Space Empires V Pirated!

frightlever · #1 December 19th, 2006, 04:46 AM

Meh. Hardcore pirates don't buy games anyway. Casual piracy, if anything, can help a game's popularity by spreading the word. How many reading here pirated IV and either went on to buy a legit copy of it or V when it came out? I read an article somewhere years back that suggested for every legitimate copy of SEIV there were at least 5 pirate copies in use. (and to avoid the inevitable I bought my copy of SEIV from a specialist UK wargaming store for about the equivalent of $90 at the time having got hooked on the demo.)

The truth is publishers are probably the biggest cause of independent developers going out of business so if there's the need for a childish tirade perhaps that's where it should be getting directed. (and for what it's worth as far as I can see Shrapnel isn't a bad publisher. Or Stardock or, for that matter, Steam.)

Fyron · #2 December 19th, 2006, 06:22 AM

Probably very few.

frightlever · #3 December 19th, 2006, 10:12 AM

Ahhh you could be right. However it's definitely true that a pirated game does not equal a lost sale.

AminMaalouf · #4 December 20th, 2006, 03:54 AM

It is illegal to pirate software. The outcome can be expensive and it hopefully helps funding SE 6.

frightlever · #5 December 20th, 2006, 04:47 AM

SE6 is going to be 100% funded by Strategy First since they now own the Space Empires property. When it's getting built by the Brigade E5 team you remember what I said about publishers being the worst thing to happen to independent developers.

AminMaalouf · #6 December 20th, 2006, 06:07 AM

Stolen is stolen. A piece of software is not a leaf of bread or a glass of fresh water.

Danipenn · #7 December 20th, 2006, 06:30 AM

Yes...IMO the majority of the ppl who download pirated copies never planned to buy the original in the first place...many of these ppl, however, are likely to buy the original version sooner or later.

Of course this does not make it right...it is illegal...end of story...but...

Lets take Dom3 as an example...a persona might download the demo, play with it, and decide to buy it...HOWEVER, the price they ask for Dom3 for some ppl is really too much regardless the game quality, the small dev team and so on...it is still too much no matter the reason.

People earn their money in this World so they choose carefully where to allocate them...they are called customers...u can ask as much money as u want for a game but have to face the consequence of ppl not buying it because it is too much.

I don't know what kind of market research they have carried out but still...for many potential cutomers it is still too much no matter what kind of arguments anyone is going to put through.
And also the point which states that there are worse games aout there, that the game is worth the money...bla...bla...bla...it's still not enough.

For a lot of potential customer it will still be too much.

Said that...a lot of this potential customers who are not willing to buy the game they tried are probably going to download the game illegally...this is inevitable.

I was going to be one of those potential customer because i seriously wanted to buy...but when i saw the price i just decided that it is really too much for me.
Of course i'm not going to download it because i think that it is not good for the two ppl who developed the game...HOWEVER, how many ppl are going to be honest?

So, the price of the product helps againsta pirates IMO.

Atrocities · #8 December 20th, 2006, 07:00 AM

I am sorry, all because they don't plan to buy Space Empires V or Dominions 3 in the first place really isn't a valid excuse for downloading them. Its like saying "Well I wasn't going to buy that car in the first place, so its ok for me to go out and steal it." That is by far the most druggie indused moronic logic that I have ever been forced to consider in my life. It makes absolutely no sense at all. A person might as well have two first names and live in a trailer if that is the logic behind their day to day lives.

I don't really blame the people who download the software, its out there so its fair game. I blame the SOB retards who posted it in the first place. In my opinion they had no right to pirate Space Empires V or Dominions 3 at all. They took these games, and posted them for any and all to download freely and in so doing, intentionally compormised the future of both game franchises.

I agree that people will be people and if stuff is free there going to take it regardless of right or wrong, but those who POST the stuff for others to download have no such excuse. They are not stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, they are simply just stealing something that took somone quite literally years to develop and they are giving it away for free and it isn't theres to give away!

Who the hell do they think they are to take something as precious as one of these games and give it away as if they own the rights to do so? F*** them! They should be strung up and hanged from the nearest light pole for all to see with a sign around their necks that reads "I Pirated Space Empires V and Dominions 3."

You know who you are and I know that you don't give a s**t about what you did and that is why I think your lower than snake sh** and would love nothing more than to see you gutted by a dull butter knife and left to die an agonizing death in the heart of the hotest desert on Earth.

capnq · #9 December 20th, 2006, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Danipenn said: Lets take Dom3 as an example...a persona might download the demo, play with it, and decide to buy it...HOWEVER, the price they ask for Dom3 for some ppl is really too much regardless the game quality, the small dev team and so on...it is still too much no matter the reason.

People earn their money in this World so they choose carefully where to allocate them...they are called customers...u can ask as much money as u want for a game but have to face the consequence of ppl not buying it because it is too much.

People should also face the consequence of not having enough money to pay for a LUXURY item. You aren't going to die if you don't play a computer game; you aren't even going to be seriously inconvenienced.

The publishers know how much they have to charge to make enough money to stay in business. How much customers want to pay is only one factor in the pricing decision.

rdouglass · #10 December 19th, 2006, 01:20 PM

Quote:

frightlever said:
... How many reading here pirated IV and either went on to buy a legit copy of it or V when it came out? ...

Not me. And regardless of how many did, it still does not make it right nor does it invalidate AT's position nor does it validate the pirates position.

IMO that is a very poor arguement. It's kinda' like saying that stealing cars is OK cause you'll increase their popularity and that you can 'try it before you buy it'. Hey, that's what the demo was for wasn't it?