Should I buy the Original games or piracy?

[Thomas Dewangga]

I have problem in purchasing PC games in my laptop. I'm from Indonesia where 89% PC in this country is the piracy version. All of the software, games, and Console games has the piracy version and the price is very very cheap. If Windows 7 is about 90$ (not so sure), in Indonesia we can get it with only 2$. And so with all the games software and console.

I'm realize that my country is a 3rd world country and under development which that mean not all of my people can pay the original software. The piracy software is selling freely in anywhere. Even you can download all the software games for free with torrent.

I'm admit that I'm used to be the piracy users. But since I going to collage, I realize that I can't using piracy forever, well because the piracy W7 crashing my PC. So I'm start to using the Original version of every software I use, including games.

I'm using steam games for a couple years and I used to play the free to play version. But last month I bought my first game from steam. And then all of my friend mad at me because they thought I shouldn't buy any games for PC. They told me to using torrent because it is free and nothing to loose. Yes all of them using piracy software, even most of internet cafe in Indonesia using piracy Windows.

So I'm the one who feel guilty in here in the crowd of piracy users. I have a plan to buy another game in steam and my friends like try to convince me to not be a fool. If you searching in Indonesian server Bing, you will find that most people prefer piracy software instead of the original. And that's was a common thing in here.

What do you think? Should I follow all of my country fellow to keep using piracy software, or buy another "genuine" software? I wish WC member from Indonesia read this.

 

[Newcron]

Why don't you find new friends? There are more than just a few Indonesian gaming groups on Steam if you search for them.

 

[stevesu]

I think only you can and should answer this question as we are from different parts of the world and won't understand your experience fully.
I will say I have worked at/for/with Microsoft for 18 years and appreciate you trying to break the mold and purchase what you can afford. One nice thing is when you buy it, you shouldn't run into any issues where it all of a sudden won't work, due to licensing issues.

 

[RumoredNow]

Our Community Rules are pretty clear Community Rules & Guidelines - Mobile Nations Forums

Keep it Legal - Moderators and admins reserve the right to close threads and ban members that post copyrighted and/or illegal materials. These kinds of activities can get us into trouble, and nobody wants that... so just don't do it. If you have questions on this, ask a moderator.

We don't condone Piracy or advocating Piracy here.

Your friends put their systems at risk by using Pirated software. It sounds like you are figuring this out though.


[WARN]Illegal Activities - Do not post, sell, link, discuss, or request warez, serials, ROMs, UDID's or illegal copies of intellectual property of others. Discussion on how to defeat the insurance protection with it on or off devices will not be tolerated on the forums: Remember accidental damage is not done on purpose. Claiming damage be accidental for the purposes of an insurance claim is misrepresentation and, fraud. Discussions regarding hardware or software modifications designed to steal service, such as ESN cloning & phone programming modifications are also forbidden in the forums. Discussion regarding stolen devices is not permitted.*

* Stolen devices should be reported to your local police and mobile service provider.[/WARN]


Because advocating or instructing on how to pirate software can be a permanent ban penalty it is safest if we only discuss the broad issue.


[WARN]Anyone found instructing in this thread on how to obtain and use pirated software will face penalties up to and including a permanent ban from all Mobile Nations sites.[/WARN]


It is a good topic for discussion. I don't want to see it get closed down because members can not behave or don't know where the line is. Hopefully it is very clear.

 

[Guytronic]

OP I can understand the dilemma here.
The default should always be to "purchase" the game.

Be proud that you have the desire to be honest.

 

[babazookz]

I am always trying to support developers so I buy original game.

 

[Thomas Dewangga]

Thanks for all your feedback guys. I finnaly made it. I bought every single game that I have pirate version before. It's feel fun because I can log into the Steam with pride when I'm playing the Premium Experience.

And now, my folks want me to share my Id Steam so they can play my games too, lol. Maybe this is the end of pirate version on my PC...

 

[heickelrrx]

Most of people are downloading pirated version to try the game. In my cases I do it and try it love it and buy the real thing. Not? Delete it.

Sounds fair to try the game huh

Then again some games are overpriced at some country. Services like steam has reduced this a lot. They offered refund system for some period.

I think that there will be a need for game market where people can afford it with too much currency barriers. And payment methods should be made easy with debit card (not credit card) or voucher, phone bill, ect so 14 years old kid can still grab it.

