Why do High-End PC owners get pirated games?

[Rafael Mestdag]

I mean, I can understand a guy who owns an old dual core with an old graphics card due to financial reasons downloading pirated games. But I see a lot of last gen i7 owners with high end graphics cards complaining on pirate sites about how the game is not working properly or something. If you are able to buy a 2000+ dollar rig, why would you not spend like 80 bucks on a legitimate game which would not only work perfectly but also allow you to play online? I kinda feel sorry for the developers who spend sometimes years working on a great game that then will get pirated versions downloaded onto such High-End PC owners. Why?

 

[ASmith426]

I mean, I can understand a guy who owns an old dual core with an old graphics card due to financial reasons downloading pirated games. But I see a lot of last gen i7 owners with high end graphics cards complaining on pirate sites about how the game is not working properly or something. If you are able to buy a 2000+ dollar rig, why would you not spend like 80 bucks on a legitimate game which would not only work perfectly but also allow you to play online? I kinda feel sorry for the developers who spend sometimes years working on a great game that then will get pirated versions downloaded onto such High-End PC owners. Why?

I think part of the reason is that people, no matter what computer they have, are becoming increasingly upset with developers with putting out games that are Betas at best. No one wants to pay full price for a game that has compatibility issues, performance issues, or bad coding. If they can get a game and test it on their system, much like a demo, more people would be inclined to spend their hard earned cash.
I am not saying that pirating is right/legal, but I can empathize and see the validity to their arguement.

 

[VicVega1]

Piracy is a state of mind, not bank account

 

[Supermonkeyf]

Because they don't always work perfectly, pirated games can be played online, and people actually want to know if a game is worth the asking price before buying it.

 

[LucoTF]

Lack of playable demo

 

[LucoTF]

I mean, I can understand a guy who owns an old dual core with an old graphics card due to financial reasons downloading pirated games. But I see a lot of last gen i7 owners with high end graphics cards complaining on pirate sites about how the game is not working properly or something. If you are able to buy a 2000+ dollar rig, why would you not spend like 80 bucks on a legitimate game which would not only work perfectly but also allow you to play online? I kinda feel sorry for the developers who spend sometimes years working on a great game that then will get pirated versions downloaded onto such High-End PC owners. Why?

So why don't you have a seat and tell us what YOU were doing on a pirating site?

 

[mrt3]

High-End PC owners also downloads pirated games due to financial reasons or due to they are leechers, they do not spend like 80 bucks on a legitimate game, As We know legitimate games also not work perfectly but also to play online mostly you need friends who owns the same game.

 

[mrt3]

I mean, I can understand a guy who owns an old dual core with an old graphics card due to financial reasons downloading pirated games. But I see a lot of last gen i7 owners with high end graphics cards complaining on pirate sites about how the game is not working properly or something. If you are able to buy a 2000+ dollar rig, why would you not spend like 80 bucks on a legitimate game which would not only work perfectly but also allow you to play online? I kinda feel sorry for the developers who spend sometimes years working on a great game that then will get pirated versions downloaded onto such High-End PC owners. Why?

So why don't you have a seat and tell us what YOU were doing on a pirating site?

Thats a right Question :Appreciated:

 

[helpstar]

e.g. my last experience in Uplay. I have an originally legally bought game (AC revelations) and wanted to play it, like the past two weeks, for an hour, because "sadly", I don´t have that much time for gaming in my life anymore.
So, Ubisoft decided to update uplay, which is needed to be installed and running to start the game, which loaded automatically and then,.... nothing.
I couldn´t play the game on that day, which is 3 years old and ran absolutely fine before. No need for updating. I´m playing singleplayer campaign, no online matches.

The need to be online and always being up to date is bull.

some more problems I achieved the past view years, not just ubi, steam, origin and others too:

If servers are down, no gaming possible
if autoupdate of the platform software is crap, no gaming possible
if autoupdate of the working game is crap, no gaming possible
if the internet connection refuses to work, no gaming possible
if the savegame is being synched wrong, continuing at the same position of the last savegame is not possible, start from beginning
if the copy protection or the online activation thinks, there is pirated software installed, no gaming possible (I had sandbox running with XP)


I think these are some reasons of pirated software too.

All these problems are non existent in cracked offline games. I still respect the developers of these games, I would never install a pirated software, but the qualitiy of the gaming experience is highly constricted by these issues. In consequence I didn´t buy games in the last years, which were priced over 15 bucks.

 

[Rafael Mestdag]

I mean, I can understand a guy who owns an old dual core with an old graphics card due to financial reasons downloading pirated games. But I see a lot of last gen i7 owners with high end graphics cards complaining on pirate sites about how the game is not working properly or something. If you are able to buy a 2000+ dollar rig, why would you not spend like 80 bucks on a legitimate game which would not only work perfectly but also allow you to play online? I kinda feel sorry for the developers who spend sometimes years working on a great game that then will get pirated versions downloaded onto such High-End PC owners. Why?

So why don't you have a seat and tell us what YOU were doing on a pirating site?

