Valve > Pirates

[john121]

once again valve has broken new ground against pirates. I feel that pirates are the ones why games cost 50+ U.S. dollars a piece. If I knew of anyone that was pirating HL2, I would turn them in, simply because they're stealing something I've bought legally. Why should someone else be able to get something for free when I had to pay for it? (short of them buying it for someone for a birthday, anniversary (imagine! a wife buying HL2 for their husband) or whatnot. Everyone, turn in anyone who is pirating HL2!!

 

[Dragoro]

Everytime i see someone post a link to a warez copy of hl2, i send the link to Gabe using his email address at the valve software site.

 

[MaverickUK]

Haha! Stupid people. Half-Life 2 is only like £25 in the UK.

 

[Joy_Decoy]

Everytime i see someone post a link to a warez copy of hl2, i send the link to Gabe using his email address at the valve software site.

awww, so cute ^_^

 

[Gorgon]

Haha! Stupid people. Half-Life 2 is only like £25 in the UK.

I bought it for £35
:O

Yeah valve,

 

[Rellik Restam]

Pathetic!!!!!!!

once again valve has broken new ground against pirates. I feel that pirates are the ones why games cost 50+ U.S. dollars a piece. If I knew of anyone that was pirating HL2, I would turn them in, simply because they're stealing something I've bought legally. Why should someone else be able to get something for free when I had to pay for it? (short of them buying it for someone for a birthday, anniversary (imagine! a wife buying HL2 for their husband) or whatnot. Everyone, turn in anyone who is pirating HL2!!

Everytime i see someone post a link to a warez copy of hl2, i send the link to Gabe using his email address at the valve software site.

Listen women 1.Get a life! 2. Stop being a passive agressive snitch. 3. Do humanity a favor and never ever breed. It's pathtic people like you that truly bring humanity down to its (Why should they have something I dont WA WA WA!) most disgusting level.

I purchased half life 2. If someone wants to take the time to get it for free good for them. Wake up Valve is just as curropt as the people who steal from them.. Gabe is an immoral uneducated joke of a company president. I could go on and on but I just had to post becuase the two of you make me sick.

 

[conquistador69]

I had such a ****ed up time with installation, even being an honest buyer I WANT to see them taken down.....mostly for my amusement and their comuppence!

Exactly. The honest buyers are caught in the crossfire between the money people and the pirates. I magine even the developers themselves are victims of the whole shooting match. First came Safedisc 3, which refuses to work on systems with some blacklisted software, and which sometimes requires the user to go buy a new CD or DVD drive. Then hot on its heels comes Steam, a worse form of activation and verification than Microsoft's. Now we're expected to ask permission to use what we already bought. It's no wonder some otherwise honest people get so ticked off that they're willing to go over to the dark side, when it comes to things like these.

 

[MaverickUK]

I bought it for £35
:O

Yeah valve,

Hmm. On www.play.com it is £25 for the normal one last time I checked. I haven't been in a games shop since the release of Half-Life 2 though. I bought on steam. £33 for Silver .

 

[MrWynd]

valve's best bet for stopping hte non steam cracked version is to send out corrupt versions across the various p2p programs. make the files as big as the real cracks, but with flaws so they're wasting their time.

 

[Dragoro]

Listen women 1.Get a life! 2. Stop being a passive agressive snitch. 3. Do humanity a favor and never ever breed. It's pathtic people like you that truly bring humanity down to its (Why should they have something I dont WA WA WA!) most disgusting level.

I purchased half life 2. If someone wants to take the time to get it for free good for them. Wake up Valve is just as curropt as the people who steal from them.. Gabe is an immoral uneducated joke of a company president. I could go on and on but I just had to post becuase the two of you make me sick.

From the sounds of it, you wouldnt have a clue what morals are.

