2018-01-29 06:21:02

Well that's why there is once and done drm. Just because we are trying to find a way to cut down on piracy doesn't mean we don't oppose excessive drm, *I'm looking right at you, Code Factory/Nuance* if it wasn't for the drm I'd consider buying eloquence. You make that thing transparent and able to remotely deactivate if need be, then maybe. Until then, you can bet I won't be lending any part of my wallet to you. No hard feelings, after all Code Factory does deliver in what they do, but I won't accept intrusive drm like that. That's why, if you look at earlier posts we propose a lot of ideas that allow a shit ton of user control or transparency compared to others.

2018-01-29 07:43:40

Affordability is subjective depending on where you are from and to a certain extent the treatment of disabled community in your country. 20 USD will be very affordable for people whom USD is their main currency, whereas convert that into some other lower currency, it becomes hundreds for them. Not to mention that some countries provides social support in the form of living allowance for their dxisabled citizns, whereas some are not economically possible.
Also, some banks won't give credit card or online access to the blind, which further complicate the issue. I took the stand that it's just a want, not a basic need you must have in order to survive, although admittedly I do use cracks for some of the software.

Maybe at some point in time, when the developer earn enough from those who bought the game, they can give some promotion price, which by then many people will join in and buy.

2018-01-29 09:04:23

I went ahead and reported post 80, even though I know it's already been done. This is because it sorta backs up the point I made a couple of weeks back regarding precedents and the like.

MusicalProfessor, in that other topic, did some bad stuff which necessitated punitive action. Okay, fine.
JimmyDubb didn't get angry, he wasn't being attacked, he wasn't under any duress I can see, and he deliberately torpedoed one of the most vulnerable tenets of the community. He is encouraging cracking of not only audio games, but all media. This is not a mistake. It is clearly against the rules. What's more, I'm quite sure this guy has been banned/punished for personal attacks, at the very least, before. I feel that to not have him punished for this is a blatant dismissal of that precedent I was hoping would get established.
Nocturnis, I'm not blaming you specifically here - I'm not really pointing fingers and trying to blame anyone - but this is pretty clearly a problem. JimmyDubb, as a user of this forum, should know, understand and agree to the rules. He deliberately spat in the face of those rules, and so far his only reaction is a warning. It's sort of like calling a guy on the phone and yelling at him because he stole a car when he knows it's wrong to steal. It's not as if he just, I dunno, called someone a name or something. This was willful disregard of forum rules for a personal agenda (that of piracy support I mean).
So no. I don't think there should be leniency here. I don't think this action deserves just a warning, which is why I reported it.

All that being said, I'll actually hit a main point of the discussion:

I'm not fond of DRM either, honestly. If I buy something (a movie, a game, a book or whatever), I feel as if I should be able to enjoy it where I wish, how I wish, so long as I do not sell it to anyone. The reason DRM exists, of course, is so that you don't just send the file to all your buddies who want the same thing for free, but I've never agreed with it in theory or in practice. Hell, there's even proprietary software installed in certain mechanical devices that can damage them if used improperly. For instance, a soap dispenser which takes little cartridges of liquid soap; if you try to use a knock-off brand (whose size specs are just a tiny bit different) something in the dispenser will notice it, and it'll basically freeze and not work. You have to submit it for repair, usually at your own expense I think. DRM can definitely get pretty ridiculous, you won't catch me saying otherwise.

Check out my Manamon text walkthrough at the following link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8ls3rc3f4mkb … n.txt?dl=1

2018-01-29 11:00:42

I don't think we could go back to no DRM at all. I do think that we should strive to make it known to companies that use excessive DRM that we don't find this acceptable though, but as for opposing any and all DRM, I don't find this to be a realistic goal. Creators have rights just as do consumers. I think in the case of authors, they give a lot of those rights up when they publish, or at least, to some extent.

