Pirating games you own?

This might seem stupid, but hear me out.

Fallout 3 on Epic is 39 GiB, the reason for that huge size is you’re forced to download all the language packs, same story for Tomb Raider and FFXIII.

As someone with a monthly data limit of 140 Gib, and who has to share it with a family, these - unnecessary - download sizes are unacceptable and make me want - and plan - to pirate the game -which even though I didn’t play for I still legally own*- and only having to download 7 GiB.

I would’ve complained about disk space but you can just remove the extra languages conveniently located in saperate folders**.

This also applies to single player games with privacy-invasive DRM and usability-hurting DRM***, and for people who hate the idea of DRM in general.

*Own as a service and a using license.

**Unless you are tight on disk space and cannot fully download the game before removing the files.

**DOOM 2016 didn’t work on Linux duo to the DRM being incompatible with proton.

OboTheHobo,

The only argument for piracy being bad is that it is stealing because they lost a sale they would have otherwise gotten. You already bought the game. Therefore, there is no lost sale. There’s not a single moral argument against it now.

That being said, your ISP can’t tell the difference, so make sure you use a VPN (especially if torrenting)

MoogleMaestro,
MoogleMaestro avatar

People say use a vpn, but it seems to me like most vpns don't allow torrenting.

OboTheHobo,

As far as I know ow most paid VPNs allow it, a lot of free ones don’t. I can say from experience that Windscribe allows torrenting, although there is a 10gb limit per month on free accounts (there is a way to get around that tho)

sneezycat,
@sneezycat@sopuli.xyz avatar

And that argument is BS anyway, because there’s no such thing as “potential profit” even though companies say there is.

When I pirated the most games I had no money. If I didn’t pirate it, I’d go play on the street or whatever lol. Not going to buy what you literally can’t.

Same goes for denuvo and the “always online” for single player games crap. I’m not buying any games using those on principle.

OboTheHobo,

I don’t disagree, I only brought it up because it’s the only argument that holds any merit (even if little) and is made irrelevant in this case.

OboTheHobo,

I don’t disagree, I brought it up just because it’s the only argument against piracy that holds any merit at all )even if little) and is, in this case, completely irrelevant anyway.

DNAmaster10,

Additionally, many newer games use Denuvo which is known for making your games run slower. Sometimes the pirated copies not only take up less space, but also perform better.

Kolanaki,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

I got a ton of games on CD from years past; but I got no disc drive on my computer anymore, so I just pirate them instead of buying them again on Steam or GOG unless they have something new to make it worth buying (like an engine port or new features or whatever).

NaoPb,

If you have the codes with the cd you might be able to claim it on Steam. Doesn’t always work but I’m told it works for some games.

Kolanaki, (edited )
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

I think the only game I have tried that with that worked has been Oblivion and Shivering Isles. Some of them are so old, they don’t have any keys. Like Quake and Doom. But those were put in bundles and with updated engine ports and such a couple years ago on Steam and I got those. Like the entire pre-2016 Doom collection, plus some other games on the original engine for $5 total. Not a bad deal. Some of those games I didn’t actually already own, too, like Strife and Hexen 2. Always wanted Strife, but only had the shareware as a kid. Couldn’t beat that as a kid back then anyway; I only ever got through the entire thing pirating it in my 20’s at a time when it wasn’t able to be purchased anywhere.

NaoPb,

Now that you mention the older games you own. It might be worth it to make some backups in the form of iso’s or copies. In case they get disk rot at some point. I think some of them must be close to 30 years old now.

Funny you mention Strife. I never really knew about Strife until much later when I found out about it. I have played the shareware version of Heretic quite a lot. But what really fascinated me back then where the early Grand Theft Auto and Carmageddon games. I guess my interest for cars translated into my games as well. Since those are technically open world driving games beside other things.

HidingCat,

Oh yea, I used to do that when games were on discs, because sometimes the discs were slightly borked, or that the DRM with the discs were really annoying.

GrindingGears,

Sometimes you can’t even get them to run right on modern computers. Pirated versions usually have some sort of way of dealing with this, whereas the originals don’t.

marco,
@marco@beehaw.org avatar

On the other side of the spectrum: Older games that I own on CD-ROMs are much faster to pirate, download, and install than it would be to find the CD in the attic and then hunt for the USB CD Drive ;)

InterSynth, (edited )
@InterSynth@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

I pirate Switch games that I already own on Steam because double dipping is stupid.

LastOneStanding,

I don’t think you actually committed an act of piracy. Good for you, though. I’m still trying to figure out how to fit a 100GB game into my hard drive (SSD) without slowing my computer down. I, too, may turn to FitGirl for the answer. If my theoretical piracy isn’t piracy (because I bought the game plus DLC, just haven’t downloaded and installed) I don’t think your theoretical or alleged piracy is actual piracy, either. I have SO MANY issues with the username FitGirl, though. They could have figured out a name that wasn’t so sexist. I would have gone with SlimWare.

Evergreen5970,

As a person who isn’t too knowledgeable about the piracy scene, what’s sexist about “FitGirl”? Is there some story behind the username that makes it sexist in use? My outsider’s impression is that FitGirl is a woman who likes fitness, exercise, and releasing pirated stuff for people.

