Is this Piracy? Downloading Cracked Retail after Purchasing off Steam

[Cuddles]

As Steam begins to put in more and more old classic Games (at a very good price) and I purchase more and more off of Steam I am begining to run into a very different Piracy question. When I buy a Game I would usually download a Cracked Version that would allow me to play without having a CD or having to Install anything but times are changing and I'm begining to buy games off of Steam. The problem is I want to make sure I have a nonSteam Copy incase Steam was to go down. The chances of Steam going out of business is slim to none but you never really know. Still, I want that feeling that I own the Game.
Here is how I feel.
Once I purchase a Game, I own it, and should have the right to download a Game that I can keep forever. When I buy a game off of Steam I feel I now own that game and should have the right to play it anyway I choose as long as the way I choose doesn't hurt or infringe upon someone else.

So do you think downloading a Cracked Copy of a Game you have just bought off of Steam is Piracy?

 

[koogco]

I fully understand you problem, i have given it a bit of thought as well.
I believe that downloading a non-steam version of a game you own on steam is in fact illegal, if not otherwise then because the game you bought was the "steam-version" while the one you download is a different version. also, one could say that steam is a compromise, you are allowed to download and keep your game up to date without much effort (and fairly quickly) in return, you can only play it using the steam platform.

I don't see Steam being closed down any time soon, with its ever increasing popularity. my own plan (and the one i advice you to follow) is not to download any extra files as long as steam stands, if it finally dies however, I wouldn't hesitate to get my games working with any means necessary.

Remember, if you make sure to play a game for 2minutes while on steam, you can play it on steam in offline mode for a couple of weeks before needing to be online again.

 

[Cuddles]

My views are pretty strong too. I think Piracy was a factor in certain games not being released on PC but I also feel that if you buy a game then that game is yours. Certain Games you buy a service and rent for a period of time before you have to reactivate ie MMO"s. Steam seems to be a cross of both but it's well known that if you violate one of the Games policies then your entire account is shut which includes all of your games on that account.
I have a pretty respectable amount of Games in my collection or had at one point. The older ones that I have found memories of I have been downloading but these are the ones I cannot buy or find. The Games where I have a disk and/or the case but the disk is ruined I download so I can play. Certain games that have Securom on that I buy I'll download a non Securom copy. Sometimes I'll download a Game off the Bittorrent sites just because the cracked Game runs better than the one that I just bought. In essence I don't download a Game I haven't owned before or if the Game is so old it is just impossiable to find.
Steam though brings an odd mixture of Service plus Ownership which has me a bit conflicted. Do I feel Steam will go out of business? No. But wierd things have happened. A merger where Steam suddenly changes into a model you just don't want (AOL anybody?) or a simple move where Steam isn't available. I think this is a pretty good question for people to ponder over as there just isn't a right answer or a wrong one. At least not in my books.

 

[koogco]

well downloading those steam games would certainly be in the same pond as the other cases you mention. technically illegal, but fairly justifiable.
still, I don't see any reason to do that until the day steam actually fails (one way or the other) as fas as I know there are no disadvantage to steam games as long as you got the login information still on your computer. (that, or you are online is fine)

 

[pr2thej]

I think in an industry where we have very little well placed faith, Steam is one of those things you can trust to do the right thing for the gamers.
For me, thats where the real value comes in. It is a shame that its mired by the occasional bad release but then theres only so much blame you can attribute to the platform over the Devs.

With all that said, Ive never contemplated backing up my Steam games, and even after reading this im still of the same opinion. There are many ways to try and justify piracy...this one has a bit of weight i guess but still doesnt do it for me.

 

[Guest]

As Steam begins to put in more and more old classic Games (at a very good price) and I purchase more and more off of Steam I am begining to run into a very different Piracy question. When I buy a Game I would usually download a Cracked Version that would allow me to play without having a CD or having to Install anything but times are changing and I'm begining to buy games off of Steam. The problem is I want to make sure I have a nonSteam Copy incase Steam was to go down. The chances of Steam going out of business is slim to none but you never really know. Still, I want that feeling that I own the Game.
Here is how I feel.
Once I purchase a Game, I own it, and should have the right to download a Game that I can keep forever. When I buy a game off of Steam I feel I now own that game and should have the right to play it anyway I choose as long as the way I choose doesn't hurt or infringe upon someone else.

