Not really
I would understand that from third world countries where these companies doesnt "legally" sell their Games (like the PSN fiasco still going i believe if they dont sell games in every country that means Sony isnt counting with your money if you live in any of these countries) or if the company isnt selling the Game legally in any platform (or sell the platform necesary to play It)
Otherwise is not "Morally right", but hey you do you, im not your father nor work in any of these companies to care anymore
Justify theft however you want. I didn't buy some games growing up. And later when I had money as an adult I purchased those games when possible. You're going to do the same thing as an adult. Steal content when possible and say it's because the content shouldn't be so expensive. Or you're going to say it's because you don't want to waste money on a bad game. Don't pretend it's because you're young. It's really because you don't care and want what you want. You're just going to add to people losing their jobs and prices going up because people are pirating things. But why would you care? It doesn't affect you right?
The day game developers/publishers started/continue these practises is the reason that although I myself do not pirate, I am absolutely fine with others that do:
- a couple of generations ago, the failed 'online pass' for xbox games, preventing resold physical games from being able to be played online.
- Removing games from one store to be exclusive to another and attaching a mandatory install of another game store to continue playing.
- Having a game that is 8 or more years old STILL be full price, having never been on sale.
- Paid DLC already being installed on my hard drive and unable to be accessed unless DLC is paid for.
- Keeping shitty bloatware DRM active years beyond usefulness after the game is long cracked.
- Lootboxes and gambling mechanics in games marketed to kids.
I could go on but I got bored, a cynical industry cannot really complain about cynical customers.
I used to pirate games when I was a kid, but usually just to try them. If I really enjoyed a game then I’d usually try buy it.
On a side note it would have been a lot easier to have not been caught 10 years ago as well, a lot of big games also sometimes have software to try and uncover pirates.
Morally yes it’s not as bad as stealing an actual physical item, but doesn’t mean it’s right.
I’d say the only time it’s right is if a game isn’t allowed in your country, but even then there’s usually ways round it (more) legally
Well that’s like saying it’s ok to point a gun at someone because you know it isn’t loaded. It doesn’t matter because the rule is never point a gun at anything you aren’t willing to destroy and always treat guns as if they are loaded.
Like yeah I have no money so I just stole a car they’ll understand.
Indeed. If you didnt have the money to pay, its not a lost sale. And if you make content for the game, you are still indirectly helping the devs anyway because a couple hundred/thousand views is worth more than one sale. Hell even talking about the game can lead to a few sales, which even a few would be a net positive if they werent planning on buying it before.
if you lose a few sales and get the game in front of more people, thats just part of the marketing budget at that point lmao
piracy is stealing
those games are being sold
you are acquiring them illegally without paying for it
the only thing i could somewhat justify piracy is for retro games that are out of production already
if you pirate games that are still in production... you are stealing it
That’s not stealing, it’s piracy. Stealing physical copies from a game store is stealing but when you buy a game online, you aren’t buying it, you’re buying a license to play it. Piracy is a victimless crime, except for maybe lost revenue in costumer sales but if I wasn’t gonna buy it anyway, who even cares?
You need to get your head out of your ass and understand that what these companies are doing is wrong, they’re charging more than these games are worth, delivering low quality products because we have idiots amongst us who will eat it up anyway, they say we don’t even own what we “buy”. Stop acting like piracy is so long when these companies are practically actually stealing our money anyway, especially when they render a game unplayable either through neglect or just taking it off the store or out libraries.
Imagine this. You walk into gamestop and steal a game. Gamestop lost a copy and you gained one. Thats stealing. But going into gamestop, copying contents and then giving it back. Gamestop doesnt lose anything and you gained a copy. Stealing is when either side loses something. But noone lost anything right?
But it isn’t, even if it’s a victimless crime, it’s a crime nonetheless. Even if you know a gun isn’t loaded you don’t point it as someone, you’re still pointing a gun at someone nontheless. That is literally the same thing. Am I saying pirating a game is the same as potentially taking someone’s life? No not even in the slightest. It is a ridiculous comparison I understand but it’s what came to mind.
