6 ms·

The social contract is so broken that I'm not surprised that piracy is rampant. I justify it (and I make games). It has all become a matter of leverage, I truly

The social contract is so broken that I'm not surprised that piracy is rampant. I justify it (and I make games). It has all become a matter of leverage, I truly believe that if some companies (or people) could point a gun to our heads they would, and it shows in the way they operate. And no, it's not always "it's just profit", sometimes it's a shortsighted chase of the next stock value high with complete disregard for the future since lack of accountability is pretty much built-in into the higher classes of managers

throwawayqqq11 3y ago
Profit or stock value is what is measured, sociopathy is what's driving it and lack of accountability enables it.
csydas 3y ago
It's endemic for sure -- I download pirated stuff yes, but as I got older, I really did try to make an effort to use streaming services, movie/media stores, app stores, etc. Everything about it was so awful and ridiculous that it just wasn't worth my time to deal with the frustrations and more importantly the ever increasing costs and advertisement non-sense. Having an entire TV series I was watching suddenly vanish from the provider library in between episodes, shows/music I had used the applications own "download to local device" feature vanished just because I was traveling and suddenly I was not approved to watch/listen to the stuff I had paid for, constant advertisements and pushes for more subscriptions, it was absolutely asinine. I do continue to download some pirated items but largely I just checked out of modern media mostly because the cost of participation is too much. At least online there are some services that video essayists release on which aren't too bad (Nebula isn't horrible, but still is a bit annoying). I'm fearful of the day that searching "[some specific functions I want] + FOSS" and looking for repositories that have what I'm hoping for will stop working, since it's been fairly successful for me to find software that doesn't come with all the modern tech world non-sense. Some of the most simple applications like DaisyDisk for macOS or the Redirector plugins for browsers are absolute gems that have made my life objectively better and more convenient, and the teams behind these programs have shown repeatedly they aren't interested in anything else besides just having their programs work. It was very easy decision to donate to these teams/buy the apps because it was the most simple transaction ever, and the programs work as well or better than they did when I first installed them. Same with games from GOG -- I love that I have bought HoMM3 one time, and I think more than a decade later, I can still use the same installer, get the installer again, and enjoy my game wherever I want, and it's a completed game that can be further improved by mods. Real and workable models for selling tech exist and it works without DRM -- I know for corporations it's not enough money coming in and they "need" to monetize every last drop of blood out of everything, but it's not like these business models are impossible or even bad; just different and a bit calmer than the corporate non-sense we have today. And the alternative models without DRM and data pilfering are definitely something I am willing to buy into, since there looks to be a pretty damn good chance I'll be able to actually use the stuff I'm buying how I want to.
- dindobre 3y ago
  I agree, real and workable models do exist. The problem stems from regulatory capture, unbalanced leverage, and long-term unaccountability of the "higher ups", in my opinion.
m12k 3y ago
Gabe Newell rightly pointed out that piracy is a service problem. People pirate if getting access the legal way is prohibitively expensive or too much of a hassle. I can easily get access to any game I care about at a reasonable price on Steam. I can listen to any music I care about at a reasonable price on Spotify. The same could almost be said of movies and TV series on Netflix years ago, but hasn't been remotely true for a while now, ever since the splintering of streaming into warring content owner kingdoms. Guess which types of media I haven't even considered pirating, and which media I've given up on getting legally.
- paledot 3y ago
  I've been in your camp on all fronts for a while, but Spotify has been getting worse and more expensive, and there are some meaningful gaps in their catalog. I got rid of my CDs a decade+ ago, but I think it's time to start buying and ripping music again. Unfortunately, Plex also wants to charge me to stream my own music, so the first step to find a new media player that isn't subject to enshittification.
  - scruple 3y ago
    Jellyfin. https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin
    - pierat 3y ago
      I also use Navidrome for my music. Supports the Subsonic API too. Jellyfin and I had a bad going-through with handling. Minutes to pull up even a single discography. These days, it plays videos and that's it.
  - pavel_lishin 3y ago
    > Unfortunately, Plex also wants to charge me to stream my own music, so the first step to find a new media player that isn't subject to enshittification. Shit. I was considering switching my music library over the Plex, since they already both live on the same hard drive...
- 3y ago
flohofwoe 3y ago
It can't be worse than in the mid-90's (at least in relative numbers, of course absolute numbers will be much higher because the market is so much bigger now). Ever since services like Steam existed I have pretty much pirated zero games, it's just too much hassle compared to clicking the Buy button on Steam (and if it's too expensive, the next season sale is always just around the corner). In comparison, my 90's self owned pretty much zero bought games. Or as our Lord and Saviour Gaben ;) said: "The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It's by giving those people a service that's better than what they're receiving from the pirates." Still spot on.
- dindobre 3y ago
  I also appreciate Gaben, but we can't rely on enlightened despots, it just leaves room for bad actors to eventually ruin things.
  - flohofwoe 3y ago
    Of course, but since the Steam model works so well one wonders why everybody else is stumbling along instead of "just" copying it. Steam is pretty much the only platform where I don't care that I'm constantly bombarded with "targeted ads" for instance, I'm actually most of the time interested in what the Steam recommendation algorithm has in store for me.
    - unaindz 3y ago
      The "ads" on steam are so good that piracy websites use steam to recomend new releases.
    - sophacles 3y ago
      I wouldn't even call it "bombarded". I only get ads when i click on "store", as in I signal "I'm interested in spending money, what do you have?" - that's actually a reasonable time to get ads.
    - dleslie 3y ago
      > Of course, but since the Steam model works so well one wonders why everybody else is stumbling along instead of "just" copying it. Origin, Blizzard, uPlay et al failed to challenge Steam largely because they lack both features and catalog; it's not clear they even intended to take on Steam, because of the lack of content from other publishers. EGS is worth special attention because it both has content from other publishers and has dumped considerable cash into the goal of unseating Steam. I think it comes down to features: the EGS store has generally been a sub-par experience, and they purposefully refused to implement features like Community Scores, Forums, and other metasocial features that make Steam what it is. They underestimate the value of player reviews, community scoring, forums, guides, workshop and so on. Even if most of users of most games don't avail themselves of those features, they're important features for retaining the most die-hard of users; who in turn form the core of the social draw to use Steam.
kibwen 3y ago
Precisely. Corporations are purely sociopathic entities; they would kidnap us off the street and blend our bodies into bloody slurry if they thought it might make them a single penny of profit. There is no use treating your relationship with corporate entities as anything other than strictly adversarial.
ReptileMan 3y ago
I buy games, but not until there is a way to pirate them first. I just want to be sure that I can play what I buy forever and ever and the way I like it.
andrei_says_ 3y ago
> I truly believe that if some companies (or people) could point a gun to our heads they would, Just look at the industrialization of healthcare in the U.S. - and especially at the prices of some life saving medications. A gun to the head is the business model.

