I'm in Canada and it seems that Take2 sells the game to retailers up here am I right?
BestBuy and Futureshop are both selling the game up here for $49.99 CAD. Your site sells it for $49.99 USD, but you guys have it listed as a "Collector's Edition" which is the only reason I want to buy this now
Will the retail box version up here in stores be the Collector's Edition?
UPDATE: well you know what? Amazon.ca is selling the CE with free shipping, i'll just grab it off of them. they're even selling it for $46 CAD!
Obviously those of you complaining about this thread 'rubbing it in the Dev's faces' aren't familiar with SD's policy on Copywrite protection and the reasoning behind it.
Let me sum it up for you.
They don't put copywrite protection on their games because they feel that they'll lose more sales from people who just dont want to mess about with the protection, then they will to pirates, who would have cracked the protection anyway and have a chance to be appreciative and buy the game on merit, like this fellow.
So I rather think this thread and others like it prove that their marketing model is working.
Personally, I pirate every game before I buy it. If it's crap, I don't play it anyway and I'm glad I still have my money. If it's good, it goes on the List and I buy it when I can.
That's how I started playing Sins of Solar Empire. Which, in turn, led to buy it and get Impulse. Now I own Sins, its expansion, Supreme Commander, and, of course, Demigod. So does my brother, and a few of our friends.
Now I'm not saying all pirates are like me, or even that most of them are. This guy, however, seems like he is, and thats money in their pocket that they might not have otherwise gotten.
I see a lot of bullshit both for and against copyright infringement.
Here's some interesting reading, specifically with regard to publishing, and Baen.
http://www.baen.com/library/palaver6.htm
http://www.baen.com/library/palaver7.htm
(More on the site, I'll presume everyone can figure it out without links)
I know that I've recommended a few of the books. Which have sometimes ended up resulting in more sales. I've also used Baen's webscripions. Just because I wondered and someone said something, I combed through them looking for any watermarking, and haven't found anything like that. Whereas I'll not buy a Kindle barring some massive changes, I will buy from Baen. (Actually I've lost a few books, and due to their CDs now have them just as digital copies*, which I prefer.) I used a Zaurus to read them, back when they were new (Both the Zaurus and the library/Free CDs) Something not easily done with most formats.
The more DRM crowd seems to actually be full of crap. Thankfully, Stardock has seemed to notice this. Now, there are differences. I wonder what releasing older games sometime would result in. It's hard to know, in particular because book publishing and games are different, but there are important similarities with regards to the DRM arguements. (To be honest, I've not actually seen anything but a few *brief* mentions from any game publisher. Such as the mentions of 120,000/18,000, but not much later sales data. Granted I haven't looked too hard.)
*non-DRMed copies, thank you.
A few of thoughts on this topic.
1) I support Stardock with far more vigour than most developers because of their stance on DRM' (among other things like customer service). There are games I have spent money on that are now unusable to me because of the copy protection with them, including Supreme Commander. If this game was not being handled by SD I wouldn't have touched it with a 10 foot pole.
2) Copyright law is a very grey area with abuse rampant on both sides of the fence. In my opinion a moral person will (or at least should) give money for any game, music, movie, ect that they deem to be of value. Failing to to so will generally hurt themselves as without finacial recompense artists and creators will no longer produce the things we enjoy.
3) A good friend of mine plays in a cover band. They get paid to play in local night clubs. They did not write the songs they play. The original writers and/or performers do not receive any monies from these performances. Curious as to where this would fall in the stealing or not stealing debate. In my opinion for a theft to be valid a property law needs to be broken. Stealing milk from a store is different than pulling satellite signals from the airways into my house.
4) Yes, is was a foolish thing to put in the post, and outside of a healthy discussion about copywrite law has done nothing of merit.
These are only my opinions, not justification for people to rampantly pirate anything they want anytime they want. This topic is an interesting one to me, and not as clearly cut as either side makes it out to be.
1) I support Stardock by paying for the game
2) Copyright law is not gray at all. It's pretty clear. Just because a bunch of underage and/or irresponsible people who can't/won't pay for it steal it, doesn't make it right or "cool."
3) If your friends band is a cover band it is covered by the fees the venue has to pay to play all the music when your friends band isn't there. Someone is indeed paying.
4) Of course it was a foolish, and stupid, thing to post. In fact the arrogance required to make a post like that would make me hunt that person down and sue them if I was a developer. That kind of attitude needs to be smacked right in the kisser. But fortunately for the OP it's probably not worth the effort.
To say that it's not clear cut is simply trying to justify stealing. Which you can't do. You can make all the arguments you want but it all boils down to, are you playing a game you did not pay for? If you are, you stole it and should go to jail. If you aren't then you are the only reason developers still make games for the PC. It IS that clear cut.
