What is your stance on piracy?

I've pirated a lot, but then a friend bought me CS:S and introduced me to Steam. THE END :)

1. I don't care if people do it, just don't go around encouraging others to pirate and definitely don't mention that you do it around fans of the game (especially with games hurting more for sales). I also am of the opinion that if you can't figure out where to obtain pirated stuff yourself, you're too stupid to do it and probably will give yourself away anyhow. Also feel that pirates don't deserve even community support if there is an issue with a game working.
2. I actually don't pirate games anymore. If I want a game I just buy it or wait til I can afford it. I only pirate software that isn't actually sold any longer by the companies that made them. Stuff like Word 2002 works just as well as the newer version, in some ways better to me because it doesn't have a bunch of excess bloat that I won't ever use.
3. Last time I pirated a game was in the late 90s and it was for Playstation. Yes, original Playstation, I had a mod chip to play imports that worked for burned CDs as well, and a CD burner along with an awesome internet connection (this was before cable and DSL were mainstream most people had dial up still).
4. Don't remember which was the last one, just a few of the games I did get this way. I ended up buying the ones I liked once I had more money and also because I had to get rid of the modded playstation when I moved to CA.
5. Poor college student. I got the CD burner while I was working full time over the summer and had extra cash and knew that I was going to be mostly broke during the year. A group of friends I had online and I would rip games we owned and share them with each other.

I don't pirate games. If you can't afford an expensive game, find a cheaper one to enjoy. I was primarily a console gamer, until I discovered Steam last summer. Bought many great indie games, and there many sales ensure I have plenty to play before the next sale.

TV and porn are a different story. As a U.S. Military retiree stationed overseas a lot, and now expat in Thailand, I am not able to watch American television online as it is aired (being outside of the U.S. their sites don't allow it) and I shouldn't have had to wait until a DVD is released while hearing many spoilers. And adult pay sites do their best to scam you out of as much money as possible, and make it near impossible to cancel (at least not before taking another payment, even if it has to wait another 30 days). So these are two things that I feel are okay to pirate.

Ninjas > Pirates

Proof: EGXF-KGT3-H8U9-T9FF-4FYL (Origin key)

My stance is that I think it's mostly bad, but there are cases where I find it acceptable. These are:
-The person who pirates the games has no viable way of affording to buy them (someone witting with an outdated computer, living on noodles , and who still want to play games, or some kid who's parents can't afford to give him/her large enough weekly/monthly allowances to actually buy a game every once in a while)
-The game is not available through any other (realistic) means. Region restrictions and so on.
-Abandonware.

2: Have I done it? Yes, a handful of times.
3-4: I don't quite remember. I think it was Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (from 1993), about a year ago
5: The game is no longer available. I could of course get a copy from Amazon, but I don't have a diskette drive anyway, so that would not really help.

How do you guys feel about pirating a game for PC when you own it for a console. For example: Pirating L.A. Noire (first game I looked at in my console stash) for the PC because you actually bought and own a copy for a different platform? Should you still buy it on the PC or is this acceptable?

1. The only time I sort of agree with it, is to try out the game before you buy it and if there is no way you can afford it
2. No

People pirate because they can't afford the games, not really a reasonable excuse to pirate but in my opinion it doesn't impact the sales.

I have a counter question to the community: would you consider as piracy following scenarios
1) borrowing a game from a friend, playing it and never buying it afterall? in old days ppl shared physical discs, nowadays family sharing can be used for this sake or just come-and-play-at-yr-friends-place.
2) playing and completing a game, that is available on steam free weekend? and of course not buying it after that.

Both these scenarios can't really be considered as illigal, but in both developers are not getting anything extra out of a new players' pocket.

i used to pirate games, but since steam i never did it again. it just doesn't make sense. i have in my 3 years old steam account more games than i ever pirated in about 30 years of gaming activity.

i think lately piracy is far more extended that in the good ol' days. i don't mean only warez, but of course music and movies. a result of better internet access and successful cloud services marketing, probably.

1. Depends on the situation, for example: If someone pirates just because they are a cheapskate, nope. If they use it like a demo, then yes (always support devs that you think are worth it!). For a better cause, yes (e.g. the publisher still owns good IPs but really need to change their ways). The game isn't available in your region, yes. Game isn't sold officially anymore, yes.

