Is piracy really a problem for Volition?

[srnewbie]

Yep. There are people with different mindset and circumstances Not everyone would use pirated products just because it's free or much cheaper (if buy from a store). There are people who talks about loyalty and respect towards the developer. Some others seeing piracy as something really low, etc.

If you see only with one eye, of course developer don't get money from pirated copy. However if you broaden your sight, piracy can give them advantage, which as I said earlier: "Fame".

Because of some circumstances, I started with pirated gaming PS2, Game Boy, PSP and PC. Now? I play PS3, Vita, and PC (although have stopped using it for gaming now) totally LEGIT.

Thanks to those pirated games, they introduced me to many different games and let me try on it, which turned me into a loyal customer for several game companies. Oh yeah, not only I buy original copy. I also buy DLC and merchandise too.

Imagine if there's no pirated games in my country back then. I wouldn't be giving my money to those companies by now. I'm sure there are a lot of people with the same 'gaming background' as mine too.

 

[VIPER VENOM]

Piracy is a problem from a lot of perspective but so is dropping a lot of hard earned money on a game you aren't sure you are gonna like. Now all said and done i've learned from my time time spent texturing weapons and several other things i have gotten pretty good at, that i have realized what kind of hours and frustration companies put in to making these games. Yet there are 2 ways to look at this from a certain perspective:
1: companies loose a lot of money when people "pirate" or crack the game.
2: wouldn't it make a little more sense to test a game before you went out and spent 60 dollars or more on something you aren't sure you are going to like. Wouldn't it make more sense to test a mod on a "pirated" or bullshit copy of the game than accidently messing up your legit game you paid a lot of money for?

Now i'm not saying i am a pirate as everyone can verify my linked account that i own almost every saints row game. Yet it does bring up the questions why people "pirate" games. Now i'm not saying it's right or wrong but there is a contraversial point of view here no matter how you look at. But from my perspective, if volition was to apply the resources they have that i have applied with simple windows paint acheiving a 3d effect from weapons and a realistic look to the gameplay, that they would be able to create a game so realistic it would break the market and everyone would want to buy it and have no need for anyone to pirate the game.

So i guess the real question is:
Why hasn't volition done anything about "pirates" and do they truly care?

EDIT:
If volition were to apply the realistic textures as i achieved here:

and the 3d effects here:

that i achieved with simple program such as windows paint, with the programs and advanced resouces they have, the possibilities would be endless to create a game so incredible that everyone would want it and buy it and piracy wouldn't be necessary.

 

[Malachor]

Wouldn't it make more sense to test a mod on a "pirated" or bullshit copy of the game than accidently messing up your legit game you paid a lot of money for?.

Seriously? That's the worst reason I can think of for pirating a game. You want to test your mod on a version of the game that is as close to the version that other people are going to be playing your mod on.
If mod makers for the SR series tried your idea how far would they get? Nowhere fast based on the number of people complaining that various mods didn't work properly, or at all, on their pirated versions.
And if you screw your legit install, then you just reinstall the game. No big deal, been there done that myself, though not with this game.

 

[VIPER VENOM]

Seriously? That's the worst reason I can think of for pirating a game. You want to test your mod on a version of the game that is as close to the version that other people are going to be playing your mod on.
If mod makers for the SR series tried your idea how far would they get? Nowhere fast based on the number of people complaining that various mods didn't work properly, or at all, on their pirated versions.
And if you screw your legit install, then you just reinstall the game. No big deal, been there done that myself, though not with this game.

Sounds like good reason to me. To make sure my mod won't work on a pirated game. But there are 2 sides to every story as more than one person has pointed out if you read this hole thread.

 

[bgan69]

viper ,do u own the full package of SR3 ?

Let me know if u don't.

