The best way to deal with it is to make the game worth the money. Most people will buy something that they view as worth the cost to them, the issue is that unlike most markets where you got regional prices and scales of quality, most games are one thing put up at one price point. ( 20, 50, 60, it all standard price ), and like to do so world wide.
If you add enough to the game, and people see it worth their money they will buy it. Most people in fact will got with the best value for what money they have. The reason why most games get pirated, I think has to do both with the price, and the fact that you get a better product when you pirate the game.
I know that for some games, they requred me to close programs like Task manager/process explorer ( Why would I need to do that? ) Daemon tools ( Why do you care if I have a virtual CD drive ), and the like. I wanted to play the games I bought, so I downloaded a crack so that I could leave process explorer in the background, but I felt that I was being asked too much, when all I wanted to do was play a game.
That is one thing I like about steam, they add value to games you buy over steam, download any number of time, just select install and it does everything for you, no mess of changing disks, worrying about cd keys, being told to close a program. It just works. There is no pirate site that I know of that does that, just buy the game, and it downloads and installs for you. The only thing I really want in steam is to have the games install on different hard drives, but disks are both large and cheap, so it not to hard just to have a disk that is only for steam.
I bought the SE, because I expect that NS2 will be at least as good as NS is.
Don't worry about Piracy, because that only happens when people think you are charging too much for the program in their mind. Worry more about making a good game, and people with buy it.
<!--quoteo(post=1716904:date=Jul 11 2009, 11:20 PM:name=schkorpio)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (schkorpio @ Jul 11 2009, 11:20 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1716904"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->1. Make the game actually worth buying - the game has to be good the whole way through, not just 1 or two cool bits and the rest boring. Put in something that makes the game awesome when played online - basically because of the MP only factor you can't really play offline anyway (and im fairly confident ns2 will have this)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm afraid that this philosophy is not widespread at all. Quite the contrary, in fact, as a game's popularity attracts the whole "it's all right to download illegally" crowd.
While popular games certainly get more piracy attention it is more likely people will buy it if it's a worth-while game.
What most people don't realise is that a pirated copy is NOT a lost sale since probably 90% of all pirates would not have bought the game anyway. While I do agree that piracy is not very nice(during most circumstances<b>*</b>), it's not always a loss. Also it's not as huge of an issue as companies would have you think(Especially the music industry). Gaming-companies make more money every single year and it's easy to find evidence of that if you do a little research. I actually read some interesting market research and papers about piracy increasing sales rather than reducing it(in most cases). Though where I found it has slipped my mind.
<b>*</b> I myself pirate a lot of things. But if I actually enjoy it, I will always buy it. I find myself pirating as a sort of "try before you buy" thing. And it's saved my wallet a lot of money that would've been spent on crap if I had bought everything I wanted to try. But I've also found myself buying a lot of games that I would never have bought if I hadn't pirated it first. Not to mention I've been buying a lot more games due to pirating than I ever would've without doing it. So piracy can also increase sales of less popular and unknown games(aswell as major titles). It all depends on how you look at it. And this applies to all the media industries where piracy exists.
Naturally, I bought NS2 SE the same hour it was released for pre-order. But it's UWE. I hardly need to be sceptical towards them!
Also to write about the actual topic: I don't think UWE has to worry about piracy due to the nature of NS2 being an Online game with CD-Key authorizations. This basically means that the game will only have piracy in a very small scale, if at all. On cracked servers. Most people who play on them will eventually migrate to the real game as they get access to the whole community and a more stable flow of updates/patches, etc. The ones who stay on cracked servers usually either wont play the game for long or really can't afford to buy it.
While piracy is always a concern for games, even multiplayer only games, for twenty bucks the only two pirates are going to be kiddies and people that refuse to pay anything ever.
With it being multiplayer, it would have to be hugely popular to bother pirating. That or require a large network from the get go, like DAoC WoW etc.
The easiest solution is to require a steam id. I am sure this can be arranged, though I hope steam has not become has big and greedy as other companies get.
Honestly, I don't think piracy wil ever be an issue for NS2. The piracy will jsut spur more buying of legit copies. You will find they may not pay the initial price, but the lower price later on. For example, L4D is no where near 60$ for release price. Maybey it is after you make ads and whatnot, but who the heck buys a game for the adds, o wait console kiddies.
