Xiarti Posted August 2, 2003 Share Posted August 2, 2003 How should someone report websites that have an illegal (pirated) version of a game up for sale? I couldn't find a link that mentioned that on lucasarts.com and I really need to report two websites. Anyone able to point me in the right direction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emon Posted August 2, 2003 Share Posted August 2, 2003 E-mail LucasArts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiarti Posted August 3, 2003 Author Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by Emon E-mail LucasArts? They only had a troubleshooting (for games) and a site feedback email listed that I saw. And I want to make sure they know of the sites so they can shut them down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Truthful Liar Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Or PM a Mod/Supermod/Admin here. ; ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Count Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by Xiarti How should someone report websites that have an illegal (pirated) version of a game up for sale? I couldn't find a link that mentioned that on lucasarts.com and I really need to report two websites. Anyone able to point me in the right direction? No offence but I have alot of better things to do with my time, than report Illegal Websites, however to each his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lach Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Do you think loosing $50,000 + and a prison sentance is fair punishment for stealing a $40 game? Now I dont condone software piracy at all, but at the off chance lucas arts does track down the site owner(very unlikley), do you want that to happen :? Hell LOL-games arent usually given out on sites, so they are proboably just trying to convince gullible morons to click on their advertisers links. If reported however, im sure lucasarts will be forced to investigate because of some corporate policy, and when they find JA isnt even being given out on the site, tey will have just wasted alot of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emon Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 E-mail one of their staff members directly, they'll know what to do. On a side note, the sites likely won't get shut down. And on another side note, you spelled offense wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabrobot Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by Lach Do you think loosing $50,000 + and a prison sentance is fair punishment for stealing a $40 game? Now I dont condone software piracy at all, but at the off chance lucas arts does track down the site owner(very unlikley), do you want that to happen :? Jedi Academy is finished and for sale now? When did this happen? Originally posted by Lach Hell LOL-games arent usually given out on sites, so they are proboably just trying to convince gullible morons to click on their advertisers links. If reported however, im sure lucasarts will be forced to investigate because of some corporate policy, and when they find JA isnt even being given out on the site, tey will have just wasted alot of time. Lucasarts has special people who's only job is to do this...it wouldn't delay the game if they looked into sites with stolen software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Jack Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Software piracy is like a computer virus. Once it's out of the bag your not going to shut it down. Do you think anyone ever ketches all the guys that make viruses and put out on the net? All it takes is 1 person to crack or still a program and put it on the net 10 people get it. Than 10 people get it from them so on and so on. lol you can get hacked versions of Microsoft XP Professional. Any game released you can get off the net just about. As long as it's popular. It might have only a 50/50 chance of being able to play online, but that's why hackers make key generators so you can do just that. I don't think stilling is right, but I think the government has more important things to do than waist tax money on people hacking and stilling computer games. It's like the war on drugs lol I think that would be more winnable than stopping software piracy. The majority of people who DL games illegally aren't people that would have bought them in the first place most of the time. Besides why would anyone "BUY" the game from these people you want to report? I guarantee you can get it for free of one of them file sharing programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Jack Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by Gabrobot Jedi Academy is finished and for sale now? When did this happen? No it's not, but a hacked "Beta version" is floating around the net. That's not so confusing is it. That someone would pay for it. That is down right mined boggling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabrobot Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by Cosmos Jack Software piracy is like a computer virus. Once it's out of the bag your not going to shut it down. Do you think anyone ever ketches all the guys that make viruses and put out on the net? All it takes is 1 person to crack or still a program and put it on the net 10 people get it. Than 10 people get it from them so on and so on. lol you can get hacked versions of Microsoft XP Professional. Any game released you can get off the net just about. As long as it's popular. It might have only a 50/50 chance of being able to play online, but that's why hackers make key generators so you can do just