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ESA Estimates 10 Million Pirate Games Downloaded in December

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Piracy remains high.... no wonder publishers are resorting to news protection methods.

 

ESA estimates 10 million pirate games downloaded in December

 

Research conducted by trade groups including the Entertainment Software Association has shown that over 9.78 million games were successfully downloaded illegally during the month of December.

 

However, the actual number of illegally downloaded games is expected to be much higher, with the ESA admitting that its survey only focused on 200 games accessed on the most popular peer-to-peer platforms such as BitTorrent, eDonkey, Gnutella and Ares.

 

"These figures under-represent the true magnitude of online game piracy," said the ESA. "They address only downloads of a small selection of ESA member titles.

 

"And while they account for illegal downloads that occur over select P2P platforms, they do not account for downloads that occur from 'cyberlockers' or 'one-click' hosting sites, which continue to account for high volumes of infringing downloads."

 

The countries with the heaviest number of unauthorised games downloads by volume were Italy (20.3%), Spain (12.5%), France (7.5%), Brazil (6%) and China (5.7%).

 

"ESA’s reporting demonstrates a strong correlation between countries that lack sufficient protections for technological protection measures and countries where online piracy levels for entertainment software are high," said the body.

 

The research was conducted with the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), which has filed its findings with the United States Trade Representative (UTSR).

 

The report recommends that 35 countries be placed on a 'priority watch list', including Canada, Brazil and Mexico, due in large part to inadequate response to regional piracy problems. The UTSR could impose sanctions on some of the countries named.

 

Spain is another country which the ESA and IIPA recommended is placed under "close scrutiny" due to the recent decriminalisation of infringements via peer-to-peer networks.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/esa-...ded-in-december

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Its a societal problem, like everything in the world, you can't just fix it with some fancy tech.

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There's several reasons why people download games instead of just buying them.

And despite what pirates think, none of them are justified.

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My ass they're not. Take Assassin's Creed 2 for example. Just to play it offline without hassles from Ubisoft, you would need a cracked copy. C&C4 is another good example, though it's less obnoxious. With all of the Draconian DRMs in place that can, and have, royally ****ed up people's operating systems, what incentive do I have to install it from a legitimate source? Not one. At all.

 

I'll agree that not every pirate does so for at least decent reasons, but that's why I've downloaded a few games. Bull**** DRM.

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So because the game doesn't function as it should, you have the right to steal it? I think not. Whether they made a low quality product or not, it is still their property to sell at any price they want and you can either accept that or refuse to acquire it at all. You do not have justification to steal it.

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What if I purchase the game, have a legal key yet refuse to install bull**** DRM to my PC? What then? There is always a justification for stealing. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

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I will end up pirating AC2 and a few other Ubisoft titles simply because of the DRM. I was actually going to freakin' pre-order AC2. God dammit. Pirates killing the industry is bull**** now.

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What if I purchase the game, have a legal key yet refuse to install bull**** DRM to my PC?

Then don't install it...

When you bought the game you bought DRM that came with it. I would not report you to the authorities for reacquiring a game you already paid for, but is it justified? No, it is not. Stealing is stealing, no matter the motive.

 

DRM only exists in the first place because of piracy, participating in the act is not helping the problem.

 

So you must suffer because other people were morons and ruined it for the rest of us? Welcome to the real world. You can replicate the morons and make the problem worse for temporary self-service or accept what the world gives you.

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If I paid for a license, I don't need the DRM. I'll acquire a version without the bull**** DRM and enjoy it hassle free. But it's not stealing if I already own the product.

 

DRM only exists because of paranoia and ****ty products. You notice the most hardcore DRM methods are on mediocre products whereas products that are actually worth the money, do not have that problem. Quality products sell better; if companies like EA and Ubisoft want people to start purchasing their products again, the Draconian DRM methods need to stop and the quality of the games needs to increase. They won't eliminate piracy but it will actually eliminate some of it.

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But it's not stealing if I already own the product.

