Demigod servers overrun with pirates at launch, better now

Uh, sure.

Yeah. You get some people who pirate games just to try them out before buying (or so people say to sound self-important on forums) but I'm sure that's a tiny minority of the pirates.

The one fact that you can't deny though is that the majority of those pirates would not have purchased the game if it wasn't available to pirate.

@The Baron You have a point and I completely agree with you. But our points are impossible to test since we do not have a control setting. The same game released with and without a demo and see which one would get pirated more. I just personally think a lot of the pirating strain could have been relieved by a demo. It's impossible to say if a demo would have cut down on the pirating I'm just tossing in a theory.

Doubtful. Why would any of them go out and buy the game when they already have it?

I'm not for heavy-handed copy protection in any way, but as a creative person (an artist, specifically) the entitlement people feel really gets to me sometimes. Clearly something needs to be done if only 15% of your game's players are real customers. That's pretty close to World of Goo's estimates, which I felt were crazy at the time. Not any more, I guess.

The majority of people that walk into an art gallery are not going to purchase the art that resides, but some will. But say I was not going to let anyone in to see my art at this gallery. I can not expect them to buy what they have not seen.

The fact is that some pirates won't buy a game after pirating it, but some will. The fact that Gas Powered Games and Stardock didn't release a demo for launch will cause an increase in pirating. I really want to try the game out, but can't because a demo is not available yet (there will be one in the future). I just wonder how much of an impact there is because of Gamestop releasing the game early, allowing for more time for people to pirate the game.

While that is possible (I do not think it probable), it does not justify pirating a game so the point is moot.

It is just as legal as stealing a car and claiming you're just taking it for a test drive.

You know, you can always go for the non fuckwad route and just WAIT FOR THE FUCKING DEMO. If they never release one then their loss because they didn't get your money. By pirating the game you just give the devs an excuse to screw over legit customers with DRMs.

Why do people feel like it is their right to do things like pirate movies/music/games just because X reason? Something is wrong with the human race (always has been but still).

"The majority of people that walk into an art gallery are not going to purchase the art that resides, but some will. But say I was not going to let anyone in to see my art at this gallery. I can not expect them to buy what they have not seen."

Its amazing how people always twist words to meet their own means.

Game creators, they make a game to make money off of people buying. Pirate, he doesn't want to pay for it so he takes it for free. I don't see how the pirate is ever justified. This idea that he'll get it now and pay for it later isn't any better. He shouldn't have it at all.

I love how everyone just assumes I was pirating it when all I am discussing is why it was pirated. Way to be literate!

Who said you were a pirate? I voted you down just because your idea was idiotic.

I don't assume you pirated the game, but you attempting to justify those that have with your retarded logic angers me and apparently others.

Who gives a shit why someone pirates a game. It does damage to the industry and our fellow gamers.

So, it's really Stardock's fault? Classic blame-the-victim thinking.

Here's the thing: You don't have a right to play Demigod if you don't pay for it. Period. You don't have a right to a demo. You don't have a right to "try it out."

The flaws in logic start to show up when you examine your art gallery analogy.

You are correct that if you don't open up your art gallery to the public, you can't expect them to buy what they have not seen. That's your choice to make. You'll have to live with the consequences of that choice when it comes to SALES, but it is still your choice.

But what does that have to do with this story? A much more appropriate analogy would be having people BREAK INTO your gallery without authorization to do so. Should people have a right to do this? And should we allow them trite excuses, like, "Well, what did you expect? How am I supposed to buy it if I haven't seen it?"

Stardock is trying to honor honest, paying customers with their policies. Once again, pirates threaten to ruin things for everyone. If Stardock starts using draconian copy-protection schemes, who could blame them, given this sort of experience?

More than anything, I think this story goes to show that it isn't the evil corporations that are the problem, it's the pirates. And I'm sick of hearing all the self-serving excuses to the contrary.

I'm arguing the virtues of a demo, not the virtues of piracy.

No company owes you a demo of a game. Buy the game yourself or read reviews after it comes out.

Quit being a twat - a demo does not curb piracy, nor does lack of one give anyone the right to some retarded nerd rage.

Buy the title or GTFO.

It cracks me up that you guys are voting Toastix down for just trying to have a conversation about the topic, you guys must be so set in your ways to not even be able to have a decent conversation. The fact is, yes lots of people pirated the game. Some of the people pirated it because they don't want to pay for it. Some people probably pirated it to try it out. These are facts. Apparently no one remembers Sins of a Solar Empire either.

Ignorance is bliss.

Also saying consumers don't deserve a demo is just retarded, in this day and age, a company has to be stupid to not even consider releasing a demo...maybe not right at launch, but a demo should always come within a relative time compared to release.

And since you guys can't read, I'll repeat myself. Stardock and Gas Powered Games will be releasing a demo in the future for this game.

@plus eight

In what way does a consumer have a right to try a product before purchasing? While it is becoming a standard in the game industry, that doesn't mean you are owed something by a company that doesn't create a demo.

If a game company does not create a demo it's their choice - and they will likely suffer lower sales for it. So yes of course it's a good idea to create one, but no company owes you the right to try their product before buying - to argue such is ridiculous.

The relationship between consumer and company is that you exchange money for goods and services - it does not go beyond that, nor should it.

My friend has what he calls the two hour rule. If he plays a game longer then two hours I he buys it.

He did the same with Demigods, but he didn't buy it. Played it for an hour and was not happy with the game.

More often then not Demo's can be extremely misleading and give you a false example of the game you would purchasing.

