It would still fail because the parties acted with consent from Activision, also receiving a copy is not sufficient to violate copyright. Buying stolen goods might apply if it was reasonably obvious that the copies were counterfeit (if it isn't the distributors are just guilty of fraud) but even then they wouldn't really be illegal if the action was sanctioned by Activision. Needs one whistleblower/investigator to destroy the whole scheme.
Apply statistics and then it becomes profitable to ignore the law.
Profits divided by the probability of being caught multiplied with the fines = expected returns. The law only works if that comes out negative. If you just risked a loss of all profit at a probability of 20% (very generous, most likely it's below 1%) you'd come out with 80% of your profits on average. Any business would take an action that nets them free profits like that.
However the perception of a game's price is shaped by warezing too. Downloading all your games for free makes $10 seem like a lot in comparison, never mind $50. Who'd pay $50 for something he can get for free?
Of course we could legalize warez, the predictable result would be that no company would attempt making anything for sale in our market. Do that worldwide and you got an industry looking for a new job. Who'd make videogames when there's no money to be made? Only the hobbyists and they can't even make their hobby their job because the job does not exist.
Yes, yes, cue the standard "then have users fund game development a priori". Shitty idea, what if the game sucks? You're out of the money without any opportunity to evaluate the product first. Add a "only pay if the game is good" rule to the contract and any takers would have to be fucking insane.
Freeloading only works if it doesn't drown out the paying and promoting freeloading hurts everyone except the new freeloader as production gets scaled back.
Wanting to try a game before you buy is not a reason to download warez, get the demo, if you think demos aren't representative that's your problem. If you don't have the money for something you don't get it, that's the basis of capitalism: You contribute to society and in turn get to enjoy society's products. Freeloaders don't contribute a share as large as they consume and deny others their share who do contribute. Even if the grunts don't see direct royalty payments their job is tied to the company's health, fewer sales = downsizing or even bankrupcy.
Doesn't even make sense since pretty much anything you can connect to a speaker has a volume control. You can record something really quiet and just turn up the speakers...
I don't think we have to compare within a genre, if the genres with less story are more successful than those with that's already data. That classic games sold more than modern games is another piece of data (what changed to make the sales of the top sellers lower instead of higher over the years?).
One of the big suits at EA Mythic predicted they'd have 1 million subs within a year, and hit 3 mil in the lifetime of the game. Personally, I think he's being way too conservative. My prediction is 1 mil by the end of this year and 5+ eventually. It really is that good.
I don't think pure quality alone is what made WoW popular, it was designed to be very beginner friendly and had a big brand and all that (Warcraft is a bigger brand than Warhammer Fantasy to me, I and probably many others didn't even know there was a Warhammer besides 40k for the longest time and I still don't care). To beat it you have to do more than just make a good game.
How is that even connected? Dogs wear dog tags and have to be kept on a leash, how long until that is true of people? Well, as far as we can tell it won't ever be.
Not really, the stories got more attention, at times more than the gameplay. Hey, stories are a good reason for adding pretty cutscenes for the player to watch and to drag the game out for dozens of hours without introducing any new gameplay elements! Who needs to keep the player interested with challenging and varied gameplay when you can hook him on the story (that's not much above a hollywood action flick but people don't expect more anyway, they WANT the movie experience, right?)?
And of course the market supports this whole concept with the demand for more and more expensive blockbuster games that rival Hollywood movies in budget, right?
Oops. The only games with a story that goes beyond what fits into a CD booklet in the top 30 are the GTA games and they're more famous for the freedom they give the player than the story. Well, Pokemon too if you count that laughable excuse for a story. The really story heavy stuff starts only at spot 31 with Final Fantasy 7.
Looks like the market prefers games with less story/graphics focus and more gameplay...
Yeah, as opposed to the DRM that makes the DVD only play on a PC with the Windows OS installed even if the DVD could be read just fine by a DVD player or a Linux computer.
Meanwhile WoW looked better from a non-technical POV and worked fine on lower end machines even when it was released. MMOs cannot afford to go top tier with their graphics as there will simply be crowds that are too large for the hardware to handle.
Slashdot Mirror
Then again there's nothing people would really agree on being evil except Nazis and that's just because they're too dead to disagree.
It would still fail because the parties acted with consent from Activision, also receiving a copy is not sufficient to violate copyright. Buying stolen goods might apply if it was reasonably obvious that the copies were counterfeit (if it isn't the distributors are just guilty of fraud) but even then they wouldn't really be illegal if the action was sanctioned by Activision. Needs one whistleblower/investigator to destroy the whole scheme.
Apply statistics and then it becomes profitable to ignore the law.
Profits divided by the probability of being caught multiplied with the fines = expected returns. The law only works if that comes out negative. If you just risked a loss of all profit at a probability of 20% (very generous, most likely it's below 1%) you'd come out with 80% of your profits on average. Any business would take an action that nets them free profits like that.
