PHQ-Nickname:
acetken
Halfquake:
Tektonic
Level:
1
Total kills:
0
Birthday:
February 17th 1982
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| Mood: | apocalyptic |
| Type: | Article |
| Added: | July 25th 2003, 11:04:35 |
| Visits: | 1275 |
| Series: | [ Articles from my website ] |
| Rating: | Not rated yet. |
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Now I know what you're thinking. No, these are not the eyepatch wearing, parrot on the shoulder, hook for a hand pirates. They're pretty much everyone you know under the age of 35, or so the RIAA would have you believe. Then again, if you believe them, Britney Spears is poor as hell because you downloaded a single instead of buying her album. (If only it were true!!)
Companies bitch all the time about people who download warez and MP3's. Why? They say that it undercuts profits. While that may be true to a small extent, does it ever occur to them that the people who downloaded it would almost NEVER buy the program or album normally anyway?
Here's an example. Do I have $2000 CDN or whatever to spend on Photoshop so I can make 4 little graphics for my webpage? Hell no! Why should I for all the use I get out of it? For the home user, the expense is not justified.
A year or so ago, I plunked down $200 for Windows XP Home. Why you may ask? Because it's a worthwhile product. Microsoft decided to stop pumping out crap (ME anyone?) and I decided to support that. Sadly, when I got home I had a few graphics problems and learned I had to pay for support! $200 bucks and no support to speak of!? Absurd!
On the other hand, I recently paid $5 at a pawn shop in town here and picked up a game from Acclaim and I had some problems with it working. They supported me fully until my problem was resolved. We sent a total of about 10 emails back and forth and they were very prompt with their replies.
Now you tell me who deserved the most cash?
When you buy a program, what you're actually paying for is a licence to use it, correct? (You are, if you had no idea before) Once you've paid you should be able to use it no matter what, right? What if your disc is scratched? Well, they tell you to buy a new one. Then I tell them to kiss my big white ass. I'm not paying another $200 for XP just because my disc has a nick on it. When it happens (And it will) you can bet I'm going to get an ISO version off of Kazaa Lite and keep using that.
Another thing are games that take all of an hour to finish but still charge $60 CDN for the game. No multiplayer, nothing more. If they can make a game that can be used and tossed aside like that, screw 'em. They deserve to be distributed freely over the 'net. If they do want to make short games, they should make it budgetware and have a lower price tag. It's just wrong to make crappy little games and charge full price. (IE: Most Star Wars games) You want a cheap single player game with amazing replay value? Check out the Spider-Man game series for PC or Playstation. They even have alternate storylines for the damn games! Now THAT's worth the money!
It's the same thing with MP3's. If you hear a song on the radio you like, download it. If you hear a bunch of songs by an artist on an album you like, buy it. Why not? If they make good stuff, support it. If the band has one good song and then disappears and there's only one or two decent tunes on the album, why bother buying it? They don't deserve it.
The following is why record companies are so up in arms about MP3's. There's very few albums with a decent number of good songs any more! They come out with premade bands, hire people to produce it, and bam! Pop star of the week. One radio single catches on and is supposed to sell albums. The rest of the songs are usually complete and utter crap though.
The way I figure it is if you like 3/4 of the songs on a CD, then buy it. In that case, the artist made something you like and you should support that so that they make more good stuff! If a game company makes a great, nice length game, buy it.
Hell, if we all did that, maybe we'd still have Looking Glass Studios (RIP), another Undying, or some good music on the radio for a change. Fight for your right to good shit! |
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