A question for users that perform piracy. Do you ever make an

>>379606241
>Do you ever make an exception and buy any games
Nope

>>379606442
Can you think of any sort of feature in a game that would lead to a potential purchase from you? Perhaps wide multiplayer functionality that is all server-sided, for example.

>>379606608
Multi would make me purchase, or if they were from a developer I really liked.

If I think I'm gonna be playing the game for another 10 hours then I'll buy it.

If the game has multiplayer + singleplayer and I'm not interested in the multiplayer I won't pay more than 20 bucks for it.

>>379606681
>>379606726
I see. We unfortunately think that forcing multiplayer functionality without reason might just decrease the game's functionality. Some games benefit from online functions, others not so much, to the point that some online function might even detract from the experience. Therefore, it'd be good to find other features that might lead people to voluntarily purchase the game instead of pirating even if they can easily pirate.

From what I am getting, price and reputation is a factor. If the developer is not well known in the market, you'd need a very good game for a low price, right? Like what Undertale did?

>>379607079
What, are you making a game? You should know that if someone was going to pirate they never were going to buy it to begin with so I wouldn't count those people as lost sales since they never were going to give you money to begin with.

>>379606241
If it has my favorite voice actress, I will 100% without a doubt buy it

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An exception? No way.

>>379607179
I understand that. There is nothing immoral with pirating a game since, as you yourself said, it's very unlikely that person would buy the game anyway if they were unable to pirate it. What I am looking for is something that makes people want to purchase the game. It seems that nowadays most people seem to be unwilling to spend money with games. It's an unnecessary investment, right? Yet some specific games seem to find triumph even while not having anti-piracy software, popular examples are The Witcher 3 and Undertale. These two games are complete opposites - one had immense budget, was made by popular developers and was the sequel of a known franchise - while the other was an indie game made by a man that was mostly unheard of. Why did these games made people who were once unwilling to purchase games suddenly want to purchase them?

>>379607180
What is her name?

>>379607449
>What I am looking for is something that makes people want to purchase the game
That's a pretty easy answer. A good concept and fleshed out gameplay.

>>379607449
Let me see your game first before I have to spend money on something I will regret

>>379606241
Back when I didn't have reliable income I'd pirate almost everything and get gifts from friends (mostly multiplayer games).

When I got a job I stopped doing it and now I only pirate it if I'm not sure if I'll like it or not, so I'm basically using it as a demo. I even bought games that I know I liked but that I pirated previously due to lack of money because I still wanted to support the devs.

If you want me to buy your game make a good game.

>>379607616
It does not seem that simple. Many great games end up dying out because most consumers decided that game was unworthy of a purchase and instead deserved to be pirated. Maybe that game was not "good enough", but ther are many other worse games that didn't suffer from the same fate, so there must be something else to it.

>>379606241
I never buy games from EA, Activision and Ubisoft.
I probably won't buy a game that has dozens of DLC.
I won't buy a game that is shitty.
No fucking trailers or hype shittery would convince me to buy a game. Pirate to try and buy if I like.
I do not pirate every single game. If the game hasn't been pirated then I don't give a shit about the game.

>>379607816
Well good marketing is important too, and a lot of companies seem to forget to do that in this day and age.

>>379606241
here's when I'll surely buy a game
>I seem to like it
>it's drm free
>it's in physical version
>the box contains all the necessary files
>the box has some collectibles (steelbook, a small colored guide etc.)

>>379606241
I pirate as a demo, if I like I I'll pay.
In hindsight I wish I pirated fallout 4 because it sucks and Bethesda isn't losing out on money, I feel bad about pirating games from less known devs, they deserve it more

>>379607816
It takes a lot of marketing, luck , engaging first minutes and keeping up the momentum to stay alive.
Not even tailing trends and making it free will save you from the sea of mediocrity

>>379607924
This is a problem. Marketing is much more expensive than most people think. It's easy to do if you are a big, well-established company with millions of dollars to spare, but if you are a small company good marketing could be over 90% of your budget, which is not something we want to sacrifice. And small marketing seems to be worthless, the money spent into it would be better spent on the game's development.

