I originally pirated this...

[bali1987]

Bad publicity is much worse for a game than casual torrenting. You rarely see good succesful game makers complain.
Pirated the game until the steam release, then bought it as soon as i got near the internet (was afk when the game came out and got back on that 3 days of "maybe you get a steam key maybe you dont").
tbh, if piracy actually hurts game makers as much as some claim, im more than happy to throw in my share of stabs for the likes of ubisoft or ea. T is cool thou, i got 2 of my friends to spend money on rimworld.

[Thirite]

I think you'll find a large number of people playing / modding RimWorld once pirated the game before purchasing it. It is incredibly common these days for jaded gamers to pirate everything and only purchase what deserves their money afterwards.

But like someone else said, discussion of it is a no-no here. Piracy is a complex issue with pros and cons. Unfortunately you can't seperate the "honest but jaded" people who paid after pirating from dishonest people who never pay for anything.

[RimworldOx]

Man is right in his own eyes.

Everyone can justify what they do, always and forever.

[bali1987]

Yeah there really is no point in trying to "convert" some people.
Workshop support however is a huge plus.

[Thirite]

...You can't just be like: "Im gonna hitch a ride on this cruise ship. BUT, if I don't like the ride or the sights or the food or the ship stops for some reason, I'm not gonna pay for the ticket. I'll pay for the ticket when we get back from the cruise, and I've enjoyed myself... Maybe..."

Like, no. Stop it. It's super disrespectful to the person/people who are offering the product/service.

...

The problem with this black and white view is that a huge number of videogame publishers are integrating anti-consumer technology and practices into their software. From literally breaking your computer to upright not allowing you to play your legitimately purchased games if their servers go down. "I'll pay for my cruise as long as I don't get infected with norovirus and die."

[bali1987]

The...

wanst tynano the one who compared these to snakeoil merchants?
There are people who make their living from selling these anti-consumer garbage and fearmongering, spreading lies and leeching off guillible game devs.

[BoogieMan]

Something to think about.. Game of Thrones is simultaneously one of the most pirated and profitable shows of all time.

Goes to show that if you make a good product you'll make good money. Positive word of mouth and recommendations from friends is better than any ad. If you think a game is good, do your part in helping it get sales and speak highly about it when you can.

I'm not saying I condone software piracy, but being realistic about looking at the situation I understand it. These days demos are virtually non existent and when you have lying shit spewers like Sean Murray with No Many's Sky eroding people's trust.. It's not hard to see how easy it can be for some people to justify it to themselves.

The main thing I'd want to say to people that pirate games, are you really doing it because you have literally no money or are you just being a cheap ass? Just be honest about it to yourself and think about it.

[O Negative]

Its all nice and games when you sit in your throne and judge people from a position of someone who can afford to buy stuff. But you ignore one thing - people who have no option to don't care what your opinion is. They will pirate it.
...
In other words - you might be right, but that doesn't solve anything. Unless you try to understand where these people are coming from and try to talk with them, instead of telling them who they are and what they do wrong, you're never going to solve anything.

Ps. This arguments is ages old and arguments with cars and other things that cannot be copied like software has been debunked dozen of times. Don't use them, they are silly.

I'm not sitting on a throne of any kind, nor am I judging any person. Good people do bad things all the time. The only thing I am judging is the act of piracy. I find it unethical, and I don't like when people try to justify it with nonsense excuses like "Oh, I don't have the money to spare." I'm working a minimum wage job, going to college, and walking to work almost every day. Yet, I somehow manage to pay all of my bills and buy myself something I really want every now and again.

I'm also not trying to solve the problem of piracy; that would be stupid. And, if I were, I wouldn't just be throwing my opinions out there like I did

You can say the argument is debunked all you want, but that doesn't mean I have to believe you. Files are easily copied/produced in mass, but that doesn't somehow take away from the fact that RimWorld is a product, and you are a consumer.

Nope.  It's an intellectual property violation.  While also illegal, it's a matter of civil, rather than criminal law.  It's simply not the same thing. Easy example:  If I steal your car, you no longer have a car.  If I "pirate" your car by copying it in every way, while not appropriate or legal, you still have the original car.*
...
Tl;dr?  Digital "piracy" simply is not "theft"; any assertion otherwise is bald hyperbole.  It isn't, however, particularly "OK".

Piracy is classified as a civil or criminal offense based on where you live.

I live in the U.S., where piracy is considered theft.

The problem with this black and white view is that a huge number of videogame publishers are integrating anti-consumer technology and practices into their software. From literally breaking your computer to upright not allowing you to play your legitimately purchased games if their servers go down. "I'll pay for my cruise as long as I don't get infected with norovirus and die."

Shitty experiences with products don't justify (intellectual property) theft.

Sometimes, you get screwed over on your purchases. That's just how the world works. When it happens, you (hopefully) learn from those experiences and do your research ahead of time from then on. That's what I did with RimWorld and Prison Architect. I watched them develop and did my research on their progress before I purchased. Until I was willing and able to pay money for the game, I just didn't play the game; instead, I just watched other people play on YouTube.

Bottom line: Tynan and other honest game developers lose sale opportunities because people think piracy can somehow be justified in one way or another. There's a reason the OP had a bit of a guilty conscious about pirating RimWorld, and was reaching out to other pirates of the game...

That's the last thing I have to say on this topic.

[Vulcandead789]

Hi..
Just a normal comment passing thru ..
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Bye..

[Perq]

Its all nice and games when you sit in your throne and judge people from a position of someone who can afford to buy stuff. But you ignore one thing - people who have no option to don't care what your opinion is. They will pirate it.

you have an option...don't play it.  you can't buy it, you can't play it.

Rimworld is the most expensive game i've bought in the past 3 years, because i can't afford to buy big name stuff.  Humble bundle, the free online games, or just non-computer recreation has to fill the rest of the time.  It's still theft, no matter your justification.

Of course you do! But you also have an option to pirate it. As I said, people who do that don't really care about opinions like yours.
Again, I'm not pirating myself (not anymore, since I got a job and I can actually afford stuff), but I understand where such people are coming from.
You are trying to tell people who never ate luxurious food that it is wrong to steal. Of course it is. But when people have no other option (or are simply unwilling to, when they have other options), they will do it anyways. Of course their justification is bad.
But instead of trying to tell people what is wrong, and how they are wrong, try to understand the way people act (and why). That way you can tailor a way to cater to all of them, instead of making them even more hostile towards you.
Again, story of SPORE and Hotline Miami. Do your homework. (too much explaining here).

I'm not sitting on a throne of any kind, nor am I judging any person. Good people do bad things all the time. The only thing I am judging is the act of piracy. I find it unethical, and I don't like when people try to justify it with nonsense excuses like "Oh, I don't have the money to spare." I'm working a minimum wage job, going to college, and walking to work almost every day. Yet, I somehow manage to pay all of my bills and buy myself something I really want every now and again.

I'm also not trying to solve the problem of piracy; that would be stupid. And, if I were, I wouldn't just be throwing my opinions out there like I did

You can say the argument is debunked all you want, but that doesn't mean I have to believe you. Files are easily copied/produced in mass, but that doesn't somehow take away from the fact that RimWorld is a product, and you are a consumer.

And yet you are judging these people - you can afford it, so they can afford it. You did something (did not play the game instead of pirating it), so it is right, and they are wrong. This is essentially how judging works.

Have you ever considered that many people don't live in US and your minimal wage may be far more (in scale) that someone's well paid job in some other (poorer) country? I have a decent job, but then again I have to pay 4 times as much for RimWorld (again, in scale). For me it isn't big of a deal, but I can imagine that people who have worse jobs are unlikely to spend equivalent of 120$ (or more) outright, but instead they pirate it first, and after seeing what kind of developer Tynan is (and what kind of potential RimWorld has), they scrap what they can and buy it. Or they don't. Consider this - you won't get any money of them anyways. Do you really want to wage wars against them? (once again - story of SPORE).

Tynan's take on this is flawless (imo) - make a game people will want to pay for and don't waste your time trying to deny access to pirated versions. Because, quite frankly, this is what is also helping to get RimWorld out there. Not to mention that it is also quite futile - people WILL pirate your game.
One guy may pirate it, but then again he will be amazed by how great the game is and tell everyone about it. Maybe he even never buys it, buy his friends will. Or they won't, but they will be amazed by the game and... You get the drill. Obviously many people have bought RimWorld, so this really works.
Stopping people from distributing it further (at this point), even by means of piracy, is simply sabotaging your own business. Yeah, 21 century for you.

So basically all you have really said is I don't like it because it is a problem. Well, that isn't very useful. We all know that it is a problem. Trying to understand the roots of the problem is far more useful than stating that it is a problem, don't you think? :@
I respect your opinion (and agree with it, don't get me wrong here), but it isn't very useful for anyone.

[Bozobub]

I live in the US as well, and barring silly hyperbole, yes, intellectual property violations, in which "piracy" is included, ARE a matter of tort (civil) law.  Period.  You can argue 'til you're blue in the face, but that simple fact will not change.  The exception is when pirated material is sold or there is some other obvious material gain, especially across state or country borders, where it then becomes a matter of fraud.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement:
"Estimates of the actual economic impact of copyright infringement vary widely and depend on many factors. Nevertheless, copyright holders, industry representatives, and legislators have long characterized copyright infringement as piracy or theft – language which some U.S. courts now regard as pejorative or otherwise contentious."

