The Witcher 2 Contains Secret Sauce To 'Catch 100% Of Pirates'

[OneMoar]

The thing is, the title is worthless with no financial worth. Stealing/distributing it deprives the owner of its full worth and depriving the owner of the property.

even if the people that acquire it had no intention of ever buying it ?
you can not say you own something that someone has not given you ..
IE my money
you can not be deprived of something that "I" never intended to be yours in the first place

 

[Damn_Smooth]

No I don't think it's affecting anyone at all.

Like I said if people could not monitor what was happening regarding file downloading etc how would people even know?

Piracy is the very definition of a victimless crime.

So the millions of dollars that game companies are losing from you and people like you wouldn't have been used to make better games? And you wonder why we're stuck in a world full of console ports.

 

[entropy13]

So you honestly think that you're not effecting anything by taking a copy of a game that you didn't pay anything for?

Nothing is affected. Because person A with a copy of the game but will not buy it is the same as person B without a copy of the game and will not buy it, to the eyes of the "I WANT SOME INCOME!" people.

Why don't they just pass them out for free then?

Because they are "I WANT SOME INCOME!" people.


This is a case where the laws of supply and demand are being heavily manipulated. First the stipulated $60 release price, most of which goes to the publishers and not the developers, and then in cases of Steam the forced usage of non-cash forms of transactions, and in cases where there are no official Steam presence, the forced "pretending I'm American" situation, assuming a fictitious identity and forced to use an US$ account.

Additionally, in the case of retail over here at least, absence of discounts. Because they are essentially a monopoly.

So the millions of dollars that game companies are losing from you and people like you wouldn't have been used to make better games? And you wonder why we're stuck in a world full of console ports.

Their losses are because of the publishers. The "losses due to piracy" are actually publishers' money now, and not the developers. Developers only have a miniscule portion from sales. In exchange the publisher already gave them a fixed, lump sum amount of money prior to release.

 

[Maelstrom]

agree
example A: lets say I would like to attend a ball game
a scalper walks up and says hey you look like a cool dude ill cut you a deal
now said tickets have already been payed for the stadium and team already got there compensation. is it theft if I buy said tickets

example b: I want to have the latest episode of my favorite tv show on my pc that I didn't get to watch because I was not home
so I download it ? am I a thief ? no I am not I pay my cable bill had I been home I would have watched it anyway so am I a Thief for downloading something I would have enjoyed anyway had I been home ? what if I buy the whole series on dvd at a later date what then ?

example c: there is this new game out all I know about it is what he reviewer and youtube tells me but I am still on the fence I download it I find it entertaining but not worth the 60 dollar asking price I complete the game and delete it a few months later I see it marked down to 45 bucks wanting to replay it I purchase it am I a thief ?

Example A is a bad one. Since they are physical objects, there are a limited amount. However, with digital content you aren't limited, and I could give everyone who has internet access to said content. I agree with you though that it is not theft.

 

[Damn_Smooth]

Nothing is affected. Because person A with a copy of the game but will not buy it is the same as person B without a copy of the game and will not buy it, to the eyes of the "I WANT SOME INCOME!" people.



Because they are "I WANT SOME INCOME!" people.


This is a case where the laws of supply and demand are being heavily manipulated. First the stipulated $60 release price, most of which goes to the publishers and not the developers, and then in cases of Steam the forced usage of non-cash forms of transactions, and in cases where there are no official Steam presence, the forced "pretending I'm American" situation, assuming a fictitious identity and forced to use an US$ account.

Additionally, in the case of retail over here at least, absence of discounts. Because they are essentially a monopoly.

Read the post above yours, you are effecting a lot more than you think.

 

[digibucc]

Example A is a bad one. Since they are physical objects, there are a limited amount. However, with digital content you aren't limited, and I could give everyone who has internet access to said content.

to explain further: a scalper with more money buys more tickets to scalp, lowering the number of available tickets for legitimate buyers.

Read the post above yours, you are effecting a lot more than you think.

you have yet to explain why getting a copy of something you would never have paid for affects anything other than how you spend your free time.

yes some would have bought, but many still do. any person that would have bought it but decided to pirate is definitely affecting the bottom line, but those that never would have are not.

 

[entropy13]

Read the post above yours, you are effecting a lot more than you think.

My post has been edited to respond to that.

 

[pantherx12]

So the millions of dollars that game companies are losing from you and people like you wouldn't have been used to make better games? And you wonder why we're stuck in a world full of console ports.