I have been downloading pirated games lately mainly because of financial reasons, I am currently dependent on my parents' income and have not even an allowance, all I have is a shared broadband connection and a mid-range PC so all I can do is download and play pirated games. When I did have the money not long ago, I only bought original ones, mainly because I wanted to play them online(which I believe is the main reason to buy original). Believe me, as soon as I am financially sound again, I will buy, at least, the games I've downloaded from pirate sites and have been enjoying for the last 5 years like BF3, BF4, Mafia 2, Assetto Corsa, etc... I don't know if I'll be downloading new games simply based on reviews but that's what I intend to do because I want to support the developers and their hard work no matter how many foibles/patches I'll have to go through to have the games working properly.

 

[ZeroRequiem]

My short converting from pirate to consumer:
Lived in Hungary for 22 years, money is kinda tight there so I pirated 99% of the games.
Moved to Germany in 2013. Never pirated a single game since then but bought around 120. Was money the issue? Yes, most definitely.

 

[FALC0N]

Sometimes, people are just circumventing copy protection. I know more than a few people to use cracked versions of programs, but have legit license to said program. They just don't like other telling them what they can and can't do with their software. Somehow, that always gets lumped into the "piracy" category as well.

 

[Archgaull]

Go watch the video entitled "Gopher Answers: Why Do I Hate Ubisoft?" by Gopher on youtube. He covers it perfectly when speaking about his experiences with Assassins Creed.

 

[king3pj]

Because they don't always work perfectly, pirated games can be played online, and people actually want to know if a game is worth the asking price before buying it.

I always see that justification thrown around. How many people actually go back and buy a legit version of the game when they are already running a stolen one though? Probably a few but my guess is that would be a very small percentage. Even then that doesn't change the fact that these people are stealing and then possibly going back to pay if they decide it's good enough. It would be like going into a steakhouse and eating and then leaving without paying because the food didn't blow your mind. With reviews, youtube, and everything else available on the internet it's easy to see how well a game will run without stealing it.

I have never needed to do this but downloading a cracked version of a game you already own because Steam, uPlay, or Origin is preventing it from working is a different situation. If you paid for a game up front you should be able to play it. Stealing something because you wanted to try it out first is still stealing though.

 

[Rafael Mestdag]

Because they don't always work perfectly, pirated games can be played online, and people actually want to know if a game is worth the asking price before buying it.

I always see that justification thrown around. How many people actually go back and buy a legit version of the game when they are already running a stolen one though? Probably a few but my guess is that would be a very small percentage. Even then that doesn't change the fact that these people are stealing and then possibly going back to pay if they decide it's good enough. It would be like going into a steakhouse and eating and then leaving without paying because the food didn't blow your mind. With reviews, youtube, and everything else available on the internet it's easy to see how well a game will run without stealing it.

I have never needed to do this but downloading a cracked version of a game you already own because Steam, uPlay, or Origin is preventing it from working is a different situation. If you paid for a game up front you should be able to play it. Stealing something because you wanted to try it out first is still stealing though.

I completely agree with you when you say there are plenty of sources where you can get a pretty good idea how the game will be once you've bought it. In that sense and unless money is an issue for you, there's no excuse for getting a pirated game.

 

[helpstar]

In the past, Demos were a legit thing, not only to test the game how it is. For me it was a great chance, to test the game, if it runs properly on my own individual system. Even nowadays it´s nearly impossible to find sources in the internet, with the exact same hardware configuration, software, drivers and Windows Updates/ service packs installed. You can just get a lead.

I think if there would be more demos, at least this arguement "just wanted to try it before buying", would disappear.

 

[James Mason]

A lot of games "look good" and are hyped up, but are actually complete garbage and unenjoyable.

I've bought both BF4 and Titanfall.

I've spent less than an hour in either of them.

Pirating is a lot about how disposable your money is.

Pirating also doesn't hurt anyone directly, it's only an indirect damage because the company didn't "lose" money, they just didn't "make" money.

If you sneak into a movie theater and watch a movie, did the movie theater lose the $12 a movie ticket costs? No, they just didn't earn your $12.

And 95% of movies aren't worth seeing nowadays anyways, so people just stopped going to movie theaters, which speaks more to the people making the movies than the moviegoers themselves.

For me game satisfaction boils down to a "would I play this again." If the answer is yes, I'll buy the game, AND I'll likely buy the game multiple times.
I've bought Final Fantasy Tactics at least 4 times. And many other games at least twice. Because they come out on various systems, or my copy gets old. And sometimes they don't make the game anymore and pirating is the only option, though the game is pretty close to abandonware at the point anyways.

 

[king3pj]

A lot of games "look good" and are hyped up, but are actually complete garbage and unenjoyable.

I've bought both BF4 and Titanfall.

I've spent less than an hour in either of them.

Pirating is a lot about how disposable your money is.

Pirating also doesn't hurt anyone directly, it's only an indirect damage because the company didn't "lose" money, they just didn't "make" money.

If you sneak into a movie theater and watch a movie, did the movie theater lose the $12 a movie ticket costs? No, they just didn't earn your $12.

