I'd appreciate another developer's arguements, a developer whose coming from a vastly anti-pirate view... A discussion would be fun! And crimson, EA's often embraced piracy. Spore's being leaked, Burnout having online for 5 months even when pirated, and countless other examples earn them great respect in my eyes. But that respect is often thwarted by their sh*t games.
Once they make a great iPhone game I'll consider buying them because so far I've deleted all the ones I've pirated.
Wasn't Spore the most pirated video game last year? My friend told me it saw a million downloads in a single day.
I believe it was. It was the most pirated game before official release, I know that. The leak and all...
It's a stripped down version of the far superior PC/Mac game. Could've been better. Much better. EA needs to stop being so lazy and make something amazing because we all know it's possible. Espcially with their resources.
It's really not. It's pushing the iphone in terms of 3d capabilities and if you keep at it there's a lot of game there. Not as much as the PC Sims 3, but you can't expect a PC/Console game to do as well on a handheld, especially not a handheld that wasnt even made for gaming. I find Bruno's WooHooing with his boss before work very entertaining and worth the game. I find it fits my worth ethic perfectly.
Agreed. Nothing will stop the morally ambiguous, except education when they're young. I'm not planning on doing a thing about the pirates. If they bring free publicity, so be it. But I'm certainly not going to pat them on the back for talking about the game they didn't pay me for. A video game is an experience. That experience has an assigned value to it. Instead of paying the price of admission, you have chosen to experience it for free, thus deciding its price for yourself. If you liked the experience, you either decide it's worth the asking price, or you can't really afford it, and attempt to offset your debt by offering free advertising. But if you hate it, then the dev deserves nothing. Last time I checked, I don't get to go into movie theaters, watch a ton of movies, and then only pay for the ones I liked on the way out, or offer free promotion if I didn't bring enough money with me that day. There are a bunch of Lite versions available for people to try. Full versions are almost always less than the price of a hamburger, or in rare cases, the cost of a movie. There is no excuse for swiping the full version anymore. The cost of piracy is not built into the App Store prices, like it is for other forms of media. If a game doesn't have a Lite version, or the price makes you question its worth, read reviews, watch videos, and you'll learn if it's a good game or not. If you still can't figure out if you want to buy it, do what you do with every other physical thing for sale in the world: Don't buy it. Let's bypass all the legal mumbo jumbo about what's stealing and what's not. Forget any and all justifications for why playing a pirated copy is okay because a dev didn't give you an easy way to judge the game for free. Disregard that bits of data can never be technically stolen because they are infinitely reproducible. My view is quite simple: Respect the hard work of others. There are tons of children and adults who think they have the right to have everything for free, because it's easy, anonymous, and it feeds their need for instant gratification. There's nothing I can do to convince them to change, because it's human nature to take the easy route, instead of respecting the effort behind a creative work. In my mind, it's about common decency. Someone spends time to create something, and puts a price on it? Respect them by following the rules they've setup to play it. Have they made it difficult, or beyond your means to buy it? Talk with your wallet, and move onto something you know you want to buy. They'll get the message loud and clear when they don't hit any of the top 100 lists, and adjust accordingly. From my perspective, not so much. I'm attempting to support a family of five by selling little bits of digital joy. Every sale counts. I've tried to make the gaming experience a good one. I've provided fully functional, and robust Lite versions. I've made it quite clear what the game is, and what you can expect from it in the future. I've offered it at a low price, with content that far exceeds the cost. Anyone who chooses to play the pirated version instead of trying the Lite version, or buying the full version, obviously does not respect me, or my work. I have no idea if the pirate market affects my sales positively or negatively, and frankly, when it comes right down to it, I don't want money from people who don't respect what I do. Their actions are just plain rude. As I'm sure you're more than willing to debate this issue, please do not take my possible future silence as me fleeing the conversation. I have a game to finish in the morning, so long discussions are unlikely. I'm sure other devs, and players, have opinions too. I've said my peace.
I'd like to add some statistics to the mix. We've been keeping an eye on the piracy rate for some time now and the actual numbers are higher than I would have expected. And yes, there is a reliably observable difference between cracked and legitimate copies, most developers choose to ignore it though. Unnamed Game X: 32,980 installations tracked thus far. Number of 'Cracked' installations: 17039 Number of Legitimate installations: 15941 Total piracy ratio: 51.7% Total number of cross-installations (Same device installed cracked, then purchased from App Store): 80 Yep, that's under half a percentage of the Try-Before-Buy type. You can make your own conclusions.