I am sure the majority of pirates do not have such a rule or reason to do so, just that they don't want to pay for games.

@Lurkr:

Your friends policy in no way justifies his actions any more than a similar policy for taking cars off his local car lot would. He can claim it is just a test drive all he wants, but if the test drive isn't authorized by the people who own the car, then it isn't really a test drive, it is joy-riding.

@ Lurker

Your friend's policy doesn't justify his actions any more than a similar policy for taking cars off a nearby new car lot would. He can try and pass it off as a test drive all he wants, but if the test drive isn't authorized by those who own the car, then it isn't really a test drive, it's just plain old joyriding.

The attempts at justification are so obviously self-serving that it would be laughable if it weren't for the negative effect it has on all the gamers who play by the rules. Please tell your friend to cut it out.

I understand where you guys are coming from saying that devs don't OWE us a demo; they don't OWE us a game to begin with.That doesn't take away from the fact that if they released a demo, it would likely translate to higher sales unless the game is a POS, in which case they are duping players into buying by misrepresenting their game in the press. It would likely lower piracy to SOME degree if a pre-release demo was available. I never pirate games that aren't like 10+ years old and impossible to find retail anyway. However, the only time I ever buy a game without playing a demo first is if I knew I wanted it for sure in the first place; ie. a sequel to a game I loved or just ridiculous press that makes it look amazing. The fact is, its just good business these days to let us try it before we give you our $60.

If Demigod had come with DRM, it still would have been cracked and pirated. Whether they were 'foolish' to not include DRM is irrelevant.

It's like calling someone foolish for not putting on a coat before they jump into a vat of liquid nitrogen.

Bunny Slapper,

Uh, yeah, trying a product before purchasing is pretty common and is not limited to the game industry. I would even go as far to say the consumer DOES have the right to try before buy. Just about any product I can think of from cars to electronics have some sort of try out policy. You test drive a car at a dealership, you walk into Best Buy and listen to AVR's, you go to Barnes and Nobles and look through a book and you buy almost anything from Walmart with virtually a 30 day trial included. With games? A demo sometimes, but otherwise if you buy a disc and you don't like the product- too bad, you opened the package.

I do not advocate or practice game piracy, nor would I even if it were for "demoing" purposes, but your point went a little too far and this IS an issue that this industry needs to amend.

Okay guys this is a bit ridiculous over something that will last maybe a week. If Demigod is a good game, its sales will exceed those who pirated it. It is not going to stay at a 1:6 ratio of legitimate vs "pirates".

Think about it for a second. How well was this game marketed? How many people were actually aware of it before it was released? Probably a very small minority of people. It didn't have the marketing power that games like COD4 or Halo 3 or Killzone 2 did. The guy even says that sales for Sins of a Solar Empire started out slow and never really experienced a rush of sales. It will be a constant stream of sales (again, if the game is good), like Sins was/is.

So, the situation isn't as bad as it may seem. Remember, "pirates" (seriously, who coined that name?) don't have to pay for it so as soon as its released on torrents/newsgroups or whatever filesharing system you fancy, everyone will download it then. It won't experience another surge of downloads, so within due time sales will far exceed downloads.

Toastix, don't sweat it. people see buzzwords in your logic and get the wrong idea. you're not the only person with intellect out there.

The game checks automatically for updates when you enter the main menu.

*unplugs ethernet cable from router*

There we go. I guess it's not as widely known as I thought. The alternative is to block software through a firewall.

The game doesn't have CD keys or any kind of protection at all, so it actually worked online.

I'm pretty sure you need a CD-key to play online. Sins of a Solar Empire had a CD-key.

Zertoss,

Hey, we're condemning this too. Stardock releases a game with no DRM and this is how those pirating, cock knocking shitheads reward them for their efforts? Anyone who complained about the intrusiveness of DRM schemes like Securom but pirates a DRM-less game like Demigod needs to be strapped to a table in public and have a branding iron extinguished right on their puckering anus simply because they're contributing directly to the problem they're moaning about. I'm so goddamn sick and tired of hearing, "I just want to try it before I buy it because there is no demo". Either wait for a demo to become available, take a leap of faith, or *shocker* just don't buy the game. Or, "I just want to see how it runs on my computer". Go read a benchmark on a similarly equipped PC.

The people pirating, in most cases, never cared about DRM. It was always an excuse. It's little surprise they'll steal as readily from Stardock as from EA. The number of people who pirate a cracked copy to avoid intrusive DRM is a minority of such cases.

The lack of a demo is their fallback defense. Naturally it falls apart when you consider how few people shoplift a console game "just to try it out".

haha I was thinking the same thing, I just didn't want to break up this heated debate

it was nice because it was subtle

Yarr, just like the pirates themselves!

It's hilarious that in almost every Joystiq article about piracy, good old Jack Sparrow running away is photoshopped inside the picture.

To this day, that scene in Dead Man's Chest still makes me laugh like an infant who just saw something shiny.

I don't know about pirates being subtle. I would figure subtlety would fly right off the ship once the effects of scurvy sets in.

@Levi: I was referrin' to those thar software pirates, I was!

That is true. They should also keep in mind they wouldn't be dealing with any of this shit if they just developed for consoles.

The industry should go back to decoder wheels.

http://www.icestorm9999.com/images/pool_codewheel.jpg

"How can you tell? Seriously where did you come up with that?"

Because DRM has never stopped piracy.

Has it stopped Day-1 piracy on the magnitude of 5:1?