Take down pirates

[luffy]

Help the devs to promote there game but still get people to buy it and not download illegal versions.
If you see a pirated version download link in a video thumps it down and report it for fraud.
There is currently a new video link going around please help the devs by taking these illegal versions down.

[therapist]

Some people think that pirated copies help to actually sell indie games because one of the major hurdles that indie games have to face is no one wanting to spend money on such an unknown title from an uncertain developer in the beta phase. A pirated copy can give people a chance to try a game before they buy it (and not waste their time with some crap demo that doesn't even have half the features of the real game).

Check out sites like thepiratebay.org or kickass.to if you want to check out what the torrenting scene has to offer. I won't make a link to the actual torrents of factorio on the dev's own site, but they should be easy enough to find.

Sorry you feel piracy is taking money away from the devs, but personally, I think it has lead to many many sales of the game and I know at least 2 youtube personalities and a popular twitch caster who openly admit that they pirated the game in order to play it. Anything that gets the word out is good for indies IMO.

[zlosynus]

Exactly as above, I have to agree. I believe that some people can get to the game by downloading it from a torrent and then they start liking the game. If you buy the game, you get advantages like helping the developers and automatic updates. So some people might later switch do buying the game, instead of redownloading it all the time. And even if not, they might get 10 of their friends to recommend the game (so free advertisment) and some of them might buy it.

Indeed, this is my personal opinion and since I am really supporting things like Pirate Party movement, it is expected. I believe the developers have a similar opinion, they even stated in some interview something like "we want to thank to everyone who is enjoying the game or even bought it". In general, it is silly when creators are fighting with their customers. Factorio needs everyone in the world to pirate it, and then some percentage to buy it as well, and the developers would be very rich .

[ssilk]

Search for pirating in this forum, there are some (long) threads about this.

[GewaltSam]

Although I share the opinion of the above posters (including ssilk ) about pirating not necessarily being a disaster for a project like Factorio, I don't think there's any need for Youtube videos promoting download links, and reporting them to YT should be a no-brainer.

That said, I may or may not have shared my own original with some friends who never heard anything about the game. Some didn't like it, but nearly everyone who tried it went and bought the retail, so, after all, what i did (or didn't ) do was good for Factorio and its developers. And the last thing I wanted to do is harm the project. That's how I see it, and while it may not have been the "right" thing to do, I don't regret it. A demo often isn't representative of the retail, and the problem with Factorio is that the campaign is good for learning the ropes, but the freeplay is the part where you really dive into the game and build creatively. And that's the part where people get hooked. I am convinced that most of us who went into it without pirating it first didn't buy the game because of what they have seen in the demo when buying it, but because of the potential gameplay that was waiting on the horizon. That is, of course, if you bought the game after the demo was out. But there are people who need more convincing. And if someone tries a pirated version, doesn't like it and deletes it after a while, nothing was lost.

Just my two cents.

[therapist]

That said, I may or may not have shared my own original with some friends who never heard anything about the game.

You and your friends are killing the gaming industry, your friends are terrible terrible thieves. Your basically indie Hitler. Shame. SHAME.

[Laturine]

^^^ that's some awkward sarcasm and a bad joke. -1 for you.

[Maximus-CZ]

I must say myself, i pirated the game because because all of the reasons mentioned before. But this game is surely great, and when multiplayer kicks in, I will surely buy this game.

Have to say, If I couldnt try this game from piratebay for free, I wouldnt even think about buying it, as I would have never played it.
Piracy is not bad, if you make good products.

[Blackence]

I don't agree with most of the posts above. Well, I do agree that piracy increases popularity and therefore profit in this case. Still, that doesn't make it okay to pirate something.

If the devs wanted to give this game away for free and then ask to voluntarily spend some money on it if you like it, they'd do exactly this. Hopefully using an open source license. However, they don't do that, so it's not okay to steal a copy of this game. Especially considering the fact that there's a free demo available – and calling that demo "crap" is unfair, I liked it very much and it helped me with my decision to buy factorio. There are also loads of lets play / factory show-off vids on youtube, so if you are unsure about game content, just spend a few minutes watching these vids, or browse the "Show your creations" forum. If you like what you see, you can afford to spend a few bucks. If you don't like the vids, you probably won't go to TPB to download a copy.


Sure, please don't add DRM to the game. I hate DRM. This is a game without DRM, so the last thing I'd consider doing is to pirate it. If you pirated it, fine, there's nothing anyone could do about it. However: Please don't be proud about stealing a copy, just be ashamed for being a scrooge. Unless, of course, you don't have the money to buy the game. I'm fine with pirating in that case.

