Why buy the cow?

[Roqua]

You said in another post that you do not care about people pirating your game. Why should I be some chump that pays for a game that other people enjoy for free with your blessing? Why can’t I enjoy it for free too? What if I don’t want to give someone money for something other people don’t give money for? What if I want things to be fair more than I want you to do well by making a game with most of the things I value? What if I’m getting sick and tired of doing the right thing by buying things like a chump when the owner of that thing gives the green light to steal it?

I just can’t think of a good reason. I’m not rich, I bust my ass for the little disposable income I have, and I also have to beg my wife to use it on games instead of stupid crap we would both enjoy. It would be 100% different if I knew you were going to take measures to make things equitable cost wise for the people who enjoyed your game, and denounced the theft of it, but you didn’t. You supported the theft of it. So, I can now be a chump and buy it when you support me stealing it, or I can steal it and save money, aggravation from my wife, etc, and still get the same enjoyment with your blessing.

I don’t get it.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Here is how I see it, Rogua. In our day and age, pirating software is hardly a problem. It's more of a choice that in the end comes to " Do I want to see more games like that? Do I want to support this particular developer? ". It's like voting with your money. It's not about buying something, it's about supporting.

Some people would pirate or try to pirate no matter what, some people would pay, not because they are suckers who can't pirate, but because that's the choice they've made.

I don't support theft, but it's a reality. Stealing games is relatively simple. So, throwing a tantrum and screaming "Don't you dare steal my awesome game!" is kinda stupid and pointless, no? So, honestly, Roqua, do what you feel is right. You have my blessing.

 

[Atrokkus]

That's pretty much like donate-ware, and I really appreciate this decision. And Im planning to pay VD, at least try to.

 

[Roqua]

Here is how I see it, Rogua. In our day and age, pirating software is hardly a problem. It's more of a choice that in the end comes to " Do I want to see more games like that? Do I want to support this particular developer? ". It's like voting with your money. It's not about buying something, it's about supporting.

Some people would pirate or try to pirate no matter what, some people would pay, not because they are suckers who can't pirate, but because that's the choice they've made.

I don't support theft, but it's a reality. Stealing games is relatively simple. So, throwing a tantrum and screaming "Don't you dare steal my awesome game!" is kinda stupid and pointless, no? So, honestly, Roqua, do what you feel is right. You have my blessing.

If on my part it comes down to a choice (pay or pirate) then you also have a choice (green light piracy or not). You green lighted piracy, which made my once solid choice a little more ambiguous.

To be 100% honest, I want to support your game. I would gladly pay twice the cover price and buy it twice just to throw more of my support at the game and the development of more like it.

But, now it would also be supporting a mindset I 100% disagree with. What you said in another posts soothed over the ego of pirates, confirmed their belief that piracy is okay, and enables them to do the wrong thing.

Piracy hurts the gaming community as a whole. It is never okay, and is never justified. Unless the maker of the product justifies it, which is true in this case.

I fucking hate the pirate’s excuses, and I hate I have to pay more for games because of them. I hate that other people are getting for free what I have to work hard for, and have to jumps through hoops to get. I don’t care if they wouldn’t have bought the game if they had to pay, they shouldn’t play it if they don’t buy it. And most pirates would buy games if that was their only change of playing them. They don’t have to so they don’t.

Well, now my choice is support the enabler of justifier of piracy with money to get a game I want, justify that he enabled me to pirate a game I want and play for free and let other chumps pay for a game that got the green light to piracy, or not buy it or play it. But if I pick the third option, and wasn’t going to buy it anyway, why shouldn’t I pirate it since you are no more well off than you were before?

Terrorism is real, doesn’t mean I have to support or enable it, or support the enablers of it. Rape is real, and will always be there no matter what, and that doesn’t give me the green light to rape bitches. Isn’t raping a prostitute a victimless crime, since I could of got the pussy anyway if I paid? But raping, like stealing, is always wrong.

