I don't fault anyone who resorts to piracy because they can't afford games. I'm a firm believer that the poor should be allowed to engage with art as well. Growing up, the only way I could play games was rent them. Then after rental stores went away I did pirate games for a few years. - ThreadSky

valcrist.bsky.social • 37 days ago

I don't fault anyone who resorts to piracy because they can't afford games. I'm a firm believer that the poor should be allowed to engage with art as well. Growing up, the only way I could play games was rent them. Then after rental stores went away I did pirate games for a few years.

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valcrist.bsky.social•37 days ago

I was in a living situation that was pretty rough. I'd become unable to pay for my electric or my internet. Being able to play video games was something that made all of that a little easier to cope with when I did have electric. Of course things got better for me and I no longer need to.

valcrist.bsky.social•37 days ago

I still understand those people who do pirate games. You should absolutely support developers if you can afford it (ESPECIALLY indies), but if you couldn't support the developers no matter what then I couldn't fault you because I've been there.

valcrist.bsky.social•37 days ago

and lastly I think pirating games that aren't available on any official storefront is totally ethical. If you're buying a game for $5,000 on ebay the developers aren't getting a cent of it. I guarantee those devs would rather you pirate it. I've seen devs say similar in interviews.

asobiverse.bsky.social•37 days ago

Honestly if a game can't be bought officially anymore and you would need to buy discontinued hardware or a used copy to play it, there's no reason why you shouldn't be allowed to emulate the game. After all, then there's literally no way to give the developer/publisher any money for that game.

asobiverse.bsky.social•37 days ago

100% agree with this.
If you can, support developers but I won't blame anyone for pirating because of money issues.
Years ago, I pirated games when there was no refund policy yet and I did it for games i was unsure about and needed a "demo" for.
Always bought it after that if i liked it though!

vlcrst.bsky.social•37 days ago

I feel like this is such a powerful phrase, for any type of media consumption really.

Culture shouldn't exist only for those who can afford it.

valcrist.bsky.social•37 days ago

That dev is a good egg and they are right. Not just because I said it too. 🫠

dreamscythe.bsky.social•37 days ago

If copyright laws were not so insane, we could have both a thriving public domain games scene and a way for developers to get paid for new games for a few years when they get the vast majority of sales anyway

valcrist.bsky.social•37 days ago

It's true. I'd rather have a way to give developers money for games from eras long past. It's one reason I get so excited for releases like Live A Live HD2D because I can finally support that game. Do that more, or even license an emulator and release them digitally. I don't care!

pressturnsalsa.bsky.social•37 days ago

Even at a young age I partaked in what I didn't know was piracy (mainly just downloading old pokemon roms xd)

In the short time I had a monthly income from uni, I kinda felt free, being able to directly support devs & second hand game stores... but that ended not too long ago, so back to square 1

gunplagoblin.bsky.social•37 days ago

It's funny I emulate games, but 99% are games I actually own, but the old systems stopped working and are to expensive to replace. (It's also shows how bad my backlog is that it goes back that far)

gunplagoblin.bsky.social•37 days ago

Well or games we never got in the US with translation patches.

aurasurfer.bsky.social•37 days ago

i agree with this and i want to add that thinking of each instance of a pirated game as a missed sale is misguided because to some the game will either be enjoyed as a pirated experienced or not at all. whether than be because of financial issues or insufficient interest.

aurasurfer.bsky.social•37 days ago

further!!! converting what in many cases would have not been a sale into a happy gamer has upside (word of mouth) whereas a person playing nothing at all has none

aurasurfer.bsky.social•37 days ago

and we also know that once people are converted to a series the chance of them purchasing not only a game in the series in the future but also another game from the publisher skyrockets. basically, just let the game speak for itself. people will go out of their way to support things they love

aurasurfer.bsky.social•37 days ago

like how many lifelong naruto and dbz fans who buy every game, manga, ost, box set, etc started as broke little kids torrenting the anime? i'd reckon A LOT of them especially in south america

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