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An interesting idea I had, probably unrealistic but still interesting, is to charge $40 for all CDs and DVDs (blank or otherwise).
I understand this is what has been done with cassette tapes in the past.
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Should I pay $1000 for Photoshop jut because I''m learning.
Would you steal a set square and paper from an art shop so you could learn to draw? Or a portable calculator from a supermarket so you could learn maths? Besides, there''s way cheaper alternatives to Photoshop.
This is really a mindset problem. If a band charged money for you to see them live, wouldn''t you pay? If a band is playing at the local pub for free, don''t you think it''s because they want to sell records?
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Original post by CGameProgrammer An interesting idea I had, probably unrealistic but still interesting, is to charge $40 for all CDs and DVDs (blank or otherwise). That way users would have little reason to burn CDs.
But what about the legitimate uses of blank CDs - backups, data archiving, producing your own music, etc. ?
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It''s not a perfect solution. For backing up your own files, I don''t think buying a CD is a big deal, after all there are free online file-backup services anyway... but for distributing your own stuff, I can see how it can be a problem. Maybe there could be a sharp price decrease for bulk orders.
~CGameProgrammer( );
~CGameProgrammer( );
Developer Image Exchange -- New Features: Upload screenshots of your games (size is unlimited) and upload the game itself (up to 10MB). Free. No registration needed.
I wont say how I feel about piracy, im sure my mind will change for some reason or another. But one thing, people usually look at how much their product was copied as a complete loss, and a loss it definitly is, but completely, im not so sure. I have copied many many movies that ive rented, how many have i watched? maybe 4 out of 200. I have just about every song from lots of the bands i like, but which do i listen to? mostly the ones that i had on CD before i got them on my computer. now video games, I buy games I love and support the developers so i can get another down the road. But i have or have had many illegal versions of games, that i played one time, and then deleted. How is that a loss? i definitly would not have gone out and bought the game, i have better judgement of games than that. In offices piracy can get rediculous and should be monitored, but in the home, i think its a little more complicated than just the fact that its copied.
"For backing up your own files, I don''t think buying a CD is a big deal, after all there are free online file-backup services anyway."
LOL Most of those "free" online backup places have shutdown over the last few years. Not to mention, god forbid you''d want to backup an mp3 or two(doesn''t matter who it''s by). And what about backing up a cd I paid 50 bucks for?
That is such a bad idea, though, charging 40 bucks a cd. My burner was only three times that much when I bought it. Not to mention there are MANY commercial uses for cds that don''t have to do with illegal copies.
Oh, and what about those people who don''t have net access?
Personally, I think it''d be more worthwhile for companies and individuals to try and find some new business strategies. We''re supposed to be the "great innovators" here, right?
coming back to the topic.... I have a particular warez site in my sights, i emailed the ISP (ATT canada would you believe) which they ignored, so I called em long distance and made em take down the details. guess what? The site is still there today. This really winds me up, I bet if I was stealing equipment from ATT they would have the cops by my house within hours. Anyone from Canada here? I''d like to know the best people to report this company to...
Maybe it could help to add a splash screen in the registered version of our games, saying something like "Thanks for being an honest customer and buying original software. Your effort is making our community grow".
Luckily enough, it could make some people think twice on registering, after downloading a cracked version, and would probably help honest customers feel better users
Cliffsky:
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I was thinking of setting up a dummy warez site with published codes for all my games (and cracks) that don''t work. That way this page might come up in searches for hacks and cut down on the people who casually get stolen codes. Does anyone think this might work (or even help?)
I think that could a great idea. Even if it helps only two or three customers buy your game, it could have been worthy enough. And what''s better, it could be really easy to positionate your site very high in the top-searchers (Google, Altavista, HotBot) for searchs involving your game titles, as yours could be the only "cracks" site filled exclusively with cracks for your games.
It could also help to make the crack downloads very painful, so they think twice before even trying the crack.
