Anyone know if Civ5 has been pirated yet?

Look, you guys want to see an actual in depth study about drm protection and piracy? Go to this website. And don't just read the titles. Beware: lots of facts and reading. It's really weird seeing people pull facts out of their butt to defend piracy.
 
Look, you guys want to see an actual in depth study about drm protection and piracy? Go to this website. And don't just read the titles. Beware: lots of facts and reading. It's really weird seeing people pull facts out of their butt to defend piracy.

Luckily nobody in this thread was defending piracy. I guess you are referring to a different thread? I dunno, your comment is weird.

I read that article, and I must say, it's the dumbest, most misleading and/or mis-informed writeup on the issue of piracy I have ever had the misfortune of reading.
 
good work reading it in 5 minutes ;) Now actually read it :p
 
After doing a torrent search, I see that Civ V has been pirated, but none of the patches from 1.0.062 onwards have been released. It seems like the pirates have lost interest in Civ V and turned their efforts to newer releases.

Maybe that is Firaxis/2K's strategy for beating piracy - put out a crappy initial game, and then release fixes and improvements in future patches, so that people will be forced to buy the game to play a properly working version. ;)

FYI, this is not completely far-fetched, since some game developers have admitted to using patches and improvements as incentives to encourage purchase - Stardock, for example.
 
That would actually make sense lol. Considering the patch that is fixing the game will come out before christmas sales.
 
Maybe that is Firaxis/2K's strategy for beating piracy - put out a crappy initial game, and then release fixes and improvements in future patches, so that people will be forced to buy the game to play a properly working version. ;)

Maybe they will be "forced", maybe not. I see no reason why pirates couldn't just release the patched version.


To Slowpoke: I read that article before you posted that link. Not because I can travel in time (because I can't, not even 30 minutes), but because I stumbled upon it earlier.
 
Ah sorry, for sounding accusing then. Although, it would help a little if you explained just what is wrong with the article. I really don't see why companies with tens of thousands of dollars to use for researching the gain/loss risk of drm/no drm would continue to use drms if it was not the best idea for them. Especially if averting a pirated game for even a week saves them millions, yet costs them relatively nothing.
 
Ah sorry, for sounding accusing then. Although, it would help a little if you explained just what is wrong with the article. I really don't see why companies with tens of thousands of dollars to use for researching the gain/loss risk of drm/no drm would continue to use drms if it was not the best idea for them. Especially if averting a pirated game for even a week saves them millions, yet costs them relatively nothing.
I have only 2 hours before I have to go with wife and kid to some horrible birthday party, and I want to spend it doing something pleasant (finish my Civ IV game from last night), so I won't go into detail right now, but the major flaw of the article is its linchpin: that DRM and copy protection actually slow down piracy the same way as locks and the like slow down burglars. That is not the case, the case of Civ V proved it. This is due to the digital nature of the product in question (and its near-infinite speed of distribution). DRM and copy protection are clearly not a means to "keep honest users honest". It is a means to prevent the second-hand market, as well as one of the many misguided managerial tactics of recent years.


Why would a company invest in DRM if it's counter-productive? Well, why would a company do outsourcing, right-sizing, mergers and other things if it didn't bring benefits? In fact, often the things listed above don't bring benefits, but they are things an executive can do, so he/she does it, in order to seem doing something, in order not to seem unqualified and unnecessary or in order to get a quick buck (merger bonus and such) and leave. They are textbook corporate psychopathy scenarios. Beneficial to the corporate psychopath, not necessarily to the company. My take is that DRM is doing more harm to game publishers, than it is helping them - at least this is true, IMHO for some of the companies. Killing the 2nd hand market probably helps in spite of breeding some bad faith, but I believe that sometimes the bad PR outweighs the profit.


OK, that's it for now. Whatever you write, I promise I won't argue (for a while) :p
 
Look, you guys want to see an actual in depth study about drm protection and piracy? Go to this website. And don't just read the titles. Beware: lots of facts and reading. It's really weird seeing people pull facts out of their butt to defend piracy.

That is not a study, that is an opinion.
It is just taking examples and using them in the context of the writer's own belief.
 
Maybe they will be "forced", maybe not. I see no reason why pirates couldn't just release the patched version.
An obvious reason could be that pirates have limited time to crack games, and prioritise releasing new games instead of patches to every old game there is.

Given how many fixes and improvements there are in 1.0.062, those who pirated Civ V are really missing out, and it is entirely possible that some of them might get frustrated of waiting for the pirates to release the patch, and decide to buy the game. That is, if they hadn't already abandoned it and moved on to the next game...
 
Hmm, after doing a little more research, I am actually seeing the side of going without a drm. E.g. I read earlier how much it probably sucked that demigod got pirated so much until I read what the CEO of stardock wrote. Basically it went along the lines of "well, we got pirated the crap out of, but our sales went up. Screw drm". Sorta like the girl genius webcomic phenomenon I suppose. They started out just as a physical comic, but when they put the comic online up for free, the sheer advertising caused their physical sales to quadruple.

Still, I love steam :p Too lazy to go to the games store and too impatient for ebay.
 
Like all games it was pirated not too long after release, and the first game i had bought all year.
 
An obvious reason could be that pirates have limited time to crack games, and prioritise releasing new games instead of patches to every old game there is.

