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  1. #11
    dr_venture's Avatar
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    On both the music & software front, there's definitely no question that the line between piracy and promotion is a very blurry one. In the case of our band, the composition and recording process is so lengthy that we don't come out with new product to purchase very often - it's really just an ambitious hobby in which you're lucky if you break even. So even if they like the music and think we're awesome, there's not much else to buy and there are seldom many shows to buy tickets to (and as we usually just play festivals, we just get a flat fee and do not see profits from ticket sales anyway). They've already stolen the thing that is most valuable, so it's a hollow victory. Certainly having another fan is good, and perhaps they'll spread the word to others, but the cost vs. benefit is very unclear at best. The only thing you know for for a fact is that your hard work is being blatantly stolen in front of your eyes, and they're essentially nothing you can do about it except stand around and watch the thieves walk out the door with your goods.

    But, whatcha gonna do? Either stop putting out music, or hope it works out for the best and move on. In the case of progressive music, at least a few very talented musicians who used to be able to make a meager living off of music sales have left the business due to rampant theft of their work. There's no soft-peddling the destruction of someone's livelihood due to theft (not that anyone her's doing that - I'm speaking of the general sense out there among so many that pirating MP3s is basically OK. and I don't mean to start a big discussion here over the merits of piracy).

    The software side is also unclear. I have it on very good authority that the fact that a certain very expensive photo editing program was very easy to steal for many years wasn't an accident. At that point, freelancers, students, and anyone else wanting to learn and use that type of software were unlikely to be able to afford to purchase it anyway, but large companies who *could* afford it would want to be legal about ownership and would be sure to purchase their copies. Meanwhile all those people who were learning how to use said bootlegged photo program were in the process becoming skilled employees who would then bring their image editing knowledge and preference for that specific image editing program to companies who would then buy real copies. Essentially, over time, those bootlegged copies migrated to being purchased copies. And now that the image editing program has become the industry standard, that is why said program and it's brethren have become so hard to steal in recent years: when the bootlegging strategy no longer works to your benefit and you don't need to attract new users, what you *do* need is to make as much money as possible from existing users. Therefore you decide to finally take care of that long standing problem of easily pirated copies - can't imagine why that took so long to fix.

    But there's a big difference between large software companies who make money by selling millions of units to an enormous market, and a company like Smiteworks who probably does most of this largely as a labor of love. Every unit sold matters far more to these guys than it does to a large company. To me it's like the difference between somebody stealing $100 from the till of a large supermarket chain store, or a small neighborhood mom & pop grocery store. Both crimes are wrong, but you know which business will be hurt the most.

    Not sure exactly what point I'm making.. just musing in public I guess. My best wishes to Smiteworks in their battle against piracy. It's not an easy fight, and while I suppose I should have expected it, I was saddened to think of folks taking advantage of their work. We're pretty dang lucky they're around doing what they do.
    Last edited by dr_venture; January 31st, 2012 at 19:05.
    "A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." - John Shedd
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  2. #12
    The simplest solution to combating piracy is constant updates. However with a team of two it would be kind of hard to actually maintain constant updates.

  3. #13
    damned's Avatar
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    i cant stand piracy of music, software, videos etc.
    however i dont know one person under 30yrs of age who shares my view.
    they have about 1400 justifications and i dont get their point of view and they dont get mine.

  4. #14
    Ardem's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ronnke
    This might also be something the legitimate users in the community can do to help encourage people to support the software.

    On a related topic has SmiteWorks ever considered combating piracy by releasing FG free under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license. Then consider another model to acquire the funds to ensure further development of the software. The benefits of free software is generally a larger customer base, and game publishers might use FG to value add there own products, which means even more exposure.

    Some other models that come to mind if FG was free are:

    1. Advertising is displayed in the software, if you want to be ad free then you pay for the ad-free unlock. This equates to the current license price.

    2. Modules, rulesets, and other shop items must be purchased through FG itself and will only work on the FG version that made the purchase.