throwawayqqq11 3y ago

Profit or stock value is what is measured, sociopathy is what's driving it and lack of accountability enables it.

csydas 3y ago

It's endemic for sure -- I download pirated stuff yes, but as I got older, I really did try to make an effort to use streaming services, movie/media stores, app stores, etc. Everything about it was so awful and ridiculous that it just wasn't worth my time to deal with the frustrations and more importantly the ever increasing costs and advertisement non-sense. Having an entire TV series I was watching suddenly vanish from the provider library in between episodes, shows/music I had used the applications own "download to local device" feature vanished just because I was traveling and suddenly I was not approved to watch/listen to the stuff I had paid for, constant advertisements and pushes for more subscriptions, it was absolutely asinine. I do continue to download some pirated items but largely I just checked out of modern media mostly because the cost of participation is too much. At least online there are some services that video essayists release on which aren't too bad (Nebula isn't horrible, but still is a bit annoying). I'm fearful of the day that searching "[some specific functions I want] + FOSS" and looking for repositories that have what I'm hoping for will stop working, since it's been fairly successful for me to find software that doesn't come with all the modern tech world non-sense. Some of the most simple applications like DaisyDisk for macOS or the Redirector plugins for browsers are absolute gems that have made my life objectively better and more convenient, and the teams behind these programs have shown repeatedly they aren't interested in anything else besides just having their programs work. It was very easy decision to donate to these teams/buy the apps because it was the most simple transaction ever, and the programs work as well or better than they did when I first installed them. Same with games from GOG -- I love that I have bought HoMM3 one time, and I think more than a decade later, I can still use the same installer, get the installer again, and enjoy my game wherever I want, and it's a completed game that can be further improved by mods. Real and workable models for selling tech exist and it works without DRM -- I know for corporations it's not enough money coming in and they "need" to monetize every last drop of blood out of everything, but it's not like these business models are impossible or even bad; just different and a bit calmer than the corporate non-sense we have today. And the alternative models without DRM and data pilfering are definitely something I am willing to buy into, since there looks to be a pretty damn good chance I'll be able to actually use the stuff I'm buying how I want to.