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
End division
Become united

2018-01-29 11:08:47

Hmmm.
Well a few things to put on to here.
1.  Agree with drm, I did have audible but to be honest I don't care for it it restricts me to much.
The same for the format dvds are in.
Same thing for being stuck with clients that may or may not work like steam.
Drm, I agree, its a evil and if it works for you fine but mostly it don't.
For jimmy dub, why pirate.
For me it was to fight against the system which I did for a while.
My fight ended when I managed to find a nitche that while it didn't mean I wasn't still fighting the system, I could exist where I didn't have to basically steal just about everything.
For what I was doing and the laws it wasn't worth it.
The only acception to this are dvds to some extent when they play nice and thats only because I want full control of where I play and place the movie files as music and nothing more.
I just want my audio described movies.
I have gotten into local on demand streams for somethings and if its cheap enough I will buy it outright.
Same is with audio cds and files of audio people can give me.
Software, I can't say I have done that for a while.
The thing jimmy, is unless you are in china where everyone basically does it and such and where you can get anything you like I know that because some friends that are from new zealand buy expensive software for cheap over there because they live there do it well it seems to be the unspoken rule of users over there nothing official though.
ButThere are only 3 reasons to pirate.
1.  you are fighting the system.
This is fine but you need a goal, for me it was high priced software, and a few other gripes, I managed to slowly find my way to while its not the best Its something I can opperate within the bounds of.
2.  money, I don't agree with this type you pirate because you get nice and rich with no tax.
Thats fine if you keep it small but if you get greedy like kim.com you will get caught its a bit risky.
3.  you like to gamble with your life and I guess thats your life to throw away.
4.  You just do it because everyone does it and it was pirate all the way.
If its number 4 jimmy, pirating all the way died out for me in 2011-2012.
Back in 1995-2005 I'd understand, crack everything and pirate all the way was my moto.
But that aint that time, that reason is not cool.
If all you want is music you can go to youtube, get that and use a youtube converter, just don't do to much at once, not sure how legal exactly that is but I have done that several times when I couldn't get a song or something or if I wanted to get a video for listening to later.
For the rest I don't really know.
At any rate admitting it like a brag aint really smart.
Its like I am a mass murderer and I go oh looky here guys last night I slit a lady's throat, and killed her children, ate her baby and burned down her house.
Even if I did bragging is just asking for it.
If your reason is you fight against the system for no reason let me remind you that to some extent even on windows you can skipp the monster corps and companies.
Adobe reader I still use, ms windows abbyy software, and goldwave as well as applian tech and dolphin.
Everything else I own is free or opensource or low cost.
And if it costs I put it into a rainy day list and buy when able.
Then again it depends what you crack and why.
Music and movies, I can't say I have stopped completely, no torrents though.
Software, I have pritty much stopped, there are enough little guys I can talk to without the big ones and even the bigger ones are smartening up.
As for joseph, he has the right to his opinion, no dissing intended.
At any rate its not the big devs that are the issues its the guy at the top of these  big companies and a few seem to be talking there are other ways to get through.

2018-01-29 13:50:36

Oh boy, I almost hate to post in this topic again. What I have to say may anger some, but I've heard similar things said in this topic.

I own a perfectly legal license of JAWS. However, we have at least seven viable computers, which means I pretty much have to use a crack in order to get it installed on all those systems thanks to the DRM. Freedom Scientific would almost certainly say this is wrong, no shades of gray in sight. I tend to disagree. As I said before, I own a perfectly legal license, paid for with my own money. I should be able to use the product I purchased for its intended purpose as I see fit. No, I'm not going to go giving away cracks of JAWS, nor tell people where to get it.

Same holds true for Code Factory Eloquence, except as far as I know there's not a crack for it. Were there a crack, and I knew it was safe, contained no malware, and worked as expected, I'd gladly install it to avoid the DRM. However, let me stress again, I own a perfectly legitimate license to use the software.

2018-01-29 15:46:14

¨good god. everyone gets soooooo angry when someone comes on and says that kracking is ok. i mean come on. as long as audiogames are still in the 90's and overpriced i highly encurrage kracking.
@jade you should calm your self man and stop throwing around accusations about jimmy being banned etc.
as long as developers arne't willing to put in some work in their game and just make easy stuffs that belongs to the 90's game and at that makes it overpriced i don't expect people throwing off money to them.
now, ahc is an acception along with code7.
@everyone who tells people to kindly ask someone to buy a game for them. have you all done it your self?  if not, stop getting up with the same thing over and over in response to the reasons why people krack. it's just outright wrong to asoom that the world works like this since i can assure you in those big mainstream comunities it's not at all like this.
with this out of the way. i fully stand behind jimmy dub in this regard. when audiogames gets some content like ahc and code7 and stopps being so overpriced as mannamon compared to it's content then we can talk about how wrong it is to krack something that someone ha put in work to.

