Does piracy mean we have no future in game dev?

[Kalladdolf]

The pie is a fake... it can and has caused permanent disabilities such as vaporization.

[MrJolteon]

I think that piracy means that there are many who do not have a future in game development. But there are
also many who do.

This is the change we are going through as a society, and there's not even a guarantee we will survive
to reach the next level of civilization. The unlimited information that the internet offers is preferrable
until the point is reached where creating data becomes so unprofitable, that no one wants to do it...
sorta like teaching in our public education system.

Imagine that information is the typical mold on the sandwich; it must grow or perish, but if it grows too fast, it eats up the sandwich before another sandwich comes along, and the whole thing dies. I think that's what's happening now on the internet. Its not that I can download a game instead of paying for it, its that I can download EVERYTHING without paying for
it. This internet is so large, and boasts so many forbidden pleasures...its kinda like a stripper is to a man who's wife has become fat. Irresistable. Only this stripper plays games with you, costs very little, and knows more than your entire family, and even shuts up when you push a button.

So the gaming industry isn't by itself, the same problem affects all data creators, whether artists, writers, musicians,
programmers, inventors...heck even porn stars don't make as much as they used to!

What it means is that some will adapt, and some won't.
What it means is that you can't give second best.

You have to give your best. You have to try harder, again and again. WOW is a solution to piracy, but sooooo
expensive. The servers, staff, and programmers for such a project cost millions....compared to your 30$ copy
of GE and 500$ desktop. Being the best is HARD! So you have to try Harder!

Not only in your work, but even moreso in your relations with others. You have to give up your foolish pride and join forces with others. Its not an option, it's a requirement.

And if we could do that....then we wouldn't waste so much time learning what's already known, use up so much oil, raise
the cost of living, and basically all the things that we're doing that make our country divided, and really send the religious message of terrorists home: That they would rather die, and live in poverty in the desert, than become what America has become: a land of strangers, isolated by their lawns, suspicious of everyone they meet, buying junk food and soda but in debt at the same time, and living in large cities surrounded by people on every side, yet completely alone.

If we cannot solve these problems, fate WILL solve them for us. If our society degenerates until it collapses, then LOTS of people die, and, in the absence of all things good, people will give up their pride and band together again. But do we have to let it go this far???


Here's a question for all of you: If a guy is 30, and lives in his parents' house, is that guy a loser?
If you answered yes, then YOU are part of this problem.

Ever since man started building, a man's home has been his castle, and more important, the family castle. And it was respected, and passed down from generation to generation, and always full of people.

But nowadays I see talented artists and musicians, living in ramshackle apartments, working at Best Buy to pay rent...when their parents have a nice house...with only two old people living in it, trying to entertain themselves now that their children are gone. What a waste of our time, to work for rent money that we don't even need! All so that people won't call us losers. lol.

WE CAN'T GET ALONG AND IT'S DESTROYING US!

Adapting means banding together, it means creating something new, it means not letting our software write things for us, but rather, determing for ourselves how it should be written.

If you can adapt, and you don't give up, YOU CAN MAKE IT!

The articles cited in this thread were good choices, and explained a lot.
They're right. There isn't any protection you can use that can protect you.
Yet you can't do nothing either.

There is an old saying...."All a lock will do is keep an honest man honest".
Its very true..... a lock won't protect your house from thieves. But an honest neighbor will. A dog will. Why? Because the dog is your FRIEND.

Now you know why Nintendo always put out fluffy kids games....instead of Grand Theft Auto. And that's why piracy, even though it can hurt them, it will NEVER destroy Nintendo. Not until every Mother and Child in the world has become a criminal, too, and no one in the world gives christmas presents anymore. (imagine giving pirated games to your 4 yr old kid for christmas!)

GRAND THEFT AUTO...."Don't steal this game that's all about stealing". Now that's exactly what I'm talking about!

Blue text: I have a answer to that question: That may mean he haven't found a nice home to move into, or have found one, but cannot afford it, so he lives with his mother until, and he not being an idiot.
Green text: Nintendo don't always give out fluffy kids games; what about Another Code: Two Memories(Finding dad, when that happens, someone named bill almost kill him, trust me, that's not actually good for children below 7 years of age, anyone agree? And also when the main character's mom gets killed when she(the main character) was 3 years old, and that guy named Bill asks the main character(named Ashley) about what happened since she was the only witness(spelled correctly?) , and after that it turns out Bill did it, and then he falls down a cliff and dies. Whew! I told almost the whole 7h chapter!)
That game was given out by Nintendo, and I have cleared it 5 times.
All the black text: Agreed.

[MrJolteon]

Bout piracy:

Piracy is the illegal copying and distribution of software in large scale. Many piracy enterprises are organized criminal enterprises that engaged in illegal copying and packaging of software using sophisticated techniques. The illegal software, then sold as genuine software.

There are many Windows parodies, but that is not piracy aint it? That's only fan stuff, is that right?

[MrJolteon]

nvm

[DST]

...

[MrJolteon]

nvm

[DST]

...

