long as they realise that is likely not a final version (regardless of what
the hype and hackers claim) if the final version hasn't been released yet.
I also believe 1000% that you should pay for what you use, especially if it
is a quality product. Quality software is apparently a lot harder to
produce than we would like, since there is so little of it available. That
goes for many categories, but especially racing and driving sims.
Reports from people who have tried stolen software can be very helpful to us
here...to know whether the hyperbole and hype that seems to accompany every
release is bullshit or whether there is some truth to it.
Publishers who are so anxious to get their titles on the store shelves and
release demos late or never are shooting themselves in the foot in the
battle against piracy. Unfortunately, it seems like many want to milk sales
of a title before people find out how bad it really is.
Publishers who release anxiously awaited titles on one continent months or
even years ahead of the release in another location, in the age of the
Internet and online commerce, are just brain dead.
Despite all of that, WE must be clueless,
insulated-from-any-kind-of-reality-and-community-spirit-twitheads if we
think that the kind of *** of warez mania that has gripped this group in
the last couple of days is anything but destructive and self destructive.
We must discourage (through community effort and standards) the promotion of
theft of the very software that brings us together. That doesn't mean
ignoring the reality of warez...and occasionally, when there is some
pressing need, discussing the merits of some new yet-to-be-released title.
But the wanton disregard for our own self-interest, the interests of the
software developers and employees who frequent this group in an attempt to
address our concerns and wishes, and the interests of the "evil" publishers,
without whom, this group and our hobby would not exist, should stop!
When the publishers lose because we trash their product and the 12 and half
people who regularly read this group don't buy their product we win. When
the publishers lose because the culture of theft and piracy has reached down
to even our hard core level, then we will lose too because the only thing
left for them to do is shovel ***out the door since taking the time and
effort to do something well will be punished MORE than doing something
badly. In other words, the better the product the more people there will be
who want to steal it.
When our "colleagues" who work for these companies see their own salaries or
efforts put at risk, why would they continue to be collegial? They are not
naive about piracy, of course, but I would presume they expect more from
"colleagues" or "associates." Why would we do anything to wilfully
participate in reducing the already small incentives they have to do good
work?
Finally, is such a stretch to realise that in the *** world, we are
connected to each other? Isn't that what r.a.s. is supposed to be about? I
can tell you the information and advice I have received here--free--over the
past few years has been invaluable to me in relation to my racing sim hobby.
There is no other group or resource like this period. The last few days has
seen the community trashed by adolescent, masturbatory begging and pleading
about a title that, if we're lucky, will be at the top of the heap modern F1
arcade titles. And if we're lucky, the developers might release a physics
patch to make the thing more reasonable to us few fanatics (it is obviously
aimed at a mass audience, not us) and fans may toil for hours fixing sounds,
etc. At the end of the day, it may be a ball of fun, like SCGT turned out
to be after we got through with it. But that's all it is--and at this stage
of the process, I don't think it is worth throwing away our collective
self-interest...starting the big slide down the rail to theft-promoting
mediocrity for all.
A simple proposal: no discussion of warez sites, the mechanics of acquiring
warez, installing warez, using warez, etc. It exists, we don't have to
pretend it doesn't. Some useful information can be gained from it...we can
share that...discreetly. Let's not participate in the ultimate slitting of
our own throats, though.
I obviously feel strongly about this--I am typing it instead of watching the
Darlington race!!! I am doing so because I want to be able to come back to
r.a.s. two years from now (when we are discussing GP5 and NASCAR 6
hopefully) and still have an intact community that at least a couple of sim.
developers might frequent (or at least read). I want to have a bit of fun
reading it and still be able to get tons of useful information and share the
little bit that I can in those unlikely situations that I know something
that others don't. I honestly believe that I am not overreacting when I say
that the warez "discussion" this group has been splattered with in the last
few days, if continued, will prevent this future from happening.
Thanks for listening :)
Marc.
-- Computers will never equal humans until they make mistakes and
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Marc Collins
blame them on other computers.
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