>>379606241
Yes. I buy games if they're really old and cheap or if its a new console game when there is no other choice but only when it for less than half of what it was at release

>>379606241
yes. There are games that i like, and feel the company should be rewarded. I buy ~50% of my games.
If the came has a strong DRM software, ill pirate it.
If its not possible, ill buy it.

If it doesn't suck total ass I will buy it to support the devs

If they know what they are doing and make something good I want them to keep making things that are good

Also, "success" isn't exactly something that always and only happens the first time.
Look at Demon's Souls and Rocket League's predecessor

>>379608165
Physical versions with collectibles are too very expensive for small companies.

If marketing and physical collectibles are necessary for a purchase, this seems to be a quite elitist market, and small companies seem to be forced to adopt anti-priacy software in order to survive. I really hope there will be other ways to make a game sell. Undertale did it somehow despite no marketing or collectibles.

>>379607079
>forcing multiplayer functionality.
You just need a different approach. In single player games there is a way to add multi, without sacrificing anything in regards to story or gameplay. Add co-op.
Strictly 2p co op. I have never met a guy who wouldnt want to play skyrim with a buddy.

Usually if I like a game enough after playing a pirate copy, I'll end up buying it in order to get patches and fixes. The last several Steam sales for me have been nothing but buying copies of previously pirated games.

>>379608296
You could easily market it for cheap via word of mouth and maybe spending a bit on getting in on local cons

>>379607449
To be honest, I mainly play the big MMORPGs (WoW & FFXIV) so I justify giving them money on the basis that they have brought me into a community where I can go beyond just playing a game. I've met people online and have a really good time sinking hundreds of hours into each game without getting bored because I can make my own fun with others and on my own.

For that exact same reason, I pirated Vanquish because I knew that I would only get 10~ hours out of the entire thing (by myself) then never touch it again, making the price-playtime seem unreasonable.

If you're going to make a game, good luck

>>379608973
Did you even get 10 hours out of vanquish

>>379609018
I have 6 hours logged right now but I'll keep playing it in bits while Im waiting for Stormblood to come out

>>379607816
>examples
>[ ]
Corona levis

>>379606241
I only buy Multiplayer games when they are under 25 bucks. If the Singleplayer game was really, really good then I would buy it. I would buy a game if it has good Coop that doesn't interfere with anything in Singleplayer e.g. Coop is optional but still good. I will never buy games with over 5 DLC when there isn't a possibility to pirate the DLC.

>>379609335
I can give you examples. The producers of Hotel Dusk went bankrupt even though their game is one of the most beloved gems of the Nintendo DS. This because most consumers decided to pirate it instead of paying.

I'm a personal fan of Hotel Dusk and simlar games from Cing and I myself admit that I've pirated them all. Wonder why. Not proud of it. If I knew they were going bankrupt I'd go back in time and purchase a ton.

Cing did not deserve what got them. And I fear that gruesome fate awaits many other good developers if they can't think of a way to sell their product soon. This is a new age where buying games is becoming an unnecessary expense and we must adapt to this reality and find a way to make costumers want to pay for the product somehow.

>>379606241

I make an exception for good games. Which is entirely subjective. I also only pay full price for game that will last me at least 40-50 hours.

>>379609818
It is immensely difficult to create 40 hours of unique and quality content. Most companies just put fillers to extend gameplay time. It'd be much easier to create, say, 10 hours. Would you pay a reasonable price - say, twenty dollars - for ten hours of good gameplay?

>>379609750
>of the most beloved gems of the Nintendo DS
By what standards.. 7s-8s? VGChartz is listing sales at 540k.

I regret paying £40 for fallout 3.

I donated £10 to toady for the good times ive had with dwarf fortress.

I pirated hero siege until it went 1.0 then i bought 2 copies.

I detest AAA episodic releases.

