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The company didn't mention how much it'd expect gamers pay for torrenting copies of The Witcher 2. However, CD Projekt says it doesn't want to be as harsh as outfits in the US that use a similar approach to attack pirates -- presumably referring to the US Copyright Group, which represents various small-time films, including The Hurt Locker and Far Cry. That particular firm often demands pirates shell out between $1,500 and $2,500.
It's worth noting that while many PC games now ship with some type of online authentication, The Witcher 2 is a DRM-free offline single player game making it particularly easy for pirates to download and get the full experience free of charge. This compares to say, StarCraft II, which recently set a piracy record for total data downloaded (15.77PB), but requires a constant connection to Battle.net to access achievements and multiplayer.
User Comments: 62
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Actually, I don't mind, since there offering to sell Witcher 2 DRM free (via gog.com).
I buy few games (and don't pirate them either) because of invasive DRM, but since they offering to sell it to you without DRM, it will be one of the few games I buy for PC now because of it.
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More props to them.
Hopefully the cost incurred by going after the pirate is mitigated by the money recouped. Heck, it may end up as being a net profit for them to go after pirates.
They should be charged a minimum of $2500 and do some jail time. Only when you punish a child do you see the child then realize that their actions lead to the situation.
Sadly, US law is very protective of its thieves. For some reason we like protecting criminals and ensuring that law abiding citizens pick up the slack caused by these miscreants.
I pre-ordered my copy. Looking forward to it. Best of luck to CD Projekt in pirate hunting.
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I have illegaly downloaded Windows XP SP2, SP3, Vista Ultimate, Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit and 64bit, Assasins Creed 1 and 2, COD6 MW2, NFSC, NFS MW, NFS PS, CS, CSS, Office 2003 and 07 and 10, about 500 movies, over 50GB of music, over 100GB of programs like Phostoshop CS5, Sony Vegas, Sound Forge 10 and 8, camtasia studio 7, all kinds of antiviruses, VMWare player, and many many many more programs, games, video, audio...............
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princeton said:
Guest said:I'm a fag
Fixed. That's truly pathetic guest. People like you should be barred from accessing the net.
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The only games I pay for are Monster Hunter, Star Ocean, and Devil May Cry games, along with any multi-player game that I HAVE to buy to play with friends.
Otherwise I pirate the **** out of it, deal with it. I'll be pirating Witcher 2 when it's out.
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Seems a bit silly really. People will surely realise that CD Projekt doesn't have intelligence to control such an attack system as he has already given them the heads up.
Sure people will have to endure lower download speeds because of what he's said as they'll have to use Tor but it won't effect the end result. If anything more downloads will happen because pirates will feel they've been 'challenged'.
And as for these torrent companies pirates will go straight to http://www.peerblock.com/ and lock them out.
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The economics (or lack thereof) of the digital world is completely different from the real world. All computer applications can essentially be represented by a number or array of numbers.
I would like to see a software firm prevent people from sharing the number 3.
The reality of the situation is that the analogy of stealing bread, or a car, or whatever, falls out of the ballpark and simply does not apply to the economics of software theft. Companies are just beginning to realize this and compensate their business strategies accordingly.
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Copyright infringement =\= stealing; making a copy of something doesn't mean you're stealing the original. As stated above, the dynamics are completely different, so you simply cannot compare it to stealing any tangible goods.
99% of the people who pirate games do so for the single-player aspect; most games now include a multiplayer component that is usually the main reason people would buy them. Although there are multiplayer cracked workarounds, most people don't play via these because of the massive instances of hacking\cheating that can easily take place due to no anti-cheat software running.
All in all, not EVERY infringement is a lost sale, (price elasticity of demand acting as it should there), but enough infringements do end up costing the companies making games, because of the lack of any royalties earned.
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Personally i pirate games, if you don't like it then Boo hoo for you! However i also buy games that i like. Thank god i pirated Black Ops, the performance is horrible. I'm a big call of duty fan i i buy the games, however i'm also NOT STUPID and demand quality for the sh!t i buy. So as soon as they fix the damn game i'll purchase it. Oh I'm pirating the witcher regardless just because of their idiotic plans
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Personally i pirate games, if you don't like it then Boo hoo for you! However i also buy games that i like. Thank god i pirated Black Ops, the performance is horrible. I'm a big call of duty fan i i buy the games, however i'm also NOT STUPID and demand quality for the sh!t i buy. So as soon as they fix the damn game i'll purchase it. Oh I'm pirating the witcher regardless just because of their idiotic plans
If you'd actually purchased Black Ops instead of pirating it you'd have noticed a patch has been released through official channels that corrects the performance issues but you're a ***** who obviously doesn't purchase games and tries to justify your dishonesty with excuses like the other morons posting here trying to justify their stealing.