dindobre 3y ago
I agree, real and workable models do exist. The problem stems from regulatory capture, unbalanced leverage, and long-term unaccountability of the "higher ups", in my opinion.

m12k 3y ago

Gabe Newell rightly pointed out that piracy is a service problem. People pirate if getting access the legal way is prohibitively expensive or too much of a hassle. I can easily get access to any game I care about at a reasonable price on Steam. I can listen to any music I care about at a reasonable price on Spotify. The same could almost be said of movies and TV series on Netflix years ago, but hasn't been remotely true for a while now, ever since the splintering of streaming into warring content owner kingdoms. Guess which types of media I haven't even considered pirating, and which media I've given up on getting legally.

paledot 3y ago
I've been in your camp on all fronts for a while, but Spotify has been getting worse and more expensive, and there are some meaningful gaps in their catalog. I got rid of my CDs a decade+ ago, but I think it's time to start buying and ripping music again. Unfortunately, Plex also wants to charge me to stream my own music, so the first step to find a new media player that isn't subject to enshittification.
- scruple 3y ago
  Jellyfin. https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin
  - pierat 3y ago
    I also use Navidrome for my music. Supports the Subsonic API too. Jellyfin and I had a bad going-through with handling. Minutes to pull up even a single discography. These days, it plays videos and that's it.
- pavel_lishin 3y ago
  > Unfortunately, Plex also wants to charge me to stream my own music, so the first step to find a new media player that isn't subject to enshittification. Shit. I was considering switching my music library over the Plex, since they already both live on the same hard drive...
3y ago

flohofwoe 3y ago

It can't be worse than in the mid-90's (at least in relative numbers, of course absolute numbers will be much higher because the market is so much bigger now). Ever since services like Steam existed I have pretty much pirated zero games, it's just too much hassle compared to clicking the Buy button on Steam (and if it's too expensive, the next season sale is always just around the corner). In comparison, my 90's self owned pretty much zero bought games. Or as our Lord and Saviour Gaben ;) said: "The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It's by giving those people a service that's better than what they're receiving from the pirates." Still spot on.

dindobre 3y ago
I also appreciate Gaben, but we can't rely on enlightened despots, it just leaves room for bad actors to eventually ruin things.
- flohofwoe 3y ago
  Of course, but since the Steam model works so well one wonders why everybody else is stumbling along instead of "just" copying it. Steam is pretty much the only platform where I don't care that I'm constantly bombarded with "targeted ads" for instance, I'm actually most of the time interested in what the Steam recommendation algorithm has in store for me.
  - unaindz 3y ago
    The "ads" on steam are so good that piracy websites use steam to recomend new releases.
  - sophacles 3y ago
    I wouldn't even call it "bombarded". I only get ads when i click on "store", as in I signal "I'm interested in spending money, what do you have?" - that's actually a reasonable time to get ads.
  - dleslie 3y ago
    > Of course, but since the Steam model works so well one wonders why everybody else is stumbling along instead of "just" copying it. Origin, Blizzard, uPlay et al failed to challenge Steam largely because they lack both features and catalog; it's not clear they even intended to take on Steam, because of the lack of content from other publishers. EGS is worth special attention because it both has content from other publishers and has dumped considerable cash into the goal of unseating Steam. I think it comes down to features: the EGS store has generally been a sub-par experience, and they purposefully refused to implement features like Community Scores, Forums, and other metasocial features that make Steam what it is. They underestimate the value of player reviews, community scoring, forums, guides, workshop and so on. Even if most of users of most games don't avail themselves of those features, they're important features for retaining the most die-hard of users; who in turn form the core of the social draw to use Steam.

kibwen 3y ago

Precisely. Corporations are purely sociopathic entities; they would kidnap us off the street and blend our bodies into bloody slurry if they thought it might make them a single penny of profit. There is no use treating your relationship with corporate entities as anything other than strictly adversarial.

ReptileMan 3y ago

I buy games, but not until there is a way to pirate them first. I just want to be sure that I can play what I buy forever and ever and the way I like it.

andrei_says_ 3y ago

> I truly believe that if some companies (or people) could point a gun to our heads they would, Just look at the industrialization of healthcare in the U.S. - and especially at the prices of some life saving medications. A gun to the head is the business model.