I have a paid app on the Google Play Store, and seeing how many "thanks" this app has on various pirating sites is a little disturbing. Hopefully those copies are not malware infected and other people are actually earning money that I was supposed to earn. We even had people mail us support questions who clearly hadn't bought the app. And mind you, that app is just 1,50€.

The factorio devs might have a different opinion, maybe they are glad that a lot of people like the game, and some of them even bough it. And surely, some of the people who pirated the game wouldn't have bought it. And some of the pirates recommended the game to other people who bought it. That's all fine. I'm just not okay with people pretending that it's perfectly fine to pirate stuff just to "give it a try" (then, in the worst case, use it for 50 days, then decide "ohhh okay it's not THAT good I won't buy it).

I mean.. I've done it myself. However, I was maybe 15 years old at that time. I've grown up since then.

[tecxx]

the "piracy helps sales" argument may be right in many cases, and i have "tried before buyed" myself many times.

for foctorio, the argument is wrong. why? because there is a very well done demo available.
i tried the demo, then bought the copy. no excuses here!

[sbroadbent]

However: Please don't be proud about stealing a copy, just be ashamed for being a scrooge. Unless, of course, you don't have the money to buy the game. I'm fine with pirating in that case.

So, if you have the money to buy it but don't, it's bad, but if you don't have the money to buy it, it's okay... how consistent you are.

'Piracy' of software isn't theft or stealing.

Theft is: "the dishonest taking of property belonging to another person with the intention of depriving the owner permanently of its possession."

Someone 'pirating' the game doesn't deprive the developers from selling copies to other people. It also doesn't permanently deny others access to the game now or in the future. The only loss that may occur is the potential revenue that *might* have been gained as a result of the person who pirated the item possibly having paid for it.

Either someone is a customer, in which they will pay for it, or they are not a customer, so nothing was ever lost.

[zlosynus]

To Blackence: Sorry, copying is not stealing, this is just poor non-sense. Copying is just, well, copying. If laws do not reflect reality of the nowadays society, well, maybe the laws should be changed. For me, sharing is caring. Sharing is perfectly normal and no newspeak changes this understanding. If I want to recommend some stuff to someone, I just copy it to him, not tell him: go to this website and pay money for something which is free: getting a copy.

On the other hand, I am absolutely for supporting creators and paying for stuff I like. Many years ago, I was supporting Blizzard by having all their games, before they went to hell. I have supported several indie titles, and some nice Japanese games which got translated to English (Umineko no Naku Koro ni, 999). I am never supporting big publishers because they then use these money to lobby laws against people. Actually in last few years, everytime I went to a cinema, I just felt robbed myself. But luckily because the Internet we do not need them, and so we can have games like Minecraft or Factorio or many others.

Why the game is not open-source/free to download and for donations? Well, because this is not how the current market operates. If you do that, then people expect that you are just doing stuff for fun and do not pay you. If the market understanding changes to copying is free + supporting creators is good, then it will be option to do it like this. But this is not something Factorio creators can change and should care about.

For instance, I have hundreds of scientific books downloaded in my computer/ipad. If I actually read one a lot and like it, then I normally buy some printed copies because it is just better. I buy it myself or buy it through university library/grant. And if I like something, I will recommend this to tens of people. But by posting a link to Library Genesis, not to Amazon.

[Maximus-CZ]

While above post have good ideas in them,you should take into account that there is different minded people than you. There are people like me that doesnt like demos, since it often offers less experience than full game, and argument that factorio doesnt do this isnt good, because people like us dont even try to check, since there is 90% chance ofbeing it that case.
Argument having no money is also on the edge. You have no money, yet you got PC with ibternet to play with? Maybe its your parents that have money, but still you are capable of paing.

Main idea behind this is that today trend is to make games that lasts hours. I am not willing to pay for games like that. If, otherwise, I find a game I enjoy after x x hours of playing, i buy those, since i agree that theey should be tagged with a price.
Factorio is awesonme game aand I will buy it not because devs want me to, but because I want to support devs.iI know its not perfectly legal but im glad that we live in times that allow us vote with our money what is good and what not even before spending those money.

Sent from phone

[-root]

Support the devs, buy the game, don't be a tightass. Its $20 ffs.

my 2c

[ssilk]

I'm not willing to have this discussion again and again. If someone want's to see that (what I doubt), he can read the old threads.

Nothing has changed since then.

So I close this now.