Yesterday a lad contacted me on our Facebook page saying that he was unable to load my Viitorul Constanta save game into his FM 2012. The mystery was solved in a couple of minutes: the lad had a pirated copy, he didn’t bother to buy the game that he claims he loves. Well, I have a few things to say to those who prefer downloading a pirated copy and then go on and on about how much they love this game. Let me go into a few details which hopefully will persuade you to say no to piracy, at least when it comes to the Football Manager series.
1. Buying the game supports its development
This is a no-brainer: a team works hard to make this game, and the people in that team get their salaries if the game is sold. Every pirated copy that you download means less money for that team and thus less money for making the game better every year. You want new awesome features every year right? Then buy the game!
2. Sports Interactive support excellent charities
Some of the money that you spend on your copy of the game goes to charity, as SI support some excellent causes like War Child. So, if you buy the game you are also helping out with some very generous causes, and that’s always a nice thing to do.
3. Sports Interactive sponsor real football teams
That’s right, some of the money that you spend on the game goes to support real life football teams like AFC Wimbledon, Watford and not only. You can access a full list of those here. So, if you love both football and Football Manager, why not support some football teams by buying the game?
4. Cracked versions are unreliable
This is a very practical reason: you have no guarantee that your cracked game will work or that it will keep on working after an official patch is released. Moreover, if you have technical problems with it you will be unable to get help from the excellent support team at Sports Interactive. So if you want to play the game with no headaches other than selecting your squad and signing the best players, buy the game!
5. Support the community
There are quite a few helpful Football Manager related websites out there, this one is one of them and probably one of the best. If you get a pirated copy you don’t help us or any of the other fan sites. However, if you buy the game through us, a small portion of the price that you pay goes into supporting the website, and that’s what happens for most FM fan sites out there. We’re offering you our help day in and day out, why not show a little support in return?
These are just a few of the reasons I could think of and I hope I have persuaded you to buy FM 2013 instead of downloading a pirated copy. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.
If you want to buy Football Manager 2013 from us and support both SI and FMS, then you can take advantage of a rather substantial discount and get the game for just 27 pounds!
Frank Sollie
16 сентября, 2012 at 11:50
And, you never cheat on the ones you love…. FM is our TRUE love. Admit it folks!
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 12:30
Yes, I admit it :)
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 11:57
I’ll keep this brief as I have a burning passion against people who buy pirated copies. The people who provide them are scum. It honestly disgusts me, a while back someone applied to be on the scouting network. Seemed very promising but when I asked about the most recent patches they said they can’t download them due to not having bought the game. Needless to say the conversation ended there and I rejected the applicant instantly.
So there’s two reasons to buy the game rather than steal it through piracy. a) You probably will never get an update for the game and we all know its raw until after the first patch is released, and b) if you ever want to be a part of something like the Scouting Network, you’ll have no chance if you haven’t paid for the game.
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:52
are people ‘scum’ if they download it then
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 20:01
Did I say that?
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 20:04
nope but i’m just wondering whether you actually think that?
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 20:07
I didn’t say it did I, I’m also wondering if you illegally download the copy yourself but you didn’t address that so…besides I thought you were bored of this? You made some unfair comments about a company I respect and they were completely misguided, I defended them and thats that. Don’t make this personal…
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 20:11
No i don’t illegally download the copies. Let’s just leave it at that. Sorry if i offended you mate, i just needed to vent my rage after a stressful day haha
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 20:16
No problem, we all read stuff on websites and the words make us impulsively reply in a way we usually wouldn’t. You did it to my comments and I definitely did the same to yours. No hard feelings, I will never take offense to a discussion as long as we make up afterwards. :) Not sure if you hang around the site often, but we’re not usually this crazy :) Just the topic is a little controversial I guess. No hard feelings.
