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I wish Blizzard would at least make a LAN-version for tournament organizers only. And I mean big tournaments like MLG or GSL. I'm sure that the LAN version wouldn't be leaked because of the huge trust between Blizzard and MLG/GSL.
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If you guys think the desition of not making the game with LAN was blizzards, you're just retarded, that was something that the investors decided, based on the fact that they though that would reduce piracy, and hence increase earnings. Why do you think blizzard went after KESPA?, at first, the developer team were probably so proud their game was taken as a local sport in another country, Blizzard & Activision united, and it was probably brought up to them, that they were missing money income in Korea, based on the fact that they were using their IP.
Do i think kespa, MBC, etc should play money to blizzard?, yeah, i think so, its still obvius though, that the new merge, and the investors that came with it, brought it to blizzard, that they needed to take action, just so they could make " MORE MONEY". i bet you, for the blizzard guys, the fact that SC Was so appreciated in korea, was enough, or more than all they money they could have gotten. And the reality is that, if blizzard had asked for those royalties from the beggining, Starcraft would probably never had the growth it did.
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On June 23 2011 08:57 theOnslaught wrote:Show nested quote +On June 23 2011 08:54 VirGin wrote:On June 23 2011 08:47 theOnslaught wrote:On June 23 2011 08:42 Khao wrote:On June 23 2011 08:35 theOnslaught wrote:On June 23 2011 08:32 VirGin wrote:
To the people who say pirates would not buy games anyway - so there is no sale lost; Of course there are sales lost. Certainly not ALL pirates would buy the game anyway (I myself have pirated tons of games I would never buy, but also some I would in fact buy, if I couldnt get them for free.) but a fair percentage probably would. People that pirate and wont buy, are only affecting rentals if anything, because they're basically the same thing (except one is legal), you dont want to buy the full game, but you want to test it first, so you either rent it or pirate it, if you like it you buy it. I dont know you but i have a subscription to grooveshark, and i barely ever buy a music disc... just because a disk has 1 or 2 good songs, that doesnt mean its worth $10+ usd. Pricing is just as wrong as pirating. I would strongly disagree with pricing being considered as wrong as piracy. Piracy happens whether or not the developer approves of it. Pricing is primarily determined by the market, the consumers willingness to buy the product given the circumstances of the market. Piracy is theft, it may be justified but it is intellectual theft regardless. Pricing gives the consumer a choice of whether or not they want it or not. The pricing is wrong because they're not considering that most people is already too tight to have money to spare for entertainment, We're on a global economy crisis, people dont spend money because they dont have it, if we were all rich as fuck, and still, taking things (Like Lindslay lohan), it would be wrong, obviusly. We're not talking about stealing a frikking ferrari here, we're talking about basic entertainment, that can make you better at alot of things in life. RTS for example, are great at making you great at quick thinking, and desicion making. MMORPGS are fantastic at making people good at problem solving, and team play. Games are great training for life, and a great stress relief in a world filled with just bad things. For anyone to be able to buy, and play games, watchs movies, etc. should be a human right, and priced accordingly. O.O The people that make games are not doing it for charity. Same way the people that make beds don't do it because they would just love to give people a good nights sleep. They do it to make money. Is it a human right to have a bed? It's most certainly not a human right to play games or watch movies. Who said i wanted it free?, i buy my stuff, but just because i have access, and money, that doesnt mean i dont have emphaty for those who dont. Im not asking for anything free, but you know whats worse than theft?, the fact that we're allowing all the money to go to a few, while 90% or more of this worlds population just keeps rotting with nothing at all to fall on. Just look at the music industry, they say they're broke becuase they cant afford 5 more ferraris ? cmon dude, they're still fucking rich, just not RICHER, there should be a limit in the amounts of money somone can hold, its just retarded for us to want to accumulate money into a couple bank accounts, those guys will never return it to the people, and thats why we're so screwed. We should care about the hard-working people, not the assholes that're just investing the money, trying to get sick returns from them. AGAIN, i repeat, i dont want anything for free, i just wish it was priced so anyone could enjoy it, we're talking about basic things here, not luxury items.
Food is a basic thing. Shelter. Clothes. Medical care, so you don't die. Those are basic things.
A video game is a luxury item. If you can't afford it, tough luck. You won't die.
