But the crux of the matter remains, which is, once you start to get into that routine, you start to realize how little you actually care about the items themselves. You didn't pay anything for it, which means that it has absolutely no value to you.
I'm not sure I quite get this. Someone can take something for free and yet understand the value in it, just because I happen to pay a large amount of money for, say, a physical dumping of a dog does not attach any sort of value to it. Likewise just because I happen to receive an expensive item for free, or download a film, does not mean I do not understand the value of it. Of course feel free to elaborate further if you meant something else.
My statement is a bit confusing because it's something that's not easy or simple to explain from one person to the next. But downloading something off the Internet is not the same as receiving a gift from someone. A gift is item that is purchased by someone who thinks(or rather assumes) that the person finds some value in the actual item. The other scenarios you mention are a little grey, to be honest.
Now personally, what makes me not want to indulge that much in such a practice is that, hypothetically, I download a ton of movies (especially those that have never been released in Portugal) and convert them to DVD so I can watch them without the hassle of going to the movies or having to go to a DVD rental. I no longer enjoy wacthing them, because if I can aquire them so easily and without any consequence, it just becomes meningless.
But that's just me.
I see that you are trying to argue if you do not sacrifice anything, you find it hard to enjoy a product. I believe only a limited number of people are like this, infact, would it not be harder to apperciate something if you purchase it? It is under extra scrutiny because one would be hoping for value of money, whilst if you got it free, all that you would need to worry about is the time you spent with it.
Not that I am arguing that being a pirate is right, it is not.
But how about someone downloading a rom for free (Let us say, my favourite game in the series, Sonic the Hedgehog 2) compared to spending $60 (Let us say the worst, Silver the Hedgehog) I am sure more people would find value in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 compared to Silver. They will not now believe one is better than the other (Unless you happen to be Cube!) they just happened to gain one for free, rather than pay for it. I purchased MadWorld for full price, but I can point out games that I have played on emulator (Let us say, Monster World IV!) that I just find infinately more entertaining.
I see that you are trying to argue if you do not sacrifice anything, you find it hard to enjoy a product. I believe only a limited number of people are like this, infact, would it not be harder to apperciate something if you purchase it? It is under extra scrutiny because one would be hoping for value of money, whilst if you got it free, all that you would need to worry about is the time you spent with it.
No.. I get what max is saying.
It's like spoiled kids. Imagine two kids. One asks for an Xbox and his father buys one. The other returns lost golf balls for 6 months to get the Xbox.
Whom will cherish his Xbox the most? Or at the very least understand it's value..
(and because of your "The Professor" title I'm reading your text in Alain Prost's voice)
I'm sure anybody will find more value in the classic Sonic 2 title than Sonic The Hedgehog 2006, that much is certain. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is widely available for purchase in just about every medium(XBLA, PSN, PC Digital Download,etc) for dirt cheap, whereas 60 USD for that game is a waste of money.
In this situation the issue is not so much about piracy, it's pure economics, when a bad product is released, customers have the power to punish the retailer and the developer by simply not buying the game.
Making decisions on buying games and other items just seems to be common routine, though, I would be lying to myself if had I never I said I bought something only to regret it later(buyer's remorse), because, even though, it's was a nice purchase, it just wasn't something that I needed at that point.
What is it with french people being called professors anyway? Do professors get all the girls in France?
By personal experience I have to add that I usually play a game longer if I paid for it.
Same thing happens with magazines. I can be at the airport lounge, grab a handful of car magazines (my favs) and take a quick glance at them. But if I buy a car magazine I read it so damn hard.
Might be something psychological going on, I'm not sure though.
I also think the anime example falls to the category of TV series. You don't have interaction with what's going on, and you usually buy the series DVD after watching it on TV or so.
I doubt there are any hardcore Sonic fans that have never bought Sonic games. On the other hand, 90% of Naruto fans simply watch over the web.
coke mixed with curry
Actually...I had no idea.. I do love the man. Arsenal's my favorite english side. Though 2005 is long gone and I've been a little disappointed lately..
When Arsene Wenger arrived at Arsenal, the fans dubbed him the Professor because he wore ridiciously large circular glasses but it was the fact that he spoke French, German, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese plus having degrees in both economics and engineering.
Basically he is super clever and wasted as a football manager.
(Not that I'm complaining!)
coke mixed with currywhat.
Can you expand further? What makes video entertainment different from video game entertainment? Who do people see it is acceptable to watch a program illegal but not video game?I'm not sure I understand your question.
I get most of my games used though. I doubt that gives 'em much money anyway..
Truth is most games are too damn expensive right off the bat.
Minimum wage here is 485euro (=617 USD). A new game is usually 70 euro (=89 USD)
That's almost 15% of our month's work for a fucking game.
Polish developer CD Projekt claims that its Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings has been pirated more times since release than you might have expected. In a recent interview with PC Gamer, CEO Marcin Iwinski does some quick back-of-the-hand calculations according to what he saw on illegal downloading sites, and comes up with 4.5 million copies of the game obtained illegally. He also says, however, that "as of today we have sold over one million legal copies, so having only 4.5-5 illegal copies for each legal one would be not a bad ratio."
I had no idea.. I do love the man. Arsenal's my favorite english side. Though 2005 is long gone and I've been a little disappointed lately..
what.
I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
I'm not sure I understand your question.
Music gets money by buying albums/songs.
Games get money buy buying.. well.. games.
TV shows get money by showing on the telly, which they will either I download or not.
Maybe I'm dead wrong lol but this has been my way of thinking for a long time now.
Wow, I started a topic about piracy and it sorta envolved into an indepth theological discussion on personal value that each and every one of us and it goes to show that sentimental value is something that differs between individuals.