What about rentals?
We're not obligated to have copyright laws at all, you know. Nor are we obligated to have copyright laws that make any particular action illegal.
Unless there are treaties with other nations involved.
The would-be cartheif then tells his friends how much he liked the car and that they should try it out themselves.
And hands them a duplicate of the keys he used himself.
However the perception of a game's price is shaped by warezing too. Downloading all your games for free makes $10 seem like a lot in comparison, never mind $50. Who'd pay $50 for something he can get for free?
Of course we could legalize warez, the predictable result would be that no company would attempt making anything for sale in our market. Do that worldwide and you got an industry looking for a new job. Who'd make videogames when there's no money to be made? Only the hobbyists and they can't even make their hobby their job because the job does not exist.
Yes, yes, cue the standard "then have users fund game development a priori". Shitty idea, what if the game sucks? You're out of the money without any opportunity to evaluate the product first. Add a "only pay if the game is good" rule to the contract and any takers would have to be fucking insane.
Freeloading only works if it doesn't drown out the paying and promoting freeloading hurts everyone except the new freeloader as production gets scaled back.
Wanting to try a game before you buy is not a reason to download warez, get the demo, if you think demos aren't representative that's your problem. If you don't have the money for something you don't get it, that's the basis of capitalism: You contribute to society and in turn get to enjoy society's products. Freeloaders don't contribute a share as large as they consume and deny others their share who do contribute. Even if the grunts don't see direct royalty payments their job is tied to the company's health, fewer sales = downsizing or even bankrupcy.
The second guy, selling unauthorized copies may be a pirate once he reaches financial thresholds enshrined in the law.
The legal definition of piracy requires an armed attack against an airplane or ship on international waters using another plane/ship.
Doesn't even make sense since pretty much anything you can connect to a speaker has a volume control. You can record something really quiet and just turn up the speakers...
There's nothing you wrote there that couldn't be done in C# or Java or C++.
Well duh, Church-Turing Thesis.
Only if newer versions count as sales for them, most are on obsolete consoles and no longer sold in their original form.
Means something for the bottom line.
I don't think we have to compare within a genre, if the genres with less story are more successful than those with that's already data. That classic games sold more than modern games is another piece of data (what changed to make the sales of the top sellers lower instead of higher over the years?).
Hell, if it wasn't for WoW why would anyone makean MMO out of Warhammer Fantasy? Few people even know that setting exists.
One of the big suits at EA Mythic predicted they'd have 1 million subs within a year, and hit 3 mil in the lifetime of the game. Personally, I think he's being way too conservative. My prediction is 1 mil by the end of this year and 5+ eventually. It really is that good.
I don't think pure quality alone is what made WoW popular, it was designed to be very beginner friendly and had a big brand and all that (Warcraft is a bigger brand than Warhammer Fantasy to me, I and probably many others didn't even know there was a Warhammer besides 40k for the longest time and I still don't care). To beat it you have to do more than just make a good game.
I guess that's because some users make up really stupid questions.
How is that even connected? Dogs wear dog tags and have to be kept on a leash, how long until that is true of people? Well, as far as we can tell it won't ever be.
The ones that get eaten are special races bred for consumption, you can't just take any random breed and cook it.
Not Hiigara?
Yeah, it definitely predates the Bush administration.
Not really, the stories got more attention, at times more than the gameplay. Hey, stories are a good reason for adding pretty cutscenes for the player to watch and to drag the game out for dozens of hours without introducing any new gameplay elements! Who needs to keep the player interested with challenging and varied gameplay when you can hook him on the story (that's not much above a hollywood action flick but people don't expect more anyway, they WANT the movie experience, right?)?
And of course the market supports this whole concept with the demand for more and more expensive blockbuster games that rival Hollywood movies in budget, right?
Oops. The only games with a story that goes beyond what fits into a CD booklet in the top 30 are the GTA games and they're more famous for the freedom they give the player than the story. Well, Pokemon too if you count that laughable excuse for a story. The really story heavy stuff starts only at spot 31 with Final Fantasy 7.
Looks like the market prefers games with less story/graphics focus and more gameplay...
Willits says that Doom 3 players "zoomed right through" the game's highly handcrafted levels, so for Rage, "we have focused on reusability."
It takes an assload of time to hand-craft these levels. Appreciate them, damn you!
More like "People bought Halo in droves so we're going to use copypasta level design too".
Most developers don't gve interviews and make features up on the spot, then talk as if they are already implemented.
Yeah, as opposed to the DRM that makes the DVD only play on a PC with the Windows OS installed even if the DVD could be read just fine by a DVD player or a Linux computer.
Meanwhile WoW looked better from a non-technical POV and worked fine on lower end machines even when it was released. MMOs cannot afford to go top tier with their graphics as there will simply be crowds that are too large for the hardware to handle.
Oh, I figured he was talking about a DVD box in deep space.