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Im uploading this because i have absolutely nothing else to upload. Ill eventually make a journal about all the crap thats going on but ill cover that later.
Eh, this picture came out rather crappy looking. I did it because me and my bro had a similar discussion while browsing the contents of that franchise. I probly should have colored it in flash like my other strips, and the background is just bad but... eh im not worried about it.
Just as a heads up, i do not support piracy. I stand relatively against it, at least not on a regular basis. I mean, im not gonna freak out on someone for pirating something. Id only get mad if they start bragging about how ever game they own is pirated. Especially with all the DRM crap out there right now.
The thing is, the most common argument as to why pirating is bad, is because the developers don't get paid for their work. Whats funny is, the same people who would make this argument have absolutely no problem buying used games from crappy stores like Gamestop.
Now i admit, im not a fan of gamestop. They come off as a big scam to me for the most part, the only benefit they offer is the accessories i can get for my consoles, and old games that are no longer actively sold on the standerd market. In that way, its awesome being able to buy old games like that.
Whats fucked up are the people who buy a recently released title used. I mean WTF. The used copy is sold fucking 5 dollars less than the new one. The only other benefit is if you have the discount card. In the end, if you have the card, your paying 50 dollars for a 60 dollar game.
What's the difference? When you buy a fucking used copy, that money does not go to the developers. It doesnt, the only one who gets money is gamestop. Which is where it gets annoying.
A true gamer gets the reservation, and then buys the game. Beats it in under a week, and the next week a new game comes out. So this same gamer takes the first game back, trades it in for about half the price, and buys the new game. They put the old game on the shelf again, just marked down by 5 dollars. And then some other gamer comes in and buys it for 55. So now gamestop has sold the EXACT SAME game twice. And possibly even more times. Every time they sell the game for far more than they bought it from the consumer for. In the end they are making a huge profit off of the exact same copy of one game.
Now, i know this is not nearly as bad as PC pirating. Afterall, there is only ONE physical copy. But the PC games can have multiple copies of the same game. So obviously the PC pirating is far worse than gamestop selling used games.
But you have to realize the hypocracy in this. In both situations you are getting a copy of the game without paying the developers for it. Sure its a physical copy, but more than one person got to own and play the game. Not to metion some people are able to duplicate console games, so you never know if one of those people who owned the physical copy of the game didnt make a copy of it.
Point is, if your going to buy a game, buy it new. That way you know that when you buy the game, that a part of the cost of purchasing that game went directly to the developers.
(Im not really saying that buying and selling used games are a bad thing. Its just not the best you could do for the developers. If the developers of these games are the people your fighting for, buy it new.)
Eh, this picture came out rather crappy looking. I did it because me and my bro had a similar discussion while browsing the contents of that franchise. I probly should have colored it in flash like my other strips, and the background is just bad but... eh im not worried about it.
Just as a heads up, i do not support piracy. I stand relatively against it, at least not on a regular basis. I mean, im not gonna freak out on someone for pirating something. Id only get mad if they start bragging about how ever game they own is pirated. Especially with all the DRM crap out there right now.
The thing is, the most common argument as to why pirating is bad, is because the developers don't get paid for their work. Whats funny is, the same people who would make this argument have absolutely no problem buying used games from crappy stores like Gamestop.
Now i admit, im not a fan of gamestop. They come off as a big scam to me for the most part, the only benefit they offer is the accessories i can get for my consoles, and old games that are no longer actively sold on the standerd market. In that way, its awesome being able to buy old games like that.
Whats fucked up are the people who buy a recently released title used. I mean WTF. The used copy is sold fucking 5 dollars less than the new one. The only other benefit is if you have the discount card. In the end, if you have the card, your paying 50 dollars for a 60 dollar game.
What's the difference? When you buy a fucking used copy, that money does not go to the developers. It doesnt, the only one who gets money is gamestop. Which is where it gets annoying.
A true gamer gets the reservation, and then buys the game. Beats it in under a week, and the next week a new game comes out. So this same gamer takes the first game back, trades it in for about half the price, and buys the new game. They put the old game on the shelf again, just marked down by 5 dollars. And then some other gamer comes in and buys it for 55. So now gamestop has sold the EXACT SAME game twice. And possibly even more times. Every time they sell the game for far more than they bought it from the consumer for. In the end they are making a huge profit off of the exact same copy of one game.
