racketboy.com

Ok let's, just for a moment, throw the legal issues of piracy out of the window. Let's say that every piece of software is free to distribute, but at the same time the same software is being sold as a boxed product (+ support) at stores. What would you do to try and convince people to pay for your software, or more specifically for your video game.

In other words, other than using legal means and restrictions to the paying customer (DRM, online activation, serials ect. ect.) what would you consider good incentives to push someone who would otherwise pirate a game, into buying it?

(I'll add my thoughts on the subject later)

I always thought pack in bonus items were a good incentive. Things like custom controllers or novelty items. Of course that can get expensive. Honestly, I think that people underestimate the amount of people that want to have a physical copy on the shelf and are willing to pay for it just for that reason.

Making a limited run collectible item such as cards or action figures that will have the probability to increase in value over time could have a positive impact as well. Imagine if all those pokemon games came with different characters and some of them were increasingly collectible. You would likely have people purchasing multiple copies to fill out a set. I wouldn't personally ever do that but some people get really infatuated with stuff like that.

I would remove all forms of DRM from the games.

Some people are gonna pirate games no matter what. The least we can do is stop punishing the people who buy them, with various annoying and restricting methods.

If I want to buy a game, but it has DRM that bothers me, I will pirate it or not play it at all. If there is no DRM, I can actually buy it. I like supporting companies that create quality products. I refuse to support companies who pour DRM bullshit all over their games.

The next point I am going to make will surely be misunderstood but I will say it anyway. Piracy is only bad if the person doing it would have bought the game normally. So for example, Joe Blow wants to buy Starcraft 2, but then finds a pirated version, downloads it, and he ends up never buying the game. In this case, piracy caused Blizzard to lose some money.

Some people pirate games to try them out, and then decide to buy them based on how good the game is. This harms no one.

Some people want to play a game but don't want to support the company for whatever reason (such as DRM like I mentioned above), so instead of skipping the game altogether, they play a pirated version. This harms no one.

Piracy is illegal but it is not always "wrong". It completely depends on if the person doing it would have normally bought the game or not.

Inazuma wrote:Piracy is illegal but it is not always "wrong". It completely depends on if the person doing it would have normally bought the game or not.

No, piracy is always wrong. Buying the game and then circumventing DRM is not piracy.

Inazuma wrote:
Some people want to play a game but don't want to support the company for whatever reason (such as DRM like I mentioned above), so instead of skipping the game altogether, they play a pirated version. This harms no one.

This is bull. DRM is not an excuse to steal a game, if you've a problem with how a developer or publisher protects their copyright then don't play the game AT ALL. You can't say I wouldn't have bought it for these reasons then play it regardless - It's moronic. "They wouldn't have had my money in their coffers so what's the difference?!?!?" It's attitudes like this that have necessitated restrictive DRMs. They weren't put in place because everyone was buying games.

I don't pirate games that are available to buy in a shop with the proceeds going to a developer. There's no excuse for it at all.

Back with the original question, I think lowering the RRP of games will go a long way toward curbing piracy. You cannot say a game like Kane & Lynch 2 with it's 4 hour campaign is worth a $60/£40 retail price, I think the price should reflect the value of the content. That said, by that formula Super Meat Boy should cost £100.

We have had the piracy vs. no piracy debate MANY times and it always ends the same way. I for one would like to hear some suggestions based on the OP instead of the flame way that is likely to start. Do we need another locked thread about it? Some people see it as wrong and some don't...nobody is going to change their mind.

Ok let's, just for a moment, throw the legal issues of piracy out of the window.

I think by throwing it out the window he meant not to make it a part of this discussion. Of course that is just my interpretation.

looks like izzy got to this thread a little early this time.

also, here's the best way to combat piracy:

Include more extras, supplemental materials, art books, nice packaging, etc. Try to appeal to the collector mentality, since that's going to be the main group buying physical items when they could easily get them for free.

Alternatively, you could try and guilt or scare your customers into buying them, but that didn't exactly work well for the RIAA now did it?

The best I can think of now is to use a similar model as a lot of open source based companies do. You can get the software for free, but if you want proper support beyond user forums you have to pay. Obviously the support of a game is different than say, server software. So it'd probably have to be some sort of value adding deal, like access to online areas that are otherwise restricted, or free items that are available at a fee to people that didn't pay for the game. Or go back to the days of entering keywords from manuals, that was fun in it's own way, but it still didn't really stop anyone from pirating.

Buying games must be more convenient than pirating them. Then piracy will decrease.