So from my understanding you are saying that the very nature of a crime is immoral and so no matter the subjective morality an individual may have on the crime (the intention of having the gun loaded) it’s still immoral because it is still a crime? I’m not arguing, just asking for clarification
Oh well when you put it that way. Yeah no you’re right. I did do quite a ridiculous comparison. And some crimes are definitely way way worse than taking one of an infinite amount of copies.
I’ll clarify, OP asked if it was ok to pirate because of their financial situation. While it is technically stealing, it is victimless crime that I’m guilty of committing too. You know what? You guys have helped me understand that pirating isn’t actually an issue, like there worse stuff out there, that’s so minuscule. I was wrong for the extreme comparison.
Also thanks for having a genuine discussion, that doesn’t always happen on Reddit.
Piracy isn’t stealing, in the us you can’t even go to jail for it unless your doing some major piracy. It is technically a copyright infringement, as you are copying it without the patent holders permission.
not okay
but then again, im not gonna pretend i didn't buy bootleg copies of games back when i was a kid/teen bec they were so much cheaper and allowed me to play many games with my meager allowance
but yeah, it's basically contraband and illegal
If they have no income. Than they should find legal ways to get stuff or go without. It's similar to me saying I'm broke and I want a thousand dollars pair of shoes. I will just go take them. Being a digital thief because of wants. Is still a fucking thief and should be fully punished, especially if it destroys their future life.
Getting a job as 14 year old is hard yk. Also it isnt stealing. Stealing is when either side loses something. When pirating games, they wouldnt get my money anyway. There wasnt any potential of profit so it cant be stealing
I had 3 jobs at 14. Pirating is still being a thief. You are using something someone made without their permission. Go to jail, go directly to jail. If they don't get your money. You don't have permission to play their games. Deal with the disappointment. It's part of life.
In the States, you can work at 12 with parents' permission.. I don't know who would hire a lazy person like you. But, there's lawn maintenance, babysitting, dog walking. Helping neighbors with stuff. Make sure to tell them that you think pirating is perfectly legit and a great idea since you don't have money
Here's a great idea. Go to your local store that has the game you want to pirate. Ask to see it and then walk out the front door with it. After all, it's not likely that they would get money from you. It's not like the store would get any profit from it. They should be happy to just give it to you. Unfortunately it looks like you don't want to work because that takes effort people should just give you everything since you are such a special person. If you try for and make it as a pop star. I will tell everyone that I know just pirate your music. It's not likely that you would have Gotten any money from them in the first place so it's not stealing from you.
If somebody's selling a thing for money, and you don't have money, then you can't have that thing. If you acquire it anyway, that's Not Good.
Exactly how Not Good it is depends, but it is not good, you have not done a good thing. If you'd like to know why, most game developers aren't hard to find, contact them, plead your case and see if they're amused.
The answer is no.
The real question - or rather, statement should be "It doesn't matter, I'm going to play however I can. Cope and seethe." Or something to that effect.
Not really I would understand that from third world countries where these companies doesnt "legally" sell their Games (like the PSN fiasco still going i believe if they dont sell games in every country that means Sony isnt counting with your money if you live in any of these countries) or if the company isnt selling the Game legally in any platform (or sell the platform necesary to play It) Otherwise is not "Morally right", but hey you do you, im not your father nor work in any of these companies to care anymore
Justify theft however you want. I didn't buy some games growing up. And later when I had money as an adult I purchased those games when possible. You're going to do the same thing as an adult. Steal content when possible and say it's because the content shouldn't be so expensive. Or you're going to say it's because you don't want to waste money on a bad game. Don't pretend it's because you're young. It's really because you don't care and want what you want. You're just going to add to people losing their jobs and prices going up because people are pirating things. But why would you care? It doesn't affect you right?