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 20:25
Thanks dude. I always come across badly when I get involved in arguments because i don’t think about what im saying. I sometimes come to the site, but recently i’m not coming on so much as fm12 is kinda dying out. I hope to get more involved when fm13 is released and hopefully do a story of my own in the forums. :)
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 20:28
No problem, well we’ll be doing a lot more for FM13 so you should pop by, hopefully some helpful downloads, tactics and player lists etc.
Joseph Diamond
18 сентября, 2012 at 01:48
I don’t belong to the group you characterize as »scum» but I must say that you have no right to insult people like that when you don’t know the first thing about some particular cases. Please refrain from such childish accusations that are completely unbased on any shown information.
Darren Smith
18 сентября, 2012 at 12:00
What are you talking about? If someone stole something that I made and spent many many hours developing, then just gave it away to people then I think they should be called all the names under the sun! In what particular case is it OK to distribute an illegally copied game, this should be interesting!
Joseph Diamond
18 сентября, 2012 at 17:05
You’re not listening. I’m gonna try and elaborate so you get a better understanding of what I’m trying to say. Never said it was OK or that it wasn’t OK, you just came up with such conclusions without carefully reading my comment. Well I think that some people are doing that without the idea of what the consequences of their actions are and last time I checked idiocy and ignorance don’t fall under the category »scum». So please do not call a whole group of people scum, if you don’t have a clue who they are/what they are/why are they doing that. I repeat myself; you don’t know the first thing about them.
Darren Smith
18 сентября, 2012 at 19:38
Do not patronize me! You are the one that isn’t reading my comments properly…I am calling the people that make these illegal copies scum, not the people that download them. Under no circumstances should someone steal someone elses property, copy it and then offer it out for their own gain, its not their property to profit from and seriously damages the company that invest all their money into developing it!
Joseph Diamond
18 сентября, 2012 at 20:56
I was talking about the people that offer such stuff and the stuff I said above applies to them. And most people do not offer it for their own gain.
Darren Smith
18 сентября, 2012 at 20:58
Then why do most have advertising on their sites, youtube channels and even make you download other stuff along with the game…because they make money from it thats why, so yes they do offer it for their own gain!
Joseph Diamond
19 сентября, 2012 at 01:47
Going a bit off topic there, huh? Well that tells me what I wanted to know… GG
Darren Smith
19 сентября, 2012 at 07:11
How is that off topic…you claim these people who provide pirated copies aren’t doing it for their own gain, I’m just correcting you. They profit from stealing sport interactives game through the methods mentioned above, that is the whole point of this conversation. Either way this is really boring me now, until you want to start using facts and a structured argument I’m not interested, so far all you have done is tell people their facts are wrong and they should re-read their comments etc, yet you haven’t provided one single argument as to why these thieves (I’m referring to the people that pirate the game not the ones who download it) should be defended…I can only assume its because you don’t have one other than without them you wouldn’t have the game for free and would have to dip into your pocket. I’m sure you disagree completely and come back with more back handed remarks but without proper facts and a proper argument lets just agree to disagree as these exchanges are giving me a headache.
Lye
16 сентября, 2012 at 11:59
I am proud to say i have always purchased the original copy since the first Football Manager was out. This is the minimum we can contribute if we truly love FM. Long live FM.
saltwater
16 сентября, 2012 at 12:24
Sports Interactive do put so much into making the game that we all love that just taking the game without buying it just dishonors them and yourself. Can’t we all just put £30-40 (£27 on this site) towards buying it once to have year round joy? Is that really so hard?
Islam Aboauf
16 сентября, 2012 at 12:26
very dumb article tbh , most of games developers know that people buy games now just for the online play
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 12:31
Huh? So is piracy OK then?
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 12:35
I think you’ll find the studio director of SI recently tweeted ‘why do I bother’ in reference to the amount of people that had ‘stolen’ the FM12 game as opposed to bought it, so no this isn’t a dumb article this is an issue that could ruin the games industry especially for smaller budget developers…do some research before you mouth off mate!!
