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Forums - Sales - Piracy not theft because its a copy..

L.C.E.C. said:
I hate to tell you, but GameStop and eBay ARE giant corporations who don't care whether you live or die. GameStop's HQ is probably about 30 minutes from where I live (around Dallas), and all any major corporation really cares about is making money or making an imprint on society/making a name for themselves (usu. less of the latter). If you think about it, GS and eBay are stealing profits away from developers, so who is the villian in all of this? So the guy who figures out how to build his own '98 civic out of air by looking at his friend's with some magical device (similar to a PC), should they get money for that? I know it's not possible, but that's because physical analogies are incomparable and useless, but that's basically what the anti-piracy stuff is saying...

Gamestop and eby users have every right to that profit. They arent stealing it. They are buying low and selling high. Just like any decent business does. While gamestop might be a giant corporation, the people that work there certainly are not. If they don't make quotas they will lose there jobs. I would rather support them by buying used. It helps keep  the employee their job, and I really apriceate the service gamestop offers. I don't see EA or Konami setting up shop down the street to sell me games.



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Industry is growing each and every year. I doubt pirates are hurting it as much as you think.

 

Like I said, I pay a Gamefly subscription every month and any game I will not ever purchase I either get through my rental subscription or pirate off the net. In both cases I still play the games I will never buy without putting anything into the industry.

As I also pointed out though I am pretty sure I also put more into the industry within the last 15 or so years than many of the users here. So while you may claim that I am evil and deserved big jail time and fines I also buy 60-70+ games per generation along with multiple consoles.

 

Could I at least be a good pirate?



iPhone = Great gaming device. Don't agree? Who cares, because you're wrong.

Currently playing:

Final Fantasy VI (iOS), Final Fantasy: Record Keeper (iOS) & Dragon Quest V (iOS)     

    

Got a retro room? Post it here!

By the way guys, I downloaded LKS last week and the game is awesome. I won't buy it for $50 but like I do with many titles I will be picking it up once it gets a price drop.

If it wasn't for the internet and/or my Gamefly account I would have never realized how great this game is.

 

Just trying to shine a little bit of light on my situation.



iPhone = Great gaming device. Don't agree? Who cares, because you're wrong.

Currently playing:

Final Fantasy VI (iOS), Final Fantasy: Record Keeper (iOS) & Dragon Quest V (iOS)     

    

Got a retro room? Post it here!

Euphoria14 said:
For those who care I paid $600 for a PS3, $350 for a 360, $250 for a Wii and all of the titles I own were purchased as new because I don't like used for some reason. So there is thousands and thousands pumped into the industry for you.

How much has Superchunk pumped back in? More than this pirate right here?

oooh call me out oooohhh....

This gen only. (Keep in mind I've been gaming since Atari 2600 on consoles and PC).

I've purchased Wii, 360 (for brothers at launch), I always buy games for bdays/xmas, so probably around 20 or so 360 games for others and about 10 Wii games as presents.

I own 20 vc/ww games and have purchased another 20 or so Wii games new. Then another 10 or so used. I spend a lot on games. Its my only hobby as I work full-time, currently obtaining my MBA, and think that it is vital to spend a lot of quality time with children.

So, yeah I pump in my fair share.

As for your arguement about "well i wouldn't buy it anyway" bullshit. As I mentioned earlier that is irrelavent. You obviously could rent it or buy it used or use your gamefly account to try the game to see if you would like it.

Lastly, IF YOU TAKE SOMETHING YOU DID NOT PAY FOR THAT IS STEALING and it rises the costs, especially in PC gaming, for everyone else.



Yeh I have no idea why you guys are so sensitive against pirates. Whatever, to each his own, don't do it if you think it's wrong. I just find it funny that I get a morality lesson here every couple of weeks from somebody telling me I'm "stealing" from people's pockets. I will never stop pirating games/movies/software.



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superchunk said:
Alterego-X said:

OK.

I ran through the rest of the thread, and since yesterday, at least two people admitted that they wouldn't copy a Ferrari out of thin air, because that would hurt the industry.

amp316, superchunk: Unfortunatelly, you are luddites.

Our hypothetical car-creating magic is not different from a new machine, that would make producing Ferraris extremelly simple and cheap. Your logic naturally continues in the idea that we should not use any new technology, because that would take away jobs, and hurt the old industry.  That's a fallacy.

If everyone could copy a Ferrari, the car industry would indeed go bankrupt, and people would lose their job. (If they would invent that machine, it would simply become more efficent and smaller, but people still would lose their job). But looking at the bigger picture, everyone else would save lots of money for not having to buy another car ever, they would spend this money on other things, the economy would rise. 