Nonsense. Granted, it is not equal to buying a disk from the store and then stealing a second disk, but it is still stealing. Even it it wasn't, it is still promoting piracy as a whole. I wonder what percentage of those statistics were people thinking that their actions were justified?

 

DRM only exists because of paranoia and ****ty products. You notice the most hardcore DRM methods are on mediocre products whereas products that are actually worth the money, do not have that problem. Quality products sell better; if companies like EA and Ubisoft want people to start purchasing their products again, the Draconian DRM methods need to stop and the quality of the games needs to increase. They won't eliminate piracy but it will actually eliminate some of it.

Indeed, I do not dispute that DRM is stupid and a company should have higher standards and quality products, but the issue is not whether DRM is justified, it is whether piracy is justified.

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It's probably a lot higher than you think since there are many more angry gamers who just want a game, not a sham. I want to play a game without the hassle of online, being forced to be online, stupid DRM that infects my machine and I don't want DRM that can potentially stop my machine from booting. Why should I have to suffer when I've bought every game I play? Hell no. They're not enforcing that bull**** on me. Not anymore. I'm tired of it.

 

But... does that study take into account how many people downloaded a game to try it before they buy it? I bet not. The numbers would drop significantly if you took that into account.

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I'm with DD on this one. If you did actually pay for it, then it is justified. I want to pay for a game, not a sham.

 

With that being said, I have never pirated a game, regardless of if I had paid for it or not... Well, not yet anyways. This sort of move by Ubisoft and other publishers is the sort of thing that might push me to do it in the future though (still paying that is, just getting the illegit version after payment to bypass the bull****).

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Guest Stevie_K
DRM only exists because of paranoia and ****ty products. You notice the most hardcore DRM methods are on mediocre products whereas products that are actually worth the money, do not have that problem. Quality products sell better; if companies like EA and Ubisoft want people to start purchasing their products again, the Draconian DRM methods need to stop and the quality of the games needs to increase. They won't eliminate piracy but it will actually eliminate some of it.

:thumbsup:

 

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Why should I have to suffer when I've bought every game I play?

Because the world does not revolve around you. Misery loves company, but that is not justification to make the problem worse for everyone else. "Justified" piracy will always show up as simply "Piracy" in the statistics (which was my point). This freaks the company out do to their paranoia you indicated and they will overreact, making the suffering even worse. This is a cycle, your "justified" piracy is making the problem worse.

 

If you did actually pay for it, then it is justified.

I can understand your logic for that, but I do not agree. You are trying to legitimize a crime by faulting the victim (I know, it's hard to say a big company like EA is ever a victim, but this is nevertheless, an accurate term). EA making games that push people toward piracy is foolish, but it does not give you the right to promote piracy. If I was EA or Ubisoft, I knew my product was defective, and I knew you paid for my product, I would not mind you hacking into it to protect your computer or sanity. However, I would not accept piracy as the answer.

Say you write a novel and publish it, but to combat illegal copies, you had a special identifier strip installed into the cover. This strip turns out to be annoying to the buyers of the book for some reason. Luckily there is a swarthy criminal gang scanning your book and giving away illegal copies of it for free, so your "legal" customers go out and fetch these rip-offs because they lack the annoying strip in them. They bought the book, after all... so they are justified.

Except they are helping the criminals that service both "legal" individuals and thieves.

As the novel's creator, you can insert whatever annoying security feature you want into your merchandise, that does not give your customers justification to promote theft.

 

Ideally, the company would know you are a legal buyer and allow you to have a copy without DRM or anything stupid like that, but the blunt truth is that we all are potential thieves and they can't pick out who is who. Yes, we are guilty until proven innocent, and that is the fault of the first pirates that took advantage of the insecure software, not the company.

 

I can understand the companies' paranoia, I have it too. I put a lot of work into the things I create and cannot stand the thought of people stealing my work. Some of you are modders, you should know what it would feel like to have some idiot make off with your creations, and you're providing your work for free. Just try to imagine the paranoia you would feel if your work was your livelihood. I can imagine some executive meeting where this new thing called Digital Rights Management is presented and probably thoroughly hyped. I could easily see myself giving in to the concept and when it blows back from customer complaints, I could even picture feeling stubborn about dropping it.