That's irrelevant regardless. Based on that two conclusions can be reached: Your game is horrible... or, pirates are mostly 10 year olds fapping to 4chan. That aside, the majority of those that downloaded it cracked would not have purchased it legitimately if it had it not been available for free. DD Derp. Great. Don't pat them on the back, but don't slam them either. Put your time into making a good product and we'll all enjoy it, yeh? That's not the point. A video game/app is an experience and yes, it has value. If you hate it, the dev does not deserve anything. I'm not going to pay for a pile of crap no matter how much time a developer put into it, that's not what I care about. Understand that. The movie theater metaphor... Welcome to cyberspace, that's nearly exactly how it works. Irrelevant. The game/app isn't a physical thing and what a pirate does is what he does with every other virtual thing. He pirates it. Great! Respect the developers by giving them the respect they've earned. I try my hardest to support indie developers when I can afford to. I buy books written by Joey Comeau, even though I could just as easily read the site, because he earned it with his clever writing. I bought the Sims 3 because it was a fun game. I bought it for the iPod and the PC, it was great! I even bought a copy of Peggle. All of them earned their money producing a worthwhile game. (dear god) Respecting the effort is something I agree people should try to do, but I can't respect effort when respect isn't due. I don't respect their rules if I don't know it's worth my time. I delete apps that suck. I don't play without paying (with exceptions where I cant currently afford it) Understandable. Great! I'll enjoy playing a lite version and I'll support your family if I feel fit. Piracy has a generally neutral effect on your sales, and a positive effect on your publicity. That's the general rule. If you're not willing to accept someone's money because they've pirated your game, shame on you! I feel you've earned it, enjoy my cash. Equally offensive should be those people who buy your game and hate it. They don't respect you, but you have their money! Good on ya!
If apple had I trial process on apps like xbox live arcade does then I wouldn't need to use cracked apps. Apple hasn't done that though, and until they do imma continue using cracked apps to try them out. It's just like going to blockbuster and renting a game before paying $60 for a game that ends up being crap. @Little White Bear Studios you made Zentonimo right? I had that cracked once. It was a good game and I was looking forward to anything new in updates so I bought it. You probably don't care but I thought i'd say it.
I'm curious, why aren't the Lite versions good enough? Apple hasn't come up with a demo system, but most devs have. Crimson, I'm happy to hear you enjoy the game. I'm just not excited about your method of determining if you liked it.
The lite version wasn't out when your game first released but a cracked version was. Normally I do use a lite version, although it's mostly because they're easier to download. They suffice though. Although when there isn't a lite version, there's only one way to try it.
Sure why not. I love giving half the players my work for free. I can barely contain my excitement. I understand what you're saying, and I'm sorry, I cannot comprehend how you can justify it. How convenient for you. Exactly. Moral corruption. Fine. Then let's make sure every employee on the planet only gets paid for work the boss says is above par. People get paid for work. They get more work based on the quality of the previous work. Based on available legal research, choose to buy the game or not. If you like it, buy their next game. If you don't, don't. No, you try a little bit. If you truly were trying your hardest, you wouldn't be stealing from the majority of them. Respecting the effort is not something you should try to do, it is something you should always do. Life is about risk, and making educated decisions about which risk is worth taking. You are taking no risk, and in the process, stealing. Sigh. What are you talking about? Your whole premise is that you play everything to see if you like it or not. And worse, you chuck your "I'm willing to pay for games I like" mantra when you can't afford it. They may not respect the game, but they did respect the work involved. I'm perfectly okay with someone hating my games, as that is their personal preference. They paid for the experience, and the work behind it, based on faith or educated research. For that, they have my utmost respect. I find it fascinating that you feel absolutely justified in turning on and off your morals based on how convenient it is. Let me see if I'm understanding your point of view: "The internet makes it easy for me to play any game I want for free. Yeah, I know it's wrong, but it is what it is. Thus, I feel justified in playing every game ever made, and if I feel like it, AND I can afford it, I might, out of "respect," pay for it. I am fully aware there are legal paths I can take to try most games for free, but I don't care." The true test of one's morals is when they become inconvenient. ...