For the record, the ones that are hurt the most by piracy are the small studios. And the small time musicians. Those that need to work a daytime job to afford the studio time to put their album out. Those guys are hurt the most by piracy. But that doesn't matter. You can't steal a guys ferrari just because he has a porsche and a lamborghini too. It's still illegal.
I don't see your argument really. Consumers control the price. Everyone can afford games in my country. Maybe not EVERY SINGLE game they want, but let's face it. Almost no one can afford EVERYTHING they want. Such is life.
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On June 23 2011 08:57 theOnslaught wrote:Show nested quote +On June 23 2011 08:54 VirGin wrote:On June 23 2011 08:47 theOnslaught wrote:On June 23 2011 08:42 Khao wrote:On June 23 2011 08:35 theOnslaught wrote:On June 23 2011 08:32 VirGin wrote:
To the people who say pirates would not buy games anyway - so there is no sale lost; Of course there are sales lost. Certainly not ALL pirates would buy the game anyway (I myself have pirated tons of games I would never buy, but also some I would in fact buy, if I couldnt get them for free.) but a fair percentage probably would. People that pirate and wont buy, are only affecting rentals if anything, because they're basically the same thing (except one is legal), you dont want to buy the full game, but you want to test it first, so you either rent it or pirate it, if you like it you buy it. I dont know you but i have a subscription to grooveshark, and i barely ever buy a music disc... just because a disk has 1 or 2 good songs, that doesnt mean its worth $10+ usd. Pricing is just as wrong as pirating. I would strongly disagree with pricing being considered as wrong as piracy. Piracy happens whether or not the developer approves of it. Pricing is primarily determined by the market, the consumers willingness to buy the product given the circumstances of the market. Piracy is theft, it may be justified but it is intellectual theft regardless. Pricing gives the consumer a choice of whether or not they want it or not. The pricing is wrong because they're not considering that most people is already too tight to have money to spare for entertainment, We're on a global economy crisis, people dont spend money because they dont have it, if we were all rich as fuck, and still, taking things (Like Lindslay lohan), it would be wrong, obviusly. We're not talking about stealing a frikking ferrari here, we're talking about basic entertainment, that can make you better at alot of things in life. RTS for example, are great at making you great at quick thinking, and desicion making. MMORPGS are fantastic at making people good at problem solving, and team play. Games are great training for life, and a great stress relief in a world filled with just bad things. For anyone to be able to buy, and play games, watchs movies, etc. should be a human right, and priced accordingly. O.O The people that make games are not doing it for charity. Same way the people that make beds don't do it because they would just love to give people a good nights sleep. They do it to make money. Is it a human right to have a bed? It's most certainly not a human right to play games or watch movies. Who said i wanted it free?, i buy my stuff, but just because i have access, and money, that doesnt mean i dont have emphaty for those who dont. Im not asking for anything free, but you know whats worse than theft?, the fact that we're allowing all the money to go to a few, while 90% or more of this worlds population just keeps rotting with nothing at all to fall on. Just look at the music industry, they say they're broke becuase they cant afford 5 more ferraris ? cmon dude, they're still fucking rich, just not RICHER, there should be a limit in the amounts of money somone can hold, its just retarded for us to want to accumulate money into a couple bank accounts, those guys will never return it to the people, and thats why we're so screwed. We should care about the hard-working people, not the assholes that're just investing the money, trying to get sick returns from them. AGAIN, i repeat, i dont want anything for free, i just wish it was priced so anyone could enjoy it, we're talking about basic things here, not luxury items.
Videogames are luxury items, really stealing food out of need? I can really get it, but companies have to make money they don´t dos tuff just because of goodwill and yeah while prices for games are high its because they cost a lot to make. people , especially gamers, ask for games with super high production values and yet they are willing to pay less for them?Many game companies take huge risks just by making a ¨next gen¨ game and that is why the prevalence of sequels.
Sorry, but the state of the gaming industry is the fault of both the consumers and the companies. They are not a charity, they invest a lot of money and time in making games. Hell many game developers are going under.
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On June 23 2011 09:06 Vandal_heart wrote:
Citation very much needed...
Really tired of some of the stuff thats done to screw over gamers in the fight against piracy. DRM that slows down pirated releases for a whole evening of some script kiddies time, and is removed for the non paying customer. One time use codes so you have to keep track of account details if you think youll want to replay a game at some point. And no lan, so you can watch MLG and see Incontrol's face get increasingly more FFFFFUUUUU as the connection to bnet lags.
