Community Feedback Poll - Game Piracy

Status
Not open for further replies.
This is really a non-issue.

I mean look at the deals forum. EVERY week a copy of the Gamestop Deal of the week is posted there. These coupons are supposed to be rewards for people who have signed up for the Gamestop mailing list.

Would having those coupons in those threads could be considered a form of piracy?
 
I would say no and here is my reason:
A friend of mine is a former pirate of XBox Games and the games that he would get would tend to be buggy and not work 100%. It is very difficult to get a correct impression of the game when it doesn't work right. I remember going to his house when he pirated Mercenaries and thinking the game sucked because of all the texture pop in and other bugs that the game had. However, when I got it as a present I really enjoyed it and didn't have any of the other issues that were present on my friends pirated copy.

These problems are the same reason why most respectable gaming outlets don't treat a preview like a review. They usually give overall impressions as opposed to indepth coverage. If it is not the same game that people are getting in their hands when the game comes out then you can't really judge the game correctly.
 
Some CAGs are blurring a line here. Posting an impression of a game before it is released, whether it was obtained through piracy or legitimate means, does not condone the act of piracy. It's just an early review. That's all. The avenue through which the game itself was obtained is a moot point.
 
[quote name='manthing']This is really a non-issue.

I mean look at the deals forum. EVERY week a copy of the Gamestop Deal of the week is posted there. These coupons are supposed to be rewards for people who have signed up for the Gamestop mailing list.

Would having those coupons in those threads could be considered a form of piracy?[/QUOTE]

Coupons aren't really rewards, :lol: coupons are and always have been ads to get you in the store to buy shit
 
Hey Cheapy, you gonna stop talking about seeing movies MONTHS in advance of their Japanese theatrical release date in the CAGCast?

Or how you watch TV shows not broadcast in Japan like Battlestar Galactica?

What about the intro and outro musical pieces? Are you paying royalties on those?
 
[quote name='darthbudge']But what you don't get is that early reviews might encourage people to buy the game.

For example, Mirror's Edge is coming out later this year. That preorder bonus at GS looks pretty awesome, however I am still on the fence about paying $60 for the game. If 2 weeks before it came out, several people on here got it early and said how awesome it was. I might very well be persuaded to go preorder it at GS and buy it on day 1, instead of waiting for a used copy or for it to go down in price.[/QUOTE]

With as much media coverage most games get today, if you can't decide whether or not to preorder a game then you have your answer right there. I too want that sweet ME preorder bonus but watched videos and decided it didn't grab me like I wanted.

If you preorder, wait for reviews and decide you don't like it, you don't "lose" your money do you? can't it be applied to a different game or you get a refund? I'm actually asking these two last questions as I do not know.
 
[quote name='lilboo']mangthang, why are you getting so hype about this? :whistle2:s[/quote]

Manthang is on the juice...

Anyway. I believe CAGs stance on this should be summed in 4 words.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
 
[quote name='lilboo']Coupons aren't really rewards, :lol: coupons are and always have been ads to get you in the store to buy shit[/quote]


I wonder how Gamestop, a major site advertiser, would feel about it?


----------------------------

And boo, just pointing out the hypocrisy of this
 
[quote name='Ender']Some CAGs are blurring a line here. Posting an impression of a game before it is released, whether it was obtained through piracy or legitimate means, does not condone the act of piracy. It's just an early review. That's all. The avenue through which the game itself was obtained is a moot point.[/quote]

Bitter people, I say! An early review is just indeed an early review.

We have a guy around here who posts early reviews/impressions all the time, but who cares? I don't know what the guy does. He could be lying through his teeth saying ''Oh, I work with the industry so I have all of the uber downlow news, man!'' but in reality, he's just some kid that spends way too much time reading shit over the internet and pirating games.

Who cares about early reviews? You should be more concerned with the people saying ''I GRABBED ROCK BAND 2 LAST NIGHT FROM ____ ____ AND IT DL'ED AT 750KBPS! fuck YEAH!''
 
[quote name='lilboo']If there's a game you absolutely know you want, you are going to pre-order it--especially when it's a good pre-order bonus.