<!--quoteo(post=1717346:date=Jul 14 2009, 11:11 PM:name=devicenull)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (devicenull @ Jul 14 2009, 11:11 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1717346"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->With Steamworks, they can do the free weekends like TF2 does. I remember reading somewhere on TF2's site that these are hugely popular, and drive up sales by a significant amount. That takes care of the trial, you could even have a regularly scheduled free weekend every month.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You got the point. With such properly annunced free weekends ppl would have oppourtunity to test ns2 and feel if they like the game. Its actually very important couse ppl usually don't buy a game basing on a trailer or good marks on developer page.
The best way to limit piracy is to not use DRM. The more restrictions and checks you put in the game, the more annoyed your paying customers will be. Pirates, of course, won't be affected by the DRM since it will be stripped out in their version. A simple install key check against a list of sold install keys will do just fine.
Attracting new customers should be simple. Free weekends or free all the time but with limitations. So on monday you can only play as a LMG marine. Tuesday is for skulks. Wednesdays lets you pick up shotguns and thursday is gorge time. This will let people play the game and see if it's any fun. It will also keep the servers full.
but i like piracy. i find it important that you can get things for no money at all.
money is alway seperating and so long the ppl of uwe can rent a bigger office with only the pre sales money... i dont care about anything.
they will make so much money with this game (and they are only so few ppl) so i dont thing piracy will be a problem for them...
dont be ridicolous, no one needs more than 2000/month. so dont talk about piracy and do things against it, the really dont loose anything of their livequality ^^
<!--quoteo(post=1717770:date=Jul 17 2009, 05:30 AM:name=derWalter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (derWalter @ Jul 17 2009, 05:30 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1717770"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->dont be ridicolous, no one needs more than 2000/month.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Never lived in San Francisco then, have you? Or had a kid. Or saved for retirement.
<!--quoteo(post=1717789:date=Jul 17 2009, 10:55 AM:name=Cereal_KillR)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Cereal_KillR @ Jul 17 2009, 10:55 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1717789"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You're basically saying it's ok to steal because people don't need the money they earn?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hmm the other day with this player called "Clay", their was this like 2 hour discussion in a readyroom about the economy / the world / money. The conclusion that was reached was that machines could do the majority of work that is done on a daily basis (obviously Clay was ignoring that anything associated with art or engineering requires people to think... so he was just focusing on blue collar i think). Another conclusion that was reached was their is no need for money. That people would just do what they want to do (you know the government doesn't want this... it wants its people tied tightly and dependent on the matrix...keep watching tv... it does all the thinking for you).
But i think the only indication we have that such a system would work is that's how it was in Star Trek. That even though the people in starfleet were essentially soldiers by present day standards... (so it makes sense they didn't need to "pay" for anything... )... just the same on earth their was no money as well... although i think in some of the episodes of voyager that they would gamble holodeck-orgy credits or something lol.
Imagine if someone created the startrek replicator... that could create any weapon / element (free gold) / computer / food from some readably available element... That a car could be designed on computer and "printed out" in a few seconds... computer chips and welds (well their wouldn't be any welds...)... that someone can have some fun with an AK by printing one out along with ammunition... You could probably print out people just the same...
You know in natural selection the commander has access to this technology lmao
No use for money... That's basically communism (Star Trek wth?!). Sure, in an utopic way, having everyone work according to their ability and being paid according to their needs seems quite charming, but that's really not how it works. I've studied hard to obtain my engineering degree, and I can assure you, I'd be quite pissed if I earned the same amount of money as someone who has quit his studies before high school by sheer laziness (stressing on that last word, this isn't a social status discussion).
Money, if nothing else, is a great motivator. I would definitely stop working if there was no reward involved, and I'm sure that nearly everybody would do the same if they could do "what they want to do" for the same flat fee.
