Gaming Piracy syndrome? Try Steam syndrome!

exangel · Dec 27, 2011

Once I started using Linux (Lubuntu) as my primary OS on my laptop, I found renewed interest in all the games in the humble bundles.
Many of the games in the Humble Indie Bundles had ".deb" packages making it really easy to install them, and Linux being substantially less friendly to mainstream games (than Windows/Smartphones/etc), I really appreciate them. Since I am not yet savvy or patient enough with Wine to try to use Steam on it. (I know Steam works in Wine without much issue, but a lot of games require a bit of trickery to get working.)

If it weren't for the deprivation of my primary and incompatible favorites I wouldn't have bothered with most of the indie games I collected.

Hadrian · Dec 27, 2011

403279_10150448771933601_645713600_8716423_1379126387_n.jpg

Its one of those things where you see something so cheap and even though you've got a backlog of games you think "oh well I don't want to miss out" so you buy it. A lot of stuff I buy though are games I once pirated but thought were good enough to pay money for...but didn't have enough at the time.

I was going to ignore these recent sales but when I heard that Sonic Generations for £6.49 I could not pass on that, even though I've already pirated the shit out of it last month.

Zetta_x · Dec 27, 2011

Lmao nice. I have been telling people, it's not the fact you are getting the games for free, it's the fact that you have too many to play. While getting games for free may determent the value of the game (because it does not impact your wallet as much) but it is not the most significant cause (to the average person) to why you don't play the game.

I want to get steam now =D

Frederica Bernkastel · Dec 27, 2011

There's no such thing as 'pirates syndrome'. The human mind does not like making decisions where there are a lot of options open.
When you have a large pool of games available, you will always tend to avoid the decision -- whether or not you have paid for the games is irrelevent. It just so happens that the term 'pirates syndrome' was coined to explain this effect.
Indecisiveness is the extreme form of this and is a very common trait.
One analogy for this is as follows: You walk into a Subway and try to 'design' a brand new 'Sub', as in one that you have never had before. You're not pirating the 'Sub', and yet you are having a hard time deciding what ingredients to use.

amptor · Dec 27, 2011

Maybe cut back on buying games that you don't care about. I haven't bought any yet as I haven't seen much there that I've been wanting to buy. I might grab Terraria. $2.49 is pretty cheap for any video game and that one looks pretty cool.

I'm hoping they have more stuff than just one game I want to buy soon though. Renegade Ops is good as well. That one was $4.99.

They should put Bloody Good Time back on sale and probably encore sale for Killing Floor although I heard that game is kinda boring. They'll probably do some encore sales after the 1st and I'm guessing it will probably include DNF.

Haloman800 · Dec 28, 2011

amptor said:
Maybe cut back on buying games that you don't care about. I haven't bought any yet as I haven't seen much there that I've been wanting to buy. I might grab Terraria. $2.49 is pretty cheap for any video game and that one looks pretty cool.

I'm hoping they have more stuff than just one game I want to buy soon though. Renegade Ops is good as well. That one was $4.99.

They should put Bloody Good Time back on sale and probably encore sale for Killing Floor although I heard that game is kinda boring. They'll probably do some encore sales after the 1st and I'm guessing it will probably include DNF.

Terraria sucks. I was gifted a copy a while back. Then again I hate minecraft too.. LEGO's aren't my cup of anything.

Rydian · Dec 28, 2011

Oh man, indecisive at restaurants/stores is totally me. >>;

And yeah, I'm also buying games I played pirated before.

I am buying games I like, and I am playing them, it just seems like I'm buying them faster than I can play them. XD

triassic911 · Dec 28, 2011

Rydian said:
Oh man, indecisive at restaurants/stores is totally me. >>;

And yeah, I'm also buying games I played pirated before.

I am buying games I like, and I am playing them, it just seems like I'm buying them faster than I can play them. XD

Same here. Too many games came out this year!

Veho · Dec 28, 2011

Antoligy said:
There's no such thing as 'pirates syndrome'. The human mind does not like making decisions where there are a lot of options open.
When you have a large pool of games available, you will always tend to avoid the decision -- whether or not you have paid for the games is irrelevent. It just so happens that the term 'pirates syndrome' was coined to explain this effect.
Indecisiveness is the extreme form of this and is a very common trait.
One analogy for this is as follows: You walk into a Subway and try to 'design' a brand new 'Sub', as in one that you have never had before. You're not pirating the 'Sub', and yet you are having a hard time deciding what ingredients to use.

I disagree. Pirate's syndrome doesn't prevent you from chosing the game you want to play, it prevents you from playing it through. To build on the sandwich analogy, imagine if you had access to free subs at the Subway. You decide on a sandwich and make it, take a few bites out of it, lose interest and then wrap it up and put it away, and then never pick it up again. Indecisiveness might play a tiny role in it but the main thing about the piracy syndrome is that you don't have the incentive to finish what you started because you didn't pay for it so you don't have the same sense of value about it.