Piracy is wrong, pirates should be raped, and people who justify piracy are morons. Can I feel strongly about piracy and support a game that is pro-piracy? No.

I want more games like this, but not as much as I want pirates to be despised and told what they are doing is not okay. I hate those fucking bitches. Well, not really, I respect the ones that admit what they do are wrong, and they are wrong for doing it, but are still going to do it because getting something for free is better than paying for it and they do not care about the consequences to the gaming community and are only out for number 1. I hate the ones that think what they are doing is okay, because I hate blind retards and people that don’t think. I hate people who are lacking quality of thought, and who can convince themselves what they are doing is okay when it is obviously wrong.

I engage in a number of shady or fucked up activities, but I justify none of them, and I am truthful about them to my self and others. I enjoy hurting people I do not like. I get pleasure seeing them in pain and crying. Is this right? No. It is wrong. But I enjoy and will continue doing it even though its wrong and makes me not a good person. I would think less of someone who tried to justify this. I think less of me for being that way. But I enjoy it and it is more rewarding to me than thinking less of myself is punishing.

How many pirates, or people bordering on piracy were enabled by your thoughts on it? How mnay people’s actions were justified? Or their consciences smoothed?

I know what you are going to say. This is how it is and I can support your game and the development of these games or not, the choice is mine. You can’t make me pay for the game. But the bottom line is, you don’t have to side with piracy, and you don’t have to enable pirates?

I wouldn’t mind if the game was freeware and accepted contributions from those who wanted to support it. If I gave money in that siyuation I would be a good guy doing the right thing. But it is shareware and is supposed to be bought, not pirated, or enable pirates with supporting thoughts on how fucking awesome and okay piracy is. Now if I give my money I am a chump ass bitch paying for what a bunch of weak ass bitches got for free and think it is great because what they do is okay, and even the owner of the game said was okay.

I don't want to do the right thing (pay) when it enables and sides with the wrong thing (piracy). I don't want to be a chump goody-two shoes pansy, and I want things to at least support the semblance of fairness.

 

[Vault Dweller]

If on my part it comes down to a choice (pay or pirate) then you also have a choice (green light piracy or not). You green lighted piracy, which made my once solid choice a little more ambiguous.

The difference between 2 choices is that one is real, and the other isn't. Your choice, to pay or steal, is important. My choice, whether to "green-light" piracy or write an angry letter to UN, demanding to initiate a crackdown and shoot the motherfuckers on sight, changes nothing and affects nothing.

To be 100% honest, I want to support your game.

Many thanks, Señor Roqua.

But, now it would also be supporting a mindset I 100% disagree with. What you said in another posts soothed over the ego of pirates, confirmed their belief that piracy is okay, and enables them to do the wrong thing.

I don't really think that wanna-be-pirates are waiting for me to say it's ok (or it isn't) to start stealing shit.

Piracy hurts the gaming community as a whole. It is never okay, and is never justified. Unless the maker of the product justifies it, which is true in this case.

I agree with you, piracy does hurt the gaming community. I'm pretty sure that piracy plus dumb Sierra motherfuckers are responsible for low Arcanum sales, and thus responsible for the lack of Arcanum 2 and eventual death of Troika. Losing that flagship of a game was a blow that Troika didn't recover from. However, in the end, it's the fault & the choice of a pirate, not dumb executives, not developers, not anyone else's. Those who steal games, will do that anyway, with or without my blessing.

I fucking hate the pirate’s excuses, and I hate I have to pay more for games because of them.

I don't think you are paying more for games because of pirates, you are paying more, if that's indeed the case, because of publishers' mistakes, because someone needs to pay for all those games that suck, and because they can charge more and get away with that.

And most pirates would buy games if that was their only change of playing them.

Of course. However, it's not the case, so this point is moot.

