I don't see the big deal. Don't support those requests, and then treat them like free test reports. It should not cost too much to do that. If the business was struggling with it then it might not be a viable business model.
There's nothing you can do about piracy, so just let it go and make the best of it.
I use piracy as a "try before I buy" policy. I'll play it for a while, and if I like it, I'll buy the full version. I don't have to, obviously, because I have the full version already, but I do anyway.
I don't have the money to blow $30-$50 on games anymore. I don't have my parents to whine to when I want the latest new game, then discover it is a piece of crap, and then whine for the next one. This is my real, hard earned money, that I can't afford to blow on a game that quite simply is a waste of money.
So, I pirate games. And you know what? Because of my "full game previews", this stupid industry is getting more money out of me than they would have otherwise. Instead of hundreds of dollars per year, they would get $DICK.
Then you say, "But, you love gaming, so you would pay for games anyway, right?"
No. I am a scientist. I have shit to do. There are a myriad of possible things I could do in my leisure time. If it was difficult for me to choose a good game to play to relax, then my money would go to one of my other pastimes, some of which are outside and might actually be better for my health.
But, instead, I keep playing games, even though the video game industry is trying to make it harder for me to find a good game to play. Even though after I buy the game, I am treated to a worse user experience than the pirated version I was playing the previous week.
Let's set aside that for many people, like myself, game piracy is actually the only effective marketing strategy, indeed the only way to get money out of me. Let's also set aside the *fact* that you can't say that every pirated copy is a lost sale, and ignore the result of *increased* sales from pirates like myself. Why else would they want to have copy protection? What other reason could they have for trying to get money from you before you ever play the game? Yes, people can play the game if your friends have it, but can you even count how many times you or someone you know bought a game without trying it first, with their only clues to the quality being marketing and possibly tainted reviews by a publication that might be taking money for a shining review?
Perhaps the copy protection is targeting these people. Perhaps they are thinking that if they trick just a few more people into buying their bowls of shit, they'll make more money than without the copy protection. If so, that it not exactly a healthy behavior for the video game industry. Plus, that isn't a foregone conclusion anyway, especially considering we have already established that in my case, and many others, piracy has actually increased their sales!
Of course, if it was even fucking POSSIBLE to return shitty-ass software (that I *gasp!* had to actually install and use before finding out it was shitty-ass software) to the store without getting a brain aneurysm arguing with the manager, it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe then I wouldn't have to pirate games.
Yes, I said "have to pirate games". The alternative, if you are slow and couldn't follow along, is that I don't buy the games at all. I don't think they want that alternative. This also is not a war that has gotten to the point where I will refuse to buy the software because my love for the hobby still outweighs the frustrations it gives me.
But, once the copy protection gets bad enough, I will drop it and not buy any more games. I would also point out that there are people like me that have already reached that point a long time ago and have moved on to giving money to other companies that don't treat them like thieves.
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Seriously, what the fuck? I post an entirely valid opinion and I get modded down as overrated? What the fuck?
Nice one shot, smarmy comment there. Except that for many games there are no demos.
And like I would even need to say more...
Many demos don't show the full capabilities of the game.
I wouldn't have bought Rome:Total War if I only played the demo, since it was missing a lot of the game in it.
Ummm....
Duh?
I don't see the big deal. Don't support those requests, and then treat them like free test reports. It should not cost too much to do that. If the business was struggling with it then it might not be a viable business model. There's nothing you can do about piracy, so just let it go and make the best of it.
I use piracy as a "try before I buy" policy. I'll play it for a while, and if I like it, I'll buy the full version. I don't have to, obviously, because I have the full version already, but I do anyway.
I don't have the money to blow $30-$50 on games anymore. I don't have my parents to whine to when I want the latest new game, then discover it is a piece of crap, and then whine for the next one. This is my real, hard earned money, that I can't afford to blow on a game that quite simply is a waste of money.
So, I pirate games. And you know what? Because of my "full game previews", this stupid industry is getting more money out of me than they would have otherwise. Instead of hundreds of dollars per year, they would get $DICK.
Then you say, "But, you love gaming, so you would pay for games anyway, right?"
No. I am a scientist. I have shit to do. There are a myriad of possible things I could do in my leisure time. If it was difficult for me to choose a good game to play to relax, then my money would go to one of my other pastimes, some of which are outside and might actually be better for my health.
But, instead, I keep playing games, even though the video game industry is trying to make it harder for me to find a good game to play. Even though after I buy the game, I am treated to a worse user experience than the pirated version I was playing the previous week.
Let's set aside that for many people, like myself, game piracy is actually the only effective marketing strategy, indeed the only way to get money out of me. Let's also set aside the *fact* that you can't say that every pirated copy is a lost sale, and ignore the result of *increased* sales from pirates like myself. Why else would they want to have copy protection? What other reason could they have for trying to get money from you before you ever play the game? Yes, people can play the game if your friends have it, but can you even count how many times you or someone you know bought a game without trying it first, with their only clues to the quality being marketing and possibly tainted reviews by a publication that might be taking money for a shining review?
Perhaps the copy protection is targeting these people. Perhaps they are thinking that if they trick just a few more people into buying their bowls of shit, they'll make more money than without the copy protection. If so, that it not exactly a healthy behavior for the video game industry. Plus, that isn't a foregone conclusion anyway, especially considering we have already established that in my case, and many others, piracy has actually increased their sales!
Of course, if it was even fucking POSSIBLE to return shitty-ass software (that I *gasp!* had to actually install and use before finding out it was shitty-ass software) to the store without getting a brain aneurysm arguing with the manager, it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe then I wouldn't have to pirate games.
Yes, I said "have to pirate games". The alternative, if you are slow and couldn't follow along, is that I don't buy the games at all. I don't think they want that alternative. This also is not a war that has gotten to the point where I will refuse to buy the software because my love for the hobby still outweighs the frustrations it gives me.
But, once the copy protection gets bad enough, I will drop it and not buy any more games. I would also point out that there are people like me that have already reached that point a long time ago and have moved on to giving money to other companies that don't treat them like thieves.