Are Pirated versions ok if you own the original

[PimpinPenguin]

Is it ok to download a pirated version of a game you legally own. Cause i am thinking of getting a pirated version of Half life 2 and episode 1 off my friend i legally own them but due to countless amounts of bad updates both of them are Virtualy unplayble crashing seconds in game i am getting this desperate i don't know what to do.

[Hazar]

no

[Hectic Glenn]

Clean up your computer and get them playable. Pirated versions are illegal the second you download them as you support the act. We hear this story so many times, 9 times out of 10 the person doesn't own ANY valve games and just wants to download the games for free. These people are not welcome in this community.

Also consider this. No updates, ever. No multi-player games. No mods. No support. Left out in the cold.

[Cole]

If I go and steal a copy of HL2 from a store\you is that ok even if I own a copy of HL2?

No it isn't. While you may be thinking that is an incorrect comparision, it is very correct. Just because stealing from a store is physical material and stealing from the internet is not, it still is the same. Stealing Data and Stealing Physical Material is just as bad. While you may have a copy of the Data, the Data you are downloading doesn't belong to you.

[PimpinPenguin]

Trust me i have a legit version i can prove it the thing is i have tried everything to get them playable i reformatted my pc disable programs not needed added more cooling. I guess i will keep trying i won't bother getting the pirated version since i don't want to support those scumbags.

[lePobz]

It wouldn't do any good - Steam just synchronises files of games you own with those already on the steam server - so whether you get HL2/EP1 off the net or off a DVD/CD it's going to be exactly the same files in the end.

I very much doubt any update valve made since retail has made the game unplayable. Try updating all your system drivers instead, and DX9.0c etc maybe?

[Asus]

The thing is, while it may make you feel better about downloading it. The fact that you have an illegal copy on your PC means you still could be taken to court or fined. etc
You get the idea.

[Solaris]

If I go and steal a copy of HL2 from a store\you is that ok even if I own a copy of HL2?

No it isn't. While you may be thinking that is an incorrect comparision, it is very correct. Just because stealing from a store is physical material and stealing from the internet is not, it still is the same. Stealing Data and Stealing Physical Material is just as bad. While you may have a copy of the Data, the Data you are downloading doesn't belong to you.
Thats complete rubbish. It does belong to you becuase you paid for it and someone is giving you a secound copy becuase the first was broken by a third party. No-one loses any money becuase of it, and he gets what he paid for.

[PimpinPenguin]

I have the latest ATi Catalyst 6.8 Direct X 9c Sound motherboard drivers up to date. The thing is when i got Half life 2 when it came out it ran on high on this pc them over time and usally when updates to the source engine comes out it became worse now if i want to play it without crashing i have to run it in Dx 7 mode with everthing on low. But i know my pc can handle it thats the annoying part. That was the reason i thought getting a pirated version might fix it because they are not updated and since i payed for the game i thought no one would get harmed.

[Asus]

I bet something else is wrong or the installed game is botched. Use an older driver for your ATI card first. Uninstall and then reinstall all steam files. Or format, reinstall windows and then install HL2 again. But try to get it working.

[Slacker]

"Do what you want cause a pirate is free!"

What?...someone was going to say it.

But in all seriousness, I've never felt any guilt for pirating anything whatsoever. Paranoia? Occasionally. Guilt? Never.

[DeusExMachina]

Exactly. I'm a freebird. And I cannot chaaaaaaaaaange.

[Beerdude26]

Thats complete rubbish. It does belong to you becuase you paid for it and someone is giving you a secound copy becuase the first was broken by a third party. No-one loses any money becuase of it, and he gets what he paid for.Indeed. You could send a certificate to the company and get a legit CD in return, but you'll have to pay sending costs + waiting time. I'd rather D/L it then (Unless I wanted to play online, I don't have a choice then :p)

And BTW, while it's ok to do this if you REALLY own HL2 and EP1, you'll still get wtfpwnt. The HL2 and EP1 cracked versions are more riddled with bugs and crashes than the legit one. :laugh:

[Core407]

Why don't you just reinstall it? Or just sign on with your account on the other computer and redownload it.

