galciv has been pirated:(

Hopefully most people will take a pass on it since they won't be able to get any of the updates and bonus packs.


~SDC~

Well, I am sure that the fan base that was already inclined to buy the game will do so.

Those that would pirate the game might be convinced to purchase it due to future support/hard work.

And if not, they probably wouldn't have bought it anyways.

I don't think it really impacts those who are actual consumers.

Sure it can. Most people have a rather limited budget for entertainment, I'd figure, so some would rip off Galactic Civilizations and use the money to buy other stuff instead. A free supply affects how much people are willing to pay, after all.

Unfortunately, it's always going to happen. Maybe some of them will get the game for free and like it well enough to buy it when otherwise they might not have...especially if the bonus content becomes significant.

Or will they just be able to pirate the bonus content too?

--Soulfire

seeing as many people don't have the game, isn't it quite positive to narrow it down to all the people that have it currently?

I mean, frogboy said they didn't give it out to too many people (it was only a gamma network test). I think it could be fairly easy to see who did it and discourage it. I could understand if it was the 26th, but it's not.

I would hope that those that buy pirated copies (unwittingly, of course) get together and press fraud charges against the pirate. They are not getting their money's worth.

And if you think about the list of beta testers, the number of opportunities is well over 200. You don't need the CD to make a pirated copy.

~SDC~

egervari, it should be easy to track down who did it by serial number. I hope Brad will take care of this quickly

do they encode the serial number into a file on the cd? If the pirated doesn't give away the serial, it won't matter much.

what group managed to release it this time anyway?

the only reason I ask is because that would narrow down the search There aren't many suppliers nowadays.

too bad. it's a shame

WHAT? Pirated!? Where did you find it??

it's everywhere now. It took me 10 minutes to find that link just browsing.

And is it the Final release or an earlier?

dunno.

We downloaded it. It was beta 5. 2 months old. I would strongly advise anyone who comes across a pirated copy not use it and certainly not try to use any pirated serial #s with Stardock Central. A lot of our users live on IRC and so are able to find and report pirated serial #s for our software which we then put into our database.



~SDC~

These retards even gave away the cd-key.. haha. I guess it's pretty easy to flag that person. They even recommend the downloaders to try and play on metaverse. They are just asking for trouble I think.

I just talked to Stardock and they are already aware of two pirated copies, both with bogus serial numbers and one with no movies.

~SDC~

The version released by "FairLight" claims to be the full version PLUS the bonus material that is going to be released on the 26th. Is that the one that turned out to be the beta?

I would appreciate it if the forum moderator would delete that link above.
Yes it is always inevitable.
While researching a charactor for my novel I got into some of the for lack of a better term, quality warez sites. I found that most of these people spent all their time cracking and downloading and collecting the games. They never would of bought because they never really play the games. Their game is stealing. I am no saint myself. I own Warcraft III, and just tapped the dusty old disk it'self. But have long since installed a file so I do not have to insert the disk, risking breaking, scratching etc. Like all things in life this is complicated. Just as I modify my computer system I modify my programs to be convienient for myself. I don't personally know anyone that steals games or uses such devices to play them without paying for them, of course I don't really want to know them. And I hope Brad's marketing strategy is very effective against pirateing. I had expressed a desire that Starrdock always make updates in an archival form like zip, so 56kers and those with no Internet access like I will soon be, (SSI disability reciepient loosing medicine coverage, Thanks Bush), could get their updates from a friends Internet connection. But seeing that link makes me sick. If it would help, from my personal opinion, if he makes future updates only work as installing into the game directory, fine, I'll go to the inconvience of packing up the old beast to a friends house or string a phone line to a neighbor. Anything to support this business model.

~SDC~

Sad, so very sad that people opt to not support such hard work and faithful support as Brad and company have given and promised.

I do hope you find the pirate and can stop it from happening in the future if possible.

Maybe that means we should consider buying 2 copies each and giving one as a gift!

Should I give you my birthdate!!!!

Toothy

Yes. And to put it another way, the bonus material hasn't been finished yet. So apparently they have a time machine...

Ironicaly, to play on the metaverse, one must enter in a valid email address.

~SDC~

Frogboy -

I imagine you guys have been through this before and expect a couple of Beta Testers to go rogue on you and different versions to leak out. Are preventative measures in place beforehand to help catch guilty parties or do you have to ferret them out as they pop up? Or maybe it is just a part of the deal and you try not to pop a vein in your neck stressing about it?

Thanks

You'll always have piracy.

But piracy is inconvenient and particularly inconvenient here. They won't be able to get updates for instance which is a big part of our effort.

Obviously we are hoping that piracy is limited, each sale we lose to piracy definitely affects us. That said, I tend to think piracy is overstated. WindowBlinds, our most popular product, is heavily pirated but its sales remain very strong.

My only concern is fromthe 2 distributions I've seen is that they are pretty bastardized. Missing cut scenes and other content, etc. It makes the game look bad. Or at least not as good as the real thing. I must say though, pretty funny for anyone to claim they're pirating the bonuspak features. I know I could really use that, then I could take a couple days off.

~SDC~