The only reason we have money is that you get your work's worth in it and can exchange it for stuff you need or want (food, home, clothes, etc),
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Imagine if someone created the startrek replicator...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> if that person releases it <ul><li>"open source" it would cause war and anarchism because everyone wants to be something more than the next one.</li><li>"closed source", under monitoring and restriction, every government on this goddamn planet would send their secret assassins after that person as (s)he nullified the second largest point of influence and might over the masses: hunger. everyone would have enough to eat and drink and the "third world" would finaly stop starving and parching. the current leaders can not allow this.</li></ul>
devicenullJoin Date: 2003-04-30Member: 15967Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
<!--quoteo(post=1717745:date=Jul 17 2009, 05:09 AM:name=Denuviate)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Denuviate @ Jul 17 2009, 05:09 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1717745"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The best way to limit piracy is to not use DRM. The more restrictions and checks you put in the game, the more annoyed your paying customers will be. Pirates, of course, won't be affected by the DRM since it will be stripped out in their version. A simple install key check against a list of sold install keys will do just fine.
Attracting new customers should be simple. Free weekends or free all the time but with limitations. So on monday you can only play as a LMG marine. Tuesday is for skulks. Wednesdays lets you pick up shotguns and thursday is gorge time. This will let people play the game and see if it's any fun. It will also keep the servers full.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sorry, but that seems a bit absurd. The "demo" people would end up hurting the team, because they wouldn't be able to do things like the rest of the team. I really think just taking after TF2, and having free weekends that you get the entire gameplay is the best way to do it.
I think the best way to deal with piracy of multiplayer games is the one which is used by the half-life dedicated server since ages:
- everyone has a unique id (cd key / won id / now steam id) - when you join a server you have to send that id - the server will contact a master server and check if that key is legit or if anyone else is currently playing with that key -- if someone is playing with the key already or the key is not valid the player is not allowed to play
what about lan play?
- in a lan environment without internet connectivity all players are identified by ip
Pros: - No piracy possible (if the unique id system is good) - IDs can be used to ban cheaters permanently - No need for any other DRM / Copy protection / whatever
Cons: - Oh wait! Piracy on LANs!
Now that's the point where i would say: this should be a pro, here is why: - On smaller Lan parties (~10 persons) a game is often not played, if one or more persons don't own it and it can not be easily copied - The game can only be played on that lan party (which is not very different from a steam free weekend) - If the player likes the game on that lan party (and lan parties are usually fun) he will probably buy it afterwards to play it online
The only other Con i can think of (and this is not really a Con for the company which publishes the game): - If the master server(s) are offline for any reason, the game can not be played online. But this should be avoidable :-)
Ah.. one more thing: virtual private networks like hamachi and openvpn: I think the amount of players using this sort of master server circumvent technique is negligible... should be counted under the lan party category ^^
<!--quoteo(post=1717889:date=Jul 18 2009, 09:20 AM:name=japi)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (japi @ Jul 18 2009, 09:20 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1717889"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I think the best way to deal with piracy of multiplayer games is the one which is used by the half-life dedicated server since ages:
- everyone has a unique id (cd key / won id / now steam id) - when you join a server you have to send that id - the server will contact a master server and check if that key is legit or if anyone else is currently playing with that key -- if someone is playing with the key already or the key is not valid the player is not allowed to play
what about lan play?
- in a lan environment without internet connectivity all players are identified by ip
Pros: - No piracy possible (if the unique id system is good) - IDs can be used to ban cheaters permanently - No need for any other DRM / Copy protection / whatever
Cons: - Oh wait! Piracy on LANs!
Now that's the point where i would say: this should be a pro, here is why: - On smaller Lan parties (~10 persons) a game is often not played, if one or more persons don't own it and it can not be easily copied - The game can only be played on that lan party (which is not very different from a steam free weekend) - If the player likes the game on that lan party (and lan parties are usually fun) he will probably buy it afterwards to play it online
The only other Con i can think of (and this is not really a Con for the company which publishes the game): - If the master server(s) are offline for any reason, the game can not be played online. But this should be avoidable :-)
Ah.. one more thing: virtual private networks like hamachi and openvpn: I think the amount of players using this sort of master server circumvent technique is negligible... should be counted under the lan party category ^^<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I don't know for sure but I think it exploits the game-cafe function of steam. has been a while since i got in contact with that crap tho. maybe they fixed it? dunno.
