The way to stop piracy is to move everything to cloud gaming, then when everything is server side the companies have total control over who pay...I mean plays.
The way to stop piracy is to move everything to cloud gaming, then when everything is server side the companies have total control over who pay...I mean plays.
I hate side quests. If you can't be bothered to write a decent enough story to fill a game, then just hire a writer that can. Enough of these filler quests that really turn an interesting game into a grind.
Or make everything F2P as EA seems to think is inevitable.Originally Posted by Leopig
http://kotaku.com/5919847/the-strang...ing-to-a-giant
Sure, that's an option for consoles, and it's very likely to be the big companies next move for the consoles, but that's not at all viable on the PC. And as it happens, the PC is generally the platform referred to as being the hardest hit by Piracy, meaning they wouldn't be making significant reductions in piracy by forcing consoles to work in the cloud.
It doesn't matter if i have job,i pirate anyway. Allot of the time there's no demo for games and i download them to try them out,also its good thing to see if game is worth your money (Which this gen we can't say for 80% of games)..
... I take the lives of a few to protect the lives of many. I commit acts of war to preserve the greater peace. I take no joy in killing, but make no mistake; I'll do what needs to be done. Because it's my job. It's my duty. My name is Sam Fisher, and I am a Splinter Cell.
Yet games now are cheaper than they've ever been.
Why yes you're right I'm deliciously evil
Tradition is the tyranny of dead men
Steam:Kadayi Origin: Kadayi GFWL: Kadayi
Probable Replicant
*blush* I'm flattered by the attention boys, but please let's not make the thread about liddle old me
For some reason whenever I read "outdated business model" I replace it with "won't give me stuff for free" :-P
Is there anyone around like me who used to play all available demos and use them as the main basis for purchases but now rarely bother and rely on other sources? I don't ever seem to enjoy demos any more, so they aren't that useful. Even with Crusader Kings 2 I didn't really enjoy the demo, I was just exploring the rules before it was released.
Irrelevant on further examination of the rest of the thread.
Do you know what Gaming doesn't have an outdated model anymore you got digital distribution and Steam aand stuff now and its great. Movies and TV have an outdated business model.
That's part of it, and that's why the free-to-play business model is so popular. DRM and otherwise punishing legitimate owners is another bandaid on a dying business model. Ditto for lack of refunds, the infrequency of demos, having finite product keys for a product with infinite supply, and PC games never being given preferable shelving in stores. These things will all go away when better alternatives are proven profitable.
Maybe piracy will cease to be now that we can sell our digital games
Another oddity: was all set to buy AC3 on release, but the PC version has been delayed a few weeks. It's clear why they're doing it: piracy is more common on the PC, for those with both platforms, it gives better odds of selling console copies before it gets pirated.
The odd thing is it might work - if I really decide I want to play AC3 on launch I'll probably buy it for the 360. But, if I'm busy those weeks, or playing something else and it's already out on PC when I come to play it... I'll feel less bad if I pirate it, as my piracy has already clearly been taken into account by Ubisoft. Yes, that makes no actual sense but kinda makes me feel that way.
So popular since when? F2P is a very recent innovation and the traditional gaming market was (and remains) well behind the curve in adopting it. The F2P revolution is yet more evidence that the industry doesn't have the slightest idea what is actually in its best interests, which in turn goes to refute the notion that if piracy wasn't a net loser for the industry then it wouldn't invest so much effort attempting to stop it. The growth of F2P doesn't demonstrate that the pro-piracy crowd is right (reason and ethics do that) but it certainly demonstrates that current industry practice is no barometer as to the range of possible market systems.
Last edited by Rii; 04-07-2012 at 01:38 AM.
It is interesting that there comabting piracy which is getting programs for free without paying for it by giving you programs for free without paying for it.
Fighting fire with fire TBH.
I don't think that statement supports either one of us...
Ya'll should stop focusing on that part. 'Outdated business models' could mean anything. EA's insistence on charging the same price for digital games as they do retail, or charging full price for games years old for example. Steam is an exception, they seem to have a plan.
Last edited by Drake Sigar; 04-07-2012 at 11:28 AM.
