Perfect example of justification of software piracy

[Matthew]

I don't know about you, but I am SICK and tired of buying PC games, where instead of beta testing themselves, the friggin companies are forcing us to beta test and scour the web for fixes for a game that should be bug free upon release.

This is why lately for the last good while I have been DOWNLOADING my games prior to buying, and today is a perfect example.

Civilization 4 looked pretty farking good and got some good reviews, but before going and blowing my money on a game that I would lose interest in, in 2 days, or getting some piece of crap software chock full of bugs that should have been beta tested prior to release, I download it from BitTorrent.

So I installed the game no problem. Then there was a problem where even though I am using Daemon Tools it was not seeing the CD in the "drive" and I had to download something else to trick it, which is perfectly understandable given that the CD is copyrighted etc. So that worked, and we move on past that problem.

I start up the game and it crashes back to the desktop after putzing around for about 2 minutes, and gives some "unable to initialize graphics error check your graphics settings" message.

So I figure, this is because it is a pirated piece of software. Nope. A lot of users who bought the game as well apparently are having this SAME flippin problem. They have some half ass fix out there, where you actually unpack one of the .pak files and it is supposed to work, but for some of us, still doesn't work with no apparent reason as to why. Now it just crashes back to the desktop with no error and creates an error log file.

This is a perfect example of why you should pirate software FIRST, and then if you LIKE it, by all means support the blood sucking, piss poor companies that don't bother to create bug-free games prior to release.

Yea, I pirated the software at FIRST, but needless to say, if the game was worth it, I would have bought it like I did with BF2 (another game chock full of bugs prior to release), HL2, or any other slew of games that was worth a s***.

Well, I'm off to unRar my pirated copy of Age of Empires 3 to see if THAT game is worth a s***.

 

[PhreakV]

so its okay to break the law as long as you plan on doing the legal thing later if it pleases you?
(just wondering as I view you as someone that usually purports themselves as more righteous than average...)

 

[Matthew]

not at all, but the software companies screw you. they dont say that if you have an ATi card you cant play their game, knowing full well you cant return their buggy ass s*** if it doesnt work.

in this case i saved 50 bucks. incidently, the AoE3 works, and looks pretty sweet, i think on my way to my poker game tonight, im going to buy it.

 

[Dynotrick]

i agree - nothing wrong with try before you buy.

 

[YellowMP5]

I don't ... s***.

do you even know what goes into software development?

 

[Cellerator]

Well, if the game was worth a damn, then they would have spent more time into developing it and getting rid of kinks as that's what a good quality control manager would do. I agree with matthew on this.

 

[pb4ugoout]

i think this can somehow relate to the whole, "if you don't own it then you must delete it within 24 hours thing." such as ROM's for nes and genesis and the like that you find on the net for emulators. they say you can keep them only if you own the game. if not then you must delete them within 24 hours. this is how those sites that offer roms for download are allowed to remain up. sort of a copyright loophole. i can see the relation anyway, anyone else share my sentiments?

 

[jersey_emt]

I'm a software developer, but not for games (my company's main product is a complete business management solution for the service industry). While I definitely agree that software piracy is wrong, I do not agree with the current system of 'once it's opened, you can't return it'. If I buy something from a major retailer, and am not happy with it for any reason, I expect to be able to bring it back for a refund.

Allow people to purchase software and be able to return them if they are not happy with it, and software piracy will diminish. I too often 'try before I buy'....yes I must break the law in order to make sure that I am spending my money on something that is actually worth it. Every single piece of software that I use frequently is 100% paid for. Many of them I have downloaded cracked copies before purchasing for a 'trial run'. If I like it, I buy it. If not, it gets deleted.

I don't see anything wrong with it. Of course there are always going to be the few assholes who will download a game, play it every day for a year, and never actually buy it. But those people will never exist, and those stupid non-returnable policies are actually hurting sales because people don't want to spend $50 on something that sucks.

Also, bugs are a given with any piece of software. It is the company's response that is important IMO. If I buy a piece of software and a bug keeps me from using it, if there is an easy-to-fix solution or update available from the company's web site, there is no harm done. It is impossible to test every single scenario with every single possible combination of hardware out there. Writing games for XBox, PS2, etc....you know exactly what hardware the user is running on. Writing games for PC is a whole different ballgame.

 

[Matthew]

i agree jersey. in this case, its nothing as an easy fix. someone found out that if you unpack one of the files, move the original file and edit another or soemthing, then half the time it works, but still has bugs within the game.

thats just outrageous. while some bugs are inevitable, having something so severe that its hard or impossible to run the game is unacceptable.

if so much goes into software development, then two things should happen:

1) put a little extra effort into the design and testing, instead of putting out s***.
2) pressure companies like target, etc, to allow you to return games. this is the only reason i turned to software piracy of games as a try before buy basis. games are almost always 50 bucks or more unless you buy them as an older game, and half the time they suck and half of the remaining time they are buggy as hell or poor playability. so you make out about a .25 of the time, which sucks. the rest i piss away when i have to sell it on ebay for like 20 bucks plus 5 shipping (at best).

i dont mind that if i have just played the game for a period of time (like when i tried, then bought, then sold splinter cell, for example), then i paid basically 25 bucks out of 50 for several weeks of entertainment.

but paying 25 bucks for a boring, poorly written, or buggy game or one that doesnt work is totally unacceptable.

 

[Pirana]

3 letters....PS2

 

[SpicyMchaggis]

let me get this straight matt. you are so agro republican and are up on your moral obligations, but it's ok for you to rip off software developers because you don't feel like paying? Matt, BF2 has been the buggiest and most glitch prone game release this decade. You paid for that? No, I love to sail the pirated waters of the intrawebs, but come on. Actually, come to think of it, I just don't buy bad games.

 

[Matthew]

i paid for BF2, yes.

im not ripping anyone off. if the game works, and it is worth playing, i buy it. if it isnt, i delete it. how is that ripping anyone off? i cant say the same for some douchebag who will pirate every game of the century and never buy anything.

and being republican has nothing to do with pirating software. quit tyring to drag politics into this.

 

[SpicyMchaggis]

it was more of a joke. when do i try to start a politics thread? I laugh at the notion.

you can steal all the games you want, as long as it's from EA.