<!--quoteo(post=1717873:date=Jul 17 2009, 09:18 PM:name=devicenull)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (devicenull @ Jul 17 2009, 09:18 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1717873"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Sorry, but that seems a bit absurd. The "demo" people would end up hurting the team, because they wouldn't be able to do things like the rest of the team. I really think just taking after TF2, and having free weekends that you get the entire gameplay is the best way to do it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Yeah, TF2 like free weekends is the only good "demo" idea in here.
Creating a good product at a reasonable price does not prevent piracy. Pirating is about the ease of consumption. It breaks down to a) ease of acquirement and b) free stuff. Generally the only way to prevent piracy in any sort of successful manner (or have people buy enough copies to break even) is to have them be loyal to the brand and/or have an incentive to buy. People who were loyal to NS1, bought NS2 in droves. That was a prevention of piracy right there. I am sure a number of people who bought NS2 pirated games.
The only thing that the developers do is to have a secure online matchmaking service to prevent pirated copies from playing on official servers and continue to produce content on a regular basis. Give people an incentive to buy this online-only game in the form of a dedicated user base and reasons to have a non-static (pirated) copy.
<!--quoteo(post=1717789:date=Jul 17 2009, 11:55 PM:name=Cereal_KillR)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Cereal_KillR @ Jul 17 2009, 11:55 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1717789"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You're basically saying it's ok to steal because people don't need the money they earn?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> The concepts are different. Piracy is... copying. Reproducing. Theft is denial. If someone steals a dvd from someone, they're denying the owner possession and use of the dvd. If someone borrows the dvd, copies it, and returns it, they aren't denying possession or use. You could argue that they're denying the rightful copyright owners income, but then I would argue that people that do pirate wouldn't pay for the product regardless, so there is no actual income being lost. Where piracy is overly rampant, the conditions change, though. If someone is given the opportunity to pay for (and are <b>willing</b> to) or pirate (i.e. get the same thing for free) a product, chances are they'll choose the latter, depending on their level of morality, wealth, and fanboy-ism. In that case, the copyright owners are indeed losing potential income.
This is maybe only tangentially related, but I wasn't sure if it was worth its own forum topic. Rock, Paper, Shotgun published a <a href="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/07/20/develop-09-is-digital-distribution-the-pc-saviour/" target="_blank">really interesting article about digital distribution</a>. Anyway, it has quite a bit of stuff about piracy near the end, specifically Introversion games' struggles with it. Some of the comments add quite a bit to the article, too.
<!--QuoteBegin-"Harimau"+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE ("Harimau")</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->You could argue that they're denying the rightful copyright owners income, but then I would argue that people that do pirate wouldn't pay for the product regardless, so there is no actual income being lost.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Using that logic, you can pop down to your local bookstore, "steal" an expensive book, read it and as long as you put it back afterwards, you're okay? Just because you wouldn't pay for a game anyways doesn't give you the right to get a pirated copy of said game. I would argue that it would be absolutely fine to download a pirated game as long as you Don't Install It, Don't Play It and otherwise don't access any content within it or use it in any way. As soon as you do install it, play it, etc. you're otherwise enjoying (regardless of whether or not you're actually enjoying it). One might argue that you like to "try out" a game being actually buying it, and that may very well be the case, however thats what they make Demos for.
So you pirate a game, play it, beat it, decide you don't like it and completely remove it from your hard drive. The creators of that game get no compensation. How is that right or fair? If I buy a game and decide I don't like it, I'll either return it of possible, and if not I put it on my shelf.
Mr. EpicJoin Date: 2003-08-01Member: 18660Members, Constellation
NS2 will do very well because its already such a great deal (19.99 for a brand new multiplayer game with such a community), it requires large numbers of people to enjoy well (you can't pirate it and browse all of the VPN gaming services and hope to find 30 other people playing it), and its a proven concept with an alive game ready to try out (ns1). If this were a 3v3 or 5v5 kind of game max, it would be completely different...
I honestly think the price is a huge bonus, just imagine a free weekend ending with a 1 day special for 14.99 or something. I think it would be huge, its such a low price... L4d sold a ton at 50 bucks with those free weekends, if you go for the 1-2 punch on the free weekend with the 1 day deal at the end I think NS2 will make a killing.