>>379610890
>fallout 3
Meant 4

>>379610890
You paid 40 euros for Fallout 4 and 10 for Dwarf Fortress despite enjoying one much more than the other

If I have the cash and I really like the game then I'll buy. But I usually pirate stuff on the day of it's release to see if I actually like it or not (unless it's rare or hard to actually get, in which case I pirate and archive).

>>379607179
This. I consider buying vidya as a waste of money. I haven't brought a single video game in my life.

People who buy games after pirating mostly do it out of show of gratitude, it's about what they think is worth their money. It's either a good product or a Dev that has an interesting story that resonated with them.

>>379606241

I have 20 years playing games and nope. Never payed for anything.

I pirated games from: PC, 3DS, GBA, SNES, NES, PS1, PS2, PS3, Xbox360, SegaGenesis, Dreamcast, Cube, N64, Wii, WiiU, Android and PSP.

Feels good to not be a brainlet and know how to pirate.

The game being good and worth my money. The problem is that for every 200 games i pirate i'm lucky if there's 1 worth buying.

>>379606241
>Do you ever make an exception and buy any games?
Everytime I like a game. The only reason I pirate is to test if I like it, or if its runs well enough. Benchmarks mean nothing in 2017 with optimization issues everywhere.
And no, I dont care for Steam refunds. 2hrs is nothing and if I have the option to test for free , rather than paying $60 upfront, then I'll take that option.

Some "recent" games I bought fullprice after testing them for a while are
>Alien Isolation
>RE7
>CIV6
>Blood Bowl 2
If I have the option to pirate, I'll always take it out of principle alone. Don't wanna have any techincal surprises after spending $60

>>379606241
#1 criterium:
no DRM

if it has any DRM (steam, Denuvo, whatever) I don't buy it.

So glad Dragon's Dogma came to gog so I could buy it. Really unexpectedly too.

>>379607449
>Why did these games made people who were once unwilling to purchase games suddenly want to purchase them?

Answer is easy, it's popularity.
Chances of people buying the game grows as more people play them. The most pirated games are the most played games, just how the most hated games are the most popular games.

Instead of thinking about piracy, you should think about if your game will have a wide enough appeal.

>>379606241
I buy games I like that don't have questionable content such as blatant racism. Often I pirate first then buy later if I enjoyed it in order to support the devs.

>>379606241
I buy 90 % of the games I pirate.

>>379606241
I mostly buy new releases, I pirate mostly old games, like more than 6-7 years old. Not claiming that there is any logic behind it, It's just how I do it. I guess you could say that devs already squished most of the money they could of these games or something, but I don't really search for logic or justification in this. Also if I genuinely enjoyed a pirated game I usually buy it sometime later, at least when it's on sale.

>>379607079
Just don't stick multiplayer elements into singleplayer mode, make a separate, good multi.

>>379606241
I mostly buy games, but pirate older titles (3+years) or games with preorder dlc because I don't preorder yet I must have every item/weapon

DA:Origins is a good example of this. Also because I bought it once on the 360 but preferred it on the pc.

Also as a related question: Why the fuck did demos die out? They were a great thing, allowed you to see whether you will like a game and if it will run on your PC - and a well made demo could hype the customer up even more and make him buy the game. If they were still popular the whole "I pirate to see if I'll like it" mentality wouldn't exist, but while lots of games used to have demos, now it''s quite an exception if the game has one.

>>379606241
The only time I ever buy games is when it's released as a full package.

By that I mean, no goddamn day 1 DLC bullshit or obvious sections completely removed from the game to charge for it 3 months later. I'll buy a complete and finished game or a GotY edition when it's a good 50% cheaper.

That's really the only thing that prevents me from buying games now is the notion that I could be paying $60 for 10 - 20+ hours of wasted time over an incomplete game that I have to wait another year to finish anyway.

>>379606241
Criteria list
-the dev should not have fucked me over, if you fuck me over, your games will forever be torrent or bargain bin. PERIOD >looking at you ubisoft.

