pouët.net

Or you can turn to consequential ethics and note that if you're not going to buy something in any case, copying it doesn't make things worse for anybody.

More generally, it's not copying which leaves producers (and corporate leadership) without money, it's non-buying. Research has found out that people who ripped audio CDs most were the same people who bought them most.

@Preacher
Yes, I understand, but if the pirated versions didn’t exist I’d be fucked in both of these cases.

In the context of this thread, what exactly is the difference between an indie studio and a company?

@la_mettrie
Of course! Similar things have been observed time and again. I mean, nobody goes buying 3DSMax in like 1996 and THEN learns to model, texture, lighten and render. From my experience it was: you installed pirated software, you learned, then you bought the original. Or didn’t buy it. Piracy seems to help the sales and product recognition in that case scenario.

The way companies copy protect stuff is sometimes laughable and of course a pain in the ass for the end user. I bought a game once which the copy protection rendered it unplayable, literally, and also it had tons of defects like the installer throwing random errors midway the installation for no reason (something unacceptable for a legal copy of a game).

Of course they got their money, but I lost mine. :P