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News Demigod has more pirates than customers

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by CardJoe, 17 Apr 2009.

  1. CardJoe

    CardJoe Freelance Journalist

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  2. Bauul

    Bauul Sir Bongaminge

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    Ouch, that's quite a hit. Maybe its a sympton of a new ip that so many people would rather download that trust it to be good and buy it. Or maybe the world is just full of evil stinking theieves, who knows?
     
  3. aggies11

    aggies11 What's a Dremel?

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    Quote from Stardock "Now, I do want to address something about the update that I’ve seen users talk about. We aren’t blaming piracy for the fact that the day 0 multiplayer experience absolutely sucked." If they aren't blaming piracy, should we?
     
  4. lewchenko

    lewchenko Minimodder

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    They should replicate the Steam approach, or become a part of steam. Even retail sales must be activated via steam.

    Oh... and ban anyone using a dodgy copy, or send them a nasty virus as a 'game patch' LOL

    perhaps a demo will help thwart the thieving sons of bitc*** who claim they need to 'try' before they 'steal' !
     
  5. Narishma

    Narishma What's a Dremel?

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    This is misleading. As Brad says in yesterday's update in the forum, those pirates aren't actually playing the game, just trying to connect to the servers to get updates and whatnot.
     
  6. impar

    impar Minimodder

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    Greetings!

    Freeloaders screwing legitimate players?
    What else is new?
    Impulse?
     
  7. tank_rider

    tank_rider What's a Dremel?

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    staged launches really don't help with piracy, i mean if it's available online and not in the store in your country then you're hardly given a choice!
     
  8. impar

    impar Minimodder

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    Greetings!
    Not a choice?!
    What forces anyone to have to play a game the minute it is available?
    A game is not air, food, water or shelter, its not something essential to life.
    Lousy self-control, thats all.
     
  9. steveo_mcg

    steveo_mcg What's a Dremel?

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    True, but once you realise your customers have lousy self control then perhaps its time to start building your policies around your customers.
    This is important "Build your policies around your customers" and it applies to all people who want to sell things. Unfortunately the entertainment industry seems to have forgotten that for the most part (though the record industry is trying).

    If there is no demo then tbh i'd be inclined to side on the what do you expect line (sorry stardock)
     
  10. ssj12

    ssj12 Minimodder

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    Impulse isnt really comparable to Steam. This is why I regret buying Sins of a Solar Empire. I hate using Impulse.
     
  11. Kúsař

    Kúsař regular bit-tech reader

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    Yeah, we could use a bit more customers with infected PC these days! :D
    The fact is that most of the PCs gets infected via warez...serves 'em right.

    Playable demo is always a good idea...
     
  12. Mentai

    Mentai What's a Dremel?

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    These results wouldn't be anywhere near this bad if the game was available in retail now. Must feel a bit **** for the developers though.
     
  13. Leitchy

    Leitchy Minimodder

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    Even if it did have Securom or Activation through Steam, it'd still be cracked and playable a day or 2 late! I bet those 18000 buyers are loving the fact they just installed the game and played!
     
  14. [USRF]Obiwan

    [USRF]Obiwan What's a Dremel?

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    Is there no playable demo?
     
  15. DraigUK

    DraigUK Minimodder

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    Piracy always has been a problem and always will be, until more people (i.e. us as customers) embrace a steam-like approach without giving the industry a load of cack for trying to cut down on it. Publishers also should swallow their pride and put what they have out on Steam. They complain about the cut Valve takes for using Steam, but this is far less than what they lose to piracy, I am sure.

    Bottom line, there are a load of freeloading thieves out there who think they can get games for free with no consequences. They think that because they want to "try it out" it entitles them to steal it. If they like it, they do not pay for it anyway, they just keep playing for free. If they do not like it, then they wipe their brow and claim their piracy just saved them £30 on a game they do not like. Pah. Total rubbish. They wouldn't buy it anyway. Or maybe they can't afford it, so somehow this allows them to justify the theft. It does not. It just means they need to get a job like the rest of us, or save up their dole money for things before purchase instead of nicking them, or wait till the price drops to what they can afford.