 

[Tymon]

My take on piracy is a pretty simple one. The fact many people blindly assume that piracy is automatically bad aren't taking into consideration that as a general rule mostly either A: The pirates can't afford to buy the game or software to begin with (Or simply can't buy it due to restrictions), which means this isn't a lost sale, or B: They're pirating it to test it out before they actually make an investment. I myself have pirated games in the past to try them out because frankly, over my many years as a gamer, I've gotten completely screwed out of thousands of dollars because of companies hyping up games, showing these awesome gameplay videos, and releasing demos that are awesome (and then you get the game and it's either completely different, or the demo segment you get to play is the ONLY good part of the game and the rest sucks). To say that piracy is bad because it screws companies over, but companies screwing us over with that kind of stuff is fine? I kind of have a problem with that mentality. At the end of the day, countless independent studies have proven that piracy actually helps more than it hurts. I can say that if I didn't pirate games in the past, I wouldn't own the legitimate ones now. As others have pointed out, it's kind of like advertisement.

 

[Quantum]

At the end of the day, countless independent studies have proven that piracy actually helps more than it hurts.

Could you post some links to those studies? I'd be really interested in reading them. I'm not being sarcastic either -- I've just heard the same argument before but I've never actually read any of the studies. You don't have to post links to a lot of them -- just maybe 4 or 5 would be helpful. Thank you!

I will admit that I didn't pay for my first copy of a Saints Row game, which was Saints Row: The Third, but it wasn't pirated either. I got the Xbox 360 version free through an XBox Live "Games with Gold" promotion. But after that I was hooked, and I purchased all of the other Saints Row games (including the PC version of Saints Row: The Third). But I'm concerned that, if a new game was available for free, there would be little incentive to pay for it ever.

 

[Tymon]

I'm not sure if posting links like that would actually be allowed. You can google pirates pay more to find a number of what I'm referring to. One study proves that they buy 10 times more music and another that they buy 300% more content in general.

 

[Quantum]

I'm not sure if posting links like that would actually be allowed. You can google pirates pay more to find a number of what I'm referring to. One study proves that they buy 10 times more music and another that they buy 300% more content in general.

I'm not trying to advocate piracy because I have a lot of doubts about the scientific accuracy of these studies and I think the pricing model should be the decision of the game author. I'm just trying to discourage unsubstantiated claims. I think it's a bit different for music. Music artists can make money through concerts, so even if they were to give away their music for free, they would still have an alternate means of obtaining income. But, again, it should be their decision. And I can agree that allowing more people to hear the music would lead to more people paying to see their concerts. Game companies, however, have a single source of income which is the sale of the games themselves. And game development, particularly for open world games like Saints Row, is very expensive. I want them to have enough money to hire new people and make improved games. But I think Volition's strategy has been quite generous.

 

[Minimaul]

I'm not sure if posting links like that would actually be allowed. You can google pirates pay more to find a number of what I'm referring to. One study proves that they buy 10 times more music and another that they buy 300% more content in general.

Posting links like that is fine.

And you're right - equating every pirated copy to a lost sale is bullshit - that model has never worked.

Like you say, there are too many reasons why it doesn't work - people who could never have afforded to buy it in the first place, or wouldn't have been allowed to buy it - the biggest example for this group is kids. No real income of their own so a limited budget for games, and parents who may not approve of either the specific games or gaming in general - so they turn to piracy to get more titles to play. Many of these kids become big purchasers when they finally get their own income. But there are many of them who don't and just continue to pirate games/movies/music because they're already used to getting it for free.

Edit: and yes, in some ways, for this group piracy is an advantage for the games developers - it gets kids into franchises that they would otherwise never have touched, and gets them to spend their money on those franchises when they grow older. Hell, my first experiences with Volition titles was borrowing Descent from a friend, then borrowing Freespace 1 from the same friend later. (Yes, I know Descent wasn't strictly a Volition title, but didn't Parallax eventually split into Volition and Outrage?)

Edit 2: where the hell is Freespace 3?!

That said, the Saints Row series isn't really suitable for kids... but having said that, I was playing games rated the same or worse long before I was the age on the box.

The lack of demos and real, accurate and honest previews is a genuine problem. Pair that with the fact that it's nearly impossible to find a gaming reviewer who actually shares your opinion on games (for for companies like IGN, that actually has their own opinion and not the one they've been told to have this week) and deciding what to buy is tricky. I can kinda understand the argument for pirating games to preview them, especially on a limited budget.

But you don't need to be chasing around mod sites for a game with the pirated copy if you're doing that - surely if you've decided the game is worth modding, then it's time to buy it?