Okay, explain to me just how is it that the games company are loosing money.

Loosing money would imply they already had it.



You also assume that the people who have pirated the game were going to buy the game.

Like I said somewhere else if a person cannot pirate something they go with out.

For example I have a friend that only pirates movies, you know what happens when he can't find a good download?

He doesn't bother watching it, he doesn't go to the shop and buy it.

 

[entropy13]

Here's something relevant to what I want to say:
http://www.lar.net/?p=14

 

[erocker]

agree
example A: lets say I would like to attend a ball game
a scalper walks up and says hey you look like a cool dude ill cut you a deal
now said tickets have already been payed for the stadium and team already got there compensation. is it theft if I buy said tickets

Good example and I agree that it is not theft here. Tickets have been paid for, the stadium cannot charge to fill those seats again. There is no theft.

example b: I want to have the latest episode of my favorite tv show on my pc that I didn't get to watch because I was not home
so I download it ? am I a thief ? no I am not I pay my cable bill had I been home I would have watched it anyway so am I a Thief for downloading something I would have enjoyed anyway had I been home ? what if I buy the whole series on dvd at a later date what then ?

With just about every television network replaying their shows on the internet, I don't see how this could possibly be theft.

example c: there is this new game out all I know about it is what he reviewer and youtube tells me but I am still on the fence I download it I find it entertaining but not worth the 60 dollar asking price I complete the game and delete it a few months later I see it marked down to 45 bucks wanting to replay it I purchase it am I a thief ?

What you may purchase in the future is irrelevant just like everything else that doesn't exist. Just because you read a review doesn't give you the entitlement to steal the game without paying for it. If you agree with the reviewer and are on the fence about it, wait for the inevitable price drop to happen, then buy it.
Why don't I go into one of those "Rent a Center" places and steal a TV? I'll enjoy it for a while, then I'll sneak the TV back into the store one evening. Later on I'll go rent the TV when they are having a sale. Stealing is stealing.

 

[Damn_Smooth]

My post has been edited to respond to that.

The publishers would give them a lot more money and concentrate on PC gaming a lot more if people weren't pirating. It's funny, almost every major publisher has said that, but it's falling on deaf ears. How about we all just quit paying and see how many games we get? Pretty sure the console ports will dry up then too.

 

[entropy13]

The publishers would give them a lot more money and concentrate on PC gaming a lot more if people weren't pirating. It's funny, almost every major publisher has said that, but it's falling on deaf ears. How about we all just quit paying and see how many games we get? Pretty sure the console ports will dry up then too.

Again, see my previous post. The developers are still getting shafted regardless of piracy.

 

[Damn_Smooth]

Again, see my previous post. The developers are still getting shafted regardless of piracy.

And piracy is shafting us.

 

[OneMoar]

So the millions of dollars that game companies are losing from you and people like you wouldn't have been used to make better games? And you wonder why we're stuck in a world full of console ports.

again you are implying they are losing something that never existed in the first place
its a vicious circle > people download said game > some people don't buy said game some do anyway > idiot share holders blame piracy for poor sales > > fails to understand that the game may simply be not any good > tells studio not to bother developing a pc version; repeat -1
the solution is NOT to stop piracy but to educate people on the WHY and the REASON
and it does NOT cost millions to to the "developers" to properly port a game developers don't make all that much you rarely see the developers complying about pirating the people you do see complain are the greedy and or ignorant investors and or publisher

 

[Maelstrom]

Yes, in other words, the morality of copying is questionable - I agree, it's certainly iffy (but can have its justifications) and I forgot to make that point. Of course, Big Media can't make any money or pass any laws on a morality argument, so they invent bogus loss figures to justify their actions.



Completely stopping it shouldn't be the ultimate goal. Offering customers a better product by going legit is the way to go, which would reduce it markedly. Once again, all those DRM-free songs selling well on iTunes are a terribly inconvenient truth to Big Music.

Again, www.techdirt.com says all this stuff much better than I can.

I completely agree, companies need to make products actually worth buying. However, as I've said before, I have no problem with companies trying to protect their investments (to an extent mind you). Though I feel the idea of bypassing our economic system shouldn't just be a moral issue (talking larger scale than just pirating here). However, I am having trouble articulating my point, so I just leave it at that .