Opre Bela
16 сентября, 2012 at 12:47
Not to defend anybody or to attack somebody, but in my country the minimal wage is around 160 E, aprox. 120 E after taxes, while the FM 2013 pre-purchase price on Steam is 49,99 E. So you do the math.
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 13:00
I know, but you can find better deals. We’re selling it for 27 pounds here, that’s around 33 euro. Moreover, if you wait for a few months you can get even better deals as most retailers have great discounts around Christmas for instance. I remember that we sold FM 2012 for just 10 pounds at a certain point. And last but not least, I think most of the ones who get pirated copies don’t do it because they don’t have the money to buy the game.
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 13:03
I have great sympathy for people who are taken advantage of in terms of low working salary. But you have to remember that stealing from your local supermarket is wrong, so surely piracy is no different, its still stealing no matter what spin we put on it.
Opre Bela
16 сентября, 2012 at 13:30
Yes, I do agree with that. Don’t get me wrong here, it is stelaing, this is why I’ve said I don’t want to defend or to offend anyone. These are just some simple and sad facts. And we will look for the best deals
Miles Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 13:53
There are always shades of grey. Do we really begrudge the 14 year old with stingy parents pirating his copy? After all he couldn’t buy it even if he wanted to, he’s not hurting SIs bottom line. then if in a few years when he’s a mega fan of the series with a part time job or whatnot he might start spending money on the game & of course this is all fuelled by his burning passion brought on by stealing.
Of course most piracy is not of this type & it definitely does more harm than good overall.
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 13:58
I honestly can’t believe the number of people that are OK with this. It’s stealing, there is no grey area…there’s lots of things I wanted when I was a kid that my parents wouldn’t buy me, the very early CM’s been one of them but I didn’t go stealing them!! Don’t get me wrong, I see your logic but it still isn’t right, just because its so easy to do doesn’t make it right.
The way I see it, if you don’t think its acceptable to shop lift, then this is no different, the end result is the same, you took something that you should have paid for.
Besides I very much doubt a teenager that illegally downloaded FM would then be happy to pay for it later on in life…chances are they’d follow the same morales they’d set themselves as a kid.
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 14:03
As far as I know there are 12 illegal copies for each legally bought copy of the game out there. I seriously doubt that most of those are 14-year olds with stingy parents. In my view every pirated copy does a lot more harm than good, if there’s any good to it that is.
Miles Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 14:34
Oh no, don’t get me wrong, The case I presented is a fringe case & as I stated I don’t believe for one second that most pirates really simply ‘cannot afford’ to buy the game.
I want people to buy the game because it means I get a better experience. Money for SI = Features for me. Also because SI is such a good company that I would hate to see it have to change it’s leadership, become another cog in EAs giant wheel for example.
Don’t pirate the game you get a second rate experience & if you’re a fan you’re only hurting yourself.
Tim
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:10
I for example, I am 16 and live in Nigeria, therefore it is impossible to buy the game even if i have the money as online payment can’t be done from here. The game costs about 7500 Naira (even with your discount) which is expensive over here and so is internet connection. (my father pays for the one I am currently using and its for his office with a data cap of 6GB per month).
So therefore, I can’t pay for it and can’t download it if I could pay for it. I am not proud of it but I have no choice since I love the game so much. So what I do since I can’t even download the cracked version is to buy it (the cracked version) for 200 Naira (about 1 euro) from guys who have the Internet connection (its a moneymaking business for them).
There is absolutely no other option as I can’t even get a job (university graduates with first class honors are unemployed) to make some money even if I could pay for the game through the Internet (Nigeria is not on paypal and even banned on eBay).
If you can think of a way that I won’t have to get the cracked copy I would appreciate it but if not, (I don’t expect any) there is no choice.
