Not asking who here uses cracked games....but was wondering your opinion of cracked game websites like Olio and Downturk?
I think they are fine for betas, because the more people that play them and answer survey, hopefully, the better the end resulting game is. But not cool for full length games that gamers pay for legitimately.
How much money do you think game developers lose when people post their games on shareware, etc? I feel like a lot of people on forums like PF, etc just play the free trial anyway or online versions, as I dont see too many medals on some profiles so the developers might not be losing that much money as the game wouldn't have been bought anyway if it hadn't been cracked and posted online. Then again, they could be getting them discounted at BFG, etc...but I have a feeling, they don't. I read a statistic at CasualConnect that only 1 in 100 people who play a trial actually buy the game anyway.
Hi Latte. I feel that cracked games are stealing, pure and simple. And it ticks me off sometimes when I see folks on other forums, like PF for example, posting links for them and promoting them. You can also get a lot of nasty virus from downloading them from those websites that post them. I don't think I'd even risk downloading a beta from one of those sites. I'd be afraid I put something on my computer that would crash it. Computers are too expensive to risk that way.
As far as the medals on PF, I think they're a little deceiving in a way cause I know I've bought at least 6 or 7 PF games at BF and Gamehouse. So I can't get medals for them eventhough I've got the games. Maybe deceiving isn't the right word, but you know what I mean. I hope. lol
That's an interesting statistic and probably not to far off. I know I've downloaded several trials that I didn't buy right then cause I didn't feel they were worth $20. But then bought them later when they showed on BF cause I could get them for $6.99. I blame BF for me having 150+ games. lol
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i agree that cracked games are stealing. everyone has to make a living and money is lost when you are able to get cracked games. there have been times that i have had to wait until i could afford to buy one. i feel that if someone, does post that they have one, or does post a site to a cracked game, should be banned. just my opinion
First off, I have tried one "cracked" beta, but didn't know that's what it was until later. I certanly wouldn't do it now. I think if you want to play the trial, go to a legit site and save your computer. If you want the game, buy it so that the developer can make a good sequel!
As far as the medals go, I bought many of my games from BFG and Iwin game plans before I decided to go ahead and bite the Playpass bullet too. I have purchased approx 25 games from Playfirst and at least that many from the other sites. (Not to mention the odd one or two from sites like Alawar and Gamezebo, etc.) I have no idea why I don't have more Playfirst medals, but it doesn't bother me... I just like to play.
If the beta or trial grabs my attention and plays well, I'll generally buy it. I would go whacky just playing the hour trials!
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True, as far as betas, they can just sign up legitimately at the game developers website....I bought about 25 games from PF. Some I still havent played so no medals yet. Plus maybe another 15 from other sites...that's all I can handle for now. Cuz I like games with replay value.
But you would think the developers would put a stop to people posting cracked games...there must be a way to block people from seeing code and grabbing game. I know of one game company that left code right on the beta for everyone to see, kinda like the code when you post a Myspace graphic or whatever...that game really got posted around, then they tried to act like just one person offered it for free on another site and caused forum drama....um, stupid! lol.
I am not computer-savy enough to know what a code looked like if I actually did see it by accident. However, a couple of my IT-Guru (their word, not mine) friends said it's easy as can be to get it off of a beta if you know what you are doing. Maybe some of the developers are naive. Maybe free play is advertisment. Beats me, but I would think that if I worked really hard on a game concept, I would do whatever I could to keep the rights to myself.
As far as forum drama, I am SO GLAD that doesn't happen here. I have limited my interaction at the Playground for that reason and I think several others are going to skip off it as well. :o)
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I don't like cracked games. I'd rather wait and save up money to buy it in a legal way. Using cracked games is like stealing from the author's income. The fact that so many people steal, copy and crack software has even brought down my business: when I was young, I had good ideas to write computer software. But when I saw that all software got copied illegally, and software got cracked within hours of release, I decided NOT to start a business as a stand-alone programmer, but rather to work for a company.
It's also wrong to copy work from another (like a walk-through) and then claim you wrote it. I haven't seen it here, but there are many sites out on the Internet that "steal" walkthroughs.
