Humble Indie Bundle

[Wartender]

afaik you can still contribute as much as you want and still get a bundle

Feel free to continue donating to charity, to the developers, or any combination thereof below. We will still be distributing humble bundles to anyone who contributes.

don't despair!

[MidKnight]

Feel free to continue donating to charity, to the developers, or any combination thereof below. We will still be distributing humble bundles to anyone who contributes.

(5/11/10)

...And it's over!

(5/15/10)

[Wartender]

well how do you know? the website is still up and running and seems functional, and i haven't seen anywhere that they've stopped giving out bundles...

[SwiftSpear]

well how do you know? the website is still up and running and seems functional, and i haven't seen anywhere that they've stopped giving out bundles...

It says right at the bottom of the website "the promotion is over" and you can no longer access any purchase page.

[Spawn_Retard]

just torrent them, and you can get the bundle for free

[==Troy==]

Spawn, you do realise.....

*thinks how to describe a whole big picture of DRM, copyrights patents greedy companies and consumers who suffer most*

Nah, just dont pirate indie games which specifically do not have DRM in them.

[Spawn_Retard]

the whole point of pirating is not to pay right, well thats whats happening here.

[Neddie]

The motivation behind piracy defines the point of it. Classically, piracy was an initially need and opportunity driven act of grand larceny, usually against an investor or group thereof. This would quickly degenerate into a pattern of greed-driven and highly risky acts of property repossession and redistribution which had national economic ramifications and would result in the application of military force against the perpetrator.

In computer piracy, most users are motivated by any composition of a few specific elements.

A. Need - I.E. I need AutoCAD for a class and cannot afford a copy. - This is uncommon, as most pirates are neither physically isolated nor particularly poorly off, economically.
B. Desire - I.E. Oh my god, Eminem's Relapse sounds good and I want it now! - This is very common, there is no need but the target drives the activity nonetheless.
C. Opportunity - I.E. They leaked the pilot for that new HBO show. - Also common, people often pirate on a whim because it is easy. Laziness is also a motivation, but this follows under Opportunity in general.
D. No Legitimate Access - I.E. I finally found a digital copy of Episode Four of Season Four of The Venture Brother's. - Common, products go out of print or they go to print late, limited editions throttle access to legitimate copies, there are no plans to release this in that format, this is an internal employee guide, what have you.
E. Defiance - I.E. While I like Eat Me, Drink Me... I'm not paying Interscope Records 15.99 USD to hear a weaker Manson record. - I argue that this is uncommon, but many pirates will cite this as a primary or secondary motivation. I think people like to cover Desire and Opportunity up with this excuse, because it casts them in a favourable socioethical light. Some moral or ethical position makes piracy not only viable but superior.
F. Demonstration Of Power - I.E. I can compete in Call Of Duty 4 without paying Infinity Ward a red cent! - Not as uncommon as I'd like, some piracy is the product merely of egotism. Stealing without consequence gives some people a feeling of power.
G. Financial Degradation - I.E. If we all pirate Windows 7 we can force Microsoft into an economic decline. - This is uncommon but I've seen it, a desire to destroy the parent/producer leading to the piracy and dissemination of the product.

Most people claim to pirate out of Need and a desire to Defy. I believe for the most part that people pirate out of Desire and Opportunity. In that case, the point of piracy is to reduce the effort involved in obtaining products because one desires them and the process of acquiring them through piracy is easy.

[KDR_11k]

BTW, large companies would prefer class A piracy for expensive business software over people choosing cheaper alternatives because that gives them training in the software and will encourage future employers to use that software. I don't think stuff like autoCAD is supposed to sell to random consumers.

[Peet]

BTW, large companies would prefer class A piracy for expensive business software over people choosing cheaper alternatives because that gives them training in the software and will encourage future employers to use that software. I don't think stuff like autoCAD is supposed to sell to random consumers.

This is why software with educational/personal licenses available at lower/no cost is the best thing ever.

[Spawn_Retard]

i torrent because i do not want to pay for games for which i may consider not worth the asking price and or replay value.

If any of these games had a online multiplayer that required a real key to play, then i would consider playing them.

Considering the bundle didnt come with this, i dont see why id need to pay for them D:

[SwiftSpear]

A. Need - I.E. I need AutoCAD for a class and cannot afford a copy. - This is uncommon, as most pirates are neither physically isolated nor particularly poorly off, economically.

Statistically, piracy rates are WAY WAY higher in economically poor countries than economically rich countries. Something like 40% of all piracy comes out of china.

Ya, there comes a point of diminishing returns where a country is so poor that people can't afford computers or the internet... but there is less piracy per populous in the US, than there is in Spain, which has less than Russia, which has less than India...

[SwiftSpear]

i torrent because i do not want to pay for games for which i may consider not worth the asking price and or replay value.

If any of these games had a online multiplayer that required a real key to play, then i would consider playing them.

Considering the bundle didnt come with this, i dont see why id need to pay for them D:

this more implies that you pirate games simply because it's easy to get away with it. Multiplayer keys have nothing to do with replayability or value of asking price.

[Regret]

Multiplayer keys have nothing to do with [snip] value of asking price.

If you buy a game that doesn't use a key to identify you, what have you bought?

If a game doesn't offer online multiplayer and/or other benefits directly related to you owning a key or some other identifier, then it's inferior to a pirated version. Pirated game in this case doesn't require the hassle of using a solid DVD/CD in your drive, works without DRM if original game has one and is free, while retaining all the functionality of the original.

I find it fascinating how people pay for something that can be copied for virtually no cost to the 'manufacturer'. It's like banks creating money out of thin air, then loaning it.

[zwzsg]

No DRM was one of the selling point of the Humble Indie Bundle.

[MidKnight]

@Regret:

If you have paper currency that doesn't have any sort of material backing, what do you own?

If money doesn't offer direct conversion into gold and/or other benefits directly related to it being backed by something that is intrinsically hard to obtain, then it's inferior to fake money. Money in this case doesn't require the hassle of keeping large sores of valuable materials in massive government storerooms, works without a phsical form of backing if original currency has one and is free, while retaining all the functionality of the original.

I find it fascinating how people abide to something that can be copied for virtually no cost to the 'manufacturer'. It lets banks create money out of thin air, then loan it.

[Regret]

@Regret:

If you have paper currency that doesn't have any sort of material backing, what do you own?

If money doesn't offer direct conversion into gold and/or other benefits directly related to it being backed by something that is intrinsically hard to obtain, then it's inferior to fake money. Money in this case doesn't require the hassle of keeping large sores of valuable materials in massive government storerooms, works without a phsical form of backing if original currency has one and is free, while retaining all the functionality of the original.

I find it fascinating how people abide to something that can be copied for virtually no cost to the 'manufacturer'. It lets banks create money out of thin air, then loan it.

Try to explain in simple form what you are saying because other than the close resemblance to my post I have no idea what you want to express.

[MidKnight]

I'm pointing out that your reasoning could also be extended to imply that money not supported by a gold standard (eg: almost all paper money currently in circulation) is worthless,

[Regret]

I'm pointing out that your reasoning could also be extended to imply that money not supported by a gold standard (eg: almost all paper money currently in circulation) is worthless,

It is worthless on it's own, but there are things/services you can exchange it for in this society.

[MidKnight]

Why is it that we can exchange useless strips of cloth (or paper) for all sorts of services? Why does money have its worth?