So do you think downloading a Cracked Copy of a Game you have just bought off of Steam is Piracy?

no I dont if you have paid for it it is yours...technically it is probably slightly illegal but no action would be taken as you hae paid for it it is the lowest form like recording pop songs of the radio

 

[tsd16]

As Steam begins to put in more and more old classic Games (at a very good price) and I purchase more and more off of Steam I am begining to run into a very different Piracy question. When I buy a Game I would usually download a Cracked Version that would allow me to play without having a CD or having to Install anything but times are changing and I'm begining to buy games off of Steam. The problem is I want to make sure I have a nonSteam Copy incase Steam was to go down. The chances of Steam going out of business is slim to none but you never really know. Still, I want that feeling that I own the Game.
Here is how I feel.
Once I purchase a Game, I own it, and should have the right to download a Game that I can keep forever. When I buy a game off of Steam I feel I now own that game and should have the right to play it anyway I choose as long as the way I choose doesn't hurt or infringe upon someone else.

So do you think downloading a Cracked Copy of a Game you have just bought off of Steam is Piracy?

First of all why do you download an entire cracked version to play it without a disk? you still run into the problem on not being able to patch the game, due to the exe being altered when you update it. You could just down load the cracked exe's if thats what your after, then you could use your disk(or steam) install, update them, and get a no cd exe for that version. I get alot of stuff on steam and d2d, and some mods (oblivion/total war) require the disk version exe to work, the script extender for oblivion, and a particular M2tw mod that required a check to make sure you had the expansion since it utilized content from it, which was written for the disk version.

 

[pat mcgroin]

If you BUY IT then IT i$ yours.
You wont have to BUY IT again.
If $team goe$ out of existance $o doe$ your Inve$tment.
$team $eem$ to be good but $o doe$ (I$ wa$) GM

 

[djcoolmasterx]

Using $ signs for all 's's is so cool.

I wish I could be that cool.

 

[Cuddles]

Some good questions tsd. I have the max bandwith that one can purchase as a customer. It's 3 Mb down and 718 up or something like that and it's DSL so I don't share it nor does it flucuate below those levels. It's just as easy for me to download a full disk that has already been cracked as it is for me to just download a cracked exe. I download the ISO, run it once to check it's integrity, and stick it in a folder. From there I download the patches and the updated crack as needed. Because I backup the files to an offsite area I don't have to worry about anything happening if the disk goes bad or anything.
Things happen, businesses go out of business, and I pay for the bandwith so I might as well use it.
Well that was how I used to do it when I bought the Games through a Brick and Mortar place but Steam has made me lazy lately and there was this ethical line I was thinking about. I don't think Steam is going to go out of business either so I'm being really lazy.

Don't you know djcool that only the cool kids buy Macs. We'll never be that cool.

 

[snyderm]

My problem is that where I live I can't get a high speed internet connection. It just isn't offered in my area. Many of the good game titles offered today are steam only. That means I can't play them.

What is worse is that on more than one occasion I have bought a game that requires steam, but I didn't realize that when I bought it. I can't return the game because of the new software return rules everyone has, and I can't even play the game anyway.

Recently I bought The Last remnant off of newegg. I didn't research the game well enough to know that it was steam only. Newegg had no indication this was the case, and I did not suspect a single player ONLY game would require an high speed connection.

So basically steam is such a hinderance to me I wish it didn't exist. Doesn't anyone care that about %30-%40 of computer users don't have high speed internet? It is just another factor that is killing PC Gaming.

 

[pr2thej]

Doesn't anyone care that about %30-%40 of computer users don't have high speed internet?

Id contest this strongly.
Perhaps if you included every man woman and child on the earth that figure might be right but if you take it from Steams point of view where they would look at whats reasonable for the majority of users in their major regions (Europe, USA etc) then the figure is way off.