Quote:
Originally Posted by 47 Knucklehead 
THIS!
Piracy has been around for DECADES. DRMs, code checks, or even burning holes in floppy diiscs with a laser (and yes, anyone here as old as me will remember this silly trick) won't stop it. All it does is annoy PAYING customers to the point where they will stop buying games, no matter how nice they are, from your company and go spend their time and money with other companies and other games. Many pirates take garbage like this as a personal challenge and I've known several who actually find cracking the game and playing it illegal more fun to them than the actual game itself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackVenom
And they're doing it wrong - hence the problem persists and they're pissing off their customers. Screaming and crying about lost profits (which isn't always the case when their stuff is pirated) won't do a thing. As I said, they should find out why their potential customers (or ex customers) have opted to pirate.
-Most people want to try before they buy... OFFER A DEMO. Hell, sell the demo cheap and (opt) use the cost as credit if they choose to buy.
-Maybe the game costs too much in general... not every game is worth $60 nor should it be sold at that price just because is was pooped out of Big Name Publisher. Sell it based on demand for the game - not "because $60". License the game (like leasing) for cheap, maybe a big $10-25 init payment one week or month then charge $X every so often.. if the user pays it off it's theirs, if they no longer pay cut them off. If they cracked it afterwords who cares? They made some money off of it and apparently it was worth it enough to crack so maybe with the next game they'll lease or buy out right..
-Regional Availability: If you don't sell it somewhere appreciate the piracy there - it says they want it but cant get it w/o ordering from elsewhere online and possibly not in their own language and at a higher cost.
Timed releases: People are impatient and it goes doubly with digital content. Get it at least available through clients like Steam immediately and have product at least en route or ship it ahead of time. Delay the entire release by a week if you have to. Can't do it? Accept some piracy.
etc etc etc... fix the problem, don't make another.
No law or set of laws will stop piracy - they'll mail hard drives and dvds around if they have to. Fix the underlying problems. Make the customer happy and they'll WANT to buy.
And they're doing it wrong - hence the problem persists and they're pissing off their customers. Screaming and crying about lost profits (which isn't always the case when their stuff is pirated) won't do a thing. As I said, they should find out why their potential customers (or ex customers) have opted to pirate.
-Most people want to try before they buy... OFFER A DEMO. Hell, sell the demo cheap and (opt) use the cost as credit if they choose to buy.
-Maybe the game costs too much in general... not every game is worth $60 nor should it be sold at that price just because is was pooped out of Big Name Publisher. Sell it based on demand for the game - not "because $60". License the game (like leasing) for cheap, maybe a big $10-25 init payment one week or month then charge $X every so often.. if the user pays it off it's theirs, if they no longer pay cut them off. If they cracked it afterwords who cares? They made some money off of it and apparently it was worth it enough to crack so maybe with the next game they'll lease or buy out right..
-Regional Availability: If you don't sell it somewhere appreciate the piracy there - it says they want it but cant get it w/o ordering from elsewhere online and possibly not in their own language and at a higher cost.
Timed releases: People are impatient and it goes doubly with digital content. Get it at least available through clients like Steam immediately and have product at least en route or ship it ahead of time. Delay the entire release by a week if you have to. Can't do it? Accept some piracy.
etc etc etc... fix the problem, don't make another.
No law or set of laws will stop piracy - they'll mail hard drives and dvds around if they have to. Fix the underlying problems. Make the customer happy and they'll WANT to buy.
THIS!
Piracy has been around for DECADES. DRMs, code checks, or even burning holes in floppy diiscs with a laser (and yes, anyone here as old as me will remember this silly trick) won't stop it. All it does is annoy PAYING customers to the point where they will stop buying games, no matter how nice they are, from your company and go spend their time and money with other companies and other games. Many pirates take garbage like this as a personal challenge and I've known several who actually find cracking the game and playing it illegal more fun to them than the actual game itself.
I've got an original boxed copy of Simcity right here, there's a "High Scores" sheet that has symbols on it, when you start the game you have to find the right score and enter it or the game is really difficult to play. That's a good version of DRM IMO.
Ænema
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|
Ænema
(25 items) |
The Outsider
(14 items) |
Southbound Pachyderm
(13 items) |
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 | Intel DG965SS | ASUS Radeon x700 256MB | G.Skill F2-6400CL5D-4GBNT |
| Hard Drive | Optical Drive | Cooling | OS |
| Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB | LG Blu-Ray Reader/DVD writer combo | Intel Stock 775 Cooler | XMBCBuntu |
| Monitor | Keyboard | Power | Case |
| Sony Bravia 55" TV | Logitech Wireless | FSP 420w | Cheap Beige |
| Mouse | Audio | ||
| Logitech Wireless | Onboard | ||
| View all | |||
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i3 370M @ 2.4Ghz | Samsung R540 H55 | Radeon HD545v 1GB | 8GB DDR3-1066Mhz CL7 |
| Hard Drive | Optical Drive | OS | Monitor |
| Corsair Force Series 3 120GB | DVD-RW slimline | Arch Linux x86_86 - LXDE | 15.6" 1366x768 LED Backlit Display |
| Keyboard | Power | Case | Mouse |
| Stock Scissor Keyboard | 90w Power Brick | Samsung R540 | Logitech M305 |
| View all | |||