But games you just kinda want? Well, I think it's kinda silly to want a game for the pre-order bonus (Rocko & Stylii not included of course :cool:[/QUOTE]
Well thats what the early info would be for. To turn your kinda want into a DO WANT, and if I DO WANT something, I'd want to get the most of it and get the preorder stuff as well. Bonuses and such are pretty much the only things that make me buy a game on release, because 99% of games always drop in value, and can be had for less than 30$ down the road. Its the promise of a sweet preorder bonus that will sometimes make me pay full price.
 
[quote name='lilboo']Coupons aren't really rewards, :lol: coupons are and always have been ads to get you in the store to buy shit[/QUOTE]

I seem to recall the $10 target coupon was only *LEGITIMATELY* given to people on certain target mailing list, in a print catalog or something. Yet a scan of the coupon appeared here and target was inundated by CAGs trying to use it. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, depending on the store and employee... but I'm willing to be a lot more of those coupons were used than were printed for intended use by Target.
 
This is just hilarious. You know, seeing the people who are coming out and saying they have no problem with it. Absolutely hilarious.
 
[quote name='manthing']This is really a non-issue.

I mean look at the deals forum. EVERY week a copy of the Gamestop Deal of the week is posted there. These coupons are supposed to be rewards for people who have signed up for the Gamestop mailing list.

Would having those coupons in those threads could be considered a form of piracy?[/quote]Luckily GS doesn't have a confidentiality clause on their emails, which leaves them open to distribution by any recipients.

In fact: "Sign up at www.gamestop.com/email to get deals like this delivered right to your inbox." is printed on the coupon.
 
[quote name='darthbudge']Manthang is on the juice...

Anyway. I believe CAGs stance on this should be summed in 4 words.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell.[/QUOTE]

:nottalking:
Why was that pointed at ME Budge? :nottalking: :lol:

[quote name='manthing']I wonder how Gamestop, a major site advertiser, would feel about it?
[/QUOTE]

I really don't think they would get bent out of shape over using a 25% coupon. When it's emailed to subscribers they probably e-mail millions of people. Do you think ALL of those people use it? Of course not. It gets people into the store to buy stuff, so I really doubt they would be mad.

[quote name='crystalklear64']Well thats what the early info would be for. To turn your kinda want into a DO WANT, and if I DO WANT something, I'd want to get the most of it and get the preorder stuff as well. Bonuses and such are pretty much the only things that make me buy a game on release, because 99% of games always drop in value, and can be had for less than 30$ down the road. Its the promise of a sweet preorder bonus that will sometimes make me pay full price.[/QUOTE]

I totally get that. I do!
 
[quote name='Strell']This is just hilarious. You know, seeing the people who are coming out and saying they have no problem with it. Absolutely hilarious.[/quote]I think I've heard something about someone protesting too much, though I can't think of where I heard it....

Took you long enough to show up in this thread. I guess you're getting slow in your old age.
 
[quote name='lilboo']:nottalking:
Why was that pointed at ME Budge? :nottalking: :lol:



I really don't think they would get bent out of shape over using a 25% coupon. When it's emailed to subscribers they probably e-mail millions of people. Do you think ALL of those people use it? Of course not. It gets people into the store to buy stuff, so I really doubt they would be mad.



I totally get that. I do!
 
[quote name='shrike4242']
Took you long enough to show up in this thread. I guess you're getting slow in your old age.[/QUOTE]

It was just my birthday. Cut me some slack.

And fix my damn airship!
 
[quote name='corrosivefrost']I seem to recall the $10 target coupon was only *LEGITIMATELY* given to people on certain target mailing list, in a print catalog or something. Yet a scan of the coupon appeared here and target was inundated by CAGs trying to use it. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, depending on the store and employee... but I'm willing to be a lot more of those coupons were used than were printed for intended use by Target.[/quote]


An even better example was the Blockbuster 'Buy 5 for $25' coupon that was supposed to be for one market in Kansas(?), but rang up in the system nationwide.