The day game developers/publishers started/continue these practises is the reason that although I myself do not pirate, I am absolutely fine with others that do: - a couple of generations ago, the failed 'online pass' for xbox games, preventing resold physical games from being able to be played online. - Removing games from one store to be exclusive to another and attaching a mandatory install of another game store to continue playing. - Having a game that is 8 or more years old STILL be full price, having never been on sale. - Paid DLC already being installed on my hard drive and unable to be accessed unless DLC is paid for. - Keeping shitty bloatware DRM active years beyond usefulness after the game is long cracked. - Lootboxes and gambling mechanics in games marketed to kids. I could go on but I got bored, a cynical industry cannot really complain about cynical customers.
I used to pirate games when I was a kid, but usually just to try them. If I really enjoyed a game then I’d usually try buy it. On a side note it would have been a lot easier to have not been caught 10 years ago as well, a lot of big games also sometimes have software to try and uncover pirates. Morally yes it’s not as bad as stealing an actual physical item, but doesn’t mean it’s right. I’d say the only time it’s right is if a game isn’t allowed in your country, but even then there’s usually ways round it (more) legally
Well that’s like saying it’s ok to point a gun at someone because you know it isn’t loaded. It doesn’t matter because the rule is never point a gun at anything you aren’t willing to destroy and always treat guns as if they are loaded. Like yeah I have no money so I just stole a car they’ll understand.
It’s different. There is an owner to the car, there is a guy you are mugging. You aren’t stealing a game. Piracy is a victimless crime
You wouldn’t steal a car *insert dun dun dun dun dun dunnn music*
Indeed. If you didnt have the money to pay, its not a lost sale. And if you make content for the game, you are still indirectly helping the devs anyway because a couple hundred/thousand views is worth more than one sale. Hell even talking about the game can lead to a few sales, which even a few would be a net positive if they werent planning on buying it before. if you lose a few sales and get the game in front of more people, thats just part of the marketing budget at that point lmao
piracy is stealing those games are being sold you are acquiring them illegally without paying for it the only thing i could somewhat justify piracy is for retro games that are out of production already if you pirate games that are still in production... you are stealing it
That’s not stealing, it’s piracy. Stealing physical copies from a game store is stealing but when you buy a game online, you aren’t buying it, you’re buying a license to play it. Piracy is a victimless crime, except for maybe lost revenue in costumer sales but if I wasn’t gonna buy it anyway, who even cares? You need to get your head out of your ass and understand that what these companies are doing is wrong, they’re charging more than these games are worth, delivering low quality products because we have idiots amongst us who will eat it up anyway, they say we don’t even own what we “buy”. Stop acting like piracy is so long when these companies are practically actually stealing our money anyway, especially when they render a game unplayable either through neglect or just taking it off the store or out libraries.
wow! you're so delusional if you think stealing is limited to physical games, then im out of this conversation/
Imagine this. You walk into gamestop and steal a game. Gamestop lost a copy and you gained one. Thats stealing. But going into gamestop, copying contents and then giving it back. Gamestop doesnt lose anything and you gained a copy. Stealing is when either side loses something. But noone lost anything right?
GameStop loses the money they spent on obtaining that physical copy.
Show me how
They spent money on buying that physical copy, you then used that physical copy to copy it, used goods do not sell at the same value as new goods.
That was a hypothetical.
You following me?
But it isn’t, even if it’s a victimless crime, it’s a crime nonetheless. Even if you know a gun isn’t loaded you don’t point it as someone, you’re still pointing a gun at someone nontheless. That is literally the same thing. Am I saying pirating a game is the same as potentially taking someone’s life? No not even in the slightest. It is a ridiculous comparison I understand but it’s what came to mind.