And 95% of movies aren't worth seeing nowadays anyways, so people just stopped going to movie theaters, which speaks more to the people making the movies than the moviegoers themselves.

For me game satisfaction boils down to a "would I play this again." If the answer is yes, I'll buy the game, AND I'll likely buy the game multiple times.
I've bought Final Fantasy Tactics at least 4 times. And many other games at least twice. Because they come out on various systems, or my copy gets old. And sometimes they don't make the game anymore and pirating is the only option, though the game is pretty close to abandonware at the point anyways.

People buy media they don't end up liking all the time. From your same example, you don't get to start watching a movie and then only pay if you like it.

I understand that these these are expensive but there are enough ways to get a general idea on whether you will like something or not before you buy it. Check out some reviews or watch a twitch stream. If you go back and buy games after you try them that's great but I still say that the vast majority of people who pirate this stuff have no intentions of doing that.

I feel bad for independent developers like CD Projekt Red who trust gamers enough to release their Witcher games without DRM. You can't blame Steam, uPlay, or Origin for problems with the upcoming Witcher 3 when you can get it on gog.com DRM free. People will still torrent the hell out of it though. This is a major reason why developers and publishers often cater to console gamers over PC.

 

[Rafael Mestdag]

In the past, Demos were a legit thing, not only to test the game how it is. For me it was a great chance, to test the game, if it runs properly on my own individual system. Even nowadays it´s nearly impossible to find sources in the internet, with the exact same hardware configuration, software, drivers and Windows Updates/ service packs installed. You can just get a lead.

I think if there would be more demos, at least this arguement "just wanted to try it before buying", would disappear.

Maybe all the piracy and the easy access to broadband have made demos sort of useless. Maybe the developers themselves are counting on people using pirated versions of their games as demos, since the cracked versions don't work online(mostly).
That's what I think it is. Besides, I have rarely regretted getting a game after having done some research on it(Youtube, Google etc...).

 

[helpstar]

Maybe the developers themselves are counting on people using pirated versions of their games as demos, since the cracked versions don't work online(mostly).

Don´t think so, if that was true, no copy protection for single player games would be out there.

@dirtyferret
please don´t use abusive terms
I can understand your opinion and that the aspects of James Mason are disturbing, but I think that´s the biggest problem developers have: people, who are not aware of, that it´s still stealing.
If anyone would think like this, no more games would be developed anymore.

Let´s be clear, using software and not buying it, is stealing. For now, that´s the law in most countries.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Maybe the developers themselves are counting on people using pirated versions of their games as demos, since the cracked versions don't work online(mostly).

Don´t think so, if that was true, no copy protection for single player games would be out there.

@dirtyferret
please don´t use abusive terms
I can understand your opinion and that the aspects of James Mason are disturbing, but I think that´s the biggest problem developers have: people, who are not aware of, that it´s still stealing.
If anyone would think like this, no more games would be developed anymore.

Let´s be clear, using software and not buying it, is stealing. For now, that´s the law in most countries.

A decent proportion of software is free. Using this software without buying it is not piracy. Plenty of games are developed as free-to-play, though they usually aren't exactly quality.

Piracy is copyright infringement. While it is still a crime, it is technically not theft, any more than running a red light is 'theft'. If you cannot own something, you cannot steal it, and rightsholders are quite intent on reminding you that you only hold a license, not ownership.

When you steal, say, a banana, you are not only costing the banana company the profit they would have made on the banana, but also the costs spent transporting, growing, etc. that specific banana. If you pirate a game or song, it only costs the manufacturer/artist the profit. They do not spend cash on manufacturing a specific item.

While piracy is morally wrong and a crime, IMHO the penalties are thoroughly out of proportion.

 

[helpstar]

@someone somewhere
obviously I meant software, which is not for free and meant to be free 😉

"Piracy is copyright infringement." well, these are technical terms, I don´t use.

In my opinion, if you pirate software, it´s like stealing a DVD in a shop, just virtually. To produce a game, movie or song, you need manpower, studios, marketing and much more. These investments have to be earned, like a farmer needs to make profit, to break even.

For the penalties I agree wih you.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

No, it's not. Very different. Copyright infringement also includes modification, redistribution, and other issues. Theft requires loss, and lost revenue does not count.

There is zero incremental cost that is lost - you spend the same on producing one copy of a a digitally distributed game as one thousand - it's only your revenue that differs.

With physical objects, e.g. DVDs or bananas, there is a cost per item in addition to the initial setup costs.

A game producer that sells 1,000 games and has 500 pirated copies will make as much profit as if they had sold 1,000 copies. A shop that sells 1,000 bananas will not make the same amount of money as one that sold 1,000 and had 500 stolen, because they have to spend money to replace the stolen inventory.

 

[helpstar]

I understood it in the first place, but since I´m not a lawyer, it´s not that important to me. The

I see, Bananas are not good to compare with software.
A banana can be stolen once, one copy of software is spreading out a million times. The market is totally different. You can´t say because people paying 50times more for a product, that it´s not affecting the producers quality of future products, when it´s sold less times.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Fine. Replace bananas with, say, vacuum cleaners. Doesn't change anything.