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[Leatra]

None of my pirate friends never bought any games. Except for that guy who bought CoD:MW2 like a week ago for multiplayer and the other dude who bought Crysis 2 last year, for multiplayer again.

[Neonivek]

I will say I understand why some people who are willing to buy all their games sometimes pirate.

The sheer horrificness I went through to get Broken sword 1 and 2 (before gog) was mind bending.

[Cthulhu]

Games I pirated and later bought (Not including abandonware, not including downloads that didn't work):

Aliens vs Predator
Devil May Cry 4
Torchlight
Arma 2
Jedi Outcast
Jedi Academy
Rome Total War
Super Meat Boy
Gratuitous Space Battles

And many more!  That's just a quick list off the top of my head.

[Shadowlord]

Nowadays I (99% of the time) simply refuse to allow DRM (other than Steam) on my computer, but that does not mean that I pirate those games (I don't). What it usually means is that if there is a game with DRM, I look to see if I can get it from GoG, or if it's on Steam without DRM, and if not, I may get it for the XBox 360 instead, where DRM is not a concern (as it essentially only has DVD-checks and sometimes unlock codes that come with new copies of games that unlock multiplayer or additional content). (I may also just not buy it at all)

Occasionally there's a game which has an inferior XBox 360 version (I don't consider "not photorealistic graphics" to be inferior), like Dragon Age Origins, but also has DRM on the PC. That's a conundrum. Nowadays I tend to just ignore those games. More often there seem to be inferior PC versions (like Dead Space) instead... I bought that on Steam, but consider it a loss (and mistake).

Games with pre-order DLC which is different for every store - it really annoys me when companies do this. At one time I had a kind of "GOTTA CATCH THEM ALL" reaction to these, which was not compatible with separate-store-pre-order-bonuses in any way. It was broken when one game released with something like 30 or 40 different pre-order bonuses for different stores, all of which were items which slightly overpowered your character at or near the start of the game but added absolutely nothing to the plot or story and didn't contribute to the gameplay in any meaningful way, other than essentially acting as built-in cheats.

I don't pre-order that many games, and most of them don't have in-game pre-order bonuses (Borderlands 2 included a post-released extra character class, which was acceptable to me). However, I pre-ordered DX:HR, which did have per-store in-game pre-order "bonuses," but I got it from Steam, which gave TF2 items instead (and I only occasionally played TF2 at the time and never play anymore). Essentially, I got it from Steam just because I didn't want any of the unbalancing pre-order items. I think there was some debate that they may have been items that were intended to be in the game but were removed from it to put them in pre-order DLC, but the game was released and playable without them, so that is how I played it - effectively, I saw them as a built in cheat for anyone who got them with their pre-order.

[Flying Dice]

I don't pirate games in part because of the same reason that I only pirate some music: If I respect the dev or enjoy the game, I'm willing to pay for it. If it's not a game I like, I probably didn't buy it in the first place, as limited funds equates to careful research.


There's also the matter of my current computer being barely capable of running anything remotely near to modern AAA graphics, and those sorts of games are the ones I'd be most likely to pirate.

So there are three main factors:
1. Do I respect the dev/want them to continue making (DRM-free) games?
2. Can I reasonably assume that I will enjoy the game?
3. How much playing time per cent of the price do I expect to have?

Frankly, if any/all of those three fails, I'm more likely to avoid the game altogether and spend my time doing something I would enjoy, rather than pirating it.

[Azated]

One of the first games I pirated was Left 4 Dead. My computer was basically a block of plastic with a HDD in it back then, so I wanted to see if it'd work. Much to my surprise (and joy) it ran nearly perfectly. I played the first level, deleted the game and bought it off steam. I was happily playing along in multiplayer the next day with three other people who would become some of my closest friends.

As everyone else has said, I see no problem pirating games from large companies like EA. They're already rich, it's not like they need my $60 to pay their rent. I always laugh when someone says "but they need that money!". For what? Another crappy, over-hyped game I'll play for ten minutes and never hear from again?

When it comes to more trustworthy developers, that's where the line gets blurry. If a company has a reputation for making good games with good post-release production and customer service, I'd much rather support them with real money to encourage them to keep doing a good job. It's always sad to see a brilliant company go under because their games weren't point and click adventures with modern graphics.

[Starver]

Late to the thread.  Read (perhaps too skimmily) through it.  While generally accepting the principles behind "Pirating is Ok if... <various reasons>", I don't think it has been pointed out that by ('legitimately') pirating through torrents you are simultaneously assisting those who are outragously pirating (without the same good reasons) their games.  Possibly by keeping the seed going when the OP drops out.  I don't know if that matters to many people, but I'm sure it's a charge that a particularly litigious IP owner might lay against you, even if they accepted that you had a scratched disk/whatever and were just getting your rightful use out of a paid-for game.


Let's go personal on this issue, though.  I've got many different thoughts about pirating.  Films that disappear from the cinema or programmes broadcast but which fall off the broadcaster's schedule/on-line player before I can see them (that I would never want to 'own' as a DVD) I could see downloading (for now ignoring the above caveat about assisting others), but I can see several monetary imbalances there.  I know from viewing (other people's) 'acquisitions' that Cam versions of a film are often rubbish, and production-leak versions are laughable, so if I've missed the cinema release then I'm really waiting for the DVD release, anyway, for to pirate a ripped version.  By then is it even worth it?