2018-01-29 16:01:25

Sito,

Your logic is flawed. You suggest that it's okay to crack stuff because it's not of particularly high quality. Well first of all, that's a subjective analysis, but let's say for a moment that it's true. Does that mean it's okay to go to a restaurant, order a burger, find out it's second-rate, then nip out the door without paying? Or is it okay to go to a bookstore, pick up a book off the shelf, read the first twenty pages, realize the novelist really isn't all that great, then swipe the book anyway?

The answer is no.

This behaviour hurts an already small and rather vulnerable community. The behaviour itself needs to stop, as does all encouragement of that behaviour. No exceptions. No grey areas. No concessions because this or that game isn't as good, or costs too much, or anything else.

You support JimmyDubb's position? Okay. You get reported too. Simple as that.

Now, Jaybird, I understand what you're saying. And no, that doesn't make me angry. I did make a point much, much earlier about certain situations where things were not so clear-cut as they are with cracking audio games. Your situation is one such.

And no, we can't avoid DRM entirely, but here's a funny thing. So okay. Thirty years ago, you could buy a hard copy of a piece of art (a painting, a sketch, a cassette, a book) and nothing at all was stopping you from letting your buddy borrow it. Hell, how many people have bought CDs, cassettes and beat-up paperbacks from yard sales? This was actually the clincher for me when someone else made the argument. Once a person buys a piece of art, really the only thing they absolutely should never do is try to claim that art as their own. If they want to sell their copy to someone else, that's legal. If they want to just give it away, that's legal too. And if it's legal in nondigital formats, it should be legal digitally as well.
Where the problem arises, however, is copying. With nondigital media, you had an item which, when you decided to sell it/give it away, you simply didn't have anymore. You could only do it once. With digital stuff, however, you can make copies, and can distribute it willy-nilly without actually losing your own original copy. And that's where it becomes problematic.
So no. I don't like DRM. Ethically I don't think it ought to exist. But someone made the point that we can't get away from it entirely, and given our propensity for taking a mile when given an inch, I think they have a good point.

Check out my Manamon text walkthrough at the following link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8ls3rc3f4mkb … n.txt?dl=1

2018-01-29 17:32:10

Moderation!

sito, surprisingly enough, warning for you too for the same reasons as Jimmydub, namely  cracking of audiogames..

The plane fact is audiogames.net exists to support audiogames and audiogame developers so  people have the time and money and resources to put behind developing games (especially the more complex ones).

if you don't want to support audiogame developers then you should not be part of this community and should probably leave before you get banned.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2018-01-29 17:54:00

Yeah. I actually bought a copy of the game for a good friend of mine because she was having difficulty with her PayPal account.

But wait, what's that? A transport! Saved am I! Hark, over here! Hey nonny non, please help!

2018-01-29 17:55:47

Something I wanted to bring up that bugs me......is the double standards on this forum.

Link to something like the blind mice mall or ask for audio described GoT or Xena or whatever or a movie? You get links, nothing gets done. Even mention you cracked one audiogame 10 years ago, you get vilified. Yet say you have a crack for Jaws or Supernova and it's split down the middle. If people are so touchy about cracking audiogames, why are they not so touchy about cracking mainstream games or commercial softwaree?

I can tell you how pissed off SMS were to find cracks for PCARS 1 and 2 floating around before release, and people ripping assets from those games to port to other games without asking....yet to the blindies it's just a mainstream game so there's no harm done, right guys?

That's the mentality I see here, oh, it's not a blindie game, it's not something we're involved in so what's the harm in cracking it? Here's the fucking problem. You want to crack EA's latest game, go ahead, but keep your mouth shut. You should IMHO get banned for saying you cracked mainstream software or assistive tech software just like anything else. Hell I'd even go a step further and say if you want links to audio described shit...yeah you should get banned for that or at least ask in PMs, because, that's stealing content as well, there's no difference if you go with the stealing argument really from downloaidng a movie with audio description you didn't pay for, than cracking say....software X that you didn't pay for, whatever it is.

That's my $0.02

Also, yes, I've cracked software when I was on Windows. I used to download portable versions of games that I hadn't owned, I have a shitload of N64/NES/SNES ROMS and emulators. I didn't crack those. Somebody else made the emulator. Same for my C64 collection of games. All of those were cracked by groups back in the day and put onto a CD with a bunch of emulators and sold. as a classix collection. Is that a problem if the software's already cracked?