    3. Kickstarter type feature development. ie "We're thinking of adding this major feature x to FG, but need funding amounting to $y before we will undertake it. If you want this feature, show your support by donating/backing this development."

    4. Donations.

    Just some thoughts.
    My thoughts on money making for smiteworks is not in the VTT. I know some going to raise there eye brows but you only do a one off purchase and that is it, maybe you get some update purchase down the track.

    Where they could be making there money is in adventure modules more then anything, in the help or selling of community created adventure modules, where they link artists and designers to sell on their website.

    Yes there is money in rulesets but there is more money in adventure modules, they push the FG out there at the risk for free, and they publish a lot of quality adventure modules for different rulesets, I think that is where the money is made. I would pay anywhere between $5 to $15 for a adventure if done well.

    Or I would be leveraging off the community content and taking a 20-50% slice of adventure modules, similar to what steam do.

    But it is taking a risk with that business model, as we talking a niche market in many respects. I love FG in the short time I known it, so I want them to succeed. But that how I would look at improving my income.

  5. #15
    Hello there, I do have a good anti-piracy idea if you are interested. I love FG and am happy to support it (particularly to keep it out of the hands of certain large RPG publishers). I love the small business aspect of it. Feel free to pm me or email at [email protected].

    J

  6. #16
    I think it might be worth mention that whatever you did appears to have had at least some effect. The IRC room has had a noticeable decrease in traffic. I would call this both good and bad. Good because we don't have to answer a ton of "I cant connect it says version incompatible" questions, bad because we can't strong arm them into buying FG so they can join our games.

  7. #17
    ddavison's Avatar
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    Thanks for the support and suggestion guys. All I really did was add one more hurdle to the process to make it more difficult for pirates to host games. It doesn't make it impossible... it just makes it more noticeable when you are connecting to a pirated game at least by removing alias support.

    I did notice that some of the IP addresses that were listed as pirates now own legitimate licenses... so that is good to see. Our community is probably the best way to combat piracy. You guys have repeatedly shifted people over to the legitimate side and we greatly appreciate that.

    As for some of the other suggestions, we have thought of some of those. Currently we make most of our money off of licenses and not as much off the add-on content like adventures. From all the add-ons, the token and map packs sell far better than the adventures do for some reason.

    Kickstarter programs are something I've been thinking about lately. We don't really know what to expect for these, but we might try out one or two of them this year. The nice feature with Kickstarter programs is that it allows people to sponsor you according to their interest and pocket book. It allows people to basically chip in a dollar, five dollars, or fifty and should help us line up developers in advance once they know how much they will receive.

    unerwünscht, I concur about constant updates. That should hopefully help. With regards to the anti-piracy features we discussed, I haven't tried them yet. I don't currently have any torrent software running to try it.

  8. #18
    As a side note, I looked for a bootleg copy of FG and could not find one. This makes me feel better about things. People do support what they like, though it may not be money they use to do it all the time.

    I would love to see a couple of kickstarter's show up. I for one would love to see extra content for supporters. As I would be one for sure. Selfish reasons for sure, I spend my money when I have it on the things I enjoy, Family, Music, Gaming, Paintball, Blah blah.

    Thanks for supporting the things that you love, makes one of my hobbies that much better.

    Chris

    I would throw down some cash for a Pathfinder version of the 4E party sheet by DrZeuss, just throwing that out there!
    Last edited by madman; February 5th, 2012 at 21:14.
    "Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind."...MJK... Tool frontman




  9. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by ddavison
    Our community is probably the best way to combat piracy. You guys have repeatedly shifted people over to the legitimate side and we greatly appreciate that.
    So be it! Providing valuable support is the way to keep the business viable, and the gaming experience enjoyable, no doubt.

    From all the add-ons, the token and map packs sell far better than the adventures do for some reason.
    Allow us to get into the arena and change these figures, then

  10. #20
    Another thing for those of us who now own Ultimate Licenses, we can do a lot to help fight off the piracy trend by offering to host open games. I would think people would be much more willing to go the legal route if they can, and still get to try before they buy.

    I will do my best to post more open games.

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