 

We suffer every day from restraints put into place due to potential crimes, but people's selfish actions affect us all and the only thing we can do about it is join them or bear it. You cannot be a "justified" criminal.

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Because the world does not revolve around you. Misery loves company, but that is not justification to make the problem worse for everyone else. "Justified" piracy will always show up as simply "Piracy" in the statistics (which was my point). This freaks the company out do to their paranoia you indicated and they will overreact, making the suffering even worse. This is a cycle, your "justified" piracy is making the problem worse.

I am not the only one who feels this way. Look around for ten minutes and you'll see I'm far from the only who is irritated by all of this DRM, online only and whatever other bull**** game companies are trying to pull in order to "prevent piracy." It's not about preventing piracy in the least since it only makes the problem that much worse. If there's no real reason to pirate a game, a majority of people won't, if you can believe that. I do support the developers since I actually buy the ****ing game in the first place, which I'm sure quite a few people do since the product itself is probably worth the support. It's that DRM baggage that prevents most people from even spending a cent. Not that I support those people, but I sure ****ing understand why they do it. Even still, you have to face facts. There will always be someone out there who will refuse to pay a dime for anything digital. They'll exist until the end of all existence.

 

I can understand your logic for that, but I do not agree. You are trying to legitimize a crime by faulting the victim (I know, it's hard to say a big company like EA is ever a victim, but this is nevertheless, an accurate term). EA making games that push people toward piracy is foolish, but it does not give you the right to promote piracy. If I was EA or Ubisoft, I knew my product was defective, and I knew you paid for my product, I would not mind you hacking into it to protect your computer or sanity. However, I would not accept piracy as the answer.

EA isn't the victim, they are the problem. You cannot label them as a victim in this instance. They make it worse for everyone when a handful of people 'pirate the game.' Pirating has gone on since the digital medium started in the 1960s. It has always been an issue and always will be. But you know something, it was astonishingly low back in those days. And it's not just because the Internet hadn't been invented yet. No... there was no such thing as DRM so buying a legit product meant you got the product and no bull**** extras. That's a dead time and EA is the pioneer of murdering it, but now, so is Ubisoft.

 

Say you write a novel and publish it, but to combat illegal copies, you had a special identifier strip installed into the cover. This strip turns out to be annoying to the buyers of the book for some reason. Luckily there is a swarthy criminal gang scanning your book and giving away illegal copies of it for free, so your "legal" customers go out and fetch these rip-offs because they lack the annoying strip in them. They bought the book, after all... so they are justified.

If they bought the book legally, they're entitled to a bull**** free personal experience.

 

As the novel's creator, you can insert whatever annoying security feature you want into your merchandise, that does not give your customers justification to promote theft.

Actually... it does. You may not agree, but it really, really does. Wanna know why? It's very simple actually... you violate the consumer's rights. Companies piss and moan about lost sales, but still don't understand that Joe Consumer is irritated by their lack of faith in the consumer base to buy the product. If you **** with people long enough, they'll eventually take matters into their own hands. No one ever stops to think about the consumer... ever. We're not all pasty faced nerds hunched over their keyboards in their mom's basement downloading the latest game because it's stopping them from making money. Many of them are average consumers just out to play a game and have a good time, like me. We want a game, not bull****. We're tired of it and we're not going to lay back and take it.

 

Ideally, the company would know you are a legal buyer and allow you to have a copy without DRM or anything stupid like that, but the blunt truth is that we all are potential thieves and they can't pick out who is who. Yes, we are guilty until proven innocent, and that is the fault of the first pirates that took advantage of the insecure software, not the company.

