMs or ISOs I get were games I owned before but can't play because that system I have is no longer working. When it comes to TV shows I only been pirating The Arrow because I don't have cable TV so I can't watch the CW and Netflix got me hooked on the series I had to see more. I'm only against pirating if it's on games that were released or if it's from a small company who could use the funds.
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Of the things I "pirate" are tv shows that I didn't get a chance to see. Now though only two shows are on my list of downloads because I have Hulu+
And one of those two shows, I then go and buy the seasons on bluray so I do end up paying for them thus contributing to the show in my own way.
I did hear a comment a few days ago about last Sunday's episode of Game of Thrones and that it was the most pirated/downloaded episode. This was told to an actor from that show and they didn't think "Oh no! My show isn't making money!" they pretty much shrugged it off and smiled even (and didn't look like a fake smile either) and thought it was flattering at least that people love the show so much they would risk being fined or jailed for it (not what they said I'm merely expressing my own interpretation of the situation).
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