04-02-2016, 04:19 AM
Alright, now that my thoughts are straightened-out a bit, I'll try to finish-off some of my points.
I do recall "use demos!" being brought-up.
The major problem with a lot of demos is that they don't support many of the features that even give you a reason to like or buy the product. Or, especially with development or graphics tools, they put some ugly watermark that ruins the output so badly it's unusable.
Now, tools marketed towards studios.
The problem is that realistically, a significant portion of those using them, regardless of how their copies of the program were obtained, are "your average joe" , or a student, or something like that. And the fact is these programs are designed in such a way, combined with the overwhelming amount of free resources, renders the actual need for an entire studio is pretty much null and void in most cases. There's also many free, sometimes open source, and often significantly superior alternatives to most of these programs. The need for them in some cases merely boils-down to compatibility. This is actually the only reason I have any adobe stuff. If I could ever quit ending-up with .fla, .psd, .eps, .ai, and CERTAIN .tiff, etc files, I'd be deleting those programs. Same can be said if 100% working free alternatives appeared for dealing with those types of files.
Also, CC? ... no way. I'm against limited paid subscription-based, games and programs. It feels more like a rental, and I cannot justify this for something I download. I'm on the borderline with rental stuff, anyways, but something where the physical copy isn't being distributed? nope... Originally, I did intend to pay for Flash if I ever started to turn a profit from it. So far I haven't, and at this rate, I'll be doing all of my coding with Java, JavaScript, or with FlashDevelop , something that I was originally unaware of. I was getting ready to use Fd and then my desltop started to have over-heat issues. Since initially learning about Flash, I've learned about free options and alternatives, and that the .swf format is actually free/open. And then CC came-along, so me ever actually buying something from Adobe is slim to none at this point.
Lastly, DRM.
The companies are losing money to their AP efforts, not the pirates.
The pirates can only be blamed via cause-and-effect chain, but as earlier stated "two wrongs don't make a right" , who started/caused it doesn't matter as the final outcome and who caused THAT.
Firstly, DRM is notorious for catastrophic failure. It has caused all kinds of damages to paying customers, especially, and in some cases, has rendered the affected machines inoperable. This thus forces the company to pay damages in some cases, and it can cost them the paying customers. Seeing as the pirates didn't go to the paying customers and make them quit buying the product or supporting the company, nor did they write what amounts to a computer virus into the media, it is ultimately the company a fault for the damages. The second part is assuming DRM can even work on pirates. It cannot. Pirates will either strip it out, or disable it. Thus, the lost money towards developing DRM is not from the pirates, but the company believing the very flawed concept they can make something that cannot be stolen.
Let's say you have a city, and I want to invade it.
so, I build an enormous wooden horse, and put a bow on its head, and load my men into it, and leave it as a present. You or your guards take it in, and when the moment is right, the assault begins. Following this, you heighten security. Yet, I manage several more successful attacks, because I exploit the one weakness you either cannot fix, or choose to overlook. Eventually you have ten foot thick metal walls, missile silos, rocket launchers, and every other possible method of defense for your city, yet for whatever reason, my trojan horses continue to make it in, because somehow, this exploit is being overlooked. I kill more and more people, destroy more and more buildings, and you loose countless citizens because they realize they're on a sinking ship, and leave. DRM is the same, aside from the preventative measures cannot be made. The known exploit absolutely, cannot be patched-up. (well, within reasonable/practical means, and I'm talking extremes to which DRM luckily does not reach) A dedicated pirate, or for that matter, any person with a fixation knows no bounds. They won't take "no" for an answer, and often times, even if only because of their concentrated willpower, they get what they want. as the old saying goes, "where there's a will, there's a way" . This isn't always true, but in this case, it is very true for the pirates. If they want something bad enough, they're going to find a way to get it. The companies blame the pirates for loss in revenue, but in reality, it is the company, themselves, costing them the most. Their world is falling apart around them, and they need a scapegoat for it.
p.s.
The majority of these pirates they bitch about are only minor threats, if any threat at all.
There are those who seek to turn a profit off of piracy, and THESE are the ones that need to be dealt with. I have no respect for them, and I don't condone their actions.
p.p.s.
"luxury item" or not, think about the purpose of sites like this one. There's a lot that can be done with the assets from a game. Technically speaking, code, data, and dialogues, are much more disposable than assets. Push comes to shove, a fangame developer can create an entirely new pokemon/mario/zelda engine from scratch. Maybe the assets. But, it is easier to just have them all there, ready for download, and use. Now, they can't turn a profit (or aren't supposed to), but they can make their own versions of the game. Someone further along the line may come and play/download said fan-game, as well. This is why I'm not entirely ok with ripping stuff from new games, or publishing it immediately, that is. Unlikely as it may be, someone could come-along, find a sprite rip, and try to create a game that competes with the original, or even is an exact replica.
I do have one (really) last thing, but I'll deal with that later.
