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Geek Culture / UK video game developers adapt to meet piracy threat

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Nickydude
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Posted: 17th Oct 2013 12:09 Edited at: 17th Oct 2013 12:10
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Quote: "Video game companies in the UK are changing the way they work in response to the continued threat of piracy. The two most illegally downloaded platforms are probably Android and PC, It's definitely there on iOS and it is still quite high. Sports Interactive has begun collecting data on the number of people illegally downloading Football Manager 2013.

The survey of Tiga members suggested a minority were in favour of punishing people using pirated games. Of those asked, 73% said they disagreed with slowing or cutting the internet connection of those who swapped copyrighted files."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/24541910

I reject your reality and substitute my own...
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Van B
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Posted: 17th Oct 2013 15:51
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Ahhh, so IAP is actually there to combat piracy... that's a great way to gloss over the whole 'jumping onto a business model that works' thing.

It seems that piracy is a thing, and no amount of non-existant price breaks and haphazard sale plans seem to be helping. So when Football Manager 2014 is released for free, and people have to pay real money for players and stadiums and garbage like that - well we can't say we haven't been warned ehh!

Also, why do they continue to try and enforce rules and laws that they can't possibly enforce! - like slowing down someones internet connection. That is between the ISP and the customer who fricken pays for their internet connection! - nobody else!, not Youtube, not developers, not the BBC, not the government, not Facebook - NOBODY!
That annoys me, it's the most retarded thing they can possibly bring to the argument... Durrr, he downloaded something he shouldn't have, throttle his interweb connection... but then you'll have to give money back because the ISP won't be providing the service that they are paid to provide... you'll have to pay compensation to people who are wrongly throttled. Here's a thought, ISP's might actually suffer if they block questionable content. I mean, if all-of-a-sudden I can't download episodes of Walking Dead, then I'll chop my internet speed in half, and buy a damn box set every month instead.

The customer is always right, even when they are wrong, because it all boils down to money, other industries seem to have got the hang of this idea.

I am the one who knocks...
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bitJericho
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Posted: 17th Oct 2013 16:05
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Quote: "I'll chop my internet speed in half, and buy a damn box set every month instead."


Why do that when you can just order a server abroad (sending your dollars out of the country). Stupid stupid.

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Quik
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Posted: 17th Oct 2013 17:49
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Ah, i'm not against punishing piracy, I just think we need to completly rethink how severly we punish them.

Quote: "It seems that piracy is a thing, and no amount of non-existant price breaks and haphazard sale plans seem to be helping. So when Football Manager 2014 is released for free, and people have to pay real money for players and stadiums and garbage like that - well we can't say we haven't been warned ehh!
"


I dont mind F2P games, I really don't. But paying 10€ per MINOR thing is ridiculous, and "to get the full experience" you have to throw out 100s of € which is, let's be honest ridiculous. F2P in all it's glory, just.. quit it with the ridiculous prices eh?
I can deal with for example D&D online (my personal favorite example) where, you pay per month OR you can pay around 10-30€ for a "set of dungeons" and keep them forever, the "high prices" works because it's a typical MMO and it DOES have the option to pay per month for EVERYTHING.
Pay for what you want. Not pay for "short period crap".



Whose eyes are those eyes?
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Libervurto
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Posted: 17th Oct 2013 19:10
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These type of aggressive reptilian knee-jerk reactions are pathetic. Piracy is a cultural problem, (here's where I draw an analogy that simultaneously skates along the edge of the AUP and adds to the sensationalism of "piracy" that I disagree with) piracy is like terrorism, you can't hit people over the head with a stick and expect to it to go away.

To reduce piracy you must engage in social engineering. Encourage community interaction, let the users see each other and who has paid and who hasn't, let them talk to each other. If you have some system that allows players to trade with each other give the option to paying players to only trade with other paying players. Release statistics on piracy and thank those who support the game by paying for it. Etcetera etcetera...


Formerly OBese87.
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mr Handy
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Posted: 17th Oct 2013 19:16
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Obviously capitalizm is not working as it should...

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Libervurto
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Posted: 17th Oct 2013 19:57 Edited at: 17th Oct 2013 20:01
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Quote: "Obviously capitalizm is not working as it should..."

No, it is working perfectly, that is the problem.
It's kind of funny actually to see the whole "greed is good" mantra starting to bite back. Capitalist policies just plain don't work for digital data because once the means of making exact copies is available to the masses, and making a copy costs next to nothing, it no longer makes sense to state that any one person has unique ownership. Developers can impose as many arbitrary laws and restrictions as they like, but it's like trying to stop the rain from falling. You can't defy the nature of things.


Formerly OBese87.
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bitJericho
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Posted: 17th Oct 2013 20:48 Edited at: 17th Oct 2013 20:49
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Quote: "You can't defy the nature of things."


That's kind of what the definition of society is. It's man's imposition on nature. Capitalism and the Justice system is not sufficient for preventing piracy, a new system is wanted, but in all honesty, maybe not needed as education and other things the developers are doing are helping a lot.

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nonZero
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Posted: 31st Oct 2013 22:17
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One thing that annoys me is continuously quoting statistics. Piracy statistics themselves are not an accurate measure of profit-loss since of those, say just for example, 100 illegal downloads per month, a good 50 or more either couldn't have afforded it -- and therefore wouldn't have bought it -- or end up playing it 5 minutes and uninstalling & deleting it -- like a demo. There are then possibly another 5 to 10 that will never get around to even looking at it.

The problem with piracy stems from a misunderstanding of the ecosystem. In a world where there is literally and immeasurable amount of free content, why does piracy exist? Answer and understand that -- which I doubt I will ever do -- and you'll be on your way to solving that problem.

Solutions off the top of my head:
1) Bundle a collectible item with the original DVD/BD. A figure, a poster, anything.
2) Let the community fund the game. I think KickStarter is a great idea and if I had the cash I'd fund a lot of projects.
3) Release the game free and throw in some product placement or advertising NOT in the form of banners and pop-ups. Something that "blends".
4) Improve the F2P model Quik mentioned.
5) Offer the purchasers more than just a game, offer them a membership to something.

I'm sure there are much more much better ones just waiting to be snatched.

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Quik
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Posted: 31st Oct 2013 22:39
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Quote: "One thing that annoys me is continuously quoting statistics. Piracy statistics themselves are not an accurate measure of profit-loss since of those, say just for example, 100 illegal downloads per month, a good 50 or more either couldn't have afforded it -- and therefore wouldn't have bought it -- or end up playing it 5 minutes and uninstalling & deleting it -- like a demo. There are then possibly another 5 to 10 that will never get around to even looking at it."


and then you have another 5-10 that actually buys it later - on 75% off or earlier than that.



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mr Handy
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Posted: 31st Oct 2013 22:49
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Quote: "why does piracy exist?"

Just because it's lying here, in the web, a shiny easy file, and nobody is watching. Why bother to pay when you can just take it in one click. C'mon, it's free! Let's share your favorite files with the World! Click!

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