that. I don't think stilling is right, but I think the government has more important things to do than waist tax money on people hacking and stilling computer games. It's like the war on drugs lol I think that would be more winnable than stopping software piracy. The majority of people who DL games illegally aren't people that would have bought them in the first place most of the time. Besides why would anyone "BUY" the game from these people you want to report? I guarantee you can get it for free of one of them file sharing programs. Mmm hmmm...and because crimes like murder and theft ect. still happen, I suppose the police should just give up trying to prevent it? Also, if anyone ever stole an early version of the level I'm working on, and I saw people like you posting things like what you just posted, I'd get extremely discouraged and consider canceling my project...maybe you should look at things from a different view than that of pirates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabrobot Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by Cosmos Jack No it's not, but a hacked "Beta version" is floating around the net. That's not so confusing is it. That someone would pay for it. That is down right mined boggling... I was pointing out that JA is not a game that has been released and for sale for $40. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by Xiarti How should someone report websites that have an illegal (pirated) version of a game up for sale? I couldn't find a link that mentioned that on lucasarts.com and I really need to report two websites. Anyone able to point me in the right direction? If you can't find a suitable address for Lucasarts, then contact Raven Software, the developer of JA, directly. Here's the contact email address off their website... www@ravensoft.com Mark it FAO Kenn Hoekstra, the Project Leader on JA, and it should get through the proper channels. As for those attempting to defend or at least excuse 'leaked' and warez copies of games for download, take it elsewhere. We don't tolerate warez on these forums. It's stealing, plain and simple, and it does affect the developers, the publishers, and future game development. Originally posted by Lach Do you think loosing $50,000 + and a prison sentance is fair punishment for stealing a $40 game? Now I dont condone software piracy at all, but at the off chance lucas arts does track down the site owner(very unlikley), do you want that to happen :? That's where you're completely wrong. If a website is offering the game for download, it is not simply $40 of lost revenue. If 1000 people download it, that's $40,000 of lost revenue. If 10,000 download it, that's $400,000 of lost revenue. All because someone thinks it's a smart move to distribute stolen goods. Suddenly a $50,000 fine doesn't seem much compared to the potential losses the developer has to shoulder in that context. So yes, I do condone such tough sentences for site owners. If they don't want to be penalised, they shouldn't deal in warez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Jack Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by Gabrobot Mmm hmmm...and because crimes like murder and theft ect. still happen, I suppose the police should just give up trying to prevent it? Also, if anyone ever stole an early version of the level I'm working on, and I saw people like you posting things like what you just posted, I'd get extremely discouraged and consider canceling my project...maybe you should look at things from a different view than that of pirates. Hmm maybe since crimes like murder and "theft" which is odd you mention "theft", because that's what this post is about. lol These things still happen so maybe you should just give up on living and throw in the towel. At least before someone stills all your crap and shoots you. That's from your point of view I will stick to my own thanks. As far as you being discouraged about what I type if you were a level or game designer. Sorry but as the saying goes "SAD BUT TRUE" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lach Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by Cosmos Jack I don't think stilling is right, but I think the government has more important things to do than waist tax money on people hacking and stilling computer games. It's like the war on drugs lol I think that would be more winnable than stopping software piracy. And how many people from Enron have been given jail sentences to date? Oh right-NOT ONE: The goverment has more important things to do then handle software pirates. This wouldnt be an issue AT ALL if lucas-arts just implimented a CD Key system to play the game-so at least these pirates arent playing it online. How much single player gameplay do you think is in JA? Certainly not more then 40 hours, few FPS's top that. The real time is in multiplayer-which is 100% pirate protected with a cd key system, but for some OTHER WORDLY reason they dont want to, and seem almost hostile at the idea. Why is beyond me....... I find it really frustrating they dont do something this simple to stop pirates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txa1265 Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by StormHammer As for those attempting to defend or at least excuse 'leaked' and warez copies of games for download, take it elsewhere. We don't tolerate warez on these forums. It's stealing, plain and simple, and it does affect the developers, the publishers, and future game development. Thanks for the post ... I have been getting pounded the last few days for taking a strong stance about this ... They have said that the MP3 sites have been way down in traffic since the RIAA has started handing out subpoenas ... maybe a few sites getting major fines will put a dent in piracy. I still feel that the growth or decline of piracy is in the hands of ordinary folks like us here. The hardcore pirates won't change, but if we really try to change a few minds, we can really make a difference ... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emon Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 I don't believe the developers are affected... I don't think they pull in profits from the game like the publisher does. But I could be wrong. Not like it's important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiarti Posted August 3, 2003 Author Share Posted August 3, 2003 Thank you to the ones who gave helpful replies. I just hate pirating, because yes, it does hurt the gaming industry. One of the sites was made just for the purpose of distributing the beta and had over 200 downloads when I looked. It was being advertised on the Zone, and multiple games were playing it. Anyway, I've sent e-mails to both Ravensoft and LucasArts. Here's hoping both sites get shut down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by Emon I don't believe the developers are affected... I don't think they pull in profits from the game like the publisher does. But I could be wrong. Not like it's important. Well, it's not a good business model if you don't make at least slightly more money on a project than you put into it. In other words, developers do need to see an optimal return on their investment, especially those that do not have the luxury of financial backing from the publishers. The problem that we've seen year on year is that some developers simply can't shoulder the financial losses if their games do not sell well, and they ultimately close their doors. When a developer of great games has to do that, then it's a sad day for the gaming community. As for the publishers...if they lose lots of money, how can they then provide the financial backing to those developers 'under their wing'. Developers can't simply work on thin air for 3 years (or however long a project takes to complete). They have to pay staff and all the other overheads, which needs ongoing cash injections - and if the publisher is injecting that cash, then it has to come from their own surpluses. Of course they are in business to make a profit, and have to look after their shareholders, etc., that's just the way that companies work. However, they would have to plough money back in to support the developers as well. But if sales fall because piracy is on the rise, then obviously that impacts profits, impacts share prices, and ultimately can result in 'streamlining' to reduce overheads, which usually means laying off staff, and as we've seen many times, closing down some development 'wings' completely. No, I don't think it's all down to piracy. Other market forces are at work, and sometimes it comes down to bad financial management...but piracy does have an impact, and in my view it matters a great deal. I want to be able to play quality games in the future, from a variety of developers, and not see increasing monopolisation by those companies that are simply big enough to keep afloat by churning out games of questionable quality. So please, if anyone finds a site peddling their 'warez', let the developers know about it. People who think music, games and other things should cost them nothing, are frankly living in cloud cuckoo land. Maybe they should try opening a store, spending thousands of dollars, or pounds (or whatever your currency) on stock, and then letting all your customers walk in and take that stock without paying for it. Then see how long you stay in business. Does that mean I agree with some of the inflated prices of some goods? Of course not. Personally I think music CDs (particularly albums that were previously released on vinyl LPs) are overpriced in many cases. I would like to see prices reflect actual costs of development and 'realistic' instead of 'inflated' profits. Technically, the more you sell, the more the price should come down, in my view. But the bottom line is...you should still have to pay 'something'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lach Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 I am NOT defending piracy note you-dont think I am. Piracy = wrong. If someone buys the game after pirating it however.... is there anything wrong with that? ANYWAY that really isnt my point. My point is, theft is wrong. There is an ever increasing amount of programs and things being done by developers that make it much harder to steal games then before. Things like the newer versions of secure-rom mean the would be thief has to have some TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE to steal the games. The result is that games that use the most rescent version of secure-rom have taken DRASTIC nose dives in piracy rates, not because people dont want to-people will always want to-but because they DONT KNOW HOW. Any moron can download a file, but if there is "advanced" methods of protection "Joe Pirate" isnt going to be able to steal it. This wont stop the more technically savy people, but who do you think steals more copies of games? Lets look at the economic situation with games........ who buys more games? The mass market, or the l33t gamer(l33t gamer being anyone who has been into gaming for a long time, and posts on a message board )? The mass market provides most of the sales, and ALSO most of the piracy, the small amount of more tech savy people who can pirate with the newest versions of secure rom is a small fraction fo what it was before. I am NOT saying software piracy is justified if the developers dosent use good copyright protection-I AM NOT. HOWEVER if the publisher wants to protect their investment, they should spend the extra money and put in good copyright protection and more important..... A CD KEY SYSTEM!!! It's interesting that NWN is proboably one of the most heavily pirated games in rescent memory..... it also has spectacular multiplayer, and because it needs cd keys to play it online, it has an enormeous roll-over rate of people buying it after they pirate it. There is no way around cd-keys for online protection(stealing them from a box isnt exactly common). Jedi outcast's single player was so great that if I had pirated it(I didnt) I would of bought it to continue with more gameplay online. It seems almost idiotic that lucas-arts refuses to put in a CD key system, and if they arent doing that its a good chance they arent going to use the new secure-rom either........ which would cut piracy by at least 75%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HertogJan Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 What's securom? Is it another copy protection like safedisc?? Damn, those protections are sooo easy to crack. Take safedisc, that needed only 1 crack, which allowed you to copy any safedisc game you wanted without any knowledge and then apply the crack. It worked on ALL safedisc games!! No, a CD Key system is the way to go, the ONLY way to protect online play. The crackers out there will ALLWAYS be smarter than the companies making protections. Heck, I think a lot of those cracks come directly from employees of safedisc etc.!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lach Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by HertogJan What's securom? Is it another copy protection like safedisc?? Damn, those protections are sooo easy to crack. Take safedisc, that needed only 1 crack, which allowed you to copy any safedisc game you wanted without any knowledge and then apply the crack. It worked on ALL safedisc games!! No, a CD Key system is the way to go, the ONLY way to protect online play. The crackers out there will ALLWAYS be smarter than the companies making protections. Heck, I think a lot of those cracks come directly from employees of safedisc etc.!!! I agree 100% with the cd key issue of course, but the more protection, the merrier. The lastest version of secure-rom puts intentional errors on the CD that the game wont run unless they are detected-this makes copying the CD impossible(even by that other usual way I wont post about because I dont want to be advising morons to steal games). It isnt on alot of games yet, but those it has been in have taken enormeous drops in piracy rates. It is possible to crack, but the major warez groups are having a hell of a hard time with it: publicly admiting to that fact. Instead of taking a couple of days, it can take a month, or months to crack the latest version(it has SOME compatabilitty issues with old cd-rom drives so its not enormeously popular yet, but who is gonna be playing jedi outcast who has an old computer lol?). I'd list all the other methods of warez'ing that the latest version of securerom stops, but I dont want to give info on how to steal games to those who dont know. Suffice it to say it is very possible to cut piracy down to a smidgen of what it would be, if the publisher would spend the extra money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HertogJan Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Nah, big release groups (I won't name them of course) are pretty quick with releasing, no matter what protection. Sometimes they release bad copies, but they are fixxed so fast because then everyone has access to the game and can attempt to crack it... They'll have a copy WITH errors in no-time, make it into an image and then everyone can download it It's sad, but history has proven that no protection can stand against the professional crackers. CD-Keys are really the only succesfull method... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jipe Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Yeah, CD Keys work great until someone who downloaded the game uses a keygen and comes up with a code that is exactly the same as one sitting in a retail box, and someone buys that box and brings it hope and suddenly their key is useless. And SecuROM (or SafeDisc, there's several of them)? Yeah, that worked great with Morrowind. I'm sure every single person who bought the game enjoyed the 15% performance loss.. and the game was still cracked anyway. I also am tired of hearing the JA leak being referred to as warez - that would imply that JA is available to buy in stores. Until September 16, it is not. The leak is simply a leaked 'beta', nothing more. I'm not saying this in any way makes it "right" to download the leak, but throwing around the term warez loosely does not get you anywhere - get off your high horse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lach Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Originally posted by jipe Yeah, CD Keys work great until someone who downloaded the game uses a keygen and comes up with a code that is exactly the same as one sitting in a retail box, and someone buys that box and brings it hope and suddenly their key is useless. If thats the case they can return the game......... and that is pretty damn rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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