Fighting Pirates With Free Steam Codes?

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What do you guys think of this approach to combating piracy?

“If because of some reasons you can’t buy the game, its ok,” Zajaczkowski wrote in the comment section to the most popular torrent of This War of Mine. “We know life, and we know that sometimes it’s just not possible. “Here are some codes for the steam copy of the game, so some of you can take a look at it. And if you like the game after spending few hours in, then just spread the word, and you’ll help us a lot.”
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I give them credit just for trying something......
 
I fully support most positions that don't fully advocate pursuing pirates and either bankrupting them or locking them in the deepest depths of prisons for many years to come.
 
Well it sure beats trashing $450 worth of DVD drives on my system due to Starforce copy protection.

Every penny ever spent by any company on copy protection, product activation and other piracy measures is a penny flushed directly down the toilet. Because people who buy software always buy it, and people who don't buy software never buy it. Sounds as if at least one company has realized this basic fact of nature.

If a game or any other piece of software is good, it will be successful, regardless of whether it's copy protected.
 
I honestly think putting out a demo will kill about half of your piracy problems because some of us like to try before we buy, and with as much as we consumers get screwed over we want to make sure it works first.
Too often buying a game is like buying a car without getting a test drive with no lemon law or 3 day return for a refund if it doesn't work. Imagine if you went to buy a car, wasn't allowed to look at it first, paid a full $30,000 up front then found out you had to tow it off the lot because it didn't have an engine or transmission? Happens to us when we buy games ALL THE TIME.
Its pretty sad that companies like EA and Ubisoft have KILLED our trust in developers and it hurts the little guys.
 
Then the pirates take the codes and sell them on ebay and keep pirating.
 
rudy said:
Then the pirates take the codes and sell them on ebay and keep pirating.
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This...pirates will be pirates. They'll take any good intentions and twist them around to make a profit. They won't be happy until everybody is fucked over.
 
SGA76 said:
I honestly think putting out a demo will kill about half of your piracy problems because some of us like to try before we buy, and with as much as we consumers get screwed over we want to make sure it works first.
Too often buying a game is like buying a car without getting a test drive with no lemon law or 3 day return for a refund if it doesn't work. Imagine if you went to buy a car, wasn't allowed to look at it first, paid a full $30,000 up front then found out you had to tow it off the lot because it didn't have an engine or transmission? Happens to us when we buy games ALL THE TIME.
Its pretty sad that companies like EA and Ubisoft have KILLED our trust in developers and it hurts the little guys.
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It is bizarre. Only with software can you charge big $$$ for a lop of buggy crap that does not work as advertised.
You think games are bad; there is a lot of commercial software that is just as bad.
And if you complain to the software company, that feature XYZ doesn't work, or give you bad results, the answer is likely, OH< that is fixed in the new version, please upgrade.

Any other products that does not work as promised you can force the vendor to refund our money. Not with software. You are often buying a pig in a poke.
 
pcjunkie said:
This...pirates will be pirates. They'll take any good intentions and twist them around to make a profit. They won't be happy until everybody is fucked over.
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Lol, you guys have NO clue how most "pirates" operate.
 
When I was a teenager (long time ago unfortunately), I may or may not have pirated a lot of software on the C64 and Amiga. I'll be honest, I did not have much money and actually never even played most of the games. It was more of a social event at the time.

Did I cost the companies back then money? Probably not. I would not have bought the games as I did not have enough money. Did my friends hurt them? Again, no money so thinking the answer is probably no. (Not saying it was right pirating the software - since I did not have money, I did not have a right to the software in the first place).

I think piracy ended up hurting the Amiga (and its software developers). Who wants to make software for a bunch of dead beats?

For the last 20 years or so, I have not pirated any software. I have a Steam collection of about 500 games (of which I maybe have played 75-100 of the games at least a little).

I don't want to mess with cracks, broken games, etc. When I play a game, I want something of decent quality that works. (Which isn't always the case, but at least there is hope of a patch from the developers!)
 
Its really both ways, some pirates will pirate and not give a shit. Some will pirate because it's more convenient, some will pirate to try things out first.

Considering the crazy DRMs of late, its hard to blame them.
 
pothb said:
Its really both ways, some pirates will pirate and not give a shit. Some will pirate because it's more convenient, some will pirate to try things out first.

Considering the crazy DRMs of late, its hard to blame them.
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What "crazy DRMs" justify stealing software?

The answer is people pirate because they can. That's it. There is no honor or nobility in that, but it sure is amusing hearing the lies people tell themselves to rationalize it and put the blame on everything and everyone else but them.
 
Good on this developer. Couple that with the fact that the game looks genuinely interesting, and should the dev release a standalone client that doesn't require stream. I'll be looking to pick up a copy.
 
DPI said:
What "crazy DRMs" justify stealing software?

The answer is people pirate because they can. That's it. There is no honor or nobility in that, but it sure is amusing hearing the lies people tell themselves to rationalize it and put the blame on everything and everyone else but them.
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For starters, DRM that requires any of the following:
online connectivity
an account
installation of a "store" or other unrelated software
logging into anything

Basically, anything online or cloud related that entails phoning home or necessitates an account.