<!--quoteo(post=1717821:date=Jul 17 2009, 12:11 PM:name=FocusedWolf)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (FocusedWolf @ Jul 17 2009, 12:11 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1717821"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hmm the other day with this player called "Clay", their was this like 2 hour discussion in a readyroom about the economy / the world / money. The conclusion that was reached was that machines could do the majority of work that is done on a daily basis (obviously Clay was ignoring that anything associated with art or engineering requires people to think... so he was just focusing on blue collar i think). Another conclusion that was reached was their is no need for money. That people would just do what they want to do (you know the government doesn't want this... it wants its people tied tightly and dependent on the matrix...keep watching tv... it does all the thinking for you).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> I used to think Clay's stupidity was exaggerated. No more.
There will always be piracy, unless there is a definite hard coded way in windows that prevents some from doing it, and called a hit squad on your house if you were caught. As long as there are sufficient measures in place to prevent pirates from joining legit games it should be fine. It will be frustrating enough to play a multiplayer-only game trying to find cracked servers and other players. If it is a great game then naturally they will be influenced to buy it to play on the many other servers.
There will always be some supremely cheap or poor people who never, ever, buy a game, no matter how good it is. In which case they wouldn't play the game anyways.
With the cheap price of the game and the potential quality it has to be a great game, it will attract people even if they don't know much about it. See Killing Floor on steam; I know people who bought it on impulse because it looked decent enough and was relatively cheap. As long as UWE play their cards right in the marketing... make sure to get a pop up ad on steam before it is released, and highlights on the front page (i really dont know how that works and how much valve charges for that). From what I have seen it helps a significant number of indie games get sales.
First of all, NS1 costs 10 dollars. Second of all, there will be no piracy concerns, considering your getting a game key e-mailed to you. Plus, you live in the UK now, there are plenty of servers. Shell out the 20 bucks, and you'll be fine. The people who crack it will be playing among the same 10 people everyday. Who wants that?
locallyunsceneFeeder of TrollsJoin Date: 2002-12-25Member: 11528Members, Constellation
<!--quoteo(post=1718575:date=Jul 21 2009, 09:57 PM:name=Dalin Seivewright)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dalin Seivewright @ Jul 21 2009, 09:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1718575"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Using that logic, you can pop down to your local bookstore, "steal" an expensive book, read it and as long as you put it back afterwards, you're okay?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> It's more like you go to the bookstore, instantly copy the book onto a blank book without removing it from the shelf, and then leave with the copied book.
You can still argue that it's not "right", just as I can argue it's not "right" that artists, authors, and inventors(really it's mostly corporations) are granted an artificial monopolies for indefinite periods of time. It's not "right" that the First Sale and Fair Use doctrines are being actively subverted in the name of combating piracy. And it's not "right" that "progress of the arts and sciences", which is the constitutional purpose of copyright, is being retarded rather than promoted. <!--quoteo(post=1718575:date=Jul 21 2009, 09:57 PM:name=Dalin Seivewright)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dalin Seivewright @ Jul 21 2009, 09:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1718575"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->If I buy a game and decide I don't like it, I'll either return it of possible, and if not I put it on my shelf.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> OOC how many games have you successfully returned? Or have you liked every game you've ever purchased?
Comments
If you add enough to the game, and people see it worth their money they will buy it. Most people in fact will got with the best value for what money they have. The reason why most games get pirated, I think has to do both with the price, and the fact that you get a better product when you pirate the game.
I know that for some games, they requred me to close programs like Task manager/process explorer ( Why would I need to do that? ) Daemon tools ( Why do you care if I have a virtual CD drive ), and the like. I wanted to play the games I bought, so I downloaded a crack so that I could leave process explorer in the background, but I felt that I was being asked too much, when all I wanted to do was play a game.
That is one thing I like about steam, they add value to games you buy over steam, download any number of time, just select install and it does everything for you, no mess of changing disks, worrying about cd keys, being told to close a program. It just works. There is no pirate site that I know of that does that, just buy the game, and it downloads and installs for you. The only thing I really want in steam is to have the games install on different hard drives, but disks are both large and cheap, so it not to hard just to have a disk that is only for steam.
