becd.net

Disclaimer: There are no cute ferrets here. The linked article and ensuing rant may also contain content inappropriate for a younger audience. Unless you’re a dork interested in video game controversy, please feel free to skip this and go look at something cute.

Disclaimer #2: I’m no where near as eloquent when ranting as the boy, so this is probably a bit rambly and not that informative.

A reviewer or someone involved with Fallout 3 has stolen the game and released a copy for early download via bittorrent.

Besides being illegal (I’m sure early copies come with an agreement that the reviewer must sign in order to review it, where they promise not to do what someone has apparently done), acts of piracy like this are ruining the gaming world for the rest of us.

If you want something, make sure that the producer of that item gets paid for it. Otherwise, what incentive do they have to continue producing anything at all? And how boring and miserable would we all be without video games and books and music and everything else we enjoy in life?

Now, I firmly believe that no one is an internet angel. Spend any amount of time on the web and you will, at some point, want something and you will not be able to or will not want to pay for it. This is often a matter of what you as an individual think an item is worth.

For example, I’d like the nice shiny book cataloging program. You know, the one that practically catalogs things by itself and has all the bells and whistles you could ever want. However, I’m not willing to pay $30 for it. Why?

Well, for one thing, my husband is a programmer who could easily, if he tried, create the same thing for “free” (it would not cost dollars, but it would cost time and effort). He’s not willing to put forth the time and effort to create one, mind you, but he’s also not willing to let me pay someone else to do what he could do…if he was willing to do it.

Another reason not to pay the $30 for it is the fact that there are several functional (and non-functional) open-source alternatives to the shiny cataloging program. They’re not as pretty and they probably don’t have as many features, but if you have the time to test them all you can probalby find one that will serve your needs adequately.

This is all subjective, of course; being fickle humans, most things are. I place value where I want to place value and you do the same, but since we are not the same human being we will most likely place value in different things. Finding other people with the same values as you is one of the first steps in creating a community.

Video gamers are one of these communities: we place value in video games. We enjoy them, and to do that we buy and play them. Only some of us don’t want to buy them. Why? Has the value of the video game changed?

Now on some titles, I can see these being a justifiable (but not necessarily a legal or morally right) reason to download a game: an individual video game is no longer available or is difficult to obtain due to technological advances (i.e. Final Fantasy 1 (US) for the NES), is not available to you due to regional restrictions (i.e. Final Fantasy 4 was Japan only until recently), or is such a horrible game that it’s not even worth $10 for a bargain copy (why would you want to play this? ).

These are situations where the age, restrictions, and quality of an item can affect the value that item has to an average video gamer. However–to get back to the point of this rant–Fallout 3 does not fit into any of these categories.

1. Fallout 3 is a new addition to a much loved series. This means that there is an established fanbase, most of whom love the series and are looking forward to buying and playing it. If buying this game means that they will get future Fallout games, I bet all of them would be queuing up on release day. Value added.

2. While there is some trepidation over a new production company taking over the beloved series, from trailers it appears that they have both stuck to the canon and created a game that uses modern technology to enhance the original premise. Value added.

3. There is no way that this game can suck enough to justify the pre-release sharing of a stolen copy. Seriously. Have these people watched the trailers? I predict that the game will rival Bioshock in it’s awesomeness and popularity. Value added.

So what can we conclude from this? Possible reasons for sharing a pre-release copy of the game:

1. “OMG I WANT TO PLAY THIS SO MUCH THAT I MUST PLAY IT NOW!”

While this person obviously puts value in the game, they apparently do not value the production company or the franchise enough to pay those who worked so hard to make it for them. If they’re just downloading it to kill time until their pre-ordered copy arrives, I will let them live…for now. For all of the others, I hope it’s a buggy version and it kills their Xbox 360.

2. “I’m a 1337 hacker and look what I found! Watch my epeen grow, dur hur hur!”

That’s cracker, you idiot. You probably spend your free time trolling forums, creating viruses, and looking at porn…when you’re not stealing pre-releases of much awaited video games and movies and releasing them for free on the internet. Am I stereotyping you? Probably. Do I care? No, you’re a jerk. Get off my internets, you’re ruining them for everyone else! *shakes cane at the annoying whippersnappers*

Information may want to be free…but producers of information should be respected and thus paid for their creations. Would you steal from Joss Whedon? No? Why not?

Because for one, he’d probably come to your house and kick your whingy little butt. For another, he might stop making stuff. That would be bad, people!

If you respect a video game, an author, a company or any other manufacturer of things you love, and you want them to continue to produce things you love, please buy their products. If you’re tight on funds, you can:

1. Borrow it from friends or sometimes even the library, or rent it from Blockbuster or Gamefly

2. Train your little American brain to not demand things NOW NOW NOW and wait for the item to go on sale

3. Ask for the item as a gift (see #2 if you have problems regarding instant gratification and/or you are a spoiled brat)

If you do end up downloading something, and it turns out that you absolutely love it, please find a way to reimburse the producers for their work. This may be by buying a legit copy, or making a donation to them/their company, but whatever method you choose please support the people who make your life a happier place to be.

I’m looking forward to the arrival of our pre-ordered game. Even though I don’t typically play a lot of the FPS games that cross our doorstep, I enjoy watching the storyline as my husband plays. He enjoys the storylines and the wanton destruction of zombies (because every game he plays has a zombie in it somewhere, I swear). And, seriously? You can sneak a grenade into another persons pocket in Fallout 3. And then detonate it. Or you can hit a person’s head so hard that it comes off. The makers of Fallout 3 know what they’re doing. I mean, they might as well have pulled a silent meow on us!

In case you are concerned about the levels of violence and destruction found in video games (and our love for it), here is an excerpt from the World of Psychology blog article titled “The Link Between Video Games and Violence“:

Surprise, surprise! People who may already exhibit signs of anger or aggression may be drawn to such games. The games don’t cause the anger or aggression. Such people may also be at greater risk for showing increased anger or aggression.

What the research does show, in a nutshell, then is this:

* Teens who are already angry or aggressive likely should be limited in their playing of violent video games
* Teens should not play M-rated games
* Girls especially should not play M-rated games
* Video game is an important social development interaction for boys. Parents should keep this in mind when taking such time away from them in punishment.
* And of course, all things in moderation. Playing a video game for 6 or 8 hours straight is unhealthy behavior at any age.

But really, that’s another rant.

-M