 

[Ali Tayari]

I will just mention my side of story but not sure how helpful it would be.
I'm currently studying in Cyprus but grew up in Iran. We have a really similar situation in Iran where pirated software/game is pretty much all over the place. Some are even quite advanced that are not any different than the actual original ones. When I was growing up, not knowing what piracy was to begin with (we used to share Atari/Superfamicom games/cartridges all the time so piracy wasn't the first thing crossing our minds).
After coming here to study and starting my developer life, I started to realize about the whole notion of Piracy.
As a student, it wasn't to just switch from pirated computer-life to genuine one over-night, but luckily with student offers and replacing the premium apps with alternative ones (cost-efficient or free) I managed to start the transition. The feeling is great as you are no longer feeling the guilt of stealing off of someone or some group's efforts.
As a developer, I can understand that piracy hurts and people saying "Well, if I pirate it's just one and it won't count" don't consider the possibility of lots of others doing the same. So, it does help when people purchase a service because the very money put into a game will be the seed for further investment (good profit results in better production and further advancements and maintaining the servers holding the games)
Regarding the games bit, I have an xbox and use offers that my friends come across to get some games couple of months following their launch. (Being PhD student and developer would help you avoid the desire for having a game for launch time, and instead gives you some chunks of time to play here and there)
Aside from that, I play League of Legends in spare times which is free and works for me. Certainly when the family is built up, following my PhD, I will revisit my gaming chapter with my kids and buy games and play with them without hesitation.

tl;dr piracy does hurt the developers (on small or big scale). If not affordable, there are always alternatives (free ~ cost-efficient) to pick up. Since I cannot invest on actively buying games, I'm saving up on my life so in future I can share the joy of gaming along with my family (kids). The more, the merrier.

 

[mohit9206]

Piracy is obviously bad but some companies original games and far more troublesome than pirated versions. Companies like Ubisoft for example don't respect pc gamers by releasing poor ports and stupid uplay. Why should a paying customer have to suffer more than a non paying customer? Game Companies should ask this question to themselves first.

 

[Lamicrosz]

Join the Steam (and Origin, Battle.net etc.) and Wait for Sale, Don't forget to tell your friend to try to purchase a Copyright Game

 

[shadow118]

I used to pirate games too, but when I got somewhat steady income, I started buying them on Steam (and other platforms). I started to stock up on games using Humble Bundle, you can get some great deals there. Steam sales are also a great way to get games cheap. Another place where I get games is stores like Kinguin, though that's a bit of a grey area. Now I have about 200 games on steam and maybe another 40 on other platforms. I still use torrents to see if it's even worth it to buy the game. Like WRC5, I wanted to see if the game really was as bad as they say and it was, played for 10 minutes and deleted it to never touch it again.
I still get a few weird remarks from some friends, when I say I buy my games, but the majority of my friends are on steam, I feel the piracy trend is slowly going down, atleast for games.

 

[Joshua Jackson]

I understand the concept of supporting the developers, by purchasing their products, but...
I've purchased many used games (eBay, GameStop, etc...) and I doubt the developer sees any of that return.
Take Titan Quest, for instance, I purchased the game after the developers went out of business (no compensation for any of them).

Current games are much of the same...
Final Fantasy 3, for Windows Phone, was around $15, when first released (and still is).
At one point, it was a Red Stripe deal for around $6.
I purchased it, at the sale price.

If you have the money, and want to support the development, purchase new.
If you don't have the money, and want to support the development, purchase new on sale.
If you just want the game, purchase it some other way.
I'm a big fan of supporting what you like (referencing Titan Quest, I became a Legendary supporter of Grim Dawn).
Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that aren't worth $0.99.
Hehehe...

I am an amateur developer (Windows Phone, Windows 8, Windows 10).
Currently, I have 9 apps in the Windows Stores.
All of them are free.
I do it as a hobby, though (a way to keep my skills up and facilitate my own interests).
I don't do it for a living.
As such, my view on monetary compensation is a little different than a lot of people's.
There are some products that are worth paying for.
There are some products that are worth paying a lot for.
There are a lot of products that I don't think are worth what they are asking.
Hehehe...
JJ

Edit...
I will say this, about piracy, though...
I would steer clear of what other people have cracked/patched, for you.
That's a great way of ruining your computer and giving all your information away.
If you are going to pirate, there are much safer ways of doing it.
JJ

 

[TedNall]

Go Original! It really wort it! Its not that expensive and you support making games. Imagine that all go pirate we would have no games in next few years.

 

[areithropos]

Go Original! It really wort it! Its not that expensive and you support making games. Imagine that all go pirate we would have no games in next few years.

This "imagine if all would"-argument is lame as it works with everything you desire and is therefore meaningless.

Apart from this, I see no point in pirating a game anymore as one is readily able to see videos or reviews today of bigger titles; and smaller titles are often very cheap but should no infos be available I no longer waste my time for such games.

 

[rahulpah]

if you can pay for software or games ...... you should not use pirated one.... always try to purchase original games..... suppose you got a job and your boss don't pay you, how will you feel then.... you will feel really bad for not getting paid for the work you have done.... so do try to purchase original content whether it is a game, movie, software or song etc

 

[areithropos]

The problem is also even if you crack a game because it is one of those exclusively for one console or with extras under this or that condition, you will likely hurt the developers more than the publishers.

But because of the marketing strategies of today I would not start a moral debate about this.

 

[Sager-Naji]

Buy originals. Usually I try the game first (cracked) if I like it I will buy it .

 

[MadMonkey119]

As a developer of games I take a realistic approach to piracy. If you can afford the game without having to sacrifice rent, food, or anything important you should try and purchase the game and support the developers and receive the benefits of owning it on steam. However if you aren't in the position to afford to purchase the game or aren't going to purchase it pirating it to play it really isn't hurting anyone.