Yes, the FBI calls it "intellectual property theft".  It's STILL a civil matter, although certainly illegal.  You'll notice that every example the FBI uses actually discusses fraud, NOT simple piracy (for no material gain).
https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/white-collar-crime/piracy-ip-theft

Put simply:  Piracy.  Is.  Not.  Theft.  Illegal?  Yes!  Immoral?  Almost always, although there are definitely exceptions.  Theft?  Nope!  It does become fraud, however, if you try to benefit from your ill booten gotty in some material way; many people designate the ads on pirate sites as "material gain", which seems reasonable to me but guess what?  There still are many ways to acquire pirated software that use exactly zero websites and earn no one any material gain at all.  What then?

The law — including the DMCA — is what it is, and very specifically so by design, at that.  You are only harming your argument by relying on easily disproven hyperbole.  What various people like to insist doesn't happen to change the law, until the law is actually changed, if you get me.  And the last attempt brought us the disaster called the "DMCA"; nice!  You're still trusting the opinion of the people who whelped THAT monstrosity..?!

Some other takes on this argument (from both sides):
http://simx.me/technonova/publications/the_difference_between_piracy_and_steal.html
http://theconversation.com/is-downloading-really-stealing-the-ethics-of-digital-piracy-39930
https://torrentfreak.com/piracy-is-not-theft-111104/
http://blog.talkingphilosophy.com/?p=2669
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2011/12/15/piracy_is_a_form_of_theft_and_copyright_infringement_is_neither.html
http://www.ncpc.org/topics/intellectual-property-theft/pirated-products

To conclude, a simple observation:  Not ONE person charged with "piracy" has been charged with grand theft.  Fraud and tax evasion, sure, but actual theft?  Nary one.  Marinate on that for a bit.  If you want to fight piracy and other IP violations that's perfectly fine, but if your argument can't get past a simple fallacy, you will not prevail.

[Trylobyte]

The problem with this black and white view is that a huge number of videogame publishers are integrating anti-consumer technology and practices into their software. From literally breaking your computer to upright not allowing you to play your legitimately purchased games if their servers go down. "I'll pay for my cruise as long as I don't get infected with norovirus and die."

Oh yeah!  That reminds me.  Another pro-piracy argument you see pop up nowadays, and one I certainly took advantage of once or twice, is the fact that the pirated game often works better.  Not only that but it will often stay working for longer than the legitimate copy.  This can make pirated games attractive even for gamers who legitimately own the game already - The pirates have taken the time to scrub DRM, sever online verification, and bypass registration codes that can render a legitimately purchased copy totally unusable at the publisher's discretion. 

This is especially common for older titles or titles with extremely restrictive or frustrating DRM.  A simple demonstration would be for games that use a CD key, which used to be a thing about a decade ago.  These keys could be anywhere, on manuals, stuck to the CD case, or on little pieces of paper in the box.  What happens if you lose your key?  You now have a legal copy of the game that you bought and paid for but you can't use because you lost the manual/original case/piece of paper, and most of the time calling the company would simply have them tell you to buy another copy (after all, the only way to prove you bought the game is to have the CD key).  In this case I wouldn't fault someone for pirating it.  Especially invasive, disruptive, or unreliable DRM can also be a deciding factor in choosing to pirate a game - Remember Games for Windows Live?  I know quite a few people who pirated games just to get a copy without GFWL in it.

[Mulahey]

Yes pirating is a bad thing. But let me tell you a tale. It is a tale quite familiar to me, as I too am a part of it. In countries like russia, poland, latvia, slovakia, czech republic and many more where monthly income is low, people just dont have the money to spend it on a 40 euro video game. True, there are enough people who can, but I too come from the pool of people who for a long time just could not afford such luxury and resorted to piracy. It quickly became a habit and one quickly forgets he is doing something illegal when there are no consequences. All the people I know and all my friends have been pirating games for as long as I can remember. The sole reason being they could use the money for something completely different and nobody is ever going after them. So why not? In a country where an average monthly wage is 400 dollars and from that you end up having around 30 for food after expenditures kinda sucks. But the point is even if these people had the money to spend on video games, they would still rather pirate it as it is a free option with no legal consequences. When I grew up a little, I still pirate most of the games I play, but I buy the ones where I feel I need to support the developer. It is very easy to moralize from the point of view of most US consumers, who never had to work for 1,50 dollars an hour. And yes, the very same game you buy for 39.99 costs the equivalent in other parts of world. I cant speak for the third world conuntries, just for the eastern european block. Im not saying pirating it is ok in any way. Just saying people got accustomed to it so much that they no longer consider pirating something to worry about. End of a tale.

[J_Dawg_27]

A thief with a conscience? Rimworld brings the best out of everyone who plays it ♡

Personally, I'm a fan of the capital punishment. Regardless of his purchase, we probably should harvest his organs and give the money to Tynan.

Don't forget to fashion a cowboy hat for him despite the mood debuff

[grinch]

it sounds good news to me a pirate buy the game. whats the problem? it means the game its very good. The best games are the most pirated, its logical