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"Starcraft 2 pirated 2.3 million times" -GI - Page 13

Forum Index > SC2 General
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Offhand
Profile Joined June 2010
United States1869 Posts
November 16 2010 16:13 GMT
#241
DRM and required logins hurt the customers not the pirates. The pirates just laugh and wait a week for a crack. Perhaps had game industries charged appropriate prices for the games they release, there'd be significantly less pirating.
The Touch
Profile Joined September 2010
United Kingdom667 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-16 16:17:07
November 16 2010 16:16 GMT
#242
On November 16 2010 23:08 WniO wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 16 2010 23:04 The Touch wrote:
On November 16 2010 22:54 red_b wrote:
here's a question, if activision-blizzard makes like 100 million dollars off the game (3 million * 60 dollars is 180 so minus advertising, distribution and development costs and it's not that unreasonable) do they care how many people pirate it?


Exactly. These companies make hundreds of millions of dollars in profits, and yet they still bleat and whine that piracy is killing the industry. It's the same shit we've heard time and time again since the record companies claimed that cassette tapes would ruin everything. The simple fact is that piracy is rampant, and yet software and games companies still make huge profits. Either they would make bank-level money in the abscence of piracy, or their stance is idiotic.

Thats a ton of money that was essentially stolen from them, they should have a right to be pissed, regardless of how much was stolen.


In order to make this statement, you have to back it up with evidence that X% of downloads would otherwise be sales. So far all I've ever seen, from any source, is the the assumption that this would be the case. It's an assumption that flies in the face of not only logic, but also the evidence that those who download more, also spend more.
You Got The Touch
Gonzodamus
Profile Joined September 2010
United States273 Posts
November 16 2010 16:29 GMT
#243
Hi there, I'm going to ahead and avoid this whole debate about morality and piracy.

/AVOIDED!/

I'm just surprised that this number isn't higher. 2.3 million is is big number, but compared to others, it's surprisingly small.

In 2009, the game 'Prototype' was downloaded 2.35 million times, according to the same source. The 'Sims 3' got 3.2 million downloads and 'Modern Warfare' got 4.1 million.

That means 'StarCraft 2' was downloaded fewer times than 'Prototype.' I don't have hard sales numbers, but I'd be willing to bet that 'StarCraft 2' has sold far more copies on PC than 'Prototype' has.

So while that 2.3 million looks huge, it does give a bit of evidence that Blizzard's anti-piracy measures like Battle.Net and the guest passes are working.
ch4ppi
Profile Joined July 2010
Germany802 Posts
November 16 2010 16:31 GMT
#244
On November 16 2010 19:39 Bergys wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 16 2010 19:09 ch4ppi wrote:
On November 16 2010 12:05 schavoc wrote:
They can't play online... And the campaign isn't that fun... so, yea they fail



Oh really?
This might be the most ignorant comment I read for a very long time here... first of all it a private decision if u like the SP or not. I enjoyd it a lot. Also not everybody WANTS to play MP... but thats not the point of that Thread at all.

It doesnt matter what is fun or not 2.3 million copy are worse a shit ton of money, which got stolen from Blizzard. This is a crime.. and all u say is *Incontrol-Voice* "Oh yeah they stole it but they will not have thaaaaaat much fun with it. HA!"

@topic

Its really disguisting, there are really some companys which make their games worse any Euro I pay. Blizzard is definatly one of them and when I hear those numbers its like you hear a friend of your got betrayd by a lot of money. It feels shitty because u know he didnt deserve it.


Yay, retarded anti-pirates. When you download something you don't steal it, you copy it. Tbh I think the amount of people who downloaded this game who would've bought it if downloading wasn't possible is neglible. What 99% is looking for in this game is the multiplayer, and for that you have to pay. You could say it's wrong from a moral standpoint, and it is really. But the amount of money blizzard loses cause people can download the singleplayer is not anywhere close to the price of 2.3 million copys.


I know that they didnt loose the money they would have made with 2.3 millions more copies sold. If u really dont like the word steeling (also it really fits the action very good), call it copying like the Chinese copy everything... the effect is the same. The victim suffers heavy financial losses. Pretty meh to argue about sth. like that.
Where do u get your numbers with 99%? Making up numbers wont help.
Anyway your post doesnt say anything u have no standpoint and no argument...
The Touch
Profile Joined September 2010
United Kingdom667 Posts
November 16 2010 16:31 GMT
#245
On November 17 2010 00:02 windsupernova wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 16 2010 23:04 The Touch wrote:
On November 16 2010 22:54 red_b wrote:
here's a question, if activision-blizzard makes like 100 million dollars off the game (3 million * 60 dollars is 180 so minus advertising, distribution and development costs and it's not that unreasonable) do they care how many people pirate it?


Exactly. These companies make hundreds of millions of dollars in profits, and yet they still bleat and whine that piracy is killing the industry. It's the same shit we've heard time and time again since the record companies claimed that cassette tapes would ruin everything. The simple fact is that piracy is rampant, and yet software and games companies still make huge profits. Either they would make bank-level money in the abscence of piracy, or their stance is idiotic.


