"Try Before You Buy"

[SassyTheSasquatch1]

I was talking to my friend the other day, and he told me he pirated Skyrim before buying it. I lectured him on how piracy is illegal, you can be fined, blah blah blah. He then tried to defend himself by saying "But I bought the game in the end! I just wanted to try it before I bought it!" I then responded with "Would you go to Woolworth's (Australian supermarket) and open up various food items to sample them before buying them?"

"But it's different!"

So, tell me this. Do you believe that pirating software to 'try it before you buy it' is okay?

[DoctorKaizeld]

it is not okay in any way shape or form. honestly though i wish Demos were still and thing... that argument would be mostly invalid, buuut then you have to look at how many game companies made their demo better then the actual game (Colonial Marines anyone?) pirating is still stealing no matter your argument.

[Nixsy]

Years ago Sony used to release demo cd's on game magazines. I think this at the time was a great way for them to advertise and an even better way of trying a game before you bought it. Today modern games do not have an equivalent of this so there is always a hype buildup for a game before it's release along with pre-release sales. This due to some poor game development and irregular patches and updates make for a compelling case to think of piracy as a demo cd only. I personally do not pirate games but given the state of the game industry today, I would not Think that "Trying before you buy" is a bad motivation.

 

TL;DR

 

Piracy is not always a closed case and should be considered on a case to case scenario.

 

Bring back the demo cd.

[Vagrant0]

Demos are a lose-lose situation for developers. Old video, but explains it better than I can.

 

"Try before you buy... via piracy" is a very similar problem to the demo dilemma, but instead of the developer making and packaging a game demo, a user gets everything for no cost, no restrictions, and is essentially on their own honor to decide when the cutoff point is. For most, this cutoff point usually is several hours into the game, or even after they've beaten it, where upon entering mid-game or seeing the end they justify some reason why they don't like it, and therefore never buy it. Even if you do buy it later, with the way most games are priced these days, you end up being able to play day 1 (or even before in cases of leaked versions), but only end up buying it when it is on sale and you feel guilty, if at all. Repeat this for not one or two games, but a few dozen, and it becomes a free-rider like situation where you are benefiting from other people paying for the cost of a game so that you can sit back, have similar experiences, but contribute nothing. For younger people, this usually leads to a mentality where they expect everything to be free, or find some way to get it for free, usually because it is rated higher than their parents allow, or because their parents don't want to buy it for them. They'd "buy it if they had the money", but only until they realize what it takes to get that money and how many other things they need to buy first. Meaning that in the majority of cases, people pirating games are just trying without being in such a position that they would buy. No matter intentions, it doesn't work in the larger scheme of things.

 

With Steam's new refund policy, and the fact that there are dozens of review videos, streamers, and other gamers out there that can give you a honest and clear impression of a game; the risk of buying games has almost gone away. It's a far ways away from the state of things 20 or even 10 years ago when most games were sold in stores, and before there were people on the internet reviewing this content without developer incentives. If you're unsure about a game, do research, wait for patches, play one of the hundreds of other titles that get released monthly, or just go back to an old game and see if you can mod it to keep your interest. Even if you hate a developer, don't play their game, don't talk about their game, and play something from a developer that you do like. There's no justification for piracy.

[Nixsy]

 

Vagrant0, on 16 Jan 2016 - 10:52 AM, said:

Demos are a lose-lose situation for developers. Old video, but explains it better than I can.

"Try before you buy... via piracy" is a very similar problem to the demo dilemma, but instead of the developer making and packaging a game demo, a user gets everything for no cost, no restrictions, and is essentially on their own honor to decide when the cutoff point is. For most, this cutoff point usually is several hours into the game, or even after they've beaten it, where upon entering mid-game or seeing the end they justify some reason why they don't like it, and therefore never buy it. Even if you do buy it later, with the way most games are priced these days, you end up being able to play day 1 (or even before in cases of leaked versions), but only end up buying it when it is on sale and you feel guilty, if at all. Repeat this for not one or two games, but a few dozen, and it becomes a free-rider like situation where you are benefiting from other people paying for the cost of a game so that you can sit back, have similar experiences, but contribute nothing. For younger people, this usually leads to a mentality where they expect everything to be free, or find some way to get it for free, usually because it is rated higher than their parents allow, or because their parents don't want to buy it for them. They'd "buy it if they had the money", but only until they realize what it takes to get that money and how many other things they need to buy first. Meaning that in the majority of cases, people pirating games are just trying without being in such a position that they would buy. No matter intentions, it doesn't work in the larger scheme of things.


With Steam's new refund policy, and the fact that there are dozens of review videos, streamers, and other gamers out there that can give you a honest and clear impression of a game; the risk of buying games has almost gone away. It's a far ways away from the state of things 20 or even 10 years ago when most games were sold in stores, and before there were people on the internet reviewing this content without developer incentives. If you're unsure about a game, do research, wait for patches, play one of the hundreds of other titles that get released monthly, or just go back to an old game and see if you can mod it to keep your interest. Even if you hate a developer, don't play their game, don't talk about their game, and play something from a developer that you do like. There's no justification for piracy.

 

Valid point from a developers point of view =). I still feel that there should be a way to test a game for a short period or up to a preset level to see if it is worth £40. Example: If I had tried dragon age inquisition before I had bought it I would have had £40 to spend on a different game.

[Aurielius]

One can dress up theft in the garb of comparison shopping but the norm is more like they steal the game , play it, then only consider buying it when the patches/updates make their ripped version less desirable. A short perusal of the tech/mod help forums evidence how many brain dead pirates come here for help with their stolen game that doesn't work properly. So IMO stealing is stealing and rationalizations on why are moot.

[HeyYou]

Ah, but then, you have the other side of the coin.... The publishers that are oh-so-concerned about piracy, that they slap multiple layers of DRM on their games, that makes them pretty much unplayable for the folks that actually paid money for them........ But, the folks that pirated the game, whose copies don't have all the DRM, their games run great....... So, folks are more motivated to pirate the game, so they can actually expect to be able to play it. (Yep, I am looking at YOU EA.)

 

Now, I in no way advocate piracy, as yes, it IS stealing. What I would like to see though, is game companies figuring out that their anti-piracy measures are actually counter-productive...... But, I will never convince any bean-counter of that.

[DoctorKaizeld]

 

Valid point from a developers point of view =). I still feel that there should be a way to test a game for a short period or up to a preset level to see if it is worth £40. Example: If I had tried dragon age inquisition before I had bought it I would have had £40 to spend on a different game.

this point you're making is invalid with Steams return system.

 

i bought 17 games during the Steam sale and returned 11 of them after i found them to be less then desirable.

Edited January 16, 2016 by qwertyzeldar

[HeyYou]

 

 

Valid point from a developers point of view =). I still feel that there should be a way to test a game for a short period or up to a preset level to see if it is worth £40. Example: If I had tried dragon age inquisition before I had bought it I would have had £40 to spend on a different game.

this point you're making is invalid with Steams return system.

 

i bought 17 games during the Steam sale and returned 11 of them after i found them to be less then desirable.

 

Assuming the game is available on Steam......

[Aurielius]

 

 

 

Valid point from a developers point of view =). I still feel that there should be a way to test a game for a short period or up to a preset level to see if it is worth £40. Example: If I had tried dragon age inquisition before I had bought it I would have had £40 to spend on a different game.

this point you're making is invalid with Steams return system.

 

i bought 17 games during the Steam sale and returned 11 of them after i found them to be less then desirable.

 

Assuming the game is available on Steam......

 

Ah yes..... Steam..those lovely folks that want an internet connection verification so I can play a single player game that I have owned for years. :mad: