4 ms·

I'd like to know which magic hat the 95% comes from as usual. I pay for most PC games and so do my friends. I highly doubt we're in the 5%. Feels like a classi

by zobzu 14y ago

I'd like to know which magic hat the 95% comes from as usual. I pay for most PC games and so do my friends. I highly doubt we're in the 5%. Feels like a classic "the subject is not the percentage" in order to make everyone comfortable with "95%". I also highly dislike DLCs. Usually they're required to keep up in online games (else you're at unfair disadvantage), or they're just fixing bugs/adding stuff that should have been there from the beginning. Plus games usually cost $50 .. then need $15 DLCs (3, 4 of them). F2P generally need $50-$100 of stuff overall as well. Make the game $5, I'll buy it and so will everyone. Heck, I buy all phone games for that reason. The price is reasonable, and pirating it is more hassle than just paying. (ofc, if you put horrible DRM restrictions on top, $5 or not, the pirated game is generally easier to get) Note that I'm not requiring games to be $5. I pay for $50 games today. I just reckon that they'll probably get more money if they sell them cheaper.

bunderbunder 14y ago
> Make the game $5, I'll buy it and so will everyone. That assumes that most people are pirating just because they think the game's too expensive. - If someone pirates games because their parents don't want to drive them to the store and they don't have a credit card for buying games online, then dropping the price to $5 won't change anything for them. - If someone pirates games because they've gotten so used to doing it that the idea of going to a store never even crosses their mind, then dropping the price to $5 won't change anything for them. - If someone pirates games because they don't want to shell out for a complete unknown, then dropping the price to $5 won't change much for them. That last one is one I'd like to unpack, too. Even assuming Ubi's 95% figure is correct, that presumably comes from just counting individuals. According to that metric, someone who pirates a game because there's no demo and plays it for ten minutes before deleting counts as just as much of a pirate as someone who steals the game and then plays it 4 hours a day for months. And someone who pirates it and plays for an hour before deciding to buy it is counted as both a legitimate buyer and a pirate. I'd be much more interested to know what percentage of play hours are logged on pirated vs. legitimate copies of a game. I realize that's not in line with most game makers' pay models, but I suspect it would still turn out to be instructive.
- hamai 14y ago
  How about this idea that every potential costumer is either a pirate or a buyer. I think people hold their wallets when they see the price of games. I know I'm holding on Guild Wars 2, and I was one of the early hypers, dreaming with this game. Some years later I just don't think it's worthy, though I did throw more than that at F2P games.
elarkin 14y ago
The original article hinted at the reason for your views. Firstly, the 95% piracy rate they are reporting is worldwide, not the rate of piracy in the USA. In the USA, piracy rates have never been all that high, but cart yourself over to China or Singapore and you find people selling pirated software/music/whatever on the street corners.
bsphil 14y ago
What annoys me the most about DLC is the cost relative to the value added. $5 DLC for a $50 game is adding another 10% of the base cost of the game itself, but you don't add remotely that much enjoyment/value/playtime.

by zobzu 14y ago

bunderbunder 14y ago

> Make the game $5, I'll buy it and so will everyone. That assumes that most people are pirating just because they think the game's too expensive. - If someone pirates games because their parents don't want to drive them to the store and they don't have a credit card for buying games online, then dropping the price to $5 won't change anything for them. - If someone pirates games because they've gotten so used to doing it that the idea of going to a store never even crosses their mind, then dropping the price to $5 won't change anything for them. - If someone pirates games because they don't want to shell out for a complete unknown, then dropping the price to $5 won't change much for them. That last one is one I'd like to unpack, too. Even assuming Ubi's 95% figure is correct, that presumably comes from just counting individuals. According to that metric, someone who pirates a game because there's no demo and plays it for ten minutes before deleting counts as just as much of a pirate as someone who steals the game and then plays it 4 hours a day for months. And someone who pirates it and plays for an hour before deciding to buy it is counted as both a legitimate buyer and a pirate. I'd be much more interested to know what percentage of play hours are logged on pirated vs. legitimate copies of a game. I realize that's not in line with most game makers' pay models, but I suspect it would still turn out to be instructive.

hamai 14y ago
How about this idea that every potential costumer is either a pirate or a buyer. I think people hold their wallets when they see the price of games. I know I'm holding on Guild Wars 2, and I was one of the early hypers, dreaming with this game. Some years later I just don't think it's worthy, though I did throw more than that at F2P games.

elarkin 14y ago

The original article hinted at the reason for your views. Firstly, the 95% piracy rate they are reporting is worldwide, not the rate of piracy in the USA. In the USA, piracy rates have never been all that high, but cart yourself over to China or Singapore and you find people selling pirated software/music/whatever on the street corners.

bsphil 14y ago

What annoys me the most about DLC is the cost relative to the value added. $5 DLC for a $50 game is adding another 10% of the base cost of the game itself, but you don't add remotely that much enjoyment/value/playtime.