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.