What about the Ubisoft argument that they had to crack their own game to beat their own DRM 9(which still makes me laugh). What if, say, I make an audiogame, then I update it and have to resort to doing the exact same thing, cracking my game and distributing the crack as part of the update. Would I get banned for it when I'm the one making the game and cracking my own game to enable people to play an updated version of software I coded with my own keyboard?

Warning: Grumpy post above
Also on Linux natively

2018-01-29 18:34:20 (edited by JimmyDub 2018-01-29 18:48:03)

Jayde wrote:

I went ahead and reported post 80, even though I know it's already been done. This is because it sorta backs up the point I made a couple of weeks back regarding precedents and the like.

MusicalProfessor, in that other topic, did some bad stuff which necessitated punitive action. Okay, fine.
JimmyDubb didn't get angry, he wasn't being attacked, he wasn't under any duress I can see, and he deliberately torpedoed one of the most vulnerable tenets of the community. He is encouraging cracking of not only audio games, but all media. This is not a mistake. It is clearly against the rules. What's more, I'm quite sure this guy has been banned/punished for personal attacks, at the very least, before. I feel that to not have him punished for this is a blatant dismissal of that precedent I was hoping would get established.
Nocturnis, I'm not blaming you specifically here - I'm not really pointing fingers and trying to blame anyone - but this is pretty clearly a problem. JimmyDubb, as a user of this forum, should know, understand and agree to the rules. He deliberately spat in the face of those rules, and so far his only reaction is a warning. It's sort of like calling a guy on the phone and yelling at him because he stole a car when he knows it's wrong to steal. It's not as if he just, I dunno, called someone a name or something. This was willful disregard of forum rules for a personal agenda (that of piracy support I mean).
So no. I don't think there should be leniency here. I don't think this action deserves just a warning, which is why I reported it.

All that being said, I'll actually hit a main point of the discussion:

I'm not fond of DRM either, honestly. If I buy something (a movie, a game, a book or whatever), I feel as if I should be able to enjoy it where I wish, how I wish, so long as I do not sell it to anyone. The reason DRM exists, of course, is so that you don't just send the file to all your buddies who want the same thing for free, but I've never agreed with it in theory or in practice. Hell, there's even proprietary software installed in certain mechanical devices that can damage them if used improperly. For instance, a soap dispenser which takes little cartridges of liquid soap; if you try to use a knock-off brand (whose size specs are just a tiny bit different) something in the dispenser will notice it, and it'll basically freeze and not work. You have to submit it for repair, usually at your own expense I think. DRM can definitely get pretty ridiculous, you won't catch me saying otherwise.

lol seems you're on drugs or something. was never banned for personal attacks. I was banned for a month or 2 before for giving out cracks. if I get banned for using my right of freedom of speech, so be it. I don't need to be here to continue living. I left stw today, and I could just as easily leave here without saying a word, but I will go out fighting until the end. tpb for life. Download music, movies, games, software! The Pirate Bay - The galaxy's most resilient BitTorrent site

2018-01-29 18:42:33

also if you get banned you can get right back in with hot spot shield or any other vpn for that matter.

2018-01-29 19:09:06

Moderation!

Nobody will be surprised who has read the above posts,  but Jimmydub has now got  his wish and been permanently banned.

oh, and if he does find a way around the ban we'll be glad to ban him again.


For questions about our position as relates to cracks etc, I'll remind people to please check the faq.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2018-01-29 19:25:38 (edited by Ethin 2018-01-29 19:27:54)

JaceK certainly puts fourth a valid argument here. We shouldn't be duplicitous here and say, "Oh, you can't crack audio games, or distribute cracks about audio games, on this forum," because then we're limiting  ourselves to audio games specifically. (The rules do state, "Posting warez, cracks, serials or hacking tips is not allowed," but over the years since the rules were last updated (if they were *ever* updated) that rule has been convoluted into, "posting cracks of audio games and software for the blind is disallowed, but posting how to crack mainstream products and software is.")
Now, I do understand the DRM issue. I have a book (Security Awareness: Applying Practical Security in Your World,  5th Edition, by Mark Ciampa) for a class I'm taking here at College that does not allow me to copy anything from the text (i.e. for quotations) among many other restrictions. The *only* time I use DRM strippers (I have one on my computer) is when I buy a book from Amazon, for example, and want to convert it into Epub since the Kindle app is holy inaccessible when trying to read books. Similarly, I use that to remove DRM from Inform It books, too -- I like all my books in Epub, and QRead works nicely with most of them accept the DRMed ones, so I get rid of it. Plus, it doesn't seem like most publishers have an ultra-major problem with DRM removal; after all, Calibre allows you to do just that, and so does Codex, and neither of the devs of either of those applications have gotten sued or imprisoned for it.
@Dark, here's the thing about bans, and I mean no offense by this: bans can be evaded. You can ban him as much as you like, and he'll always find a way around it because if he uses an intelligent VPN.... well, he'll get a random IP every time. Your only way to ban him from the forum *permanently* is to ban his computers MAC address, which only the AG.NET server has, if Apache or whatever web server the site is using does, in fact, log that. And that's only if he doesn't know how to fake his MAC address (which is, yes, possible).

