The Sims 3 DLC and community used to effectively stop piracy
Electronic Arts has discovered the secret to combating piracy . . . offer the legit consumer features and content that they simply cannot get with a “gimped” pirated version, which amounts to basically a “demo” of the real deal.
Speaking to IndustryGamers, EA CEO John Riccitiello joked about how the leaked pirated version of The Sims 3 served as a “secret marketing campaign” to give gamers a taste of the real thing, much like a demo. Why does it only offer a taste? Because a slew of content is downloaded and added to your Sims 3 game once you have purchased a real copy of the game and registered it. Including an entire extra city.
“The Sims 3 has a massive amount of content, and a lot of it is downloaded once you register with EA. For the pirate consumer, they don’t get the second town, they don’t get all the extra content, and they don’t get the community. [The piracy] was only concentrated on Poland and China, but I think of it as not being that different than a demo” Riccitiello said.
“I think that’s the answer [to piracy],” he explains further. “It’s not the answer because this foils a pirate, but it’s the answer because it makes the service so valuable that in comparison the packaged good is not. So you can only deliver these added services to a consumer you recognize and know…I think the truth is we’ve out-serviced the pirate.”
And offering additional content in this way is a growing trend among developers, who are using these extra incentives to not only combat piracy, but also combat used game sales.
Personally I think that this is the perfect way to combat piracy. Incentives are what drive people. For example, I am much more likely to pre-order a new CD if it comes with a t-shirt. Cause that completely ups the value of the package. And if I were to simply download a pirated version of the CD, I wouldn’t get the shirt.
24 June 2009 01:53HungryArmadillo
Wow, What if you don’t have internet? I know plenty of people with Consoles and Pc’s without internet. I guess you just got screwed into buying a “Demo” copy of a game at full game price. Hmm, maybe a couple of lawsuits over content will fix that noise. Intentionally selling a partial game as if it was a full game is considered fraud in my book. Will they ship this content to people who don’t have internet on a disk? I remember when I lost my Sims 2 website info, I mean I had the game for like 4 years, Lost the info and then had NO access to any of my content and downloads through the official website. Sent numerous Email requests to them and got little to no response. Was very very angry. Tried making a new account but since my key was associated with the account I forgot I was just screwed.This sounds like the same situation x10. I dont know maybe I just misunderstand.
HungryArmadillo: You need to serious look into your The Sims 2 game manual and look up EA’s support line phone number, because as long as you can read the serial number from your DVD case (or manual, I forget where it is on the backside or inside) then they will help you out without a problem.
As for The Sims 3, I think they look at the game as still full game, but the DLC and community features as extra bonus content. I’m not disagreeing with what you’re saying though, they could’ve included this stuff on the game disc as well in case someone doesn’t have internet access at the time of playing.
