this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
60 points (100.0% liked)

Gaming

30541 readers
431 users here now

From video gaming to card games and stuff in between, if it's gaming you can probably discuss it here!

Please Note: Gaming memes are permitted to be posted on Meme Mondays, but will otherwise be removed in an effort to allow other discussions to take place.

See also Gaming's sister community Tabletop Gaming.


This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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.

all 39 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zone 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I would say that's not pirating from an ethical perspective. If it's actually legal with current laws may be another story.

My viewpoint is I've paid for the right to play the game, where I get it from doesn't matter.

[–] Haui@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 1 year ago

You hit the nail on the head. We really need more ethics and less laws in our lives (or the laws must be more ethical).

[–] EmDash@beehaw.org 20 points 1 year ago

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

[–] Thalestr@beehaw.org 15 points 1 year ago

7gb inflated to nearly 40gb. That's absolutely absurd holy crap

[–] OboTheHobo@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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)

[–] sneezycat@sopuli.xyz 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

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@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

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@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] MoogleMaestro@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

[–] OboTheHobo@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

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)

[–] InterSynth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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

[–] HidingCat@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] dandroid@dandroid.app 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't think there is any moral issue with pirating games that you have paid for. You paid the developers for their time. Now you want to use the product you paid for in a way that fits your needs.

[–] averyminya@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

It's effectively format shifting

[–] tunetardis@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I hate capped internet accounts. As the dad, I'd have to police the kids especially not to blow the monthly cap, and eventually I switched to a lower bandwidth but unlimited option and there was finally peace in the family.

[–] SnowBunting@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How much more did that cost? And did the kids notice the drop in bandwidth?

[–] tunetardis@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't remember it costing much more and the kids seemed relieved to not incur my wrath on a monthly basis. And not long after, my ISP increased the speeds on all accounts, so it more or less got us back to where we had been anyway.

Incidentally, if you've been with a particular ISP for years, it's worth talking to a person when you change your account. They may have some discretionary power to give you say an introductory rate on a better plan to reward your loyalty?

[–] SnowBunting@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Really? Thank you for the in person tip. I'll try that the next time I go in.

[–] sludge@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago

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

[–] liminis@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

Even if you're excessively concerned with morality and what people think of you, the only people realistically going to kick up a fuss about "pirating" games one already owns are Nintendo's lawyers.

[–] LastOneStanding@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

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

[–] tuckerm@supermeter.social 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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.

[–] DNAmaster10@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] loops@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

(See my Beehaw comment for the full detail)

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.

[–] csolisr@communities.azkware.net 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

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

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 2 points 1 year ago

I often pirate old games I own because I'm too lazy to go find the disc. Although at least for Gothic I went to find my old disc anyways because the version I downloaded was missing the In Extremo concert.

And I pirated Sims 4 because of some DRM stuff, can't remember the exact issue. But let that sink in, I had to pirate a game that is literally free.

[–] PenguinTD@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Depending which country you lived in, there is legal consequence for getting stuff from unauthorized source, there are a couple ways to work around your data cap.

Legally:

  1. get a external USB3 SSD portable
  2. download using internet not capped, ie. your friend or library, mall, etc(remember to limit the data rate so you blend into ambient youtube/streaming traffic) Referencen: Scrolldown for a chart and use 720p/1080p as your rate limit
  3. hook up back to your PC and move the game to different local SSD folder.

Shady, really not recommended because of point 3:

  1. look up your local law regarding P2P like torrent AND VPN. (well, not every country consider VPN legal.)
  2. Make sure you know how internet works, protect yourself/identity. Pick a good VPN provider, make sure they have their own or use good privacy policy DNS, pick a good torrent client that supports magnet link and encryption and choose "forced" option. (means you don't download/upload to client that have encryption turned off. ) And set you seeding cap, (I don't blame you if you choose to not seed cause data cap is real.)
  3. Last but not least, pirated game, like any pirated softwares, are exposing you to malware/virus/randomware, etc. They can hide in any possible files you downloaded cause you don't know what else they touched this entire thing to work. So sandbox your environment or playing on low overhead VMs might be necessary.

And, when you can, move somewhere that have good ISP that have no data cap.

[–] Doods@infosec.pub 2 points 1 year ago

As someone who has pirated many games, and who lives in a 3rd world country that barely cares about most minor physical crimes, I am not worried in the slightest.

everything after this point is closer to a rant and unrelated.

minor includes, but isn't limited to: corruption, driving opposite side, hitting someone with your car as long as they don't get seriously hurt (It happened in front of me once and it was kinda funny to be honest, the man got hit and kinda slept on the hood), damaging public property, blocking the sidewalks with your shop, Using a drill to draw a heart on the middle of the street to celebrate your marriage, blasting music hearable 3 blocks away several hours a day, and 12-year-olds driving cars

Piracy is 100% unpunishable where I live. (also atleast 90% of the population doesn't know that software - aside of no-body-uses Google play apps - costs money, including Windows 7 and office 2010*)

*This is why I cannot share .odt Libre Office files.

[–] EvaUnit02@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just to try the stave off an inquisition against multi-lingual support, the extreme filesize isn't because you're downloading different "language packs". The extreme filesize is because, for whatever reason, they decided to package up five entirely seperate copies of the game in five different languages. You are, in fact, downloading Fallout 3 in its entirety five times.

[–] Doods@infosec.pub 1 points 1 year ago

This is believeable as tomb raider only went from 12 to 20 something, and FFXIII changes cutscenes so mouths match spoken language, even though there's only Japanese and English.