If these exist then the product is purposely broken/defective, designed to not function as intended, and the company went out of their way to screw the consumer.
 
DPI said:
The answer is people pirate because they can. That's it. There is no honor or nobility in that, but it sure is amusing hearing the lies people tell themselves to rationalize it and put the blame on everything and everyone else but them.
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What about those that know it's wrong, but do it for their own selfish reasons. Nothing to justify or anyone to blame but themselves. Most of the pirates I know are like that. Can't afford it, but want it, so they get it easily through a download. Wham, bam, thank you maam.

No honor. No nobility. They don't care. Some they would buy, some they wouldn't. They wouldn't sell a free Steam key, though. If given it for free, they'd use it and be legit. They don't pirate because they want to stick it to the man, they pirate because they want it. Give it to them for nothing, and they'll take it. And spread the word.

I pay for my shit, though. I haven't pirated for a long time. And I did it for the reasons above. Now, I own all my games legit. Do I regret what I pirated before? Nah. I'm glad I went legit, though. Feels good to have earned what I own.
 
Is it piracy if I download and run a cracked version of software if I have a license if I don't wish the DRM to be on my PC?
I cannot get a refund on purchased software if I open the box, which I have to do, in order to read the EULA. Its a catch 22 and we're screwed either way.
 
Got him coverage here, so it did work. Do I think it will reduce piracy? Not at all.
 
SGA76 said:
Is it piracy if I download and run a cracked version of software if I have a license if I don't wish the DRM to be on my PC?
I cannot get a refund on purchased software if I open the box, which I have to do, in order to read the EULA. Its a catch 22 and we're screwed either way.
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No, it's not piracy. It is illegal if you live in the USA because circumventing ANY kind of DRM is illegal. Totally legal if you live in Canada, however. I'm not 100% on how legal it is in other countries.

Even saying that, you still risk being sued and then having to prove that you have a legal license to the software. And it doesn't count if you buy the software AFTER downloading the pirate copy, only if you buy it before.
 
pcjunkie said:
This...pirates will be pirates. They'll take any good intentions and twist them around to make a profit. They won't be happy until everybody is fucked over.
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Get real. The truth is there is no ONE REASON why pirates pirate. Here's a quick list of why people pirate:

-Can't afford the game
-Game not for sale in their region
-Just don't want to pay for the game
-Using piracy as their own trial demo or rental
-They don't actually play the game, they just... pirate it...
-The legit game is so full of DRM, the pirated copy is a far better experience
-A form of protest because of some perceived injustice (this reason is completely retarded imo)

I am guessing the vast majority fall under the "don't want to pay for the game" or "can't afford the game." I think it's not about WANTING to screw the devs over so much as not wanting to pay for things or not being able to. People who WOULD pay money for the game, but DON'T hurt the devs. People who CAN'T or would NEVER pay for the game and pirate... don't affect much of anything either way.
 
All people need is 1 level of game play demo of all games released. If we are able to to give the game a try before we buy like in the 90's to cut the bad out. Game companies don't want to do that cause they want to force people into buying everything with shady marketing and hype. After that they blame all the bad sales on piracy.:rolleyes:
 
DPI said:
What "crazy DRMs" justify stealing software?

The answer is people pirate because they can. That's it. There is no honor or nobility in that, but it sure is amusing hearing the lies people tell themselves to rationalize it and put the blame on everything and everyone else but them.
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This, 100%. Idiots can claim to themselves all they want that they want to "try" it, or "don't like activation", or "disagree with the dev's opinions", but they have NO entitlement or right to be using the products that they have no license or ownership of in that case. Stealing a copy of it isn't doing anything but being a selfish piece of slime: buy it and use it, or don't pay and don't use it. There is no in-between that is legal or moral.
 
While I do not condone pirating in the slightest, but I STILL cannot run my genuinely purchased, full priced, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Far Cry 3 copies due to all the hoops-jumping from U(n)play + Steam, not to mention when they were first released. The Uplay client claimed the game is already running when it wasn't, the game is stuck and crashes on startup, etc. etc. I was absolutely livid, in both times that happened. My pirated copies of these titles, though, worked just fine.

I vowed to never touch another Uplay product, but this happened many times before - already 'used' serial numbers of legit copies, games that refused to run even when the CD was right in the drive, you name it. Sometimes the DRM actually prevents you from running your purchased game while the game's support doesn't help and leave you hanging.
 
amirfoox said:
While I do not condone pirating in the slightest, but I STILL cannot run my genuinely purchased, full priced, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Far Cry 3 copies due to all the hoops-jumping from U(n)play + Steam, not to mention when they were first released. The Uplay client claimed the game is already running when it wasn't, the game is stuck and crashes on startup, etc. etc. I was absolutely livid, in both times that happened. My pirated copies of these titles, though, worked just fine.