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:37
I really feel for you mate and I hope that the situation in your country will improve soon enough. You could try your luck in our FM 2013 GiveAway, I’d keep my fingers crossed for you: https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2012/09/fm-2013-giveaway-win-your-own-free-copy/
Tim
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:58
12 entries already and trying to get more. still can’t figure out how i’ll download it even if I win
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 20:02
You don’t have to download it all in one go I think. The download is made through Steam and you can pause and resume as far as I remember. It would take you quite a bit of time at that speed though… Good luck in the GiveAway!
Miles Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 20:55
There we go you see, shades of grey. Here’s an interesting thought experiment. Every FM fan out there has the potential to spread their love of the game to someone else & with FM being as in depth as it is I think being shown how to play is actually fairly useful in persuading people to play. I probably wouldn’t play the game if it were not for this site, actually, as well as youtube «let’s plays».
There are a lot of people who simply cannot or will not (muchos less respect for the latter) pay for the game, but they have friends who do, friends who may also pirate it or more importantly may decide to buy the game, I would hope for the latter. What I mean is there is no such thing as bad publicity.
There are two groups of people the «Willnots & Cannots» & the «Willdos & Candos» now the first group are largely irrelevant since nothing you can do is going to get them to purchase the game but the wills & the cans, you want those guys, you want those guys to be a fan of your game because they’re where you make your money & the largely irrelevant «Willnots & Cannots» begin to look like a valuable marketing tool.
I think that SI are doing everything right to lessen piracy, greater Steam integration means actually giving up features when you pirate. The image they as a company maintain, is friendly & small, people are likely going to ‘want’ to give their money to SI above EA who people see as an evil giant swallowing up game studios & destroying franchises. You’ll never get rid of it, it’s the nature of the beast but I think there is a very real sense in which you don’t entirely want to, if you accept that people will simply pirate your games no matter what you do then you can start thinking «how can I use these people to spread my game»?
So Tim if you’re a fan of the series then tell your friends, relatives etc. about it, maybe they can afford to buy themselves a copy even if you can’t & good luck generally.
TheZiggy
16 сентября, 2012 at 13:52
As a software engineer, it really does annoy me when people go around pirating software like this. Earlier this year I spent the best part of a month, putting additional protection into my software with a dongle, to go along with an encrypted licence file I spent a couple of weeks developing a few years earlier.
The lengths that you have to go to in order to hopefully stop someone taking an illegal copy of your software is crazy.
I guess along with illegal music downloading, it feels like a victimless crime, but somewhere down the line it affect people, and with software that impact is very much larger. The sales volumes are less, but to develop the software tends to be an expensive business.
step
16 сентября, 2012 at 15:58
i had the pirate copy for the fm 2012 but i love to much the game that i decide to spent 50€ to buy it. and i dont regret any cent spent on it. i will see if i win or not the game via fms but if i don´t will deffinitly buy the game. is worthy and besides e gets the real updates and is more ntresting to see that you have the box and the cd . And also e spares you time to download and make a «thousand» things to instal it
step
16 сентября, 2012 at 16:02
i love fm and if buying helps the game getting better i will definitly suport
Bill Okpalor
16 сентября, 2012 at 16:11
i Agree with you Johnny Piracy Has to be stopped.
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 16:13
Sometimes, pirating games is fine, 30- 40 pounds is just too much for some people. Yeh i do agree that if you have the money and the passion for the game you should buy it but don’t ridicule people for pirating games when you don’t understand their situation. Sports interactive aren’t exactly strapping for cash, im sure their doing just fine.
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 16:36
The last sentence is ridiculous. How do you know their exact financial situation? And secondly, if you owned a store, how would you like people coming in a getting stuff without paying just because they might believe you are doing fine?
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 16:41
Its shocking how some people think, I am just confused how anyone can say pirating is OK…very narrow and small minded to be honest. Just because a company makes a profit they should be stolen from? Hmmm…
…honestly feels like we are in a classroom trying to teach people right from wrong.