2. Yes

3+4+5. Probably have pirated some random games since, but Borderlands 2 DLC. I already own the game, but when they release a bunch of content even after the "complete" edition in the GOTY?

I'm a game developer myself, but I still see piracy as something that's needed in the game-market nowadays to "control" it.
This is one of the biggest reasons that games based on online multiplayer are getting so common nowadays (The Crew, The Division, Titanfall, Destiny etc.), publishers are trying to prevent the piracy in an integrated way.

EDIT: If you're from a really poor family and really have no way of affording things, then I'd let one or two games slip by ^^

What is your stance on pirating video games, or anything for that matter? When developers start to give actual buyers less and less features, as in add day one DLC, shit ton of content DLC, annoying DRM etc. then I don't see why they treat their customers like shit. I don't want to support companies like those.
Have you ever pirated a game? Hasn't everyone?
When was the last time you pirated a game? Don't remember
What game was it? Don't remember
Why did you do it? It just seems retarded to me that people who pay the full price get way less content than people who pirate games. Many times the pirated games are even more bug free because the crews behind cracking the games do bugfixes etc. for them, something developers don't care much about anymore because they all release their games half-finished.

1. Pirating, in my opinion, is okay if it's not hurting the developers. This means pirating for trying out the game or if you don't have the means to get the game, be it financial or other (will explain in second point).
2. I used to play exlusively pirated games up until last summer. While I could have afforded to buy games, I simply had to means to purchase them. The selection in my local stores are very limited and I was completely unable to pay online, because I didn't have a credit card or a online-able debit and pre-paid gift cards aren't sold in my country.
   Luckily, I've figured a work-around to that now and can get games online (though, with very limited funds).
3. Last week, BUT before that, it's been like half a year since I pirated a game.
4. Diablo II.
5. One of my online friends got Diablo II from a thrift shop (we don't have those here :c) and he wanted me to try, if a pirated version of the game would work for multiplayer, so he could make me play it with him. I have the game downloaded but I haven't even unpacked the zip file...

1. I also believe it depends on the situation. If you can't afford it (current situation, live in a world where even considering regional pricing a game costs a week's worth of wage, etc), I find it somewhat justified, and I completely understand the pirate's feelings. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, but just that I understand. I feel like at least SOME of the people are like me, who have pirated games in the past, only to go back and support it if/when I can.

2. Yes

3. Back in grade... 9? 10? Oh gawd that's already 12+ years ago. I feel so old...

4. AOE 2, Starcraft 1, Diablo 1 & 2, and a few others.

5. I literally couldn't afford them. During university (still poor, but financially stable to the point where I could afford games), I retroactively purchased all the games I mentioned by name (the others I played less than an hour, and justified leaving it as is as having played a demo)

Now, there are a few times when i DID pirate in the last few years, and aren't what you'd quite expect.
1) Settlers 7, as soon as I saw it coming out, rushed to the store to buy it and bought the physical dvd and rushed to install it(I've played settlers since settlers 1 except the 6, which i've skipped).Well the next few weeks were basically hell for me.Here in italy the game was unplayable, sudden disconnects from the server caused my game to stop working, and multiplayer was unbearable, every few seconds you'd get the message "waiting for partner" ecc. Not only but back then my internet connection wasn't one of the best, and there were days when I was left without, and couldn't even log in. So for that reason, I've downloaded a crack for it, so I can play it without problems.With a big resentment that not only I've paid for a big pile of crap, but that multiplayer(the feature I've wanted most) was off limits. Now this has changed, and apparently you can play it offline alone and multiplayer is a bit more stable, in fact I tried it a few weeks ago and it was finally a good experience. But still this experience leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
On a sidenote: this prevented me from buying splinter cell with the last sale, since I really don't want anything to do with UBI anymore, even tough I would've loved blacklist(I have conviction, and quite enjoyed the multiplayer but that wasn't hassle free either).
2) GTA 4.The amount of rubbish this games needs is eye watering.The first time I got it, it took me almost more than 1 hour to install all the software and register for all the services it needs(rockstar, GFWL), plus let alone that GFWL when first installed it didn't just download the latest update needed, but instead installed what it looked like an eternity of updates.I didn't quite enjoy gta 4 either as gameplay but that is another story, and just let it sit there, with the campaign mostly at the beginning.I had to change the pc and after a while wanted to try gta again, but this time I've just downloaded the latest crack, and with iCEnhancer it was a tad more enjoyable.

