Vault Dweller said:
Ander Vinz said:
I don't want to argue about the whole "pirates vs. greedy publishers" theme but let me cite a specific example:
I've already torrented Mass Effect and after running through the first mission realized that in fact, this game is not for me. Not that I dislike ARPGs that much but it just doesn't appeal to me at the moment. I'd rather read a book or find a brainier game.
Did you not know that before? This is the Codex (well, used to be), not GameSpot.
The question is, should have I bought the game and thrown away my money or am I a resourceful buyer who outwitted cheating publisher?
You shouldn't have bought the game and shouldn't have torrented it.
Personally I think that as a customer I have undoubtful right to try most goods before buying them. Or am I wrong?
Will you open a bottle and try whiskey to see if the blend is up to your standards before buying it? Will you try new yogurt before buying it? There are plenty of products that you can sample before and plenty that you can't. If you are a cautious consumer don't buy the latter or wait for reviews/informed opinions.
2 problems with this.
1. One cannot COPY a bottle of whiskey at neglible expense to offer for sampling. If it were possible, such samples likely WOULD be available. Likewise, one would certainly manufacture their own Audi if they could do so without cost. That the game industry finds the fact that their product can be endlessly copied at no cost to be a problem rather than a boon is laughable.
2. Video games are drowning in hype, and even if they weren't, finding someone with similiar taste in them is quite difficult. The fact that this is the fault of publishers and developers gives me warm fuzzies when I piss them off, but irrelevant to the problem.
Between these two facts, I can discern the quality of the game illegally, but not legally, without paying. Yes, the company makes less money this way. They also make less money if I don't send them every 3rd paycheck I get. How much money they get from me is something left in my hands. Your assertion is that it should not be. Maybe so. However, it is not reality, and I refuse to abide by a fantasy for the sake of nothing at all, which is exactly what would benefit from me buying everything before trying it.
Xi mentioned the outcome of being 9 crap games and 1 good game vs 90 and 10 with and without people paying for crap games. However, the likely outcome would probably be closer to 7 and 3 vs 95 and 5. Given that I can't pay for 5 games per company, let alone the 30 I would need to buy to find those 5, That circumstance only benefits a pirate. I'd much rather pirate 10 and buy 3.
Edit: If you're going to bitch about me just not being dilligent enough in reading reiveiws, keep this in mind: Reading a review of a game =! happy fun time. If I'm to be expected to sift through reviews on a game for 3 hours it should cost 3 hours worth of pay less. No more likely to happen than free whiskey or omnipotent control of one's IP, but perfectly justifiable.
