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BIGMIKE
Premium
join:2002-06-07
Westminster, CA
| reply to jc100
Re: Must be a slow news day
Game Developer Asks To Hear From Pirates
"Indie game developer Cliff Harris has long waged war against games piracy, but has issued a call to pirates to tell him why he is wrong. Assuming that developers are missing out on potential sales from disgruntled pirates, Cliff wants to hear specifically from people who have pirated his games. Not to criticize or lecture them, but to answer a simple question. Why? The reasons people give for copyright infringement/piracy are many and varied, but much of the debate has centred around music and movies, with big 'Triple-A' games an occasional consideration. With specific application to the world of small budget 'indie' games like those Cliff makes, he wants to know the thought processes behind people pirating the games. What puts people off buying? Is it quality, cost, DRM, ease of access? Is there anything that can be done to convert those people to buyers? While many pirates often make good general points about the reasons for the widespread pirating of PC games, it's unusual to get a chance to address specific developers with specific reasons. If you knew 100% that the developer would read your email explaining why you pirated their game, what would you say? »yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=···from=rss | |
jc100
join:2002-04-10
2 edits | I'm not an avid gamer, but I HAVE bought several games in past. Star Craft, Counter Strike, Counter Strike Source, War Craft, etc. I have also bought loads of software too. Yet, my persona; opinion on why I've also downloaded stuff is as follows. I get sick of the price gauging that often takes place for software and games. I know their are development costs and people to pay, but let's be realistic. Companies often OVERLY INFLATE items. Look at a music CD. Most have 1 or 2 good songs, but are 20 dollars. Why do you think people now are wiling to go to the buy per song model? Itunes is a MEGA HIT.
People want to buy what they like, and not be gauged for excess. Personally, I'll tell you where I do buy from for games, Valve. Steam has got the right idea about Downloading Games for 10 or 20 dollars. Why is this smart, well I got the game On my computer and don't have to pay for the packaging, distribution, and cost of a hard copy. This cuts the price in half or more on a lot of things. Sure, I think Valve needs to chop more off the actual price for some stuff bought online. I mean, you aren't given a hard copy and the perks as said above. Still, they are migrating to the right Mindset. Tailor to the needs of customers, and cut out the frivilous crap, and you get people to spend money. | |
kamm
join:2001-02-14
Brooklyn, NY
 ·T-Mobile US
1 edit | reply to BIGMIKE
You mean his asking what to do after they have removed the fuckin' DRMs, rootkits and all the fuckin crap a rightful owner has to put up with???
Tell him fuck off, along with all the worthless BS crap EA and all the mega-giga-corps throw out yearly - and that he needs to talk to cookie-crunching fat@ss but smartie Newell and look at Steam, the convenience they offer and then take 50% off of any current AAA-title's pricetag and then people might will consider buying his games.
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Necronomikro
join:2005-09-01
2 edits | reply to BIGMIKE
said by BIGMIKE  :Game Developer Asks To Hear From Pirates "Indie game developer Cliff Harris has long waged war against games piracy, but has issued a call to pirates to tell him why he is wrong. Assuming that developers are missing out on potential sales from disgruntled pirates, Cliff wants to hear specifically from people who have pirated his games. Not to criticize or lecture them, but to answer a simple question. Why? The reasons people give for copyright infringement/piracy are many and varied, but much of the debate has centred around music and movies, with big 'Triple-A' games an occasional consideration. With specific application to the world of small budget 'indie' games like those Cliff makes, he wants to know the thought processes behind people pirating the games. What puts people off buying? Is it quality, cost, DRM, ease of access? Is there anything that can be done to convert those people to buyers? While many pirates often make good general points about the reasons for the widespread pirating of PC games, it's unusual to get a chance to address specific developers with specific reasons. If you knew 100% that the developer would read your email explaining why you pirated their game, what would you say? »yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=···from=rss I recently re-purchased a couple of blizzard titles via their download store, and was pleasantly surprised by the lack of DRM in the new version. No copy protection, just the requirement of having a key to play on their servers. That works for me. (I, in fact, mostly play it lan or single-player).
For smaller companies, if I download it, its often due lack of availability of the game.
I prefer to download the games, and will sometimes pay for the download (a la steam, or blizzard's new download store).
So, my response? Allow for downloads of your game, direct distribution, and don't charge more for the download than it costs in a store. | |
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