why is everyone pirating FONV?

[phoneyLogic]

I absolutely agree with micalov. And Vagrant0: Only because that there several technics are being used to spy our surfing behavior, we don't need to be forced to such things. With this kind of logic, we would end up in a big brother scenario very soon. And even if it would already exist, this doesn't mean everyone should support such a thing.

Sure, one could put a company higher than our all rights about our data. But frankly, who would do that?

 

Edit:

I mean such companies are there to please us. They are making money because they try to satisfy their customer, not the other way round.

Edited July 12, 2011 by tortured Tomato

[Vagrant0]

And Vagrant0: Only because that there several technics are being used to spy our surfing behavior, we don't need to be forced to such things.

Edit:

I mean such companies are there to please us. They are making money because they try to satisfy their customer, not the other way round.

Except... Name one thing that Steam collects about you that either it doesn't already know, or which isn't required as a part of their service.

 

There's a difference between having to supply a company with a total biography of yourself and just telling them information that they need to setup and maintain your account with them. I'll use the bank example. To cash any paychecks or to have any credit, either you need to open an account with a bank and supply information, or go through some other service which also requires you to supply information. You may not want to open an account or supply information to someone else, but in order to get money, it is required. In most cases, the information collected is fairly standard both to ensure that you are the only one who can access that account, and to know just who you are. The same is true for Steam, or any number of services you already use on the internet. Except that unlike the bank, the information you give doesn't necessarily have to be valid as long as it is consistent and plausible. The problem with this view of "Nobody is going to know nothing about me" is that it mistakingly treats all information the same without even bothering to ask the question of "why is this question being asked?". On one hand it's a videostore asking for ID and a credit card when you sign up which is their protection against you walking off their products; and on the other it's a computer store asking for your zip code when you buy something with cash as a means of recording regional traffic and other marketing strategies. The first one, you have to twist people's arms for constantly because it's personal, the second one people give out without a second thought because it isn't particularly personal. But, the first one is part of a service contract an is valid for what you get from it, while the second one is purely for the benefit of the store. It's a matter of knowing what information people SHOULD be asking and what isn't their damn business. Most don't understand this, so naturally they treat any personal question with hostility ignoring all the impersonal ones which are used to get demographic information, if not outright responding to any question with hostility and living in a shack in Montana.

 

 

What information does Steam have from me?

 

Required

Account name - Used to give me an identity in their service.

Age - Required on every site to both ensure you are legally liable for any contractual terms (minimum age is 13 in the US), and to filter out any adult content for minors.

E-mail - Used to recover password (currently unverified without any interruption to the service).

Profile name - Used to give me a public identity for other users to contact me.

What games I bought - As part of their service for activating, and updating products, this is necessary and no different from hundreds of other programs which have an auto-update or DRM (pretty much everything sold now)

 

Information they already know simply by trying to access their service.

Country of Connection

Primary Language

 

And that's pretty much it. Not sure if you've noticed, but this is actually about the same amount of information used to register for this site. And is still less than the amount of information you have to give for ANY persistent e-mail account.

[hoofhearted4]

if youve bought any games though, they have credit card info and such as well

[phoneyLogic]

And Vagrant0: Only because that there several technics are being used to spy our surfing behavior, we don't need to be forced to such things.

Edit:

I mean such companies are there to please us. They are making money because they try to satisfy their customer, not the other way round.

Except... Name one thing that Steam collects about you that either it doesn't already know, or which isn't required as a part of their service.

 

There's a difference between having to supply a company with a total biography of yourself and just telling them information that they need to setup and maintain your account with them. I'll use the bank example. To cash any paychecks or to have any credit, either you need to open an account with a bank and supply information, or go through some other service which also requires you to supply information. You may not want to open an account or supply information to someone else, but in order to get money, it is required. In most cases, the information collected is fairly standard both to ensure that you are the only one who can access that account, and to know just who you are. The same is true for Steam, or any number of services you already use on the internet. Except that unlike the bank, the information you give doesn't necessarily have to be valid as long as it is consistent and plausible. The problem with this view of "Nobody is going to know nothing about me" is that it mistakingly treats all information the same without even bothering to ask the question of "why is this question being asked?". On one hand it's a videostore asking for ID and a credit card when you sign up which is their protection against you walking off their products; and on the other it's a computer store asking for your zip code when you buy something with cash as a means of recording regional traffic and other marketing strategies. The first one, you have to twist people's arms for constantly because it's personal, the second one people give out without a second thought because it isn't particularly personal. But, the first one is part of a service contract an is valid for what you get from it, while the second one is purely for the benefit of the store. It's a matter of knowing what information people SHOULD be asking and what isn't their damn business. Most don't understand this, so naturally they treat any personal question with hostility ignoring all the impersonal ones which are used to get demographic information, if not outright responding to any question with hostility and living in a shack in Montana.

