Tuesday, January 26, 2010

My angry thoughts on stupid stuff

I'm a reader. It's just something I like doing, be it in comic books, magazines, novels, non-fiction, newspapers, or online, I just like reading.

Forever I've been reading online, on gaming sites (because I also like video games) all these people complaining about DRM, and other ways gaming companies "screw" with the players to prevent piracy. Now I don't play games (I refuse to use the word "game" as a verb) on my computer (if I did I'd really never get any work done, best I don't have any computer games, and spend any time gaming on a consul) but all the complaining needs to stop.

You want all these precautionary measures to stop, it's simple, stop stealing the fucking game. Piracy may seem like small potatoes to you, but it's fucking stealing, and there is no way one could morally claim the high ground if you are fucking stealing a product. Now, whether you like it or not, video game companies make their money making and selling video games. I don't care what sort of rational you use, but downloading and playing a game that you didn't pay for, and never intend to pay for, is stealing, and stealing is wrong.

I don't care if you think the prices are too high, or the game is flawed, or that it has DRM or other anti-piracy measures, it's still fucking stealing. If you really wanted to make a statement about the game, don't fucking buy it. If you truly are morally against a gaming company treating their customers like potential thieves, then Don't. Buy. The. Game. It's really that simple. By stealing the game all you do is prove them right, and then the escalation starts.

The gaming company owes you nothing. Just like any other product out there, they are trying to make money. If I don't like Starbucks, or Mcdonalds, or Dunkin' Donuts, I don't steal their food/coffee/snacks, and then complain how much they suck. The reason I don't do this, it's fucking stupid, and STEALING IS WRONG. If you don't like a product don't buy it. Rebellion is starting a boycott. Rebellion is buying the competitor's games. Stealing is just you being a self-righteous prick who wants something for nothing, and then wants to complain about it.

If you pay for a game and the anti-piracy measures actually fucks up the actual game play, you can always ask for your money back. I don't know how customer friendly the gaming companies are to users who actually purchased the game, but if there are customer service issues you just learned a very valuable lesson and shouldn't do business (stealing counts as business) with said gaming company in the future.

And the best way to avoid that whole senario is to read up on the games. There are a million billion websites out there devoted to video games. Doing just a teensy bit of research can save you money as to which games to buy, and time. Any other argument that claims stealing is the answer is fucking retarded.*

PC Gamers, I'm sick of it, grow the fuck up.






*OK, so there is the privacy argument, which basically is arguing that the gaming companies force you to trade some of your privacy rights for their security, and this is actually a good argument. Not as an advocacy for stealing or pirating the game, but rather, why some measures should be changed to protect the customer's privacy, and until they do, a boycott is in order.