Said coupon was posted on the site and CAGs all around used it until BB killed it 12 hours after it was posted here.
 
It should be allowed as long as the reviewer doesn't mention how he/she obtained the copy of the game. I don't think you are supporting piracy by hosting these early reviews. There may be other legitimate ways someone was able to score a copy.
 
Discussing a game, however it's obtained, and discussing the acquisition of said game are 2 very different things.

I don't see a huge difference between discussing a game that was pirated in advance, and someone discussing the game after it comes out. Clearly any directions, discussion, or mention of how or where to get pirated games should never be allowed (and never has) but is it reasonable to really go so far as to say 'Your opinion is no longer valid because you pirated the game'?

I guess it becomes more of a question of what "allowed" means. Does this mean people will be banned if they post early impressions of a game, and it's moderately evident they pirated it?

The Spore fiasco is a good example of how this issue can get complicated. Some people in the Spore thread are talking about how they're either considering and already have downloaded a cracked copy to circumvent the 3-install limit for future use, despite having already bought it or stating their intentions to do so.

On a related note, it seems less controversial when someone says, "I downloaded it early, and it's so awesome, I'm definitely keeping my preorder."

[quote name='manthing']This is really a non-issue.

I mean look at the deals forum. EVERY week a copy of the Gamestop Deal of the week is posted there. These coupons are supposed to be rewards for people who have signed up for the Gamestop mailing list.

Would having those coupons in those threads could be considered a form of piracy?[/quote]

The GS coupons are typically emailed, so they expect printed reproductions. I don't think that's a big deal. Some of the other coupons, though, like for CC, are for specific customers and situations, and people go out of their way to use them anyway by finding a hapless cashier or a lazy manager who won't read the fine print. These employees could potentially get in a lot of trouble for not doing their job correctly, and it's technically dishonest. I won't argue that point any harder, though, because I kind of feel like if the store puts out the coupon and the code still registers, then it's the store's responsibility (which seems to be the consensus here, since no one's crying out at the immorality at the $40 off $200 CC thread), and the original company still gets paid.
 
[quote name='manthing']Hey Cheapy, you gonna stop talking about seeing movies MONTHS in advance of their Japanese theatrical release date in the CAGCast?

Or how you watch TV shows not broadcast in Japan like Battlestar Galactica?

What about the intro and outro musical pieces? Are you paying royalties on those?[/quote]I'm sure the creators of Battlestar Galactica would be very upset to learn I'm watching their show which is otherwise not available here. Comparing my very light TV watching habits to your piracy is not a good example.

I'll be happy to post a list of the TV and movies I've downloaded and watched in the last month as soon as you take off the privacy settings on your Xbox Live account.

[quote name='manthing']I wonder how Gamestop, a major site advertiser, would feel about it?[/quote]
The head of GameStop.com is a regular CAG reader and poster. I'm sure he knows everything (GameStop related) that goes on here. I would be shocked if he did not.
 
[quote name='javeryh']It should be allowed as long as the reviewer doesn't mention how he/she obtained the copy of the game. I don't think you are supporting piracy by hosting these early reviews. There may be other legitimate ways someone was able to score a copy.[/quote]

I don't even see how supporting piracy and giving an early review have anything to do with each other in the first place.
 
This is a site about saving money, right?

Well, early reviews of shit games keeps me from spending money on them. If a review is "fair" without a lot of BS such as, "I suck at this game, so the game sucks," then I believe there should be no problem. I don't think a person should shy away from criticizing or praising a game. The reviewer should provide rational reasons and clear explanations why he hates or likes a certain title.

Plus, I don't give a crap how people get their games. I say piracy exists, so deal with it. Illegal activity is not being conducting on the site because the piraters are not sharing their pirated software. Also, the reviewer doesn't have to say he is a pirater. He could simply claim he got the game early. I'm not going to close my eyes to good information because the source's character might be shady.

I think people considering this poll should shy away from their own opinion of piracy. That fact is irrelevant. The relevant issue is whether the reviewers will be objective or not. This is even a problem for major review sites. Poor reviews can lead to poor sales, which should be the only concern in this discussion. I believe any other discussion is simply throwing a red herring or other fallacies into the mix.

