Weighing the Price

Would you work a job that pays a million dollars a year where all you did is sit in front of a computer while someone pokes you in the back of the head every two minutes?  I pose the question because I want to talk about how much frustration a normal person is willing to endure in order to have their desired luxuries.  And, I want to keep things in relative perspective, which is more to keep myself in line because this is a topic that tends to get me very, very pissed off.

There's a lot of drama surrounding the release of Mass Effect 3, and that's what I'm specifically going to be talking about here.  And don't worry -- this post will be completely spoiler free.

The drama with the game started before it was released with the announcement that there will be day 1 DLC available for $10.  (Or, for those who pre-ordered the collector's edition, it's already included.)  This led to a lot of internet rage and calls for a boycott that won't work.  Internet rage is internet rage, which means it's rarely real rage.  It's just whining for the sake of whining.  Most people either want to feel special by jumping on a bandwagon, or they're too lazy to actually do what they say they're going to do.

If you want my opinion on the matter, I do not like DLC nor do I like people making statements without facts to back them up.  So in reality, I feel each side has done something wrong.

That's not the topic I'm here to discuss, though.  I'm here to try an answer this question:  Why am I not pirating this game when the game would be easier for me to play if I did?

This is what I don't understand about game publishers.  Why do they think that a process which makes pirating the easier choice is a viable means of stopping piracy?  Take everything away from it for a moment and let me present you with a bare bones choice.  Pick 1, or 2:

1. I'll give you something if you pay me, but first you must tell me you're taking it.  Then you must continue to tell me you are using it constantly.  If you stop telling me you're using it, I take it back without warning.  If I happen to leave or you for some reason can't reach me to tell me you're using it, I take it back without warning.  While you're using it, I constantly remind you that it's mine, even though you gave me money to buy it.  Also, I constantly interrupt you to tell you about other things that I have that aren't yours but you can use if you give me money as long as you constantly tell me you're using them, too.  Also, anytime I don't feel like letting you have it, I'll just take it back without warning.

2. I'll give you something and you can use it anytime you want.  You won't hear from me again.

Option number 1 is how always-online DRM works.  Option number 2 is obviously piracy.  Can you see why people pirate games?  I certainly can, and in the case of Mass Effect 3, I cannot blame them.

It's a moral dilemma, especially when you take into consideration that Bioware is such a good developer.  It's a shame they're shackled to EA's wrecking ball.  I want to support them, but I'm also realistic.  Without EA, we probably wouldn't even have Mass Effect.  Bioware wouldn't have the money to develop it.  There's nothing I can do to change that.

So my answer?  Buy the game to support Bioware, and then pirate it to remove EA from the game so that you can actually enjoy it with no hassles.

I used to do this back before digital distribution existed, and games were on CDs.  (Yes, CDs.  Not even DVDs!)  Publishers started making it a requirement that you must have the disc in your disc drive or you can't play the game.  It was an annoying anti-piracy effort.  So I would buy my games, and then pirate them so I never had to have the disc in my computer's drive.  Problem solved.  My life was now easier.  No more switching disks.

This pains me, because after you get past all that frustration and all that annoyance, underneath is a truly brilliant game.  You just need the patience of Job to get to it.

Publishers need to stop punishing their paying customers to combat piracy.  It's really as simple as that.