 

[The Mullinator]

Listen woman 1.Get a life! 2. Stop being a passive agressive snitch. 3. Do humanity a favor and never ever breed. It's pathtic people like you that truly bring humanity down to its (Why should they have something I dont WA WA WA!) most disgusting level.

I purchased half life 2. If someone wants to take the time to get it for free good for them. Wake up Valve is just as curropt as the people who steal from them.. Gabe is an immoral uneducated joke of a company president. I could go on and on but I just had to post becuase the two of you above me make me sick.

Ya you are obviously a very nice and understanding person.

Last I checked you most likely don't lead a major game development company. You probably don't even work in the software industry. Now if Valve is immoral for trying to stop piracy then I am sorry but you should then realize that ALL major software development and publishing companies out there are also corrupt by your reasoning that most people here including myself will feel is 100% flawed.

By the way, if you want people to believe your opinion (you should also realize that all you stated is your opinion and it is something most people would disagree with) then its not a smart idea to insult everyone who disagrees with you.

Learn to debate, it will help you alot in life.

 

[MaverickUK]

If these people want HL2 so bad then buy the game register it then take it back saying it is faulty or something alot easier seing as you don't need the disc to play anyway.

Oh and Rellik Restam your praising Pirates? Seems you are the moron who should never breed.

 

[Absinthe]

Listen women 1.Get a life! 2. Stop being a passive agressive snitch. 3. Do humanity a favor and never ever breed. It's pathtic people like you that truly bring humanity down to its (Why should they have something I dont WA WA WA!) most disgusting level.

And I suppose that a world of thieves and apathy would somehow be better? Get real.

The rest of your post is just insulting drivel thrown at Valve. Not worth much commenting.

 

[Alig]

Why the hell does it matter to you if Valve is loosing money? FFS grow up...its not your business, its not your money and it isn't your game and last but not least, do you think Valve will send you a gift or something so you can pose in a HL2 t-shirt

@ Dragoro and john121 - Please do take pictures of your music directory, your <insert music player> playlist and proove your both just Valve suck up good for nothing bell sniffs. Grassing isn't the way forward and irl does'nt pay off so don't teach it to your kids...they will end up bully victims in school if you do.

Infact i'd be very ****ing surprised if there is one person on here that has a full music library of legit music.

Edit/ Oh and for the books stealing a 10p chocolate bar is no different than stealing a £10'000 car. Stealing is Stealing just the same as downloading that favourite music track of yours is the same as someone downloading your beloved HL2 *note* that isn't actually yours.

 

[JPack]

It will still connect to Steam. Most of the people who tried the infamous ATI key method connected to Steam and hence were disabled.

 

[Absinthe]

Why the hell does it matter to you if Valve is loosing money?

I'd like them to exist so that they can make more games.

 

[Alig]

I'd like them to exist so that they can make more games.

They always will exsist unless they go bankrupt through other means. Also since when was that person that pirated X game gunna buy the game anyway?, so you could say they lost nothing because no one knows if that person ever intended on buying the game to start with...

 

[Dragoro]

Why the hell does it matter to you if Valve is loosing money? FFS grow up...its not your business, its not your money and it isn't your game and last but not least, do you think Valve will send you a gift or something so you can pose in a HL2 t-shirt

@ Dragoro and john121 - Please do take pictures of your music directory, your <insert music player> playlist and proove your both just Valve suck up good for nothing bell sniffs. Grassing isn't the way forward and irl does'nt pay off so don't teach it to your kids...they will end up bully victims in school if you do.

Infact i'd be very ****ing surprised if there is one person on here that has a full music library of legit music.

Edit/ Oh and for the books stealing a 10p chocolate bar is no different than stealing a £10'000 car. Stealing is Stealing just the same as downloading that favourite music track of yours is the same as someone downloading your beloved HL2 *note* that isn't actually yours.

Your a thief and have a guilty conscience. Thats not my fault nor my problem. I dont steal music, I dont steal movies, and I dont steal games. Dont like me turning in thieves? Tough shit.

