Q&A Pirates around the water cooler.

[Crayon]

So you got an IRL acquaintance. Coworker, bookie, whatever. And you find out that they like playing games on their computer. Oh how lovely. Now you have something in common and somebody to talk shop with.

Then they casually drop that they pirate all their games. Unabashedly. You say, "oh I haven't bought that game yet." They say "it's okay. Just download it."

This only happens to me from time to time. It might only be a hypothetical for you. But I'm wondering what you do.

Do you say a little something about how you don't do it? Go further to explain why?

Let it roll completely off your back? Do you think about maybe saying something later on?

Do you start repeating what they said very loudly in the office in hopes of catching the attention of a moderator and getting them bannred!?!!!

 

[fantomena]

"Cool beans, you must be so proud".

 

[Hektor]

I honestly don't care if people pirate anything.
When i was young and poor all my games were pirated as well.
To some, i was the warez guy

So yea, i wouldn't ay anything about it at all.

Of course people should pay if they can, because creators deserve it, but if they don't it's not that big a deal.

 

[Crayon]

When it comes up for me, I'm generally not bothered. I really believe that they wouldn't have bought at least most of the games anyway.

However, I always sneak in a "if it's worth playing, it's worth paying."

 

[curi0usBystander]

There was a time when I pirated like most of the games I played (I was young(er) and poor) and then again it kind of was the norm with the people I interecacted so I didn't care.
So It's not like I'm in a position to judge anybody.

 

[Dinjoralo]

My boyfriend is insistent on pirating stuff, which irks me. I want to support creators whenever I can. Even if it means using the Epic Games Store...

 

[uraizen]

"That's not how I roll."

 

[Arulan]

I'd probably say "I don't do that", and leave it at that unless pressed further. If I eventually got to know this person as a friend then I may suggest otherwise.

 

[Crayon]

There was a time when I pirated like most of the games I played (I was young(er) and poor) and then again it kind of was the norm with the people I interecacted so I didn't care.
So It's not like I'm in a position to judge anybody.

I think many, many of us pirated games when we were kids or maybe even just hard up. I know when I was a kid, I didn't really have much concept of truly owning the game or people being paid or what. I just thought of it as sharing. I think I was in high school and one of our classmates was basically running a piracy and hacking business (not a little thing. He was making a serious chunk of change.) And I finally realized that something was wrong there. By that age, I knew that it was technically illegal even though everyone was doing it, but when I saw that guy running that shop, that put it in perspective and I switchef to just being smarter with my game money.

My boyfriend is insistent on pirating stuff, which irks me. I want to support creators whenever I can. Even if it means using the Epic Games Store...

Well that's annoying. I didn't think of that scenario.

"That's not how I roll."

You somehow just managed to make paying for your video games sound cool. I'm going to say that next time.

 

[NarohDethan]

I just tell them that games are so cheap the effort to pirate them is not worth it.

 

[fsdood]

I barely meet any people who pirate stuff these days. Most people I know are console players and are too lazy to get a hacked version since they can't live without online play. I would probably not say anything if they did because it's not that big of a deal except maybe when a developer really deserve it I guess

 

[Nabs]

I don't judge. I've been there before. I'd just let them know that piracy can be dangerous, especially with some releases coming with bitcoin miners. I don't know if that's still happening, but I remember a few years back when folks would run into crazy performance issues and not know why.

Honestly, if you want to convert someone, all you gotta do is send them a few Steam keys. The forward them to Fanatical/Humble/ITAD/Deals.gg.

 

[low-G]

It doesn't bother me. I think the only time the notion of someone pirating stuff bothered me was when I was a fanboy of some platform - which is probably the worst reason to be mad at someone for pirating, too.

Or maybe when someone bragged about a high spec PC and how they saved lots of money by pirating all their games.

 

[uraizen]

You somehow just managed to make paying for your video games sound cool. I'm going to say that next time.

It usually gets a "that's cool, I can respect that" response. It's never brought up again and you just discuss games from that point on.

 

[Dandy]

I remember when we got a C64 when I was super-young, one of my uncles gave us boxes and boxes of disks with games on them. We seriously never bought anything for it the entire time we had it. After we got a PC, my parents would buy me a game for my birthday, and 2-3 games for Christmas. That was it. Me and my friends would copy all of our games and give them to each other, and there was a place that rented PC games for a while, so that was also a source of pirated games. Then the internet showed up, and it was a buffet of piracy.

I don't think I ever thought of it as stealing. I know my parents didn't. We weren't well off, and I still remember how frustrated my mother was after buying a full priced game($90-100CAD back in the day)for me and then finding out I had beaten it a week later because I spent every moment of free time playing it.

