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PC has Piracy Rate of 93-95%
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Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »Thankfully they seem to be making this easier for me by screwing over the few remaining franchises of theirs I have an interest in, see the latest installment in the Splinter Cell series for a prime example.
Crap, I only remembered I recently bought Conviction for the PC, and forgot it was Ubisoft and I'll have to go through all this
Window Live is another one, trying to play Batman etcjohnny_ultimate wrote: »No choice? Interesting choice of words. You could wait 'til it's cheaper? Wait until you have the necessary funds? Or you could play something else you could afford? I'm pretty broke at the moment, but options one and two have served me pretty well thus far in supporting the games and developers I am particularly fond of.
I can't afford a car, so I just steal one.
I can't afford those new Nike boots in the shop, so I steal them.
This is basically the argument people are making, but because it's "Digital" and the chances of getting caught or convicted are basically zero - it suddenly is OK for people to do so.
The MAIN reason I don't pirate, is not because moral or eithical reasons.
If I buy a game, it's on knowledge and expectations I already have, and I want to "support" the developers so they can carry on creating such games.
And in Digital format such as the PC, a huge percent of this goes straight to them, as it cuts out B&M stores and Distributors really.0 -
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Not really what I mean. I'm sure their more recent DRM implementations didn't help these piracy figures but it's far more likely that they saw similar figures in the past and used them as a justification for their attempts to lock down their games.Which is fine given that it's usually proffered in response to that other ludicrous oversimplification: pirating games is theft
Why must it me mono-causal?
While online only games aren't the best indicators for gauging piracy rates, it still doesn't stop them from appearing in the "charts". The top games of 2011 and 2010 can be found here and here.SeantheMan wrote: »I'd like to see the statistics for Half Life : EP2 , or WoW, Starcraft 2, or any of the leading games.
This is PC games we're talking about, how can anyone regard them as being overpriced?SeantheMan wrote: »I try to ONLY buy my games through Steam if possible.
I'd also wait for 6 months for a SALE rather than buy an overpriced game on release.
Not Watch Dogs or Rayman Legends?SeantheMan wrote: »Far Cry 3 is probably the only game they have I would like to buy.0 -
This is PC games we're talking about, how can anyone regard them as being overpriced?
On PC on STEAM atm, yes, some of them are new.
Most are console ports - for which the PC version will be an afterthought
But it still shows that the prices are as expensive as high street retailers for consoles.
We don't get all games 50% off on release
Transformers €50
Alice :Madness Returns €50
Darkspore : €50
Shift 2 : €50
Darksiders 2: €50
Borderlands 2 : €50
Dishonored : €50
COD BO2 : €60
Himan Absolution : €450 -
Ah but that's Steam's fault, not the publishers. It's rather well known at this stage that their prices for new games are excessive. Most new titles these days seem to debut at around £27-£30 although I have seen some pretty horrific currency conversions that you guys can get hit with. Case in point, Darksiders II, Borderlands 2 and Dishonored are now £29.99 on Steam while Hitman Absolution is £26.99.SeantheMan wrote: »On PC on STEAM atm, yes, some of them are new.
Most are console ports - for which the PC version will be an afterthought
But it still shows that the prices are as expensive as high street retailers for consoles.
We don't get all games 50% off on release
Directly? Of course not. However to ignore the fact that they may have bought the game had the illegal version not been available isn't right either. I've often seen people say that "pirates wouldn't have bought the game anyway" which I've always found ludicrous. What, do people think that these people would just stop playing video games altogether?Unless of course you consider theft to be taking something from someone else and thus depriving them of its use. If someone downloads a game then the developer has lost not one cent from this action 0 -
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That's nice but your positive experience doesn't excuse the countless others who have had contrary experiences. Including legitimate customers who have sometimes been unable to play games that they have legitimately boughtjohnny_ultimate wrote: »I'm playing Driver San Francisco (Steam version) at the moment and I certainly don't consider the DRM to be particularly intrusive
If you steal car then the owner has no car. If you steal some Nikes then the shop is missing one pair of Nikes. If you pirate a game... well, nothing changesSeantheMan wrote:I can't afford a car, so I just steal one.
I can't afford those new Nike boots in the shop, so I steal them.
This is basically the argument people are making, but because it's "Digital" and the chances of getting caught or convicted are basically zero - it suddenly is OK for people to do so
The equation of piracy (the term itself is problematic) to theft in order to make a moral/ethical argument is not productive. Certainly, from the perspective of publishers, it's not going to help understand or quash pirating
That's what I'd call an excuse rather than a causegizmo wrote:Not really what I mean. I'm sure their more recent DRM implementations didn't help these piracy figures but it's far more likely that they saw similar figures in the past and used them as a justification for their attempts to lock down their games.
