Lesson = Learn to tolerate the torrenters

[Chibi]

[EDIT] pm'd to Alec instead of posted here

This makes me so sad: even worse, it's been downloaded 1500 times! 

Hope you guys can delete it successfully Good luck! 

[EDIT] In fact, found 6 sites, with an unknown number of people downloading. "sighs"

Anyone who downloaded it can't get version 1.1.0., but it's a small consolation, for 1.1.0 will turn up on the site sooner or later

[EDITed by Max, inspired by Inkblob] only changed the mood, but kept the words for reference

[Nava]

[inkblob]

Aquaria has been on the torrent circuit for well over a year now, pretty much as soon as it was released.  it's not a good thing but there are a couple of other ways of looking at this at the same time. you can't really stop piracy, the whole world is having to adjust to that but there are ways to work around it. if your game, show, music is being pirated then that's actually a sign of popularity. if you look at shows that are not heavily torrented and watch for shows that eventually get cancelled, there is an anecdotal correlation between the two. you can treat it as a bit of an illegal popularity stock market report.

anyone who purchased the game had the option to dl it illegally and yet they still chose to support Alec & Derek's creation. I think that is pretty awesome and a testimony that people don't really suck that bad. pretty much any of the x amount of times the file has been dl'd wern't going to be sales anyways but they probably generated some revenue from people buying the game after dl'ing it despite that. it's nice that you are so passionate about this issue, most kids your age could give a toss about (c) issues so it's good that you are trying to figure out your moral compass.

if you are trying to fix the situation then the oddly worded phrase 'you attract more flies with honey' pertains here. try and be congenial and reasonable when dealing with torrent networks instead of being an asshat and you will get results. often they are respectful of developers and will respond to a civilized request rather than a threaty rant. and if that dosn't work than at least you tried.

[Chibi]

I think I made a bit of a fool of myself there: ah well, idealists are lonely 

Yeah, I don't mind too much if they still pay for the game, but there could be an indirect evil (the sites receive increased popularity and are paid more by advertisers) In my opinion, torrent sites should be more like a forum, with moderators judging how legal a post is.

Sorry for clogging your PM inbox with useless information, Alec! 

[Glamador]

You're not so alone.  I refuse to torrent games as I refuse to torrent movies.  However I totally torrent anime.  The way I see it, I could watch this shit on TV and even record it on my DVR if I lived in Japan, but I have to pay 25-30 dollars for FOUR episodes on DVD?  No chance.

/end rant

[ChimeraThing]

Wow, thats sad, I mean for programs like flash that are $700, i can see why some people use torrent, but Aquaria is $30, and for a game full of beutiful hand-painted artwork, great gameplay, and awesome music, methinks that $30 is MORE than a great deal! I mean people who download torrent games must think theyre too good to pay or something. sheesh

[Chibi]

It is especially galling when there are only two developers; I can almost understand people defying a large, faceless corporation, but hurting Bit-Blot is a lot like robbing the poor and giving to no one.

[Xiagan]

Well, pirating is convenient,
I don't think most of them ever heard of Bit Blot being a two man independent company.
And if every 50th person who downloads it decides to buy it: Fine! Plus you don't have to underestimate the gaining of high profile the game gets through it.

I torrent music from time to time and if I like it a lot, I buy it afterwards. And I wouldn't have bought the other anyways, so concerning me, the bands/labels don't loose money through torrenting.

[Derek]

anyone who purchased the game had the option to dl it illegally and yet they still chose to support Alec & Derek's creation. I think that is pretty awesome and a testimony that people don't really suck that bad. pretty much any of the x amount of times the file has been dl'd wern't going to be sales anyways but they probably generated some revenue from people buying the game after dl'ing it despite that. it's nice that you are so passionate about this issue, most kids your age could give a toss about (c) issues so it's good that you are trying to figure out your moral compass.

if you are trying to fix the situation then the oddly worded phrase 'you attract more flies with honey' pertains here. try and be congenial and reasonable when dealing with torrent networks instead of being an asshat and you will get results. often they are respectful of developers and will respond to a civilized request rather than a threaty rant. and if that dosn't work than at least you tried.

I think you're right... it is very heartwarming that people would choose to support us when they could pirate it.  As for people who pirated the game, I'm not going to say I condone it, but I am happy that they are at least playing the game (and hopefully enjoying it).

[Chibi]

An admirable statement coming from the artist of Aquaria ... I applaud you Derek!  (Even though it is impossible to hate Aquaria if you have a soul) 

[Danger Mouse]

I already saw and knew about the torrent download, and it's availability as being seeded, but you know what? I've also been waiting for this game since before it was finished. A long time before it was finished. I wanted to support the artists and creators of such a worthy project. Thus, I paid for it, and continue to support it. I've even supported it with work on quite a hefty mod project which I'd like to say I'm still working on, it's just that I've taken a break from it since I got back from a 6 month deployment. I've been spending much of my time with my beautiful wife and 2 kids. I'm also waiting a lot on the newer release before I continue on with any work on the project. So anyways, I definitely agree that you can't stop piracy, and at the same time it can be a good thing. The more popular it becomes the more likely that more people will know about it and the more people will pay for it and support the creators. Of course there will always be those that try to pay for nothing. Not much can be done about it though. But if any of you that are in the habit of pirating software, please support the creators of this project. The game isn't that expensive, you aren't really saving a lot of money, and also it's an independently developed game, so it's not a big company. These creators deserve the credit for their work and definitely deserve the small amount of money for the game.

[Edit] Spell Checked. Sorry, was typing this out late at night and was quite tired.

[Chibi]

Very well said. I believe that is the opinion of a rational and forgiving person.  Glad to hear that you're spending more time with your wife and kids: the screen is a fickle partner. (As Alec and Derek Fish found out) 

[Echoic]

So don't kill me for saying this.


I had originally pirated Aquaria from a torrent.

But once I saw that was a wonderful creation it was, I bought the game.

I'm so picky about games, that I find torrents of games, and if I like them enough, I support the company/creators.

It's so ridiculous to pay up the ass for some heartless/thoughtless games being marketed by uncaring corporations, that I find using torrents useful for testing out games. Yes, there could be an argument over the use of demos, but sometimes I find that demos end up being totally different of what the game actually is.

Tho I still pirate anime, some programs, and some music, for I very much agree with Glamador's point of view. But, like with Aquaria, I will support if I find the quality to do so.


Am I dead yet?

[Chibi]

I think that's alright - the only alternative would be to raise your voice to the major game developers asking for better demos.

[inkblob]

So don't kill me for saying this.


I had originally pirated Aquaria from a torrent.

But once I saw that was a wonderful creation it was, I bought the game.

I'm so picky about games, that I find torrents of games, and if I like them enough, I support the company/creators.

It's so ridiculous to pay up the ass for some heartless/thoughtless games being marketed by uncaring corporations, that I find using torrents useful for testing out games. Yes, there could be an argument over the use of demos, but sometimes I find that demos end up being totally different of what the game actually is.

Tho I still pirate anime, some programs, and some music, for I very much agree with Glamador's point of view. But, like with Aquaria, I will support if I find the quality to do so.


Am I dead yet?

I found out about the game through torrent posts and comments, tried the demo and promptly purchased the game.  your moral compass points in the same general direction as mine and Zeus hasn't smote me with lightning yet    there's dozens of bands that I've gone to see in person that I wouldn't have even known about if it weren't for p2p, there is a significant unquantifiable upshot of p2p in general and it's those sorts who hoarde and then try and profit off of piracy that need to walk the plank