This might seem stupid, but hear me out.
Fallout 3 on Epic is 39 GiB, the reason for that huge size is you’re forced to download all the language packs, same story for Tomb Raider and FFXIII.
As someone with a monthly data limit of 140 Gib, and who has to share it with a family, these - unnecessary - download sizes are unacceptable and make me want - and plan - to pirate the game -which even though I didn’t play for I still legally own*- and only having to download 7 GiB.
I would’ve complained about disk space but you can just remove the extra languages conveniently located in saperate folders**.
This also applies to single player games with privacy-invasive DRM and usability-hurting DRM***, and for people who hate the idea of DRM in general.
*Own as a service and a using license.
**Unless you are tight on disk space and cannot fully download the game before removing the files.
**DOOM 2016 didn’t work on Linux duo to the DRM being incompatible with proton.
On the other side of the spectrum: Older games that I own on CD-ROMs are much faster to pirate, download, and install than it would be to find the CD in the attic and then hunt for the USB CD Drive ;)
Is it piracy to do that? I’d argue no.
Is it illegal? Possibly, but it’s a grey area and it all depends on your country whether it breaks the law.
(I am not a lawyer so take this as an armchair opinion at most) In Canada, you are allowed to do “format conversion” of media for personal and archival use. So even if on the label it says “Copying this tape is a crime”, making a copy to replace an older tape nearing the end of its life (implying you don’t intend to use it), converting it to CD or digital file format is allowed in order to play the media in respective devices built for the formats. So it’s arguable that conversions/changes to be compatible with Linux or a low-disk space computer could fall under this, for a game which you have a license/genuine copy.
The caveat is that in Canada breaking or circumventing “digital locks” is strictly against the law. The overall definition of what constitutes a digital lock is (to me) very broad and vague. So DRM-removal would arguably fall under digital lock circumvention, but other cases would be less clear.
Legislation is in the House of Commons right now (Bill C-244) to better define in what cases circumvention of locks would be permitted for fair and reasonable use of a product.
If I’m not mistaken with digital download games you are paying to lease them rather than buying them outright. So technically you don’t own the game, you are just borrowing it. This would make pirating the same game you bought more of an illegal act.
(Again I’m not an expert) With the Steam Subscriber Agreement it’s effectively a purchase of a perpetual/indefinite license to non-commercial use of a game. But purchasing a DVD is, arguably, the same thing, you are given indefinite license to view the video non-commercially in a home setting. What difference does it make between a game on your hard drive and a movie on a disc?
By my moral standard, games with Steamworks bypassed by something like Goldberg is functionally equivalent to DVD decryption. It’s my opinion that the continued access to social and internet connected features like Friends list, Workshop, Matchmaking, Redownloading games, Cloud Save Backups is contingent on accepting and adhering to your agreement with Valve and/or the server hosting the matchmacking service. That’s why I’m very much against always online type of DRMs for single player games.
Imagine having a pool in your backyard, but the pool installers have to permit and supervise you while you use it. For a public pool it would make sense to be supervised for everyone’s safety to ensure no one’s messing around, but for your own pool it doesn’t.
Depending which country you lived in, there is legal consequence for getting stuff from unauthorized source, there are a couple ways to work around your data cap.
Legally:
- get a external USB3 SSD portable
- download using internet not capped, ie. your friend or library, mall, etc(remember to limit the data rate so you blend into ambient youtube/streaming traffic) Referencen: Scrolldown for a chart and use 720p/1080p as your rate limit
- hook up back to your PC and move the game to different local SSD folder.
Shady, really not recommended because of point 3:
- look up your local law regarding P2P like torrent AND VPN. (well, not every country consider VPN legal.)
- Make sure you know how internet works, protect yourself/identity. Pick a good VPN provider, make sure they have their own or use good privacy policy DNS, pick a good torrent client that supports magnet link and encryption and choose “forced” option. (means you don’t download/upload to client that have encryption turned off. ) And set you seeding cap, (I don’t blame you if you choose to not seed cause data cap is real.)
- Last but not least, pirated game, like any pirated softwares, are exposing you to malware/virus/randomware, etc. They can hide in any possible files you downloaded cause you don’t know what else they touched this entire thing to work. So sandbox your environment or playing on low overhead VMs might be necessary.
And, when you can, move somewhere that have good ISP that have no data cap.