If people want to debate the legality of piracy and whatever, then a new thread needs to be created for that issue.
 
[quote name='CheapyD']I'm sure the creators of Battlestar Galactica would be very upset to learn I'm watching their show which is otherwise not available here. Comparing my very light TV watching habits to your piracy is not a good example. [/QUOTE]

Really? That's your argument? So we can pirate Japanese games? Unreleased games? If I just pirate a few games like you pirate a few TV shows that's okay? Talk about a slippery slope.
 
Cheapy,

Are you planning on taking some sort of action against these users, or just removing the reviews? I'm curious.

As for the arguments for piracy reviews, I'm questioning why cheap ass gamers can't wait for legit reviews to show up.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='CheapyD']If you are worried about being wrongly labeled a pirate, it would certainly be easy enough to post the name and location of the store that broke the street date. Providing a photo of the box and/or receipt would be even better. This isn't exactly rocket science here...[/quote]

In the same vein, I don't see IDMB requiring that forum users post proof that they didn't pirate a movie or TV show. Why should CAG hold an opposing stance?

To answer the original question, my answer is yes. Let's be clear. People who pirate games are going to do so whether we give them a voice here or not. Pirating copyrighted material is a choice made irrespective of this forum. Of course CAG should not promote game piracy, through links or otherwise. But I don't see the original question as so fundamental that it would affect the game industry's bottom line. When I see an early review of a game (on CAG or elsewhere), it doesn't motivate me to find a pirated copy, rather it allows me to better determine whether the game merits a purchase/rental/cold shoulder.
 
[quote name='CheapyD']I'm sure the creators of Battlestar Galactica would be very upset to learn I'm watching their show which is otherwise not available here. Comparing my very light TV watching habits to your piracy is not a good example. [/quote]

Piracy is Piracy is Piracy


You can't try to justify yours while damning others...


Or is it more 'Do as I say, not as I do'?
 
No pirated game would be fully functional, so IMO it's not a full game to review. You couldn't play online or you can't access some sort of functionality that exists in the full game..
 
I don't think it should be allowed because the review is almost certainly going to biased, as well as pirating games or other software is illegal. The poster who writes a review of a game, who most likely is not a professional journalist, has complete control of the content he or she places in the review. Some information may be false and misleading and it can sway the opinion of the game one way or the other. Reviews of games should not be allowed on CAG until the day the game arrives on store shelves, or maybe even a day after, so that people have time to play the game and have the ability to either agree or disagree with the review based on experience from the game or other reviews posted along side the pirated review.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']Really? That's your argument? So we can pirate Japanese games? Unreleased games? If I just pirate a few games like you pirate a few TV shows that's okay? Talk about a slippery slope.[/quote]

I don't have an argument...I'm letting the community decide.
 
Piracy should not be rewarded in any way even the just the idea of getting to play/review it before the majority.. But I also agree with others who say many times people come to own a copy way before the set release date which of course is a whole other issue..

I mean truth be told.. if your dumb enough to brag about illegal activity shouldn't at least your post be deleted? What the world needs less are dumb criminals If we could actually determine who, what, when and how they need to be prosecuted, then companies wouldn't be so freakin' worried about the few idiots that mess it up for the rest of the legal users..

my 2 cents
 
[quote name='CheapyD']I don't have an argument...I'm letting the community decide.[/QUOTE]

Well then with no offense intended, maybe you shouldn't respond to/argue with users that are giving their opinion which you asked for.
 
I'm going to say yes under the condition that the person has already brought it through Pre-ordering it.
 
[quote name='DJSteel']No pirated game would be fully functional, so IMO it's not a full game to review. You couldn't play online or you can't access some sort of functionality that exists in the full game..[/QUOTE]

An example of someone staying on topic :p

[quote name='Viper139']I'm going to say yes under the condition that the person has already brought it through Pre-ordering it.[/QUOTE]

Can't be proven.