Again, I WANT LAN.
I know it sucks we have to deal with it, but again, it makes sense they would do it.
I'm getting tired of being screwed over to deal with pirates too, but until there aren't any(LOL) we have to deal with it.
Again, "This is why we can't have nice things".
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lets cut the bullshit
I am a pirate, i live in a 3rd world country where games cost a lot more than in the USA because they don't ship here. The locals from my country have to pay extra money to ship the games from places like USA to my country . That costs extra money , which means games are more expensive in POORER COUNTRYS. Does that make sense?
Thats why piracy is excessively rampant in my country for any form of media, including music/movies/etc. Even the police buy from dvd stores that have all the latest movies (pirated versions).
So with that said, I PIRATE games mainly for that reason and i do not give a damn about the developer. Now with that said, i do buy some games, but only multiplayer games, WHY? because it cant be pirated to get the multiplayer experience.
Now to be honest, even if lived in USA, i will still pirate games. Why? , because 99.9 % of the games i think are good end up being garbage.
I have pirated every big title this year for instance, and the only one i played to the end of the solo campaign was MAFIA 2.
I just recently pirated duke nuken forever, and all i can say is, If piracy didnt exist, that game would be committing a crime for daylight robbery. The game is soooooooo fucking horribleeeeeee my god. I hear it costs 60$ u.s Are you kidden me?????????????????, this is the example im trying to make, if i was an honest citizen, and i went out there and bought that game for $60 , i would feel robbed and abused by the system. Ever heard the saying, the nice guys always finish last?
So with all this said, If blizzard decided to put in Lan, do you ppl honestly think it would be used for its intended purpose ???
Who are you guys kidden. If heart of the swarm released with Lan, thousands of pirates including myself will be so happy. All i need is some program like garena and i will be able to play FOR free in 1v1's , 2v2' s etc. Now im not saying i would still pirate the game even if lan came in, because nothing to me personally will subsitute battlenet, But it would be really stupid to say that not least 20 to 30% of the community will be fine playing on Garena for thier starcraft 2 fix.
Look at warcraft 3 dota, it has more ppl on garena than on battlenet playing dota.
All i trying to say is, Cut the fucking bullshit my fellow pirates. Admit you are a pirate and STFU. Stop denying it . "O IF THE GAME IS GOOD ILL GO AND BUY IT'' ya right lollol, i said that for mafia 2 and i didnt go and buy it. I fooled myself .
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On June 23 2011 08:50 SKC wrote:Show nested quote +On June 23 2011 08:46 eggs wrote:
LoL is free and makes money just fine. i don't think piracy is the real factor to not implement a LAN feature.
Torchlight developers know how much their game was pirated and acknowledged that it only helps make their game more popular and allows for a bigger market for Torchlight 2 and their upcoming Torchlight MMO.
Magicka was pirated a lot, then they made a bunch of money from DLC packs and most recently a PvP mode.
if SC2 had LAN, that would be 1 less major complaint about the game that gets brought up at a majority of tournaments. even if exposure at MLG and GSL caused the game to get pirated a ton without many legit customers, it has 2 expansions coming up and incoming DLC.
the OP just makes it seem like the HoN developers don't understand the PC market anymore. Blizzard was really slow to adopt microtransactions with WoW, and whenever they did it made millions. SC2 was also released with a dated model, where they seemed to only care about initial launch sales. they heavily advertised on TV and various Korean markets (McDonald's) and after launch they stopped advertising and had no DLC.
the market is completely different now. SC2 could survive very easily with a low-graphics only, no achievements LAN mode. they could make a ton of money selling skins like the CE Thor that are toggled for bnet games only. LoL makes money by microtransactions. Would you be fine if SC2 was free, but you had to pay to be able to play on most maps or even races? Even if you can unlock things with playtime, only the most harcore can get most unlockables. This system just doesn't work for SC2. Microtransactions with WoW are diferent, they don't even affect the game, they are the same way as HoN does it, not LoL, and LoL wouldn't get the same amount of money by selling skins. WoW is so freaking big it, and this opportunities are not that common, so it works when they do it.