I don't know what changed for me. Maybe having a job? Maybe digital distribution? Or both?

 

[Digoman]

For context, I'm a PC gamer from Brazil where for a long... long time piracy was the normal and buying games was the exception. I bought several games (even single player ones) but was no saint and also pirated a lot of others, so I was in no position to judge or say anything.

When Steam started to become more popular and regional prices were good, it was easy to go more or less 100% "legit" because I was also getting older and had less time/patience to deal with finding good trustworthy torrents/downloads for the games, cracks, updates and so on.

During this period, if the topic presented itself I did tell friends that I thought it was worth it to buy the games. It wasn't that expensive anymore and, more importantly... it was very convenient. Some of them were convinced, others not, but either way that was the extent of me saying anything about it... aside from the fact that since I was not longer getting the scene releases, I wasn't going to be much help in troubleshooting any problems for my friends, as I was the "computer guy" they came for help

Nowadays? I'm not going to advocate for piracy and personally have even less patience to deal with untrustworthy downloads in general, but between the big price increases, Epic Store drama, and developers/publishers in general treating customers like shit and trying to exploit them with gambling mechanics (ops, sorry ... "surprise mechanics") and every dirty psychological trick in the book, I'm also not going to spend 1 second trying to convince anyone that is worth supporting the industry. So yeah, right now if someone says he/she is pirating something (which to be fair is rare in my circle of friends given our age), I will just shrug it off.

 

[RionaaM]

I just answer with the truth: I stopped pirating games when I got my first job several years ago, after but I don't care if they do. That said, I did hold my ground whenever my friends mocked me for buying original games back then. Nowadays some of them have a Steam library of dozens, if not hundreds of games, and a few even have access to mine through Family Sharing. So who's laughing now?

...Not me. I spent a shameful amount on games and I would do it again .

 

[teezzy]

I don't pirate new games for whatever reason, but I'm constantly downloading movies and tv shows. Also I'll download the rare album I can't find via Google Play Music if I have to, or if I want .flac files. Can't remember the last time I purchased software of any sort, and I do a lot of creative work.

I don't make much money, and I consume media at a rate which it would be absurd for me to continue to squander away what little I have towards entertainment the way I used to. After selling off my huge game collection, dvd and blu ray collection, and even record collection - I'm done. Only thing I really buy now is Steam games and used books.

 

[Alo81]

I’m actually kind of that guy at my job. I have my Switch hacked and have discussed it several times at work. I still purchase copies of the games on my account with my S/O’s Switch, but will load the games on the hacked Switch so that I can install mods and do home brew/Emulators. Thus far, I haven’t really gotten any negative impressions from people at all.

 

[NarohDethan]

The only time I've given shit to someone due to piracy was to a guy who always complains about the government, how everyone wants the easy way, thinks socialism is bad, etc. But when they do it then it is Okay™

 

[Crayon]

I’m actually kind of that guy at my job. I have my Switch hacked and have discussed it several times at work. I still purchase copies of the games on my account with my S/O’s Switch, but will load the games on the hacked Switch so that I can install mods and do home brew/Emulators. Thus far, I haven’t really gotten any negative impressions from people at all.

If you are buying the game before getting the image or whatever, that's not anywhere near a problem for me. That's what I call not the letter of the law but the spirit of the law.

Oh man remember when that switch hack came out? All the ones freaking out over how terrible it was and trying to stick piracy to whoever was okay with it lol. That thread was a guilty pleasure.

...
Most of the reactions here are in line with not being too fussed or not judging someone for piracy. That includes me, too.

Now that I'm thinking about it more, it seems like more of a standard that I would hold myself to and not others to. Or maybe that I've come to enjoy picking out and buying a game? Or having a collection that feels more legitimate and that's more satisfying?

I feel like I would never pirate anything again, yet I don't care that much of other people do it. And I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it'll come to me later.

 

[Swenhir]

Figure out why they pirate and try to nudge them in the right direction without being obnoxious about it. When people clamp up, you've lost and should back off.

 

[uraizen]

Figure out why they pirate and try to nudge them in the right direction without being obnoxious about it. When people clamp up, you've lost and should back off.

If somebody is able to realistically do this in the exact situation mentioned then they deserve a medal. I would never be able to, I'm just some guy they see from time to time.

 

[Milena]

I'm from Italy, so it's totally normal to hear that people download movies, tv series, music, e-books and of course video-games. It's also totally normal to leech Netflix, Sky or other subscriptions from others.

I just say I don't do that anymore (because let's be honest, I did pirate a few games and movies when I was younger and poor, although I bought everyhing I've ever pirated since then) and leave it at that, trying not to mention my huge media collection because people would think I'm weird.