    Legitimate buyers won't really care what the industry does to stop piracy - so long as it works reasonably painlessly. They pay for it so why do they care about extra checks or what have you? I don't.

    I don't see what the problem is with games on steam for example. Maybe that is because I have no problem paying for them? It works every time with zero hassle. I have only ever played one game through Windows Live, which is Dawn of War 2. Guess what? That worked and still works, no problems whatsoever as well.

    The usual arguments I see against Steam go something like this :-

    "But you have to connect to it to get a game to work!!!"

    So what? You have the internet, your probably on it for hours every day. What exactly is the big deal? You have to wait an extra 30 seconds before you can see a loading screen or something? Are you serious? :eyebrow:

    "I have the game in my hands but I can't use it until it goes live on Steam!!! That might be 2 weeks away!!! I simply cannot wait that long it is the end of my world!!"

    Yeah right. Grow up and wait like everyone else. :duh:

    Every argument I have ever read about Steam being bad is just useless whine. We all need to accept that piracy is a huge problem, and that until we all accept some measures to cut it back, we all suffer for it.
     
    Last edited: 17 Apr 2009
  16. Xtrafresh

    Xtrafresh It never hurts to help

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    I concider myself a "Hybrid Prirate", i download games through "illegal" channels on a regular basis. I take offense to the tone of arguement here.

    The place where i get most games at first is LAN parties. It's a fast, fun and convenient way to try out games, exactly like it's supposed to be. I don't mind at all paying for a game i keep playing after that particular LAN though, and i really don't see how my personal consumer model would be harming the industry.

    I regret the fact that what i do is not legal, and as soon as legal alternatives that are just as user-friendly arrive, i'll jump on that bandwagon. However, i cannot see how i would have bought Left4Dead if i would not have been able to enjoy the full glory on a LAN party (using an illegal copy) first. Yeah indeed, try before i buy.

    Aside from my personal use-case, i think the gaming industry should be trying to compete with and embrace the methods of the pirating community. As soon as their product becomes genuinly better then that of the pirates, people will switch.
     
  17. Tolon

    Tolon What's a Dremel?

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    You sir, have expressed my exact thoughts on the issue. I agree with everything you say. There is zero excuse for piracy.

    That is all.
     
  18. AstralWanderer

    AstralWanderer What's a Dremel?

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    You've never stopped to consider what you would do when (and it is almost certainly going to be when) Valve impose an annual (or even monthly) fee to keep Steam accounts open?

    This possibility isn't unique to Steam - any online activation system could make the same change - but systems that tie large amounts of software to a single account have a far greater lever over their users.
    Piracy has been a "huge problem" ever since the dawn of home computing yet the games industry has survived and grown. The only thing that is different now is that developers have a semi-reliable means to measure the scale of it.
     
  19. Zut

    Zut What's a Dremel?

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    OH! So that makes it OK does it?

    I dare say murder has been around for quite a long time too, but that doesn't mean its OK for me to stab you in the face.

    There is no excuse for piracy. It doesn't matter what you CAN do or how you try to rationalise it... if you didn't pay for a game then you don't get to play it. End of.
     
  20. mmorgue

    mmorgue What's a Dremel?

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    So who *is* grown up and waiting? Who are the 'everyone else' ? Surely isn't me, cos if said game is restricted or held back from my country and released 2 weeks in advance somewhere else, why would I want to wait when it's available on the newsgroups the same day?

    You're speaking as though people are actually patient and can place the fiscal realities of game development above personal desire. That just doesn't happen, generally (hence piracy).

    I mean, you do realise you're speaking to a bunch of gamers who generally want the latest and greatest right away :D

    And in a world of broadband, the entire notion that one country gets a release before another is ridiculous -- to help stem *some* of the piracy, stop such ridiculous practices and release the game online at the same time. Otherwise, they will suffer the consequences.

    Sucks, but that's how it is when publishers don't anticipate the desires of the consumers.
     
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