Valvestar Galactica?
Gamasutra reports that about half of MMO revenue is from F2P games. That's about $1.25 billion USD last year. This pricing model came out of nowhere but the world has fallen in love with it. I seem to recall reading elsewhere that about 20% of F2P MMO players spend at least $5.
I would argue that this absolutely proves that pirates are right. Many pirates argue that they want to try a game risk-free before spending money on it, or even play the game free for as long as possible and buy the game later on sale. F2P allows customers to do this out in the open without dealing with shady warez sites and dubious cracks.
But you're right that the industry has no idea what will make it the most successful. In the 90s it was rare for PC games to ever go on sale at all, and now Valve reports dramatically increased revenues whenever games are discounted. Bethesda reinvigorated the concept of add-on content with its horse armour DLC, in the spirit of $20 "Speech Packs" that just added some WAV files to games like Wing Commander.
These radical ideas bring both success and ridicule but have to be well-executed to give customers satisfaction in their purchase. F2P is yet another gimmick but it's not the first and won't be the last harebrained idea.
When I was a kid, I was perfectly happy with the video game rental. Go to school throughout the week, rent a game for two days when I actually had the two days off. In college it became harder to find discrete periods of time where a rental would be useful. And I didn't have money to buy $60 games, so began to pirate fiercely. Now I have even less time, but more money, and at least PC games are far, far cheaper. So have been buying games and am completely done with piracy.
My only problem with rentals was that it was too much money for too short a time. Never tried GameFly because I felt their subscription was too high. With digital distribution no one has to worry about getting back a physical copy, so the value proposition for a rental program changes.
Look at PSN Plus for PS3. It's essentially a limited-selection rental program. At first it wasn't much good, but this last month they've had an amazing promotion called "Instant Game Library." To buy each of the games separately would cost probably over $150, but to "rent" them for a year is $50 with the subscription, and there are still 11 months worth of other (unpredictable) content forthcoming. I am perfectly happy to have Infamous 2, Little Big Planet 2, Hard Corps: Uprising, the latest Virtua Fighter update, Just Cause 2, Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One, and etc for unlimited play for the next year. I can play more than one in a month (unlike GameFly). I'll probably get bored with them before the end of it, so the difference between long term rental and ownership disappears, from my perspective. If I pony up for another year I'll get to keep playing all the previous titles and whatever else comes out.
I think OnLive's play-what-you-want subscription program is great, too, but my internet connection on the Navajo Rez can't support streaming games.
Anyway, between super cheap games, the ease of digital distribution, and all-access or rental programs that are still evolving, there's no real point for me to pirate anymore. Games, that is.
Kudos to everyone saying "I pirate but then support games I like". My own story seems to be similar to everyone else's - in times of college/unemployment, I pirated more. In times of gainful employment, I still pirate but anything I noticed myself wanting to play, I drop money on.
It's partly pride in ownership, partly wanting to thank the devs for the joy they've given me.
But it's partly because I've always pirated. Everyone has. When you were in school, some games were freely passed to whoever wanted them next, original owner almost forgotten. When a big title came out, you and your mates pooled money and split the cost of one copy between all of you. When you went round to someone's house and spotted a title gathering dust on the shelf, they lent it to you casually. Man, the first kid in your area with a CD-RW? Don't tell me you didn't get in his good books soon as you could.
Don't feel bad for pirating. It's the culture you were brought up in. Do feel bad for not acknowledging people who give you joy. Do feel bad for denying the value something holds for you.
But don't feel bad for pirating.
Free speech don't mean unchallengeable speech.
Not sure if it's a benefit to the industry, but it's definitely beneficial as a historical archive. Years ago once stuff left the stores it was more or less gone, but these days it's kind of nice having access to virtually ever movie, CD, and video game ever made---no matter how outdated or obscure.
In certain ways pirates are kind of like digital archivists/preservationists. And in many cases pirates take better care of material than the copyright holders do.
That said, I never pirate games unless, like I said, it's something that is only available through piracy.
None of these examples is piracy.
Irrelevant on further examination of the rest of the thread.