I'm not sure if you realize it, but the harder DRM methods have been cracked much, much faster than lighter ones. Harsh DRM does the exact opposite when trying to prevent piracy. Even still, piracy is a "problem" that has existed since the first commercial software was introduced. Some measure of protection isn't a big deal. It's the methods they use now that have the easy potential to harm operating systems that does become a big deal. I miss the days of just using a goddamn CD key and that was it. Was that so hard? Sheesh.

 

I can understand the companies' paranoia, I have it too. I put a lot of work into the things I create and cannot stand the thought of people stealing my work. Some of you are modders, you should know what it would feel like to have some idiot make off with your creations, and you're providing your work for free. Just try to imagine the paranoia you would feel if your work was your livelihood. I can imagine some executive meeting where this new thing called Digital Rights Management is presented and probably thoroughly hyped. I could easily see myself giving in to the concept and when it blows back from customer complaints, I could even picture feeling stubborn about dropping it.

People are going to steal your work. It's inevitable as soon as you publish it to the Internet. However, you cannot let that alone get in the way of treating your legitimate customers fairly. Why does everyone forget the customer who bought and paid for his product? Why are they treated so unfairly? It's all profits, profits, profits. That's all well and good until you piss off your entire customer base and they get it somewhere else. I can't wait until the DRM backfires and they have no choice but to remove it or consider the possibility of losing profits. We all know losing profits isn't in the cards.

 

But let me ask you something, Nmenth, you're not a gamer who's had his OS wrecked by this bull****, are you? We'll just wait until your OS is wrecked by DRM and then we'll see if you feel the same way. From the way you act, you feel more like a businessman, not a gamer.

 

You cannot be a "justified" criminal.

This is an utter, absolute lie of the highest magnitude. How can you be so asinine and backwards?

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I'm pretty sure (far) more than half of the gamers don't even know the existance of DRM.

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If there's no real reason to pirate a game, a majority of people won't, if you can believe that.
I do believe that, if you can believe that.

 

But let me ask you something, Nmenth, you're not a gamer who's had his OS wrecked by this bull****, are you? We'll just wait until your OS is wrecked by DRM and then we'll see if you feel the same way.
I actually probably couldn't tell if it was, my OS was already a pile of garbage when it was new and has only gotten worse despite many attempts to correct the problems, including it going in to a computer repair "professional". Anyway, this is why I said I wouldn't care if someone hacked the game and removed the DRM, but piracy is not the answer. I know, not everyone that gets screwed over is a skilled hacker (unless they're pirated copy makers...), and that's a shame, but if a game is so heavily fortified with anti-piracy that it is barely playable, I simply would not buy it.

 

From the way you act, you feel more like a businessman, not a gamer.
Not sure how to react to that... admittedly, I'm not much of a gamer anymore, I spend more time making games than playing them now. Maybe I am becoming a businessman, but I suppose if I want to own my own company in the future, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Note that my intolerance of piracy does not mean that I support DRM or any massive company like EA's ill-advised decisions.

 

EA isn't the victim, they are the problem. You cannot label them as a victim in this instance.
They are the victim of theft, whether they caused the theft to be so easy or attractive is irrelevant to the fact. This is a case of blaming the victim, even if the victim is a huge, corrupt, money-grabbing company that doesn't care for a picosecond about their customers. And you are using the just-world fallacy to back up your opinion.

 

This is an utter, absolute lie of the highest magnitude. How can you be so asinine and backwards?
Well I feel the same way about any that think stealing can be justified, so I can't answer that for you.

 

 

Let me propose a new question that is not intended as a comparative crime, but I'd like to know your opinion on it as it may be of psychological significance. If someone is poor and starving, is it justified to steal their food?

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I do believe that, if you can believe that.

I don't, and I don't think you really do either.

 

I actually probably couldn't tell if it was, my OS was already a pile of garbage when it was new and has only gotten worse despite many attempts to correct the problems, including it going in to a computer repair "professional". Anyway, this is why I said I wouldn't care if someone hacked the game and removed the DRM, but piracy is not the answer. I know, not everyone that gets screwed over is a skilled hacker (unless they're pirated copy makers...), and that's a shame, but if a game is so heavily fortified with anti-piracy that it is barely playable, I simply would not buy it.