 

[jacen]

valve's best bet for stopping hte non steam cracked version is to send out corrupt versions across the various p2p programs. make the files as big as the real cracks, but with flaws so they're wasting their time.

sry to dissapoint you, but most of the p2p platforms have some sort of direct or indirect rating system.
and there are always the relases on the iso and nfo sites.
no way that valve could fake this ... would be VERY much work for them.

 

[conquistador69]

If the AXPi version works as advertised, then there are at least two versions out there on the P2P nets which work without Steam, or even an internet connection.

It's very easy to see if an app is trying to phone home anyway, with a decent firewall. Kerio Personal Firewall 2.xx, for instance, will pop up a box giving you the details of any app not in its rules set (e.g., any newly installed program) which is trying to generate network traffic. Then it asks you to permit or deny, and you can make your choice a rule KPF will always follow in the future.

So what has Valve thwarted with Steam? Nothing. Multiplayer was already covered, since clearly a net connection and valid key are required to play on public servers. The only thing it might have thwarted is single-player piracy. Guess what? It didn't. It cost VAlve all kinds of time, effort, and customer goodwill, and it got them nothing in return. That's dumb and fruitless.

 

[Intamin]

They always will exsist unless they go bankrupt through other means. Also since when was that person that pirated X game gunna buy the game anyway?, so you could say they lost nothing because no one knows if that person ever intended on buying the game to start with...

Intent is a futile argument. Try using something of the least bit of worth to this discussion (and your rant, as well). Whether or not the intent is there is just a red herring to the fact that they have stolen the game and have, in essence and in a fully logical and tangible way, costed Valve money.

If they go bankrupt, that means they no longer have enough money to continue their work. If they received all the money for each game stolen, they would have that much more to continue their work. Every dollar prolongs their existance.

I'll be waiting for your next mindless rant, until then...

 

[emCee-ig]

fanboys, sigh

valve stopped about 100 pirates.. ya , piracy is bad, but its unstoppable, the day halflife2 came out, i saw a torrent up, i looked at the tracker info on it, over 10,000 people leeching and over 1000 completed downloads.

it doesnt have AI, you cant connect to steam

ive heard it comes with a patch where all you do is run a small file, witch patches a dll, then start the game, the game will say ai_disabled, just type ai_disabled 0, or modify your autoexec.cfg file to resolve that

it emulates steam, this means you cant play CS source, but thats ok...

dont believe the propaganda, it is being pirated as we speak

nothing we can do about it, good for valve for stopping that leak, it was dumb of the person who found that exploit to release it

o well, im back to ravenholm on my legit store bought dvd

 

[Expansion Pack]

Well i bought the silver pack through steam and all i seem to have got for my money and doing the right thing is a very unstable game that falls over at random intervals, coupled to a delivery system that seems intent on forcing my blood presure through the roof with its inability to do a simple thing like activate the game within my life time or actually have 100% of the game downloaded when it says its 100% done,only for me to start said game,have it freeze the entire PC,hard rest then on restart see that its ony 91% Downloaded......Or just play a game without having to become a programmer and solve the problem.......
Its just a joke what some legitimate buyers of HL2 are going through just to play the bloody game and the silence from valve and their so called support is deafening....

Am i sorry i parted my hard cash to steam......Damn right......
If piracy is making it eaiser to play the game for pirate versions than it is for some legitamate buyers to play the game then the fault lies at the game makers feet......If they dont do something to fix the game i might as well just get a bloody pirate version so i can play through the game at least once....

 

[Alig]

This is the internet man, things are uploaded here to be taken for free. Get over it, no one will like you if your a grass in the long run. Valve might send a "thanks" email or something but they will still ban you from steam if your caught cheating. My point is, who exactly benefits from it? you, valve or no one?. I think no one and your the least beneficial and you did all the running around.

