Are there any practical reasons to buy the game at this point?

[Bozobub]

..it's only your conscious and your fear of God or lack there of.

[grammar_nazi]I'm pretty sure you meant "conscience" there.  Sorry but I've seen that a LOT the past few days, and it makes me die a little inside, each time ...[/grammar_nazi]

[JaJe]

I'm curios, it's because of the mods that the game is having that price?

[Bozobub]

I'm curios, it's because of the mods that the game is having that price?

RW has that US$35 price cuz:

• Tynan personally dislikes the Steam "fire sales" and I can't blame him.  It's super bad for indie devs, frankly.
• Kickstarter and Early Access supporters were given discounts.  Putting the game on sale is a slap in the face of *your most loyal supporters*.

Tynan has been supported bv and supports the community very well, in my opinion.  If you don't like that and the game isn't worth list price to you, well *shrug* we disagree, have a nice day.  Either way, the game sells like hotcakes for a a good number of reasons, that many people seem to agree on .

[Aiven]

..it's only your conscious and your fear of God or lack there of.

[grammar_nazi]I'm pretty sure you meant "conscience" there.  Sorry but I've seen that a LOT the past few days, and it makes me die a little inside, each time ...[/grammar_nazi]

I think grammar matters too, but a lot of us communicate in other languages than our own. You cannot have a crusade against stupidity, because all humans are stupid (including me and you).

[spincrus]

I've pirated games back in the dark days where buying was not an option (as in, no digital downloads yet, and hard copies were almost nonexistent in my country). As time progressed and PC gaming became more reachable, both options became widely available.

I believe I haven't pirated a single game since 2001. I don't regret my decision to go "full-legal".

The only exception was with I believe KOTOR II, where the 2nd CD/DVD (don't remember) simply did not install and I remember being quite furious, as I desperately wanted to play the game upon launch. Never bothered with returning, never got a 2nd copy, since it was all paid for.

Other than that, there cannot be any justification to pirate games in 2020.

[LWM]

Other than that, there cannot be any justification to pirate games in 2020.

Sure there can be.  Not available in your country.  No access to banking (you may have family who remember a time in the US where women couldn't get credit cards on their own).  Government watch lists on legal channels.  Buying a game or feeding your cat for several months.

There are some debatable areas too, where I'm sure some might consider it okay: really awful DRM, really difficult to use system to buy it.

RimWorld comes with a DRM free option and it's super easy to get - this has been the happiest game-buying experience I've had in ages.  It's soooo nice to be able to just buy a game these days!  And I'm in a socioeconomic situation where I can enjoy this little luxury, and so I very much do 

[Adrivan]

Thanks to everyone for the replies, some of you have made a really good point 

Regarding piracy: I live in an european country where piracy is technically illegal, but it is never enforced, because it comes in contradiction with privacy laws that ISPs have to abide by. No-one bats an eye around here if you download stuff illegally. Growing up in an environment where nobody cares about piracy, I became indifferent to the moral side of it. So this argument weighs very little in my decision to buy a game.

However, I do like the advantage of having steam workshop support. I think after all, I will go ahead and buy a copy

[Bozobub]

Thanks to everyone for the replies, some of you have made a really good point 

Regarding piracy: I live in an european country where piracy is technically illegal, but it is never enforced, because it comes in contradiction with privacy laws that ISPs have to abide by. No-one bats an eye around here if you download stuff illegally. Growing up in an environment where nobody cares about piracy, I became indifferent to the moral side of it. So this argument weighs very little in my decision to buy a game.

However, I do like the advantage of having steam workshop support. I think after all, I will go ahead and buy a copy

If no one buys the games, the game developers/publishers go out of business, and hence, NO GAMES (beyond public-domain stuff).  It really is that simple.

Nor does the presence or lack of enforcement mean much re: morality.  At times it has been legal to own slaves in many countries, including the US, as an excellent example of this from the other direction.

Excuse fail, sorry.  Even if you don't care about morality, it's still in your best interest to purchase your games whenever possible.

[LWM]

If no one buys the games, the game developers/publishers go out of business, and hence, NO GAMES (beyond public-domain stuff).  It really is that simple.

Heh.  That's not exactly relevant to our conversation here, now is it?  RimWorld has shown itself quite popular!

Nor does the presence or lack of enforcement mean much re: morality.  At times it has been legal to own slaves in many countries, including the US, as an excellent example of this from the other direction.

I would think that more of an example of how legality and morality are not necessarily one and the same?  White people getting off on drug charges in the US seems like a better example involving enforcement (altho I'm not sure where morality falls there at all)

Even if you don't care about morality, it's still in your best interest to purchase your games whenever possible.

Do you think it's useful to frame it as a black and white issue?  It strikes me as an area that has a little bit of grey, even if it's not much.

[5thHorseman]

If no one buys the games, the game developers/publishers go out of business, and hence, NO GAMES (beyond public-domain stuff).  It really is that simple.