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
My Github

2018-01-29 21:10:09

Ah, even better. He'd been warned/banned for dealing with cracks before. Slam dunk then.

So okay, I'm gonna clarify this one more time and then I'm bowing out unless something else important needs saying.

Any sort of piracy is illegal, in most cases. At the very, very best, it's morally grey. If you can accept this, move on.
There are cases where a person requires access to a software solution which they can't get any other way save piracy. I'm not going to stand up and congratulate people for cracking said software, but I do understand that sometimes, extenuating circumstances are at play. A screenreader, for instance, is pretty vital for most of us here, and some other programs are also pretty necessary. Sometimes, costs are prohibitive, or availability is severely limited, potentially necessitating other actions. My general stance is that it should be a risk-benefit analysis, plus an assessment of need. If your need (not want, need) is great, and if the overall harm to be done is low, then perhaps verging into this morally grey area is something which might be considered.

Here's the thing though. Games, whether of the audio or mainstream variety, should never, ever, ever tick these boxes. Games are wants. They're not needs. In the case of a mainstream game, the harm done is probably reasonably low, but there is still the fact that you are fulfilling a want, and not a need. For the audiogames community, however, the harm is potentially much, much greater. The damage to profit margins is exponentially larger with each purchase - I feel like I've said some of this before, btw - and as such, not only are you fulfilling a want, but your risk/benefit analysis should tell you that while you may not hurt yourself much, you might hurt the community a great deal.
If you read all of this and still think you have a right or even a duty to crack audio games, then this community is better off without you.

And let me be clear on something else, too. This community has the right to make whatever rules it wants. Your existence here is a privilege, not a right. If they outlawed the word "purple" for some reason, then you either deal with it or you leave. That would admittedly be a pretty silly thing to do, but outlawing the cracking of audio games makes a ton of sense, given the harm that behaviour does to the community.

In other words: you're here because you're being permitted to be here. To eliberately spit in the face of the rules is extremely disrespectful, and is why I suggested both JimmyDubb and Sito could've been banned. One of the two has been, thankfully. Now if we can just squash the rest of this...

Check out my Manamon text walkthrough at the following link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8ls3rc3f4mkb … n.txt?dl=1

2018-01-29 22:26:01

Yeah there is a double standard, I see it too, it should be all or none to be honest. Though, who would have thought things would spiral out to this point, I'm sure it was just a thought at the time, and no precedent had been set. Perhaps that particular rule ought to be amended to refer to all piracy of any kind.

jayde wrote:

And let me be clear on something else, too. This community has the right to make whatever rules it wants. Your existence here is a privilege, not a right. If they outlawed the word "purple" for some reason, then you either deal with it or you leave.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to try to encourage change, if handled respectfully. Yes, you are correct in that we are using someone's service, and have to abide by their rules to stay here and in good stead. That doesn't means that we shouldn't advocate for change if we feel its warranted, again, as I say, in a respectful manner and in the appropriate place. That doesn't mean they have to listen to us, but I for one would not remain in a place that was so unforgiving as to decree something to the effect of do as we say or leave. Even though that's what it may come down to at some point, should anyone press their luck too far, at least there is a veneer of politeness about it. Remember that even though we are using someone else's service, they hosted that service to build a community, if they then began to run the thing like a dictatorship, people would leave. Not everyone, but a fair few I'd wager.

A community cannot flourish in the presence of iron-fisted dictators. I'm not saying that's what's taking place, or suggesting that something of this nature were unfolding, just using a hypothetical scenario to try to prove a point. We need guidelines, which we have, and which keep people on the right path. I think the balance is adequately maintained most of the time.