I bought the SE, because I expect that NS2 will be at least as good as NS is.
Don't worry about Piracy, because that only happens when people think you are charging too much for the program in their mind. Worry more about making a good game, and people with buy it.
Put in something that makes the game awesome when played online - basically because of the MP only factor you can't really play offline anyway
(and im fairly confident ns2 will have this)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm afraid that this philosophy is not widespread at all. Quite the contrary, in fact, as a game's popularity attracts the whole "it's all right to download illegally" crowd.
What most people don't realise is that a pirated copy is NOT a lost sale since probably 90% of all pirates would not have bought the game anyway. While I do agree that piracy is not very nice(during most circumstances<b>*</b>), it's not always a loss. Also it's not as huge of an issue as companies would have you think(Especially the music industry). Gaming-companies make more money every single year and it's easy to find evidence of that if you do a little research. I actually read some interesting market research and papers about piracy increasing sales rather than reducing it(in most cases). Though where I found it has slipped my mind.
<b>*</b> I myself pirate a lot of things. But if I actually enjoy it, I will always buy it. I find myself pirating as a sort of "try before you buy" thing. And it's saved my wallet a lot of money that would've been spent on crap if I had bought everything I wanted to try. But I've also found myself buying a lot of games that I would never have bought if I hadn't pirated it first. Not to mention I've been buying a lot more games due to pirating than I ever would've without doing it. So piracy can also increase sales of less popular and unknown games(aswell as major titles). It all depends on how you look at it. And this applies to all the media industries where piracy exists.
Naturally, I bought NS2 SE the same hour it was released for pre-order. But it's UWE. I hardly need to be sceptical towards them!
Also to write about the actual topic: I don't think UWE has to worry about piracy due to the nature of NS2 being an Online game with CD-Key authorizations. This basically means that the game will only have piracy in a very small scale, if at all. On cracked servers. Most people who play on them will eventually migrate to the real game as they get access to the whole community and a more stable flow of updates/patches, etc. The ones who stay on cracked servers usually either wont play the game for long or really can't afford to buy it.
With it being multiplayer, it would have to be hugely popular to bother pirating. That or require a large network from the get go, like DAoC WoW etc.
The easiest solution is to require a steam id. I am sure this can be arranged, though I hope steam has not become has big and greedy as other companies get.
Honestly, I don't think piracy wil ever be an issue for NS2. The piracy will jsut spur more buying of legit copies. You will find they may not pay the initial price, but the lower price later on. For example, L4D is no where near 60$ for release price. Maybey it is after you make ads and whatnot, but who the heck buys a game for the adds, o wait console kiddies.
You got the point. With such properly annunced free weekends ppl would have oppourtunity to test ns2 and feel if they like the game. Its actually very important couse ppl usually don't buy a game basing on a trailer or good marks on developer page.
Attracting new customers should be simple. Free weekends or free all the time but with limitations. So on monday you can only play as a LMG marine. Tuesday is for skulks. Wednesdays lets you pick up shotguns and thursday is gorge time. This will let people play the game and see if it's any fun. It will also keep the servers full.
but i like piracy. i find it important that you can get things for no money at all.
money is alway seperating and so long the ppl of uwe can rent a bigger office
with only the pre sales money... i dont care about anything.
they will make so much money with this game (and they are only so few ppl)
so i dont thing piracy will be a problem for them...
dont be ridicolous, no one needs more than 2000/month.
so dont talk about piracy and do things against it,
the really dont loose anything of their livequality ^^
<b>but, keep in mind: its only my opinion!</b>
Never lived in San Francisco then, have you? Or had a kid. Or saved for retirement.
Hmm the other day with this player called "Clay", their was this like 2 hour discussion in a readyroom about the economy / the world / money. The conclusion that was reached was that machines could do the majority of work that is done on a daily basis (obviously Clay was ignoring that anything associated with art or engineering requires people to think... so he was just focusing on blue collar i think). Another conclusion that was reached was their is no need for money. That people would just do what they want to do (you know the government doesn't want this... it wants its people tied tightly and dependent on the matrix...keep watching tv... it does all the thinking for you).