Piracy is wrong, pirates should be raped, and people who justify piracy are morons. Can I feel strongly about piracy and support a game that is pro-piracy? No.

How the fuck a game could be pro-piracy?

I want more games like this, but not as much as I want pirates to be despised and told what they are doing is not okay. I hate those fucking bitches. Well, not really, I respect the ones that admit what they do are wrong, and they are wrong for doing it, but are still going to do it because getting something for free is better than paying for it and they do not care about the consequences to the gaming community and are only out for number 1. I hate the ones that think what they are doing is okay, because I hate blind retards and people that don’t think. I hate people who are lacking quality of thought, and who can convince themselves what they are doing is okay when it is obviously wrong.

No arguing here.

How many pirates, or people bordering on piracy were enabled by your thoughts on it? How mnay people’s actions were justified? Or their consciences smoothed?

I would say 0. Disagree? Let's test it: hey, people, stealing shit from stores is ok, go for it! Let me turn on my TV now and wait for the announcement of worldwide looting unexpectedly hitting the globe.

But the bottom line is, you don’t have to side with piracy, and you don’t have to enable pirates?

I didn't side with the piracy. I acknowledged the fact that it exists, and, currently, to steal or not is merely a choice that doesn't have any criminal consequences.

I wouldn’t mind if the game was freeware and accepted contributions from those who wanted to support it. If I gave money in that siyuation I would be a good guy doing the right thing.

What's the REAL difference, Roqua?

I don't want to be a chump goody-two shoes pansy, and I want things to at least support the semblance of fairness.

Things aint fair. Why should we pretend that they are?

 

[LaDoushe]

I hate I have to pay more for games because of them.

If I recall correctly, both movies and music were a lot more expensive prior to their easy piracy off of the internet.

For my part, of course piracy is wrong, but I also believe that it is justified in certain cases. I pirated civ4 because it still hasn't arrived here and amazon has recently been refusing to send software overseas. I plan to pirate oblivion, not for any idealogical reason, but because I doubt my computer can actually run it, so it would seem a shame to pay $50 (half a day of taking peoples shit and cleaning teeth) to see what the opening menues look like before quitting in frustration. Think of it as "Try and Buy," which is by far my favorite method of buying software.

Ambrosia, Spiderweb, Taleworld, and other indie gamers have to prove to you with game play that their game is actually worth playing before you pay for it. As a result, They have to offer a more finished product and be more responsive to the consumer. Contrast this with the standard system of big devs, where you don't know what you're getting until you've payed for it first...or pirated it.

Edited for punctuation.

 

[Vault Dweller]

From one of the Dhruin's articles:
http://www.rpgdot.com/#46674

A part of GalCiv’s success is the community they have built. CEO Brad Wardell is well known on several boards and writes a surprisingly frank blog. Their TotalGaming.net portal sells games that are completely devoid of copy-protection – not even a CD-check. Obviously, most developers aren’t in a position to do this but it shows that community goodwill can produce concrete sales.

Proves my point, no?

 

[Atrokkus]

Piracy is wrong, and I understand that when I'm buying pirated Arcanum I pay those fucking pirates, not Sierra/Troika. However, how am I supposed to get the game legally if there is still no Russia/CIS release by our localizators, and buying (through internet or otherwise) the original European/American release is not an option, because, shit, average salary in Kazakhstan (and all post-soviet republics, for tha matter) is about 150-250 USD? Of course under these conditions people here, me included, resort to buying pirated games. It's cool when my bro's sending me legally bought games from USA, but he can't do that all the time, and it's way too slow anyways.

Currently, our Russian/CIS publishers are expanding and increasing their production rate and quality, but still it is not on the leve that would effectively strangle piracy.

