Is there a way to buy a game and give the devs the full amount? (And not publisher, not GoG, not Epic or Steam/Valve 30%?) If there's a good way to do that I'd be far more likely to buy games, and not enrich companies that i feel don't have my best interest at heart.

Though if you think about it, for every 4 copies sold the publisher gets 3 copies worth. And of that 3 copies... i'm not sure the devs get any of it. Unless the publisher/dev are one and the same.

"Each copy circulated" has less meaning when the copies can be freely copied. It makes no difference to the developers if I stick with a legally pre-owned physical copy for PlayStation or Nintendo where they never saw my money for it and never would if I kept it, compared to upgrading to a digital PC copy from a website that prioritizes the immortality of the art over supporting the source of it.

Once again: I'm more than happy to support developers who make the things I love, all I ask is that they sell it here or maybe Steam. Steam is the absolute maximum DRM that I'm willing to tolerate; I accept no alternative or addition and some would argue that's unreasonably generous of me.

Look out! Some of that sale goes to the tax man as well!

The more piracy the less the devs get, whether it's a per sale slice or an indirect sum arrangement with a publisher. Publishers help fund studios during their production phase, and the platforms provide hosting and management services. I don't quite see how piracy is supposed to help devs financially at all, regardless of who you hate that gets a slice of the pie.

It stands to reason if there was little monetary advantage in having platforms and publishers involved, then developers would do everything themselves. Protesting the system by pirating/downloading pirated content doesn't do anyone any favours, but I'll admit it does satisfy one person: the cheap-arse person who just did it.

That's why piracy, at least where I live, is a crime and not a misdemeanor.

"Fools are those people who believe in a defeat of piracy" ^C Jack Sparrow. There is NO way that anyone could defeat piracy. If someone says the opposite - that is a bluff, 99,9%. Gamers (and not only gamers) will exchange game discs all the time they have someone who wants to play the desired game, even if it will cost a small amount of money - rent (in comparison to hundreds of dollars developers want for their AAAAAAA-games - completely mad). I am not a console player, but I know gamers who exchange their DVD all the time, they created a strategy when everyone in a team buys one of their favorite games. After that, they play one by one every game they own. For example, we have 7 gamers, so they can buy 7 games and play them one by one. 1-st gamers play the 1-st game for 3 weeks then they exchange DVDs for another game that has 2-nd gamer (3-rd, 4-th). Rules are pretty simple and they work like clocks. That is how nowadays gamers like to play PC games. For PC gamers all are pretty easy because we have such things like torrents and their analogs, so we do not need to have a lot of friends (that was a joke, of course). But for some users here, at Gog that is not a joke but a reality (about friends), I would not mention those users because maybe their life is a complete "waste disposal unit", so I do not want to make it even worse.

How unfortunate that Unreal Gold and Unreal Tournament GOTY were removed both from both Steam and GOG.com. As one of Epic Games Classics.

You could check the developer's website. Some will sell digital copies of their games directly without drm even if the game is otherwise a Steam exclusive when it comes to storefronts with Steam DRM. It would mean that 100% of the sale goes to the developer.

Yeah, i've bought a couple games that way through Arcen; Then when i want to redownload the game i have to email them and they give me a new temporary download link.

So there is a critical point in the access to their games; if the developer goes bust (or has a change in policy) such that the game purchased once is thenceforth no longer available for download, the legal owners lose out. (This presumes the owners didn't — or couldn't — make their own copy when they obtained it originally / subsequently.)

There is an opportunity here for a platform to create a cloud for their customers to store their games purchased from elsewhere.

What I mean is, if Gog could upload a game bought from an individual developer, as you have done, to a space adjacent to your official Gog library. (Let us ignore the legal hurdles for a moment; this is what they did with purchases from Steam, through the connector thingamajig. Is that still working?)

Granted, there are all sorts of legal issues of storage and ownership but I think they might be worked through with enough mutual good will and a judicious application of effort. (And genetic flying pigs are also feasible. :)

Well Said

Let's be real, the only major implications of piracy are when it affects small devs/creators, not the AAAs(who usually have their loyal buyers buying whatever they put out no matter what and seem to very rarely be lacking in funds).

As for right platforms(re: GOG and etc): it is obvious to many that GOG is(currently) only in it for the money, same as Steam/Epic/etc.....GOG just coats it in a more virtuistic coat of paint.



It's called virtue signaling: "if you don't do X, then you're a filthy dirty scum who does/supports Y!"

Well Said

Very well written, loving it(especially the bolded bit) :)

Yeah this is a paranoid drama queen thread. I have seen people ask about help with a Steam version of a game here also, because the GOG version can't work in their language (or some other issue). I will still help people and refuse to be a paranoid jerk (or drama queen) to anyone seeking help on GOG forums.

Normally speaking, virtue signaling is where a person says something virtuous in order or make themselves appear better than others, and the easiest way this is done is in a place which will as a majority most will agree with what you are saying.

In other words "You’re only saying that to make yourself look good".

The truth of the matter is if the person is genuinely disgusted with the behaviour they call out, then it's not virtue signalling. It's a passionate display of genuine opinion. And even though GOG is a place where DRM is not a thing most of its community customers like, there is a clear difference between buying DRM-free and not engaging in piracy. Clearly a fair number of people here are happy with piracy as evidenced by this thread and others before it, so this place is hardly the easiest place to garner kudos by signalling virtue.

I suggest you rethink considering any virtuous expression of opinion as clear evidence of virtue signalling.

I'm not certain we're talking about defeating piracy, but combating piracy... well, for some of us a seemingly lost cause doesn't necessarily mean we stop "fighting" for it (persuading others not to engage in it).

Also, you're quoting a fictional character speaking of piracy in the literal traditional sense, and Sparrow is a characterisation of a criminal which trivialises what is a rather seriously violent profession - true piracy features far more brutal acts upon innocent people. On his quote directly I'm pretty sure Sparrow was not talking about gamers downloading illegitimate copies online, or friends swapping discs (which is hardly the norm any more since physical releases are nearing death even for consoles).

https://www.reddit.com/r/unrealtournament/comments/1cq6icx/why_have_all_the_classic_ut_games_been_removed/

That was a joke quote. There is no such quote at all in Pirates of the Carribean Sea. Do I really need to write every time I make a joke? (rhetorical question, I will not do that). dude do not make a real comparison of piracy like in Somalia with digital pirates that is 2 different things.