But i think the only indication we have that such a system would work is that's how it was in Star Trek. That even though the people in starfleet were essentially soldiers by present day standards... (so it makes sense they didn't need to "pay" for anything... )... just the same on earth their was no money as well... although i think in some of the episodes of voyager that they would gamble holodeck-orgy credits or something lol.
Imagine if someone created the startrek replicator... that could create any weapon / element (free gold) / computer / food from some readably available element... That a car could be designed on computer and "printed out" in a few seconds... computer chips and welds (well their wouldn't be any welds...)... that someone can have some fun with an AK by printing one out along with ammunition... You could probably print out people just the same...
You know in natural selection the commander has access to this technology lmao
Money, if nothing else, is a great motivator. I would definitely stop working if there was no reward involved, and I'm sure that nearly everybody would do the same if they could do "what they want to do" for the same flat fee.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Imagine if someone created the startrek replicator...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
if that person releases it
<ul><li>"open source" it would cause war and anarchism because everyone wants to be something more than the next one.</li><li>"closed source", under monitoring and restriction, every government on this goddamn planet would send their secret assassins after that person as (s)he nullified the second largest point of influence and might over the masses: hunger. everyone would have enough to eat and drink and the "third world" would finaly stop starving and parching.
the current leaders can not allow this.</li></ul>
Attracting new customers should be simple. Free weekends or free all the time but with limitations. So on monday you can only play as a LMG marine. Tuesday is for skulks. Wednesdays lets you pick up shotguns and thursday is gorge time. This will let people play the game and see if it's any fun. It will also keep the servers full.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sorry, but that seems a bit absurd. The "demo" people would end up hurting the team, because they wouldn't be able to do things like the rest of the team. I really think just taking after TF2, and having free weekends that you get the entire gameplay is the best way to do it.
- everyone has a unique id (cd key / won id / now steam id)
- when you join a server you have to send that id
- the server will contact a master server and check if that key is legit or if anyone else is currently playing with that key
-- if someone is playing with the key already or the key is not valid the player is not allowed to play
what about lan play?
- in a lan environment without internet connectivity all players are identified by ip
Pros:
- No piracy possible (if the unique id system is good)
- IDs can be used to ban cheaters permanently
- No need for any other DRM / Copy protection / whatever
Cons:
- Oh wait! Piracy on LANs!
Now that's the point where i would say: this should be a pro, here is why:
- On smaller Lan parties (~10 persons) a game is often not played, if one or more persons don't own it and it can not be easily copied
- The game can only be played on that lan party (which is not very different from a steam free weekend)
- If the player likes the game on that lan party (and lan parties are usually fun) he will probably buy it afterwards to play it online
The only other Con i can think of (and this is not really a Con for the company which publishes the game):
- If the master server(s) are offline for any reason, the game can not be played online.
But this should be avoidable :-)
Ah.. one more thing: virtual private networks like hamachi and openvpn:
I think the amount of players using this sort of master server circumvent technique is negligible... should be counted under the lan party category ^^
- everyone has a unique id (cd key / won id / now steam id)
- when you join a server you have to send that id
- the server will contact a master server and check if that key is legit or if anyone else is currently playing with that key
-- if someone is playing with the key already or the key is not valid the player is not allowed to play
what about lan play?
- in a lan environment without internet connectivity all players are identified by ip
Pros:
- No piracy possible (if the unique id system is good)
- IDs can be used to ban cheaters permanently
- No need for any other DRM / Copy protection / whatever
Cons:
- Oh wait! Piracy on LANs!
Now that's the point where i would say: this should be a pro, here is why:
- On smaller Lan parties (~10 persons) a game is often not played, if one or more persons don't own it and it can not be easily copied
- The game can only be played on that lan party (which is not very different from a steam free weekend)
- If the player likes the game on that lan party (and lan parties are usually fun) he will probably buy it afterwards to play it online
The only other Con i can think of (and this is not really a Con for the company which publishes the game):
- If the master server(s) are offline for any reason, the game can not be played online.
But this should be avoidable :-)
Ah.. one more thing: virtual private networks like hamachi and openvpn:
I think the amount of players using this sort of master server circumvent technique is negligible... should be counted under the lan party category ^^<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
There is however a pirated version of steam.
