Joe Wintergreen @joewintergreen.com · 27d apropos of nothing, here's an old blog post i did about piracy and when/whether it's ok and things like that when the people who make the games aren't even getting to keep their jobs, far less profit from a game's success, pirate those suckaz tbh www.joewintergreen.com/one-time-a-g...
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As a pretty poo kid, I pirated games, but as soon as I had some money in the bank, I happily paid for all my games. I retain those skills, but only ever use them as a last resort i.e. when games get delisted or stuck in copyright hell and are not available by any legal means.
The thing about software piracy in particular is it's kind of the opposite of normal piracy, which is about plunder and hoarding. There's no incentive to refuse to share what you've already gotten for free because it costs you nothing either way, which generally promotes a trend of generosity
information wants to be free
I've updated torrent trackers with better quality exports of my own music before too, it was kind of a crazy feeling just to think anyone cared enough about my work to steal it and help others do the same lol
i remember hearing claims that hotline miami wasn't that big of a financial success because devolver digital kept the game up-to-date on torrent trackers this always sounded iffy to me, but apparently it was mostly pirated by australians, who couldn't legally buy the game because of censorship
I get the virtue of this narrative (and where it's aimed), but as an indie it's demoralizing to be expected to cultivate a parasocial relationship before gamers will feel guilt about stealing from you. I wish just making the thing was enough for people to value it, you know? It's already so hard.
I remember someone else saying the same thing some years ago when asked about why he allows free streaming of his music on his personal website (pre-spotify) and he said "the people that don't want to pay for it won't, but having it freely available means more people will hear it"
I do miss TB, but sometimes he really kinda missed the mark on some subjects.
I recently saw a post from Bruce Sterling, who'd been approached by a publisher to reprint an old story about Russian data pirates. He didn't have a copy anymore to send, but Russian data pirates did and were thrilled to help him out
I did this too for my recent launch and one of the pirates actually interviewed me for a Russian online games website afterwards (he had since bought the game) and it was 100% the right way to go. Always better to lean into it.
Hell triangle service did this for the Dreamcast version of trizeal and it worked too.
Alot of YouTubers have been coming out of the woodwork fighting for gamedev corporate. Its probably for money, but its still obnoxious. Corporate crap kills art. They dont want to preserve stuff, so they would rather it die than people enjoy it. Biscuit should know that, but he likes money.
TB had a lot of good takes, but he sure had some real stinkers too. Still died way too young while a lot of genuinely awful people face no hardships.
I remember when Hotline Miami came out I went to pirate it and found the devs in the comments of the torrent confirming bugs they were aware of and indicating when they were likely to be patched. Bought the game as soon as I got paid next.
Honestly its why i love indie games where they have in game messages that are like "hey so im cool with you pirating the game but I'd appreciate it if you supported me in other ways or buy it when you have a chance
DRM is made by people who have no honor, and project it onto all users.
I've had the opposite of the "grody older brother" one. My copy of Fallout 2 (from a magazine) got a crack in the disc from playing so much, and my cousin burned me a copy of his so that I could still play. I still have both discs, of course.
I pirate when I can't spend money on games. So I wouldn't be spending money if I couldn't pirate. When I have money though, I buy plenty. There are many games I go back and buy because I love them so much. I have almost 1500 games on Steam. I can't really buy games atm, but I'm sure I will again.
This is why I have a policy of only pirating games for huge companies. Because as we've seen lately, even if I did buy those games the people who made them still wouldn't get their share.
My active torrent list acts as my store wishlist, pretty much. If I play and like a game, I WILL end up buying it eventually.
Ah totalbiscuit. Misogynist, homophobe, general bigot extraordinaire. Pity Twitch let him be the LUL emote.
One time someone tried to gotcha me with "if you are making a game critical of capitalism why are you selling it FOR MONEY?" so I told him to pirate it and see if I cared :P
the total biscuit thing was honestly so dumb... he was literally like "uhh no it isn't? they charge money?" made no attempt to think
Your little message has me thinking of the copy protection spiel found in the readme TXT file on the SimFarm CD: ia801602.us.archive.org/view_archive...
You can also create open-source games For instance, I'm working on one There are good games out there
that's a good point. you're not even helping to pay the wages of the people that made the game anymore, which is literally the only reason I *ever* would have decried practice piracy. if I'm only paying the wages of the CEOs, then fuck it. Yo ho yo ho, me mateys
I think about this sort of thing sometimes. On the one hand, I don't believe that someone is entitled to the fruits of my or others' hard work just because. But on the other hand, I remember when I was a kid and didn't have money for stuff. Free and "free" games exposed me to a lot of new ideas.
This is essentially Patreon, before it's time. Both work on the honor system.
I pirated some guys random software and it's "Copy Protection" was a message saying "Hey, if you have to steal my software you clearly have bigger problems than paying $10 for a legit copy. I get it." I sent him $10 the next chance I had. It's always better to attract flies with honey than vinegar.
Some real impressive "I consent, I consent, I don't" energy to that annecdote... and everything else I can think of involving that particular individual come to think.
OH man haven't thought of TB in a while. Glad that this all actually worked out for you haha. It's interesting that I was very anti piracy before I got into games (you're just cannibalizing the industry!). But after getting in, my stance progressively softened. Largely in a "never punish innocent."
Pirates are not the enemy. They are potential customers. If you (somehow) stop the game from being pirated, you won't get more purchases, you'll get less people who will play the game. Less fan content. Less natural promotion. Pure loss.
Back around 2000 when Napster was big, it was so easy to search for a band I loved, and find the accounts hosting that band's entire discography. I'd go to their profile and see what other bands they were into. I discovered SO much new music that way. Never spent more money on music before or after.
TB wasn't always right, nor was he on this issue, I don't think that's a reason to comment on your blog post that it's a good thing he died. The hell is wrong with some of the commenters on your post?
the very few games I was able to pirate back in the day cuz i had a mac, I have bought again, and again for every single console ever since cuz of my love for those games and their developers. I was just a poor student at the time lol
The honorless do not understand the honor system.