Well,that's a false dichotomy. If a thing isn't a need, we can't have it at all? What kind of flawed logic is this? "Since you claim this isn't a need, why don't you go without?" It's a luxury that we all here choose to indulge ourselves in. I don't NEED to play video games or watch movies/TV shows. I choose to to entertain myself. Just because I don't have a need to be entertained doesn't mean I don't want to be. You should really learn the difference between want and need.

If you read my post carefully, you'll see that wasn't what I was getting at. I was essentially pointing out how they were (not too subtly) calling another user an addict for wanting to play/have games while also having a bunch of games themselves, and then asking them(while admittedly not really expecting them to do so) to 'put their money where their mouth is' and stick to their supposed principles by cutting off their own gaming.

And so does everyone else, be it legal purchaser or sneaky pie rat. For someone to point out in such a manner(as that post I replied to earlier did); it would appear, then, to be more likely signaling of virtue than anything else.

And I believe you need to understand there's more needs* than physical/physiological ones :)
(*while gaming specifically might not be a need, some sort of entertainment/etc is)

That would be the perfect moment for EA to surprise us all and release the whole "Need for Speed" series on GOG.
(Then one wouldn't have to resort to GTA-style carjacking anymore to satisfy that certain kind of *need*)

Because I like to have games, but I don't need them. It's one option of entertainment at my fingertips.

And therein lies your answer and mayhaps even the answer to this entire thread...

Precisely - gaming is not a need and certainly not an excuse to engage in piracy over.

So close and yet so far...it be the reason why people(pie rate or no) play games. Instead of yet more pointless signaling of virtue, I suggest everyone reading this thread should try concentrating a bit more on their ever growing backlogs instead.

We'll do what we want with our time. Perhaps it would be better served if you take your own advice and go play instead of bothering others here with your drivel.

This sucks. GoG is pro gamer and it is losing business because of such sites. Wish there was some way to ban them.

You can't, get rid of one and ten take it's place, so they found with TPB. It's also human nature to want to share something you enjoy. Squashing someone's hobbies and enthusiasm isn't the right way to go.

I'll repeat what i said a couple times. Either make the copies of the game so plentiful and cheap that it's easier and better to go that way (preferably as physical media), or raise everyone's disposable income to the degree they don't mind spending on a bunch of games movies and music.

That or just remove electricity world-wide... Or ban the internet as a whole; plus all communication and all mail delivery...

As you should....as we all should....

The Tracer Tong option? :)

I have been gaming for 3 decades. Piracy is here to stay. We have to understand that there will always be a section of people like you and me who understand the implications of piracy and support the right platforms/cause like GOG.

We do what little we can. GOG's approach is the right one instead of the DRM which only provokes more piracy as it makes gaming cumbersome. GOG helps increase the goodwill among gamers.. Especially those who care about the industry.

Err ... I dont get why I would support piracy just because I dont check user profiles before answering their questions in the forum. For starters, that would be rather creepy to do.

Piracy of games was always a problem, even long before GOG. And as far as I can see, it will stay a problem in the future, too. And I am not aware that GOG has made the problem worse.

Importantly it needs to be remembered that in most instances people who commit piracy would almost all not get these games if they would have to pay for them. Also, its usually teenagers (or students, or poor people in general) with little money in the first place. You cant sue them for much. I mean you can, but you just wont get that money.

So getting rid of piracy is impossible, and while there are counterexamples, in general it doesnt seem to do that much actual damage to game sales. So the main issue is thus simply keeping it reasonably under control.

By the way private people doing piracy is only one form of theft in the game industry. Publishers famously dont pay developer studios is another problem, and thats probably the far bigger problem.

I think GOG seems to work reasonably well, and its existence doesnt seem to promote further piracy at all.

I consent to all your remarks. I just want to add another one: The biggest problem with piracy is not the people who dowload a game for free, but the people who make money out of it (e.g. selling keys bought with stolen credit cards etc.)

Aside from seeing this entire thread Picard'ing pretty hard, it does remind me of Iron Man 1 and made me laugh.

Go look up the scene where Obidiah Stane removes Tony's chest reactor. I especially enjoy the part when Stane, says:
Do you really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you?

Its like the modding scene and corporate media. Everything that goes into the wild is now off the leash. Genie is out of the bottle. Nothing changes this, when its out. No bickering by a bunch of people on a game forum changes anything either.
No off hand snipy retorts. No clever remarks. No holier than thou support of corporations.