PC Game Piracy Article

[Zench]

http://www.tweakguides.com/Piracy_1.html

A very long but interesting article on PC game piracy and DRM. I'd recommend reading all of it. And yes, it is the same one that was mentioned on Slashdot a couple days ago.

[tkGr33N]

http://www.tweakguides.com/Piracy_1.html

A very long but interesting article on PC game piracy and DRM. I'd recommend reading all of it. And yes, it is the same one that was mentioned on Slashdot a couple days ago.

Piracy has never destroyed works.
Mostly (MOSTLY) the pirated content will be replaced by legal bought versions which normally are in a higher quality and technical support.

[Dinoguy1000]

http://www.tweakguides.com/Piracy_1.html

A very long but interesting article on PC game piracy and DRM. I'd recommend reading all of it. And yes, it is the same one that was mentioned on Slashdot a couple days ago.

Piracy has never destroyed works.
Mostly (MOSTLY) the pirated content will be replaced by legal bought versions which normally are in a higher quality and technical support.

Please actually read the entire article, then come back and try that again.

After reading the whole thing myself, I find my own opinion on the subject has basically changed - not a 180, necessarily, but still a radical shift.

[ennova]

I got half way through the article before I lost interest. Despited the author's claim to produce an unbiased article, it was clear to me that he/she had a biased opinion from the start. I'm not saying he/she is right or wrong! I simply didn't like the feel of the article after the disclaimer.

[Dinoguy1000]

Personally, I found it far less biased than anything else I've ever read on the subject. Anything in particular that you would say made you think it was biased?

[dbeetle]

The article started as unbiased but it quickly started to lean toward anti-piracy. It is the content that was mentioned. Torrents, for instance. I use torrents as both a "try before you buy" and a backup of what I already have (sounds lame, but it's true). For instance, I purchased Fractal Designs 'Poser' back in 1995 as soon as it was released for windows (started as only a mac tool). I have purchased every upgrade since then, but I also have torrents of the latest versions as a back up because my kids don't know how to put a disc back into it's case, so they get scratched up. The article never mentions anything about situations like that. Also, since many computer manufacturers have stopped including operating system discs with their retail computers, it is easier to simply download a torrent of your OS and input your cd key than go through the process of finding a replacement when your system needs the OS to be re-installed. Who wants to wait 6-8 weeks for an installation disc?

I don't know why I even care, since it is impossible for an individual to be "unbiased". Everyone has an opinion one way or another whether they realize it or not. This guy is anti-piracy, and to an extent, we all are. Nobody likes it when someone else profits (monetarily or otherwise) from your own hard work. Just look at the replica prop makers(me), they(I) are infringing on copyrights by selling unlicensed replicas, but they(I) raise hillbilly hell when someone "recasts" their(my) work.

The article is very informative, but my opinion on the subject hasn't changed since I read it.

[Mr.Mouse]

The issue of piracy is age-old. Ever since the first software was created and sold commercially. So this would be the late 70's, early 80s. Back in the 80s you could code a game in your attic and try to sell it to some publisher and make some money. This period also saw the rise of the softwarehouse, where teams were creating games (mostly still small teams).
Then from the 90s on software houses grew bigger and investments became much larger, as the industry and the public demanded full use of the new hardware that the industry created and made us slaves of. At the same time though, the market grew much bigger, so the prices could be kept at the usual levels.

The pros and cons of piracy have not changed a bit. I remember many letters to magazines like Crash!, Zzap64 and Commodore User discussing the subject in the 80s. Then later I remember the same bullshit in the 90s in magazines like PCZone, PC Gamer and the like. The discussion was always the same and amounted to the same arguments pro and con. Now, 30 years later, the discussion is once again the same. We're running in circles as a race.