I'm now officially nominating this as the thread of the year.

We should put in a book or something.

Yes, this is basically about the censorship of steam. And because you mentioned something like that: There are different types of censorship: you can buy most games uncut in retail, you just can't advertise them. There is a second type which cannot be sold in retail, but I don't think it applies to Saint's Row. Steam simply does not have a proper age verification system.
Anyway, I know about this problem of steam, and it annoys me - but I still expected that the Humble Bundle would supply international keys. I got the Commandos games on steam from an Indiegala bundle, and those cannot be bought on German steam. I also saw no indication that Humble Bundle determines my location now and will provide a German steam key, so I definitely hold it against them that they did not notify me about this fact before the purchase (this last part is what annoys me about the Humble Bundle, not the censorship itself).

I agree with you. The GOG version is always better for archiving for the future. Someone will always make a program so you can run them properly. I only buy from Steam when the deals are just too good, like this THQ bundle. If GOG ran the same promo, i would definitely buy the GOG version for sure.

Sometimes when you have nothing to say, maybe it is better to say nothing.

By the way, I always meant to ask you. As far as I've understood, you have profiled yourself as a person who is at the same time pro-DRM (as can be seen in this long thread many times), and pro-piracy (last time I saw you defending piracy due to preservation of games).

So how does that work, logically? To you DRM is good, as long as it is the kind of DRM that the crackers are able to crack away later? Or something like that? After all, if the DRM is uncrackable (Diablo 3 is probably close to that, or streamed games?), then that game can't be preserved through piracy, right?

It's taking it's time, but server emulator is actually out for Diablo 3. From what I've heard it's still quite buggy and unplayable in places, but that's just a matter of time. Proves that anything can be cracked, except for the streamed games I suppose.

There a big difference between being free to do something and being forced to do so.

Being able to "re-buy" if you want because it's convenient and you don't want to bothered to make it work is one thing... being forced to re-buy it because it's locked with some DRM system and there is no other way to make it work without re-buying it is another thing totally.

And also not all old games get "resold" because either licenses issues or because of lack of interest from the rights owner.

Of course. But if it's still unplayable after all this time, DRM worked. Sales potential for any game is the highest in first months after premiere. It's important to keep the game secure THEN.

It doesn't matter much for Blizzard if it gets cracked NOW.

Also, with that kind of DRM, every time Blizzard adds new content to the game, pirated version will be always "retarded". Just like any MMO with pirated servers - you may play it, but what's the point?

This is the thread that doesn't end.
Well it goes on and on my friend.
Some people starting posting not knowing what it was,
and they'll continue posting forever just because...

they want to write poetry without a cause?

Very easy. Firstly, I'm not pro-DRM. What many anti-DRM people don't seem to grasp is that this is not a black and white issue. DRM has many shapes and colours. But if people need that kind of thinking, I'm rather pro-DRM than anti-DRM. Because I really don't like extremists.

A good DRM solution has a lot of benefits. For me, most importantly, it opens up lower income markets. You can easily make something like Steam for Russian and Brazilian income averages without much problems. You can't do that with GOG. Because GOG has the unfair pricing for every person in the world. Unfair, because 10$ is a lot different in Germany than in Russia. (A big Starbucks coffee at a German railway station nearly costs 10$) I could write more, but to be honest, I really don't care enough about your opinion.

Secondly, I am not pro-piracy. I support a special kind of piracy. The kind of piracy where poor people can get games for free. Games are a cultural issue that should be enjoyed by everybody regardless of income. And I pay so much on games, I can support at least a few pirates with that. (also, piracy =/= what I get for my money). Because all the service associated with a game should only be available for people who pay. People that don't have money have usually time, so they can tinker themselves. And the community is actually very helpful with that. I rather go to a person I paid, but each his own.

Apart from that, there are more benefits from piracy, than there are downsides. Just to name one.

Many big, successful software companies have used piracy as a marketing tool (Microsoft and Valve, to name the two biggest). They would never officially say so, but the if you dig a bit deeper, you can see a lot of stuff that falls together just a bit too good.

Again, I could write more. But I really don't care. You probably just throw in another personal insult, take something out of context or tell us how much you like to buy GOG games and how everybody else is a freeloader or whatnot.


Diablo 3 is a MMO, at least in my book.

Well said. It is a MMO game with closed instances and without a central hub. But it is a MMO more than SP game with multiplayer.
I've read some article that scientists (duh) ran an analysis and they came up to conclusion that after closing megaupload, blockbusters revenue in US dropped quite much. ;P

As I've said somewhere else - it kinda makes sense. Many people who pirated software / movies / books or anything, are very likely to buy them (and buy a lot) as soon as their financial status gets better.

In a way pirated that batman movie? you are more likely to go to the cinema to see the next one when you earn some money. Of course it doesn't always work, but it works for many.

Just like women who buy gucci knockoffs - they buy the real thing when their situation is better.

To go completely off topic a little -

They have now passed 500k sales - is it possible that they may need to get a new counter for this bundle? it only goes to 999999....

Hey don't be that guy.

I remember the average for HIB V was something like $8 or $9. This bundle is averaging about $6.

I'm not sure how the total selling values of each bundle compare when the games aren't on sale, but I would have thought the THQ bundle to have a higher average.

Not a big deal, just something I observed.