As someone who has pirated many games, and who lives in a 3rd world country that barely cares about most minor physical crimes, I am not worried in the slightest.
everything after this point is closer to a rant and unrelated.
minor includes, but isn’t limited to: corruption, driving opposite side, hitting someone with your car as long as they don’t get seriously hurt (It happened in front of me once and it was kinda funny to be honest, the man got hit and kinda slept on the hood), damaging public property, blocking the sidewalks with your shop, Using a drill to draw a heart on the middle of the street to celebrate your marriage, blasting music hearable 3 blocks away several hours a day, and 12-year-olds driving cars
Piracy is 100% unpunishable where I live. (also atleast 90% of the population doesn’t know that software - aside of no-body-uses Google play apps - costs money, including Windows 7 and office 2010*)
*This is why I cannot share .odt Libre Office files.
I pirate Switch games that I already own on Steam because double dipping is stupid.
I had to do it once, kind of. Because of some inane reason, a version of Capcom Beat Em Up Bundle I got for Steam was not working in my country unless I used a VPN, so guess what, I had to download a cracked version of the launcher to bypass the georestriction - the “fix” wasn’t published until almost FOUR YEARS AFTER RELEASE
Also: I like to purchase games in the Nintendo eShop, dump them, then run them at full speed and resolution via Yuzu - best of both worlds and the developers do get paid for the hassle
I wouldn’t call it pirating at that point.
Government probably would though.
Nah
Even if you’re excessively concerned with morality and what people think of you, the only people realistically going to kick up a fuss about “pirating” games one already owns are Nintendo’s lawyers.
I hate capped internet accounts. As the dad, I’d have to police the kids especially not to blow the monthly cap, and eventually I switched to a lower bandwidth but unlimited option and there was finally peace in the family.
How much more did that cost? And did the kids notice the drop in bandwidth?
I don’t remember it costing much more and the kids seemed relieved to not incur my wrath on a monthly basis. And not long after, my ISP increased the speeds on all accounts, so it more or less got us back to where we had been anyway.
Incidentally, if you’ve been with a particular ISP for years, it’s worth talking to a person when you change your account. They may have some discretionary power to give you say an introductory rate on a better plan to reward your loyalty?
Really? Thank you for the in person tip. I’ll try that the next time I go in.
I don’t think there is any moral issue with pirating games that you have paid for. You paid the developers for their time. Now you want to use the product you paid for in a way that fits your needs.
It’s effectively format shifting
I do it all the time, mostly because of the DRM shenanigans you mentioned.
Also ripping ROMs from consoles is usually a pain in the ass compared to just downloading them, so I always pirate those, even if I own the game.
I often pirate old games I own because I’m too lazy to go find the disc. Although at least for Gothic I went to find my old disc anyways because the version I downloaded was missing the In Extremo concert.
And I pirated Sims 4 because of some DRM stuff, can’t remember the exact issue. But let that sink in, I had to pirate a game that is literally free.
Oh yea, I used to do that when games were on discs, because sometimes the discs were slightly borked, or that the DRM with the discs were really annoying.
Sometimes you can’t even get them to run right on modern computers. Pirated versions usually have some sort of way of dealing with this, whereas the originals don’t.
I would say that’s not pirating from an ethical perspective. If it’s actually legal with current laws may be another story.
My viewpoint is I’ve paid for the right to play the game, where I get it from doesn’t matter.
Piracy is effectively legal in Canada, for downloading. ISPs can’t share your private details without a warrant from the courts, and the courts have rejected mass John Doe lawsuits to unmask users.
Plus, infringement for private use has a maximum penalty of $5000, but could easily be set by the first case creating court precedent at 3× the retail price of the pirated media (punitive damages are usually capped at 3× the value of the good, in Canada.)
That means that going to court would be incredibly expensive, could only target single individuals, and would likely set a precedent that they can only get $60 in damages for a $20 movie. Not going to happen.
So, piracy is effectively legal in Canada, for private use. Just don’t be stupid and profit from piracy.
You hit the nail on the head. We really need more ethics and less laws in our lives (or the laws must be more ethical).
My understanding is that this is illegal under US law. It is, however, completely ethical.
Slavery used to be legal under US law. Breaking unjust laws is praxis and human
I’m not from the US (and lots of people here either), so, we just don’t give a damn about the US law.
i really dont about the law regardless of country
its def not stupid, legit sources are super inconvenient, like i forget account passwords all the time, and steam makes sharing yr games for multiplayer really hard. way easier to just go download a cracked copy