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
End division
Become united

2018-01-29 22:44:45

maybe if developers would focus more on in game content rather than adding as much features as possible like the killer, redspot and other games that basically is the same thing.
if now instead people spend more time on working on game content instead of adding simpel things with some sounds in it maybe we will get some audiogames that holds high standard. this stepp has been taken in part by making ahc and code7 but there needs to be more. charging money for simple word games and such won't make people want to pay for it.
the kracks aren't the problem here. the problem is what's being offered in a game comparing to it's price.
i at least wouldn't buy let's say red spot if it becoems payed because the game has no real content to offer, no real challenge.
if people start caring more about their game content i assure you there will be more incomes for those who makes the game.

2018-01-29 22:50:17

Yeah I agree I have a really big issue with drm especially if you get 1 to 3 installs or 1 machine only.
What is worse is stuff like a comercial screen reader does not come cheap.
And paying 7 coppies for 7 systems just aint doable its also a bit stupid and greedy for the guys making the software.
If vfo was mainstream they would get sued for the monopoly it has but accessibility competition in the sector is limited even when suits have been done between big companies vfo has won now vfo are buying up companies similar to what ms did with all its suing etc before it was told off that aint happened yet.
I found this with office basic office is actually fairly priced and will work if you never need to use a slideshow or outlook.
But if you need to use anything more than a spreadsheet or word processer it costs a bit more.
And while the mid price for the second teer is a bit of a squeez the top teer is well out of reach but then home users never need access so it doesn't matter mostly.
But sadly withthings like jaws its really sad.
I do have a licence, but I may as well give it away for all the good it is now.
Each version of the reader you need to upgrade your licence key, the same is true with other stuff I guess thats fine.
But what isn't are the crazyness behind this.
1.  Upgrading from home windows to a pro windows to enterprise.
You would imagine that upgrading from x to y to z will give you extra features  that you would want on y and z.
But no the upgrade is so you can register on those platforms.
However if you spend the most now and get an upgrade for z only you can run on x and y quite happily.
If you need to get say remote access the module costs.
And what is worse others are encouraged to do the same, Yeah brian h I am looking at you even though you are not on here.
Leasy costs as much as office home and small business yet its on top of jaws.
And all I care about is q9 which  happily I have a key for but really, Modules of software shouldn't cost so much for what they are.
And what if you have more than the 1-3 units you can legally get to, buy more slots, but what if the next slot up is some sort of business licence.
You could email and nagotiate and see, but 3000 per unit is not cheap.
Its like the games you used to get on cd that required the cd.
Loose the cd no game for you.
Those died when bigger drives came out but still.
As for audiodescribed movies, you'd think the industry would have woke up to the fact there is a market for this.
If my local whatever chanel or supplier said 10 bucks a month for a subscription to stream described movies and series or even download them to be sure I'd buy them.
The easiest way to handle piracy or a large amount of it is to give the users what they need and charge competitive pricing.
Its not abnormal to have subscriptions to netflicks and things now either.
Instead you go after us for cracking things.
Give us the market we want and we will pay for it.
Sadly that aint happening.
I just don't care anymore, I have better things to do than watch movies, a couple disk failiers, plus new laws and the rest will do it to you at some point you just give up.
I mean fighting the system is fine, if I knew I could get away with it all the time I'd still be in the game.
But you don't want to get hit.
The system the big guys is fine fight do whatever, but they can hit and if they do punch back you're done for ever.
Its not worth all the issues that goes with that for a movie or music, not even software.
Maybe if I needed to use something really expensive but then I';d question if I could get away with something less.
Ofcause this is a home user talking, once you get inside businesses, small companies and bigger your options in some cases to get stuff especially business stuff dropps right down.
Office drops basically to 0 if you are in a business with the right programs, same with windows and systems themselves.
The home user hmph.

2018-01-29 22:51:11

hi,
Another thing here guys, crashmaster seems to believe that getting caught pirating mainstream is a huge possibility. This is definitely not the case. I am fortunate to live in Turkey, where noone  cares the slightest bit for so called rightsholder's DMCA notices, which btw, don't apply anywhere outside the US. This is said to change. If it does,  there is one simple thing you can do. If you haven't already, really really get a vpn. Not only does it give you nearly 100% privacy, but it also enables you to crack, torrent and do all sorts of stuff without having a chance to get caught. However, in order to engage in this behavior, you need a vpn with a no logging policy. If your vpn loggs,   all I just said is false.  To learn if your vpn logs, read it's privacy policy. Windscribe's FAQ, for instance, clearly states that they do not log.
https://windscribe.com/faq
That's it basicly. BTW there is a 69 dollar lifetime subscription to windscribe available, to anyone who wants it, through bleeping computer.
https://deals.bleepingcomputer.com/sales/windscribe-vpn
There are also many other vpn lifetime deals here, as well as other awsomeness.
https://deals.bleepingcomputer.com/coll … r-security