I vowed to never touch another Uplay product, but this happened many times before - already 'used' serial numbers of legit copies, games that refused to run even when the CD was right in the drive, you name it. Sometimes the DRM actually prevents you from running your purchased game while the game's support doesn't help and leave you hanging.
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Different story in my opinion if you've purchased it, you should do what you have to so you can play :).
 
GoldenTiger said:
This, 100%. Idiots can claim to themselves all they want that they want to "try" it, or "don't like activation", or "disagree with the dev's opinions", but they have NO entitlement or right to be using the products that they have no license or ownership of in that case. Stealing a copy of it isn't doing anything but being a selfish piece of slime: buy it and use it, or don't pay and don't use it. There is no in-between that is legal or moral.
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Wow, so if you bought the game, can't run it because of DRM, so you then download a pirated copy and run that instead, you're saying there's no moral grounds for that? Guess I fall in the "idiot" category in your world.
 
Urg, I didn't read your later statement, where you're okay with piracy IF you've bought the game. It's more the "no in-between" I disagree with pretty strongly. The biggest in-between issue I have is with abandonware. Cases where the company doesn't sell the game anymore, but it's still illegal to pirate. I can't respect that in any scenario. Under your logic, that should never be acceptable, ever, which I think is moronic.
 
pcjunkie said:
This...pirates will be pirates. They'll take any good intentions and twist them around to make a profit. They won't be happy until everybody is fucked over.
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Piracy is not a very understood human condition. There's people who will spend hundreds on one game and nothing on many. That's because people look for exceptional products that are worthy of them spending money. Most games today are just mass produced crap.

HOW TO MAKE A GAME 2014 EDITION!

Step #1 Choose a Theme
This is important cause this is what drives the sales of your game. Something like pirates or space or pirates in space! Make sure the hero is awesome as shit, or a heroine with large breasts.

Step #2 Marketing
This is equally as important because those idiot customers have no idea how awesome your pirates in space game is gonna be. So you have spend twice as much in marketing than in the game. No three times as much. No four times!

Step #3 Gameplay
You don't care about gameplay. Just copy whatever is the best selling game. Halo this year? EVERYONE GETS REGENERATIVE HEALTH! Final Fantasy did poorly in sales? Linear first person shooter it is. Don't forget to make it open world and throw quests all over the place to reduce development time.


Now you just pretend you threw a lot of work into the game which is mostly true if you count slave labor practices you push onto developers. What's a 40-50 hour work week? Fuck them, we want a Call of Duty game out every year. No, out every 6 months. We wanna make Madden Football look like a walk in the park.

Of course $60 price tag, which is being totally generous. I mean the only reason it's not higher is DLC. Forget about the game being $5 in 3 months, you best pre-order that shit son. Don't care how broken that game is, it's the game of the year. We made sure to pay all the reviewers to give it a high rating.
 
tetris42 said:
Urg, I didn't read your later statement, where you're okay with piracy IF you've bought the game. It's more the "no in-between" I disagree with pretty strongly. The biggest in-between issue I have is with abandonware. Cases where the company doesn't sell the game anymore, but it's still illegal to pirate. I can't respect that in any scenario. Under your logic, that should never be acceptable, ever, which I think is moronic.
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It's still under copyright and protected by law for them to use in the future whether that's a re-release, remaster, or just selling it again at some point, even if it's "abandonware" :).
 
DPI said:
What "crazy DRMs" justify stealing software?

The answer is people pirate because they can. That's it. There is no honor or nobility in that, but it sure is amusing hearing the lies people tell themselves to rationalize it and put the blame on everything and everyone else but them.
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What I want I buy. What I'm not sure I want I pirate. As there are usually no demos, since demos might scare away potential buyers. It's so much better to encourage piracy instead.

Every game on steam should be playable freely for 60 minutes, that would be the end of piracy.
 
tetris42 said:
Get real. The truth is there is no ONE REASON why pirates pirate. Here's a quick list of why people pirate:

-Can't afford the game
-Game not for sale in their region
-Just don't want to pay for the game
-Using piracy as their own trial demo or rental
-They don't actually play the game, they just... pirate it...
-The legit game is so full of DRM, the pirated copy is a far better experience
-A form of protest because of some perceived injustice (this reason is completely retarded imo)

I am guessing the vast majority fall under the "don't want to pay for the game" or "can't afford the game." I think it's not about WANTING to screw the devs over so much as not wanting to pay for things or not being able to. People who WOULD pay money for the game, but DON'T hurt the devs. People who CAN'T or would NEVER pay for the game and pirate... don't affect much of anything either way.
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I agree with everything you've said but this is a new reason to pirate so add that to the list. Pirates don't care who they fuck over. So yes I am "real". :rolleyes:
 
Somebody posted this on reddit and based on the responses there I'd say it definitely had the response the developers were looking for. Actually if it weren't for them doing this I may have not even heard about or taken a look at the game, so it certainly gave them more exposure.
 
So this dev appears to be the first person to realize that the only bad publicity is no publicity. Pirates were never buying his game either way, but those of us who would gain exposure to the game through word of mouth, news articles, reviews, etc. I dont pirate my games because I can afford them, and after reading this I will investigate this game to see if it's worth my time.
 
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