 

It's almost the same with information technology. The publishers could search for alternative incomes, to survive the change, but simply banning piracy is like banning machines to save the old ways of the industry.

Alterego-X said:

OK.

I ran through the rest of the thread, and since yesterday, at least two people admitted that they wouldn't copy a Ferrari out of thin air, because that would hurt the industry.

amp316, superchunk: Unfortunatelly, you are luddites.

Our hypothetical car-creating magic is not different from a new machine, that would make producing Ferraris extremelly simple and cheap. Your logic naturally continues in the idea that we should not use any new technology, because that would take away jobs, and hurt the old industry.  That's a fallacy.

If everyone could copy a Ferrari, the car industry would indeed go bankrupt, and people would lose their job. (If they would invent that machine, it would simply become more efficent and smaller, but people still would lose their job). But looking at the bigger picture, everyone else would save lots of money for not having to buy another car ever, they would spend this money on other things, the economy would rise. 

 

It's almost the same with information technology. The publishers could search for alternative incomes, to survive the change, but simply banning piracy is like banning machines to save the old ways of the industry.

However, you and many others are missing the point and creating a chicken before the egg situation.

You can't copy what wasn't created.

If the industry didn't exist to create the original game or Ferrari, you would have nothing new to create. In order for your system to makes sense there would have to be some form of desire to create new items, to later be copied.

However, why would anyone spend years creating a new game, if they knew they would receive zero compensation for their work? That is the system your creating. Which would be the downfall of all.

The Star Trek universal peace love harmony everyone working for common goal of expanding humanit is a farce that is unattainable, even with a pure replicate-anything machine.

Without the continuous flow of money through layers of compensation for work, everything will come crashing down. I personally really enjoy my gaming hobby and don't want to see it disappear.

On top of all of that no matter how you slice it, IT IS WRONG; LEGALLY, MORALLY, AND PLAIN OUT RUDE TO TAKE WHAT YOU DID NOT PAY FOR!

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I keep seeing that 3rd world country arguement. Stupid. Those areas have the highest rate of piracy. To overcome that loss, devs are forced to charge higher fees. Stop stealing software and prices would come down. Also, I bet those who have the capacity to not work and play games will have the funding to buy a game. Maybe not as many as they steal, but that's life. Deal with it.

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Used games are still good for the industry just as used cars are still good for auto makers. Ideally the devs would like everyone to buy a new copy everytime, however, that is not feasible. So, used copies still allow money to flow through the system. I sell my games when I finish them so I can buy new ones. As does Gamestop. The more used stuff they sale at high profits, the more they are willing to buy from a risky new IP. Finally, at least here you actually compensated someone for the original copy of the software.

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I don't understand how something as simple as this creates so much controversy. Even my children (3,5,& 6yrs) realize that if you take something you didn't pay for, its stealing. Its just not a complicated idea. It doesn't matter if it actually hurts or affects the person/entity you took it from; IT'S STEALING. It's like using the, "well I'm only borrowing it" logic. It doesn't matter, you don't have permission to just take it.

I would really support a massive increase on piracy laws. Heaftier fines, much larger jail terms, etc. I applaud when I see the ridiculas fines in millions of dollars for 20 songs stolen. Sure, its overboard, but when they settle for a smaller amount it still is far more than the content was originally worth and maybe someday it will happen to you. *please God, please....*

Is that what you really? Think? No, the indusrty will not fall, it will adapt. The sooner it stops fighting piracy and spending money on DRM and the like the better off it will be. The music industy has done this in the way of legal music downloading, and the result was more options open to the consumer. The music industy did not fall.

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Of course those in the third world pirate far more. In some cases, the orignal product isnt there.  In other instances, the prices are throught the roof. Here we see games being played the only way they can be, via piracy. Thats a good thing, because we have people playing in an situation where they wouldnt be otherwise.

I have't cost anyone money if i Download Mother 3, because they assumed my location was not important enough to sell the game too.-

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all you have said is that used sales recirculate weath. No one is denying that, but it is a mistake to claim it will always be spent on newer games. Its also a mistake to think that the money piracy saves does not recirculate in the  economy!

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What you don't seem to understand is that from a legal definition your definitionis false. Piracy is not stealing. There is no controversy. The law is extremely clear.(at least here in the US)



FayeC said:
L.C.E.C. said:
I hate to tell you, but GameStop and eBay ARE giant corporations who don't care whether you live or die. GameStop's HQ is probably about 30 minutes from where I live (around Dallas), and all any major corporation really cares about is making money or making an imprint on society/making a name for themselves (usu. less of the latter). If you think about it, GS and eBay are stealing profits away from developers, so who is the villian in all of this? So the guy who figures out how to build his own '98 civic out of air by looking at his friend's with some magical device (similar to a PC), should they get money for that? I know it's not possible, but that's because physical analogies are incomparable and useless, but that's basically what the anti-piracy stuff is saying...