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:02
Don’t patronise me, i know right from wrong and if you read my point properly and saw this from my perspective then you would understand
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 18:59
Football manager is a massive game in the sports genre of gaming, so of course they’ve got a shit load of money and they’re owned by Sega for gods sake. Look I accept your point to a certain extent. If someone was pirating every game they played i wouldnt be happy at that. My point is, which you won’t understand anyway, is that pirating is ok in SOME circumstances. I think that if you can’t afford it, because you have to buy food or whatever then you might as well get it for free anyway until you can afford it. Yes if i owned a store and someone stole from it i would be angry but when you pirate a game your downloading something that doesnt physically exist, It doesnt harm anyone.
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:06
1. They are not owned by SEGA. Sports Interactive is the developer of the game, SEGA is the publisher, SI does not own SEGA or the other way around.
2. The game is a product, the same as a loaf of bread. A team of people are working to make this game, it doesn’t just pop out of a computer. And people who work deserve to be paid, it’s quite simple.
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:13
they are paid, lots and lots of money, much more than the average man. I’d love to work for SI, they sit around making video games and probably talk about football 24/7. Your dressing them up as if they’re humble peasants tirelessly tilling land so they can put bread on the table for their starving children.
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:16
You are being ridiculous again. They are doing a good job and they should be getting good wages for that. I’m not saying that they are poor, all I’m saying is that this game deserves to be bought for the five reasons that I have listed in the post.
P.S.: I guess you wouldn’t buy a game made by peasants, would you?
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:25
mmmmm bread….. :P
Miles Smith
17 сентября, 2012 at 20:04
Yes, how dare they earn more that the average man!? Next time you need a toaster, just take it from someone with more money than you, they can buy a new one…
Joseph Diamond
18 сентября, 2012 at 01:51
His sentence is ridicolous, isn’t it? But so is yours. In no way you can compare actual stores and stealing in ACTUAL stores to stealing of some »fictional» product. I think you are enough clever to get to what I am reffering to here.
Johnny Karp
18 сентября, 2012 at 06:21
Real people work to make this product so it’s as real as it gets in my view.
Joseph Diamond
18 сентября, 2012 at 17:07
We agree to disagree then. Since it isn’t the same to me if you steal some milk because no one else can get that particular milk, but if you steal data from the internet it is different since you individually don’t affect anyone.
Johnny Karp
18 сентября, 2012 at 18:49
If you steal data from the internet the company that makes that data might be forced to lay off a couple of software engineers for instance because of unsatisfactory sales, that could be an effect and that surely affects at least those two plus their families. Just an example.
Joseph Diamond
19 сентября, 2012 at 01:48
Fair point…you win
TheZiggy
16 сентября, 2012 at 16:50
This is exactly why the prices for new games are as high as they are. It’s a vicious circle, the more people pirate software, the higher the prices have to be to cover the development. However it makes it more likely that people resent the price and will want to get a pirate copy. There is also however a limit to the price, because they have to also be competitive with other games too.
Software Engineers do not come cheap, which is probably a major slice of their budget.
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:17
They’re so high because, like most other people in the world, they’re greedy. I highly doubt that piracy actually impacts the price. Lots of people still buy the games
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:23
Absolute bollocks…again more misguided and incorrect comments…if a game is illegally downloaded 12 times for every one bought copy how can that not effect the price!!
Can’t believe you’re trying to question the opinion of someone who works in computer software…Ziggy does this stuff for a job, I think he knows a hell of a lot more than you Matthew.
TheZiggy
16 сентября, 2012 at 20:10
I seem to remember about 10 years ago, new games were at least £29.99 then, and some even £10 higher, and there were fewer special offers to be found.
In one sense he’s right that, that companies would create these games if they weren’t going to make any money, as it wouldn’t be a sustainable business model. In the case of SI, by pirating, probably the worst part of it is, that you’re stealing away part of the profits which are given to charity. Most of the profits a software company make, are almost always ploughed back into getting more hardware and more software engineers, to help keep the pace of development for each new release.