[Space Farm]

I cracked HL2 because of steam. I didn't see why you had to connect to the internet to play a single-player offline game. That still doesn't make sense to me too.

Yes I do own the Collector's version, I'm wearing the black shit right now funnily enough. I believe once you own the game you can do whatever you want with it.

[Man|-|unter]

Is it ok to download a pirated version of a game you legally own. Cause i am thinking of getting a pirated version of Half life 2 and episode 1 off my friend i legally own them but due to countless amounts of bad updates both of them are Virtualy unplayble crashing seconds in game i am getting this desperate i don't know what to do.

eH.........? if u leagally own then why u don't replace that crap with better one? :smoking:

[Mechagodzilla]

Usually you are allowed to obtain backup copies of digital media you already own.

However, since that system is exploitable, you signed an agreement preventing you from doing so when you installed HL2 and Steam in the first place.

Why are the bad updates only ruining your game and not everyone else's?
Usually it is a problem with the computer, not the game.

[6Three]

It's your computer, not the game.

[WhiteZero]

If you own a game, and download it from the internet, like getting an iso, then thats no different from just ripping the game into an ISO... which is making a backup, which is totaly legal.

So yes, it's legal from that pov.

[Mechagodzilla]

No, because of steam.
That's the reason why steam is there in the first place.
Without it, it is not a legit copy.

Anywho, if you're expecting the pirated version to run better on your PC than the real thing, you are going to be disappointed anyways.

[WhiteZero]

No, because of steam.
That's the reason why steam is there in the first place.
Without it, it is not a legit copy.

Anywho, if you're expecting the pirated version to run better on your PC than the real thing, you are going to be disappointed anyways.

actually, since the pirated version isnt all contained the the gcf files, many people say it loads much faster.

[Black_Wolf]

Clean up your computer and get them playable. Pirated versions are illegal the second you download them as you support the act. We hear this story so many times, 9 times out of 10 the person doesn't own ANY valve games and just wants to download the games for free. These people are not welcome in this community.

Also consider this. No updates, ever. No multi-player games. No mods. No support. Left out in the cold.

several release groups bring out the Updates for CSS.

[Pi Mu Rho]

...that you can only play on cracked servers.

[Danimal]

...Which is like eating a turd sundae.

[Reaktor4]

If I go and steal a copy of HL2 from a store\you is that ok even if I own a copy of HL2?

No it isn't. While you may be thinking that is an incorrect comparision, it is very correct. Just because stealing from a store is physical material and stealing from the internet is not, it still is the same. Stealing Data and Stealing Physical Material is just as bad. While you may have a copy of the Data, the Data you are downloading doesn't belong to you.
Ridiculous argument.

[PimpinPenguin]

I am not the only one whos updates has ruined the game quite a few people have had similar problems. I reinstalled windows downloaded hl2 and ep1 from steam incase it was the disks but i still got the same problem i have nothing else on my pc. As for a pirated version working better i tried using my steam version on my friends pc he had to turn of AA ,HDR and lower his resoution to get it to play decently yet his pirated version plays on high with decent FPS how can you explain that.

[Gunner]

You people are so uptight it's pathetic, many of my old games can't be installed anymore because they're worn out due to scratches so I will download iso copies and use the cdkeys I paid money for. Some dvd cases are so cheap, they can break your game when you try to pop it out of its' case.

[kirovman]

I see it as: You have the licence to play the game (and hence the CD-Key) so getting a disk image backup is ok (which is a legal entitlement).

I think you'd have a pretty strong case in saying that you already bought the game, the disk snapped, or whatever.

But when you get into all that Valve/Steam stuff, the water gets murky.

[Cole]

Thats complete rubbish. It does belong to you becuase you paid for it and someone is giving you a secound copy becuase the first was broken by a third party. No-one loses any money becuase of it, and he gets what he paid for.
You paid for a specific copy of the data. You can create backups of the specific copy for your own personal use.