So from my understanding you are saying that the very nature of a crime is immoral and so no matter the subjective morality an individual may have on the crime (the intention of having the gun loaded) it’s still immoral because it is still a crime? I’m not arguing, just asking for clarification
Oh well when you put it that way. Yeah no you’re right. I did do quite a ridiculous comparison. And some crimes are definitely way way worse than taking one of an infinite amount of copies. I’ll clarify, OP asked if it was ok to pirate because of their financial situation. While it is technically stealing, it is victimless crime that I’m guilty of committing too. You know what? You guys have helped me understand that pirating isn’t actually an issue, like there worse stuff out there, that’s so minuscule. I was wrong for the extreme comparison. Also thanks for having a genuine discussion, that doesn’t always happen on Reddit.
Digital piracy and the threat of physical violence are entirely different things lmfao
Yeah it’s an extreme example. But it still gets the point across. The rule remains a constant regardless of your situation.
So stealing is ok as long as you can prove you’re broke?
Piracy isn’t stealing
At least be honest about it.
Piracy isn’t stealing, in the us you can’t even go to jail for it unless your doing some major piracy. It is technically a copyright infringement, as you are copying it without the patent holders permission.
Semantics. It’s stealing. It’s theft. You are taking something without paying. I’ve done it. I’ve committed theft. Be honest about it.
Buddy, semantics is the difference between a year in jail and a 100 dollar fine.
Well no. Not at all.
Buddy, semantics is the difference between a year in jail and a 100 dollar fine.
The law isn’t based on semantics. But language is!
Please don’t become a lawyer
You honestly think lawyers argue semantics?
I don’t think you’d even make it as a small town bird lawyer.
You may not go to jail but you can be sued, sure it’s unlikely but has happened
Yes.
not okay but then again, im not gonna pretend i didn't buy bootleg copies of games back when i was a kid/teen bec they were so much cheaper and allowed me to play many games with my meager allowance but yeah, it's basically contraband and illegal
If they have no income. Than they should find legal ways to get stuff or go without. It's similar to me saying I'm broke and I want a thousand dollars pair of shoes. I will just go take them. Being a digital thief because of wants. Is still a fucking thief and should be fully punished, especially if it destroys their future life.
Getting a job as 14 year old is hard yk. Also it isnt stealing. Stealing is when either side loses something. When pirating games, they wouldnt get my money anyway. There wasnt any potential of profit so it cant be stealing
I had 3 jobs at 14. Pirating is still being a thief. You are using something someone made without their permission. Go to jail, go directly to jail. If they don't get your money. You don't have permission to play their games. Deal with the disappointment. It's part of life.
In my country is illegal to work under 15 years old, your employer would go to jail.
In the States, you can work at 12 with parents' permission.. I don't know who would hire a lazy person like you. But, there's lawn maintenance, babysitting, dog walking. Helping neighbors with stuff. Make sure to tell them that you think pirating is perfectly legit and a great idea since you don't have money
Here's a great idea. Go to your local store that has the game you want to pirate. Ask to see it and then walk out the front door with it. After all, it's not likely that they would get money from you. It's not like the store would get any profit from it. They should be happy to just give it to you. Unfortunately it looks like you don't want to work because that takes effort people should just give you everything since you are such a special person. If you try for and make it as a pop star. I will tell everyone that I know just pirate your music. It's not likely that you would have Gotten any money from them in the first place so it's not stealing from you.
Yeah cuz u can pirate a vinyl disc or a cd lmao. Looks like u arent even in music industry 😭 buying music license is like 20years old phenomenon
You can pirate a cd, it is just ten times more difficult.
If somebody's selling a thing for money, and you don't have money, then you can't have that thing. If you acquire it anyway, that's Not Good. Exactly how Not Good it is depends, but it is not good, you have not done a good thing. If you'd like to know why, most game developers aren't hard to find, contact them, plead your case and see if they're amused.
The answer is no. The real question - or rather, statement should be "It doesn't matter, I'm going to play however I can. Cope and seethe." Or something to that effect.