I am against piracy for most things, but the point I'm making is that the actual people who don't have any intention of ever getting the game are never to be considered part of revenue, so they didn't steal anything technically and did not affect the company's bottomline at all one way or the other. Its just that since they are getting to play the game even though they did not pay for it that people have a problem.

But determining who would never get the game ever and who might have gotten it except there was a pirated version is impossible. Thats why I say its a blurred area, nothing is ever black and white and I am living proof of that.

I don't live in the United States but I rely on it for all or most of my electronic products. About 15 years ago or so I had no access to games that were even remotely priced in anything I could afford (PC I mean). Games that would cost 50 bucks US would in actuality cost me closer to 150 which is not practical as that was something like 1/3 the average monthly income at the time.

So I pirated games, downloaded with my 50 hour limit 56k dial up connection, and thank god the pirates would rip most of the music and FMVs from the games so I could actually finish a file. I did this for years, playing many games, but then getting better shipping from Amazon, lower taxes in my country, access to things like Steam (albeit later on) and a steady income allowed me to actually purchase my games retail.

On occasion I would still pirate the ones I couldn't afford if I really wanted to play it but gradually I stopped doing that and now I only purchase my games and pretty much all from Steam, I haven't pirated a game in a long time.

The point of that little story is that its never that simple as black and white and just because you see it one way doesn't mean its the only point of view.

i am 100% against the act of piracy.but lets be honest no profit was lost since these people weren't going to buy the game anyway.

@despair: pirates commit a blatantly illegal action,infringe on the legal and intellectual rights of a company (which is made of individuals) and appropriate a product they're not legally entitled to.

There's no grey area or different point of view there. There's theft. Plain and simple. The fact that it's not a physical product doesn't make it less serious.

@despair "the actual people who don't have any intention of ever getting the game are never to be considered part of revenue, so they didn't steal anything technically"

So you're saying that if I stole a $100,000 car, it wouldn't be considered stealing because I had no intention of purchasing one anyway?

Genius.

"Weak justification" still doesn't transmutate into sales if you remove piracy from the equation.

Digital sales ARE NOT affected by piracy despite popular belief that they are.

Digitally the game never collects dust and never takes up room on a warehouse.

Most people who pirate do so because they're getting it for free so if the option wasn't there to get it for free what makes you think they would magically fork over $50 for a digital or retail copy?

GOG has it right: Piracy is competition not potential consumers.

The fact CD Projekt is worrying about these digital phantoms shows they're wasting time fighting against digital phantoms.

Even in the article you say it borderlines extortion and that basically means the entire anti-piracy campaign was a waste of time, nearly illegal and it didn't do any favors to gain respect or favor from paying customers.

@Abriael

you say that like you understand what it means, but clearly you don't. What I read in your post was just the usual standard response given against piracy and in no way actually address what I posted.

@aPerson

your analogy doesn't make sense since its not a real thing being taken, there is no copy that is stolen from a store, its not even bandwidth from the company thats used, its a made up imaginary file and in no way comparable to stealing a car and doesn't exist anyway.

Its not like they would deprive someone of a copy of the game and since they never would buy it then how exactly is it going to affect the company negatively or is even remotely related or comparable to stealing a car, its not even comparable to stealing a straw, in fact its not comparable to stealing anything at all.

Again not saying I think piracy is good, but sometimes it happens and it helps some people who would otherwise never be able to enjoy these games.

@vortis

I agree, the main draw of steam and of actually purchasing games is the quality of the service and the benefits gained from paying instead of piracy, that's what they should focus on and that does not mean adding restrictions that hurt legitimate customers more than pirates as with DRM.