I also downloaded a... limited version of EU3. After some days, when I wanted the MODS, I bought the full game.
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My biggest issue is that you do not allow people access to older versions of games, forced deletion of those versions happens automatically, and the current version is strictly inferior in every meaningful way with no sign it will ever be playable let alone as good as it was. There should never be a scenario where a paying customer has to spend months asking to have his game back, especially if the final decision is he will never be able to get it.
That is a much more meaningful way of alienating your customers that should be addressed.
That is a much more meaningful way of alienating your customers that should be addressed.
Oh my! Two new games being announced! I hope Paradox has signed Distant Worlds 2. LOL, but that's hoping too much, I bet. Can't wait for January nonetheless! Rome 2 seems logical for one.
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Actually, I had a little think on this (it's my job), and there is some evidence for this. Money quote:
That is, most illegal sharing via P2P is by bit-players who also buy stuff. I'd have to look at the full report to say what the percentage is - it's probably not 99%, but it is the majority of those illegally sharing on P2P. Paradox's community-based business model is an example of exactly the kind of 'behaviour shifting' that the quote refers to.
Well since we are making confessions. I pirated the first HoI, I loved it and played it for months, but being a poor highschooler I couldn't purchase it, or anything else really. Years later I found out about EU3 which was already on the last or second to last expansion and tried it, loved it even more than HoI and, now that I had a job, purchased it. I'm more than happy to even preorder Paradox games now, since I know they'll deliver.
I think most people will pay for your stuff if they can and it's worth it.
I think most people will pay for your stuff if they can and it's worth it.
I really believe 90% of pirates are high-school kids who can't afford to buy games and plan to do so after getting a job. In my opinion Paradox produces great contnet and deserves more than what it gets. Also, didn't OP break his own rules by making a thread about Piracy :O
Regina is a Supernatural being to whom the normal rules of Time and Space do not apply.
As such I have granted limited dispensation to other participates in this particular thread as well.
Well I can say I really haven't pirated any Paradox games. I've pirated other games in the past. But I suffer from impotence if a game is pirated. I do not in any way feel guilty pirating a game. However, for some reason I almost never can make myself play a pirated game for more than a few minutes. It's just not fun. I have been very angry with Paradox for many months because they sell things that they shouldn't sell. They should not sell unit packs or portraits. It is ridiculous to have to pay extra to make a specific faction look proper. I don't care if it costs time and money to make said packs as they should have been included originally. Furthermore, if you check the dlc, you can see how they milk it. The Mongol potrait pack also included units. Then they figured out they could seperate the two and make more money. I'm not opposed to buying new expansions. However, selling bit by bit is complete bullshit. For the price of CK2 when it first came out it was a horribly incomplete and buggy game. Selling the portait/unit packs is not selling extra cosmetic features. It is selling part of the game the devs did not originally include and had no excuse not to. I plan on eventually buying EU4. However, it looks very much like i will have to spend multiple times of what the game costs just to have each state look like it is supposed to, which is a slimeball way to claim you aren't selling factions like CA does in total war by making them look bad without the DLC.
I've never pirated a Paradox game, and I never intend to. I bought CKII based on recommendation, and since then I've trusted the quality of each successive Paradox product I've bought. CKII and Vic II are my all time favourites, but even though my game time on some of the titles have been lacking, I'm still confident that the games were good and worth the money I paid for them.
Just to add to the statistics, I also did pirate a paradox game. I believe it was EUII in the last millenia, during uni, when I had a severe lack of funds, due to massive party and alcohol consumption. I've bought all games ever since then though, including expansion titles for pdx games I no longer intend to play. Hoping to create the necessary funds for VIC III (hint).
In fact a couple of years ago, I went on to buy all old games that I spent a lot of time on - not only paradox - , to ease my consience (the price by now is only a fraction I know). Anyway if you saw a sale of EUII and thought what the heck, that was me.
In fact a couple of years ago, I went on to buy all old games that I spent a lot of time on - not only paradox - , to ease my consience (the price by now is only a fraction I know). Anyway if you saw a sale of EUII and thought what the heck, that was me.
