Great job, Bioware!

[pkt-zer0]

Russia is a huge market and a huge pirate "we are so poor that we can't buy them expensive american games" heaven, yet you can get most games for 5-10 bucks.

That hasn't been the case until relatively recently, but I haven't been keeping tabs on their prices. skyway surely has something to comment on that.
Also, legitimate software usage more than doubled in Russia in 2007, not sure how that correlates with just games, though.

We are talking about a free product competing with a product that you must pay for. For a lot of people it's a no-brainer.

For a lot of people, the consequences of opting for the free product, despite being able to afford the paying one, is also immediately obvious. If you're depending on sales from the fucktards who don't even realize that - well, you're screwing out with yourself. But we're going in circles, it seems.

So, when there is a will, there is a way

Sure, but how many hoops should one be willing to jump through just to be able to spend his/her money?

Unrelated, but I find it odd how Crysis' sales are blamed on piracy. The US has the lowest piracy rates, yet it's there that it only sold a handful of copies, as opposed to the one million sold units worldwide.

 

[ZiZ]

And now that i think of it that sounds a little bit nazi.

Yes! Godwin's Law in action. I really didn't think it'd take this long, what with DRM being invented by Nazis.

 

[MetalCraze]

Russia is a huge market and a huge pirate "we are so poor that we can't buy them expensive american games" heaven, yet you can get most games for 5-10 bucks.

only pirated games - that's why they are so popular in the first place. games from legitimate publishers cost nearly $20 (however SoftClub f.e. sells EA, Sierra and Ubi games at a full price of $50). which is not cheap. and quite expensive if you will consider the questionable quality of the games/localization.
if f.e. Mass Effect will come out here in the form it is in now (I'm not speaking about DRM because we will have starforce I rather mean-) - the very very buggy port that corrupts/disables your savegames (according to tech-forums of bioware), has incompatibility issues with dual-core cpus (EA's words btw) and broken support for GeForce 8s (and probably 9s as it is the same gpu) in a form of crashes (again techforums) - then $20 for it becomes too expensive.

please no retarded "are you going to pirate it" predictions. no I won't touch it at all if EA Bioware won't fix the shitty port.

 

[Kraszu]

Were are pirated games being sold?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Russia is a huge market and a huge pirate "we are so poor that we can't buy them expensive american games" heaven, yet you can get most games for 5-10 bucks.

only pirated games - that's why they are so popular in the first place.

See the link above. New games - 20. A few years old games - 5.

 

[MetalCraze]

Russia is a huge market and a huge pirate "we are so poor that we can't buy them expensive american games" heaven, yet you can get most games for 5-10 bucks.

only pirated games - that's why they are so popular in the first place.

See the link above. New games - 20. A few years old games - 5.

the same can be said about pirated games - New games - 5-10. a few years old games - 3 (though I've never seen the legitimate game dropping price after some time. not in my town at least). which game will a guy, who doesn't care about all this "publisher/dev" politics and want to play the game NOW and not tomorrow, prefer if the pirated version and legitimate version are basically standing on the same shelf and considering that pirates were the only guys who were importing games here in 80s and 90s which kinda made them an ok crowd if not heros (like Fargus in late '90s)?

 

[Vault Dweller]

So, it's a question of price? Cheaper = better, free = best?

 

[MetalCraze]

mostly yes. because for ukrainian $20 is not the same as for canadian as you may understand.
but "mostly" because nobody here thinks that free is best (plus quite many people I know would've preferred a real dvd with the game they like rather than "free" torrented version). it's just that legitimate publishers ask more and more money while the quality of localizations becomes shittier and shittier and closer to pirates' shitty translations with each year (the only difference is that pirates' translations are not voiced of course). and at the same time pirate prices remain unchanged. catch the drift here?

 

[Kraszu]

I am sure that pirated games are doing good in Russia, but 1C was able to make good money, and the games are on the same shelf. 20$ is much lower then it costed before. Some peaple buy only legal some only pirate, but there is big number of people between those two or else reducing game price so much would not be a good idea most likely. Calculating in $ is also little misleading as $ loose allot of value and E that costed about as much as $ and is more stable. 20$=13E

5-10$ seems pretty expensive for pirated if they can sell them at shops and nobody cares (no risk). DVD disc are cheap, pushing data on them doesn't cost allot either.

In Poland in 80s beginning of 90s there were only pirated games, and it was legal then.

 

[dagorkan]

Seems the Codex has hit a new low. Fuckin' thieving scumbags actually having the nerve to try to place guilt on honest, law-abiding devs in order to justify their crimes. I hope you all rot in hell (with the exception of those who still have a semblance of decency and common sense in them).

Wouldn't surprise me if Dragon Age is announced to become a mutliplatform title.

This is exactly right.

This shows the kind of change the Codex has gone through in two years. A year ago a thread like this would not be imaginable, the idiots would have got gang-raped by everybody else on the second page. Today it takes ten or fifteen pages of retards agreeing that piracy is cool before there is any backlash and the idiots are still the majority.

I feel sorry for David Gaider, he's been insulted quite a lot before but this thread, mobbed by a horde of fucking kids (or adults with the mental age of 13 year olds), is completely unbelievable.

 

[Hamster]

only pirated games - that's why they are so popular in the first place. games from legitimate publishers cost nearly $20 (however SoftClub f.e. sells EA, Sierra and Ubi games at a full price of $50). .