[MrJolteon]

Nah... My opinion is that piracy is bad.
gweh... DST you pissed me off

[superman123]

and spoons make people fat.

it is the food on the spoons that make people fat.

everyone has there opinion on torrents and piracy and anyone has the right to share their ideas.
but i just think that the main cause for online piracy of games are the torrent websites.
i understand that some torrents can be good or bad.
torrents in general are illegal too.

[DST]

...

[Fuzzy]

@DST just think math. if (y=x) than (x=y) if (Piracy = torrents) than (torrents = piracy) you're last phrase IS WRONG!

If (catLegs=4) then (4 = catLegs) all number 4s are cat legs!!

Thats the same logic as you just used.

[Fuzzy]

Piracy is nautical theft by threat of force. In that light, was people do on the internet is closer to forgery, counterfeiting or perhaps fraud.

Acquiring illegal copies of software isnt theft really, as nobody loses a copy. Its not even theft in that the losses are theoretical. Nobody gained money and then lost it. Thats theft.

But it is illegal, immoral and I wont do it.

[Troodon]

Some side notes before the actual message:
ThreeFingerPete, you can update your signature to Troodon.
Mp3 will never beat cd quality! Wav-files maybe but not mp3s! And owning a cd is totally different than having the files on your hard disc. Especially if the cd is signed or rare. (or yours ^^)
Any more info of the most expensive horse ever? The car was explained, the horse just mentioned with a big round number.


Start to read from here:
Anyway, about the horse and car thing, and actually the whole big picture about piracy..you are all talking from the view of capitalism. The idea that you can have a future in game developement only if people are paying for your game instead of downloading it without money. If you do something very creative and give it free for all who want it, then it remains awesome, wether people paid for it or not. You have possibility to gain respect of huge number of people who will be willing to donate for you to keep the production going. I'm not sure if you've heard about things like Google and WIkipedia. You don't pay to use them. And their usage doesn't suffer because pirates. Just code something super cool and promote it. If you give it free, you will get way more players than if you just sell it. Also, for me it's honest to pay for something you like, not for something before you know if you like it or not. Basicly you could just do a poor game and promote it so well that you could cheat people to buy it. But it wont bring you any respect or fans (= loyal supporters! That's what you really need!). I hope this motivated someone(s) who think that they have no future in game developement. And btw Makslane didn't create Game Editor just to get money (atleast I naively believe so), he sells people a tool that can be used as much as needed and as creatively as needed after buying it. He is even giving free copies for helpfull users. I know the word 'communism' brings bad feelings for many but if someday the capitalistic game industry dies because practically no one will buy games anymore, the free games will blossom and best of them will get fame and can keep up with just donations. And now I must end this text because many are surely skipping long posts.

[thunderios]

A team is working on a new type of console. It's based on cloud computing, which means that you buy access to a game which the provider has on his (immensely huge) computer. You can't put access to a game in a torrent or anything, so piracy is not possible.
By the way, it's called OnLive, if I'm allowed to 'advertise' their name.

[constant]

Hey.. sup? I'm a noob with ge, mainly cuz I got tired of coding 2d engines every time I wanted to make a game.
Now I realized I hate making sprites (even though I've gotten pretty good at it..) Anyway..

Piracy should be embraced by all authorities, it's the only effective means to its disruption, there is no end to it, people love it.

The real problem here is that more of the worlds population is poor.. More than it is wealthy. So people look for cheaper means to get
what they want.

Instead of embracing this fact, companies decide to sell games for MORE and MORE and MORE because of losses.. Then you spend $180
on a game that plays for 10 hours, or pay monthly for a game you may or may not play all of the time. yes online games seem to be the
safest route for developers, piracy wont really work in that case, but that just grows the "market" for hackers. Trust me, the guys hacking
are just as smart as the guys creating the anti-hack code, the only thing is once the hackers get the code, its only a matter of time, they
will always hack it. It's been that way since the beginning of software, since the beginning of IDEAS.

Back to the prices.. Companies rack up the price to improve profits, piracy goes up, sales goes down. This tactic is stupid and employed because
companies are freaking out and not thinking clearly.

As logn as piracy exists, you have to compete with the pirates. Companies wont aknowledge this because piracy is illegal. What they dont realize
is just because you pretend its not real, doesn't mean its not. Then they cry foul when they lose money. Hello? Anyone home?

It seems sad, but hey -- Stop employing 100 people with 300k salaries to make ONE game. If you don't use common sense from the beginning, your
only setting yourself up for disaster.

If I sold 100 copies I would kiss the ground I walk on and start going to church.

If it weren't for the outrageous amounts of money companies expect to make from their products, I would be on the industries side, but I'm not.

Also, the brazillian thing, what do you expect? If you don't provide what the people want, they will get it themselves. Piracy was the means to an end, to provide gaming for the people. If they can't get it one way, they will get it another.

I think piracy provides a good balancing of "weights". I don't pirate games, I wouldn't pay for a (probably) crappy/broken pirated copy of a game.
But I don't favor anybody who complains their $50 title didn't make a billion dollars.

Uhg. I must be repeating myself, anyway.. Think about it.