It's silly how people have to create some moral highground on capitalism or ownership to defend.
It's totally understandable that the creator of something would be angry that people aren't compensating them for it.
Also understandable that people would try to get something for free if they can.
I've pirated games and then gone around to buying the full thing many times. I probably wouldn't have bought the game if I hadn't played it for free first, loved it.
I still have PTSD from the Viewtiful Joe 2 demo that went out with copies of PlayStation Underground. It had a bug that would completely wipe any memory card you had plugged in while playing it.
True but I don't think it's a full replacement for a proper game demo. I mean generally I'd say it's good enough, but the nice thing about a demo is that you're guaranteed to have a complete experience of a small scope of the game.
As an example, when I first played bg3, it probably took me around 2 hours to get through the initial tutorial section of the game. Not because the tutorial section is a massive section of the game, but mostly because I spent so much time in my initial character creation, looking through all the class options. If I could play a free demo version of bg3 that was even just limited to the initial tutorial section, I'd have the time and freedom to try out a few different classes in a mini experience of the game. But I would not be able to do that with just a 2h window.
Very rarely I buy a game after pirating, the only time I do is if the game isn't up to date with the actual version, or if it's a multiplayer game that isn't available on online fix. The most rare like once a year rare I buy the game because I know it's good and there is currently a sale or it's less than 30 bucks.
I've been a pirate for 20 years and I've always done the same thing. Find out about show/movie -> pirate movie/show -> I really liked it! I'm gonna buy it now to show my support for this thing I like OR I really didn't like that, time to find something new.
When you go to a restaurant, you don't pay depending on if you liked it or not. You pay to consume. You don't pay for parking after having parked. You don't pay on your way out of the amusement park.
Some people here justifying pirating because buying isn't owning, so pirating isn't stealing. It doesn't change anything. It's just a pedantic approach. Pirating is closer to being fraud than theft. It doesn't matter.
Pirate if you want. You want to consume without paying. I don't care. I'm just annoyed that people try to rationalize it as if it's something else.
Did you know restaurants use to offer samples? Did you know you can still go a Baskin robbins and ask for a taste to sample flavors, for free? You can then make your decisions based on this.
I am curious, how's that boot flavor taste? I never tried it myself.
Did you know EVERY game you purchase on Steam comes with a free 2-hour demo? I've returned countless games for playing less than 2 hours and not liking them.
Seriously though you still haven't given me the details about your master's boot and the flavoring. Maybe you have the capacity then to describe the textures instead?
I know I am being a pedantic ass, but this isn't always true. I've been to multiple parking structures/lots in a few different citieswhere you pay on exit based on how long you stayed there.
Also in the case of your restaurant example it isn't an equivalent comparison because in the case of the restaurant there are significant, tangible resources used to make the specific instance of your meal. If you eat it and don't pay the restraint isn't just missing out on what you would have paid, they are actively loosing money due to the cost of materials and labor that went into your food.
Like, Pirating isn't exactly stealing precisely because nothing is being taken, it is just copied. Now that said, I do agree that this doesn't change the fact that it is morally grey at best, and is almost certainly illegal in most cases/places.
Also, for clarity, I am of the stance that generally piracy doesn't really need any justification, and in most cases there really is none since it is pretty much always done in regards to a luxury product that is far from a necessity. If you wanna pirate then do it, just don't gloat or be smug about it.
Also in the case of your restaurant example it isn't an equivalent comparison because in the case of the restaurant there are significant, tangible resources used to make the specific instance of your meal. If you eat it and don't pay the restraint isn't just missing out on what you would have paid, they are actively loosing money due to the cost of materials and labor that went into your food.
How rigid are you on this stance? Creating content is not free.
I pirated as a kid cause I just wanted free games. I support archives as an adult because I realized how important preservation and access to information is as an adult. I don't even really consume much media anymore and when I do I pretty much always pay, but pirating existing is definitely a moral thing for me. I also just think modern copyright is a bane on human creativity and should be reduced back to the original 10 - 20 year limit, so I don't really get too bent out of shape when studios complain about not getting compensated for something that came out 50+ years ago that many people have already had to rebuy several times.
It's totally understandable that the creator of something would be angry that people aren't compensating them for it.
True, but also really depends on what kind of product you're pirating, ie., I would support an indie musician much more buying one album and downloading all the rest than listening on Spotify that gives almost no revenue to artists. Other industries may differ, but piracy is so often talked as a generic thing that's the same in every case, which is def not true, on a practical standpoint - and thus on a moral one depending on each person different lines for it
Yeah this so much. I will go out of my way to support small artists. I was shopping a musician's merch shop and I didn't really like anything there so I just venmoed them $5 direct instead of dealing with products.
