Buying a game used is no different from pirating

Discuss.
Protocol wrote:I read this on /v/ earlier
And it wasn't cool then either
PIRACY IS ILLEGAL
PURCHASE OF A USED COPY IS LEGAL
By the way, does Steam limit buyers reselling rights?
Protocol wrote:Is that not a difference.
I have always believed that if a developer doesn't garner enough attention for their potentially fuckwin game, they are DOING IT WRONG in the first place.
Baleout wrote:Protocol wrote:Is that not a difference.
I have always believed that if a developer doesn't garner enough attention for their potentially fuckwin game, they are DOING IT WRONG in the first place.
Moar like they don't have enough money to bring attention to their game because everyone pirates them...
MrBlack wrote:Technically the difference between pirating and buying 2nd hand is this;
Dev's ship out stock to retailer, retailer buys 100 games and dev's get moolah
The retailer can then distribute the games for their own profit, given that they buy 2nd hand versions, they can redistribute at their leisure, the dev's won't see the money for this re-distribution
But, if the retailer sells all 100, then they will need to rebuy stock from the dev.
Now, if you buy 2nd hand, the dev will not see that money made by the retailer, whereas if you buy new, and your not the only sucker to buy the game, the dev will eventually see some more money from stores requesting more copies.
If you pirate, the store will not profit, and if the store fails to sell all 100 copies, they will not buy from the dev.
Therefore, 2nd hand impacts only the developer, whereas piracy impacts both the retailer AND developer
Of course with more and more companies going through systems like steam, where the transaction can be dev - consumer, and cutting out the middle-man (retail), it's retail who lose out, so stick it to em
Protocol wrote:MrBlack wrote:Technically the difference between pirating and buying 2nd hand is this;
Dev's ship out stock to retailer, retailer buys 100 games and dev's get moolah
The retailer can then distribute the games for their own profit, given that they buy 2nd hand versions, they can redistribute at their leisure, the dev's won't see the money for this re-distribution
But, if the retailer sells all 100, then they will need to rebuy stock from the dev.
Now, if you buy 2nd hand, the dev will not see that money made by the retailer, whereas if you buy new, and your not the only sucker to buy the game, the dev will eventually see some more money from stores requesting more copies.
If you pirate, the store will not profit, and if the store fails to sell all 100 copies, they will not buy from the dev.
Therefore, 2nd hand impacts only the developer, whereas piracy impacts both the retailer AND developer
Of course with more and more companies going through systems like steam, where the transaction can be dev - consumer, and cutting out the middle-man (retail), it's retail who lose out, so stick it to em
You forgot to mention something.
If a retailer has sold 70 copies of X game out of 100 in an order, and 40 copies of X were traded in the following week, the retailer has no real reason to request a second lot, considering the game is not in demand.
This way, devs that attempt to shovel shit onto the shelves and call it brilliant won't see as big of a return as they could potentially have.
Alternatively, if every of Y game they receive as a trade-in is sold within a week or so, the retailer needs to order more new copies in order to maximise potential profit.