STEAL THIS GAME!

[abottig]

"If they're going to pirate somebody, we want it to be us rather than somebody else....We understand that in the long run, the fundamental asset is the installed base of people who are using our products. What [we] hope to do over time is convert them to licensing the software."

--Jeff Raikes, Microsoft Executive

 

anytime someone asks a legitimate question about a pirated copy of software, people jump all over them with their holier-than-thou bullsh*t, and then a mod locks the topic(usually throwing in their own barb as well). the fact that we are forbidden to speak about pirated software on this board is a f*cking joke.

 

as i understand it, this board is for discussing the PC version of GTAIV. when discussing ANY game for PC, one of the first things that comes to mind is piracy. in fact, nationmaster.com has listed the world software piracy rate at 59.9%! in the U.S.A. the rate is 20% and in the UK it's at 26%. in Armenia, a whopping 93% of all software is pirated. it is mainstream, yet the word "piracy" has become taboo around here. us not talking about piracy is like having an alcoholic father that nobody wants to talk about.

 

piracy(copyright infringement) is a fact of life. it will NEVER go away. they can code in all the suckurom they want, but in the end, users will find a way to distribute cracked software. so what should rockstar do?

 

ADAPT TO THE MARKET! GIVE PIRATES A REASON TO BUY THE GAME!!

 

hollywood and the recording industry were losing millions to piracy, when someone had the bright idea of offering a service that counteracts piracy. Enter: the itunes store. instead of browsing shady p2p networks for quality, reliable files, the itunes store makes the process easy and affordable, thus luring away millions of potential pirates. websites like hulu.com and netflix offer movie and television titles "on demand." netflix charges a monthly fee and hulu runs on advertising. all of these services and ones like them are examples companies adapting to the marketplace and lurin g away potential piracy.

 

multiplayer is the holy grail of gaming. the ONLY reason i bought the retail version of IV is so that i can play online. but, i'm very glad i got the cracked version first just to make sure the game would work on my pc. in the end, rockstar got my money. however if they took it even further, and spent those suckurom dollars on dedicated multiplayer servers and an overall better multiplayer experience, wouldn't that make MORE people want to buy rather than steal? it's time that companies like rockstar adapt to the market and give us a reason to buy thier games. until then they will continue to waste millions on DRM, which could've been spent on enriching the gaming experience.

 

 

i can go on, and on, and on about this. but i'll stop right here. i wonder if this topic will be locked? or maybe not, and we can actually air this thing out and see what people in the GTA community have to say about an issue that has a tremendous effect on their game. we need to stop just ignoring the issue, and use it to our advantage. dont you wonder what all that suckurom money could've been spent on instead?

 

 

 

(mods: keep in mind that i don't condone any discussion of where to find copyrighted material for illegal use.)

[Zut]

If you don't want the game then don't buy it. If you do then you MUST buy it. Thats how it works.

 

There is no excuse for piracy. All this "I wasnted to try if first" or "R* doesn't deserve my money" bullsh*t makes my blood boil. Grow up FFS.

[abottig]

There is no excuse for piracy. All this "I wasnted to try if first" or "R* doesn't deserve my money" bullsh*t makes my blood boil. Grow up FFS.

i didn't say either of those things in my post.

[mook42]

nice READ i think they should do this .this is why i paid for gta4 this time it was for the multi player .there thinking right this time around with gta4 but could of made some multi players servers to

[creat3d22]

 

If you don't want the game then don't buy it. If you do then you MUST buy it. Thats how it works.

 

There is no excuse for piracy. All this "I wasnted to try if first" or "R* doesn't deserve my money" bullsh*t makes my blood boil. Grow up FFS.

I agree about "R* doesn't deserve my money" being bullsh*t, but trying it first is pretty much a necessity nowadays... the number of people with performance issues with GTA IV is the best example of this.

 

I downloaded the game, it worked. Then I bought it.

Would I have shelled out 50$ on something I don't know will work on my machine? No chance in hell.

 

That's how Rockstar, Bethesda and Ubisoft have "gotten my money" this year.

If there's no demo, I'll find another way to make sure I can run it before wasting my hard-earned cash... the publishers (PUBLISHERS, not developers) could definately learn a thing or two about this.

[PeZzy]

I do believe the digital download version should cost much less than buying a retail DVD, and would result in more game sales. Maybe one day they will get the message.

 

People should not pirate games because it will just kill the PC gaming market, and I believe in owning software for the PC rather than being stuck with useless console DVDs and obsolete console boxes.

[abottig]

That's how Rockstar, Bethesda and Ubisoft have "gotten my money" this year.

Ditto. Valve too.

[Alexis27]

 

I downloaded the game, it worked. Then I bought it.

Would I have shelled out 50$ on something I don't know will work on my machine? No chance in hell.

 

Which is why demos should be downloadable for each game.

 

Just bear in mind there may not even be another GTA on PC if enough people pirate it.

