Before piracy there were demos and shareware, which let you see if your machine could handle the game or content and give you a vertical slice, and let you show it to friends for word of mouth advertising.

Then, Steam put a two hour refund window with no questions asked, which helped a lot of "this crashes on start, I can't open this at all on a RTX 4090/high end PC, 15 FPS in the fog, etc".

Developers learned from that and they began padding/gating content behind two hours of gameplay, so you wouldn't know until 3-4 hours in that the game was grindy dogshit (SCUM, Ark, Empyrion, and countless other Early Access and sometimes full release titles like NMS on launch day for example).

So the correct thing to do, and it's what I do: Pirate the game, make sure it runs/works and is fun and there's no "gotcha" traps or hidden DLCs or other predatory mechanics involved, and THEN pay for the full title on Steam+DLCs and just continue the save.

My Steam Account has actually already been flagged over a dozen times for this because my primary savegames are like Razor1911.sav, and so far it's still in good status because I am actually spending a couple thousand/year on content.

The problem with almost every pro-piracy argument like this is that they fundamentally require a significant percentage of the population to disagree with it.

This assumes that people who are ok with piracy are also against paying for content. That's a nice fantasy and it makes anti-piracy people feel good about themselves, but it doesn't reflect reality.

People who can pay will pay and I’m not taking anything from them” only works for as long as both the general population and retailers regard piracy as wrong and keep funding all those games, movies etc for you.

This assumes that 'pro piracy' people are against artists getting paid for their work. Seeing as how pirates tend to purchase more legal content than the 'general population' that is clearly not the case.

There could be a million different reasons why someone might 'pirate' a piece of media, and simply not wanting to pay for it is usually pretty low on the list. That attitude also relies on the assumption that every single piece of content that is copied is something the 'pirate' would have paid for in the first place.

As an artist, my job is to inspire people, to make them feel, to share my experience with them. I have absolutely zero problem with someone who can't afford to pay for my work pirating it. I also appreciate the ones who do pay, but I would still be making art even if no one paid, because while the money is nice it's not the point of it for me. Id much rather someone copy a work of mine and enjoy it than not enjoy it because they couldn't pay for the privilege.

I understand that some 'artists' are in it for the money and that's fine. It doesn't mean I have to agree with them that they deserve to get paid for every eyeball that falls upon their work, regardless of the circumstance.

Heck, all you pirates should be upvoting anti-piracy posts like this, we’re the ones keeping your habit funded…

Have an upvote from me for being the hero we don't deserve and protecting the mega-corps bottom lines. Truly you are a modern day Jesus.

There is no ‘high horse’ here.

🤣 Says the person actively judging others for their perceived moral failings, from their high horse.

People need to quit with their bullshit justifications.

You may not agree with it or understand it, and that's fine. I'm saying don't act like we all think that it's wrong like you do and are going against our own belief systems. You are the one doing that, not me.

The fuck are you on about Christianity? There is literally no connection to religion/beliefs here.

Oh but there absolutely is, and you put literally zero effort into putting any thought into whether it did or not, your knee jerked and you went right back to defaulting your YOUR belief system and insisting everyone else follow it. Sounds exactly like some groups I could think of, I'll let you puzzle that one out for yourself.

People can’t afford to pay for it? Cool. It’s still piracy.

You cant' afford to eat? Cool, it's still stealing when you nick a loaf or bread.

One is still depriving the creator/studio/publisher/whatever of a sale.

OH NO! You mean to tell me that I've deprived a billionaire of a couple of pennies?! I deserve to rot in hell.

Ridiculous

I agree. It's ridiculous that you are only able to look at it from one very specific, capitalist boot licking pov and not even consider other peoples point of view. Must feel good to be so righteous and holy.

Oh my lord you are so dense. I don’t give a fuck why people do the things that they do. But these justifications are garbage. Again, just say “I don’t feel like paying for it”. That is it.

Steal bread because one can’t afford it? That really sucks. It is still stealing. Does it make people right or wrong? Well, in this case I think most people would understand.

And no, stealing bread for sustenance is in no way shape or form remotely comparable to downloading a movie or song. Are we all entitled to the all of the things in life that help us get through the monotony of existence? How about independent documentaries, where every dollar counts to the creators? Are you entitled to those?

