What is the best way to approach a friend who pirates games?

S

Skiesofwonder

Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
A good friend of mine just started illegally downloading torrented games on his PC. It's really not any of my business so I just changed the subject when it came up, but lately he has started to brag about it. And to make things even worse, he has moved past AAA titles and into indie game territory. Today he mentioned how awesome a high profile indie title was and that he torrented it. At that point I realized that I had to say something because it would be morally wrong not to. This is a eight person team that I'm sure they could use as much money as possible.

But I don't know how to approach it. I think if I brought it to his attention in how this was wrong and I disapproved, he might consider stopping. But I don't know how to approach the subject without sounding like an ass and damaging our friendship. Have any of you dealt with this before?


Edit: to my knowledge he only started doing this a week ago.

Update:

After reading the majority of your guys' posts, I broached the topic and he said he doesn't feel bad because of all the shit developers pull with DLC. I laughed and basically told him I didn't agree with what he was doing, especially with pirating indie games, and that shitty DLC doesn't justify it. He said there wasn't a difference in big/indie developers, so I brought up the indie movie we recently watched, and he then laughed and said that he usually will buy the game when it's cheap on steam to support the indie developer, but they were currently asking too much for it. He said this particular developer was going to hit it big anyway so it wasn't a big deal.

We then moved onto something else. If the subject is brought up again I will restate that I feel it is wrong but outside of that I don't plan to bring it up again. Is that the correct thing to do in this situation?
 
Just buy the actual games and then gift them to him on steam. Then the developers get paid and you've done a good deed and can pat yourself on the back.
 
Skiesofwonder said:
It's really not any of my business
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This is pretty much it, but there is no harm in explaining your reasoning to him. Tell him you disapprove, explain why (keeping the industry you love going, concept of fair trade, etc) and hope he takes it to heart. If he doesn't, oh well.

EDIT: Also mention to him that said cracks (or websites hosting said cracks) can contain viruses.
 
Get a SWAT uniform and bust up into his house at 3AM, trash the computer, and flee. It would help if you could also get a flash grenade.
 
Tell him that if he does not stop, you will simply report him to your local authorities or to the makers of the games. Friend or not, this has to stop. His torrenting is hurting devs, and the smaller devs actually NEED to those sales.

Sometimes you need to go hard.

edit: Another way would be to simply get him a steam account, and whenever he express interest in pirating a title; just buy it and gift it to his account. Make him aware of that. It might be expensive for a while, but in the long run, your example will impress him and he is going to start buying his own games. Send him txt messages about steam deals every few days, remind him that pc gaming is not expensive and that deals are always to be had.
 
You can tell him not to talk about it because you don't like piracy but other than that it's not really any of your business.
 
"Will you stop bragging over the games you downloaded? I don't like it and it sucks for the creators."

Yeah, you kind of will be an ass, but he is also being one.

But you very likely won't be able to stop him, just so you know.
 
You answered your own question. It's none of your business.

Why lose a friend over how they consume media?

shuri said:
Tell him that if he does not stop, you will simply report him to your local authorities or to the makers of the games. Friend or not, this has to stop. His torrenting is hurting devs, and the smaller devs actually NEED to those sales.

Sometimes you need to go hard.
Click to expand...

lmao
 
Skiesofwonder said:
A good friend of mine just started illegally downloading torrented games on his PC. It's really not any of my business so I just changed the subject when it came up, but lately he has started to brag about it. And to make things even worse, he has moved past AAA titles and into indie game territory. Today he mentioned how awesome a high profile indie title was and that he torrented it. At that point I realized that I had to say something because it would be morally wrong not to. This is a eight person team that I'm sure they could use as much money as possible.

But I don't know how to approach it. I think if I brought it to his attention in how this was wrong and I disapproved, he might consider stopping. But I don't know how to approach the subject without sounding like an ass and damaging our friendship. Have any of you dealt with this before?


Edit: to my knowledge he only started doing this a week ago.
Click to expand...

Tell him that people have received huge fines and lawsuits for illegally downloading stuff in the past.

Use scare tactics...they work.


Incessantly pirating everything is extremely toxic to the industry.
 
I wouldn't say it's any of your business. If he wants to do it then let him do it. The only thing you can do is to not do it yourself.
 
If he's really your friend, you can tell him he's being an ass and you won't stop being friends just because you dropped a truth bomb on him.
 
This is your brain.
37Li4fL.jpg


And this is your brain when you pirate games.
VDMlrvf.gif
 
Don't confront him like you're making him stop or whatever, just question what he's doing.

"You pirated that? Why? It's from an 8 man team that needs anything they can get, and it only costs like 15 bucks anyway." Something like that. Then if he adamantly defends it, say that you kinda see what he means but you still don't really agree or whatever.

Basically, like you said, just make him aware of your position. That little bit of influence should at least make him less likely to brag about it to you.
 
Insane that people still pirate with the current price of PC games (Humble Bundle, Steam sales, etc.).

I'm not saying it isn't easy to pirate PC games, but if you're bothered about a game then just wait until it's $5 or less.
 
If a mate acts the dick, you tell them. Straight. I get told, they get told.

What's the point in pussyfooting around an issue? And when they tell you to fuck off and mind your own business, you move on.
 
Who cares? And if that would actually affect your friendship in any way at all, uh, you guys must not be very good friends.
 
Krejlooc said:
Someone who has taken to bragging about piracy sounds pretty low brow to me, if nothing else.
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Don't get me wrong, he's most likely "that guy" who brags about getting shit for free. But you probably don't want to be "that guy" who acts like it is your sudden moral imperative to stamp out piracy by browbeating your friend.
 
How old is your friend?

In my experience most who "heavily" pirate are young and can't afford games and/or go on a binge when they discover it and at some point simply stop because they don't play anything they download.

If he plays a lot he'll get a steam account sooner or later anyway and if he doesn't play a lot - he wouldn't have bought those games anyway.
 
Start stealing stuff from his house, and when he catches you, tell him you're just pirating it. If he gets upset you can say "I LEARNED IT FROM YOU. I LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU!"
 
Install EnhancedSteam on his computer so that he can find cheap prices if you think that will help. Does he not like community features?
 
Doctor_Thomas said:
No they don't.

That's why it still happens.

They chase the sharers rather than downloaders for this specific reason now.

Basically, there's nothing you can do, bar explaining why you don't agree with it and then let it go.
Click to expand...

I've used scare tactics on some not-so-internet-savvy users and they've worked in the past.

I know they don't actually pursue people anymore...but the OP's friend doesn't have to know that.
 
Getting a steam/Gog/humble bundle account curtailed my downloading ways.

Low prices and support for the developers? Crazy to not get on that!
 
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