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PaperclipPerfector  23hr ago (text post)   710 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for November 6, 2026

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I have spent a few hours playing the Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake (on PC I might add). It's a very charming and well-made game. It lifts the spirit.

The devs added major image sharpening to it though, probably in an effort to make a 1080p game look better on 4K TVs or something. I hope that can be modded out soon.

I think it’s vulgar to pirate games (I assume you’re not ripping it from the cart). Call it a matter of honor. If one must do it, it is best not to mention it.

I think it’s vulgar to pirate games (I assume you’re not ripping it from the cart). Call it a matter of honor. If one must do it, it is best not to mention it.

Why? With what the game industry as a whole has earned such a respect? AAA, microtransactions, wokeness (even worse than wokeness - cringe wokeness), bugs, abusive drm, overbearing licenses, consistently terrible writing, hostility and contempt towards their own audience and customers ... the list goes on. Even before gamersgate the industry was busy destroying the goodwill earned in the golden age of 1995-2006

Why? With what the game industry as a whole has earned such a respect?

One does not need to earn "don't steal stuff". You are perfectly free to not respect the games industry (AAA or otherwise) all you wish. But then just don't play their games. It's not hard. If your disdain for the industry is so great, you won't be missing anything by not playing.

One does not need to earn "don't steal stuff".

Piracy is not stealing.

Yes it is.

Copyright infringement is different from stealing.

No it is not. Now that we have moved our best daffy and bugs impression out of the way

Not only piracy is not stealing, but actually downloading for personal use is fairly legal (uploading is not), and on top of that because of the way cracks work it could be classified as fair use - it is security research after all.

Legality is not relevant here. You asked why you should refrain from pirating games, given that the companies haven't earned your respect. I am saying: you should refrain because, contrary to your assertion, piracy very much is stealing, and stealing from people is wrong whether or not you respect them.

If I pirate the game and then choose not to play it, have I financially deprived them in any way? I’ve not consumed their product.

A better argument is to (1) say that you wouldn't have bought it anyway, and (2) as actual supporting evidence cite the official EU study finding that the alleged displacement of video-game purchases by copyright-infringing downloads is fake: rather, infringement leads to an increase of +24 % in legitimate sales (vs. +0 % in music, −27 % in film and television, and −38 % in books).

1 wouldn’t have made any difference to the point, I don’t see what value it has to my statement. I wouldn’t defend 2 either, if nothing else but from a logical or a legal standpoint. It’s irrelevant whether or not committing a crime in the case of copyright infringement has the side effect of being beneficial to the producers of the product. The laws are already on the books and they say what they say. Now if I disagree with the law that’s the separate issue, but there’s no defense to be made at that point to determine if I’ve committed the crime by illegally consuming the product.

I’ve pirated movies I’ve never watched. I’m sure I had the intention at some point of doing so, or at the very least clicking through and catching a snippet of something to see if it piques my interest, but I don’t aimlessly download things I don’t use or need. And when I realize I can’t or won’t watch it, I delete it. It’s difficult for me to understand where exactly the financial harm is in that, but I’m sure someone could argue it.

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