At the end of the day, someone/studio spent hours/days/years working on the art that you feel like you deserve to have because you cannot afford it or whatever bullshit reason you want to conjure. It’s still piracy, and is still wrong.

If someone were to download my music, that I’ve spent multiple hours and days creating and editing, without paying, I’d be justifiably upset. If I release my music on a site like Bandcamp, it is because I’d like to enjoy some sort of benefit for my hard work. I don’t care what someone’s excuse is for pirating my work. It is not theirs, they do not get to decide that I don’t deserve to be paid. If I wanted the world to hear it for free, I’d release it on a platform where it is free. That is my, as the creator of the art, prerogative. It just so happens that I put it on platforms where people can hear it, with ads or subscription, which I deem to be fair. But outright downloading it deprives me of streams and ad revenue. I don’t fucking care what the excuse is. My art is not free. I understand why some artists get upset.

Does this make me a hypocrite? I suppose it does. I am doing wrong as well. I just don’t try to hide behind some sort of bullshit excuse. Just own up to it.

Perceived moral failings

Fuck off. I’m not judging anyone. Just merely stating facts. Piracy is piracy, no matter what way someone wants to spin it. Is it wrong? Yes. Am I wrong when I do it? Absolutely. I choose not to justify it.

This logic does no justice to the objective financial harm being done to the creators/owners of valuable data/content/media.

"Financial harm" is a loaded term. People expected to make money and then didn't, but is that a bad thing?

What if the US president declared that it is now a legal requirement that every American subscribe to a new paid tier of Facebook, and that declaration was rubber stamped by the lawmakers. Anybody who didn't capitulate would be doing "financial harm" to Meta, but is that really a fair way to frame that? If a bully wants your lunch money and you resist, are you doing "financial harm" to the bully?

The way I see things, the initial copyright laws were a relatively fair trade: a 14 year monopoly on something, that could be renewed for another 14 years if the author was still alive. In exchange, everything after that term became part of the public domain. So, it would encourage people to produce writing, and the public would benefit because a reasonable amount of time later what was produced would be available to everybody at no cost. Modern copyright terms are a massive give-away to Hollywood, the record labels, etc. So, while it's true that infringing copyright does reduce the potential amount of money a copyright holder might hope to receive, morally it's closer to fighting off a bully than it is to theft.

Does it make people right or wrong? Well, in this case I think most people would understand.

Most people sure. You though? You don't give a fuck why people do the things that they do, remember?

And no, stealing bread for sustenance is in no way shape or form remotely comparable to downloading a movie or song.

You are right, because in the case of stealing, the person has deprived the owner of that bread. If the hungry person was able to copy the bread and leave the original bread untouched for the owner to eat, it would literally harm no one. Even if that person owned the 'intellectual property' of that bread.

If someone were to download my music blah blah blah

You don't give a single fuck what someones reason is for doing what they do, yet you expect people to give fucks about what you value. It works both ways.

It’s still piracy,

No it isn't. Piracy is robbery or other serious acts of violence committed at sea. "Piracy" is a name some 'clever' lawyer or corporate exec coined to convince people that breaking copyright laws was equivalent to violent crime.

and is still wrong.

Who died and made you arbiter of 'right' and 'wrong'? Was it your 'lord'?

Does this make me a hypocrite? I suppose it does.

Of course it does, I thought that was understood. What it doesn't make is other people hypocrites for breaking your own personal moral code.

I just don’t try to hide behind some sort of bullshit excuse.

Who is trying to hide? I have not made a single excuse, and I wont because I don't believe it's wrong like you do.

Just own up to it.

Own up to what? To crossing Jessica's line in the sand? Sure, I'll own up to that. Fuck your line. I piss on your line.

I’m not judging anyone.

You clearly are lmfao. "What you are doing is wrong and nothing could possibly justify it, own up to it! QQ No judgment though" Fuck off with that.

Just merely stating facts.

Your own personal OPINION about the morality of copyright infringement is subjective. That isn't obvious?

Am I wrong when I do it? Absolutely. I choose not to justify it.

Sure, you happily break your own moral code and then judge others for doing something that is not against their moral code. Somehow you think the world revolves around you and that you are the arbiter of 'right and wrong'.

I don't subscribe to your ignorant beliefs about copyright- so I'm not under the same obligation to obey them as you are.