[Mannias]

at last !

thats true, its just like crysis, they have a very short story line and then a huge multiplayer mode, why? because pll download the game to see how it works, they like it and they want to play on multiplayer but they cant, so generally they go, buy the game and own some asses in the multiplayer mode, thats how this works, just like wow, i have played there for over 3 years, first i tried several free servers, but they suck, and finally i went to the blizz servers, why? because its a whole new experience. The cracked servers sucks, they have lots of bugs and you have a limited amount of pll playing with you. So its simple, you want the people buy the game?? make a f*cking awesome multiplayer game with lots of modes to play and the people WILL buy it

[Zut]

Yes you did...

 

...i'm very glad i got the cracked version first just to make sure the game would work on my pc...

 

OK I'm not trying to make you out as some warez whoring script kiddie, but a post such as yours is very obviously in support of piracy.

 

I'm all for open discussion of piracy, but IMHO you shouldn;t go around singing the praises of software piracy. However you spin it it piracy is a bad thing. The f*cking publishing companies like Take 2 and EA will get their money one way or another, and poor developers who don't have AAA title franchises in their portfolios will be forced to go under as a result. There is a recession going on you know.

 

In my view, its just childish to think you can get something for free with no consequences. I DO NOT agree that piracy is stealing since taking a digital copy does not deprive anyone of anything, but it IS illegal and it IS harmful to real people.

 

Besides what's £25/£30? Half a week's groceries? A couple of rounds at the pub? I buy plenty of games and I'm a poor student FFS!

[creat3d22]

 

Yes you did...

 

...i'm very glad i got the cracked version first just to make sure the game would work on my pc...

 

OK I'm not trying to make you out as some warez whoring script kiddie, but a post such as yours is very obviously in support of piracy.

 

I'm all for open discussion of piracy, but IMHO you shouldn;t go around singing the praises of software piracy. However you spin it it piracy is a bad thing. The f*cking publishing companies like Take 2 and EA will get their money one way or another, and poor developers who don't have AAA title franchises in their portfolios will be forced to go under as a result. There is a recession going on you know.

 

In my view, its just childish to think you can get something for free with no consequences. I DO NOT agree that piracy is stealing since taking a digital copy does not deprive anyone of anything, but it IS illegal and it IS harmful to real people.

 

Besides what's £25/£30? Half a week's groceries? A couple of rounds at the pub? I buy plenty of games and I'm a poor student FFS!

There's a big difference between downloading a game before buying it, to see if it works and it's worth the money... and simply stealing the game and never paying for it no matter how long you play.

 

There's quite a few games I've downloaded that I didn't end up buying... those games were deleted within the first hour, either for technical problems or because they sucked. The other games, I bought them because I liked them and they worked.

 

What happened to DEMOS??

[adamcs]

https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/...en&answer=48182

[Zut]

There's quite a few games I've downloaded that I didn't end up buying... those games were deleted within the first hour, either for technical problems or because they sucked. The other games, I bought them because I liked them and they worked.

 

What happened to DEMOS??

Sorry not going to work on me. Would you steal a car to try it out? Would you open it can of soup while your still in the store just to taste it?

 

Read reviews and forums and stuff like a normal person.

[creat3d22]

Sorry not going to work on me. Would you steal a car to try it out? Would you open it can of soup while your still in the store just to taste it?

 

Read reviews and forums and stuff like a normal person.

That analogy's not going to work for me either. Not the same thing at all.

And you can test drive cars before buying them

 

What the f*ck is a normal person?

[livilaNic]

The thing is if you can't run it you should know you can't run it. If you don't then PC gaming isn't for you. As for GTA IV not running no matter what the case. I don't know what that could be. I bought the game, installed it, ran it. That's that. No problems since then until now. I'm sure it will stay this way until I uninstall it.

 

DRM to me does nothing. One way or another. Hasn't done anything to me for many years. If it installs this, that, and the other thing it doesn't effect me. I must be one of the lucky ones. I haven't had any problems with disk checks, servers being down or anything. Sure some might, but I can not speak for them or anyone else. There are reasons for everything. For who's to blame I don't know. It's difficult to say. With there being such wide spread hardware/software within PC gaming. So many things can be the problem.

 

It does bother me that it needs to continue the disk checks as long as I run the game on my machine though. It's like they keep checking up on me as if I was a toddler. I understand the first check and w/e needs to be done (cd key, activation, etc.). But the constant up my ass about it, is lame.

 

I also understand the point "give us a reason to buy the game". But that only makes sense if that was a game never done before or from a company that I wasn't familiar with. For me. I bought this GTA because the past games were such a blast. I didn't need to read specs and others thoughts on the matter. I love the GTA series. There's not one of them I haven't liked since III.

 

I will always pay for what play, listen to, what have you. Stealing is stealing plain and simple. No one would walk into a store and steal things to "try it out". Sorry. Well some might, but most wouldn't. The world is run on fear. Without fear people will continue to steal in this manor no matter what these companies do or don't do. In my opinion. I don't do it because I wouldn't want it done to me. These people, no matter what company. Work very hard on what they do. I respect that good or bad.