Sorry for the textwall AGAIN... >.>
I tried so hard not to.
I do recall "use demos!" being brought-up.
The major problem with a lot of demos is that they don't support many of the features that even give you a reason to like or buy the product. Or, especially with development or graphics tools, they put some ugly watermark that ruins the output so badly it's unusable.
Now, tools marketed towards studios.
The problem is that realistically, a significant portion of those using them, regardless of how their copies of the program were obtained, are "your average joe" , or a student, or something like that. And the fact is these programs are designed in such a way, combined with the overwhelming amount of free resources, renders the actual need for an entire studio is pretty much null and void in most cases. There's also many free, sometimes open source, and often significantly superior alternatives to most of these programs. The need for them in some cases merely boils-down to compatibility. This is actually the only reason I have any adobe stuff. If I could ever quit ending-up with .fla, .psd, .eps, .ai, and CERTAIN .tiff, etc files, I'd be deleting those programs. Same can be said if 100% working free alternatives appeared for dealing with those types of files.
Also, CC? ... no way. I'm against limited paid subscription-based, games and programs. It feels more like a rental, and I cannot justify this for something I download. I'm on the borderline with rental stuff, anyways, but something where the physical copy isn't being distributed? nope... Originally, I did intend to pay for Flash if I ever started to turn a profit from it. So far I haven't, and at this rate, I'll be doing all of my coding with Java, JavaScript, or with FlashDevelop , something that I was originally unaware of. I was getting ready to use Fd and then my desltop started to have over-heat issues. Since initially learning about Flash, I've learned about free options and alternatives, and that the .swf format is actually free/open. And then CC came-along, so me ever actually buying something from Adobe is slim to none at this point.
Lastly, DRM.
The companies are losing money to their AP efforts, not the pirates.
The pirates can only be blamed via cause-and-effect chain, but as earlier stated "two wrongs don't make a right" , who started/caused it doesn't matter as the final outcome and who caused THAT.
Firstly, DRM is notorious for catastrophic failure. It has caused all kinds of damages to paying customers, especially, and in some cases, has rendered the affected machines inoperable. This thus forces the company to pay damages in some cases, and it can cost them the paying customers. Seeing as the pirates didn't go to the paying customers and make them quit buying the product or supporting the company, nor did they write what amounts to a computer virus into the media, it is ultimately the company a fault for the damages. The second part is assuming DRM can even work on pirates. It cannot. Pirates will either strip it out, or disable it. Thus, the lost money towards developing DRM is not from the pirates, but the company believing the very flawed concept they can make something that cannot be stolen.
Let's say you have a city, and I want to invade it.
so, I build an enormous wooden horse, and put a bow on its head, and load my men into it, and leave it as a present. You or your guards take it in, and when the moment is right, the assault begins. Following this, you heighten security. Yet, I manage several more successful attacks, because I exploit the one weakness you either cannot fix, or choose to overlook. Eventually you have ten foot thick metal walls, missile silos, rocket launchers, and every other possible method of defense for your city, yet for whatever reason, my trojan horses continue to make it in, because somehow, this exploit is being overlooked. I kill more and more people, destroy more and more buildings, and you loose countless citizens because they realize they're on a sinking ship, and leave. DRM is the same, aside from the preventative measures cannot be made. The known exploit absolutely, cannot be patched-up. (well, within reasonable/practical means, and I'm talking extremes to which DRM luckily does not reach) A dedicated pirate, or for that matter, any person with a fixation knows no bounds. They won't take "no" for an answer, and often times, even if only because of their concentrated willpower, they get what they want. as the old saying goes, "where there's a will, there's a way" . This isn't always true, but in this case, it is very true for the pirates. If they want something bad enough, they're going to find a way to get it. The companies blame the pirates for loss in revenue, but in reality, it is the company, themselves, costing them the most. Their world is falling apart around them, and they need a scapegoat for it.
p.s.
The majority of these pirates they bitch about are only minor threats, if any threat at all.
There are those who seek to turn a profit off of piracy, and THESE are the ones that need to be dealt with. I have no respect for them, and I don't condone their actions.
p.p.s.
"luxury item" or not, think about the purpose of sites like this one. There's a lot that can be done with the assets from a game. Technically speaking, code, data, and dialogues, are much more disposable than assets. Push comes to shove, a fangame developer can create an entirely new pokemon/mario/zelda engine from scratch. Maybe the assets. But, it is easier to just have them all there, ready for download, and use. Now, they can't turn a profit (or aren't supposed to), but they can make their own versions of the game. Someone further along the line may come and play/download said fan-game, as well. This is why I'm not entirely ok with ripping stuff from new games, or publishing it immediately, that is. Unlikely as it may be, someone could come-along, find a sprite rip, and try to create a game that competes with the original, or even is an exact replica.
I do have one (really) last thing, but I'll deal with that later.
Sorry for the textwall AGAIN... >.>
I tried so hard not to.