Am I the only one who frequently pirates things they already own? I don't want piracy stopped, at least not until actual developers learn to provide the convenience and ease of use that pirates do.
I get no-CD cracks for every game I buy. I also frequently pirate copies to keep on my storage drive as backups, since I've gotten sick of CDs getting scratched or unreadable (I've bought 3 copies of Fallout and 2 of Arcanum, and I have no intention of buying more). For a variety of games, pirated versions strip out buggy and resource-intensive copy protection like Starforce, which of course makes the game run better. Pirates also often bundle the games with patches. If I ever reinstall NWN2, I'll download a pirated version rather than install from my CD, since it will most likely come with the patches all ready to be installed.
Similarly, even though I own two copies of Windows XP, when I reinstall it these days I use a pirated version that includes Service Pack 2, all incremental updates after that up to a certain point (releases are monthly), strips out most of the bloat (including MSN Messenger and other useless crap), comes pre-installed with various useful software, has an improved installation process requiring minimal interaction, and has no problems at all with Genuine Advantage or whatever MS's anti-piracy thing is. It's just far more convenient.
I buy my games and software because I think it's the right thing to do, not because I get any benefit from it. Developers (or, more likely, publishers) need to provide the same, or preferably better, benefits as crackers do. One company that does a decent job of this is Valve -- these days, the only games for which I install the version I actually bought are the ones that come from Steam, since they install with all the latest patches already included and with minimal fuss, and Steam automatically lets you know when new patches come out. (And no, you don't need to keep Steam connected to the Internet to run single-player games . . . I'm not sure where that rumor came from.)
I get no-CD cracks for every game I buy. I also frequently pirate copies to keep on my storage drive as backups, since I've gotten sick of CDs getting scratched or unreadable (I've bought 3 copies of Fallout and 2 of Arcanum, and I have no intention of buying more). For a variety of games, pirated versions strip out buggy and resource-intensive copy protection like Starforce, which of course makes the game run better. Pirates also often bundle the games with patches. If I ever reinstall NWN2, I'll download a pirated version rather than install from my CD, since it will most likely come with the patches all ready to be installed.
Similarly, even though I own two copies of Windows XP, when I reinstall it these days I use a pirated version that includes Service Pack 2, all incremental updates after that up to a certain point (releases are monthly), strips out most of the bloat (including MSN Messenger and other useless crap), comes pre-installed with various useful software, has an improved installation process requiring minimal interaction, and has no problems at all with Genuine Advantage or whatever MS's anti-piracy thing is. It's just far more convenient.
I buy my games and software because I think it's the right thing to do, not because I get any benefit from it. Developers (or, more likely, publishers) need to provide the same, or preferably better, benefits as crackers do. One company that does a decent job of this is Valve -- these days, the only games for which I install the version I actually bought are the ones that come from Steam, since they install with all the latest patches already included and with minimal fuss, and Steam automatically lets you know when new patches come out. (And no, you don't need to keep Steam connected to the Internet to run single-player games . . . I'm not sure where that rumor came from.)