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[MrPliskin]

The only thing it'll stop is people from buying your product like when I constantly have to pause and check into the DRM scheme used for any given Ubi product because maybe I'm going to take it in the ass or just not bother at all because fuck them. That why I didn't buy a product I was quite excited about: From Dust. I didn't pirate it, I just didn't bother.

This is exactly what I recommended

I'm not being an apologist, and I'm certain we share the same views. I'm not arguing that piracy can be stopped, or that DRM is the solution. Just saying piracy is bad, DRM is bad (as a result of piracy) and that we should simply not buy said products if we disagree with said practice. I don't buy Ubi games either for the same reason

 

[Cheerilee]

There is no positive benefit to someone consuming a good they did not pay for. The group of people that pirate aren't large enough to impact sales positively through word of mouth, and they aren't going to go out and buy a copy of your game to support it.

In theory there is. If I let a non-gaming co-worker into my entertainment room, he could gorge himself on 30-years of videogaming greatness. Question is, does this turn him into a hardcore paying gamer, burn him out on games, or just make him more of a leech? And if he decides to stay a leech forever, does that cost anyone anything? If I let him have all the time he wants, will he buy his own games eventually? Conversely, if I kick him out abruptly, will he be soured on videogames forever?

I think the distinction between playing physical copies in my room and playing illegally copied internet copies is a red herring. The only issue is that internet copies made this phenomenon happen on a grand scale. So grand that I think everyone should be putting their brains and wallets behind finding a way to cash in on it, not trying to destroy it.

 

[dimb]

Their game is a throwback to 90's hardcore military sims that are gone because the weren't profitable. Pirates are not their problem.

Pretty much this. ARMA 2 is actually free to play now, so if "piracy" is still an issue it should be obvious that the sanctioned channel of distribution of the game is extremely flawed. Quite frankly ARMA 2 isn't a very good game, so to assume that piracy is the reason Bohemia is having trouble profiting from their games seems pretty absurd.

While open and free distribution of information enables piracy, it also enables the potential for huge word of mouth for a game. At the end of the day it falls on the developer to make a game that people want to spend money on. There are plenty of financially successful games on the PC that span a diverse range of prices, business models, and developer size.

 

[MrPliskin]

In theory there is. If I let a non-gaming co-worker into my entertainment room, he could gorge himself on 30-years of videogaming greatness. Question is, does this turn him into a hardcore paying gamer, burn him out on games, or just make him more of a leech? And if he decides to stay a leech forever, does that cost anyone anything? If I let him have all the time he wants, will he buy his own games eventually? Conversely, if I kick him out abruptly, will he be soured on videogames forever?

I think the distinction between playing physical copies in my room and playing illegally copied internet copies is a red herring. The only issue is that internet copies made this phenomenon happen on a grand scale. So grand that I think everyone should be putting their brains and wallets behind finding a way to cash in on it, not trying to destroy it.

In your example, the co-worker isn't a big gamer, so he wasn't really a potential consumer to start with for most of these games.

However, if someone has the technological "know how" to go out, hunt down the proper files, and install them all, he probably already has interest in said products, and has no intention of ever buying them. Apples to oranges.

 

[Aselith]

Pretty much this. ARMA 2 is actually free to play now, so if "piracy" is still an issue it should be obvious that the sanctioned channel of distribution of the game is extremely flawed. Quite frankly ARMA 2 isn't a very good game, so to assume that piracy is the reason Bohemia is having trouble profiting from their games seems pretty absurd.

While open and free distribution of information enables piracy, it also enables the potential for huge word of mouth for a game. At the end of the day it falls on the developer to make a game that people want to spend money on. There are plenty of financially successful games on the PC that span a diverse range of prices, business models, and developer size.

I honestly can't imagine how pissed off the average Call of Duty or Battlefield fanatic would be if he picked up Arma 2 thinking it was like CoD. I can't imagine any possible way in which translating that game to a console setting would do anything but piss a lot of people off. I'd imagine it will be one hell of a story in how badly a company can fail if they try though.

"WTF IS THIS SHIT!?!?!?!"

 

[Cheerilee]

In your example, the co-worker isn't a big gamer, so he wasn't really a potential consumer to start with for most of these games.

However, if someone has the technological "know how" to go out, hunt down the proper files, and install them all, he probably already has interest in said products, and has no intention of ever buying them. Apples to oranges.

That's true. We don't really know the long-term effects of letting a paying gamer gorge himself on free games. In the short term, he obviously pays less. In the long term? Maybe he can be convinced to pay more. I'd like to think he can.

 

[charlequin]

Clearly this model does not and will not work for every developer.

Who doesn't it work for, exactly?

 

[Burai]

See, I don't think anyone in this thread is downplaying piracy or being apologetic.

The reason we laugh at developer statements about piracy is because piracy always has been a factor and likely always will be a factor. For a developer to come out and blame piracy for poor sales (that hasn't happened here, but bear with me) ignores the fact that piracy was there during the conceptual stage and hasn't changed any now that the product is in stores.

Piracy is an easy, unverifiable excuse that can be used to mask the true reasons for failure like going over budget, releasing at the wrong time, releasing a sub-par product or merely releasing something that people just don't want and that's why people tend to be so dismissive. We'd far prefer to hear the truth.

That doesn't mean we think it's right or that developers deserve to fail*. It's just a really lazy and, frankly, false excuse. It'd be lovely if it would go away (although it does have it's unintended benefits), but it isn't going to any time soon. It's like an ice cream vendor complaining about winter destroying his business. You know it's coming, you have to be prepared for it.

*That said, if your development budget was based around an unrealistic rate of piracy, you probably do deserve to fail.