You want games to start costing less than $60? How about if the 5 people who pirated a game instead of buying it had paid for it instead? Then the price for all of us could have come down.
Instead those of us with a scrap of honesty have to pay the price for all of you leeches who steal instead. We're talking PC games here not the Xbox 360 your mother bought you for Christmas. If you have the money to buy a $1000+ machine required to run these games then you obviously have $50-$60 to spend on a game that you enjoy.
The problem is most people when given the choice between paying for something and getting it for free will choose getting it for free. That is why laws must be enforced and pirates need criminal records to discourage others from following suit.
I hope this anti-piracy company finds every pirate they can. It's past time for you all to face justice.
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Justice?!
...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Oh man I just couldn't resist.
Have a look outside, and you'll find that Justice is merely a word without meaning.
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Lol @ the guy who said jail time.. Really? That's like shooting someone for running a red light. If you are caught pirating a game you should be forced to pay the retail cost of the game when it was downloaded, that is what it is worth. If they profited from pirate hunting, then they are the ones doing the stealing, except in a sick, law-abusing, lawyer benefiting, corporate bullshit move designed to sate the companies greed while screwing over the average joe. It's like a reverse robin hood.
Developers could avoid much of this problem by releasing real demos, like a fifth of the game. No one wants to spend $60-$70 on something that could be a complete piece of ****. It's why you can test drive cars and other expensive items. The difference is that a demo has no production or maintenance costs and no risk to the developer. So release real demos and filter out the cheapskates from those interested in the game but not about to blow their money on it.
As for hunting down pirates, there are dozens of ways you can track down the wrong people. "It's better to let a dozen guilty men go free than send one innocent man to the electric chair" Not to mention the moral implications of the Big Brother style of hunting down offenders. So seriously, quit giving atrocious salaries to lawyers who just sit on their asses anyways and make a game worth paying for.
I like the people who say pirates are well rounded TERRIBLE F*CKING PEOPLE! Totally guys, everyone who has pirated a game is going to kick the puppy instead of petting it every time; they kill old ladies that slow them down on the sidewalk, they backstab their friends for the fun of it! They do not experience love, compassion or empathy and have no moral code whatsoever! Actually the vast majority of pirates are average people with enough sense to take advantage of a resource readily available. Have you ever bought a game and been like "well ****, this was worth maybe 10 of the 60 dollars i paid for it?" I know I have, MW2, Black ops, AC brotherhood, Haze(worst of them all), Brink(I liked the concept, much of the gameplay, but was only really fun when you were on a team of good players that worked together), Neverwinter nights 2, AoW2, Civilization 5( greatly improved gameplay but an intolerable number of bugs) and I could go on. And so yes, I've pirated a few games, in fact, I'm definitely buying Deus Ex: Human Revolution thanks to the leaked beta(hence my earlier comment about large demos) that found its way onto piratebay. Wouldn't be buying it if not for that. Same story with minecraft, I pirated it and am now happily building with a couple of my buddies on the weekend.
As for the uploader/downloader debate... shouldn't even be a debate, there's a reason the courts consider dealing drugs more serious than doing them.
And Piracy Protection? I have no problem with CD keys, what I do have a problem with is when you have to have an internet connection to verify your game to start it. If I'm somewhere on my laptop with no internet connection I still want to play games I paid for. In this case you don't even own the game you just purchased, and thats bullshit.
Whatever you might say about piracy being responsible for the rising prices of games, I think it's more the other way around. $60 is a lot to gamble on a game. The only reason any sane person has to spend that on a game is to either have played it beforehand or seen unanimously positive reviews. If it was 30-40 dollars I might take a chance more readily.
Directed at the guy who was pretentiously talking about justice. Black ops? Okkkkkay here we go. It was a rehashed MW2 with nothing new whatsoever except less shitty maps. It was released in a condition that should not be considered acceptable for companies to release their games in(refering to the lag issues). And it had a god awful campaign. Why should he support that? Developers need to learn that they can't half *** sequels and games in general. If you read this please note what I said above about the difference between buying and enjoying a game. AND A CRIMINAL RECORD ARE YOU INSANE? ****ing life is over cause you pirated a game you lost your copy of. Can't get a job, are being constantly tracked in the privacyless society you're endorsing by supporting these "pirate-hunting firms". And justice? First worry about the murderers and rapists who get off because an investigator tripped coming in the door of a crime scene. Deal all the justice you want there I'm behind you all the way. Worry about people downloading a series of 0's and 1's later. I really hope that put it in perspective for you, so you think twice about being so high and mighty and when you come spouting your uneducated crap on a forum.
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