In defence of piracy

[Baalzamon]

mZuzek said:

Baalzamon said:

Even IF the video game industry has been positively impacted (which still, mind you, doesn't make it not theft), what is your counter argument to the impact that for those who do choose to actually purchase the game? They are absolutely impacted in that their choice to not break the law resulted in their bank account going down, whereas the person who spent their money on other things still gets to enjoy the game free of charge. Baffle me as to how that isn't negatively impacting that person (in that their additional income actually means absolutely nothing at all because those who make less can just get the items for free).

Yeah... you lost me here, pal. When I buy a game and play it legally, I enjoy it. I don't give a crap whether someone out there is playing it for free or not, that's not part of the equation - if anything, I have a better sense of pride in knowing that I'm doing it the right way. Piracy absolutely shouldn't (and mostly, doesn't) affect the people who spend their money on games, and if it affects you, that's something you need to work on, because it ain't right.

That said, ultimately this is just a case of agree to disagree. You have your reasons to think piracy is never okay under any circumstances, and it's fine to think that way. I think there are good things that come from it, and feel it's also fine to think that way. But it's clear we're not adding anything more to the discussion by this point.

I don't dread each day knowing some people are getting their things for free while I pay for them. BUT, I do know that I have pride in actually obtaining the product legally (similar to what you said). But by the logic of people saying there is nothing wrong with pirating...they also don't have any negative connotations with now being able to play that game. So we are still in a boat where no party feels negatively about owning the game, but one party paid, and one stole it.