Ubisoft aren't doing this for the laughs. They've clearly been very spooked by piracy and that's fair enough. Where they have massively failed is in formulating an adequate response to this. Instead of taking the Steam or indie approach (ie, making DRM functional and useful, or forging closer relations with the customers, respectively) they've slapped on draconian DRM that doesn't affect pirates and harms paying customers. Now that, unsurprisingly, seems to be failing
I'd be very surprised if Ubisoft wasn't, relatively, by far and away the most pirated PC publisher
I think we're spoiled by Steam and, yes, pirating. I remember a time when people would buy 3-4 games a year, tops. Now the norm is to have half a dozen unplayed games on the HDDirectly? Of course not. However to ignore the fact that they may have bought the game had the illegal version not been available isn't right either. I've often seen people say that "pirates wouldn't have bought the game anyway" which I've always found ludicrous. What, do people think that these people would just stop playing video games altogether?
And that often gets lost in the arguments: PC gaming has expanded massively over the past two decades and continues to do so. People are playing more games than ever before. This is despite, or arguably because of, the spectre of piracy. It's pretty silly to talk of the crippling effects of the latter when we're in the middle of a PC gaming boom
So yeah, people are playing more games than ever before. There's no grounds for talking of 95% piracy rates as if sales would double if not for 'the pirates'
(Which is not to say that some people don't pirate big releases that they would have bought otherwise. I'm sure that happens to a degree. But generally I've seen that if people like a franchise or a developer then they're happy to support it financially)0 -
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Well the reason I'd steer away from calling it an excuse is that I can't imagine they really wanted to do what they did. Or, to look at it more analytically, I can't imagine they wanted to invest so much money in a set of services for something that won't see a large effect on piracy, will probably reduce legitimate sales and will generate a metric ****ton of negative press.That's what I'd call an excuse rather than a cause
Ubisoft aren't doing this for the laughs. They've clearly been very spooked by piracy and that's fair enough. Where they have massively failed is in formulating an adequate response to this. Instead of taking the Steam or indie approach (ie, making DRM functional and useful, or forging closer relations with the customers, respectively) they've slapped on draconian DRM that doesn't affect pirates and harms paying customers. Now that, unsurprisingly, seems to be failing
I'd be very surprised if Ubisoft wasn't, relatively, by far and away the most pirated PC publisher
As for taking the Steam approach, you're forgetting the fact that no other publisher is allowed have their own service, at least according to a rather vocal section of the gaming community. They just need to stfu, put it on Steam and let them take their cut of sales in the same manner retailers have been doing since the dawn of retail.
If we were in the middle of a PC gaming boom then the "greedy" publishers who folk often talk about would be all over it. The problem is, they're not. What we are experiencing is the same thing that's happened at the tail end of the last few console generations. Console development begins to focus on the next gen so the number of new IPs/releases is reduced, PC gaming continues going at the same pace and with the hardware advancing as it always does, people go "hey, look PCs are awesome again" when it actual fact they've always been awesome.I think we're spoiled by Steam and, yes, pirating. I remember a time when people would buy 3-4 games a year, tops. Now the norm is to have half a dozen unplayed games on the HD
And that often gets lost in the arguments: PC gaming has expanded massively over the past two decades and continues to do so. People are playing more games than ever before. This is despite, or arguably because of, the spectre of piracy. It's pretty silly to talk of the crippling effects of the latter when we're in the middle of a PC gaming boom
What makes the next generation so interesting however is that we're beginning to see a convergence of these platforms so hopefully a year or two after their release we won't be subjected to the usual "PC gaming is dying" nonsense.
According to most devs, sales would double if only a fraction of the pirates bought the game. Football Manager, as I linked above, would have doubled their worldwide sales if 25% of pirates had bought the game. That to me, isn't an unrealistic number with some reasonable DRM i.e. Steam availability with a one time activation. But even the latter point was too much for people it seems.So yeah, people are playing more games than ever before. There's no grounds for talking of 95% piracy rates as if sales would double if not for 'the pirates'
Unfortunately from what I've seen this hasn't proven to be the case. The most pirated games are always the most popular series and then you have the likes of The Witcher figures above which really grind my gears given CD Projeckt's stance on the whole DRM issue and their efforts to avoid it using gamer friendly methods.(Which is not to say that some people don't pirate big releases that they would have bought otherwise. I'm sure that happens to a degree. But generally I've seen that if people like a franchise or a developer then they're happy to support it financially)0 -
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