PC games downloaded by torrent?

[Nvidiaguy07]

i was just wondering how everyone in there feels about downloading games for free via Torrents?

(also is it in the guidelines not to talk about this sort of stuff? im not sure)

 

[Canai]

It is against the rules to talk about it with specifics. I support it, many here don't.

They should distribute games via the BT protocol.

Also, there are several piracy threads already here, if you search you should be able to find them.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

well i may or may not use it lol.

i just wanted to know if id get trashed for asking a question about it.

 

[Canai]

Questions regarding bittorrent downloads in general are OK, but I think those should go in the networking area.

http://forums.anandtech.com/me..._key=y&keyword1=piracy

http://forums.anandtech.com/me..._key=y&keyword1=piracy

For some previous discussions.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Downloading for free? No. Downloading through torrent as another mean's of paid distribution? Yes.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

He's clearly talking about pirating.


You'll be flamed, deservedly so.

 

[jjones]

Nothing wrong with distributing a game via torrents, although I haven't ever seen a publisher attempt to go that route yet. Maybe some of the older games that the developer or publisher has made free have been done that way, but I wouldn't know. The issue I think you are speaking of is whether or not someone is pirating games via torrents, in which case it would be wrong. I won't comment about justifications for such activities; people have their reasons for justifying it and I'll leave it at that.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: jjones
Nothing wrong with distributing a game via torrents, although I haven't ever seen a publisher attempt to go that route yet. Maybe some of the older games that the developer or publisher has made free have been done that way, but I wouldn't know. The issue I think you are speaking of is whether or not someone is pirating games via torrents, in which case it would be wrong. I won't comment about justifications for such activities; people have their reasons for justifying it and I'll leave it at that.

blizzard does

you can download all of WoW through the blizzard downloader which is a torrent, all patches and updates are done this was as well

i imagin itll continue for SC2

 

[KeithTalent]

Discussion of BT as a means of legal distribution (viability, likelihood, etc.) is more than ok, but anything that strays outside of that realm is not.

KT

 

[Inspector Jihad]

i used to do it, now i don't. i don't give a shit if you do or don't.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

im talking about pirating.... i just didnt want to make it completely obvious because i wasnt sure about the rules of posting on here.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Anubis
you can download all of WoW through the blizzard downloader which is a torrent, all patches and updates are done this was as well

i imagin itll continue for SC2

Maybe patches but certainly not the full game .

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: Anubis
you can download all of WoW through the blizzard downloader which is a torrent, all patches and updates are done this was as well

i imagin itll continue for SC2

Maybe patches but certainly not the full game .

why not? its a brainless way of distrobution, just need to purchase a licence key and go, yes many people have issues with not having physicial media but it still works + generally cheaper

 

[Continuity28]

Delete

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Anubis
why not? its a brainless way of distrobution, just need to purchase a licence key and go, yes many people have issues with not having physicial media but it still works + generally cheaper

WoW is fine because they don't care about the client. More machines with the client just makes it easier for account holders to log on in various different places. I.e. there's really no such thing as a crack for WoW, because there's nothing to crack. I mean, to play on illegal servers, all you do is change your realmlist file .

SC2 is a normal game overall and while they can white list the new B.NET, I doubt they will make their game readily available online as that removes the ability to have CD protection since you don't have an actual CD . That is unless Blizzard uses Steam (or something similar... maybe that's their idea for the new B.NET!) for online download support.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: Anubis
why not? its a brainless way of distrobution, just need to purchase a licence key and go, yes many people have issues with not having physicial media but it still works + generally cheaper

WoW is fine because they don't care about the client. More machines with the client just makes it easier for account holders to log on in various different places. I.e. there's really no such thing as a crack for WoW, because there's nothing to crack. I mean, to play on illegal servers, all you do is change your realmlist file .

SC2 is a normal game overall and while they can white list the new B.NET, I doubt they will make their game readily available online as that removes the ability to have CD protection since you don't have an actual CD . That is unless Blizzard uses Steam (or something similar... maybe that's their idea for the new B.NET!) for online download support.

yea thats what i was hinting twards

 

[AstroManLuca]

I used to pirate some games but after a while I noticed that the ones I played all the time were the ones I had legally purchased. Also, back then I was poor, but now I make a decent income so I can afford to get a few games a month.

Basically, if a game is worth playing, it's worth paying for. A lot of games out there are pretty blah and not worth much money... but if that's the case, why bother taking the time to pirate them either? Also, piracy pretty much locks you out of online play, and that's probably the best aspect of most PC games.

In short - buy your games, you will appreciate and enjoy them more, not to mention piracy is wrong.

 

[Maximilian]

Pirating an EA game - Deserves a pat on the head

Pirating another companys game - Deserves a clip round the ear! :frown:

Pirating a game from blizzard/relic/valve - Deserves to be hung drawn and quartered!!