I don't know about Ukraine, but here in Russia there were no cases of 50$ i remember, only some very pimped collector's editions cost like that.

mostly yes. because for ukrainian $20 is not the same as for canadian as you may understand

For any russian owning a gaming pc, 20$ is not a problem. As far as i know you in Ukraine are not that much poorer than we are, at least in major cities?

then $20 for it becomes too expensive.

20$ too much? For a newest rpg with english voices? Please...

You remind me of government of Ukraine. They are stealing russian gaz because it's too expensive too.

 

[Hamster]

Oh damn, those russian prices do look good

There are two downsides - starforce and crappy localisations. Apart from it, yes, situation is pretty good, both with prices and avalaibility(you can still buy Wizardry 8, Might and Magic 6&7, Fallout etc. in most big stores. )

 

[Herbert West]

Oh damn, those russian prices do look good

There are two downsides - starforce and crappy localisations. Apart from it, yes, situation is pretty good, both with prices and avalaibility(you can still buy Wizardry 8, Might and Magic 6&7, Fallout etc. in most big stores. )

Starforce?? CRAP.

 

[Texas Red]

Seems the Codex has hit a new low. Fuckin' thieving scumbags actually having the nerve to try to place guilt on honest, law-abiding devs in order to justify their crimes. I hope you all rot in hell (with the exception of those who still have a semblance of decency and common sense in them).

Wouldn't surprise me if Dragon Age is announced to become a mutliplatform title.

This is exactly right.

This shows the kind of change the Codex has gone through in two years. A year ago a thread like this would not be imaginable, the idiots would have got gang-raped by everybody else on the second page. Today it takes ten or fifteen pages of retards agreeing that piracy is cool before there is any backlash and the idiots are still the majority.

I feel sorry for David Gaider, he's been insulted quite a lot before but this thread, mobbed by a horde of fucking kids (or adults with the mental age of 13 year olds), is completely unbelievable.

Hai guys, I have a very black and white view on life and I consider myself superior because of my join date!

 

[MetalCraze]

I agree - poor honest Bioware. you're all fucking thugs for even thinking of criticising them for not letting you play your legitimately owned game because their DRM - the force of light and all good - still can't find an internet connection!

you can still buy Wizardry 8, Might and Magic 6&7, Fallout etc. in most big stores.

I believe you wanted to say "you can still buy pirated [list of games]"

You remind me of government of Ukraine. They are stealing russian gaz because it's too expensive too.

well what can't our people do for the sake of the 4th Reich?
..._
|_|_
._| |

 

[Hamster]

I
I believe you wanted to say "you can still buy pirated [list of games]"

No, you can buy 100% legal Fallout 1-2 and ToEE from Akella, 100% legal Wizardry 8, Might and Magic 6-7 from Buka. All very cheap.

I agree - poor honest Bioware. you're all fucking thugs for even thinking of criticising them for not letting you play your legitimately owned game because their DRM - the force of light and all good - still can't find an internet connection!

Snowball negotiated removal of this crap for CIS version, so relax and take lulz at evil western capitalists unable to play their 50$ games.

 

[MetalCraze]

100% legal Wizardry 8, Might and Magic 6-7 from Buka. All very cheap.

don't know how legal are other games you've named but these are not. at that time Buka didn't have any license when they've started to publish these games - which kinda was abandonware already at that time (it was 2001-2002 iirc). not speaking of today.
also don't know about FO1, but FO2 is a major fuck up from the great localizing guys and does not deserve to be bought.

Snowball negotiated removal of this crap for CIS version, so relax and take lulz at evil western capitalists unable to play their 50$ games.

but I am. I know - but it still makes me :facepalm: at people protecting Bioware without any second thought.

 

[Hamster]

Buka is working with such grands as Valve, so i doubt your accusations.

Edit: http://rpgvaultarchive.ign.com/archive/arc27.shtml

announcement regarding North American distribution for Wizardry 8 would arrive in the next couple of weeks. Sirtech Canada has already secured publishing arrangements for Russia and Poland.

 

[MetalCraze]

now - yes.

edit: I was more concerned about M&M series.

 

[Hamster]

Read my ninja edit.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I agree - poor honest Bioware. you're all fucking thugs for even thinking of criticising them for not letting you play your legitimately owned game because their DRM - the force of light and all good - still can't find an internet connection!
...
I know - but it still makes me :facepalm: at people protecting Bioware without any second thought.

Arguing that justifying piracy is retarded and protecting Bioware are two very different things and I'm sure that you are smart enough to know that.

 

[MetalCraze]

I know. but if you read their comments you will notice things like "honest Gaider came to this thread and immediately got flamed by people with minds of 13 year old kids". Gaider successfully derailed this thread into another piracy discussion from rails with not very pleasant questions to him and the criticising of Bioware (which of course also not pleasant to him) - sure he got flamed.

 

[Hamster]

now - yes.

edit: I was more concerned about M&M series.

Yes, now they are working with leading western publishers and nobody have problems with them selling Might and Magic now, in 2008. So i assume everything is legal until you will provide actual proof.
http://e-shop.buka.ru/product.php?cat=174&grp=40934

 

[Hamster]

Gaider successfully derailed this thread into another piracy discussion

Terrible. What possible reasons he had to do so in a "Hooray, pirates have cracked Bioware game!" thread...

 

[MetalCraze]

actually it was a standard "we've told you it will happen (and fuck up your own customers)" thread. or better to say "Great job fucking up your own customers, Bioware" like the title sarcastically suggests.