I am aware of some software that allows you to play games from steams .gcf containers...
But is it possible to play the games online, on normal servers, with it? --- I don't think so.
If it is, then valve must have made a big mistake somewhere :D
If it is not, then this issue does not affect multiplayer games like NS2.
Yeah, TF2 like free weekends is the only good "demo" idea in here.
The only thing that the developers do is to have a secure online matchmaking service to prevent pirated copies from playing on official servers and continue to produce content on a regular basis. Give people an incentive to buy this online-only game in the form of a dedicated user base and reasons to have a non-static (pirated) copy.
But the best Demo anyone can have is a good predecessing Game.
The concepts are different. Piracy is... copying. Reproducing.
Theft is denial. If someone steals a dvd from someone, they're denying the owner possession and use of the dvd. If someone borrows the dvd, copies it, and returns it, they aren't denying possession or use.
You could argue that they're denying the rightful copyright owners income, but then I would argue that people that do pirate wouldn't pay for the product regardless, so there is no actual income being lost.
Where piracy is overly rampant, the conditions change, though. If someone is given the opportunity to pay for (and are <b>willing</b> to) or pirate (i.e. get the same thing for free) a product, chances are they'll choose the latter, depending on their level of morality, wealth, and fanboy-ism. In that case, the copyright owners are indeed losing potential income.
Using that logic, you can pop down to your local bookstore, "steal" an expensive book, read it and as long as you put it back afterwards, you're okay? Just because you wouldn't pay for a game anyways doesn't give you the right to get a pirated copy of said game. I would argue that it would be absolutely fine to download a pirated game as long as you Don't Install It, Don't Play It and otherwise don't access any content within it or use it in any way. As soon as you do install it, play it, etc. you're otherwise enjoying (regardless of whether or not you're actually enjoying it). One might argue that you like to "try out" a game being actually buying it, and that may very well be the case, however thats what they make Demos for.
So you pirate a game, play it, beat it, decide you don't like it and completely remove it from your hard drive. The creators of that game get no compensation. How is that right or fair? If I buy a game and decide I don't like it, I'll either return it of possible, and if not I put it on my shelf.
I honestly think the price is a huge bonus, just imagine a free weekend ending with a 1 day special for 14.99 or something. I think it would be huge, its such a low price... L4d sold a ton at 50 bucks with those free weekends, if you go for the 1-2 punch on the free weekend with the 1 day deal at the end I think NS2 will make a killing.
I used to think Clay's stupidity was exaggerated. No more.
There will always be some supremely cheap or poor people who never, ever, buy a game, no matter how good it is. In which case they wouldn't play the game anyways.
With the cheap price of the game and the potential quality it has to be a great game, it will attract people even if they don't know much about it. See Killing Floor on steam; I know people who bought it on impulse because it looked decent enough and was relatively cheap. As long as UWE play their cards right in the marketing... make sure to get a pop up ad on steam before it is released, and highlights on the front page (i really dont know how that works and how much valve charges for that). From what I have seen it helps a significant number of indie games get sales.
First of all, NS1 costs 10 dollars. Second of all, there will be no piracy concerns, considering your getting a game key e-mailed to you. Plus, you live in the UK now, there are plenty of servers. Shell out the 20 bucks, and you'll be fine. The people who crack it will be playing among the same 10 people everyday. Who wants that?
It's more like you go to the bookstore, instantly copy the book onto a blank book without removing it from the shelf, and then leave with the copied book.
You can still argue that it's not "right", just as I can argue it's not "right" that artists, authors, and inventors(really it's mostly corporations) are granted an artificial monopolies for indefinite periods of time. It's not "right" that the First Sale and Fair Use doctrines are being actively subverted in the name of combating piracy. And it's not "right" that "progress of the arts and sciences", which is the constitutional purpose of copyright, is being retarded rather than promoted.
<!--quoteo(post=1718575:date=Jul 21 2009, 09:57 PM:name=Dalin Seivewright)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dalin Seivewright @ Jul 21 2009, 09:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1718575"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->If I buy a game and decide I don't like it, I'll either return it of possible, and if not I put it on my shelf.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
OOC how many games have you successfully returned? Or have you liked every game you've ever purchased?