I pirated many games on diverse platforms when I was younger. I believe that culture and entertainment ought to be available for everyone, as many other things. I don't think it is the case, but I also don't think that game industry as it is now could have worked if it was. Contradictory I know, feel free to moderate or criticize as much as you need.
Enjoying something non-vital without proper pay for the ones who made it possible feels very wrong though, should I have the means to do so. I started buying whatever I once enjoyed since I got a stable job, partly due to nostalgia and partly as a need to return something to the developers, because now I could do it. Nowadays I have a game library that will never be played again.
Also, games with no demos deserve a special place in P2... I mean, hell.
Edit:
As a side note related to the interview, I had access to Paradox games just recently. I have no off-line friends who plays or even acknowledges any paradox game. My first contact was with a forum friend, a pirate user who recommended CK 2 for me. I fell in love, again using the pirated version, and few months later in a frenzy I bought in Steam many titles, except for MotE (played only the demo - meh), including Vicky 2, EU4, Ck2, HoI3, most full priced.
Enjoying something non-vital without proper pay for the ones who made it possible feels very wrong though, should I have the means to do so. I started buying whatever I once enjoyed since I got a stable job, partly due to nostalgia and partly as a need to return something to the developers, because now I could do it. Nowadays I have a game library that will never be played again.
Also, games with no demos deserve a special place in P2... I mean, hell.
Edit:
As a side note related to the interview, I had access to Paradox games just recently. I have no off-line friends who plays or even acknowledges any paradox game. My first contact was with a forum friend, a pirate user who recommended CK 2 for me. I fell in love, again using the pirated version, and few months later in a frenzy I bought in Steam many titles, except for MotE (played only the demo - meh), including Vicky 2, EU4, Ck2, HoI3, most full priced.
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As someone who discovered Paradox games by pirating the original Hearts of Iron, <3
Every study have shown that the people who pirate the most also buys the most.
I got into pdox games well after my piracy phase.
Cause that's what it is. A phase.
Then you get a job.
Cause that's what it is. A phase.
Then you get a job.
For a period I did buy pirate games but I dont think my reasons for doing so were always purely economical.
Back in the c64 age, when I was young(er) and all that, it was pretty much standard practise to buy a big pile of games (even as many as 50+) and then sort out what was worth playing after. Lack of information or atleast lack of access to information clearly played an important role too. You could also say there was a social element to it too, finding out what your friends have and then sharing ofcourse.
Somewhat later there was a period where downloading pirated games from the internet was simply both the cheaper and more convinient method of acquiring games because the commercial alternatives werent well developed yet.
In fairness every PC title that I have liked I have eventually bought anyway; but typically at a later discount. So to go totally afterrationalization/selfjustification I "forced" the producers to deliver demo versions and a subsequent "student" discount.
It is a very long time since I last pirated anything; which is ofcourse also a function of the fact that the cost factor has become trivial.
But, in return I have also become alot more conservative with what I buy. In practise producers that I am familiar with have a much easier task selling a product to me today than producers that I am not familiar with. So for producers that sell games that appeal to a broader or older audience; pirating is probably not such a terrible curse.
Back in the c64 age, when I was young(er) and all that, it was pretty much standard practise to buy a big pile of games (even as many as 50+) and then sort out what was worth playing after. Lack of information or atleast lack of access to information clearly played an important role too. You could also say there was a social element to it too, finding out what your friends have and then sharing ofcourse.
Somewhat later there was a period where downloading pirated games from the internet was simply both the cheaper and more convinient method of acquiring games because the commercial alternatives werent well developed yet.
In fairness every PC title that I have liked I have eventually bought anyway; but typically at a later discount. So to go totally afterrationalization/selfjustification I "forced" the producers to deliver demo versions and a subsequent "student" discount.
It is a very long time since I last pirated anything; which is ofcourse also a function of the fact that the cost factor has become trivial.
But, in return I have also become alot more conservative with what I buy. In practise producers that I am familiar with have a much easier task selling a product to me today than producers that I am not familiar with. So for producers that sell games that appeal to a broader or older audience; pirating is probably not such a terrible curse.
If we all bought ONE bitcoin in 2011 when they were 40 cents, we could afford to buy all Paradox games 5 times over.