I robbed the Bank of England in Warrington last night but please dont tell on me!...Oh yeah, and on the way back i went on a mass murder killing spree, my clothes are in the local tip in a black bag marked "don't open this" and the police number for my local station is 01925 826626 have fun.

 

[Dragoro]

^^^^^^


Clueless. The thieves wont like me? Im heartbroken. What ever shall I do?

 

[Dead-Inside]

You might think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

Unless it says somewhere in the liecense agreement that VALVe can scan and check your harddrive (Apart from the Valve cataloge), they're breaking the law. Sue them.

 

[Alig]

Intent is a futile argument. Try using something of the least bit of worth to this discussion (and your rant, as well). Whether or not the intent is there is just a red herring to the fact that they have stolen the game and have, in essence and in a fully logical and tangible way, costed Valve money.

If they go bankrupt, that means they no longer have enough money to continue their work. If they received all the money for each game stolen, they would have that much more to continue their work. Every dollar prolongs their existance.

I'll be waiting for your next mindless rant, until then...

First off all i ain't ranting and secondly pirated games are not stolen directly from a shop, it tracks right down to one, real life, legit, payed for £30 copy of the game thats duplicated onto many HDD's around the globe so Valve made all the money they can from the copied one. And again, you don't know if person A ever intended to buy the game so Valve didn't loose money and they didn't make money either.

E.G If i downloaded a game i never wanted to play or intended to buy did anyone loose or make money? no. Exactly.

 

[Dragoro]

You can try and justify it all you want, your still a thief.

 

[otomo]

Only the retards who tried the cd key got banned not those who downloaded the Emporio releases.

 

[heroin]

man,

I downloaded CS:S before it was released and played on it until something happened to it; like Valve caught on to the "crack", I didn't care much, I actually am sick of CS but wanted to see the engine working and how CS looked after it was redeveloped.

Then I bought Half-life 2 like I intended the day after release (payday). My account better not be disabled when I get home.

Anyways, I don't agree with any of this regardless of if my account is disabled. "Pirating" is actually a good way to get more people into the game enough to want to buy it for themselves... but that's my own opinion. If this game weren't Half-life 2, a game that doesn't need the extra hype - then a leaked version would have worked for the better of their sales, but again HL2 doesn't need that publicity.

It's just like MP3's folks. People download free and then go out and buy it if they like it. Maybe there is an exception with the 12-18 audience who are unemployed or lazy. But it's actually making a much better artistic and creative music climate but some people don't like the idea of free information.

A good example is the band Wilco. They were dropped from their label before the release, then they put their album out there for free. Signed a new contract with another record label and hit #1 on college charts due to the support of all of their new fans. The fans that downloaded the whole album for free. Wilco is rich now, they have a documentary out, and another album since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

It used to be that everyone "pirated", taped tapes, etc -- people buyed what they liked and supported. These days they don't care if you support it or like it, if you buy it and don't like it -- too bad. It's a bad philosophy. America is just full of bad, extremely greedy capitalism. But, again this IS HL2... everyone knows it is worth purchasing. But still....

I still support Steam, not the anti-piracy use of it, but the use of it as a content tool for indie developers. I feel sorry that they spent $40,000,000 on this game and they are using tough-handed tactics because of it. I'm sure they will recoup their costs and more regardless of the way they handle their fans(and pirates).

This is all coming from someone who paid the $60 for a game with terrible packaging and documentation (hey they MUST have saved a lot of money in this area), who loves Half-life 2 and Counter-Strike (and Valve) - but who hates the idea of spending more money for the mods and their crappy use of Steam.

 

[Alig]

You can try and justify it all you want, your still a thief.

I'm not justifying nothing you bafoon. And who cares if i was a thief? do you? yes. Does any normal person with a real life to keep check on? no. Oh the joys of the internet ...so many places to hide and be safe. I'd like to see you take that attitude face to face with a criminal. I don't think you'd have much of a face to be face to face with someone again....