Now, i know this is not nearly as bad as PC pirating. Afterall, there is only ONE physical copy. But the PC games can have multiple copies of the same game. So obviously the PC pirating is far worse than gamestop selling used games.
But you have to realize the hypocracy in this. In both situations you are getting a copy of the game without paying the developers for it. Sure its a physical copy, but more than one person got to own and play the game. Not to metion some people are able to duplicate console games, so you never know if one of those people who owned the physical copy of the game didnt make a copy of it.
Point is, if your going to buy a game, buy it new. That way you know that when you buy the game, that a part of the cost of purchasing that game went directly to the developers.
(Im not really saying that buying and selling used games are a bad thing. Its just not the best you could do for the developers. If the developers of these games are the people your fighting for, buy it new.)
Category Artwork (Digital) / Comics
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You know...this is why I like open source (or even closed source, but free) software.
You get it for free, and you pay what you want to because you want to support the developer. Mind, I haven't donated to MY favorite developers, but that's a lack of cash issue than a moral one (ugh, I hate being poor).
One of my favorite games is Dwarf Fortress, coded by the one and only Toady One (or Tarn Adams) who quit his math teaching job to code DF full time (and makes enough money in donations to keep himself housed and alive). THAT is the hallmark of free software: $1500+ a month, sometimes from people who don't even use the software.
You get it for free, and you pay what you want to because you want to support the developer. Mind, I haven't donated to MY favorite developers, but that's a lack of cash issue than a moral one (ugh, I hate being poor).
One of my favorite games is Dwarf Fortress, coded by the one and only Toady One (or Tarn Adams) who quit his math teaching job to code DF full time (and makes enough money in donations to keep himself housed and alive). THAT is the hallmark of free software: $1500+ a month, sometimes from people who don't even use the software.
Yah but thats not really garunteed income though. But it is a nice way to go about it.
My point is that if your going to argue for the developers, you should support them. I see way to many people buy a used copy of a brand new game, just because they save 5-10 dollars that way.
Then again, i just hate gamestop.
Open source seems to be an awesome thing, but it still doesnt have solid ground in the economy. Im in full support of code hobbyist who make these awesome things for me. But other than donations they cant easily make money off of this stuff.
My point is that if your going to argue for the developers, you should support them. I see way to many people buy a used copy of a brand new game, just because they save 5-10 dollars that way.
Then again, i just hate gamestop.
Open source seems to be an awesome thing, but it still doesnt have solid ground in the economy. Im in full support of code hobbyist who make these awesome things for me. But other than donations they cant easily make money off of this stuff.
I do agree with your point. I'd totally beat the guy who did that.
Anyway, I think Toady has been "jobless" for a year now. Ah, found it. May 16th 2007. He's mentioned it a few times, he didn't quit because of the game--not entirely anyway, he wasn't liking his teaching job, all the other math professors had a passion about it that he didn't.
Anyway, I think Toady has been "jobless" for a year now. Ah, found it. May 16th 2007. He's mentioned it a few times, he didn't quit because of the game--not entirely anyway, he wasn't liking his teaching job, all the other math professors had a passion about it that he didn't.
I admit I'm a pirate, but every game I pirated...I bought myself and use the pirated copy as a backup. IE, accidently sitting on the UT2004 CD, so I use the pirated copy to continue playing, the CD Key is Mines, in the end I'm willing to buy the real game for the knowledge that I did indeed own that game....
and I never give back my games I keep them in a box of games I have beaten marked "pwned" games that I coud not complete in "TBC" and games I lost interest in "Sux". and I buy new games, never used...cause you never know that the Used they gave you....is F'cked up.
and I never give back my games I keep them in a box of games I have beaten marked "pwned" games that I coud not complete in "TBC" and games I lost interest in "Sux". and I buy new games, never used...cause you never know that the Used they gave you....is F'cked up.
The stores has already bought the game from the publishers.
Buying an older game for example will not favor the publishers (/developers, if you want) as it's just about getting rid of old stock.
Personally I do download stuff, but that is strictly for the PC ofcourse with few exception for really finished and brilliant pieces such as World in Conflict, Valve-productions, a slew of Blizzard games, etc. which I'd glady invest money in.