WoW microtransactions absolutely affect the game. race changes, faction changes, server transfers, mobile AH.
i'm saying HoN and SC2 could easily implement a low feature LAN mode and make a ton of money off the game and DLC. how many people here actually play SC2 with their roommates or close neighbors? 98% of my bnet friends list doesn't live within 1 hour of me. LAN would only help tournaments run more smoothly and make the game more popular at PC Bangs, which is never a bad thing.
pirates are just a scapegoat. just like how "hackers" are a popular scapegoat for recent online security failures.
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On June 23 2011 08:57 theOnslaught wrote:
AGAIN, i repeat, i dont want anything for free, i just wish it was priced so anyone could enjoy it, we're talking about basic things here, not luxury items.
That is very vague you do realize, "was priced anyone could enjoy it". Who is everyone? Does everyone have money or some form of value of exchange that is also transmittable? If so how much? What is a price that could from a business perspective be financially feasible while having it priced low enough for everyone to purchase.
Don't get me wrong, your idea is innocent and I would love it as well, it's just unrealistic.
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On June 23 2011 09:10 Seam wrote:Show nested quote +On June 23 2011 09:06 Vandal_heart wrote:
Citation very much needed...
Really tired of some of the stuff thats done to screw over gamers in the fight against piracy. DRM that slows down pirated releases for a whole evening of some script kiddies time, and is removed for the non paying customer. One time use codes so you have to keep track of account details if you think youll want to replay a game at some point. And no lan, so you can watch MLG and see Incontrol's face get increasingly more FFFFFUUUUU as the connection to bnet lags. Again, I WANT LAN. I know it sucks we have to deal with it, but again, it makes sense they would do it. I'm getting tired of being screwed over to deal with pirates too, but until there aren't any(LOL) we have to deal with it. Again, "This is why we can't have nice things".
It was citation needed for the "LAN would make the game be pirated a ton" section.
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On June 23 2011 09:11 eggs wrote:Show nested quote +On June 23 2011 08:50 SKC wrote:On June 23 2011 08:46 eggs wrote:
LoL is free and makes money just fine. i don't think piracy is the real factor to not implement a LAN feature.
Torchlight developers know how much their game was pirated and acknowledged that it only helps make their game more popular and allows for a bigger market for Torchlight 2 and their upcoming Torchlight MMO.
Magicka was pirated a lot, then they made a bunch of money from DLC packs and most recently a PvP mode.
if SC2 had LAN, that would be 1 less major complaint about the game that gets brought up at a majority of tournaments. even if exposure at MLG and GSL caused the game to get pirated a ton without many legit customers, it has 2 expansions coming up and incoming DLC.
the OP just makes it seem like the HoN developers don't understand the PC market anymore. Blizzard was really slow to adopt microtransactions with WoW, and whenever they did it made millions. SC2 was also released with a dated model, where they seemed to only care about initial launch sales. they heavily advertised on TV and various Korean markets (McDonald's) and after launch they stopped advertising and had no DLC.
the market is completely different now. SC2 could survive very easily with a low-graphics only, no achievements LAN mode. they could make a ton of money selling skins like the CE Thor that are toggled for bnet games only. LoL makes money by microtransactions. Would you be fine if SC2 was free, but you had to pay to be able to play on most maps or even races? Even if you can unlock things with playtime, only the most harcore can get most unlockables. This system just doesn't work for SC2. Microtransactions with WoW are diferent, they don't even affect the game, they are the same way as HoN does it, not LoL, and LoL wouldn't get the same amount of money by selling skins. WoW is so freaking big it, and this opportunities are not that common, so it works when they do it. WoW microtransactions absolutely affect the game. race changes, faction changes, server transfers, mobile AH. i'm saying HoN and SC2 could easily implement a low feature LAN mode and make a ton of money off the game and DLC. how many people here actually play SC2 with their roommates or close neighbors? 98% of my bnet friends list doesn't live within 1 hour of me. LAN would only help tournaments run more smoothly and make the game more popular at PC Bangs, which is never a bad thing.
By "don't affect the game", I'm pretty sure he meant that you can't use microtransaction purchased items to be better. All of the items are either aesthetic or just changing things that could've been done had you started off as that race/server.
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I'm confused as to why adding a LAN feature will cause a decrease in sales and an increase in Piracy???
Is it just becasue people will pirate the game to play with their friends at home? Off the ladder?
I would have thought that adding additional features to one of your best selling games, especially features that the players WANT, would increase sales, not decrease them???