That us flawed logic. Its like saying that its fine to steal(I know that piracy!= stealing) from rich people because they have a huge income.


That's (probably unintentionally) distorting what I'm saying. I don't think that it's ok to download because Blizz makes money. What I was saying was that the argument Blizzard (or hypothetical software/movie/music companies in general) use - that piracy must be stopped because it is harmful to the industry - is bullshit. As I already linked, evidence from the music industry suggests that those who download the most also buy the most. My own personal experience is that downloading movies has indeed led to me buying DVDs. And history shows that claims of piracy ruining the industry were being made as early as the 1980s, and those industries are still going strong. There's also the example of the author who pirated his own book and sales subsequently increased by a factor of over 1,000!

My argument is not that downloading is ok because Blizzard makes enough money despite piracy - it is that there is evidence that piracy actually contributes to sales, and thus the battle against piracy is not only futile (because DRM is almost always cracked within a few days of release), but is in fact counterproductive.
You Got The Touch
gogogadgetflow
Profile Joined March 2010
United States2583 Posts
November 16 2010 16:38 GMT
#246
Yeah I downloaded via illicit torrent because of problems with blizz downloader. I'm surprised gameinformer bothered implying that people who illegally downloaded it could play online... If that has occurred at all I'm sure its extremely rare (and kind of impressive).
Litess
Profile Joined July 2010
Bulgaria40 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-16 16:43:52
November 16 2010 16:43 GMT
#247
I have bought the game since day1 and i have still downloaded it from trackers that aren't blizzard's because i accidently downloaded the german version ( i don't speak german ) and didn't have time to wait for the slow blizz download to finish (again) for the english one. Downloaded it and waited for my copy, sadly the game came the day my internet stopped working so all the prepwork wasn't usefull.
zev318
Profile Joined October 2010
Canada4306 Posts
November 16 2010 16:55 GMT
#248
id be more inclined to buy games if i could return them if i didnt like it... but that's not possible, so i download them via torrents to try out. unless its something really big like SC2 or diablo3... which i know i will like, then i just buy it without trying
Noob4hire
Profile Joined August 2010
United States38 Posts
November 16 2010 16:56 GMT
#249
Blizz tries to prevent this by denying LAN andthey end up punishing the people who paid X(
AmaZing
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Nepal299 Posts
November 16 2010 17:02 GMT
#250
with or without lan it is getting pirated. Why not just enable it....
ಠ_ಠ
Treemonkeys
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States2082 Posts
November 16 2010 17:03 GMT
#251
On November 17 2010 01:56 Noob4hire wrote:
Blizz tries to prevent this by denying LAN andthey end up punishing the people who paid X(


I think it's safe to assume the primary reason they denied LAN was to control the esports aspect, which is more important than piracy. But I don't find it all that punishing either.
http://shroomspiration.blogspot.com/
Noob4hire
Profile Joined August 2010
United States38 Posts
November 16 2010 17:03 GMT
#252
On November 17 2010 01:13 Offhand wrote:
Perhaps had game industries charged appropriate prices for the games they release, there'd be significantly less pirating.

Unlikely
Euriti
Profile Joined September 2010
Denmark72 Posts
November 16 2010 17:08 GMT
#253
On November 17 2010 02:02 AmaZing wrote:
with or without lan it is getting pirated. Why not just enable it....


With LAN comes Hamachi and with Hamachi comes the opportunity to play people around the world on a pirated version. I know alot of communities that have 'in house' gaming in certain games where they rely on Hamachi for the hosting.
xtfftc
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United Kingdom2343 Posts
November 16 2010 17:13 GMT
#254
I've downloaded it from TPB three times so far, even though I pre-ordered the game. Also, research after research have proven that people who tend to pirate music, films, books and games tend to buy more music, films, books and games. Fail OP - and fail anti-piracy propaganda.
niteReloaded
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Croatia5282 Posts
November 16 2010 17:15 GMT
#255
On November 16 2010 21:29 kojinshugi wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 16 2010 21:18 niteReloaded wrote:
My brother bought a copy of the game. I'm fine with that, they made a good game, they get money.
I'm not fine with having to buy another copy of the game just so I can play the ladder. If there was a working way of getting a pirated version, I'd do it in a blink of an eye.

Afaik, this is unprecedented in video game industry.You don't buy 2 movies for each person to watch. Almost anything you buy can be used by another person if you let them. SC2 is almost worthless for 1v1 unless you have a personal copy.


That's a ridiculous comparison. You can take turns laddering with your brother just like you can take turns watching a movie with your brother.

If you actually want to competitively ladder, in that you care about your ranking, then your movie comparison kind of falls apart. Do you buy one DVD and then watch it for 3-4 hours every night?

The game comes with a lifetime subscription to Battle.net multiplayer. To use your movie analogy, it's like the DVD came with a lifetime ticket to the movie theater, and you're complaining there's only one.

I won't take turns laddering, because sometimes I play for a few days straight and sometimes he does. It doesn't work.

When I buy the DVD, I can watch it all I want, whenever I want. Whoever I lend it to can watch it all they want. Even tho the analogy isn't perfect, it conveys my point and you'll understand it unless you're in "debating mode" like so many TLers are.