I grant that EA are a special case of a company that seizes on any opportunity they seem to be able to find. Nobody will ever forget what happened to Westwood Studios, after they bought them.
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 20:36
Yep, I surely remember. I have stopped buying (and playing) games from EA a long time ago.
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:07
Oh and its not like game developers ever harm us it? These days game developers are sucking money out of their loyal customers because of their greed. Look at Battlefield and EA with their ‘Premium’ bullshit
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:11
We’re talking about Sports Interactive and Football Manager 2013 here, not about EA. My post is about buying FM 2013, remember?
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:15
I also thought we were talking about piracy in general
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:18
I’m not. Piracy in general is a very complex issue, I have just stated my opinion on Football Manager and why this games deserves your 27 pounds.
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:15
Haha, you are incredible…you don’t have an argument here, everything you’re saying is based on assumptions and as shown misguided opinions. If you can download the game illegally then that means you can afford a computer thats worth at least £300 and an internet connection that costs around £10-20 per month (assuming your from England)…if you afford them you can afford the game. I honestly can’t understand why you continue this, I can only assume you illegally download the game yourself and you are defending yourself.
As for the developer rubbish, SI are probably the most giving company I have ever known. Once again SI is not part of EA!
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:21
nope i’ve bought all the games i currently own. The own time i’ve pirated a game is when i was 12, around the time when fm 09 was out i think. My parents had bought a computer with internet that they paid for, i had no money so i thought i might as well download 09 until i’ve saved up the money for 10 which came out a few months later.
-I know i coming across as a dick but im honestly not
Matthew Webb
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:44
Look i cant be bothered arguing with you any more, i was already in a crap mood. All im saying is that if a guy can’t afford something then he might as well pirate it for free until he can afford it
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:53
If that was your argument then why did you continue to dis Sports Interactive and make them out to be some greedy money grabbing rich company? My point was that no matter what spin you put on it, its still stealing! But I’m not standing by while people slate a company that are actually very giving.
Anyway, we agree to disagree on that one I guess.
james
16 сентября, 2012 at 16:27
the thing is people dont understand the amount of work that goes into making a games,and then for someone to make it free.
I guess that why most companies are moving toward digital download
CsAtlantis
16 сентября, 2012 at 16:54
Steam sells the game at reasonable prices for me, and even if I can’t afford it now there is always the Christmas sale to look forward to (the game will probably get 50% off like fm2012 hopefully)
vaibhavc
16 сентября, 2012 at 18:20
To be honest, there is no point in pirating the game. It just ruins the game and the hard work of all the people at SI.
Joseph Diamond
18 сентября, 2012 at 01:57
I suggest you to re-read what you wrote and think about it. There is a point in that, but is it right or wrong I’ll let you decide.
Gaz Chapman
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:06
I have to say that i am shocked by the amount of people on here that think it is ok to pirate/steal a game that they are supposed to be a fan of. IMO they don’t deserve to be allowed onto these kind of sites.
What ever your financial situation maybe the fact is youve got a broadband connection :) so your not that poor and secondly its £30 (£27 on here) a year you probably spend more than that in a month on chewy,crisps and cans of pop etc
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:12
I agree with you but there’s a mention to be made: broadband connections tend to be very cheap in some countries, mostly poor countries as far as I know.
Tim
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:19
Then you need to research better
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:39
Tim, do you know the prices in every country in the world? If it’s not cheap in yours it doesn’t mean that it’s that way in every country.
Tim
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:52
I am not justifying other people’s deeds not even mine. I just stated why I have no choice. A lot of my friends are in the same position.
Tim
16 сентября, 2012 at 19:46
And about that I don’t have a broadband connection. I am not (or rather, my family is not) poor but we are not that in money either broadband can only be afforded if you have a lot of money. To download a file with the connection I have which isn’t even mine its averagely 15KB/s. I am not justifying what I do and I don’t like it but like I said there’s no choice.