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On June 23 2011 09:06 branflakes14 wrote:Show nested quote +On June 23 2011 09:03 LITTLEHEAD wrote:
LAN is clearly wanted dearly, but the fact of the matter is that you CANNOT implement LAN without knowing you're going to lose HUGE amount of money. I do think a potential LAN that require you to log in online yet run a peer-to-peer connection/LAN of some form.
Anyone thinking that Blizzard or any other of these gaming companies don't NEED the money, then please open your own business and attempt to thrive under these savage conditions that are progressing. I do believe that some progress of LAN will be made such that they can implement it without risking piracy, but atm there should be no expectations of it in the immediate future.
Stating that someone like Microsoft has the biggest piracy issues and are still a forward moving company, comes from someone who is ignorant. Their scenario is completely differant in multiple ways. First of it has nothing to do with LAN, and their market is MUCH MUCH MUCH larger than that of a gaming company(specifically PCs).
I as much as anyone, want LAN and pray for it, but until a effective method of LAN that can be backed by the security of online gaming is created, there will only be large declines of LAN use. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070312/165448.shtmlBill Gates openly admitted that Microsoft benefits from piracy.
That's a very weird to apply that article.
I don't think most people actually think piracy has no benefits at all, ever.
I don't think Microsoft thinks piracy is better than no piracy.
It doesn't fully apply to games, because Windows competes with a free software, so it's not a question of buying from whom, like a game, but a question of not paying for something diferent, piracy, or paying. If Linux would cost the same as windowns, and would be as hard to pirate, those schools in Russia wouldn't ever consider the switch.
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On June 23 2011 09:12 visual77 wrote:Show nested quote +On June 23 2011 09:11 eggs wrote:On June 23 2011 08:50 SKC wrote:On June 23 2011 08:46 eggs wrote:
LoL is free and makes money just fine. i don't think piracy is the real factor to not implement a LAN feature.
Torchlight developers know how much their game was pirated and acknowledged that it only helps make their game more popular and allows for a bigger market for Torchlight 2 and their upcoming Torchlight MMO.
Magicka was pirated a lot, then they made a bunch of money from DLC packs and most recently a PvP mode.
if SC2 had LAN, that would be 1 less major complaint about the game that gets brought up at a majority of tournaments. even if exposure at MLG and GSL caused the game to get pirated a ton without many legit customers, it has 2 expansions coming up and incoming DLC.
the OP just makes it seem like the HoN developers don't understand the PC market anymore. Blizzard was really slow to adopt microtransactions with WoW, and whenever they did it made millions. SC2 was also released with a dated model, where they seemed to only care about initial launch sales. they heavily advertised on TV and various Korean markets (McDonald's) and after launch they stopped advertising and had no DLC.
the market is completely different now. SC2 could survive very easily with a low-graphics only, no achievements LAN mode. they could make a ton of money selling skins like the CE Thor that are toggled for bnet games only. LoL makes money by microtransactions. Would you be fine if SC2 was free, but you had to pay to be able to play on most maps or even races? Even if you can unlock things with playtime, only the most harcore can get most unlockables. This system just doesn't work for SC2. Microtransactions with WoW are diferent, they don't even affect the game, they are the same way as HoN does it, not LoL, and LoL wouldn't get the same amount of money by selling skins. WoW is so freaking big it, and this opportunities are not that common, so it works when they do it. WoW microtransactions absolutely affect the game. race changes, faction changes, server transfers, mobile AH. i'm saying HoN and SC2 could easily implement a low feature LAN mode and make a ton of money off the game and DLC. how many people here actually play SC2 with their roommates or close neighbors? 98% of my bnet friends list doesn't live within 1 hour of me. LAN would only help tournaments run more smoothly and make the game more popular at PC Bangs, which is never a bad thing. By "don't affect the game", I'm pretty sure he meant that you can't use microtransaction purchased items to be better. All of the items are either aesthetic or just changing things that could've been done had you started off as that race/server.
and how is that different from LoL/HoN skins?
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What does LAN have to do with increasing piracy, again? The only people who would pirate for LAN are the same people who would pirate for single player, which has been done. Unless, of course, you can somehow create a replication of Battle.net's ladder system and easily accessible user base in one neat package and make it available in LAN mode?
