Im not about to excuse pirating, but copyright violations and theft are two differnet things. Both are illegal, yeah but they're different categories completely. IN fact copyright infringement as far as crimes is a fairly new things in the history of man, and for all we know will one day be as archaic as cattle rustling. Not that I'm excusing cattle rustling. LOL. But whatever, pirating is overblown by game companies. But also it's obviously a problem, and probably a big reason why we're seeing a move towards downloaded content and in-app purchases and freemium games. They're all ways for the devs to control pirating.
Actually it is classified as copyright infringement and it is a civil matter (save some extreme cases) covered by the copyright act. On the other hand, theft is criminal. While I would discourage both, I am simply saying it is important to be aware of the differences. OT: I have been tracking the piracy of my own apps and unauthorized distribution only amounts to 0.4% of my total sales.
I still say that these games are so cheap - $0.99 - 59p up to on average $4.99 - £2.99 why would you want to be so stingy, tight, mean, scrooge, arsehole to deprive these devs of money they are entitled to. In most cases we are not talking about multiple-millionaires. We are talking about everyday people like you and me who have a regular job or go to school. They don't make a living from this and don't make much money from this. There are some exceptions but I am not really talking if the gamelofts of this world. If you can afford an iPad/iPad 2 or an iPod then you should be able to afford $0.99 or 69p FFS. Give these guys some credit for their work. It's not exactly ps3 prices, is it. Calm - rant over.
3 words: Devs are lazy. Look at mobigames. They included their "Perfect Cell" with anti-crack protection that didnt let to play the cracked version. Pirates, with theyre sadfaces on waiting for someone to crack it who eventually gave up. Pirates, if they want that game they are forced to buy it. I imagine im getting lot of whining:little devs dont have money blablabla. But those little devs, who make crap games are the ones that crowd the appstore.Its like firing a pistol(little dev) at a tank(big dev). So i dont get it. Why waste time on doing so? Make a good game for pc(steam)-xbox arcade and get some money to make anti-crack soft and then make an iphone game.Everybody is whining, we-get-only 840$ from sales. But when apple would provide anti-crack soft for everybody to use, i belive we would have like 5 games in appstore for 1 cool flash game. And Apple wouldnt provide that soft never, because "easy pirating" is one big argument to buy an idevice. So, let the arguments come. EDIT: Theres also IAP like thing, what gameloft did for that RTS and RPG
I've never read a post with so much wrong info. WoW! First of all, Mobigame can do that cuz they can afford it, where as indie devs can't. "Make a good game for pc(steam)-xbox arcade and get some money to make anti-crack soft and then make an iphone game." Um, WHAT?! If they can't afford to make an iphone game, HOW THE FREAKIN HELL ARE THEY SUPPOSE TO MAKE PC AND XBOX GAMES?! Wow, just leave now before you embarrass yourself some more.
As i had in edit, they could use IAP thingy. But yeah, some hobo with programming skills, a PC and 5$ could make a game, you mean that? Unless hes with just some much want-to-make-it type of feeling he CANNOT become a game dev. When someone wants to become a game dev, then he should have money to be sucessful, DOT
Loads. I could probably name a whole bunch of fairly regular posters that have let slip at some point. They usually go back and cover up the evidence though.
Hi crex, FYI we are indies at Mobigame, and I personnally did our anti-crack protection, it took "only" 2 days to write the code. Any programmer with some skills can do it. But in the long run, it's not a good option if you are the only one to do it, because pirate will just ignore you, and download something else. It's probably why big companies consider piracy as marketing and do not do anything to fight it. You can compare this to FAAD (Free App A Day) or AppGratuites. A game sells a lot more after a FAAD campaign, because more people are talking about it. Hope that helps. David
Pirates and Thieves - where do you draw the line? The image you agree with is missing the rest of the "transaction". Here is a more accurate representation: You actually agree with stealing. Your misguided thinking will not help you justify it. Misguided thinking is what leads you to believe you are entitled to test any app of your choosing before you buy. The truth is if a developer/publisher has not granted you the ability to test the app through a freemium purchase or a lite version, you are not entitled to do so with their full-paid version. You are simply stealing if you engage in this act. No entitlement is implied nor granted. If you are too impoverished to buy (anything in this world) you are not entitled to steal it. No entitlement is implied nor granted. And if there is lack of demand for a product, where is your entitlement to steal it? Again - no entitlement is implied, nor granted. The only thing I see implied is you believe the reproduction of an item is a one-sided transaction. Truth be told, a pirate and a thief have committed the same crime when they choose not to pay. Any questions? I'd be curious to know how many pirates subscribe to their own entitlement laws and actually return to the store to purchase the full-paid version of the app they "borrowed for testing" and kept.
