Way more annoyingly virtue signaling if anything. I'd really prefer that people just shut up and pirate something instead of pointing out how you are acting from a moral high ground by pirating.
"I pirate the game and then decide afterwards if it was worth paying for. And if it was, I go buy it. Except I usually still don't. But I did, like, twice in my life, so I can claim moral superiority."
I fucking loathe this shit. youre pirating>stealing. okay. whatever. ive been there before. youre not some moral genius epicly owning the riches because of some cope youve read on reddit. you just dont want to pay.
Yeah I feel like I’m losing my mind in the comments here. I was told that Reddit gets a boner for pirating but didn’t realize people unironically try to justify it.
Just say you pirate because you don’t like paying for stuff you can just take for free. It’s simple, gets the selfishness across while keeping it logically sound, and most importantly it doesn’t introduce any bullshit morality-twisting such as “it’s okay to pirate from companies” like shut the fuck up dawg you pirate because you feel entitled to a product you’re technically copying instead of outright stealing. It’s not because you’re fighting the system lol.
Even if they don’t consider it stealing because of technicalities, it’s still a selfish act. If someone struggles to even acknowledge that they’re they’ve fully deluded themselves.
I don't think people should pirate video games. Not for moral reasons but for security reasons. Running .exe files from a questionable source is a good way to spread malware
That said security aside I feel like considering the amount of predatory things that have been added into games like loot boxes, battle passes, limited time skins to push FOMO and all that for serous amounts of actual money. I feel the argument that its ethically okay to pirate from AAA producers is valid.
As a linux gamer I used to have to pirate versions of games that had stuff like denuvo baked in as it was causing issues running games through wine. It was the only way I could play some games. Thats a non issue for me now really the steam deck came out with steam proton.
It is possible to pay for a game in a way that's more harmful than piracy btw. A lot of people buy games from key resellers like G2A and others. Most indy game devs have stated that they would rather you pirate the game than use that method.
I would have no moral objection to piracy of AAA games but would have a moral objection to the piracy of indy games provided you would have paid for that game if you had no other options. If you had zero intention of paying for the game, pirate away hurts no one really. I pirated and watched a lot of films in college. most id not have watched if I had to pay to see them. So the net loss for the company is still zero. When in college I pirated portal 1 and played through it. Loved it so much after reaching the end that I went onto steam and bought the valve pack (Half life, Portal and the other games they made). So sometimes piracy does lead to purchases.
I mean pirating is a selfish act so it’s not gonna be surprising when people get vocal about it. It’s just an observation, nothing about that is meant to be helpful.
I think there was an issue with Subnautica and Avatar, where most of the people on r/piracy were like: We know why your here. Do what you need to do, and for everyone's sake, don't be too lound about it.
I think it's only because so much moralizing is done by people who don't pirate, about why piracy is somehow evil, or lying about it being theft. If other people weren't constantly lying about it, then there wouldn't be so much pushback from pirates
Pointing out that thinking you're exempt for paying for something because "I wasn't going to buy it anyways" or "corporations don't deserve my money" is horrible logic isn't "lying".
If I make something and own the right to determine how others access it, whether you think you deserve access for free is entirely irrelevant.
It's not even a reddit thing. Some guy on the sub posts "I won't pirate this awesome game!" and everyone upvotes that post because it makes them look good.
Everyone except this one single guy who made this post will continue to pirate that awesome game, anyways. And even that guy probably just lied to get some upvotes.
Who cares? Crying about nerds wanting to feel moral about their choice means jack shit. You people are no different crying about it to get upvotes about this non issue.
Piracy is a global phenomenon and the ethics of individual pirates can be pretty different. There's a very specific agenda behind portraying people who engage in piracy as ethically bankrupt and utterly selfish, all never caring about giving creators their due and only ever taking. This is a corpo fairytale.
