can you do more to dissuade pirates please?

[Jak9090]

it's hard not to feel bitter buying eu4 and ck2 with ALL DLC, just to see that anyone can get it for free on popular torrent websites, is there anyway you can make it more unprofitible to pirate the games? they miss out on multiplayer but i'm sure thre's more things you could do? i'd hate to buy stellaris just to see bunch of people pick it up for free.

 

[SFSLovenought]

Far more powerful gaming corporations have tried and failed. I don't really see Paradox having the manpower to try and create a new DRM system.

 

[aruon]

actually, from what i've seen, heard, and read about pirating in general, the best (or at least most effective) way to dissuade pirates is really more a matter of engagement and not hiding a product behind DRMs- and especially ultra-restrictive and even potentially dangerous DRMs like secuROM which have become infamous. overall, they actually encourage piracy and once one hacker cracks the DRM and uploads it, it's back to square one.

not too long ago i bought Democracy 3 (Positech games AKA Cliff "cliffski" Harris) and when i went to the positech website looking for D3 mods. among all the things i expected to see from a developer website, i saw something i certainly DIDN'T expect, which lead me to this: http://www.positech.co.uk/talkingtopirates.html

i have to say, when cliffski actually asked on various blogs "do you pirate my games? and if so, why?" he probably did more to shed light on the phenomenon of internet piracy than anyone else ever. seriously, read his article, it really is amazing.

 

[wolfing]

Be careful what you wish for.

 

[Knut Skallagrim]

« Fama di loro il mondo esser non lassa;
misericordia e giustizia li sdegna:
non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa. »

« Fame of them the world hath none,
Nor suffers; Mercy and Justice scorn them both.
Speak not of them, but look, and pass them by. »

- Dante Alighieri on piracy

 

[Axe99]

The only sensible way (well, without a lot of draconian DRM that'll make everything horrible) to dissuade pirates is to create an (imo appropriate) culture of pirates being considered in a poor light. It's far too big a problem for a single publisher to deal with - it'd require a complete re-engineering of the way the internet works (from an open system to a far more closed one, and I'm not suggesting this is a good idea!) The only way it can be overcome is culturally, like through the engagement @aruon lists above. By engaging with pirates and moving away from DRM, it helps highlight that most pirates are basically just soft and selfish, rather than 'fighting the power' (which they generally never were, but many like to idealise their behaviour that way).

 

[gnome109]

Piracy will always exist.

 

[wthomas]

This sounds vaguely like "Other people are pirating so I'm just going to pirate too."

 

[wthomas]

I think the best anti-piracy is what Greenheart games did with GameDev Tycoon. Hilarious.

 

[aruon]

I think the best anti-piracy is what Greenheart games did with GameDev Tycoon. Hilarious.

oh yeah i had heard about that. funny and ironic. almost as punishing as the anti-piracy measure in... i think it was dark souls...? where an maxed-level invincible enemy pops up out of nowhere and chases you everywhere.

 

[Mr. Capiatlist]

Not sure if this is enough for you, but they can't access certain parts of the forums (like user mods and tech support) without registering their game with a CD key.

 

[aruon]

Not sure if this is enough for you, but they can't access certain parts of the forums (like user mods and tech support) without registering their game with a CD key.

yep. that's actually probably the most effective kind of restriction there is.

 

[Fluffy_Fishy]

I think the best anti-piracy is what Greenheart games did with GameDev Tycoon. Hilarious.

What do you propose? pirates and bandits raid the lands of all the PDS games relentlessly? It would certainly be amusing

 

[aruon]

What do you propose? pirates and bandits raid the lands of all the PDS games relentlessly? It would certainly be amusing

actually, a funny thing would be in EU4, if every sea province had a dozen pirates in man o' wars. someone should make a mod of that!

 

[Fluffy_Fishy]

actually, a funny thing would be in EU4, if every sea province had a dozen pirates in man o' wars. someone should make a mod of that!

Theres no reason why they couldnt do it in CK2 or the upcoming stellaris too

 

[RforRush]

Access to the forums is good but I think Paradox should make some system to counter DLC-pirating.

 

[I Have Low Eyes]

Heavy drm causes some people to pirate out of principle. If we can't stop people from murdering or robbing each other in real life how do you expect to stop "cyber crime"

 

[wingzero890]

The Witcher 3 had no DRM and posted massive sales figures. Stop drinking the DRM kool-aid, please. If the game is worth the money, people will buy it.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/08...ts-sales-surpassed-6-million-in-first-6-weeks
http://www.vg247.com/2015/05/28/the-witcher-3-pokes-fun-at-drm-with-in-game-book/

etc

 

[Augustus93]

I hate DRM and any company or game that has it, I am refusing to buy the games. Consequently I have only a very few companies to buy from and Paradox is one of the few ones. If their policy on DRM changes then I will no longer buy their games, period.

 

[Augustus93]

actually, a funny thing would be in EU4, if every sea province had a dozen pirates in man o' wars. someone should make a mod of that!

Are independent pirates still a thing? I haven't seen one in a long time, I know privateers exist but it was a damn long time since I saw pirates in the game popping up to blockade my unprotected ports in the new world.