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On June 23 2011 09:10 VirGin wrote:Show nested quote +On June 23 2011 08:57 theOnslaught wrote:On June 23 2011 08:54 VirGin wrote:On June 23 2011 08:47 theOnslaught wrote:On June 23 2011 08:42 Khao wrote:On June 23 2011 08:35 theOnslaught wrote:On June 23 2011 08:32 VirGin wrote:
To the people who say pirates would not buy games anyway - so there is no sale lost; Of course there are sales lost. Certainly not ALL pirates would buy the game anyway (I myself have pirated tons of games I would never buy, but also some I would in fact buy, if I couldnt get them for free.) but a fair percentage probably would. People that pirate and wont buy, are only affecting rentals if anything, because they're basically the same thing (except one is legal), you dont want to buy the full game, but you want to test it first, so you either rent it or pirate it, if you like it you buy it. I dont know you but i have a subscription to grooveshark, and i barely ever buy a music disc... just because a disk has 1 or 2 good songs, that doesnt mean its worth $10+ usd. Pricing is just as wrong as pirating. I would strongly disagree with pricing being considered as wrong as piracy. Piracy happens whether or not the developer approves of it. Pricing is primarily determined by the market, the consumers willingness to buy the product given the circumstances of the market. Piracy is theft, it may be justified but it is intellectual theft regardless. Pricing gives the consumer a choice of whether or not they want it or not. The pricing is wrong because they're not considering that most people is already too tight to have money to spare for entertainment, We're on a global economy crisis, people dont spend money because they dont have it, if we were all rich as fuck, and still, taking things (Like Lindslay lohan), it would be wrong, obviusly. We're not talking about stealing a frikking ferrari here, we're talking about basic entertainment, that can make you better at alot of things in life. RTS for example, are great at making you great at quick thinking, and desicion making. MMORPGS are fantastic at making people good at problem solving, and team play. Games are great training for life, and a great stress relief in a world filled with just bad things. For anyone to be able to buy, and play games, watchs movies, etc. should be a human right, and priced accordingly. O.O The people that make games are not doing it for charity. Same way the people that make beds don't do it because they would just love to give people a good nights sleep. They do it to make money. Is it a human right to have a bed? It's most certainly not a human right to play games or watch movies. Who said i wanted it free?, i buy my stuff, but just because i have access, and money, that doesnt mean i dont have emphaty for those who dont. Im not asking for anything free, but you know whats worse than theft?, the fact that we're allowing all the money to go to a few, while 90% or more of this worlds population just keeps rotting with nothing at all to fall on. Just look at the music industry, they say they're broke becuase they cant afford 5 more ferraris ? cmon dude, they're still fucking rich, just not RICHER, there should be a limit in the amounts of money somone can hold, its just retarded for us to want to accumulate money into a couple bank accounts, those guys will never return it to the people, and thats why we're so screwed. We should care about the hard-working people, not the assholes that're just investing the money, trying to get sick returns from them. AGAIN, i repeat, i dont want anything for free, i just wish it was priced so anyone could enjoy it, we're talking about basic things here, not luxury items. Food is a basic thing. Shelter. Clothes. Medical care, so you don't die. Those are basic things. A video game is a luxury item. If you can't afford it, tough luck. You won't die. For the record, the ones that are hurt the most by piracy are the small studios. And the small time musicians. Those that need to work a daytime job to afford the studio time to put their album out. Those guys are hurt the most by piracy. But that doesn't matter. You can't steal a guys ferrari just because he has a porsche and a lamborghini too. It's still illegal. I don't see your argument really. Consumers control the price. Everyone can afford games in my country. Maybe not EVERY SINGLE game they want, but let's face it. Almost no one can afford EVERYTHING they want. Such is life.
Many small studios have profited despite piracy. Dwarf Fortress lives entirely off donations. The guy who made Minecraft is a millionaire despite the fact that his game and every update can be easily pirated. Sins of the Solar Empire was released with no copy protection, yet has sold 500,000 copies and had multiple expansions created for it, with the best part being the original game cost less than one million to make.
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United States7483 Posts
On June 23 2011 07:18 darkscream wrote:
Bad argument made by propagandist.
Pirates wouldn't have bought the game anyway, and including LAN would let your game get exposed to new people for free. This is like saying "terrorists ruined travel", even though it's the government ruining travelling.
Not to mention that most of these games have online ladder systems and that's what people buy the game for - The competitive ladder.
