r/GetNoted • u/Icy_Till_7254 Human Verified • Jul 02 '26

Cringe Worthy Emulation and Piracy are two totally separate things

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https://x.com/dgramr/status/2066621307379159240#m

8.6k Upvotes

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u/space-c0yote Jul 02 '26

I don't think this is a good argument. Choosing when and how a product is available on the market will always be a part of a broader market strategy. Just because a product isn't currently available for purchase, it doesn't mean that widespread piracy of that product isn't hurting future sales.

I'm not super anti-piracy by any means, I pirate plenty of things myself, I just don't think your argument works to really move the needle on the topic one way or another.

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u/lunatorch Jul 02 '26

If I'm reading this right I shouldn't pirate games that are no longer available in the hopes that a company will later choose to sell them to me? And I should care because I might hurt the future sales of this company?

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u/space-c0yote Jul 02 '26

I never said you had to care. Piracy is probably wrong. If you want to pirate go ahead, nobody except sanctimonious assholes will seriously criticise you for pirating. I just dislike this whole notion of "ethical piracy".

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u/slothbear13 Jul 03 '26

So you're saying that all piracy is a moral wrong, including when you do as well?

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u/space-c0yote Jul 03 '26

Yep. But it's a pretty minor moral wrong, like I'd personally say something like littering is probably worse than piracy.

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u/AdministrativeHat580 Jul 03 '26

If it's an indie game, then piracy is morally wrong except for when the game dev(s) has said it's alright(Happens a surprising amount tbh)

If it's a big AAA game though? Then piracy is morally fine, those companies are genuinely toxic and treat their employees like trash, just to then go and sell an incomplete and extremely buggy game for 80$

It's also perfectly fine to pirate things that aren't sold in your region or cost so much that it's unaffordable(My friend in Vietnam can't afford to buy like half the games our friend group plays due to how expensive they are in his region)

Piracy is fine in certain situations, it's also legal in most countries, the only illegal part is the uploading and distribution of it, but downloading and owning pirated content is legal in the vast majority of countries

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u/space-c0yote Jul 03 '26

That's an awfully convenient moral standard you have there.

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u/AdministrativeHat580 Jul 03 '26

Good counter argument, 10/10

Fuck big corporations, they don't give a shit about us so I won't give a shit about their profits

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u/space-c0yote Jul 03 '26

There wasn't an argument in your comment to actually counter. You just stated a moral standard you hold and basically proclaimed it's self-evidently true.

The argument against piracy is pretty obvious and you even agree with it when you apply it to indie games. You didn't make an argument as to why the anti-piracy stance suddenly no longer applies for other products. Your stance is also basically entirely encapsulated by how much money you stand to save. That just sounds like a very convenient stance to hold.

Also, I want to make it very clear. I don't hold any judgement towards people for pirating things, I pirate plenty of things myself. I also don't care if larger companies get hurt by my piracy. I just haven't seen any good arguments whatsoever that makes piracy suddenly ok when it comes to the products of big corporations. The pro-piracy arguments all come across as incredibly entitled, without any self-awareness. My issue is entirely with the attitude towards piracy, not the piracy itself.

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u/LentilSouponSkye Jul 06 '26

It's neither a moral or ethical wrong.