I’ve heard arguments ranging from testing before buying (that’s what official demos are for) to people having no intention in buying the game in the first place (and thus, many feel, makes no difference in sales.) However, these people did have the intention of PLAYING THE GAME.

The simple truth is, games are not a necessity! If you don’t want to pay then simply don’t play. If you don’t want to spend $40 dollars on a game then spend your money on something else — but don’t deprive a working man his means of making a living!

Movies can be sold for a fairly reasonable price ($10-$15 or so) because a lot of people buy them — even with piracy. However, the number of video game players is significantly less than the number of movie watchers, so every sale counts. If people want game prices to drop then they should purchase more games!

Have people forgotten the video game market crash of ’84? People stopped buying the really good games, such as Activision’s, because of the price. Parents instead bought the cheap crappy games instead of the good ones because they significantly cost less. The same thing can happen all over again! Pirated games cost less to the consumer, but it could put a lot of good game developers out of business — just as it did in the past! If that happens, who knows if the market could be revived? Investors would view video games as too risky of business, then there wouldn’t be any new games — at least not any new high quality block-buster titles!

Granted, the internet conncetion requirement can reduce the market somewhat, but for us with an online multiplayer game only it doesn’t really change anything. So if you have any chance of doing this, go for it!

On top of those enormous benefits, it also gives you an incredible tool for gathering business intelligence such as measuring playtime, the number of players, sales and more game-specific stuff (in our case, playtime and stats of all players, characters, classes, guilds and such).

Just thought I’d throw it in there… piracy should really be a problem of the past if people thought about this from the get-go. Hopefully I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes. :)

anne: copyright infringement isn’t the same as theft, but your general point still stands.

As for the site itself, I’ve seen the ads for it on blogs and other websites. I am not so sure that telling people that they are being watched at all times (which is what I have seen on one ad) is a great way to get support for your cause. Sounds a little too intrusive. And who wants to deal with DRM if they outright tell you that they’re violating your privacy all in the name of profit?

I don’t like being accused of doing something wrong before I’ve done it. I’m not so sure that image this website is creating for itself is a good one. It’s basically making itself into a mini-BSA, and the BSA is notorious for being nefarious.

Piracy is harmfull to all of us. You are just trying to justify yourself. If you are a thief, you are a thief, and of the story. Stealling from “rich” people doesn’t make you less of a thief.

Of course I’m not saying it’s like that, and if it’s a honest site, I will wish them best luck, but I think, that at first, one should be a little sceptical instead of blindly reporting sites.

It would be good if there were some “official” statements about their credibility, perhaps you actually know a little more to tell us about it?