 

[don_tomaso]

well personally I justify my actions with the "wouldn´t bought it anyway" argument .
I mean, I buy the games that I can afford, and then, when I haven´t any money left, I download any other game I would have wanted..
and ofcourse, I COULD turn every penny over and eat carrots and beans for a month to afford another game, but, I dont want to do that.. so from my point of view, Im stealing but my stealing doesn´t affect the creator..

but ofcourse you could argue that I support the illegal gamesmarket by downloading games, and there for support those who actually can afford the games but download them anyway.

uh..

 

[Roqua]

If this is true, why have a price tag and shareware? If people are going to pirate games anyway, and the “good” guys are going to pay for good games worth buying, why not go freeware with contributions? You should get the exact same amount of money if what you say is true.

I would say 0. Disagree? Let's test it: hey, people, stealing shit from stores is ok, go for it! Let me turn on my TV now and wait for the announcement of worldwide looting unexpectedly hitting the globe.

I disagree. Unless I am no one. And people that pirate don’t consider it stealing (besides the ones I respect).

It's understandable. You have my blessing to pirate it.

From this link http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=10857

You could have told him you could work something out in way of payment. That way he isn’t getting for free what other people pay for. I would rather have a difficult time trying to get a game because of his reasons, than beg my evil wife. I would probably rather suck dick than beg my cunt wife for anything. She doesn’t fucking work, its my fucking money. I’ll buy what I fucking want. But somehow it doesn’t work that way. Going out to eat costs more than a game, and that’s my money going down the fucking toilet.

How the fuck a game could be pro-piracy?

This is an example from a dev posting of some game that articulates the point pretty well

It's understandable. You have my blessing to pirate it.

What's the REAL difference, Roqua?

Me paying when you condone the theft. Again if it was freeware and people chose to support it or not is one thing, being shareware and getting the green light to pirate is another.

Things aint fair. Why should we pretend that they are?

Marriage is stupid, why do people do it? Sex is awesome, why won’t my wife let me have it with other girls? How can girls call for equal rights and equal pay and still want the guy to pick up the tab? Why can girls chose to have an abortion and guys have no choice when it comes to paying child support? Why can a dev want people to pirate his game and want people to pay for it at the same time? If things aren’t fair, we can condone the unfairness and make things more unfair, or at least try to make them fair, or fairer.

I don't think you are paying more for games because of pirates, you are paying more, if that's indeed the case, because of publishers' mistakes, because someone needs to pay for all those games that suck, and because they can charge more and get away with that.

Pirates causing prices to be inflated is simple economics. I explained this all a lot better before and changed no ones mond, so instead of doing all that work again I will say one thing and also this: you either believe in economic fact, or you believe in crazy. There is a break even line for sales, companies do a forecast that tells them the best price to maximize profit. By raising the price a dollar you might sell less and make more. Buy lowering it a dollar you might sell more and make less. Or you could sell more and make more. If the buying market was bigger, a lower price and more sales would be a lot more viable. There are a million other reasons also.

But the biggest one is this. Once piracy is accepted and condoned, it becomes more common, like anything else. People do it openly, and talk about it openly. People hear and are converted. They might do it at one point because of this or that, like the thief that posted after you, and making excuses becomes easier and piracy becomes more and more common.

If I can be persuaded to think about pirating a game, and I am dead against it, how many people closer to the buy/pirate line can be persuaded or justified into doing it?

Community has a Huge impact on behavior. Why don’t girls in Afghanistan have premarital sex? Why is it common in America? Why was it not common in America before? (I am not saying premarital sex is bad, because it is great. God bless America and every girl willing to spread their legs and some joy).

So now we have economic and sociological reasons not to condone piracy, and I am not even tipping the iceberg on the subject. But. Satan is yelling at me to go eat, so I can’t get more indepth at this time.

 

[Roqua]

From one of the Dhruin's articles:
http://www.rpgdot.com/#46674

A part of GalCiv’s success is the community they have built. CEO Brad Wardell is well known on several boards and writes a surprisingly frank blog. Their TotalGaming.net portal sells games that are completely devoid of copy-protection – not even a CD-check. Obviously, most developers aren’t in a position to do this but it shows that community goodwill can produce concrete sales.