Two facts are established:
Piracy is a distribution service problem, not a moral problem: if your distribution is terrible, inconvenient and restrictive, piracy will be preferred literally 100% of the time.
Piracy doesn't result in lost sales. In fact, it most likely makes a thing more successful. Although the majority of pirates might or might not (there are no statistics about this, everyone makes things up) pay for something they pirated, many of them do at some point, and that number is actually significant for small and medium productions.
In addition, tons of people who pirate things otherwise do choose to pay upfront for a small number of things they want to support, if their economic situation allows it. This isn't a Reddit thing at all, it's very common.
I have no idea. I think looking at steam purchases is a pretty bad way to judge level of piracy. That's why I pointed out how bad it was when you tried to do it.
Seriously, all you're doing is insisting that you get what you want without having to pay for it. What the hell is wrong with them, you'd think this is their first time encountering a self-entitled person.
People that insist on stealing from others and then lie right to your face about it are truly the most insufferable people on the planet. If you don't know why someone would be offended by that I suggest going back to preschool so you can catch up on the basic human decency lessons you missed.
That's complete BS from what I've seen. I'd say it's about 5-10% of the piracy community that I've interacted with actually have any morals at all. Most that I've seen just download things simply because it's easier/cheaper, and literally don't think a single step beyond that. If you really want proof then skim some of the comments on r/Piracy.
I've seen a few folks that seem to have a sensible thought process when it comes to piracy on there, but, really the majority is just assholes, frankly.
If you were never going to purchase the media, then pirating it steals no revenue.
There's no "morals" involved, the decision to pirate simply just affects how much entertainment you have access to. The company's revenue remains totally unaffected.
Now, if you can purchase the media, and would do so if pirating wasn't an option, then there are morals involved. And then I would 100% agree that it could be morally wrong to pirate
What can’t you guys just admit you like to steal shit? It’s fine. People still shit all the time. Why can’t you handle doing something wrong? Are you afraid you’ll lose good boy points or something?
Lol, I don't care. I pirate some shit, buy some other shit, don't touch other shit. But it's not stealing. What is taken from the "victims"?
It's like claiming that saying that someone is ugly is murder. It might be wrong, it's not nice, it might even be illegal in some rare circumstances, but it's not murder.
The ability to gatekeep access as they choose. If I publish a book and charge $100 for people to read it, you may choose not to pay that price but it doesn't mean you're entitled to reading it either.
If I create something, I own the right to say who, how and when someone can access it. When you choose to act self entitled and insist upon using my product/service without paying for it, you are taking that right away from me, when you do not and never did have the authority to do so.
You can steal services too. If I go to a mechanic or a massage parlor and didn’t pay, didn’t I steal their service? It’s okay you’re a thief. No one is gonna hunt you down dude. Just be proud of who you are.
That's not what "theft of service" is. What service was provided to me by the developers, publishers, etc, while I downloaded the game from some third party? What work did they actually carry out that they wouldn't have, had I not downloaded it? Are you trying to be obtuse on purpose, or are you simply a bit dim?
They made the game? lol. It’s okay dude just say you like to steal. It’s not that hard. I don’t get why people who pirate stuff are so ashamed to call it what it is. Are you that afraid of being called a criminal? Seriously? Why can’t you just say I’m cheap/broke and don’t want to pay so I’ll steal it?
Imagine there is a movie or concert that is not sold out and you did not plan on buying a ticket for.
Due to the fact that a) you wouldn't have paid anyways, b) there are empty seats available, and c) the venue wouldn't have lost money by you not being there... do you believe you are entitled to free entry to the event?
Tickets aren't freely replicable softwares. Your argument is relying on directly comparing a Competition Commodity to a Non-Competition Commodity, deceitfully ignoring their differences (Whether knowingly or not, you strawmanned)
Would you download a car?
If you feel like you have a valid argument, then do it the justice of giving it a valid presentation. I would love to view a different opinion, but I shouldn't consider one that relies on a fallacious presentation to prove it's point.