Why don't I buy every game for the PC I'm onto? Since PCs are such a bitchy system, with patch requirements, broken this broken that - even when I do carry a high-end machine there is still alot of trouble. And now when EA is flagging with DRM or whatever they call their idiocy I have a policy never to buy any EA publishment for the PC ever again - the market can work without their imperialism.
That is why I can take buy the expensive console games - they just work right out of the box. I bought Xbox 360 games this summer of a value of $350-400 which is to consider quite a bunch - this while I bought two PC games in the same period.
And me too hate Gamestop, they're not serious in the business they're holding and is just yet again over-priced imperialists on the market. Hell, when I buy games I go to the standard electronics retailer, about half the price of Gamestop even on launch-titles.
And another thing I think would boost sales a bit, or spark a little extra interest is to have more generous release-day offers. It can be anything, very symbolic without any value - just add something with a pre-order or relase-day investment. Like getting a month or three months of Xbox Live with a release-day game would be fantastic and would make even defeault pricing be considered reasonable.
I just got so depressed at EA when I noticed they threw in ADS in my release-day Battlefield: Bad Company copy - seriously, what the fuck are they doing? I go invest 699SEK (Sweden) into a retail game, and they have the balls to give me the finger by going "Hey. since you have such a bad taste why not hype up our abysmal Mercinaries 2 World in Crap?"
- I know much of what I mention here doesn't make any sense, I wasn't too focused and at mind to be able to get anything done properly - I just wrote.
Buying an older game for example will not favor the publishers (/developers, if you want) as it's just about getting rid of old stock.
Personally I do download stuff, but that is strictly for the PC ofcourse with few exception for really finished and brilliant pieces such as World in Conflict, Valve-productions, a slew of Blizzard games, etc. which I'd glady invest money in.
Why don't I buy every game for the PC I'm onto? Since PCs are such a bitchy system, with patch requirements, broken this broken that - even when I do carry a high-end machine there is still alot of trouble. And now when EA is flagging with DRM or whatever they call their idiocy I have a policy never to buy any EA publishment for the PC ever again - the market can work without their imperialism.
That is why I can take buy the expensive console games - they just work right out of the box. I bought Xbox 360 games this summer of a value of $350-400 which is to consider quite a bunch - this while I bought two PC games in the same period.
And me too hate Gamestop, they're not serious in the business they're holding and is just yet again over-priced imperialists on the market. Hell, when I buy games I go to the standard electronics retailer, about half the price of Gamestop even on launch-titles.
And another thing I think would boost sales a bit, or spark a little extra interest is to have more generous release-day offers. It can be anything, very symbolic without any value - just add something with a pre-order or relase-day investment. Like getting a month or three months of Xbox Live with a release-day game would be fantastic and would make even defeault pricing be considered reasonable.
I just got so depressed at EA when I noticed they threw in ADS in my release-day Battlefield: Bad Company copy - seriously, what the fuck are they doing? I go invest 699SEK (Sweden) into a retail game, and they have the balls to give me the finger by going "Hey. since you have such a bad taste why not hype up our abysmal Mercinaries 2 World in Crap?"
- I know much of what I mention here doesn't make any sense, I wasn't too focused and at mind to be able to get anything done properly - I just wrote.
In reply to the first part of your comment. Even the old stock they are selling at discount prices just to empty out their stock was originally purchased from the developers. (Well, purchased from the publishers that have their contracts with the developers. But the value of a game seems to be based on its sale records, and thus people buying used instead of new copies decreases those sale records and thus means the developers dont get as big of a contract next time.)
Used games are repurchased from the consumers. In the long run, gamestop gets to sell one game twice while only paying the developers once. Even though in the entire system little money is lost between the consumers and the developers, its still a major annoyance to me. I think its more that i dont like gamestop profiting more so than the developers not getting their share.
As for PC vs Console. Well thats standered. With the increase in electronics comes the increase in competition. Every processor, every vid card, every motherboard, every hard drive all behaves differntly. Often times developers design and code games around their own systems, and trying to make a game that is compatible with both a slightly weaker, and a slightly stronger system is increasingly difficult.
