"Cracked" Skyrim is not a "pirated" Skyrim ?!

[Elgar82]

Hello,

I'm very confused now. Some days ago I reported someone (I was not alone judging by comments) who asked for help in a mod comments section. This person said : "I don't know whats happening but whenever i install this mod or any mods it doesn't work. Is it because i have a cracked skyrim"

I have been an hardcore gamer for more than 25 years and as far as I am concerned "cracked" in a gamer's mouth always means "pirated". Just type "cracked" + a game's name in Google if you have a doubt.

I love Nexus, not only because of the awesome amount of mods it offers, but also for its strict policy about pirates, by always banning them. That's why I reported this guy.

Now the very confusing part : the guy is not banned, his comment is still there in the first page of comments of this very very popular mod, and I get this answer by a mod : "crack != piracy - Z". Another poster received this reply : "Please refrain from throwing out accusations (crack != piracy). - Z"

So "crack != piracy" ? :blink: Well, it's new for me... Even in the TOS we can read this (note the "cracked" word) :

We have a strict anti-piracy policy and we take a proactive and preemptive stance on anyone who gives us reason to believe is using a pirated version of any game or software. We only support official game versions and users should not provide help to others requesting help with unofficial game versions (e.g. cracked games).

 

 

I don't want to argue with moderators, I don't want to be a "forum vigilante" and I apologize if I appear so. But I really don't understand this new official stance.

[JimboUK]

It's not always the case, cracks can be used on legit games to remove intrusive DRM or maybe allow the user to make other changes to the exe, make it large address aware for example or apply a widescreen fix to older games. I don't see any reason to use one on Skyrim though so the guy was more than likely a thief and even if is isn't he shouldn't have even been discussing cracks in the first place. We don't know what goes on between staff and other users behind the scenes, he may have been asked for proof of ownership and provided it.

[Elgar82]

Hi jim_uk, I understand that, but in that case that would mean bypass Steam, and according to this thread that would lead equally to a ban : http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/831372-non-steam-copy-of-a-steam-exclusive-game/

[micalov]

This is a 100% personal post and in no way represents any official stance of the Nexus whether the stance is the same or the opposite.

 

Cracks are a legal grey area and the legally vastly varies per region that I doubt any one could give a solid answer.

 

As far as I know personally its illegal in the US but legal under European law BUT because its such a grey area and a mess to figure out that trying to get a solid answer is like trying to get the truth from a politician so I know myself I would not bet any thing on that.

With that reason the Nexus can not support them but would not ban outright for crack usage.

 

Any one who has been gaming since at least the 90's or early 2000's in all honesty has probably used "no-cd cracks"/methods to by pass DRM for varying and pretty legit reasons from stuff like Starforce to annoying early secure ROM that did not work on 64bit OS's even if the game physically would like some Splinter Cells.

 

TL:DR downloading the whole game without buying is piracy, buying the game and bypassing DRM after the fact is not piracy.

[JimboUK]

@Elgar82 That refers to the "Non Steam" version of a Steam only game which would certainly be stolen, KOTOR is a good example of using a crack on a legit Steam game, the widescreen patcher will not work on the encrypted executable Steam provides, anyone wanting to play KOTOR in widescreen after buying it from Steam will have to use a crack, doing so doesn't make them a pirate.

[Zaldir]

We do not support cracks on NexusMods. However, we do tolerate them - it is not illegal, and it can serve extremely useful purposes, as jim_uk pointed out. We will not host cracks on NexusMods, because cracks are so often used by pirates. So, when someone mentions that they are using a crack, we first ask if it is a pirated copy. If it is indeed not a pirated copy, then we tell them that we do not support cracks here, and that if they want help with their issue, they should revert back to the original files (certain exceptions can be made, like KOTOR, where it is practically necessary to use some sort of crack, whereas Skyrim, for instance, is a good example of a game that throws a hissy fit when cracked).

 

I hope this clears it up a little bit.

[Elgar82]

Thank you for your answers, much appreciated. :smile:

Yes, it clears it up a little bit, and I understand your valid points. Nevertheless, with all due respect it seems to me that you forget one important thing : the context. We are talking here about Skyrim, not an old game like KOTOR, or DRMs like SecuROM with limited product activations.

NexusMods hosts mods for a lot of games, including very old games, where this tolerating-cracked-games policy may be understandable. But Skyrim is a modern game, with a non-intrusive DRM (you just have to authenticate your game one time and after that you can play with Steam offline forever), unlimited product activations on an unlimited number of computers. The developer is even still active - there is currently a patch in beta.

So in the specific case of Skyrim I can't see how it would be "not illegal" (it's against Bethesda's EULA) and how it could "serve extremely useful purposes".

 

It was my two cents, of course, I'm not saying I'm right and you're wrong. And ultimately it's up to moderators to apply the rules, of course.

[JimboUK]

I agree with you on Skyrim, there is no need whatsoever to crack it but some hate Steam enough to do it, importantly an admission of using a crack isn't enough in the way proof needed to ban someone as a pirate.

[micalov]

Some people do not like steam as stated and consider it "bloatware", some my not have a net connection especially with steams annoying have to be online to go offline feature unless its fixed.

 

Its each persons choice whether they want to bypass DRM as some find it obtrusive and that is their call they just wont get any help here untill they "uncrack" their game as a lot of problems may actually come from the bypassing of the DRM itself.

[Rabbit1251]

I have been using cracks to protect my precious disks on my legally owned games for better than 20 years. I was looking for a crack for Oblivion when the people at Silverlock invented obse which had it's own crack built in. With Steam there has been no need for any cracks.

 

As has been said the legality on this is a grey area. It is not truly illegal until a case has been reviewed in Federal Court and adjudicated as so. Software piracy, though, has, is and will continue to be theft and I will continue to report pirates when I see them.

 

You should not paint us all with the same brush. Not all crack users are thieves.

 

 

Rabbit