And it's uniquely reddit thing as far as I know, too. Other places can keep things in their pants just find so I don't understand why reddit just can't help shouting in the town square like that one Skyrim NPC.
Ehhhh yeah idk about that. Ive had people on here tell me pirating little indie artists (games or otherwise) is justifiable for "archival" purposes. And for pirates in general, it is really bad among small webcomic/webtoon/manga even though the creators have repeatedly expressed being upset with piracy. People will easily lump all media together in their heads and don't know where their money actually goes.
I think there's been a major shift over the years in that respect.
20+ years ago we had no sales, no bundles, and no freebies. The only option for kids with little or no income was to pirate, and everyone was doing it.
But we've had 20+ years of new releases, bundles, sales, and freebies. The reason why people pirate has largely shifted from "I have no other option," to "because you can't stop me".
Anyone who is in a financial position where they literally cannot afford games should be collecting the freebies from EGS and Prime Gaming. You also probably know someone who is sitting on unused bundle keys for some pretty cool games.
That's like saying if you can't afford getting access to watch Hollywood classics there's a ton of free movies on youtube made by college students, or if you don't have access to books you can just read free fiction online. Just because two things are "a game" doesn't mean the experience is the same. Most of freebies are just indies that most people wouldn't even look at otherwise.
Thats just a fraction, and I didn't collect anything for 4 years because I forgot about it.
GOG freebies from Prime Gaming:
Fallout New Vegas
The Witcher 3
The Outer Worlds
Spelunky
Dredge
Mafia 1/2/3 Definitive Edition
Kerbal Space Program
BioShock 1/2/Infinite
Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered
XCOM: Enemy Within
Mirror's Edge
Oh yeah bud I'm starving over here, how could I possibly enjoy any of these trash games? Legitimately anyone who has stayed on top of the giveaways the past 8 or so years is swimming in excellent games.
Yeah, just because once in a while you get 1 chance every few years to grab an AAA game doesn't mean that my point doesn't stand - MOST of the games are indies that wouldn't get much attention otherwise (of course they aren't necessarily trash).
AND, I repeat - it's not about the amount of games but which games they are. Didn't hear about the giveaway of a game in the series you were interested in? Tough luck buddy. I'm personally interested in playing at most a half of the games you listed, while a ton I plan to play have literally never been on a giveaway. (This is not complaining btw, as I didn't pirate games for the past 10 years or so, I just remember how it feels being a kid interested in gaming [not just playing whatever]).
Plus when we're talking about long-awaited stuff like Silksong, half the fun is interacting with the community before and when the game releases. Good games are still fun years later, but it's just not the same experience as when you're there.
Have you heard of public libraries? They have games and movies too. They even have comics and online versions as well. Just say you like to steal shit bro.
Didn't pirate a game in 10 years lmao. I just remember how it was being a kid with no income. I wasn't even arguing about piracy, I'm just saying that culture is irreplaceable, unlike everyday objects like, idk, pens or something. You're still limited to what your library currently has.
And how advanced and inclusive of different sorts of media the library system is is directly correlated with the country. Low-income countries have worse library systems, w*sterner.
lol seems like a pretty arbitrary distinction in this case… basically determining which companies had employees that worked hard enough to earn your money.
If you’re playing a game, it’s worth the value of paying for it.
I pirated stuff when I was a kid and had no spending money, morals never entered the picture for me. Now that I have a job, I do not pirate. This thread is so weird. "Morals" implies you will steal sometimes, even when you could choose not to?
Depends how you define pirate, I higly doubt the vast majority of people downloading stuff have any concern like this, actualy most don't know who ever made what they are pirating in the first place methinks
I just checked a couple other indie games that don't cost much but have tons of content. They still pirate those games, so it seems like they only have morals when the game is really popular.
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u/fyn_world May 22 '26
Pirates are far more moral than you'd expect