Given how many fixes and improvements there are in 1.0.062, those who pirated Civ V are really missing out, and it is entirely possible that some of them might get frustrated of waiting for the pirates to release the patch, and decide to buy the game. That is, if they hadn't already abandoned it and moved on to the next game...

Welp, you might be right. Still, after I purchased Civ IV vanilla, I got frustrated with the requirement to have the media in the CD/DVD player, so I downloaded the NO-CD crack. And it existed even for the last patch for Civ IV.
 
Think of it this way:

New game released. Pirates crack it in days. They call quits. Game is discovered to come with glaring balance issues.

Those who pirated will not enjoy the benefits of developer support.
 
Hmm, after doing a little more research, I am actually seeing the side of going without a drm. E.g. I read earlier how much it probably sucked that demigod got pirated so much until I read what the CEO of stardock wrote. Basically it went along the lines of "well, we got pirated the crap out of, but our sales went up. Screw drm". Sorta like the girl genius webcomic phenomenon I suppose. They started out just as a physical comic, but when they put the comic online up for free, the sheer advertising caused their physical sales to quadruple........

Stardock are good - and their policy on this does work. They have always had DRM (et al) free games and apply it to their on line distribution via Impulse. Lots of claim counter claim over what they do - surprise surprise - but at the end of the day the reality is, if hassle free purchase, download and play is a Primary aim, and Impulse carry the Title, Stardock/Impulse is definitely the solution - works a treat.

I rate Brad as one of the better CEOs around - he loves gaming, and really does care for his customers. If Stardock screw up, rare due to their policy of Public Betas but it happens (eg Elemental), they shift heaven and earth fixing it - and thats as rare as hen's teeth these days in an increasingly grubby grabbing Games Industry.

A big advantage is they are still a Private Company, no share holders to pressure them into directions that game logic says "dont". Its a nice setup - gets my vote.

Regards
Zy
 
Stardock are good - and their policy on this does work. They have always had DRM (et al) free games and apply it to their on line distribution via Impulse. Lots of claim counter claim over what they do - surprise surprise - but at the end of the day the reality is, if hassle free purchase, download and play is a Primary aim, and Impulse carry the Title, Stardock/Impulse is definitely the solution - works a treat.

I rate Brad as one of the better CEOs around - he loves gaming, and really does care for his customers. If Stardock screw up, rare due to their policy of Public Betas but it happens (eg Elemental), they shift heaven and earth fixing it - and thats as rare as hen's teeth these days in an increasingly grubby grabbing Games Industry.

A big advantage is they are still a Private Company, no share holders to pressure them into directions that game logic says "dont". Its a nice setup - gets my vote.

Regards
Zy

I am with you, 100%, with everything you said!!!!

I would add that private companies are, generally, much better managed than publicly traded ones. It's because in the case of private companies there is a person or a group of persons who really do care for the company, and have direct visibility on what is actually going on.

Yeah, Brad Wardell is really a great CEO. You can see he does truly care when he comes out with candid statements such as this.

Brad and Stardock should take over Civilization from Firaxis. IMHO, of course.
 
Zydor? Now, i know exactly where i've had the privilege to read your comments. On GCII, right?

I'm a big GalCiv2 Fan and was active - as such - on their boards for while during/after the GalCiv2 launch :)

It was GalCiv2 that first got me really involved at Stardock - as such. I did have a brief interlude many moons ago with an early incarnation of WindowsBlinds, at the time I didnt know much about Stardock, and had no idea they were also a Prime Graphics Company.

Jump forward ten years and I re-appear there re GalCiv2, and by then it had penetrated my Skull about how good they were re games/no drm as well as graphics ..... and I thought, hmmm, I wonder .....

So I dug out the old serial number of WindowsBlinds from ten years previously, tried an upgrade - I couldnt. So I emailed support with my old email address of that time, and within 90 mins, I got a reply "sure - no problem, all fixed, go back in we transferred it to your current email addy, and if you want to upgrade - all yours".

Which ever way you cut it, thats impressive ..... and from that moment on, I've always kept an eye on what they do, getting more and more impressed as the months / years go by.

Regards
Zy
 
Hmm, after doing a little more research, I am actually seeing the side of going without a drm. E.g. I read earlier how much it probably sucked that demigod got pirated so much until I read what the CEO of stardock wrote. Basically it went along the lines of "well, we got pirated the crap out of, but our sales went up. Screw drm". Sorta like the girl genius webcomic phenomenon I suppose. They started out just as a physical comic, but when they put the comic online up for free, the sheer advertising caused their physical sales to quadruple.

To be fair, the same effect would be seen if companies produced demos that actually show you a sizeable portion of the game rather than just the usual tutorial. Piracy is for some a way of getting a preview of a game to see if they like it and if it's worth their money. This is the role demos should fulfill but unfortunately, most demos are crap and show you barely anything about the game (like the one for Civ5)
 
.... Yeah, Brad Wardell is really a great CEO. You can see he does truly care when he comes out with candid statements such as this.

Brad and Stardock should take over Civilization from Firaxis. IMHO, of course.

Quick follow up - dont want to derail the thread by igniting a Stardock spin .... but ..... nice link, and is typical of the guy.

For those who do not know him, he is a regular visitor on these forums, and when he has time joins in discussions under the name "Draginol"

Regards
Zy
 
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