Proves my point, no?

Is the increased sales due to a larger paying audience and alternative buying options, or do to the good will of pirates? Good games will always sell, but how much they sell or their real selling potential will always be skewed due to pircay. The more pirates and the more accepted pirates become, the less game slaes, the less games, the end of the community.

How much did prostitution play a part of in "A Brave New World"? Zero. Because it was not needed. No one is going to pay for something they can get easily and for free and is accpeted by all to get it that way. Now if prostitution is game making,, a brave new world is what we don't want. Of course this is not a perfect example since people just want sex, and sex would actually relate more than prostitution to game making, but you all know what I mean. No one is going to make games for free.

 

[Atrokkus]

You could have told him you could work something out in way of payment. That way he isn’t getting for free what other people pay for.

You mean, me? I actually did something for the project, and plan to support it further. Moreover, I told VD a bit later that I'm willing to pay, any way possible. So, I find your reasoning a bit moot here.

 

[Seven]

Piracy is wrong, and I understand that when I'm buying pirated Arcanum I pay those fucking pirates, not Sierra/Troika. However, how am I supposed to get the game legally if there is still no Russia/CIS release by our localizators, and buying (through internet or otherwise) the original European/American release is not an option, because, shit, average salary in Kazakhstan (and all post-soviet republics, for tha matter) is about 150-250 USD? Of course under these conditions people here, me included, resort to buying pirated games. It's cool when my bro's sending me legally bought games from USA, but he can't do that all the time, and it's way too slow anyways.

Currently, our Russian/CIS publishers are expanding and increasing their production rate and quality, but still it is not on the leve that would effectively strangle piracy.

What I still don't understand, and what you Ex-Reds have never answered is: how can you even afford computers if your average salary is $150-250 USD? Why don't you answer that while you're complaining about your dire straits?

 

[Vault Dweller]

If this is true, why have a price tag and shareware? If people are going to pirate games anyway, and the “good” guys are going to pay for good games worth buying, why not go freeware with contributions? You should get the exact same amount of money if what you say is true.

It merely organizes the process of donating - tells people when to donate and how much.

I disagree. Unless I am no one.

Well, if you were looking for an excuse, you'd have found one sooner or later. I saved you some time. No need to thank me.

You could have told him you could work something out in way of payment.

Work out what? He's in fucking Kazakhstan, for fuck's sake. I suppose he can mail me his hot sister (I hope you don't find that offensive, metallix), but my wife has an issue with mail order brides. Didn't you advocate fairness in your previous post? How the fuck can a person who makes almost nothing, comparing to the western wages, spend what he makes in a month on a fucking game, no matter how good? Would you ever spend 2,000+ bucks on a game? Your wife will rip off your balls and nail them to your stupid head, and she would have a point there.

... my evil wife.

As if there are other kinds.

It's understandable. You have my blessing to pirate it.

What was I supposed to say? "No, your poor dumb [insert some poor country] fuck! Since you don't have any money, you can never, EVER - you hear me, dumb shit - EVER play my game! Get the FUCK out of my forums, and out of the motherfucking internet! Go sell your worthless ass and come back when you make some money!" Would that make you happier?

Me paying when you condone the theft. Again if it was freeware and people chose to support it or not is one thing, being shareware and getting the green light to pirate is another.

If you don't mind paying anyway, does it matter why you are paying?

Marriage is stupid, why do people do it?

Because of the upsides?

Why can a dev want people to pirate his game and want people to pay for it at the same time?

I don't want them to pirate my game. However, if they really can't pay for it, they might as well get it anyway, and enjoy it, assuming it's an enjoyable game, of course.