Zetta_x · Dec 28, 2011

Veho said:
Antoligy said:

There's no such thing as 'pirates syndrome'. The human mind does not like making decisions where there are a lot of options open.
When you have a large pool of games available, you will always tend to avoid the decision -- whether or not you have paid for the games is irrelevent. It just so happens that the term 'pirates syndrome' was coined to explain this effect.
Indecisiveness is the extreme form of this and is a very common trait.
One analogy for this is as follows: You walk into a Subway and try to 'design' a brand new 'Sub', as in one that you have never had before. You're not pirating the 'Sub', and yet you are having a hard time deciding what ingredients to use.

Click to expand...

I disagree. Pirate's syndrome doesn't prevent you from chosing the game you want to play, it prevents you from playing it through. To build on the sandwich analogy, imagine if you had access to free subs at the Subway. You decide on a sandwich and make it, take a few bites out of it, lose interest and then wrap it up and put it away, and then never pick it up again. Indecisiveness might play a tiny role in it but the main thing about the piracy syndrome is that you don't have the incentive to finish what you started because you didn't pay for it so you don't have the same sense of value about it.

So someone who just won $10,000,000 would likely fall into the same category? What is $60 or even $100,000 when you have $10,000,000. Almost the same as something being free has no value as $60 having no value to someone being a 10,000,000aire. If they have the same mindset as the pirate, yet they still payed, piracy syndrome as a name doesn't justify the cause.

I just watched this super intense religious debate between super math majors and it got intense... it also killed my motivation to debate. I'm not saying I don't agree with you, just a counter-example to your point.

BOT: I actually just got a decent internet connection and got portal 2 and portal for pretty cheap! Go steam!

raulpica · Dec 28, 2011

I have 200+ games on Steam and I've only played 5-6 of them.

MadClaw · Dec 28, 2011

I wish i had money to buy atleast one steam game during these sales =_= i'm jealous of you people lol

exangel · Dec 28, 2011

MadClaw said:
I wish i had money to buy atleast one steam game during these sales =_= i'm jealous of you people lol

http://gbatemp.net/t...trading-thread/
can trade coupons and stuff that will be valid after the sale is over, at the very least.
try for some of the achievements. a number of them are from free-to-play games.

Veho · Dec 29, 2011

Zetta_x said:
So someone who just won $10,000,000 would likely fall into the same category? What is $60 or even $100,000 when you have $10,000,000. Almost the same as something being free has no value as $60 having no value to someone being a 10,000,000aire. If they have the same mindset as the pirate, yet they still payed, piracy syndrome as a name doesn't justify the cause.

Well pirates sometimes finish the games they pirate too. It's just that they have less incentive to finish it or complete it 100%. And yes, 60 dollars holds less value to a millionaire than to a poor person. I didn't say the game (or free sandwich) had no value whatsoever, just that it isn't as valuable as something you paid more.

I'm just saying the piracy syndrome isn't primarily about choice, it's about perceived value.

celcodioc · Dec 31, 2011

I only have two non-F2P games on Steam, and I rarely play one of them :|
If I get a (good) game from this gift pile thingy, I'll probably play it. 6 pieces of coal and three coupons... come on.

notmeanymore · Dec 31, 2011

Late to the thread but 100% agreed. I have SO MANY Humble Bundle games and Sonic Generations that I still need to play. I can't hardly find time to play them all, except for the truly addicting ones like Binding of Isaac.

Zetta_x · Jan 1, 2012

I was like 3 achievements away from getting them on and for some reason half my achievements got wiped.

DarkStriker · Jan 1, 2012

Only buying what i play

camus24 · Jan 1, 2012

the same here, now that i finished my colleges (I'm still don't have job, still searching..XD, but my way of think about piracy change) then in steam i have like 21 games, 8 are humble bundle and like 7 original games for the 3ds, like 4 for the wii, like 5 for the ds all this original, and i don´t know what game to play, all my original games are great, thats the reason i bought (pirates games is near 50 or more, but really i don't play it anymore) but are so many that I don't know what game play, and i have like 4 games started, i say "this game, but this is also good and i already start it".... and I bought more and more games but don't want to play it because i already have 4 at the first part of the games....is really hard, in steam i want to buy a couple of packs, is really cheap, but no more games ...i'm hopping to the 2 of january when the steam deals end...

Kayot · Jan 1, 2012

I'm an archivist so I have hundreds of thousands of games from every console generation and PC games as far back as 1960. I've only beat maybe fourteen games in my life. I've probably played maybe a hundred or so with most being less than a hour total. For me, it's more about having than playing. The game is the collection of games, music, movies, and books. Unlike programs which become outdated and/or useless as new technology comes into play, games, music, movies, and books occupy a special place in the collective memory of mankind. I even keep an up to date copy of the Wikipedia.

So I'm not sure if I fall in the Pirate Syndrome category or not. I can say that I did buy all the games that I beat. I can also say that I've bough quite a few games that I haven't beat as well. I beat a few games I pirated. It's all a confusing gray mess.

Gaming Piracy syndrome? Try Steam syndrome!

executioner angel

Literally as TIGHT as a gnats chuff.

The Insane Statistician

Well-Known Member

Banned!

a real gril

Resident Furvert™

Burst Mode

The man who cried "Ni".

The Insane Statistician

With your drill, thrust to the sky!

Well-Known Member

executioner angel

The man who cried "Ni".

Major A$$hole

Well-Known Member

The Insane Statistician

GBAtemp's Kpop lover!

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Similar threads

Popular threads in this forum