 

 

What information does Steam have from me?

 

Required

Account name - Used to give me an identity in their service.

Age - Required on every site to both ensure you are legally liable for any contractual terms (minimum age is 13 in the US), and to filter out any adult content for minors.

E-mail - Used to recover password (currently unverified without any interruption to the service).

Profile name - Used to give me a public identity for other users to contact me.

What games I bought - As part of their service for activating, and updating products, this is necessary and no different from hundreds of other programs which have an auto-update or DRM (pretty much everything sold now)

 

Information they already know simply by trying to access their service.

Country of Connection

Primary Language

 

And that's pretty much it. Not sure if you've noticed, but this is actually about the same amount of information used to register for this site. And is still less than the amount of information you have to give for ANY persistent e-mail account.

 

Steam collects my name, age, my web address, my bank account and my full physical address. Furthermore I install their spyware on my computer.

 

My real adress is neither required for the service, nor would steam be able to figure it out without asking my ISP. But this is not the question. The question is: Why would you need my steam accound data?

 

If I want to give my data away, I barely do it without reason. Yes, my ISP knows who I am, but I don't see why my data should be stored e.g. at Steam or just another site which hasn't anything to do with. What's the purpose? Is there an advantage for me, if you - for example - ban all non-steam-user here?

 

Would you give me your full name, your real adress, and your bank data? Sure, you can trust me, I'm not doing wrong with it, I just store it on a super secure internet server. ;-)

Edited July 12, 2011 by tortured Tomato

[Ghogiel]

Scroogle is a start.

 

beyond that it starts to get annoying. But there are more layers of security you can add.

[Pronam]

The billing address and phone number is for credit cards and thus more than normal....it's a check for safe payments for your bank. If you're worried about privacy, go delete your facebook account as well. If you present you present the city of birth, current city, provide your first and last name and want others to know when your birthday is you'll put yourself at a big risk already as you can do a LOT with that info. Steam never freely gives this information to anyone else...facebook does upon standard unless you set not to and I'd be rather more worried about that data than this. I'd worry much more when I leave my email or phone number at a site as they actually SELL those to other companies for usage, steam will never do this. Edited July 12, 2011 by Pronam

[Deleted472477User]

I would say it is simply because FONV is one of the main nexus sites at the moment as the game is still "new" so you get people that are not the brightest saying stuff like (this is just an example and I have no idea if anyone has said this exactly but I am positive there are similar things):

 

"This mod isn't working for me, I am using a cracked version of the game. Anyone know what to do?"

 

I also buy all my game legally but people pirate just about anything :pirate: , especially if it is new or expensive. I am sure most of the people who get banned also have only 1-3 posts and do not care about the nexus or anyone who makes the mods and therefor probably don't even know that using illegal copies is against the rules. That is just my opinion but I am sure it isn't too far off :laugh:

 

 

I think this is probably the case. I think also there's a bit of "Bethesda sucks too much for me to give them their money, but not so badly that I won't play their game" sortt of mentality that goes on as well. Which really sucks on their part. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a library for computer and console games (Gamefly sort of, maybe) but one that is free like the public library doesn't exist. These jerks are trying to treat pirating like their own personal library.

Edited July 12, 2011 by nyxalinth

[phoneyLogic]

I think Steam is actually quite secure and I trust them meanwhile. I'm also googleing, no problem. Actually I think Steam is a cool service and far better than the ubi-launcher or such crap. But I just don't see any reason why I should be forced to. It's a really nice store and a pita drm, there are advantages and downers.

I know, the gaming industries has become a huge business and to day they have profits which were plain unimaginable just 10 or 15 years ago. If ther's more money in the jackpot, rules are getting stricter and there's less room for flops. But remember, this is video gaming, our fun and hobby. If we take it too serious, it's gona die a hollywood death. :teehee:

Please don't make DRM mandatory and keep restrictions low.

Edited July 12, 2011 by tortured Tomato

[Yoshh]

if youve bought any games though, they have credit card info and such as well

 

Not really. I buy all my games using paysafecards.

[Thandal]

if youve bought any games though, they have credit card info and such as well

Nope. For me, it's PayPal (so, EBay) that has that info, but Steam (so, Valve) doesn't.

At least this way I reduce the number of sites that hold that kind of info on me. :thumbsup: