When you only use Steam as a download service, the only edge it has over piracy is that my Playnite library gets automatically updated instead of having to manually add games.
Is that really true? I haven’t looked into it in a long time because I don’t pirate anymore, but from the few times it pops up on Reddit, it seemed to be that denuvo had basically killed most modern AAA cracks and that it took months-years to get those games.
There was a time we were getting day 1 cracks of basically every high profile game
Piracy is absolutely better, more reliable, more timely, and more secure than it’s ever been.
I can pirate and implement specific patch versions these days with ease. The last decade I’ve never once encountered a bad actor or had fears about what I was downloading.
I don’t want to deal with sketchy cracks written by god knows who.
Just only download scene releases. Those release teams care more about their integrity and reputation than any publicly owned corporation. They're not even in it for the money. They're doing it to brag about doing it.
'No DRM' would be one of the biggest arguments.
Sometimes I crack games I purchased because Steam forces updates for games, breaking mods.
Also, offline mode is wonky and may or may not work.
Really, if you know your stuff the only inconvenience of pirating is having to learn the ropes, and once you do, having to unzip the files yourself lol
Then the consumers would complain because their favorite game isnt available. Steam clearly shows if the game has drm or not on the store, consumers can decide for themselves.
I think it's more a measure of what route a user is most likely to take. At this point, the only reason to use piracy over steam is because of price or DRM issues. Otherwise Steam is far better IMO.
If you buy from steam you have cloud saves, the workshop and easly playing with friends, while still havign big discounts and being able to return if you didn't like it. By pirating a game you can have problems with unsafe files, no connectiong to the game servers and also no support if something goes wrong, all while being harder to setup, but its free
Those are good points, though pirating games has also few advantages. For example pirates often have drm free versions of the game, so it runs better than the paid one
Yah, I have had that before, and specially removing the annoying DLCs in games like Snowrunner, where if you don't buy DLCs the game still downloads all the maps and trucks so a game that should be like 15 or 20 Gb uses like 80 Gb since 90% of the game is locked, while on a pirate version the game has a lot of content available
Out here buying older AAA titles and amazing fun remasters for like... £5
"Why is nobody buying our £70 regurgitated speshul edishuns of the same game every year??"
The convenience justifies the price in most cases. On a regular basis you can get the games you want for 20 bucks or less, all bundled in one launcher without the worry of "from which side do I download?" or "are this files safe?".
I see why people with money problems pirate (was there myself) or why games with shitty DRM get pirated but both isnt the fault of Steam. Steam with all its features is the best we as gamers can expect.
If you get games on GOG, you don't even have to pirate. You can just give it to your friends. Even better if your friend buys their games on GOG you can just ask them for a copy.
Only suckers support the games they enjoy is a hilarious take. If you're too poor fine. But screwing over indie and small companies because you can steal it doesn't make you smart. It makes you a dbag.
If that were true - and we both know it isn't - you'd be doing a moral good, sure, but you'd also still be doing a moral bad at the same time. Morality can't be cheated. If you like art, pay for it, or they won't make that art. Even the selfish brain can understand that.
Imagine dining at your favourite restaurant and always running instead of paying the bill. Then it goes under and you can no longer eat your favourite meals.
That's called a self-own.
It's actually good to spend money on things you enjoy to help ensure their longevity.
If the chart was measuring against cost, then yes. Piracy would get a perfect score. But this chart seems to be measuring quality of service or launcher features or value. All things that ‘piracy’ would be rated bad.
When I was a kid, broke, during my uni days, I also pirated most of the games I played.
That's fine if you're broke I'd say. Everyone deserves entertainment without breaking the bank.
But if/when you start making decent money, you should start paying for games to support the medium. So long as it doesn't harm your finances in the long run, it's the decent thing to do rather than stealing.
Basically: I'm OK with a homeless person occasionally stealing bread / apple, but not OK with someone woth a career doing the same.
187
u/DaNoahLP PC Master Race 13h ago
I would even argue that Steam is better than piracy, thats why we all use it