However he isn't talking about this. He is talking about downloading an illegal version of the game, NOT a backup. I'm sure we can agree that thats illegal. It is not the same data he bought. What he is downloading is something that was created illegally and therefor would be downloading illegal content. Now if you download illegal content, that means you've now obtained illegal content. That means by obtaining this content you have commited an illegal act.

What you should be doing penguin is asking for support on this issue. Trying to get help. The best thing you could do would be list your system specs.

I am not the only one whos updates has ruined the game quite a few people have had similar problems. I reinstalled windows downloaded hl2 and ep1 from steam incase it was the disks but i still got the same problem i have nothing else on my pc. As for a pirated version working better i tried using my steam version on my friends pc he had to turn of AA ,HDR and lower his resoution to get it to play decently yet his pirated version plays on high with decent FPS how can you explain that.
Well about your problem, have you tried rollbacking graphic drivers? Have you tried command console tweaks? There are many things that can help you.

Now about the pirated versions. Maybe his pirated version is set up with many tweaks to make it run faster on his system? You can tweak just about any game to make it run faster. The Steam version has introduced a lot of AI tweaks. He could have tweaked the graphic driver settings so when the pirated version loads up it uses faster settings than the steam version. You may have ran the steam version at a higher resolution than the pirated version.

[Lucid]

Just return your copy of the game and get a new one. :/

Or defrag your machine, or just buy a computer in general.


Or uninstall the game completely and then reinstall... and let the updater do its thing.

[Doppelgofer]

hes from ACCY!!!!!

DON'T trust

[PimpinPenguin]

Whats wrong with Accy
These are my systems specs

Proccessor: Intel Pentuim 4 extreme 3.2ghz ht
Ram 1 gig
Hard drive 320 gig 7200rpm
Graphics card ATI Radeon x740xl tried 6.7,6.8 driver

I have tried asking steam support but there solutions are for the stuttering problem which i don't have the only thing that worked was dx7.

I can't return the game since i bought it back in 2004 and they won't except returns on valve games. Steam says the fragmentation is 0%.
I really doubt its my computer Fear,Prey,Farcry,Doom 3,Quake 4,Obivion play fine without a single crash.

[Lucid]

Well then... you're ****ed. :D Sorry.

[Cole]

Well then... you're ****ed. Sorry.
Please don't say that.

Whats wrong with Accy
These are my systems specs

Proccessor: Intel Pentuim 4 extreme 3.2ghz ht
Ram 1 gig
Hard drive 320 gig 7200rpm
Graphics card ATI Radeon x740xl tried 6.7,6.8 driver

I have tried asking steam support but there solutions are for the stuttering problem which i don't have the only thing that worked was dx7.

I can't return the game since i bought it back in 2004 and they won't except returns on valve games. Steam says the fragmentation is 0%.
I really doubt its my computer Fear,Prey,Farcry,Doom 3,Quake 4,Obivion play fine without a single crash.

How are you uninstalling your graphic drivers? Are you using Driver Cleaner to uninstall them? What are your graphic driver settings?(Are they all application controlled or what)?

Run the CS:S Stress Test running in Dx9 with no AA, no AF, no Vertical Sync, and everything else medium then repeat with everything else high. Record both scores and post them. Also post what resolution the game is running at. Also remove any other tweaks you have running.

[Raziaar]

Clean up your computer and get them playable. Pirated versions are illegal the second you download them as you support the act. We hear this story so many times, 9 times out of 10 the person doesn't own ANY valve games and just wants to download the games for free. These people are not welcome in this community.

Also consider this. No updates, ever. No multi-player games. No mods. No support. Left out in the cold.


Yep... we don't like people who don't buy valve games. But we love people who don't buy other games and play them. :burp:

[Unfocused]

I'd say it's legit. You own the game and have the right to use the data burned on the game discs.

[JellyWorld]

It is not the same data he bought.