If you don't care that someone removes the DRM methods, what's so different about letting someone else do it? It's the same principle - removing the DRM method.

 

Not sure how to react to that... admittedly, I'm not much of a gamer anymore, I spend more time making games than playing them now. Maybe I am becoming a businessman, but I suppose if I want to own my own company in the future, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Note that my intolerance of piracy does not mean that I support DRM or any massive company like EA's ill-advised decisions.

It's just that you rationalize ****ing the consumer instead of being their advocate. Corporations tend to do better when the consumer has actual faith in the corporation. EA, Ubisoft and a myriad of other companies are sowing the seeds of distrust and most of the consumers have much distaste for them already. The problem will only become worse if these companies stay par for the futile course.

 

They are the victim of theft, whether they caused the theft to be so easy or attractive is irrelevant to the fact. This is a case of blaming the victim, even if the victim is a huge, corrupt, money-grabbing company that doesn't care for a picosecond about their customers. And you are using the just-world fallacy to back up your opinion.

If they caused it, they cannot be the victim. You've said it yourself - they caused it. You cannot be the problem and call victim! It's not fair to consumers who get entirely butt****ed by EA's, or whomever's, futile efforts, and it's entirely disgusting that they do this.

 

Well I feel the same way about any that think stealing can be justified, so I can't answer that for you.

You just don't get it, do you?

 

Let me propose a new question that is not intended as a comparative crime, but I'd like to know your opinion on it as it may be of psychological significance. If someone is poor and starving, is it justified to steal their food?

Stealing the poor guy's food? Are you kidding? I'm for the rights of the lower class and middle class. **** the upper one percent.

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I don't, and I don't think you really do either.
I do. I know many, if not most, pirates were not always pirates and were probably slowly turned. Unfortunately, that is what started the cycle and the cycle won't ever stop as long as people keep justifying their actions.

 

If you don't care that someone removes the DRM methods, what's so different about letting someone else do it? It's the same principle - removing the DRM method.
If your best friend hacks his copy, drops by and hacks your copy for you too, ok. The problem is that when you pirate a copy, you are assisting the unargued "wrong" form of piracy and advancing their cause while also dragging down everyone else that does not pirate their games.

 

It's just that you rationalize ****ing the consumer instead of being their advocate.
I understand why and how they could think screwing the customer is the best option, but I do not agree with their decision that screwing the customer was the best option.

 

If they caused it, they cannot be the victim. You've said it yourself - they caused it. You cannot be the problem and call victim! It's not fair to consumers who get entirely butt****ed by EA's, or whomever's, futile efforts, and it's entirely disgusting that they do this.
I did not say they caused the problem, the pirates did that, the company pushes consumers toward the problem. Cause ≠ not helping. You are persisting with blaming the victim (refusing to admit they are a victim is proof of this), and clinging to the just-world fallacy with both hands. If you cannot see your own bias, you will never understand my perspective.

 

Stealing the poor guy's food? Are you kidding? I'm for the rights of the lower class and middle class. **** the upper one percent.
Badly worded that... I meant the poor guy steals the food to feed himself:

If someone is poor and starving, is it justified for them to steal their food?

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I do. I know many, if not most, pirates were not always pirates and were probably slowly turned. Unfortunately, that is what started the cycle and the cycle won't ever stop as long as people keep justifying their actions.

The cycle won't end until idiotic corporations wake the **** up and realize that their actions are causing the problems, not helping them. It doesn't matter who it is - EA, the RIAA, Ubisoft, the MPAA... they all contribute to their own problems. And they still refuse to admit it.

 

If your best friend hacks his copy, drops by and hacks your copy for you too, ok. The problem is that when you pirate a copy, you are assisting the unargued "wrong" form of piracy and advancing their cause while also dragging down everyone else that does not pirate their games.

If you don't own a copy legally, I would agree but if you do, I don't see the problem. You paid for it and you are entitled to a bull**** free experience.

