Anthropoid -> RE: For anyone who thinks online activations aren't a problem (6/14/2009 10:51:33 PM)
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Perturbado, you and I are both speculating wildly: me that piracy is actually hurting some of them and that is why they do this. You that piracy doesn't actually hurt them, they just do it to fark with us and be bastiges. Now stop and think for just a second here. The guy that cuts your hair, he's a 'business man' right? His role as your patron is to cut your hair, and make you look reasonable. For that you pay him what he charges, and maybe even give him a little tip if you're a decent kinda fellow, who has a reasonable sense of how reciprocity works, and calculates that: tip = he will remember me, and maybe even do a little _better_ job cutting my hair next time. Now, is there any reason that this guy would want to fark with you just on the face of it? No. He stands to gain nothing by farking with you. Indeed, he stands to lose money, and potentially even have his business seriously hurt. While it is true that bigger business entities like game-making companies that sell their products online, or through retailers stand several steps removed from you, the consumer-=-=-unlike the barber who runs the risk of you storming back into his shop a day later when you realize he shaved a big peace-sign on the back of your head [cuz he jus felt lahk farkin' witja, heh, heh, heh]-=-=-they nonetheless face the same basic balanced-reciprocal calculations that any producer of consumer products faces: Render satisfaction to customers = business is more likely to grow, prosperity is like to increase. Piss them off = they complain, whine, terrorize your online forums, hassle your tech support guys, and just generally ruin your business. Now this does not mean that all these guys are brilliant business strategists. Indeed, many of these companies seem to be run by idiots who make very stupid decisions of the sort you label "executive meddling, mainstreamisation, mismanagement, incompetence and other things that killed highly successful series like Fallout, Ultima and X-Com." We all know that these things happen. We all know some of these companies make stupid decisions. DRM was a stupid decision I am not here to defend it. But the stupid decision to embark on DRM would NEVER have been done had someone not perceived his bottom-line as being in danger as a consequence of piracy. It follows then, that it behooves us, to root piracy out of our ranks. Even if it is only a _small_ problem in reality, the smaller we can make it over the years, the better chance that DRM-like hassles will fade into oblivion. It is really quite a simple principle. It does not really matter whether piracy is a huge, moderate, small, or miniscule problem, it IS the reason these guys spent the time, money, and effort [and took the risks] to employ things like DRM. Piracy serves no ones interest but the social cheaters who engage in it, it does not serve my interest, it does not serve your interests, it does not serve Graybriars, or any of us honest gamers who always pay for our games, nor does it serve the game makers. We need to squash it, it harms us because it is part of the social equation that leads to us spending time on message boards complaining about annoying nonsense like DRM. That doesn't mean that you guys should stop raging 'gainst the machine. Go right ahead and give those corporate fat-cat scumbags the roughest scare you can give through your posts to message boards, phone calls to lackey tech support guys, blogs, letters, whatever. But you might also stop and consider that you might also be able to make a difference by standing up against piracy in an explicit, and demonstrable way. Come on! _All_ you'ze guys! Stand up around the bonfire here with me! Now come on! Lets all join together in a rousing Fight Clubesque team shout out at the Pirate cheater scumbags, whereever they may be . . . PIRACY SUCKS! Pirates are losers! Stop pirating our games! You're cheating those of us who actually pay for them, and we hates you'ze fer it! [:@] Grrrr Now would be a good time to pop off a few bursts of hollow point 9mm into their midst(s) Der Feuhrer.
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