Pirates causing prices to be inflated is simple economics. I explained this all a lot better before and changed no ones mond, so instead of doing all that work again I will say one thing and also this: you either believe in economic fact, or you believe in crazy. There is a break even line for sales, companies do a forecast that tells them the best price to maximize profit. By raising the price a dollar you might sell less and make more. Buy lowering it a dollar you might sell more and make less. Or you could sell more and make more. If the buying market was bigger, a lower price and more sales would be a lot more viable. There are a million other reasons also.

Yes, I believe in economic facts; however, considering that only 1 out of 4 games (can't link to the article, so feel free to dismiss these numbers) generates some profit, how much are we paying for the other 3 games when we buy 1?

Once piracy is accepted and condoned, it becomes more common, like anything else. People do it openly, and talk about it openly. People hear and are converted.

Here is a newsflash for you. Accepting and condoning means shit. Not accepting & condoning means shit too. Only when stealing games is a crime, and perpetrators, much like those hackers, will be found, charged, fined, and jailed, only then the situation will change. Having a much better way to ensure that only legally bought copies could be used would help too.

Community has a Huge impact on behavior. Why don’t girls in Afghanistan have premarital sex? Why is it common in America? Why was it not common in America before?

It's culture and overall social development, and it's not a straight line. We are much more puritan now then we were a few decades ago. Perhaps in 100 years, north americans would think of sex as shameful and Middle East would be openly embracing sexuality and throwing wild sex parties? However, it would take a lot more to bring forth such changes than condoning or frowning.

 

[Roqua]

All right, I think this is besides the point, but I agree in some cases, even though gaming is a hobby and unnecessary, and pirating is not like stealing food to feed your kids, that pirating makes more sense than buying sometimes. In Metalx’s case, no one is offering games to him legally and viably at the same time. If he wants games, he can pay way too much, pirate, or ask the dev (in this case you) what he can do to obtain the game legally and equitably for all.

Somehow, people in crapass places, can buy a computer to play the hottest games of today, but can’t afford games. That’s fine. Then the developers, especially with online distribution, can offer the game as a percentage of GDP, or as a percentage of disposable income. If the country has no disposable income, the would be purchaser of the product should probably be spending his time and resources getting the fuck out of the shithole country and going someplace that offers a higher standard of living, as my parents did.

The model is different if china, that country is a cashcow for publishers that get the games into their filthy chink hands correctly. It just needs to have its license sold to cafes that charge by the hour. They could do that in metalx’s savage country.

You can offer up excuses, or offer up solutions. Be part of the solution, or be part of the problem.

I will not respond to the rest of what you said because it is gibberish and silly. You have a small penis, you smell like you shit your pants, your wife is far nicer than mine is, and we are all pretty sure you touch children inappropriately.

I will buy your hippy game, but it will forever be tainted. What was pure and good in rpg land is now soiled with filthy corruption. But don’t come crying to me when your hippy openness to piracy engulfs the pc gaming industry and destroys it and no one will pay for your precious soiled games and they just steal it because of whine, cry, blabbity blah blah.


p.s. I win the argument because i make sense and I am right and you are a big queer hippy.

 

[Vault Dweller]

p.s. I win the argument because i make sense and I am right and you are a big queer hippy.

Can't argue with facts, can I?

 

[Slylandro]

I don't think VD telling people to "do what is right, you have my blessing" translates to "please pirate my game, I don't care" unless you already thought that pirating a game is right somehow anyway.

 

[Temoid]

I haven't bought a single computer game in my life, and I will definitely be paying for AoD once VD gets it done. It's just a matter of voting with my money.

 

[HanoverF]

Wait a minute, I thought all the Codexers were getting free copies...

 

[Atrokkus]

What I still don't understand, and what you Ex-Reds have never answered is: how can you even afford computers if your average salary is $150-250 USD? Why don't you answer that while you're complaining about your dire straits?