What can you really say. As a game developer he has to talk like that because its his bread and butter. But, because of this I feel like his opinion is pretty much not relevant because it's strongly biased without any actual proof/evidence to his claims. Just saber rattling towards pirates.
That's not necessarily true, I know a few people who don't buy games that they really want to play because they can pirate them, but they readily admit that if they weren't able to pirate them, they'd buy them.
Some pirates just don't want to spend money if they don't have to. These are thieves.
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Interesting read and thanks for bringing this up I was always wondering exactly why LAN wasn't in yet but kinda knew just didn't understand how big it was in terms of profits (dumb me lol). I do agree with those saying it would be nice for GSL and MLG to have special LAN copies or something but someone could find a way to get that out into a programmers hands. Which would then just turn the entire situation upside down so its not worth the risk. Sad things have to be this way but I don't blame them.
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On June 23 2011 09:14 eggs wrote:Show nested quote +On June 23 2011 09:12 visual77 wrote:On June 23 2011 09:11 eggs wrote:On June 23 2011 08:50 SKC wrote:On June 23 2011 08:46 eggs wrote:
LoL is free and makes money just fine. i don't think piracy is the real factor to not implement a LAN feature.
Torchlight developers know how much their game was pirated and acknowledged that it only helps make their game more popular and allows for a bigger market for Torchlight 2 and their upcoming Torchlight MMO.
Magicka was pirated a lot, then they made a bunch of money from DLC packs and most recently a PvP mode.
if SC2 had LAN, that would be 1 less major complaint about the game that gets brought up at a majority of tournaments. even if exposure at MLG and GSL caused the game to get pirated a ton without many legit customers, it has 2 expansions coming up and incoming DLC.
the OP just makes it seem like the HoN developers don't understand the PC market anymore. Blizzard was really slow to adopt microtransactions with WoW, and whenever they did it made millions. SC2 was also released with a dated model, where they seemed to only care about initial launch sales. they heavily advertised on TV and various Korean markets (McDonald's) and after launch they stopped advertising and had no DLC.
the market is completely different now. SC2 could survive very easily with a low-graphics only, no achievements LAN mode. they could make a ton of money selling skins like the CE Thor that are toggled for bnet games only. LoL makes money by microtransactions. Would you be fine if SC2 was free, but you had to pay to be able to play on most maps or even races? Even if you can unlock things with playtime, only the most harcore can get most unlockables. This system just doesn't work for SC2. Microtransactions with WoW are diferent, they don't even affect the game, they are the same way as HoN does it, not LoL, and LoL wouldn't get the same amount of money by selling skins. WoW is so freaking big it, and this opportunities are not that common, so it works when they do it. WoW microtransactions absolutely affect the game. race changes, faction changes, server transfers, mobile AH. i'm saying HoN and SC2 could easily implement a low feature LAN mode and make a ton of money off the game and DLC. how many people here actually play SC2 with their roommates or close neighbors? 98% of my bnet friends list doesn't live within 1 hour of me. LAN would only help tournaments run more smoothly and make the game more popular at PC Bangs, which is never a bad thing. By "don't affect the game", I'm pretty sure he meant that you can't use microtransaction purchased items to be better. All of the items are either aesthetic or just changing things that could've been done had you started off as that race/server. and how is that different from LoL/HoN skins?
No idea. I may be completely wrong on my response. I don't know anything about LoL/HoN, but I do know some games sell items that have better stats than anything free. So I was comparing it to games like that, in the "doesn't affect the game" sense.
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On June 23 2011 09:12 Ridiculisk wrote:
I'm confused as to why adding a LAN feature will cause a decrease in sales and an increase in Piracy???
Is it just becasue people will pirate the game to play with their friends at home? Off the ladder?
I would have thought that adding additional features to one of your best selling games, especially features that the players WANT, would increase sales, not decrease them???