SC2 without battle.net is like a movie with only sound and no picture. Without battle.net, SC2 wouldn't have sold 1% of the copies it sold, so don't argue that Battle.net is some kind of bonus.


On November 16 2010 21:32 kojinshugi wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 16 2010 21:26 niteReloaded wrote:
On November 16 2010 21:23 Railxp wrote:
Has money to buy the game, buys the game >>> legitimate customer

Has money to buy the game, pirates the game >>> wouldn't have bought even if he couldn't pirate, no lost sales

Doesn't have money, doesnt pirate the game >>> no lost sales

Doesn't have money, pirates the game >>> again, no lost sales.


Just thought i'd throw this out there for devil's advocate.


nice logic there.
Basically, according to you, there's no way in the universe that pirating affects sales?

HINT:
Your #2 claim has no logical connection whatsoever.


Claim #2 is perfectly logical. All of those scenarios can and will happen.

There are also other scenarios, i.e. "Pirated but would have bought otherwise".

The anti-piracy dipshits pretend the latter is the only scenario that ever happens. Sure, piracy might hurt sales a little, but certainly not by these astronomical amounts quoted by the aforementioned dipshits.

Claim #2 is not perfectly logical (it focuses only on the part that's beneficial for the point he's trying to prove). It's plain obvious that there ARE people who would buy the game if there wasn't a way to pirate it.

I only bought SC:BW to be able to play on BNet after I tried all conventional methods of pirating it.
Veldril
Profile Joined August 2010
Thailand1817 Posts
November 16 2010 17:20 GMT
#256
On November 17 2010 02:13 xtfftc wrote:
I've downloaded it from TPB three times so far, even though I pre-ordered the game. Also, research after research have proven that people who tend to pirate music, films, books and games tend to buy more music, films, books and games. Fail OP - and fail anti-piracy propaganda.


Not always true, at least not in my country... Blizz could not just look at US/EU market in this case. They need to look at SEA, Taiwan and China too.

Well, we are one of the countries with the biggest piracy anyway.
Without love, we can't see anything. Without love, the truth can't be seen. - Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
Pom
Profile Joined August 2010
Sweden14 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-16 17:44:53
November 16 2010 17:35 GMT
#257
haha so many against piracy in this thread, didn't expect that.

Im one of those who first pirated the game for the singelplayer, then later bought the game.
I don't see the problem with that. If people like the game they'll eventully buy it.

EDIT: I was also one of those who downloaded/pirated the client just becouse it was SO much faster
BeMannerDuPenner
Profile Blog Joined April 2004
Germany5638 Posts
November 16 2010 17:39 GMT
#258
On November 17 2010 01:29 Gonzodamus wrote:
Hi there, I'm going to ahead and avoid this whole debate about morality and piracy.

/AVOIDED!/

I'm just surprised that this number isn't higher. 2.3 million is is big number, but compared to others, it's surprisingly small.

In 2009, the game 'Prototype' was downloaded 2.35 million times, according to the same source. The 'Sims 3' got 3.2 million downloads and 'Modern Warfare' got 4.1 million.

That means 'StarCraft 2' was downloaded fewer times than 'Prototype.' I don't have hard sales numbers, but I'd be willing to bet that 'StarCraft 2' has sold far more copies on PC than 'Prototype' has.

So while that 2.3 million looks huge, it does give a bit of evidence that Blizzard's anti-piracy measures like Battle.Net and the guest passes are working.


ofcourse battlenet works as anti piracy. people want to play the multiplayer. yeah the asian dota crowd pirated a shitton playing on those lan services but other then that blizz titles always did well. the by far best anti pirating measure is still providing a great multiplayer.

but something like prototype is just perfect for pirating. you miss zero "content" since there is no multiplayer, the game isnt good enough to spend 50$ on it but it sure is super fun to throw some cars around for 3-4 hours which makes it worth a dl.

but ya its a very very small number. esp considering how many of that are "legit" downloaders that had problems with the blizzloader or guys that first pirated and then bought the game for bnet.
life of lively to live to life of full life thx to shield battery
hitman133
Profile Joined October 2010
United States1425 Posts
November 16 2010 17:41 GMT
#259
But they can't play online, and VS AI is really dumb + bugs.
niteReloaded
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Croatia5282 Posts
November 16 2010 17:42 GMT
#260
On November 17 2010 02:13 xtfftc wrote:
Also, research after research have proven that people who tend to pirate music, films, books and games tend to buy more music, films, books and games.

These researches should be always taken with a pinch of salt. I'm guessing this fall into sociology or something like that? Well, in Croatia, people who study those disciplines are usually terribad with Math/statistics etc. which means they're prone to making 'unhealthy' correlations.

On that specific example:
People who steal(pirate) music are music listeners, they're bound to be more likely to spend $$$ on music than the average Joe who just listens to whatever's on the radio on his way to work.

The problem we should focus on is whether they'd spend EVEN MORE on music if there wasn't a way to steal it.
I'd be interested to see the actual premises and numbers behind that research.
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