Consoles have the benefit that have limitations. But these limitations also hinder the games. While you never have to worry about a console game not working because your system cant run it, you still have to suffer under the limitations of that system. Meaning you can never get games that were designed for better systems, and you can never make any dramatic changes to the game unless the developers added it for you. Heck even things like expansion packs are hard to do for consoles.
Thanks to the addition of online content for most consoles, a lot of consoles are leaving these limitations behind. Sadly, this is also causing a PC developer mentality with software for these systems. Since most developers want to design one game that can play on all systems, they may in fact half ass the job, and instead rely on online updates just like PCs.
So really, no matter where you go these days you face these kinds of problems. The only difference is that for PCs, you cant just buy a good PC. Buying a good PC from the store costs far to much than it should, and makes the console look far more likeable. Sadly, the only way to get a PC for relatively the same cost as a console, yould have to buy the components and put them together yourself. Which in itself is whats causing all the problems for PC gaming. Because the majority of gaming machines are put together by hand, there is little conformity amongst PC gaming machines, which makes it damn near impossible to design for all PC gamers.
It all is just one big pain in the ass with no real right answer. Personally, i kind of prefer games on the PC because i dont mind when i game goes wrong. Its almost a challenge for me, something to work on and get right, which can keep me busy just as much ass the game does. Also being avid member of the mod community, i just love downloading little gadgets for my fav games to make them more personal and fun. A thing you certainly cant do very easily on a console.
In all this argument derives down to one question. PC or Mac? hehe.
Used games are repurchased from the consumers. In the long run, gamestop gets to sell one game twice while only paying the developers once. Even though in the entire system little money is lost between the consumers and the developers, its still a major annoyance to me. I think its more that i dont like gamestop profiting more so than the developers not getting their share.
As for PC vs Console. Well thats standered. With the increase in electronics comes the increase in competition. Every processor, every vid card, every motherboard, every hard drive all behaves differntly. Often times developers design and code games around their own systems, and trying to make a game that is compatible with both a slightly weaker, and a slightly stronger system is increasingly difficult.
Consoles have the benefit that have limitations. But these limitations also hinder the games. While you never have to worry about a console game not working because your system cant run it, you still have to suffer under the limitations of that system. Meaning you can never get games that were designed for better systems, and you can never make any dramatic changes to the game unless the developers added it for you. Heck even things like expansion packs are hard to do for consoles.
Thanks to the addition of online content for most consoles, a lot of consoles are leaving these limitations behind. Sadly, this is also causing a PC developer mentality with software for these systems. Since most developers want to design one game that can play on all systems, they may in fact half ass the job, and instead rely on online updates just like PCs.
So really, no matter where you go these days you face these kinds of problems. The only difference is that for PCs, you cant just buy a good PC. Buying a good PC from the store costs far to much than it should, and makes the console look far more likeable. Sadly, the only way to get a PC for relatively the same cost as a console, yould have to buy the components and put them together yourself. Which in itself is whats causing all the problems for PC gaming. Because the majority of gaming machines are put together by hand, there is little conformity amongst PC gaming machines, which makes it damn near impossible to design for all PC gamers.
It all is just one big pain in the ass with no real right answer. Personally, i kind of prefer games on the PC because i dont mind when i game goes wrong. Its almost a challenge for me, something to work on and get right, which can keep me busy just as much ass the game does. Also being avid member of the mod community, i just love downloading little gadgets for my fav games to make them more personal and fun. A thing you certainly cant do very easily on a console.
In all this argument derives down to one question. PC or Mac? hehe.
Yau - I get your views upon this and I'm not going to disagree, only further portrait my opinions to make a little more discussion outta it since it's a interesting subject.
To counter these resellings of titles there is a growing market of more streaming and downloadable content - though most is just basic crap EA pukes out just to get it over with, but for example Valve- and minor parts of the Xbox- and PlatStation network stores are working pretty much like intended. With a more electronic based store medium the retail prices are dropped and the ability to effectively resell items are kinda slim at this present time.
And another interesting thing we'd probably see more of is things like Epic did with Gears of War 2 - include a redeem code for downloads to a unique setup of classic maps, which after spent after purschase cannot be reused rendering "second-handed" items less interesting as you can't buy the map-pack individually. A minor thing, but it's a start I'd support as long as we won't see any overkill use of it.