 

I understand why and how they could think screwing the customer is the best option, but I do not agree with their decision that screwing the customer was the best option.

Why do I not believe you? Sounds to me like you don't care if the paying customer gets butt****ed in the equation.

 

I did not say they caused the problem, the pirates did that, the company pushes consumers toward the problem. Cause ≠ not helping. You are persisting with blaming the victim (refusing to admit they are a victim is proof of this), and clinging to the just-world fallacy with both hands. If you cannot see your own bias, you will never understand my perspective.

 

Badly worded that... I meant the poor guy steals the food to feed himself:

If someone is poor and starving, is it justified for them to steal their food?

Justified, sure, you bet. Does that absolve him of it? No, not at all, but it is justified.

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The cycle won't end until idiotic corporations wake the **** up and realize that their actions are causing the problems, not helping them. It doesn't matter who it is - EA, the RIAA, Ubisoft, the MPAA... they all contribute to their own problems. And they still refuse to admit it.
Again, cause ≠ not helping. The companies are not helping, the pirates are the cause. If piracy were to stop, piracy would stop (this logic is obvious). If companies stop messing around, piracy will probably decrease. Stop ≠ probably decrease.

 

Why do I not believe you? Sounds to me like you don't care if the paying customer gets butt****ed in the equation.

Well you are wrong. As I've said, I am not supporting DRM or big companies, I am condemning piracy.

 

 

Every time another game comes out with even more anti-piracy idiocy on it, all the fans start whining and bickering about how they should/would/want to pirate it. Will this make the companies think that they need pull back? Not at all, it drives them to reinforce the anti-piracy even more.

The pirates are the cause of this cycle. The companies' bad choices are the grease that helps the cycle turn.

 

Sure, some companies have started trying the less-anti-piracy method, even perhaps with some success, but this is like asking the companies to put out a fire by dousing it with napalm.

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Again, cause ≠ not helping. The companies are not helping, the pirates are the cause. If piracy were to stop, piracy would stop (this logic is obvious). If companies stop messing around, piracy will probably decrease. Stop ≠ probably decrease.

If you're part of the cause, you are not helping. This goes for both companies and idiots who have the gall to just not pay. And if the companies stop messing around, piracy will go down.

 

Well you are wrong. As I've said, I am not supporting DRM or big companies, I am condemning piracy.

That's fine, but don't say you would support DRM.

 

Every time another game comes out with even more anti-piracy idiocy on it, all the fans start whining and bickering about how they should/would/want to pirate it. Will this make the companies think that they need pull back? Not at all, it drives them to reinforce the anti-piracy even more.

Then that company stupidly continues the cycle. It is unwise to ignore valid complaints from your customers.

 

The pirates are the cause of this cycle.

They've always been there, and has never been the gigantic scourge people make it seem.

 

The companies' bad choices are the grease that helps the cycle turn.

Then admit they are part of the whole ****ing problem.

 

Sure, some companies have started trying the less-anti-piracy method, even perhaps with some success, but this is like asking the companies to put out a fire by dousing it with napalm.

Quite the opposite. It keeps customers happy, more people will buy the game again since they have a good reason and the customer is delivered the desired experience.

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That's fine, but don't say you would support DRM.
What? Not sure what you are saying...

 

Then admit they are part of the whole ****ing problem.
They are, but they are not the cause of the problem.

 

Quite the opposite. It keeps customers happy, more people will buy the game again since they have a good reason and the customer is delivered the desired experience.
That may be very true, but in the eyes of the company, it is like asking them to dump napalm on fire by telling them removing anti-piracy protection will stop piracy.

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What? Not sure what you are saying...

You mentioned it yourself when I said you're just a businessman, not a gamer.

 

They are, but they are not the cause of the problem.

I never said they were. I only point out that they contribute massively to the problem.

 

That may be very true, but in the eyes of the company, it is like asking them to dump napalm on fire by telling them removing anti-piracy protection will stop piracy.

Not if you tell them they can make more profit with happy people. More profit means consideration... normally.

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