<quote>If it wasn't for F95, I would've never pledged to Mr Dots Games, Warped Animation, etc. It's easy to put hate on those who pirate games, but the fact is that they're an important part of the whole eco system. </quote>
A few points to ponder (and yes... I'm old):
- We used to copy records on tape, and share it with fellow kids (and the otherwise obscure records and bands became our heroes), and years later I bought many of the records or CD's, either out of nostalgia or to have a CD version, or just when a new record was released by a band I liked.
- Windows 3.11 had a standard password that was something like 11111111111 (which made it quite a hurdle to have a pirated version) ... and yes we copied it and had a free version, many of us. We got used to it, kinda liked it, Windows got famous, and when W95 was released we bought it if we had money.... and now there's Windows 10 (and millions use it)
- Warcraft 2 was there and it was pirated all over... people started to make custom content and spread it (the puds) ... and more people liked it and it became a hit. World of Warcraft and all those other Blizzard games came out and we bought it if we had the money... and now there's Blizzard as a giant company with buyable figurines, t-shirts etc.
I later bought the WC2 Battlenet edition and went back and bought Warcraft 1 and more...
- The Sims 1 was there and it was pirated all over ... people started to make custom content and spread it ... and more and
more people liked it and it became a hit. Sims 4, Spore and other games came out, and with EA and Maxis now famous, we bought it if we had the money...
- You guys can probably come up with more examples, and you might see a pattern, like I do. Yes, not always will people buy the first product, but when it is good, a dev might get a reputation... like those bands, like Mr. Dots, like Bethesda, or like Windows.