 

[jdoggg12]

I have downloaded games via torrent... but only the ones i had already purchased and then subsequenty lost/destroyed the disk. So when it asks for a CD key, i enter my LEGIT information.

IMO i paid for the license to use the software, not for the disc....

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: Anubis
why not? its a brainless way of distrobution, just need to purchase a licence key and go, yes many people have issues with not having physicial media but it still works + generally cheaper

WoW is fine because they don't care about the client. More machines with the client just makes it easier for account holders to log on in various different places. I.e. there's really no such thing as a crack for WoW, because there's nothing to crack. I mean, to play on illegal servers, all you do is change your realmlist file .

SC2 is a normal game overall and while they can white list the new B.NET, I doubt they will make their game readily available online as that removes the ability to have CD protection since you don't have an actual CD . That is unless Blizzard uses Steam (or something similar... maybe that's their idea for the new B.NET!) for online download support.

yea thats what i was hinting twards

It won't be long until CD protection is pretty much obsolete anyways. That protection relies on the consumers who wish to pirate to be very stupid. While I realize that there are too many consumers which have no idea how to easily get around it right now, that is changing extremely fast. The younger generations are rising and spreading their knowledge at an exponential rate compared to when I was a teenager and I am only 26. I work for the school district and you would be shocked and appalled at what needs to be done to secure our networks from all of the students that have access to computers in classrooms or media centers. Likewise, the middle age and older generations are becoming much more adept when it comes to using the internet for knowledge and instruction.

While it might take some time for those in power to realize that CD protection will be obsolete soon, I can guarantee you that it will not be that long before we reach a point where the amount of piracy that takes place with CD protection will be really close to the same as if it was not there at all.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Xavier434
I work for the school district and you would be shocked and appalled at what needs to be done to secure our networks from all of the students that have access to computers in classrooms or media centers. Likewise, the middle age and older generations are becoming much more adept when it comes to using the internet for knowledge and instruction.

I always found ways around the security stuff in high school and college. Of course it helped that I was in the computer (lol nerd) club in high school and worked for the IT department in college .

They used a campus manager at college and the easiest way around it was to get someone else to authorize the MAC address on the card (i.e. use a PCI-based NIC card and have someone else register using it) and then just use it in your machine. This of course doesn't work for persistent manager solutions that some colleges ( and the one that I went to will be implementing ) have.

 

[duragezic]

I don't get what you want to know. Obviously it is illegal. What difference does a torrent make, as opposed to other p2p?

You may or may not use it? Ok, whatever you want.

I've always thought it was funny, well not funny really, when people post about the games they pirate, usually with excuses like they are too expensive to buy, when their sig lists a decked out expensive gaming rig.

 

[Canai]

Originally posted by: Soviet
Pirating an EA game just so you can delete the torrent when it finishes - Deserves a pat on the head

Pirating another companys game - Deserves a clip round the ear! :frown:

Pirating a game from blizzard/relic/valve - Deserves to be hung drawn and quartered!!

fixed

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: Xavier434
I work for the school district and you would be shocked and appalled at what needs to be done to secure our networks from all of the students that have access to computers in classrooms or media centers. Likewise, the middle age and older generations are becoming much more adept when it comes to using the internet for knowledge and instruction.

I always found ways around the security stuff in high school and college. Of course it helped that I was in the computer (lol nerd) club in high school and worked for the IT department in college .

They used a campus manager at college and the easiest way around it was to get someone else to authorize the MAC address on the card (i.e. use a PCI-based NIC card and have someone else register using it) and then just use it in your machine. This of course doesn't work for persistent manager solutions that some colleges ( and the one that I went to will be implementing ) have.

The difference now is that the knowledge is not limited to just the nerds. It is becoming common knowledge in that age bracket very quickly. They are growing up in an age where the idea of the internet not existing for everyday purposes is unspeakable. Even if most of them do not truly understand how or why some of the stuff they do works it doesn't matter because the social grapevine, the internet communities they participate in, and Google do all the thinking for them. More students at that age enjoy video games too and what teenage do not want them for free when their allowance doesn't cover all of those great hit titles that get released year after year?

Personally, I have a kid that is about to turn 5 and is learning how to read. I imagine that I will have to educate him about the rules of the road and proper etiquette when it comes to the internet by the time he hits 7....maybe even sooner. It's nuts.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Xavier434
Personally, I have a kid that is about to turn 5 and is learning how to read. I imagine that I will have to educate him about the rules of the road and proper etiquette when it comes to the internet by the time he hits 7....maybe even sooner. It's nuts.

I can see it now...

"4-Chan bad... World of Warcraft good!"

Or just show him that Steam forums flash video about proper posting etiquette.

EDIT:

Also, you can't forget that the simpletons just learn all the tricks from the nerds in promise to not give them daily wedgies.