As for games on PC I'm not too keen to do any impulsive investments on that platform as I've had so many horrible experience with games barely even working online on release, if ever, based on poor testing and no effort into doing a thing about it. EA stands perfectly safe to be judged as the worst publisher when it comes to this. I bought Tiberium Wars on release and it took two weeks 'til it worked decently online and three months before the balance patch rolled in making the game playable as a game. This as just one.
For the Xbox 360 the prices can drop so incredibly fast and you can always rest asured the game will atleast work on the same second you throw it in - which could make me even get a poor-ass game for a little spare money to keep me occupied. This would never happen to me on the PC as I know that poor-ass game will have problem even installing properly, and once there hell knows what might go wrong.
I might sound super pro-console, but at this time it just feels like the consoles holds all the cards on their tables:
- Pricing
- Performance/Value
- Features
- Online infrastructure
- Avaliability
- All releases
This while I primarily use my computer as a sort of a hobby, being a little computer nut, but without any games coming out it just feels like it'll remain a technical experience. I mean seriously, the latest big release was Crysis... and not only did the game fail to even reach a promilla of the FPS market share, but it was also a genuine crappy game.
Give me a Windows Live standard for all PC games, a read-on-disc ability and cross-platform standard for all cross-platform games and I'm sold. Then I'd might get a PC game library worth mentioning. Boosting the online infrastructure and social network is the thing that is going to set the PC back in the game for real -
All the anti-piracy investments only boosts piracy further as it pisses people off. To buy a game for full price to only be able to reinstall it X amount of time... How convinient. The piracy isn't the problem - the lack of will of adaption is what is killing the industry for the PC.
(With Windows Live I mean the new standard of Windows Live, or Vista Live, which is not a paying subscription anymoe - but Xbox Live, for free, on the PC)
To counter these resellings of titles there is a growing market of more streaming and downloadable content - though most is just basic crap EA pukes out just to get it over with, but for example Valve- and minor parts of the Xbox- and PlatStation network stores are working pretty much like intended. With a more electronic based store medium the retail prices are dropped and the ability to effectively resell items are kinda slim at this present time.
And another interesting thing we'd probably see more of is things like Epic did with Gears of War 2 - include a redeem code for downloads to a unique setup of classic maps, which after spent after purschase cannot be reused rendering "second-handed" items less interesting as you can't buy the map-pack individually. A minor thing, but it's a start I'd support as long as we won't see any overkill use of it.
As for games on PC I'm not too keen to do any impulsive investments on that platform as I've had so many horrible experience with games barely even working online on release, if ever, based on poor testing and no effort into doing a thing about it. EA stands perfectly safe to be judged as the worst publisher when it comes to this. I bought Tiberium Wars on release and it took two weeks 'til it worked decently online and three months before the balance patch rolled in making the game playable as a game. This as just one.
For the Xbox 360 the prices can drop so incredibly fast and you can always rest asured the game will atleast work on the same second you throw it in - which could make me even get a poor-ass game for a little spare money to keep me occupied. This would never happen to me on the PC as I know that poor-ass game will have problem even installing properly, and once there hell knows what might go wrong.
I might sound super pro-console, but at this time it just feels like the consoles holds all the cards on their tables:
- Pricing
- Performance/Value
- Features
- Online infrastructure
- Avaliability
- All releases
This while I primarily use my computer as a sort of a hobby, being a little computer nut, but without any games coming out it just feels like it'll remain a technical experience. I mean seriously, the latest big release was Crysis... and not only did the game fail to even reach a promilla of the FPS market share, but it was also a genuine crappy game.
Give me a Windows Live standard for all PC games, a read-on-disc ability and cross-platform standard for all cross-platform games and I'm sold. Then I'd might get a PC game library worth mentioning. Boosting the online infrastructure and social network is the thing that is going to set the PC back in the game for real -
All the anti-piracy investments only boosts piracy further as it pisses people off. To buy a game for full price to only be able to reinstall it X amount of time... How convinient. The piracy isn't the problem - the lack of will of adaption is what is killing the industry for the PC.
(With Windows Live I mean the new standard of Windows Live, or Vista Live, which is not a paying subscription anymoe - but Xbox Live, for free, on the PC)
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