LastOneStanding,

Most people refer to FitGirl as a man. They assume FitGirl is a man or know it’s a man. I thought like you once the first time I saw repacks made by FitGirl. I was like, “Oh, cool! A woman into fitness and computer science!” I hope I was right and I hope your “outsider’s take” is right. I fear that this is not the case. Note that I fear this, I cannot confirm if FitGirl is a man or a woman myself since this person is not my next-door neighbor. I just have been around long enough to see how FitGirl is always referred to as a man. Since I’ve learned more, the idea, as far as I can tell, is that the software gets “slimmed down” and “de-bloated.” Perhaps you’ve heard the term “bloatware?” My understanding is that, if FitGirl is a man, he is referring to women who complain about bloating and he is referring to the “bloatware” that he reduces in size as a woman who has been relieved of the bloating. “Fit” here does not refer to exercise, but rather a body type which, in turn, metaphorically refers to reducing the size of “bloatware.” Anyway, that’s what I’ve been able to piece together over the years. Mind you, it’s an interpretation of mine. Who knows how far off the mark I am? Maybe someone who knows FitGirl personally can tell us more. Maybe she’s somebody’s gym buddy.

MadMenace,

Considering the incredible speed at which Fitgirl releases repacks, I’m inclined to believe it’s a team of people.

tuckerm,

I had to torrent SWAT 4 a few years ago to get a copy of it, even though I had paid for it. I bought it on Direct2Drive back when that looked like a good option for buying games long term. When Direct2Drive was purchased by GameFly, you suddenly had to download games from the GameFly client, and not all of Direct2Drive's catalog was available there. For the games that weren't available on GameFly, it would just show you your CD key.

Today they aren't owned by GameFly anymore, but SWAT 4 still isn't downloadable, it only shows your key. I finally bought it again on GOG a couple months ago when it was like $1. I almost didn't want to do it out of principle though, haha.

sludge,
@sludge@beehaw.org avatar

its def not stupid, legit sources are super inconvenient, like i forget account passwords all the time, and steam makes sharing yr games for multiplayer really hard. way easier to just go download a cracked copy

csolisr,

I had to do it once, kind of. Because of some inane reason, a version of Capcom Beat Em Up Bundle I got for Steam was not working in my country unless I used a VPN, so guess what, I had to download a cracked version of the launcher to bypass the georestriction - the “fix” wasn’t published until almost FOUR YEARS AFTER RELEASE

csolisr,

Also: I like to purchase games in the Nintendo eShop, dump them, then run them at full speed and resolution via Yuzu - best of both worlds and the developers do get paid for the hassle

Tango,

I do it all the time, mostly because of the DRM shenanigans you mentioned.

Also ripping ROMs from consoles is usually a pain in the ass compared to just downloading them, so I always pirate those, even if I own the game.

Rentlar,

Is it piracy to do that? I’d argue no.

Is it illegal? Possibly, but it’s a grey area and it all depends on your country whether it breaks the law.

(I am not a lawyer so take this as an armchair opinion at most) In Canada, you are allowed to do “format conversion” of media for personal and archival use. So even if on the label it says “Copying this tape is a crime”, making a copy to replace an older tape nearing the end of its life (implying you don’t intend to use it), converting it to CD or digital file format is allowed in order to play the media in respective devices built for the formats. So it’s arguable that conversions/changes to be compatible with Linux or a low-disk space computer could fall under this, for a game which you have a license/genuine copy.

The caveat is that in Canada breaking or circumventing “digital locks” is strictly against the law. The overall definition of what constitutes a digital lock is (to me) very broad and vague. So DRM-removal would arguably fall under digital lock circumvention, but other cases would be less clear.

Legislation is in the House of Commons right now (Bill C-244) to better define in what cases circumvention of locks would be permitted for fair and reasonable use of a product.

dmalteseknight,
@dmalteseknight@programming.dev avatar

If I’m not mistaken with digital download games you are paying to lease them rather than buying them outright. So technically you don’t own the game, you are just borrowing it. This would make pirating the same game you bought more of an illegal act.

Rentlar,

(Again I’m not an expert) With the Steam Subscriber Agreement it’s effectively a purchase of a perpetual/indefinite license to non-commercial use of a game. But purchasing a DVD is, arguably, the same thing, you are given indefinite license to view the video non-commercially in a home setting. What difference does it make between a game on your hard drive and a movie on a disc?

By my moral standard, games with Steamworks bypassed by something like Goldberg is functionally equivalent to DVD decryption. It’s my opinion that the continued access to social and internet connected features like Friends list, Workshop, Matchmaking, Redownloading games, Cloud Save Backups is contingent on accepting and adhering to your agreement with Valve and/or the server hosting the matchmacking service. That’s why I’m very much against always online type of DRMs for single player games.

Imagine having a pool in your backyard, but the pool installers have to permit and supervise you while you use it. For a public pool it would make sense to be supervised for everyone’s safety to ensure no one’s messing around, but for your own pool it doesn’t.

dawnerd,

I’m fine with it, wasn’t fallout 3 on GOG at some point? You can download those fairly safely. I don’t see it as piracy if you already own the game or a license to the game.

loops,

DOOM 2016 didn’t work on Linux duo to the DRM being incompatible with proton.

What’s really stupid about that is the devs don’t have to do any extra work to make it compatible, all they have to do is check a box saying they’d like it to work with proton.

EmDash,

My understanding is that this is illegal under US law. It is, however, completely ethical.

belated_frog_pants,

Slavery used to be legal under US law. Breaking unjust laws is praxis and human

bblfrnz,

I’m not from the US (and lots of people here either), so, we just don’t give a damn about the US law.

artic,

i really dont about the law regardless of country

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