 

[Dragoro]

LOL a keyboard bad arse. Get real and get a life. You think its ok to steal as long you dont get caught. Go get some morals. As far as me running into a real life criminal, my bet is your well on your way to meeting a whole bunch of em in jail.

 

[Fallout2man]

You can try and justify it all you want, your still a thief.

Incorrect, the proper term for the crime would be copyright infringement. And now I shall tell you why.

Theft, or more appropriately larceny, is the intent of taking one's personal property and depriving the owner. Now, when I go to a store and steal a TV, or go to someone's house and steal a piece of furniture, I have deprived the owner.

They can no longer use that furniture, the store can no longer sell that TV. They've lost a real, tangible good with an actual value attached to it.

In the case of downloading a song, movie, or game, it's entirely different. Copyright infringement does not deprive one of personal property as larceny does. But rather, it infringes on a person or corporation's temporarily granted, limited monopoly, on an idea/concept and its ability to control [bold]copy[/bold] or ask money for it.

When you download you are violating their assumed right to dictate the terms with which you use their ideas. However you are not depriving them of anything. An idea has no real value, just an assumed value a corporation attaches to it.

Some like to say you're depriving them of the right to make money, however that's not true as nothing is stopping them from making money. You have not said you will not buy a copy (and many pirates sometimes do buy what they download, as they download to test its viability before spending money) as well, the idea that anyone who downloads would've bought a copy were the download not available is a ridiculous assumption. Similarly you are not denying anyone else the right to buy a copy, as you would by stealing a TV from a store.

So yes, legally and ethically there are very large worlds of difference between the two concepts. And trying to lump it all together as one thing is just a silly PR tactic to try and demonize the opposition so as to make themselves look more like victims.

 

[Blublu]

Hmm, as a legit customer, I must say the pirate version is looking very attractive right now. No Steam? Wow, that's awesome. No DVD required? That's even more awesome. From what I can tell, the pirate version is actually better than the official legit version.

And yeah, I agree that the packaging sucked ass. There was absolutely NOTHING in the package except the DVD, and a tiny crappy little leaflet. I must say, the legit version doesn't seem to have ANYTHING over the pirate version...

 

[Absinthe]

I'm not justifying nothing you bafoon. And who cares if i was a thief? do you? yes. Does any normal person with a real life to keep check on? no. Oh the joys of the internet ...so many places to hide and be safe. I'd like to see you take that attitude face to face with a criminal. I don't think you'd have much of a face to be face to face with someone again....

What the **** is this? Some stupid testosterone contest?

You obtain an illegal copy. You cost Valve some money. Even if YOU never intended to go out and buy the game, there are many that will illegally obtain a copy of it for that sole purpose.

I'm not going to lambast somebody for doing such a thing, seeing as how I have a hard drive full of MP3's. But, Jesus Christ, accept what it is that you're doing.

This is the internet man, things are uploaded here to be taken for free.

... Huh? How exactly does this work?

 

[Dragoro]

Nope, its still stealing. Its just theft of intellectual property instead of physical property. Theft is theft. And there is no difference, ethically. Thats just another way for people to justify it so they dont feel bad. In the end, its a load of BS.

 

[Blublu]

Trying to argue with someone who thinks copyright infringement is stealing is like trying to argue with a religious zealot about god. It's not going to change anything, it will just make everyone more angry. So you might as well stop trying.

Yeah, copyright infringement is illegal and all that, but so is driving above the speed limit, etc...

 

[Dragoro]

More justification to make one feel better about stealing.

 

[Trebaruna]

More justification to make one feel better about stealing.

You would help yourself by defining "stealing". The denial of theft in the legal sense has yet to be rivaled.

Now I'm not saying pirating is legal, but it just isn't stealing.

 

[Blublu]

Trying to argue with someone who thinks copyright infringement is stealing is like trying to argue with a religious zealot about god....

More justification to make one feel better about stealing.

Thank you for making my point.