 

[Zharay]

Whatever happened to the age of demos? Once the console market got started, demos on the PC were all but lost.

 

Really do I have to buy a game and know I won't be able to play it at all? Gladly my system is capable of playing the games that are out now, but the way things are going, I may have to look in to upgrading.

 

Should people pirate games? No, support the industry dammit. With every game developers are giving the PC the run around. Very few are left that will even lift a finger for us and even then, they usually wait weeks to months before releasing a PC version, usually in a much sh*ttier state than a console. Its more of a charity move for someone like Capcom to release every game from here on on every platform including PC. And as long as we don't generate the cash flow for them, they have less of a reason to not even give us a chance in the next game they release.

[rubiomhs]

 

If you don't want the game then don't buy it. If you do then you MUST buy it. Thats how it works.

 

There is no excuse for piracy. All this "I wasnted to try if first" or "R* doesn't deserve my money" bullsh*t makes my blood boil. Grow up FFS.

clearly you haven't thought of this from all angles.

 

not all people who download games are pimply faced basement dwellers. there are many who use pirated copies as demos, either because they're prudent when it comes to buying games, or because the company refuses to make a demo.

 

most of them would delete their copy when they find it unsatisfactory. why keep a crappy game? but if a game has terrible support and runs terribly for a majority of their customers, and is even mentioned on major software websites as a technical failure, then you have a moral obligation to keep that software and not pay a penny for it. you may enjoy your free copy on general principle.

[DeadlyAvenger]

Bottom line, if it's good enough, and properly priced, people will buy. Those that won't would never have bought it anyway.

 

What software houses need to realise is that trying to stop piracy by loading the software with anti-piracy defences just pisses off the people that buy the stuff. Piss them off enough, and they are likely to rip off the next release / game etc.

 

So, treat paying customers with respect and trust, give them great products, and they will return the respect.

[Zut]

if a game has terrible support and runs terribly for a majority of their customers, and is even mentioned on major software websites as a technical failure, then you have a moral obligation to keep that software and not pay a penny for it. you may enjoy your free copy on general principle.

No. Sorry but I don't agree. Why do you think this is OK?

 

So because a game didn't meet your unspecified standards then its doesn't warrant a fee. Will the poor developer get to watch, cap in hand, as you remorselessly chew over their offerings in the vain hope that they might be allowed some payment for their work, or should they go home to their disheveled family and tell their crippled little boy that there'll be no Christmas this year because daddy just didn't work hard enough.

 

Who decides this enigmatic benchamark of worthiness? You? Are you some kind of digital Robin Hood perhaps?

[daddy356]

HOW TO STOP PIRACY:

 

THE ONLY WAY IS TO OUTLAW COMPUTERS

[Quemical]

Cars break down, let's go steal them

[DeadlyAvenger]

HOW TO STOP PIRACY?

There is no way. If it was made by a human, it can be undone by a human.

 

There is ALWAYS someone smarter out there.

 

[Emotion98.3]

Pirates are people who cannot afford to buy the game or can't have there parents take them to the store to buy it.

[ThatsCool]

Many pirates dont have much money to buy it.

[gina78223]

I agree with the posts saying we pirate because we don't know if the game will even run. System specs on the box can lie a perfect example being gta 4. You guys honestly cant say you'd rather spend 50-60$ on a game that doesnt even work or that your not sure of, the fact of the matter is about 50% of piraters go out and buy the game in the longrun. I see no harm done

[Quemical]

If we go to a baseball game and our team don't win let's ask for a refund

[Emotion98.3]

I agree with the posts saying we pirate because we don't know if the game will even run. System specs on the box can lie a perfect example being gta 4. You guys honestly cant say you'd rather spend 50-60$ on a game that doesnt even work or that your not sure of, the fact of the matter is about 50% of piraters go out and buy the game in the longrun. I see no harm done

Well why don't you just get the game, test it and if it doesn't work just take it back. OR, if they don't let you, keep it for a couple years and wait for you next computer. Because you do know that piracy is ILLEGAL.

[Quemical]

It's funny how ppl wanna justify stealing sh*t. I admit i bootleg other games for the simple fact that i am broke. But with GTA IV i knew it was a good game and was gonna play the crap out of it and didn't wanna hastle with cracks and downloading 13gigs. Plus i wanted to play online, so i pre-ordered the game in Sep.

[PacMaan]

Arrr oi be's a poirate

[Toshi_TNE]

funny all this talk about piracy is the devil when I bet that at least 50% of the forum posters are running a pirated OS.

 

"GTA runs bad on vista so I installed XP and it runs great" -LOL

 

A lot of you guys should take a look at your own HDD and count all the movies, TV series and mp3's you've downloaded and then head to the nearest police station to give yourselves up.