Its really a strange discussion wich is inflaming in an official game forum, wich is looked after by the actual developers of the game...
But i like to add to Fortunato comment that your contribution about, that developers are undergoing piracy by changing to console platforms is definitive wrong...
Console games are quite easier to crack then some of the modern DRM protections (*cough* Starforce *cough*)
I dont want to say that i concur with these self-proclaimed "pirates", its just that not even half of the games wich get released are getting a demo. (on release or before...)
I mean sure, you can look up a review of your game on every gaming Website or magazine,(if you know one) but that doesnt beat the feeling of actually trying the game for a while.
I know that developing a demo is consuming resources wich could lead to greater costs (for the developers)... But you know games arent cheap, im not just speaking of demigod, wich is actually quite moderate in terms of price, but im not comfortable with paying 60 bucks (That could be euro or dollar) for something i havent tried. (But sometimes i do and then i sometimes regret it...)
Finally i like to say that the creator of this thread should really think his attitude over, i mean come on do you think your cool because your a "pirate"?
Even if you do it, keep it for yourself and dont brag about it... dont set someone on the wrong path...
edit: Wa while this is also my first post here i want to point out that the step by releasing this game without copyprotection was a good one... sure it got "pirated" (Stolen) quite often, but by adding a copyprotection you dont really "hurt" the "pirates"... you actually do the opposite...
Cause games will be always cracked sooner or later the bereaved are the ones who actually buy the game and have a ton of problems and restrictions on their hand. Like being able to only install a game a certeint number of times... (By then being in need to call a hotline to actually install it again.) There's a ton of cons coming with Copyprotection and no pros so far that i see.
so yeah thats my contribution to this super thread......... also thats not my mothertounge as you may have noticed
It's a bit of a misconception that because they don't saddle their customers with intrusive protection that they're giving free reign to pirate their software, they do it out of concern for the customer than willingness to let people to pirate it. If there was some magical protection that worked and didn't affect legitimate customers in any way they wouldn't not use it out of good will towards pirating.
They've said themselves they don't like their software being pirated and don't condone it in any way.
Get a grip. Pirating has become the same as "Demo" lately for a lot of people.
Things will get pirated, always. The thing is with Demigod..there are actually a lot of pirates picking up the game after playing for a while.
You can't do anything against piracy. All you can do is hope your game is awesome and has unique features only available through paying the full game.
In the case of Demigod that would be Pantheon..once it starts working and a competitive price (which is very far from the case actually fot what it offers). There are so many people who would pull the trigger without a second thought if the game was 29.95$ digital version.
"Get a grip. Pirating has become the same as "Demo" lately for a lot of people."
There are a lot of morally bankrupt people out there...that doesn't make it right, of course.
And it is untrue, what you say about there is nothing companies can do. It's already begun.
But it will bring the end of the computer age!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xfqkdh5Js4
Wow has this thread seriously gone off track or what? People pirated the game. In a perfect world that would never happen, but there isn't really anything that can be done to stop piracy as it stands right now (doubly so since this particular act of piracy occured in the past). These threads with people proclaiming that they pirated the game are sort of pointless and could probably be locked/deleted with little consequence. Also some users on this forum could realize that there is nothing to be done about people who already pirated the game (except convince them to buy it) and stop crying over spilt milk.
Here's the point that actually matters:
To the OP: It's great you want to buy the game and now I believe it's unlikely you'll find the collectors edition at retail, but I could be wrong. I see in your edit that you found it on amazon. That's as good as anyplace else unless you want to buy directly from Stardock (they do make a larger profit if you buy directly from them). I do hope you actually purchase demigod and I hope that you have fun playing it.
Yeah, I found the game on The Pirate Bay but decided just to buy it right way, because I didn't know if i would remember to pay for it.
The only reason I even cared is because this is stardock, and I really respect them. Its sad to see some pirates decided to stab them in the back, but theres a lot that are also support stardock. Im sure that if they made copyright protection then they would of lost more money then they are now.
Not all pirates are bad people, its just now days publishers (EA) are making DRM that is just insane, punishing people that are legit. Its like you buy a game and then you can install it 3 times, then if you pirate it you can install it as many times as you like. Its starting to get to the point where you get more for $0.00 then you do for $39.99.
Stardock took a stand agenst DRM and a lot of pirates respect them and support them, but there are those who don't know or are ignorant enough to not care.
I do feel sorry for stardock and GPG for having their trust serverly abused by some pirates with no respect for publishers that are basicly on their side on the DRM war. I hope they understand that some of these pirates wouldnt of ever of been buyers, but there is a group of pirates that still respect them and their stance on DRM.
wow... i really didn't expect all this venom from such mean people
i'm a long time customer with stardock actually, i only pointed out that i pirated the game to bring up the fact that i wanted the collector's edition for what that had instead of just the plain game itself which i already had pirated. i wanted to know what the differences were... thats all...
its cool guys, i certainly won't be posting here again since its clearly not ok to mention certain topics. adios kids!