And this is what makes me quite mad, since I HAD to pirate a game I've legally bought because pirates had it better than me.I WAS one of those angry at UBI back then, and still am now.

I think the Captain Morgan pose is a good pirate stance.

1. INQUISITION! Burn them on stakes! Let this sinful bodies of pirates turn to ashes and free the innocent souls.
2. I am but only sinful human
3. It happened in Anno Domini 2008
4. King's Bounty - Legend
5. Because that evil STARFORCE wouldn't let me play my own F$%&#$% ORIGINAL game

P.S. I did 666 HAIL MARIES as my repentance and now I'm fine.

Im indifferent. I do occasionally do it but I always intend to own the game legitimately eventually. I mostly download shows as I don't have foxtell or anything and they take forever to air on free channels where I live.

I think any developer/publisher who has their video game published should blame their distributor for trying to ship it through waters where piracy is rife, I mean if your game is in a container on a ship off the coast of Somalia, it at risk of being pirated.

I used to pirate games before I used Steam. Now I only am willing to play a game when I own it on Steam (except MMORPGs because F2P MMORPGs on Steam suck). It feels good to legally own something that I can showcase off in my profile, as well as the other benefits of owning it on Steam (cloud storage, able to download it back whenever I want, achievements, auto updates etc).

What is your stance on pirating video games, or anything for that matter? It might be a crappy experience because you don't get the best out of it. Eg. No official support from the devs, no multiplayer, no achievements, and you might get some bugs which won't be fixed by themselves.
Have you ever pirated a game? Yes
When was the last time you pirated a game? ~2008
What game was it? Half-Life 1
Why did you do it? Was so desperate to play HL1 after playing HL2, HL2EP1 and HL2EP2 (I did ask my dad to buy HL2 complete on Steam for me), but didn't want to ask my dad to buy such a cheap game like HL1 (waste of opportunity to ask him to buy something).

At first i thought you were talking about pirates video games like Black Flag or something...

1.Even though i do not support piracy of any kind, i must admit that i consider it a necessary evil in some cases.
2.I have indeed pirated a lot of games. Hundreds to be more precisely.

3. More than a year ago.
   4.I think it was Skyrim.
   5.Well...maybe i did it because i live in a country where the minimum wage is something like $250 a month, and the fact that our parent's priority was to keep me and my brothers in School/Highschool/College didn't left us a lot of money to spend.
   Or maybe it was just because in here, people would consider anybody who actually buys games stupid...they're like, why pay for something that's free.
   And to explain why i said i consider piracy is a necessary evil...Well if a country can't provide enough money for it's citizens so they can have access to basic entertainment/educational stuff like certain movies or so, can you blame the people for trying to get those on other ways? Look at me for example....maybe today i wouldn't be here writing this if i wouldn't have pirated all those things considering that i learned most of my English and other random stuff from movies and video games.

LOL, LIMEWIRE

Alestorm

1) As long as people are actually buying the game, I don't mind them. Unless it's EA. Then it's perfectly fine.

2) Yes, I did.

3) Uhm...about a year ago? My internet is rather unstable, so I can't download big files.

4) Terraria.

5) I saw a cousin of mine playing it, and I decided to give it a shot. Once I had the money for it, I bought it, of course.

1. What is your stance on pirating video games, or anything for that matter?

I'm against it.

2. Have you ever pirated a game?

Quite a few when I was (much) younger.

3. When was the last time you pirated a game?

Probably around 20 years ago.

4. What game was it?

Too long ago for me to remember.

5. Why did you do it?

Because all my friends did it. It was customary that if you got games you let friends copy them, and there were CD's going around with copied games (and before than diskettes, and before that cassettes). There were also pirated CD's of games people probably downloaded from somewhere (certainly in the Amiga days I know people downloaded from BBS's), but that was part of the parcel of how you got games.

I don't think I ever downloaded a game from the internet illegally though. The internet became a source of games only was after I stopped playing pirated games.