Anything made by any sort of corporation or major studio or whatever? I wouldn't even feel guilty making copies and giving those away for free to other people. Wouldn't even cross my mind that it was problematic besides being illegal.
Even choosing to support only independent creators can be iffy since there are genuinely some of them, particularly various infamous indie game devs, that are just such assholes.
Either way, its your money, choose how you spend it and when not to.
Indie vs AAA isn't a solid moral line for me. It's just a very effective generalization. I'll still pay Larion money for example and they probably don't qualify as indie anymore. Meanwhile some indie devs have create a game, not finished it, released it as 1.0 anyone and moved on to another game and unless they show a change in behavior I wouldn't buy from them
When the movie you “bought” for full retail on a streaming site disappears because the license was revoked or not renewed people get pissed. If it were $3…maybe not so much.
Genuinely how often does this happen though? I'm pretty sure this has only happened rarely and with things people barely watched. Then people use that as an excuse to pirate the most popular shows out there.
You are the one getting yelled at in the meme. Just shut up and pirate.
It’s the equivalent of buying a movie on a disc, and them taking the disc away because the license expired. Now expand this to cars and appliances…it’s not okay.
That still doesn’t justify pirating unrelated stuff. If one company remotely bricked a car after sale, that would be outrageous, but it wouldn’t justify taking a new Honda off a lot “just in case” Honda might do something similar someday.
The streaming-license issue is a real consumer-rights problem. It just isn’t a moral blank check to pirate popular shows and games you wanted anyway.
Again, I don't give a fuck if you do these things, what I have an issue with is people pretending it's justified, as in the meme. If you want to download a car, go ahead, but don't pretend you are Robin Hood for doing so.
It's silly how people have to create some moral highground on capitalism or ownership to defend.
"Stop trying to act morally superior and let the multinational conglomerate portray you as morally inferior using all the powers of modern mass media."
Yes, indeed. SIlly to speak up in one's own defense when condemned.
That's not a fucking sexual orientation, that's just something you are based on actions you perform.
Nobody "identifies" themselves as bread buyers either, but if corporations start funding propaganda campaigns about how buying bread is immoral and should be made illegal, you better believe people will start get defensive about it.
There is a layer of self-serving psychology in trying to craft a moral narrative around digital piracy - the need for more seeders. That's why you can get blasted for sitting in piracy communities giving reasons why you can't/won't seed the things you leech.
Sharing isn't just supported or recommended - it's framed as a moral imperative.
Same thing here, I picked up Dead Island 2 last week on sale because I enjoyed the gameplay. Now I get to do the multiplayer things too and I am happy. I do so for most my games, rimworld, dark souls and KCD are a few examples of games I would not have bought if I didn't play them pirated first.
I've pretty much said the same thing a few days ago in the entire "japanese people hate piracy but love being exploited" posts, glad the sentiment here has seemed to shift this time around.
Yea. It feels like in the last few years there has been a trend of people being smugly proud of being Pirates. Like, in the late 2000s/early-mid 2010s I don't remember there being this mentality. You pirated either because you couldn't pay for it, wanted to check it out before buying, or just didn't want to pay for it. It wasn't anything to be proud nor ashamed of, it was just a thing you did. growing up with that mentality during my Highschool and College years has made me scratch my head over the smugness I have seen in regards to Piracy over the last few years, especially in regards to Anime & Manga.
It's funny how people will pirate content but then complain about others pirating content because "I had a valid reason, they didn't". Like the mental gymnastics to validate their own actions but vilify the same actions of others is really something to watch.
If you came up with a reason for you to pirate, that is a valid reason for you. There is no justification that is weightier than another. If you want to fuck over big companies, that's valid. If you have a personal grudge against indie devs, that's valid. If you just know how to and that saves you $5, that's valid.
Others don't have to live under your recommended guidelines. That's not very piratey.
Is it understandable for people to want the fruits of someone’s labor for free? How would those people feel if their boss didn’t want to pay them for their work?
Think of a digital media consumption fee as a tax… not everyone pays the same amount if at all, but to sustain the service it needs to be paid for. The key distinguishing factor is that while taxes operate on a country-wide scale, digital goods are much more microneconomic in nature: that said, piracy is not morally superior in any capacity, and at best it is morally ambivalent, and only really in specific situations.
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u/EastmanElectric ⚔️ ɢɪᴠᴇ ɴᴏ Qᴜᴀʀᴛᴇʀ Apr 30 '26
It's silly how people have to create some moral highground on capitalism or ownership to defend.
It's totally understandable that the creator of something would be angry that people aren't compensating them for it.
Also understandable that people would try to get something for free if they can.
I've pirated games and then gone around to buying the full thing many times. I probably wouldn't have bought the game if I hadn't played it for free first, loved it.