I also support SD with my money. I buy every game I play. There are companies that I do not buy or play games from though that have offensive and prohibitive DRM schemes in place. My point was that those developers will generally not get my money again. SD is a good enough company that i paid money for a GPG game when because of hassles with them in the past I had decided not to support them as a company.
I don't believe I suggested pirates were "cool" at all. The concept of "coolness" exists within generally small groups of like minded people. If you step outside that group the concept changes. I believe that copywright law as conceived by the creators of the American Constitution existed to try and find a way to compensate artists for their work. Since then the law has been bent and twisted to meet the ends of special interests. People on both sides of the law have bent the law to their own ends. To me this makes the area grey. The following links are just examples of this happening, not a statement of support for any of the causes mentioned.
http://www.techdirt.chttp://www.digital-copyright.ca/node/2014om/articles/20090319/1850154187.shtmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/11/opinion/an-abuse-of-copyright.htmlhttp://www.infoworld.com/d/adventures-in-it/threads-copyright-abuse-533
To be clear, some of the venues do pay fees. Many of the events they play at for money are also private. Like birthday parties, weddings, ect. Within the context of copyright laws, should this be permitted, or is it an act of theft?
As I stated above, I have paid for the game. Furthermore I suggest that anyone who plays the game more than 10 mins should purchase the game. I also recognize the fact that some people who pirated the game have ended up purchasing the game, as is the case with the OP. I am not suggesting that this makes piracy an ok thing, just that some people who play pirated games are, in my opinion, moral enough to realize that supporting the people who make the things you enjoy is the right thing to do. It is also my opinion that to not support the creators whose product you enjoy is self defeating as you are potentially hindering their ability to create more things that you could enjoy.
I appreciate the vigour with which you defend what you believe in. I agree with most of what you say, but also am suggesting that things are not always as black and white as we would like them to be. I don't believe people who speed should be handled in the same manner as a rapist. In my opinion intellectual propery has less merit than physical property. This is not a carte blanche excuse to run rampant pirating whatever you want.
One solution to this problem is to go after the people distributing pirated items rather than the ones downloading them. Another solution is to make things inexpensive enough, and easy enough to get that getting a pirated copy is more hassle than getting a legitimate one. I think venues like I-Tunes have made great strides in this direction. Digital distribution like Impulse and Steam are also good ways of doing this. The only potential weakness with these is in the price point, and the real sticking point in that is middle men like EA, Sony and other parasitic entities that rely on others creative energies to exist.
Looks like I rambled on a bit there. My apologies for that. It is not my intent to insult or belittle anyone posting here. I just am trying to look behind the curtain a bit and see if it's really the wizard back there, or just a little old man pretending to be more than he is.
You could just not drag on the topic and give the man his info and move on. You're not going to stop him from doing what he is doing.
Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out, "dad".
I'm glad I'm not a software vendor on the receiving end of your "support".
wow so many shortminded people ... i surely dont pirate games , i buy them and get bitten in the ass (wotlk,AoC,WAR) , but then again i think i have bought 4 copies of wc3 and frozen throne.
but 70% of the people in my country download stuff , imo for people with less moneys culture shouldnt be robbed from them but i know all dont share my opinion , when i was younger i dled some games and music , i didnt have no money to buy game after game or pay 20 bucks for a cd which i wanted to hear 1-2 songs on , i only bought the items i really liked, and i have them in my shelf still.
ofc i think all should buy demigod , i really like the game and i see a bright future if the issues at hand are solved.
and for the record , i DL bassline and underground DnB , you dont find that on amazon , or any other "online shoppingcenter", and i buy my cds 20 at a time from the uk so cant buy it in the shop ... am i still a bad person then ?
Rofl, piracy has what to do with being morally backrupt?
It's the faceless corporation pushing the CD or game thats going to take the hit.
[Taunt The Pirates]
Try walking into a BestBuy, shoving the CD down your pants, and attempting that explaination in court. The only reason that people like you do not get the criminal prosecution that you deserve is because "big brother" can't get you very efficiently. Not yet. But he will. What makes you think that you have some sort of "right" to the labors of others? This "freedom of information" crap is merely an addle-minded attempt by you and your ilk to sucker society into accepting your criminal behavior as normal.