At most, if I'm talking to someone I care about, I try to explain that in most cases it's more convenient to just buy something than pirating it.

 

[Swenhir]

If somebody is able to realistically do this in the exact situation mentioned then they deserve a medal. I would never be able to, I'm just some guy they see from time to time.

I actually think I can most of the time, but it depends on the person you are talking to and what the tone of the discussion is. It's really just about being friendly and not being that guy that nags you like a Jehova's witness.

 

[Matimeo]

I definitely give people a hard time, especially if I know they have the means to actually purchase games.
I tend to give people a harder time , the smaller the studio behind the game.

 

[BlackRainbowFT]

To be honest, I know very few people IRL who actually know something about video games. And usually I'm the one with more of an "open mind" about piracy (I used to pirate almost everything back when I had no income whatsoever).

Nowadays I still refuse to buy anything that I'm not 99% sure I'll still have access to in 10 years time ... which mostly means console games; mostly because of stuff like requiring patches, lacking content which all depend on Sony/MS/Nintendo's servers. (I do buy games that I consider masterpieces... even after I'm already done with them, like the Marios and the Zeldas).

I still "pirate" PC games whenever my SO wants to play some expensive game that I bought for myself... She's a huge 4x fan, and I refuse to spend 120 Swiss francs on release day for two copies (assuming it's 60 CHF a pop...). We usually end up buying a second legit copy whenever the game is 75% off or something. Sadly, family sharing is useless to me, since we usually play during the same hours.

But one time I did talk to one guy who ONLY pirated games... I had just bought a brand new copy of Super Mario Galaxy 2 and asked me if I was excited to play it. I told him that I'd already finished the game but that I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to own a legit copy. He thought I was dumb as hell and couldn't understand why I'd "waste my money" like this or why one should reward developers for their hard work... But I knew he didn't have much money and that even if I changed his mind he would have never been able to buy games... so I just dropped it.

 

[Ge0force]

I always try to discourage people from pirating. Is a game too expensive for you? Wait a few months and you can buy it at a much lower price. Don't want to support a certain publisher or store owner? Go play games that aren't involved in business practices you don't like. There are so many great and cheap games out there to play!

 

[Kthulhu]

Depends on the person and why they did it.

If you're broke or are trying to play a game you cannot legally obtain I don't really see piracy as being immoral.

Though considering how many quality F2P games exist these days, it's not hard to enjoy gaming without spending a penny.

 

[Crayon]

Depends on the person and why they did it.

If you're broke or are trying to play a game you cannot legally obtain I don't really see piracy as being immoral.

Though considering how many quality F2P games exist these days, it's not hard to enjoy gaming without spending a penny.

The context does make all the difference, it does. Reading through the comments he reminds me of how many people in different situations got to enjoy a game when they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it, and likely couldn't afford some other things. In that case, it's a victimless crime and I think it backs up the service problem theory.

 

[Big_Al]

I really don't give a shit tbh plus who am I to judge when I played pirated PC and PSX games back in the day as a kid. That would be some hypocrisy even if I don't encourage it either. The thing I found with piracy is that when you have loads and loads of pirated games you eventually got to the stage where you wanted the latest game just to 'have it' instead of really wanting to play it, or at least I did. As I got older it's so much more of a time thing these days rather than mostly money as it usually is I guess for most folks. I can buy any game I want basically but the time play it sometimes not so much (Not everyone of course but a good few)

Plus with F2P games, sales, bundles and even developers giving games away for free at times there's plenty out there. For example if you didn't have a lot of money then Epics free games they are giving away is absolutely a good thing for a lot of people regardless of how you feel about the store itself.

 

[Trisolarian]

I'd just say that I don't do that anymore. I haven't pirated any game since mid 2011. Since joining the broad and mulitvaried IT workforce, I've been trained in deploying software and setting up offices and formal security training. It pays to pay.

I'd probably tell them that they were pushing their luck and "being quick" against "viruses" doesn't work lol.

As to RL moderators and their ban hammer, we don't need no stinking moderators!

 

[Stevey]

I would just say that I dont pirate games because I can afford to buy them and leave it at that.

 

[ISee]

As most people I pirated as a kid and teenager, but stopped doing it as an adult.
Not just because I started earning money, but also because cracked games often didn't work correctly, applying game patches/bug fixes was often impossible, download speeds were atrocious, maleware, weird anti DRM software that had to be installed (back in the day) etc.
Let's be honest here, DOS era pirating was easy, Windows 95+ started to be annoying. No idea how it is today.

