13 replies to this topic

[SaintZenn]

There are some games that are impossible to find a hard copy of. At least one that won't take half or all of your pay check. For many people when these games came out, you didn't know they existed or at that time in your life you didn't have the specs to run it. Some of these old games aren't even supported by the companies that made them, in fact the person you're buying them off of, is just a greedy douche. Would you download a pirated game?

[Rastor]

There are some games that are impossible to find a hard copy of. At least one that won't take half or all of your pay check. For many people when these games came out, you didn't know they existed or at that time in your life you didn't have the specs to run it. Some of these old games aren't even supported by the companies that made them, in fact the person you're buying them off of, is just a greedy douche. Would you download a pirated game?

Could you please define what you're talking about here? Do you mean abandonware or cracked copies of games that can still be purchased?

[Gabrielle]

Most likely from those by places like Steam and not those that have the word pirate in their domain name?

[Icendoan]

I happen to buy the game and then download no-cd cracks for most games. Just makes my life a little bit easier.

Icen

[SaintZenn]

I'm talking about the games you'd only find on ebay or amazon or if you're really lucky at a backyard sale. Most of the games I'm thinking about are 7+ years old.

[Tempest]

I've used abandonware before, certainly. Where else was I going to get Wizardry VI, a game made when MS DOS was still the standard operating system for PC's?

[DeusEx]

Of course I would, I used to download quite a lot of those old games . I think I still have a DVD/CD full of those abandonware games somewhere .

[Icendoan]

I just have two copies of Baldur's Gate with (soono to be) backed up discs.

Icen

[Bardess]

I'm living in a backwater country where original new games in comparison to other things/our standards/ are so expensive, people would think you're an idiot if you bought them. Alright, so I'm not talking for everyone, I am sure there are gamers out there who make it their hobby to blow all their money on precious discs as soon as they appear, but it is quite unusual here.

However, as of late, things have begun to get better, so my bro and I are supplying ourselves with original editions of our favorite games just cause we like them! (Even though some of the producing companies are dead.) Out of my favorite games, we only don't have Planescape: Torment and NWN2 (I want to buy it, but have never seen it anywhere!). But getting the originals only came later. We played EVERY game in pirate version first.

I know, it isn't cool, but then, I don't love how things stand in Serbia either. (On a sidenote, we aren't even supported by PayPal.)


P. S. I haven't yet registered my NWN1 games on teh BioWare forums... been clicking on "remind me in 2 weeks" for like a year now.

[Lysan Lurraxol]

Yes. Especially with the growing trend of SatanRom. Or at least cracks

And abandonware games, and games where the original developers have long gone bust (like Troika), I don't much like giving my money to random people who had nothing to do with the game in the first place.

I prefer to buy the actual game but sometimes it's not possible.

[Aliya]

I sometimes buy CD\DVDs. But I most download games. Simple. And quick.

[Icendoan]

The only game I have ever downloaded is PS:T, otherwise I have legal copies of my games.

Icen

[Gabrielle]

I prefer having an original copy of the game CD/DVD. Cost doesn't matter. If I want it bad enough I'll get it. I should have bought them when it first came out.

[Scipio]

I am old and old-fashioned. I have always preferred to buy original games and other commercial software. It seems the proper thing to do, and I like the look and feel of a nicely packaged game. I did however play a pirated version of Leisure Suit Larry about 20 years ago. (Big WAH!!!)

Pirate download and crack sites scare me. I am paranoid about viruses even though I use good antivirus software and a decent firewall.

In South Africa most high-speed Internet users have a bandwidth cap because the whole sub-continent gets its feeds from the rest of the world through just a few trunk lines. This puts a load on Internet speed and availability. For any fairly recent games, the file sizes are just so big that downloading isn't an attractive proposition. I have a fairly standard package and my ADSL cap is 3 Gigs a month. In April this year I ran out of bandwidth around the 24th of the month because I went over the top downloading IE mods.

We get pretty well every new game as it's released elsewhere in the world. The average cost is between ZAR200 and ZAR400. Converting this price to euros or dollars is meaningless since we pay in our own currency and compare the cost with other things in South Africa, not with what they may cost overseas. In real terms, the Forgotten Realms Deluxe Edition (BG + ToSC, BG2 + ToB, IWD + HoW, IWD2, NWN + SotU + HotU) cost about the same as a very good meal and drinks for two people at a good restaurant.

** And if anyone cares, that full set of games cost me ZAR260. That currently converts to about US$35.