Let me clue you in on something else while I'm here. I'm damn proud to work for a multi-national "faceless corporation". I am also damn proud that we earn huge profits and pay our CEO a huge salary. He deserves it, because few living humans can accomplish his job as well as he does. What is his job? To make money for the stockholders. You know what we do when people steal our products? We raise prices to compensate for the loss. In the end the thieves do not hurt us, they hurt the poorest segments of society. Just like the thieves who steal cable service, groceries, beer, and government services.
Here's something else to consider, if you are amongst the "we should all have the same amount of stuff" crowd. Do you reeeaallllly want a government powerful enough to confiscate all private property and resistribute it in accordance with the whims of beaurocrats? Think about that for a moment, because your stuff is going to get confiscated right along with everone elses' stuff. Even if that were to happen, the "stuff" would rapidly gravitate back to the people who have it now. It would require a ruthless military regime to enforce Equality Of Stuff. And you just know the beaurocrats are going to make the allotment of Society's Stuff as inefficient as possible. Before you can get your "fair share" of the Stuff, it will all moulder in some warehouse while you fill out about 100 pages of paperwork. Since all accountants will have been put to death or imprisoned, you will be unable to pay someone else to fill out the paperwork. All this because you are behaving in a manner that invites power-hungry politicians to step in and "help". Some help.
haha pirates use the saying "try it first" lol hey when you go get a job tell the boss you wanna work for free for 2 weeks to see if you like the job. what? you wont work for free but its ok to use someone elses work for free? gimme a break.
I have 2 sons and they have friends that "pirate" games and I always point out to them the negative effects of it. I tell them something like "hey tell joe lets all play that game online" and they respond "they cant its pirated", and I will be like "see the bad side to doin crooked stuff.they are so smart that now they cant even play wit us" lol I have been taken by buying a bad game b4(frontlines:Fuel of War) but I learn who makes good games and buy their product. just my 2 cents
Stealing is not moral, and the people who steal and try to justify it are morally bankrupt. See, that was easy.
so many people sitting on their high chairs , i havent seen this many "antipirating" people since the last election information meeting i went to.
you dont steal ... you copy illegaly .
when you go into a store and steal a candy bar it dissapears from the shelf , if you copy something (no not legal) its still there and you get another copy of it , its a copyright infringement , thats the official law , that the big multimillion companies call it stealing doesnt make it just that .
doesnt mean i think people should go around dling everything , but there is a huge difference .
also note that in the copyright law its ok to copy the game for "self use or to borrow to close friend and family" which means if you copy your game and let your brother borrow it it isnt illegal.
Hehe. Maybe the 18K legitimate users had 5 siblings each. I will have you know, sir, that I am sitting on a High Horse, not a high chair. As far as my rabid anti-piracy position goes, I have but one more thing to add before I take my leave of this most entertaining thread:
I have no doubt that I will run across some of these pirates in the normal course of my daily activities. When I do, I will take great pleasure in uttering the immortal phrase:
"Why yes, I would like fries with that"
[/Taunt The Pirates]
I clearly won, by the way.
Here's my problem with pirating Demigod - don't you guys realize that Stardock and Gas Powered Games are some of the last developers that haven't shoved DRM down PC Gamers throats? When you pirate games from these companies, the corporate drones at the other game developers take a look and say, "see. Nobody's honest. Stardock put out Demigod and it was pirated 100 times for every legit user. It's time to add anti-piracy castration rootkit to our next game - try to download it illegally and get your balls chopped off."
So thanks for continuing to ruin the PC gaming market by ripping off some of the last pro-gamer developers out there.
nr1 : snarkoWhatever no you didnt win , my post had nothing to do with copying demigod or anything the like so your lame answer about siblings is inconsistent , i answered your post which had nothing but faults in it and you answer with another nothing but faults answer.
nr2 : the op bought the game , stop your whining none of us here pirate demigod , and non of us thinks that paying money for a game is bad , but people are way to white/black in this forums for their own good , i have about 20-25 friends who have about 100 bucks left a month to buy food/clothes/hobby items for , if they download their music and movies i couldnt care less , i dont think that they need to live without culture just because they dont have no money .
they are not hurting any1 as they wouldnt have bought the music/movies anyways , and they buy the cds/movies they find on sale or second hand which they liked.
people affording anything dont know the position a lot of people sit in these days and they claim people are so wrong .
me i make more money now , ive been in that position as well and im happy that i have both my feet on the globe because of that.
See, but that actually IS the problem......
When did it become okay to TAKE something when one can't/won't afford to BUY it?
Or has it become IF I can't simply TAKE something I want, then I'll evaluate if I can/will afford it?
Either way, that is a sad statement about our society and doesn't bode well for our future, period. Forget morality (high-ground etc. etc.), it's bad economics, plain and simple!
the Monk
P.S. - (sarcastic jibe)
Maybe we should blame piracy for the world's current economic decline, it's about time they paid for something. /sarcasm
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