Gamestop and eby users have every right to that profit. They arent stealing it. They are buying low and selling high. Just like any decent business does. While gamestop might be a giant corporation, the people that work there certainly are not. If they don't make quotas they will lose there jobs. I would rather support them by buying used. It helps keep  the employee their job, and I really apriceate the service gamestop offers. I don't see EA or Konami setting up shop down the street to sell me games.

There are no quotas. They work on an hourly wage, like everyone else (who's not on a fixed income). If you follow SC's logic, you are taking money out of developers' pockets when you buy from GS.

But more importantly, you never answered my question. If some guy could just magically make cars out of air by touching another car and started giving them away if you asked him for it., would he be a bad person for stealing business? (like how guys can burn games to blank CD's, or change blank space on a hard-drive into a rom) So... what if you could turn water into wine the same way, and you gave it to people who asked for it. Would that be a crime? Would you be stealing the formula, idea, and/or business (reaching into their pocket) of the local wineries and/or major distributors? I didn't know people would hate Jesus so much. So if you hate me for pirating, then you hate Jesus. Have fun with that.




superchunk said:
Euphoria14 said:
For those who care I paid $600 for a PS3, $350 for a 360, $250 for a Wii and all of the titles I own were purchased as new because I don't like used for some reason. So there is thousands and thousands pumped into the industry for you.

How much has Superchunk pumped back in? More than this pirate right here?

oooh call me out oooohhh....

This gen only. (Keep in mind I've been gaming since Atari 2600 on consoles and PC).

I've purchased Wii, 360 (for brothers at launch), I always buy games for bdays/xmas, so probably around 20 or so 360 games for others and about 10 Wii games as presents.

I own 20 vc/ww games and have purchased another 20 or so Wii games new. Then another 10 or so used. I spend a lot on games. Its my only hobby as I work full-time, currently obtaining my MBA, and think that it is vital to spend a lot of quality time with children.

So, yeah I pump in my fair share.

As for your arguement about "well i wouldn't buy it anyway" bullshit. As I mentioned earlier that is irrelavent. You obviously could rent it or buy it used or use your gamefly account to try the game to see if you would like it.

Lastly, IF YOU TAKE SOMETHING YOU DID NOT PAY FOR THAT IS STEALING and it rises the costs, especially in PC gaming, for everyone else.

Oh cry me a river.

Let me give you a little story that actually shines a little bit of light on this whole thing.

 

Years ago I was a much more casual gamer, playing what ever my parents would have without any thought as to purchasing my own games.

One day a friend suggested I get an emulator and download a ROM for Final Fantasy III (FFVI). Before that I wasn't a JRPG gamer what so ever and had very little interest in the genre. 

Anyways, after playing the game I absolutely fell in love with the title and from then on I have purchased hundreds of JRPG titles brand new dating from the PS1 up until now. Titles I otherwise would have NEVER PURCHASED. Hell I even paid them back when I bought FF Anthologies on PS1 and even FFVI advance for the GBA. I played Chrono Trigger on emulators years ago and I later picked up FF Chronicles for PS1.

Now let us just sit here and assume that I never played FFIII on that emulator that day and never got absolutely obsessed with JRPG gaming, how much less money may I have pumped into the industry through out the last 15 or so years? If my life played out the way it was before I played that game I would still be sitting around playing Magic The Gathering instead and giving my money to Wizards of the Coast.

 

Yeah you won't care but you know what, I don't really care if you care. What I do know though is that for once, in my situation anyways piracy actually helped them out a lot, especially Squaresoft.



iPhone = Great gaming device. Don't agree? Who cares, because you're wrong.

Currently playing:

Final Fantasy VI (iOS), Final Fantasy: Record Keeper (iOS) & Dragon Quest V (iOS)     

    

Got a retro room? Post it here!

Alterego, I just read this page and I swear I didn't see your argument before I made mine about the cars out of air thing. I guess great minds just think alike though. :P




Alright Superchunk. Maybe you should read over all your posts in this thread. You've made some pretty silly twists of logic so far.

And I highly doubt you hold the same moral righteousness for other, far more important aspects of life.



I'm a mod, come to me if there's mod'n to do. 

Chrizum is the best thing to happen to the internet, Period.

Serves me right for challenging his sales predictions!

Bet with dsisister44: Red Steel 2 will sell 1 million within it's first 365 days of sales.