OMG, I'm about to get into a flamethread about piracy, someone shoot me now.. I just had to contribute, that unlike many other products, owning movies or especially AAA games (or their equivalent 50 B+ app store games) is for people who are middle upper class or higher, generally. When I was younger, my family literally did not have money to pay for computer games, or movies. So the question becomes: where is there a system for a lower-priced game for poorer people? A sort of sliding scale? There is none. You either have the money, or you're too poor and that means you don't get to enjoy the same experience that others do. It doesn't justify piracy, but the way media is distributed isn't really justified either. Don't even try to come back at me with "these games are only $.99" and "you bought an iDevice you have the money." That subject has been worn into the ground and is a pile of BS. That said, thank God I can pay for my games nowadays.
bro, I realize some people can't really afford games, but the "you can buy an idevice so you can buy a dollar game" isn't bs at all. and if you can't afford a game, you still aren't entitled to have it through pirating. if you can't afford it, then don't buy it. it's that simple. and tbh, I realize people will still use this as an excuse and stuff, but if you don't have too much money, there's a reason. I realize getting a job is tough, but if you actually work hard; like really hard, getting a decent job should be no problem. unless somebody sabotaged your life, then if you don't have enough money, that's your problem. but you still don't have the right to take these devs' hard work illegally. and I also know some don't have the opportunities to get an education and such, but they shouldn't have idevices in the first place so that isn't part of the problem....
You should call them out. There's really no way to hide it if you demand proof, and they don't provide it. All of your receipts will always be on iTunes.
Media is distributed just like everything else in the world, with a price tag. You want to argue that, fine. But you're pretty much arguing something that has been around since the first city was built. I actually agree the games are only 99c argument is BS, which is why I never cite it. But they are unrelated. Just like everything else in this world, you either work for your entertainment, or someone else does for you. Our situations in life are our own. Leave it at the log in screen when you come to a forum.
I'll admit back in mayish of 2010 (I think), I pirated like somewhere from 3-5 games. but I realized I was being a d and have since bought all of those. IM SORRY
If you cant afford 99cent games, I think you have bigger problems to worry about in your life than wasting your time on some game. Its ridiculous how far pirates will go to justify their acts.
Too bad. Life isn't always fair. Not interested in your socialist dream, comrade. Too bad. Life isn't always fair. Also, cry me a river. If these "experiences" are so important to you, then IMPROVE your situation. If it comes down to money, then find a better-paying job. Or get an advanced degree. Or work two jobs. Or do freelance work or side-jobs. Whatever. People work for their money; what makes you so special that this rule doesn't apply for you? I know for sure, though, that bitching and whining on internet forums doesn't pay very well. Nothing does.
Of course. He's the Duke. But back to topic: there is one big thing we also should take into account. Let's say, you have no money and some friend gifted you his 3rd gen device, but you're still really poor without the chance to buy games... I have a surprise for you: freeebies, freebies, freebies! Nowhere else you get so much stuff LEGALLY for free as on the AppStore. (Ok, exclude the internet itself). Every day on the major advertisement sites (FAAD, Great App A Day, Daily App Dream, Free App Calendar), every friggin' day, you get like 5-8 games for free! Yes free. Sometimes only a few days old, sometimes AAA titles! But it's not only this! There are tons of free-to-play or freemium apps in the App Store. And another load of games which are always free. And there are some really good games involved. Aaaaand there's still more: promo codes! Yeah, you can get them everywhere, everyday! Oh, and did I mention beta tests? So, who would steal Apples in a store if there are apple trees in his backyard? No, you don't get the shiny big ones in the store, but you'll get other apples, some of them very sweet. A friend of mine is very poor because of an impediment. He can't work and is getting not much money. Has to spend this for the rent and food. He has a PC and loves games, he's playing quite a lot. He always has something new and good. But he never pirated a game. And why? Because there are thousands of free games, games with ads, full versions which went free, free-to-play games. Sometimes, he plays a demo of a full price game. He's absolutely ok with that. He even is having a lot of fun to find new free games. In fact, he will make his own free indie games blog soon. One time, he was sad. At the time when World of Warcraft started and everyone played it. He really wanted to play the game. As the priced dropped, I bought a copy for him and also bought play time cards for 3 month. He was really happy. But three months later, he simply stopped playing WoW and went back to his free games hunt. He said that it was nice, but he loves his free games even more. That's when I've learned that you have no excuse for piracy. Btw... let's drop the nitpicking about "theft", "stealing", "copyright infringement" and all the other terms. I know the difference between these words, still it's a kind of theft for me. But we all know what we are talking about, so let everybody call it as he wants. It really doesn't matter and only distracts from the main debate.
