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[Vattic]

You mentioned buying a used copy from Ebay. I was under the impression that this was legally questionable. Then again I know it's OK according to EU law and even for digital games.

[Pakhawaj]

If a game is from a large company (e.g. Nintendo) it is immoral to buy the game unless you're buying a pirated physical copy as it only encourages the concentration of wealth.
Buying a game from a small company (e.g. Subset Games) is moral for the opposite reason.

Really though it's not a massive deal either way, so just do whatever you're comfortable with.

[motorbitch]

long time since i did buy a game i hadnt tryed a.... err... inofficial demo version in the first place.
i usually buy the games i like, but most games instanltly bore me.
i think its a win win situation here... the publishers dont have to care for the infra structure to get me the "demo", and i often buy games i hadnt bought without playing them in the first place.

[The Darkling Wolf]

I frequently pirate games, if I obtain enough money to buy a game that I've enjoyed, I then go and do that. Were I to never pirate games, I would probably buy them incredibly rarely, seeing as I really don't have the spare money to be throwing out on a game that I don't know whether I'm going to enjoy or not; I would tend to err on the side of not buying.

So for me personally, pirating games results in a fuckload more sales than were I to not pirate them.

[EuchreJack]

I generally don't pirate games that are still being sold, but I'm not shelling out money for ancient games for which the rights holder's claims are nebulous.

I also pirate all hentai games, principally because I'd rather they not appear on my credit card.  And the fact 98% of them don't actually qualify as a "game" but rather a digital picture book.

[Sonlirain]

Well i used to pirate games on every corner but i mostly stopped. I assume it has something to do with my PC being too old to play newer games (almost everything created after 2007 aside of some Indie games).

If i pirate something then it was probably hard to get without excessive meddling (and it's not my fault that let's say... Gearhead Garage or The Guild were never released in my glorious country).

I also have no qualms about downloading games i already own but the disc got damaged one way or another.



Then there are games like Starfarer i downloaded a icracked copy liked it and deleted after several days before deciding i'm going to buy it before playing again.

[Sharp]

Looks like you are explaining your actions. My point of view: if YOU think its ok to do it do it, if not dont.

This pretty much.

But for the argument that "your not supporting the original creator" that's a bit of a lie. If the game is available for legal purchase and it's not being sold by the original creator then it's because the creator sold the rights and that money they get for selling the rights is from the purchaser wanting to make money by selling the game while creator gets lump sum (maybe to pay rent or feed cat).

Ebay is a bit more shady but I consider it more like works of art which is why some of the games can cost more then they did when originally released because it's like buying an antique.

I do love abandonware but since GoG and Steam realised people still like playing old games they took the popular abandonware games off the market.

[Cthulhu]

I've always felt that coming up with reasons to justify something like this is silly.  Dorf up and own your actions.  Be chaotic evil.

[Cthulhu]

The law doesn't care, and I think that's the best argument for pirating.  The RIAA occasionally crucifies people in court, and pirating movies can get you a warning from the FBI and a threat to turn off your internet (I've noticed it usually happens with ISPs that share bandwidth, so they're not even doing it because it's the law, hohoho), but unless you're copying DVDs and selling them, the law doesn't really bother you.

Piracy is pretty obvious to an ISP that's watching for it.  Torrents take the load off the original provider but you can't hide a dozen or more gigabytes of data traffic going into a single household.  If people know you're doing it, and they don't bother arresting you, can you really even say it's illegal?

[Sonlirain]

I do love abandonware but since GoG and Steam realised people still like playing old games they took the popular abandonware games off the market.

Nah. You can buy them from them in exchange for some bonuses like compatibility and support you won't get from sites that give them away for free.

IE. While GoG sells abandonware games they are surely somewhere out there on the net for free... especially if thay are abandonware.

[Shades]

but you can't hide a dozen or more gigabytes of data traffic going into a single household.

I use netflix and lovefilm instead of live tv. Being that HD streams at in the couple of gigabytes an episode or half a dozen for a film I would easily trigger any ISP watch that was just on traffic to a household.

If people know you're doing it, and they don't bother arresting you, can you really even say it's illegal?

Yes, illegal. In some countries the face they know your doing it and haven't reported it would be illegal too...

Morally fine (imo at least), but still illegal, although if the OP has the originals still there is a plenty of scope for a solid defence that it is only a format change.

[Mono124]

but you can't hide a dozen or more gigabytes of data traffic going into a single household.

I use netflix and lovefilm instead of live tv. Being that HD streams at in the couple of gigabytes an episode or half a dozen for a film I would easily trigger any ISP watch that was just on traffic to a household.

Despite the fact that, yes, I agree that any sort of ISP watch that was simply based on trafic would trip a lot more people than just those that torrent, that doesn't mean that your ISP wouldn't put you on a list of people to take a closer look at.

[itisnotlogical]

I'm enjoying reading this discussion. I'm going to be sad when this thread is locked.

[Leatra]

Most gamers in my country see it strange to pay money for games. Games are sold at 1/9 of average salary, government isn't doing anything about it and piracy is illegal in name only. If you are too lazy to download torrents/don't know how to deal with torrents/have crappy internet or no internet at all, you can buy them off the street.

I have 3 stores that sell pirated stuff in the 5-minutes-of-walking diameter from my house. Pirated games, music and movies are being sold in the streets. I'm not talking about people who set up shop with lots of DVDs on their portable table and wait for buyers. Most stores have original DVDs placed in the display but they pull out the boxes of pirated stuff from below the counter if you say you want to buy something. I don't even think the police is doing a regular check since the shopkeepers don't seem discrete enough. If you are going to buy original, you have to tell them so because they assume everyone wants pirated stuff (and everyone does anyway). Most stores also sell pirated stuff only. I have seen a shop that has 10 years old games and movies on the display because nobody buys it but the shopkeepers has the newest games ready to be burned into disks. You have to search a bit to find a shop that sells original. Shopkeepers will do the downloading and burning to disc for you and the pirated DVDs are usually sold for 5 liras (Which is like 3 dollars I guess)

You can find stores that sells original games, music and video in big malls or very rarely on the street. It's a haven of pirates here. However, we tend to keep a low profile about it (not me I guess) so that's why piracy doesn't seem that big like in Sweden. I still like to think that indie devs deserve the money, if not the big companies.

[pisskop]

Aquiring the means to play a game (or media) without offering just compensation when any means of legally aquireing under normal circumstances requires payment is stealing.  period.  Rationalize it if you would like, but the end point is the same.  If you can live with yourself and the criticisms of any who may wish to insert it than I can't stop you.
Stealing is stealing is stealing.
  But than again I have 4 pages to read up on...

Spoiler: example (click to show/hide)

Let's say I have a laptop charger.  One day, my monitor burns out.  So I take it to the small one man repair shop.  They take the laptop and the monitor.  Three days later I get a fixed laptop and a monitor.  Everything's great, except in two days my charger shorts.
  Maybe it was my own fault.  Maybe the wiring in my apartment is faulty.  Maybe a freak storm or the power company screwed up.  Perhaps the repair shop is to blame.

  Am I justified in going into the small repair shop and stealing a new one when the repair man isnt looking?  Because most likely he was to blame, in my eyes?

Maybe this example doesn't exactly pertain to your situation, but I see no real distinction.  You broke your game, you stole a new one.  You have shown me that you feel their inability to stop you made you right.