Because there's really no way to make sure that somebody playing on a LAN actually bought your game. And the fact that Starcraft 2 is already ridiculously pirated should probably tell you that if you give a feature that esentially encourages piracy is probably going to inflate those numbers even more
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On June 23 2011 09:10 VirGin wrote:Show nested quote +On June 23 2011 08:57 theOnslaught wrote:On June 23 2011 08:54 VirGin wrote:On June 23 2011 08:47 theOnslaught wrote:On June 23 2011 08:42 Khao wrote:On June 23 2011 08:35 theOnslaught wrote:On June 23 2011 08:32 VirGin wrote:
To the people who say pirates would not buy games anyway - so there is no sale lost; Of course there are sales lost. Certainly not ALL pirates would buy the game anyway (I myself have pirated tons of games I would never buy, but also some I would in fact buy, if I couldnt get them for free.) but a fair percentage probably would. People that pirate and wont buy, are only affecting rentals if anything, because they're basically the same thing (except one is legal), you dont want to buy the full game, but you want to test it first, so you either rent it or pirate it, if you like it you buy it. I dont know you but i have a subscription to grooveshark, and i barely ever buy a music disc... just because a disk has 1 or 2 good songs, that doesnt mean its worth $10+ usd. Pricing is just as wrong as pirating. I would strongly disagree with pricing being considered as wrong as piracy. Piracy happens whether or not the developer approves of it. Pricing is primarily determined by the market, the consumers willingness to buy the product given the circumstances of the market. Piracy is theft, it may be justified but it is intellectual theft regardless. Pricing gives the consumer a choice of whether or not they want it or not. The pricing is wrong because they're not considering that most people is already too tight to have money to spare for entertainment, We're on a global economy crisis, people dont spend money because they dont have it, if we were all rich as fuck, and still, taking things (Like Lindslay lohan), it would be wrong, obviusly. We're not talking about stealing a frikking ferrari here, we're talking about basic entertainment, that can make you better at alot of things in life. RTS for example, are great at making you great at quick thinking, and desicion making. MMORPGS are fantastic at making people good at problem solving, and team play. Games are great training for life, and a great stress relief in a world filled with just bad things. For anyone to be able to buy, and play games, watchs movies, etc. should be a human right, and priced accordingly. O.O The people that make games are not doing it for charity. Same way the people that make beds don't do it because they would just love to give people a good nights sleep. They do it to make money. Is it a human right to have a bed? It's most certainly not a human right to play games or watch movies. Who said i wanted it free?, i buy my stuff, but just because i have access, and money, that doesnt mean i dont have emphaty for those who dont. Im not asking for anything free, but you know whats worse than theft?, the fact that we're allowing all the money to go to a few, while 90% or more of this worlds population just keeps rotting with nothing at all to fall on. Just look at the music industry, they say they're broke becuase they cant afford 5 more ferraris ? cmon dude, they're still fucking rich, just not RICHER, there should be a limit in the amounts of money somone can hold, its just retarded for us to want to accumulate money into a couple bank accounts, those guys will never return it to the people, and thats why we're so screwed. We should care about the hard-working people, not the assholes that're just investing the money, trying to get sick returns from them. AGAIN, i repeat, i dont want anything for free, i just wish it was priced so anyone could enjoy it, we're talking about basic things here, not luxury items. Food is a basic thing. Shelter. Clothes. Medical care, so you don't die. Those are basic things. A video game is a luxury item. If you can't afford it, tough luck. You won't die. For the record, the ones that are hurt the most by piracy are the small studios. And the small time musicians. Those that need to work a daytime job to afford the studio time to put their album out. Those guys are hurt the most by piracy. But that doesn't matter. You can't steal a guys ferrari just because he has a porsche and a lamborghini too. It's still illegal. I don't see your argument really. Consumers control the price. Everyone can afford games in my country. Maybe not EVERY SINGLE game they want, but let's face it. Almost no one can afford EVERYTHING they want. Such is life.
Thats where you got it wrong buddy, Entertainment, Love, Food, Shelter, etc are all required. Just because you can survive off water, and a roof, it doesn't mean you're a balanced, happy individual. Entertainment should never be a luxury, its part of what makes us balanced, smarter, etc. Its like saying education, or the internet is a luxury, if you think that then you're just sheeple and retarded.
For sustainability to be achieved, all the basic needs of a human begin need to be covered, and for human intellect to grow, we need things like games, school, and love. i own alot of luxury items, i have a razer destructor, a logitech g15, a razer abyuss, and sennheisers pc360 as headphones. Those are luxury items, the right to have a computer with internet, and be able to play a couple games should not be!, those games are making us smarter as a whole.
For example, im mexican and my primary language is spanish (obviusly), well, i learnt most of the english i know(which is obviusly not perfect, and flawed, but still good enough to communicate with you guys), thanks to starcraft and my desire to communicate with more people to be able to get better training.
This things are good for humanity.
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