[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']Well then with no offense intended, maybe you shouldn't respond to/argue with users that are giving their opinion which you asked for.[/QUOTE]

Slippery slope doesn't work. You need something such as "proximate cause."

You can't just call it without providing correlating evidence.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='CheapyD']I don't have an argument...I'm letting the community decide.[/quote]

You should make the poll more inclusive.

Music, movies, television, books, graphic novels, old ROMs and emulators, etc. are all easily pirated.

Are you gonna apply the same standards to those as well?
 
No, PC game piracy is destroying the industry I love
Companies are now being shut down (Look at what happened recently to Ensemble...), because assholes won't purchase games

Piracy is for poor people and dochebags

By suppporting piracy, you are supporting the destruction of a part of the industry we love so much

/rant

Edit: I suppose this also goes towards DS piracy as well...
 
[quote name='DJSteel']No pirated game would be fully functional, so IMO it's not a full game to review. You couldn't play online or you can't access some sort of functionality that exists in the full game..[/QUOTE]
Uh...
often times people considered pirated versions to be better than the original, on PC anyway, since they strip off the protection and you still get full content.
 
[quote name='xGunCrazyx']No, PC game piracy is destroying the industry I love
Companies are now being shut down (Look at what happened recently to Ensemble...), because assholes won't purchase games

Piracy is for poor people and dochebags

By suppporting piracy, you are supporting the destruction of a part of the industry we love so much

/rant

Edit: I suppose this also goes towards DS piracy as well...[/QUOTE]

I think it's a combination of the PC community being more technically advanced than the casual gamer, the game developers aggravating normal customers with their crap protection schemes (StarForce really sucks) and games being released to market needing multiple patches to run. Secondly, I think people have moved away from the PC to the living room. Third, I think companies have been forced to change their business model to get people to pay.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']Uh...
often times people considered pirated versions to be better than the original, on PC anyway, since they strip off the protection and you still get full content.[/quote]

You never get full content if there is online content
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']Uh...
often times people considered pirated versions to be better than the original, on PC anyway, since they strip off the protection and you still get full content.[/QUOTE]

give me an example
 
IMO I believe reviews and/or impressions might help that one decide. Rather then them going out and buying a 60$ game that they end up hating.

I don't agree with piracy on video games, because it'll be the reason that we see game prices go up even more, and I'm not happy with paying 60$ a pop, but I enjoy playing the games so I will.

Even tho I don't agree everyone does there own thing. So if someone with pirated software gives a review on a game that i'm the fence about I'll read it, and we don't know if it's pirated, or they work for a company, or they get advance copies. It could be anything.

As long as CAG doesn't get in trouble for it. Let em have at it
 
[quote name='manthing']You should make the poll more inclusive.

Music, movies, television, books, graphic novels, old ROMs and emulators, etc. are all easily pirated.

Are you gonna apply the same standards to those as well?[/quote]
Only to you...because you seem to really want it.
 
[quote name='DJSteel']give me an example[/quote]

Um, any StarForce protected game. Mass Effect where you can only install your game 3 times, many Securom games won't work if you have completely legal programs like Daemon tools installed.
 
[quote name='Mako1215']IMO I believe reviews and/or impressions might help that one decide. Rather then them going out and buying a 60$ game that they end up hating.

I don't agree with piracy on video games, because it'll be the reason that we see game prices go up even more, and I'm not happy with paying 60$ a pop, but I enjoy playing the games so I will.

Even tho I don't agree everyone does there own thing. So if someone with pirated software gives a review on a game that i'm the fence about I'll read it, and we don't know if it's pirated, or they work for a company, or they get advance copies. It could be anything.

As long as CAG doesn't get in trouble for it. Let em have at it[/QUOTE]

it's called a demo..try it out.. if you like it.. buy it.. if not then don't.. simple as that
 
Game costs did not go up because of piracy. They went up because hardware costs went through the roof and the market would bear a higher video game cost on a new machine. There is a reason why Nintendo can still charge 50 dollars for a game and Microsoft and Sony will not and it has nothing to do with piracy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
bread's done
Back
Top