-the opposite is also true, a dev that is an absolute bro can get a first day or pre purchase out of me (looking at you CD project red, giving me a disscount on my game because i already had the previous game in the series)

the rest depends on novality, "fun value", and not being a fucking console exclusive.
thing i never regretted buying:
-the witcher 3 and dlc's
-kerbal space program
(1000 hours in it.. so yeah)
-splatoon (though the wiiu to use splatoon is a questionable..mostly only redeemed by said splatoon)
-helldivers

so basicly, something with a vibe of its own, or a good story, or immense interesting deep playability will have an easier buy factor.

things i refunded with a vengeance
-star wars battlefront

microtransactions beyond cheap extra customisation options are a cancer to be avoided.

>>379613148

A couple reasons:

1. Demos over time became unindicative of the final product (see Brutal Legend)
2. Games in general got worse and sending out pieces of them would kill more hype than they'd generate
3. Demos require that most of the game be done enough to send out, and most games aren't even done by launch day nowadays

They're a lot of effort for little payoff these days, especially when loads of people will just pirate/watch LPs.

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>>379606241
I exclusively pirate pc games because i dislike valve and don't want to make a steam account. I also emulate older shit pretty often.

I buy all my console games though. I even own a unmodded 3ds and vita even though i know they're hackable.

>>379606241
sometimes, if it's a good game/something I like with consistent updates. I like bug fixes. If someone on the development team doesn't acknowledge a question or word of praise I give. (doesn't have to be anyone super important) I won't buy the game no matter what my opinion of it is.

community communication is important to me.

See, pirating is not that bad. Pirates will be pirates and that's it, there's nothing you can do to change that. The more pirates there is playing your game the more popular it is, and then richfags will prob buy it.

If you're still here OP, I am someone who VERY rarely purchases video games, but when I do they have almost all fulfilled the following conditions:

>it has a demo (or is otherwise playable before purchase)
>it is released on GOG (or is otherwise DRM free)

I won't buy anything I haven't tried, and I won't pay for shitty anti-consumer DRM.
If I try a game, find that I enjoy it and that it's available on GOG, I'll pay for it.

>>379606241
The only time when I have bought games was when I had money. I've got like 200+ games on steam bought over the course of 5 years, now im a bit broke and I pirate all my games now

>>379606241
I pirate games to see if they are interesting. If it keeps my attention, i finish it and buy it. I even bought some games on PC and on console for the cheevos, which i had previously pirated. Pirating is a substitute for demos for me. And i skip games with too restrictive DRM altogether.

>>379614649
Thank you, it seems many people here enjoy demos and GOG.

>>379606241
most of the reason i pirate is because i'm a broke NEET. when i do occasionally fall into money, i buy games that i spent a decent amount of time (20+ hours) playing to support the devs

>>379606241
I'd buy games if I had money to throw away.

>>379614649
>>379616365
By the way there used to be a way to transfer your steam games to gog, wasn't there? Is this still available, or was that a temporary thing? I'm leaning more and more towards gog, but majority of games I already have are on steam.

>>379606241
Online multiplayer usually pushes me over to buy
Don't remember the last time I bought a single player game besides Cities Skylines

I actually pirate movies/TV/music/books way more than I ever pirate games. I also don't play as many games as I do with the other medium but it also helps that I can get most games very cheap through steam sales so I don't bother pirating them.

>>379606241

I bought both Hotline Miamis, Mafia 2, Skyrim and Postal 2.

What really matters to me is if the quality is exceptional and if the devs really need the money.

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>Make demos mandatory for all releases.
>80% of piracy gets curbed

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>>379617889
>and if the devs really need the money.

>>379618018
Not really, but 80% of "justification" of piracy gets curbed

>>379618109

Mostly Postal 2 and Hotline Miami there.

Dennis and Jonathan are real cool guys.

>>379617889
>Skyrim
>quality

>>379606241
OP, I would buy every single game and console out there if I could, but I can't. I'm a poorfag and if I have to bleed out the anus to buy a single game, I'd rather just pirate it.

>>379618018
There are actually evidence for demos reducing sales though

You know when the game is shit and the demo shows

>>379618439

Ah, the magnificence of /v/ circlejerking.

>>379618748
Like clockwork