Heh.  That's not exactly relevant to our conversation here, now is it?  RimWorld has shown itself quite popular!

It's 100% relevant. it's a practical reason to buy the game at this point.
Not buying the game will not support it's popularity.

Even if you don't care about morality, it's still in your best interest to purchase your games whenever possible.

Do you think it's useful to frame it as a black and white issue?  It strikes me as an area that has a little bit of grey, even if it's not much.

I consider it black and white. If the producer of something you want is asking you to pay them for it, you should pay them for it or not use the item.

[LWM]

If no one buys the games, the game developers/publishers go out of business, and hence, NO GAMES (beyond public-domain stuff).  It really is that simple.

Heh.  That's not exactly relevant to our conversation here, now is it?  RimWorld has shown itself quite popular!

It's 100% relevant. it's a practical reason to buy the game at this point.

But very many people have already bought the game.  It would be more relevant if only a few had.

Even if you don't care about morality, it's still in your best interest to purchase your games whenever possible.

Do you think it's useful to frame it as a black and white issue?  It strikes me as an area that has a little bit of grey, even if it's not much.

I consider it black and white. If the producer of something you want is asking you to pay them for it, you should pay them for it or not use the item.

I note earlier you said this was important:

Not buying the game will not support it's popularity.

Would not buying the game, but releasing a super popular mod support it's popularity?  Would not buying the game but uploading popular videos support its popularity?  Would not buying the game but taking screenshots and making memes about human leather and dining without tables support its popularity?  Would any of those directly hurt the game designer if the person in question would not be able to buy the game in any case?

That's the sort of reasoning that leads me to grey areas.

And I think it's the sort of thing that game designers have to think about - but it's a balancing act.  Will the developer put in DRM?  If so, there's less pirating, but DRM is annoying (less so with Steam, but still annoying - there are plenty of people here who don't get on Steam).  If you don't use DRM, more people will be interested and more people will feel positive about the game (it's a selling point I mentioned to my siblings when they bought it), but yes, more people will pirate the game.  On the other hand, more piracy does typically lead to more fan interest and excitement, which will drive further sales.

From a personal point of view, the questions look similar to me: would I buy this game?  What's my budget?  Can I support this and still buy insulin?  Should I sit in a dark room and stare at a blank wall until I break from no recreation?  Will my break lead to attacking someone or just wandering around outside during a cold snap while raiders are attacking?  What other ways can I support the developer?  What is my morality/honor regarding paying for things actually worth?  (RPG land: I'm a thief, it'd be a hit to my honor if I did pay for it  )

tldr; I don't think it's black and white at all

[Bozobub]

Very few people care about your opinion on this point, frankly.

I've pirated games in the past, yes, but I don't portray it as some sort of "grey area".  No, sorry, that's just bullshit justification; it IS wrong, although it isn't specifically theft (a distinction few properly make).

You wanted something and you took it, that simple.  The only difference from actual theft, is that the original owner/developer is not deprived of THEIR copy.  Stop trying to justify it; it won't fly.  Not ever.  You're merely insulting everyone's intelligence when you try to do so.

Is piracy the end of the world?  Nope.

Is contributing to the community at large, the same as buying the game?  Nope.

Do I understand why many people pirate games?  Yep; as I said above, I've done it myself.

It's still not right.  I can use YOUR base argument to justify robbing rich people, you know, as long as enforcement is lax; you really ought to marinate on that for a moment.

[LWM]

<shrug> I don't think England should have shipped people to Australia for stealing a loaf of bread when they were starving either. 

....now I want to make a scenario with a bunch of psychopaths who were being exiled to the Rim from some glitterworld....only one of them should be able to do dumb labor.

[Haplo]

Please abide by the community rules, especially this one or we'll be forced to lock/delete this discussion:

9. No piracy: No posting of game pirate links or material. No discussions of game piracy.

I can understand the need to clarify your own opinion, but please don't when it goes against our rules.
Thank you very much.

[5thHorseman]

That's the sort of reasoning that leads me to grey areas.

Okay let me be blunt.

If you take someone's work that they are charging money for so they can pay their employees and support their families, and you enjoy that work, and you do not pay them what they are asking for in exchange for your enjoyment of that work... YOU. ARE. A. DICK.

If that company is Disney and you watch a fuzzy VHS of Thor Ragnarok, you're only a little bit of a DICK. If that company is struggling and you pirate their game you're a MASSIVE DICK. For a game like Rimworld, you're just a normal, typical everyday DICK.

No matter what though, you're a DICK. You're putting your own enjoyment of a game over not just the well being of others, but the well being of the very people who are providing you with that enjoyment.

Which makes you a DICK, in case you didn't get the point.

So your grey area is that hey you're only a LITTLE BIT OF A DICK, whereas if you did it to someone else you'd be A HUGE DICK.

My black and white is that YOU ARE STILL A DICK.

And that brings us around to the practical reason to not pirate the game: Because you're not a dick. If that is not true then I can't give you practical advice.