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2018-01-29 23:26:09

@Jayde,
Well met; we hope the end results are pleasing not only to you, but to the community at large and a betterment to us all.  this matter is being heavily discussed amongst the staff and I, personally, will not rest until a solid decision we can all agree on has been reached.  thank you for re-reporting the post; as you said it deserved high priority and your reasoning was not only valid but well documented.  Oh, and I'm glad you brought the word perfect to my attention; I was actually thinking about outlawing it tomorrow, but since you think it silly...
@ironcross32,
If I dictate the contents of this post, does that make me a dictator? lol We'll do our best to listen to you, provided our ears aren't full of earwax, or water, or cotton, or dead flies and bits of fluff?  I've always wanted it bit more clarity on this rule because we hit a ton of gray areas where forumites are asking for cracks of sapi voices and whatever else you can think of, and I'm approached on a regular basis by other members saying, "Hey, so and so is buggering us concerning illegal copies of this and that thing, shouldn't they be banned?"  I'm of a mind that they should be, especially if the item in question happens to be a luxury item, as Jayd wisely pointed out in 116.  Here again we can be subjective; because NVDA is a fre screen reader it can be argued that we shouldn't have to crack JAWS anymore.  My personal stance on this issue is that we should in fact ban on the basis of cracking; PERIOD!  We won't ban on the grounds of suspicion, else we could ban everyone, but ban on the solid evidence presented in a post or topic where a person has, in fact, stated that they want to share a crack, are asking for a crack to be shared, or are in fact encouraging similar nature.

When life gives you oranges, demand lemons since everyone else is obviously getting them.

2018-01-29 23:55:21

@121 I'm not sure how much of that was serious etc. sometimes I am too literal and don't interpret sarcasm well in text as I can in person. Anyway, all I was trying to say is that sure, you guys can run this place however you'd like, we can't stop you from doing it, but there are consequences for doing it poorly, or coming down with rules and regulations upon rules and regulations. Community building means sometimes its necessary to take feedback from said community.

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
End division
Become united

2018-01-30 00:40:52

Well, that has happened before. When I first signed up for this forum, I remember there was a rule that you couldn't use curse words. I thought that was dumb, especially since I was a teenager at the time, and as a result, I don't think I really started posting until that rule was lifted. Not because I can't hold a conversation without cursing, far from it, in fact. I just saw it as unnecessary, and I don't do well when I feel I have to mince words or risk some sort of rejection or punishment. I don't know why the rule was changed, or even when it happened, but I do know that it was decided in a reasonable fashion, with the community's involvement.

Now, as to the topic at hand, I can personally relate to a lot of what's being said here, and I can also see this debate from quite a few angles. I definitely think that a lot of people have been making light of how easy it is to ask someone to buy you a game, or other nonessential piece of software. I don't think I'd have the nerve to do that, and perhaps my view is skewed because I'm from the US, a developed country. And in some ways, I think that would make me feel even worse. Anyone can experience hardships, and many people, even in developed nations, can live in poverty. However, my empathy, or pride, or both, would never let me accept something that I know is not essential for my survival. it's one thing when a friend buys you a gift, because you're friends, and you're invested in the other person's happiness. That is its own reward, and of course I would feel good if it made the other person feel good to buy me something. Of course, I think we all experience that moment of wondering how much the other person really spent on that gift, although knowing exactly how much in the case of a game can be both good and bad because you wince inwardly at thinking that they probably could have spent their money on something more worthwhile. Honestly, I grew up in a household where I had all the things, but my family was never there for me emotionally. They were incapable of it. I grew up surrounded by everything a child could possibly want, but it was a lonely, empty existence. Material possessions mean very little to me as a result, so what grabs my attention about a gift isn't the fact that it cost something, but that someone cared enough to think of me and what I might like.