About your colleague: I'd do the same as seeing somebody taking cocaine on a toilet during a restaurant visit. Shrug and move on.
If addresses directly to pirate a game I'd answer honestly: I buy the games I like, it's not that expansive you can get them pretty cheap through those subscription services or key distributors like cdkeys. And if I'm not sure I pre order on steam and refund if I don't like it, like I did with Wolfenstein Youngbloods recently. It's just not worth playing a bad game, even if it's free. Maybe add how much pirated games suck from a service perspective and because of day one, two and three patches.
I'd still talk about gaming with the person, just not about pirating.

 

[JMTHEFOX]

I remember when I was a very young lad, my mom would take me to my stepfather's old house. One of his friends there had a CD with an SNES emulator with games on it as well as the Nebula emulator, which were the first experiences I ever had with emulation and inspired me to embrace emulation. So I download games from certain romsites (which I will not mention) as both a child and a teen a lot, but less often as an college student. I try to buy as many of the games legally as I can.

First PC game that I ever pirated was Fallout 3 and it made me interested in buying the game legally. There was also hacked Steam clients like PacSteam but I avoid that shit like the plague. I also downloaded torrents for Sony Vegas, which I gave up a long time ago.

I also attempted to use Perfect Dark (which is a P2P manga pirate program) to get a doujinshi manga based on Puni Puni Poemy but I gave up and nowadays resorted to reading manga online or purchase physical manga legally.

To me, its hard as fuck to avoid piracy unfortunately.

 

[Li Kao]

It could turn very awkward, but simply because there is no very good way to follow up on the co-worker's statement.
Otherwise not a single fuck would be given. I'm not without past sins, I'm not in charge of their education and moral fortitude, and there are maybe a million things I would consider more important than this in a co-corker / friendship relation.
I try not to be consciously judgemental.

 

[BernardoOne]

It would be very hypocritical of me to criticise them. I still pirate a lot in other mediums. I stopped pirating PC games because Steam made it a lot more convenient to buy games than to pirate them. To be able to access them in any PC, even one with Linux, with cloud saves at the ready, mods that only need one click to install and the top controller configuration API in existence that makes sure I can play even 2 decade old games with a controller without any issues. In addition to be able to share the vast majority of my library with my brother in a legal and convenient way. All those are amazing advantages over pirated copies.

On other mediums tho , I pirate quite a bit. Also buy a lot, but still. It all comes down to quality, availability, pricing, convenience and even preservation. The TV show and movie mediums especially are the most heinous with the insane licensing issues and regional restrictions.
I've stopped subscribing to Netflix because they started cracking down on VPNs. My country is one with the least amount of content available on Netflix. I still have to pay the same as everyone else. Add to that the constant price increases and Netflix loosing content to competitors that will not even be available on my country for a few years, if they even come at all, and in happy to be off the streaming train.

Sheer incompetency and poor quality products don't help either. A product can be properly available for purchase but it's pointless if it's a botch job. As a videophile quite a bit of piracy use is because of this.
Some examples of movies I love that I would have no issue buying if they didn't fuck it up.
Alladin and The King of Thieves Blu-ray: Disney fucked it up and it's a 16:9 crop of a 4:3 movie. The best version available to the public is a 720p version that was transmitted on Netherlands TV once and people ripped it.
Hard Boiled Blu-ray is a simple upscale of the DVD version...except for the Japan-only release which for some reason was actually made from the master.

I have a lot of Portuguese versions of Disney comics I bought. I also downloaded a lot of them. I also contributed a lot of scans myself to websites. Because that shit can't really be bought after the month it released in unless you buy used. And I'm someone who recently spent around 300€ on a proper Don Rosa comic collection.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that there are many factors and many different uses for piracy and I can't really judge anyone much for using it. And that proper availability, product quality, convenience and proper pricing are the proper ways of combating piracy. Many people would like to buy your stuff if properly available and we'll done.
Priced well, too. It's kinda silly we here need to pay the same as someone in Germany does despite their minimum wage being the triple of ours.

 

[fantomena]

All games I pirate to see if I like them or not, if I should delete them from my wishlist or not. I don't play any pirates game for more than 30 min because if I enjoy the game, I would rather buy it and get the features the service has to offer along with it.

Im actually not able to play more than 30 min of a pirated game, because if I want more, I will just buy it.

 

[Crayon]

Other mediums is a good point. I only go pull something down when it's for some reason impossible to get legitimately. Usually this is an old television show or something. Hardly ever happens, tho. Still pirating, though.

And you know, roms. I don't need to go get them as much. I have a collection from years of downloading them. Before the games became common to re-release or remonetize such as the case for the Wii virtual console, I could hardly consider it piracy. but now, they are charging for those games again, and I still use those roms even though I don't download them anymore. So is that piracy or not?