I totally had this idea first...

[Giftzwerg]

http://www.macrumors.com/2013/04/29/independent-game-developer-pranks-
pirates-with-game-dev-tycoon/

I didn't want to make it so obvious, though, just have developers
themselves post the pirated version of the game with "features" that
made the game *maddeningly* hard to win ... impossible, mostly, to win.


--
Giftzwerg
***
"While Ms. Giffords certainly has my sympathy for the violence she
suffered, it should be noted that being shot in the head by a lunatic
does not give one any special grace to pronounce upon public-policy
questions, nor does it give one moral license to call people 'cowards'
for holding public-policy views at variance with one?s own."
- Kevin Williamson

[Giftzwerg]

In article <1723328458388974004.7...@news.aioe.org>,
ade...@inbox.com says...

> > http://www.macrumors.com/2013/04/29/independent-game-developer-pranks-
> > pirates-with-game-dev-tycoon/
> >
> > I didn't want to make it so obvious, though, just have developers
> > themselves post the pirated version of the game with "features" that
> > made the game *maddeningly* hard to win ... impossible, mostly, to win.
>

> As it is, most games are already hard to win. How will pirates be able to
> tell? All that will likely happen is that they will spread the word that
> this game sucks instead...

I spread the same "rumor," most times.

And let them, "spread the word." They'll look like idiots, with paying
users counter-posting:

"Whaaaaat!?!? Tutorial 2 is *impossible*?!?! You must be a total
fucking retard - just shell the fort with your mortars and move up
shooting. It's completely easy."

[eddys...@hotmail.com]

On 30 apr, 02:22, <adel...@inbox.com> wrote:

> As it is, most games are already hard to win.

What games have you been playing ? Games these days are designed to be
easy, greatest common denominator and all that. I play computer games
when I don't feel like being mentally challenged.

> How will pirates be able to
> tell? All that will likely happen is that they will spread the word that
> this game sucks instead...

They've countered that by going public with what they've done. The
problem now is that legitimate customers who have a problem aren't
taken seriously and as those are the ones who actually paid for the
game, that's not a good long-term business strategy

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[Holdit]

In article <8f2714c9-1ca9-4159-9fbe-3f25ca355605
@s9g2000vba.googlegroups.com>, eddys...@hotmail.com says...

>
> On 30 apr, 02:22, <adel...@inbox.com> wrote:
>
>
> They've countered that by going public with what they've done. The
> problem now is that legitimate customers who have a problem aren't
> taken seriously

Surely that would be taken care of once the symptoms are described.
People would get to know which are the bugs that only affect pirated
copies. And of course, the developers would know this from the outset.

Holdit




--
--
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others
of whom I made the most careful and particular enquiry."
- Thucydides (Peloponnesian War)

"I've just jazzed mine up a little."
- Spike Milligan (World War 2)

[eddys...@hotmail.com]

On 30 apr, 10:16, Holdit <holditREM...@indigoTHE.ieCAPS> wrote:

> > They've countered that by going public with what they've done. The
> > problem now is that legitimate customers who have a problem aren't
> > taken seriously
>
> Surely that would be taken care of once the symptoms are described.
> People would get to know which are the bugs that only affect pirated
> copies. And of course, the developers would know this from the outset.

I deal with people reporting "bugs" in software on a daily basis - you
have no idea how totally incoherent and incomprehensible people are
when trying to report a computer/software problem.

"x does not work" - with not even the tiniest explanation of what
they mean with "does not work" is fully *half* the service calls I
get. I consider myself lucky if they get the "x" part correct the
first time.

I've got a generic text ready for copy & paste which carefully
explains how they can take screenshots, write-out the scenario
leading up to the bug, and most importantly describe exactly what they
consider to be a "bug" - this can mean *anything*, from data they
somehow consider to be "wrong" to a layout they don't like, to new
features they want added to an application. Yes, an application which
does not have the features they like/want/need is "buggy"

End of rant - hit user to continue :)

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[Giftzwerg]

In article <8f2714c9-1ca9-4159-9fbe-3f25ca355605
@s9g2000vba.googlegroups.com>, eddys...@hotmail.com says...

> > How will pirates be able to
> > tell? All that will likely happen is that they will spread the word that
> > this game sucks instead...
>
> They've countered that by going public with what they've done. The
> problem now is that legitimate customers who have a problem aren't
> taken seriously and as those are the ones who actually paid for the
> game, that's not a good long-term business strategy

Wait a minute, though; the "pirated" copy posted by the developer isn't
*buggy*. It works perfectly fine. It's just that the pirate playing
his "stolen" copy is XX% more unlucky than the paying customer.

I'm talking about stuff like the paying customer having a 5% chance of
his tank bogging down crossing a stream, but a pirate having a random
variation on 15%.

So what does he post?

PIRATE: "My tanks always bog down!"
CUSTOMER: "Maddening, isn't it? I lost *both* Tigers yesterday."
PIRATE: "But it happens too often!"
CUSTOMER: "Disagree. I got 17 other tanks across OK."
PIRATE: "I lost *FIVE*!!!"
CUSTOMER: "You had an unlucky day."

[eddys...@hotmail.com]

On 30 apr, 13:24, Giftzwerg <giftzwerg...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In article <8f2714c9-1ca9-4159-9fbe-3f25ca355605

> @s9g2000vba.googlegroups.com>, eddyster...@hotmail.com says...

>
> > > How will pirates be able to
> > > tell? All that will likely happen is that they will spread the word that
> > > this game sucks instead...
>
> > They've countered that by going public with what they've done. The
> > problem now is that legitimate customers who have a problem aren't
> > taken seriously and as those are the ones who actually paid for the
> > game, that's not a good long-term business strategy
>
> Wait a minute, though; the "pirated" copy posted by the developer isn't
> *buggy*.  It works perfectly fine.  It's just that the pirate playing
> his "stolen" copy is XX% more unlucky than the paying customer.
>
> I'm talking about stuff like the paying customer having a 5% chance of
> his tank bogging down crossing a stream, but a pirate having a random
> variation on 15%.
>
> So what does he post?
>
> PIRATE:  "My tanks always bog down!"
> CUSTOMER:  "Maddening, isn't it?  I lost *both* Tigers yesterday."
> PIRATE:  "But it happens too often!"
> CUSTOMER:  "Disagree.  I got 17 other tanks across OK."
> PIRATE:  "I lost *FIVE*!!!"
> CUSTOMER:  "You had an unlucky day."

Most games out there are flakey enough without developers introducing
such "features", so one wonders if all that creativity to combat
piracy wouldn't have been better served making the game better for
their paying customers.

It's probably a lot of fun for the developers I guess, but I wonder
how many legitimate customers with a legitimate complaint will get
totally frustrated with this sort of practice.

I just heard that Eclipse is out for the iPad, a platform where
developers don't have to deal with nor spend time on all that anti-
piracy crap and can concentrate fully on making the best game they
possibly can - $7 coming their way.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[herm...@hotmail.com]

Great. An ideal excuse for AGSI and Harpoon.

"Didn't you hear? Harpoon isn't buggy. It's a deliberate trap for pirates. The only folks experiencing problems are those who stole the game in the first place." :-)