Comments on: THQ CEO Blames Piracy For Close of Titan Quest Developer

By: somewhat

somewhat — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:16:34 +0000

^^^^^^^
Yeah, right. And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you in New York. Call me…

By: youknowme

youknowme — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:38:27 +0000

The problem is that there are bad games out there that have in the past crashed computers and the copy protection has caused all sorts of problems. If the game developers would get smart and stop looking at the whole world like they are just waiting to steal the game it would be a better experience for all of us. One thing that they could do is provide two copies of the game so we would not all have to go and make a backup for the protection of our investment. Plus if they made a patch that would allow you to play the game, after you have registered, without always having to insert the cd it would stop all the nocd cracks out there. Halflife 2 is a perfect example you could not play the game without being connected to the internet. What a pain to buy the game and not be able to play it because you do not have a good internet connection and not being able to return it because the stores have a not return policy on opened games. It was a nightmare that created a lot of hatred for game developers. And some people decided to get a return on their investment by turning to pirated games. Why buy something that you cannot use and not be able to return it. It seems just easier to pirate, no fuss no lost money and if you do not like it just trash it. I think that there is a better way for game developers to do business with the public. If I can trust you and your game to not crash my computer or that the copy protection won’t blue screen me to death like star force then I will buy your game.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:28:35 +0000

I find it funny that he criticizes gamers for being scared of a game-crashing bug that was intentionally placed. Why they simply didn’t stop the game with a message “This copy of the game is illegitimate.” is beyond me.

If they’d only done that, their security feature designed to reduce piracy (and increase sales) would have a) not scared away potential buyers, and b) played on the guilt most pirates feel at one point or another.

By: Casey

Casey — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:15:48 +0000

Sucks for the good games… but how many games have you bought only to find it mega sucked? I’m glad I beta tested hellgate london because I didn’t find it to be that fun, and I was ready to drop money on the hype alone. What a waste that would have been. However, D2, WOW, UT and UT2, HL/2, Portal, CS:S these are games well well well worth their money. If developers want to stop piracy, I say they need to follow the example of the companies that are doing well in PC gaming by releasing quality, polished, products.

By: Heru-Ur

Heru-Ur — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:50:35 +0000

Someone give this guy a dollar so he can buy a clue.

Maybe the dev house closed, and the game didnt sell well.. oh i dunno… maybe because its not that great a game? Wow, what a concept.

By: Weclock

Weclock — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:33:43 +0000

It’s so freakin’ easy to pirate games like Counter-Strike: Source, Team Fortress 2, Day Of Defeat: Source, Half-Life 2 DM, I mean, they’re only asking to be stolen.

(For those of you not in the know, these games are impossible to steal unless you steal somebody elses account, also, they’re some very popular PC games)

By: somewhat

somewhat — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:07:10 +0000

Wow, what a bunch of hypocrisy. Shame on you all.

By: COL James Slate

COL James Slate — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:54:44 +0000

In a day and age where the trailer for the game is the ONLY thing someone can go on, more and more people are turning to pirating the game, only to try the game out, of course as Dragon said, some still don’t buy the game, but a large number of pirates, more and more everyday with the amount of crackdown on it, buy the game if the enjoy it.

One can not assume that someone that pirated the game, loved it, and would have bought it, most pirates either don’t have the money to get it, but will scrap it together when they get it, others don’t like the game, delete it, and move on.

Reviewers don’t do much to help games, and neither do “demos” that include one map, one faction, or “disabled” elements, that’s almost, but not as bad, as just selling a game on the trailer alone.

We, video gamers, are not Hollywood junkies, we are video gamers, we deserve to be able to play/try before we buy. Hollywood doesn’t think that, and video game companies are staring to think like that.

I own Titan Quest, and I don’t like it that much, it seems to much like Diablo, but that’s just me, considering I played probably well over 500 hours on Diablo.

By: brandonjclark

brandonjclark — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:45:27 +0000

“I found it ironic that he should say something like “it can’t possibly be my fault” while simultaneously blaming everyone else for his games failure.” so true, used cisco…..

I dunno, I think that the idea of pc owners/gamers having a problem getting there game to work is a friggin joke! If 90% is pirated then your audience sure knows how to use a PC… i mean, it’s harder to pirate, mount, install, crack and run than just buy and install…. so stop saying pc gamers are too stupid to handle their computers…. sounds like he was too stupid to handle his company@!

By: Dragon

Dragon — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:06:35 +0000

Truth be told most people pirate games as a means of trying before buying, if they don’t like the game they won’t buy it, some games that come with a CD-key can’t be played online with a generated one and it’s only used to install, if they like the game and want to play he multiplayer aspect they will buy it, of course some still don’t.

By: used cisco

used cisco — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:15:59 +0000

Everything he says is true, yet many games are still successful. That means something is different about his game or his company. THAT’s what he needs to concern himself with.

I found it ironic that he should say something like “it can’t possibly be my fault” while simultaneously blaming everyone else for his games failure.

Now, that being said, I’m really sorry his company went under. There was clearly some talent there and games like Titan Quest showed promise. Unfortunately, its obvious that there are other things that go into making successful PC game, other things, he doesn’t seem to have a grasp on.

By: Thijs

Thijs — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:48:16 +0000

……eum yhea……what else can i say then….HALELUYHAAAA HES RIGHT FOLKS DONT LET PC GAMING DIE !!!!

By: SpiralGray

SpiralGray — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:44:02 +0000

He makes a great point about people doing whatever they want with their PC. That’s why developing quality PC software (whether it be games or anything else) is so challenging. You have no control over the environment and the interaction of all those bits of hardware and software from a dozen or more vendors makes it impossible to test with every possible combination and permutation. This is one area where consoles have an advantage (from the developer’s perspective anyway), the platform is always the same.

I do take exception to his statement that, “There are few better examples of the “it can’t possibly be my fault” culture in the west than gaming forums.” There are plenty of better examples, because the “it can’t possibly be my fault” culture is rampant in this country.

By: Jose

Jose — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:26:11 +0000

Man… is the reason why no one has posted on these new articles because we all know it’s true?