What Did Mark Say?RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/116223003573492128
Sounds like a you problem, not a me problem, Amazon.
Robert [KJ5ELX] 
Meanwhile torrents are free.
Kevin Karhan 
@FuturisticRobert @whatdidmarksay and #Gaben's Wisdom strikes again:
Piracy is a Service Problem, not a Pricing Problem!
Gabe Newell on Video Game Piracy (Full Version, HQ) (2009)
Third spruce tree on the left@kkarhan @FuturisticRobert @whatdidmarksay
100% this. Steam makes it dirt simple to get my shit, and I get to KEEP my shit. Therefore, I have no problem buy shit on Steam.
@tezoatlipoca @FuturisticRobert @whatdidmarksay whilst you legally don't "own" content on #Steam, they at least don't steal peoples' games out of their library just because a title got delisted.
- And besides, Steam turned their #DRM into a convenient option for #Gamers by adding new features like #SteamCloud to sync #Savegames and #Settings to the point that all it's users need to switch devices are their login credentials and enough space to potentially (re-)download games.
- Compared to all the bullshit re: "activations" with games in the 2000s, #Valve deservedly monopolized the market because none of the #competitiors tried to be better for the #customer!
They just know that people want a frictionless experience and that the features they deliver is a better deal than #piracy, because treating a paying customer with respect and dignity instead of suspicion and anger is more welcoming.
- Or to pull an analogy from meatspace: You certainly wouldn't shop at a place where instore security are constantly breathing down your neck wanting to pepperspray you the moment they suspect you from not putting an item into neither shopping cart nor back in the shelves and demanding you to undress naked whilst they get to fumble with your clothes to see if you troed to shoplift!?
- Of course not, you'd propably go out of your way to never even enter said store's premises because that's fuckin' creepy af!
Sony Steals Customers' Purchased Content - Piracy is COMPLETELY JUSTIFIED!
@tezoatlipoca @FuturisticRobert @whatdidmarksay So for the most part, people genuinely want to pay for good stuff, they just want to be confident that they get what they asked and paid for.
- In fact, Valve even has provisions in place for the unlikely case that they were to fold, with insurance in place to at least provide people DRM-free downloads of their library and backups for a time.
- By contrast: I'm pretty shure everyone who blew money on #UbisoftQuartz got 100% shafted…
And that's how a (non-public) corporation gets loved by it's customers: By not being an asshole!
- But apparently that's too much to ask from #EA, #Ubisoft or even #EpicGames, who (despite having the ability to change it!) actively choose to disregard said lessions and be openly hostile towards paying #Gamers, espechally those #LinuxGamers.
- Not that #Valve are #OpenSource champions, far from it. They merely knew with #Windows8Bing & #Windows10S that neither #Microsoft nor #Apple are their "friends" or "allies" and that they need to be independent from both if they want to survive.
In the end, not #Steam is deciding if, where and when someone buys a #Game, but they shure as hell know how to be a nice store people enjoy to shop and browse...
How Steam Became The Only Good Monopoly In Existence
F3715H@kkarhan @FuturisticRobert @whatdidmarksay true, true...
I too just wanted to get #CyberSix and the only option I saw was @internetarchive or #BitTorrent of some #BDrip...
- Cuz I got neither Credit Card nor PayPal and thus can't order one from overseas... Unlike you...
Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])
@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] in fact, I'd go out of my way that the only cases where I've seen people pirate stuff is when they couldn't get a legal copy (or even afford it)… - There are literally #shows like #WestWorld where the greedy corporation (#HBO) decided to break the *unspoken social contract of the #MovieIndustry* and shaft the entire crew by #delisting it and thus not having to payout any #residuals to cast and crew. - obviously that too means you can't just buy a box of (#4K) #bluray|s with it on. Not to mention the whole fuckup of #Enshittification like #RegionCoding / #RegionLocking #DVD & espechally blu-ray drives. - You know how hard it is to get a *truly multi-region* #BDXL player that plays *all the blu-rays and DVDs*? - If you can even find one that is… - Spoiler alert: An exploitable PC drive and tools to rip legitimate bought discs is *significantly cheaper*… And that assumes the content you want to buy is even available in your region: - Like I can't even import a blu-ray of #CyberSix from Canada and shove that into a Player here in Germay, cuz I'm expecting this to be blocked by the players' firmware for no reason but that this *bullshit* is *still legal*. - Like whenever those that "play by the rules" [*get shafted*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4GZUCwVRLs) I think it's 100% self-inflicted #piracy for said companies. - So why (aside from the fact that I've to legally condone it and won't do it out of principle) wouldn't people #pirate if the only alternative is to spend triple-digits on a used disc (DVDs with easy to bypass region-locking are even more expensive!) *one cannot even play legally*??? - It's not as if the #IP holders have any confidence or hope to get any money out if this, or they'd at least put it up for icensing as a download?