I have no sympathies with big bullying and overcharging companies.  Not sure if I whether I could hurt them in the wallet in this way.  Even less sure whether I should try (only partly because of the possibility that they'd bite back).  But I have grown somewhat wary of Steam (through experiences-by-proxy, with friends having difficulties with legitimate purchaces, back in the early days) and when I do scan the local computer store shelves for games that might tempt me (but never do), I immediately reject any with a Steam bit on the obverse label.  Never tempted to 'correct' that situation by downloading, though.

Actually, for software, I think most of my reticence is of the "is it real? is it safe?" flavour.  Whether already necessarily DRM-broken or not, can I truly trust J. Random Game downloaded?  I've dabbled with Abandonware in the past (already languishing on such sites for a while, anything nasty on the older stuff will generally be well within the detection radius of my standard protective shields, if it hadn't already been revoked and/or cleaned after prior complaints), but I'm not certain I'd ever pirate current releases, even if I were so inclined as to save myself the wonga and footleather of getting it 'for real'.

I remember playing the full Doom (original Doom, no numerical suffices or wordy prefixes) back in the day, someone having handily left a version (easily copyable back to 3.5" diskettes, with a spanned .ZIP, I'm fairly sure) on a University computer, when the only legitimate version I was entitled to was the shareware "first episode only" version.  Ideally I would have bought myself the full game later on, as a belated payment.  By the time I was in that position it was already Doom II that was out, and I was (properly) buying all kinds of other things left right and centre.  Carmageddon.  Duke Nukem 3D.  Elite II.  Battletank.  Games like that (although I might be out by a few years, if you cared to actually check the chronologies).  Included some I really oughtn't not to have bought because they were rubbish, and (actually) I wouldn't know either way whether I even ever added to ID Studios'/whoever's coffers as a more indirect recompense.

Right now, what's my big thing?  Well, DF (no issues with piracy, and donations to be given as/when I find it convenient to do so).  Kerbal Space Programme (the free version, ditto[1]).  I dabbled with Minecraft a bit, before I found that the copy I'd been given wasn't actually shareware (and playing single-player might be thought akin to masturbation, although you ought to have seen some of the things I tossed offup while I was engrossed with it!).  That's about it, given the amount of time I spend developing practical things instead, apart from some odd Freemium web-based games that I don't partake in the paid-for features of.  And those three prior examples are all games that I really do want to support because their respective developers (at least when the question first came up) weren't "Big Bad Bullies".  So really I should not want to try to defraud the two (DF not included, because this doesn't apply) that really need paying to use the latest and greatest versions, so if I had more free time I'd probably be paying for these things, and still avoiding Steam due to the aforementioned prejudice (but not making up for it with any sneaky side-steps).

So, that's me.

Caveat Emptor, was my original point.  Or whatever the equivalent is for a non-buyer.  But it looks like I've gone into a lot of (mostly hypothetical) personal approaches to the problem as well.


[1] Although I did mention the game to a colleague who may have gotten himself the latest version.  With or without paying.  I shall distance myself from that, but it may tarnish any moral shield I'm wielding.

[Moogie]

Spore taught me to stick to my guns on this issue and always, ALWAYS, try out games before buying them. That was £50 I could've spent on some struggling indie project and actually made a goddamn difference to someone.

[Vendayn]

(edit: double post)

[Vendayn]

Spore taught me to stick to my guns on this issue and always, ALWAYS, try out games before buying them. That was £50 I could've spent on some struggling indie project and actually made a goddamn difference to someone.

I already ran out of Spore installs and waiting for an hour on getting a new activation cost me 75 dollars (phone bill). I did try email. First was an automated response having nothing to do with Spore. The second was an automated response with links to common Spore issues. And the phone call was a scam...

Biggest waste of money ever...I can buy Spore and everything for way cheaper on Steam. In fact...the activation the guy gave me was wrong...but I could barely understand him so I probably got the code wrong...I think the call was overseas (hence the expensive phone call)...and the guy barely spoke English. No racism, just fact. I couldn't understand barely a fraction of what he said.

And this is why people pirate...not that I have since I don't want my PC infected with viruses...but man I was sure pissed.

[Shadowlord]

And this is why people pirate...not that I have since I don't want my PC infected with viruses...but man I was sure pissed.

I think that's just FUD (and goes along with antivirus products categorizing key-generators and the like as threats or potentially unwanted software, to frighten less knowledgeable individuals).

[Moogie]

Viruses in pirated content was a lot more common in the days of Kazaa and napster, but it still happens. Nowadays, what with most good torrent trackers allowing users to post comments and give thumbs up/down or rep, it's a lot easier to weed out fake content even for newbie pirates.

[Darvi]

Aka landlubbers.

[Neonivek]

Viruses in pirated content was a lot more common in the days of Kazaa and napster, but it still happens. Nowadays, what with most good torrent trackers allowing users to post comments and give thumbs up/down or rep, it's a lot easier to weed out fake content even for newbie pirates.

Heck sometimes it is the developers themselves who did this. Planting bad copies often did better to prevent pirating then actually trying to do so legally.

[Pnx]

This adds nothing to the conversation, I just though it was funny and slightly relevant.