 

[entropy13]

Here's something relevant to what I want to say:
http://www.lar.net/?p=14

And there is apparently an additional post about this:
http://www.lar.net/?p=48

 

[digibucc]

The publishers would give them a lot more money and concentrate on PC gaming a lot more if people weren't pirating.

and the fact that false assumptions and faulty logic drive those mentalities mean nothing to you? the fact that they are holding hostage game development for people whose money they likely never would have gotten in the first place, is ok with you?

consoles sell more. not because of piracy, because they are simple. if you think devs are going to choose to spend more money and make less profit just because an immeasurable, oft-inflated, mostly meaningless number has gone down... you're wrong

 

[Damn_Smooth]

again you are implying they are losing something that never existed in the first place
its a vicious circle > people download said game > some people don't buy said game some do anyway > idiot share holders blame piracy for poor sales > > fails to understand that the game may simply be not any good > tells studio not to bother developing a pc version; repeat -1
the solution is NOT to stop piracy but to educate people on the WHY and the REASON
and it does NOT cost millions to to the "developers" to properly port a game developers don't make all that much you rarely see the developers complying about pirating the people you do see complain are the greedy and or ignorant investors and or publisher

I'm not implying anything. I'm stating the fact that if publishers were making more off of PC gaming, they would concentrate on it more. Another fact, they would be making a lot more money if people like you weren't pirating.

and the fact that false assumptions and faulty logic drive those mentalities mean nothing to you? the fact that they are holding hostage game development for people whose money they likely never would have gotten in the first place, is ok with you?

consoles sell more. not because of piracy, because they are simple. if you think devs are going to choose to spend more money and make less profit just because an immeasurable, oft-inflated, mostly meaningless number has gone down... you're wrong

Look around you. Do you see them slacking off on console development where piracy is way less rampant? Everybody owns a PC, I'm not buying that simplicity crap. It is just as easy to throw a disc in my CD drive and wait for it to install as it is in my PS3.

 

[pantherx12]

The publishers would give them a lot more money and concentrate on PC gaming a lot more if people weren't pirating. It's funny, almost every major publisher has said that, but it's falling on deaf ears. How about we all just quit paying and see how many games we get? Pretty sure the console ports will dry up then too.

But it's very easy to pirate console games as well, for example got an xbox 360?

Buy a specific type of dvd and burn the game iso you just download to disc and voila!

You can play it .

( By the by, I don't own an xbox and never had so don't throw an accusation at me )


Edit : "Another fact, they would be making a lot more money if people like you weren't"

Ahh as well as mixing up piracy and theft you also seem to be confusing fact with assumption!

In fact you make two assumptions in that statement XD

 

[entropy13]

And piracy is shafting us.

Ever since the "gaming market" emerged in the late 70s-early 80s, piracy of games are already there. So you're saying that throughout its entire existence piracy have been "shafting" the gaming market? This is in a sense that saying "shafting" means there is a more than 50% negative effect to the market.

Your reasoning would be akin to the reasoning of clothing/bag companies with regards to Chinese counterfeits.

 

[OneMoar]

I completely agree, companies need to make products actually worth buying. However, as I've said before, I have no problem with companies trying to protect their investments (to an extent mind you). Though I feel the idea of bypassing our economic system shouldn't just be a moral issue (talking larger scale than just pirating here). However, I am having trouble articulating my point, so I just leave it at that .

YES
you start giving me games and software that are useful and enjoyable for a reasonable price though steam or some other downloadable method
AND the ablity to get a refund should I not like it
and ill be happy buy the latest version of
Call of the battlefield: 3 on its release day
if you want me to trust you you are going to need to trust me first

 

[Kreij]

AND the ablity to get a refund should I no like it

That is a key factor in this whole discussion.

 

[digibucc]

Another fact, they would be making a lot more money if people like you weren't pirating.

that is absolutely NOT a fact. what is it you don't get? if they would never have bought the game, the companies would never have made more money should they choose not to pirate. you are absolutely wrong, and completely disregarding that fact. at least recognize this point, please.

 

[JustaTinkerer]

Im so on the fence about this its unreal.
I was a pirate like 1000's of others.

If I couldn't get a copy of what I was after I done without.

A couple of years later and I make ok cash and the pirating seems a far of memory.
As a pirate I cost no one anything but as a consumer I feel robbed at some of the games I have bought.

Sure I pirated COD4, couldn't play it online so bought the full thing (more than once now).

Its a tough call as theft is theft at the end of the day but I will never berate the pirates.
Could be worse and folk with nothing to do will be robbing your house.

 

[OneMoar]

That is a key factor in this whole discussion.

YES FOR THE LOVE OF GOD YES
someone finally gets it