You cannot own data. You own a license to the data, whether the data was obtained from your cd or off a torrent site.

[Doppelgofer]

Whats wrong with Accy

what isn't

[PimpinPenguin]

what isn't

Umm Yep you got me

I tried the stress test with no AA/AF no vertical sync everything else on medium or low and a resolution of 1024*1024 Dx9 and i got 92.32FPS

With everything on high Max AA/AF with the same resolution Dx9 i got 36.85FPS

I used Driver cleaner to remove the 6.8 drivers and i went back to 6.7

[Sparta]

I'd say its fine if you actually have bought the game. I bought Vampire: Bloodlines when it first came out and couldn't even install the game because of some shitty cd problem, so i had to download an iso of it. Since i already owned the game at the time, what i did could be considered as downloading a backup of the game, which is exactly what i did. And thats perfectly legal.

[CyberPitz]

I, personally, think it's alright givin the circumstance. I own The Sims 2, but my DVD drive died, so I can't use the DVD, so I downloaded the ISO and mounted it, and I can finally play the game I have already paid for. I wouldn't do it to a game that needs updates through a system or a platform *Steam* But I mean, I own the game, it's like Emulators and Roms. The law says, if you own the game, you can have the ROMs on your computer. Just my personal view, I doubt many have the same.

[Fliko]

The thing is, while it may make you feel better about downloading it. The fact that you have an illegal copy on your PC means you still could be taken to court or fined. etc
You get the idea.

But you bought the rights to play the game and own it legally, correct?

All you'd have to do in court is present evidence that you own the game, if the above is true.

[Reaktor4]

The law says, if you own the game, you can have the ROMs on your computer.
If you made the rom yourself.

[CyberPitz]

If you made the rom yourself.

Nah, to download and have on your PC...

It's a footnote that they have to put on their site. It's not illegal to host them, it's illegal for people to have them on their machine. That's why teh sites aren't in foreign countries where they can't get sued, they are right here in the USA..they can't be touched unless they have that footnote saying, "You can't download these ROMs unless you own the game in physical form"

[6Three]

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/6416/metro1sh0.jpg
Stealing is bad!

[Reaktor4]

Nah, to download and have on your PC...

It's a footnote that they have to put on their site. It's not illegal to host them, it's illegal for people to have them on their machine. That's why teh sites aren't in foreign countries where they can't get sued, they are right here in the USA..they can't be touched unless they have that footnote saying, "You can't download these ROMs unless you own the game in physical form"
In america its not even legal to make your own rom backups let alone download or distribute them.

[Dog--]

I think if your good enough to find them, you should be able to download ANYTHING what you want..

Although I do think there are games that absolutely DESERVE to be bought (HL2, Oblivion, Metal Gear Solid 1 and 3)..

Unless the game is old, and stores don't sell it anymore.. (System Shock 2, Deus Ex, Elder Scrolls 1 and 2), if that's the case, then it should be downloaded.

[Cube]

The law says, if you own the game, you can have the ROMs on your computer. Just my personal view, I doubt many have the same.

Does that mean, if you own the game and console, but the console is damaged (or a certain sister somehow lost both the expansion pak and jumper pak), you can still play them via ROMs?

[pomegranate]

If I go and steal a copy of HL2 from a store\you is that ok even if I own a copy of HL2?

No it isn't. While you may be thinking that is an incorrect comparision, it is very correct. Just because stealing from a store is physical material and stealing from the internet is not, it still is the same.

WTF? No it's not the same. It's different because the store has paid for their stock of the game and if someone steals the game they lose the cost price of the game. If you download a copy of a game you already own, it's not 'stealing from the internet', because no-one is losing out on anything. Your comparision is bull, sorry.

[Beerdude26]

WTF? No it's not the same. It's different because the store has paid for their stock of the game and if someone steals the game they lose the cost price of the game. If you download a copy of a game you already own, it's not 'stealing from the internet', because no-one is losing out on anything. Your comparision is bull, sorry.YOU ARE STEALING 50 CENTS WORTH OF BANDWIDTH YOU MONSTER D:

:p.

