Just torrented Unreal Tournament '99. Indended to buy it, but Epic apparently wants to erase all traces of their old games from the web ...
Ask HN: How many of you are open to Piracy again?
211–220 of 641 posts
Re: Ask HN: How many of you are open to Piracy again?
#212Actually, I kinda like the current way. I can listen whatever I want via Spotify. If I like the album that much, I can buy it via iTunes or their store, however finding lossless versions are hard. If I really love the album, I'll buy its vinyl. If I don't plan to buy the vinyl, and can't find the lossless version or a decent priced CD, I buy the album online and find the lossless version elsewhere. I'm a former orche…
> If I like the album that much, I can buy it via iTunes or their store, however finding lossless versions are hard. Try Bandcamp.
Ah, yes. I also buy a lot from there.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you are open to Piracy again?
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not at all. I do the same thing, and the key is to cancel the subscription immediately upon signing up. You keep the one month you've already paid for, and don't need to worry about recurring cost.
But that's literally (literally 'literally', not an annoying turn of phrase) a monthly 'chore' to sign up for (and cancel) the next one.
Doesn't have to be monthly - sometimes I have months at a time with no subscription running at all. Once one "fills up" or there is a specific show I want to watch _now_, I activate that service and immediately cancel it. I guess it is more of a chore than just leaving them all subscribed and having access whenever - but the savings are easily worth it to me.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you are open to Piracy again?
#214Uninterested in piracy. I’m sure there is plenty of great content not covered by my current streaming subscriptions but I am fine not to experience those at all.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you are open to Piracy again?
#215Regarding youtube and ads, I feel like they've issued an ultimatum. Either you pay us or you effectively can't use the service.
It's entirely within their rights, it's their business. Personally I question that tactic since I'd think it drives people away. The size of youtube is worth a lot.
I'm sure it's working temporarily at least and some staff are getting massive bonuses for driving up revenue. But does youtube's long term goals and staff member 5 year goals go hand in hand?
Re: Ask HN: How many of you are open to Piracy again?
#216Let me share my perspective on piracy as a citizen of Russian Federation who don't think about relocation.
I was a youtube/Spotify/last.fm/[smth other I don't remember] subscriber before 2022.
Actually it was kind of pride in younger population in Russia for games: "I pay for all games I like".
My son, my friends has hundreds of games bought on Steam.
That was a big step actually.
How sanctions worked?
For me: - youtube/youtube music - I was a subscriber, so it was for me: "No advertisments, ability to support channels, ability to listen youtube videos on locked phone". Now: no advertisements for all Russia - which is great. Not able to listen on locked phone - irritating. Support channels (I'm a WH40K fan) - thru direct donations
- spotify - I still think that last.fm was the best
- netflix, amazon, etc - sorry, I have no options, except eztv, kickass, piratebay, etc. Nothing new
My POV: Piracy is not a problem. Piracy is a solution. When everything else failed.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you are open to Piracy again?
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are missing an important thing. Netflix allowed a huge library of DVDs to be rented. You could have 3-4 DVDs on rotation for a rather cheap price. This happened when Blockbuster would charge you $5 per movie, and Netflix would charge $10.99 for unlimited DVDs, but you could only have 3 DVDs checked out. That's why Netflix was huge and killed Video Store rentals.
BTW, this is still the case. https://dvd.netflix.com/ Netflix has never dropped their DVD service even though they wanted to many times. There are still places in the US where broadband is unavailable. Also, due to first sale they don't have same license restrictions as they would on streaming. Once they buy the disc they can rent it as many times they want for as long as they want. I've considered re-adding the DVD…
I use the disc service instead of streaming. Its cheaper and the selection has a ton of stuff I want to basically rent but not buy. I also purchase a ton of movies on disc too. It is good for those 'hmm not sure if bargain bin is ok on the price to buy'. Friend of mine uses redbox pretty much exclusively too in the same way. We both have access to decent internet as well.
Downside, there is starting to become a decent number of shows/movies that are exclusive streaming. Second downside is it can be decently slow to get anything. I average about 4 discs per month on a 1 disc out at a time level. It used to be 6-8 per month. But they slowed it down.
I stopped messing with streaming because of the churn of is it on this one or that one. I just gave up and bought whatever boxset I needed. Then found I was not watching the streaming services at all.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you are open to Piracy again?
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
this sounds economical but also a major chore
I wish I had the discipline to manage things that way.
This implies there is something about """you""" that is inherently lacking rather than the habits currently in your brain and "more discipline" often means """if only I would castigate myself more"""
Re: Ask HN: How many of you are open to Piracy again?
#219I don't typically condone piracy because I think it's important to compensate writers/actors/artists, but I do feel angry about the state of things. Physical media is looking relatively good in many cases. Discs are a hassle but at least then you know what you have after a glance at the shelf; there have been several times I bought something a la cart on Amazon / Apple / Vudu and only later realized it was actually a…
Physical media second-hand market is surprisingly good nowadays. Use reputable sellers and buy discs rated "good" or below with caution.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you are open to Piracy again?
#220Never have been and doubt I ever will be. I wish this was as easy to prosecute as any other kind of theft. What the streaming services do or don't do isn't going to have any effects on my ethics.