Well, first off, not only games are subject to piracy. f the hardware hre is pretty much "no-name", assembled somewhere in rural areas, or in illegal facilities in China, you name it. That kinda drops the price a bit. Although we also have hardware firms that are official distributors of major companies like Intel, and they sell the real thing. Tell you what, it's almost as expensive as in your parts, sometimes even more expensive. But somehow computers are just more manageable to buy, becuase of the fact, I think, that it's a major buy, something that will last for some time. A high-end computer (all the lastest boards, some pretty good (but not professional) display and mouse/keyboard shiz) costs around $1500-2400 around here, and yeah that's fucking steep (by high end I mean DualAthlon64, some hawt mobo, 2GBDdr2, x1800XT and all that jazz - and that's with a pretty modest 19" CRT display). You could get a more reasonable price with an average configuration - that would be around $700. Or you could arrange a private deal with someone you know, and drop the price even more.
For 2500 you could get a very good (though a bit old) German car round here, no prob. Or a Japanese one.

So yeah, computers are not for everone around here. But if you really want it cheap, then you could buy the main parts in Almaty (our second capital city), where they are much cheaper than when Im living (far north of country, but a pretty developed town nonetheless). Could save you around 500 bucks or so, or even more.

One thing to consider: we really don't have a strong middle class here. People tend to be either quite poor or fucking rich (ya know, burning tons of fuel in those popular SUVs, or sports cars, you name it). However, things are improving for the middle class right now.
Anyways, earning 400 bucks a month is considered quite good here. About 75 bucks is utilties (electricity, water and shiz), some more on food (depends on how many dependents you have), plus some other expenses, and the rest is saved up. Thus, through savings, you can pretty much accumulate the desired amount to buy a high-end rig.
Anyways, it's kinda hard to describe our situation to someone who never really lived here, if ya know what i mean.

 

[Astromarine]

I know what I did in Portugal, where my parents' salary was about 800 bucks and that's relatively high middle class), was buy computers in 2 or even 3 year payment plans. That's what you guys are missing about the low-wage countries' economies: it's *all* mortgaged to the banks. People sometimes pay 80 or more percent of their salaries to debts here or there. Houses are bought over 30 year plans, cars over 10, fucking dishwashers are bought in 2 year easy installments. Your soul is owned by the banks (and somtimes illegal moneylenders) as soon as you start setting up a home for yourself.

 

[FrancoTAU]

Well, even in the ol' US of A we buy our houses on 30 year plans and cars for at least 5 years. Living costs are just as expensive to us, it's the luxory items that are relatively a whole shit load cheaper for us.

I find it hard to justify pirating a $50 game when i take home over a thousand a week. Although my rent is $900 per month for basis of comparison.

And really, you're giving VD a hard time since he told a kid from the old USSR that doesn't have a credit card or paypal account that he could pirate it if he really had to? It's not exactly like he said it's okay for some jackass 25 year old from the US who has some demented sense of entitlement that he could steal it.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I plan on supporting VD, just because.

 

[Excrément]

When I have a doubt about the quality of the game : I first downolad it free.
If the game is good I buy it, if it isn't I don't buy it.

But I admit it is because I don't have money problems I don't hesitate to buy the game whereas I already own it.

 

[Atrokkus]

I know what I did in Portugal, where my parents' salary was about 800 bucks and that's relatively high middle class), was buy computers in 2 or even 3 year payment plans. That's what you guys are missing about the low-wage countries' economies: it's *all* mortgaged to the banks. People sometimes pay 80 or more percent of their salaries to debts here or there. Houses are bought over 30 year plans, cars over 10, fucking dishwashers are bought in 2 year easy installments. Your soul is owned by the banks (and somtimes illegal moneylenders) as soon as you start setting up a home for yourself.

Well, you're a bit wrong here. It's not all mortgaged, really. Actually, mortgage is a pretty new concept aroound here, at least among the general (mostly not very economics-savvy) populace. But yeah, now it's growing and Im pretty sure in a couple of years it'll be, indeed, "all mortgaged".