[Asus]

While it may not be 'theft', copyright infringement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_violation) I still think it can be very similar (morally) to petty theft.

The one who owns the copyright chooses what they want done with their work. Even downloading games that are not in stores any more, that could still be infringing on the copyright. It depends if the copyright has expired and is in the public domain yet.

With that said, I'm sure we've all pirated something before. Yo ho!

[Zeus]

If I go and steal a copy of HL2 from a store\you is that ok even if I own a copy of HL2?

No it isn't. While you may be thinking that is an incorrect comparision, it is very correct. Just because stealing from a store is physical material and stealing from the internet is not, it still is the same. Stealing Data and Stealing Physical Material is just as bad. While you may have a copy of the Data, the Data you are downloading doesn't belong to you.

If he owns the game, valve isn't going to lose money, because they're not really losing a customer to piracy. He paid for the game, therefore valve has already got his money, he is one of their customers.

[CrazyHarij]

you dont own the game, you own a license to one copy of the game, not an indefinite amount of copies of the game

[Cube]

WTF? No it's not the same. It's different because the store has paid for their stock of the game and if someone steals the game they lose the cost price of the game. If you download a copy of a game you already own, it's not 'stealing from the internet', because no-one is losing out on anything. Your comparision is bull, sorry.

Or you could look at it like this:

- You steal the game from a shop, the creators still get their well-deserved cash.
- You steal the game from the internet, the creators lose out on their well-deserved cash.

[pomegranate]

Or you could look at it like this:

- You steal the game from a shop, the creators still get their well-deserved cash.
- You steal the game from the internet, the creators lose out on their well-deserved cash.

God, do you even understand what we're talking about? The guy already owns the game. He has already given them their well-deserved cash. So wtf has what you've said got to do with it, you muppet?

[Cole]

WTF? No it's not the same. It's different because the store has paid for their stock of the game and if someone steals the game they lose the cost price of the game. If you download a copy of a game you already own, it's not 'stealing from the internet', because no-one is losing out on anything. Your comparision is bull, sorry.
We're arn't talking about loosing out on something we are talking about the law.

If he owns the game, valve isn't going to lose money, because they're not really losing a customer to piracy. He paid for the game, therefore valve has already got his money, he is one of their customers.
So? It's the law man. Plus he is talking about downloading ILLEGAL CONTENT. ILLEGAL CONTENT. Hmm..I wonder... is downloading illegal content illegal?

He is talking about downloading a pirated version. A version that runs without Steam. Not an ISO File contaning all the GCF files.

[pomegranate]

If you think the law is the same thing as morality, you're a fool.
It's up to individuals to decide what they can live with. If they determine they are not causing any harm, (which he wouldn't do by doing what he's talking about) the law can take a hike.

[Zeus]

- You steal the game from the internet, the creators lose out on their well-deserved cash.

Not true in this case. He paid Valve for the game already. Meaning valve wouldn't lose a penny if the original poster went through with his "aquiring" of the game. Valve is my favorite developer and I always buy their top notch Half-Life games, but if I was the original poster I would not shell out another 50 bucks again either. Valve has his money and if you ask me he is morally (obviously not legally) entitled to "get" the game. Valve is not harmed in any of this process

[Slacker]

If you think the law is the same thing as morality, you're a fool.
It's up to individuals to decide what they can live with. If they determine they are not causing any harm, (which he wouldn't do by doing what he's talking about) the law can take a hike.

Arguably the most true quote in this topic.

[Fliko]

We're arn't talking about loosing out on something we are talking about the law.


So? It's the law man. Plus he is talking about downloading ILLEGAL CONTENT. ILLEGAL CONTENT. Hmm..I wonder... is downloading illegal content illegal?

He is talking about downloading a pirated version. A version that runs without Steam. Not an ISO File contaning all the GCF files.

Games are illegal content?