I bring all of this up because many people have a different perspective. While I am perfectly willing to show patience and wait until I can buy something, or suffer in silence rather than ask for something I actually need, not want, there are those who grew up the opposite way as I did. My best friend is one such person. To him, because he didn't have much of anything when he was growing up, stuff means a great deal to him. Stuff that is given to him by those he cares about carries special significance. I'm always more than willing to buy him things if it's within my means to do so, because he's not in a position, either financially or geographically, to have it quite so easy as I do. As a result of the physical distance between us, what I've been able to buy for him are games and other software, and he appreciates all of it. Yet, there's always this voice in my head that says, "you've seen how the other half lives. What makes you think you deserve any handouts?" I imagine I can't be the only person who has had such an experience. And knowing, and caring deeply for, someone in a situation that frankly, not enough Americans give enough of a crap to pay attention to, has shaped my perspective and opened my eyes about many things over these past four years.

TLDR: Asking someone for something can be rewarding, but probably more so if you have a trusting relationship with the person you're asking. My friend has said repeatedly that he wouldn't ask just anyone, because lots of people would look down on you for trying. I get that a lot of it is in how you ask, but there is also a lot of entitlement floating around, and I think it can, and should, boil down to how well you can gauge the other person's reaction. Giveaways and what not are great, and very generous acts of kindness. I'm extremely pleased to see that such things are going on here on this forum. However, if it comes down to asking someone, one on one, you have to show a great deal of vulnerability and faith. I don't think most people in this day and age will do that, especially not with all the Go Fund me scams and so on that you read about.

In short, the whole idea of asking and receiving is wrapped up in a lot of confusing emotions for me. And cracking can sometimes seem like a better alternative than getting ensnared in that web. However, these days I mostly stick to open source projects where I can, and I have a huge respect for that movement because it is more helpful than a lot of people realize. As for audio games, most are reasonably priced, and if I feel that a company is overcharging for a game, I simply won't buy it. Call it petty if you like, and obviously one woman's boycott doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but honestly, I won't support a company if I'm either not interested, or I feel that they won't deliver. But I'd say that once I got my own bank account and had control of it, I've always purchased the audio games I wanted, because it really is a niche market and nobody is going to become an overnight success selling them. It's a matter of respect for me, in other words. I mean, of course we have successful developers within the community, but they have to earn respect, and that can be a gruelling process, especially with all the letdowns we've had over the years.

The glass is neither half empty nor half full. It's just holding half the amount it can potentially hold.

2018-01-30 01:40:25

Hmmm.
Who knows what the us thinks.
Maybe being one of those eastern countries they just don't care.
But I am in new zealand which is a western country.
Technically there is a law in place.
Technically we are spied on, weather this means I am safe is unknown.
But you never know, pushing it really big well thats just asking for it.
But the us can't just woltz in here and demand things, our spying electronic coms agency has itself had flack after the dotcom drama, and lets be honest our supposed government secured systems are not fully secured and even our digital ids are not used to the fullest.
I do use vpns, but well its mainly for books, is windscribe accessible, that may be something I decide to use if I ever get in the game.
The big thing that got me out of the game was all the malware.
In china my friends that do crack say they can't apply any security updates, or use any antivirus or security software, in fact they have to turn windows security off, they also can't use firewalls or anything.
Oh and it goes without saying that to get the best results you use xp or lower to do all the work.
You can't even have win10 secured or updated at all.
As a result they get hacked and infected all the time and have to reformat all the time daily in some cases.
They do it because the software they use for their business is 5000 bucks a licence per machine.
Thats not how I want to live.
They do have a home system they use for backups, and a few things but their business system is open to the web and to all hackers so they themselves can get what they want.
Its not the way I'd like to live.
I am not to concerned about getting caught, however if I am the record is no good for travel or anything.
And its a huge fine or jail, its not worth jail I can't pay the fine.
There isn't anything I want to really get of late.
I used to have links to private ftp servers which I used a lot, but those died ages back.

2018-01-30 01:49:36

Turtlepower, well said. The only counterpoint I make is the one I've made before. Yes, it can be awkward, difficult, even nearly unthinkable, to just throw yourself out there and ask for something you can't afford, especially these days. I do get that it's not an easy thing to do (thus why I advocate for understanding if someone does it). And I do understand that cracking sometimes seems like the quiet, easy way to simply sidestep all that potential weirdness. It's just that it'll do more long-term harm, that's all. I think we, as a community, need to work on that mentality. Cracking stuff shouldn't be seen as a desirable alternative. Easier said than done though, I know it.

Check out my Manamon text walkthrough at the following link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8ls3rc3f4mkb … n.txt?dl=1