Gaurav Chaddah
16 сентября, 2012 at 20:46
In all honesty I find it quite ridiculous some of these comments having ago at SI.
I am proud to say I have never had an illegal FM and will never, I’ve watched the odd pirated movie borrowed from a mate but apart from that never and would never ever do that with football manager, I’m 14 so i don’t get payed however do pocket money if doing work around the house. When it comes to late August early September I decide not to spend my money and save up for the new game knowing that it will be out October/November time and i can get it on release. This is helping SI and War Child and I like helping charities.
It’s like Warburtons, they make bread and if like 1/7 or whatever customers stole that bread they wouldn’t gain as much leading them to not being able to pay their staff properly and then not being able to make the best bread possible.
Just thought I would state my opinion.
Jack
16 сентября, 2012 at 22:22
Well I really enjoyed reading that debate. I will definitely be buying the new version of FM.
Callum
16 сентября, 2012 at 23:29
Reading that was almost as fun as playing the game! I agree that piracy is wrong and also hate it when people say ‘oh it’s not actually real it doesn’t harm anyone’. I’m sorry, can you not buy a hard copy of FM12? Oh wait, yes you can. Go into a game shop and try and steal it, then see wether its ok. This really irritates me as I am studying to be a games designer and to be honest, I think working at SI would be the dream!
TheZiggy
17 сентября, 2012 at 13:06
It’s a sad indictment of the current culture that exists, where lots of people seem to think they have to right to have everything they want, whether they can afford it or not. For them the internet and being able to download illegal content is Utopia. It’s the «who cares attitude?»
Earlier this year, I had the door mirrors on my car smashed off, and although it was and starting to get rusty, it’s still dispiriting that someone has not respect for something you’ve worked so hard to be able to afford.
Good luck your studies, and SI does look like a dream company to work for. The one bit I’d get a kick from helping develop would be the match engine. I love all the complex stuff underneath, rather than designing fancy GUI’s.
Darren Smith
17 сентября, 2012 at 18:29
Very well put Ziggy.
Callum
18 сентября, 2012 at 23:17
As Darren said well put, and I agree, I love knowing the whys and goes of the game, not just seeing it happen
Kevin
17 сентября, 2012 at 16:32
Although there are many people who can’t afford the game downloading a pirated copy still amounts to petty theft, plain and simple — but that’s just my opinion.
NUFCdan
17 сентября, 2012 at 18:05
People saying if you cant afford it then pirate it! Pirating is stealing. After school today I was really thirsty but i didnt have enough money on me to buy a can of pop, but did i steal from a shop? of course not! Would have got arrested and same should happen if you pirate football manager or any pther game for that matter! Stealing is stealing, weather a can of pop or pirating a copy of your favourite game!
Kevin
18 сентября, 2012 at 00:58
Well said!!
Sears
17 сентября, 2012 at 19:46
It’s all well and good condemning these guys that pirate, but the problem won’t go away cos some people think it’s wrong. No one is the perfect law abiding citizen. We’ve all broken the rules, done things that are wrong. In no way am I saying that it’s OK to pirate, but as long as the authorities allow people the option to pirate, the problem will never go away.
Darren, Ziggy, Johnny — absolutely spot on with everything you have said. Pity they’ll be some people that completely disagree with you.
Johnny Karp
17 сентября, 2012 at 19:53
Piracy will never go away, like some people won’t ever stop stealing or cheating. All I wanted to say is that this game and the team that makes this game don’t deserve that, at least for the five reasons that I’ve listed in the post. If I managed to persuade just one player to buy the game instead of getting a pirated copy, then I’m as happy as I could be.
Miles Smith
17 сентября, 2012 at 20:07
I’m pre-ordering mine through you as soon as my loans student loans come through!
Dodo Lucic
17 сентября, 2012 at 20:41
I just see no benefit of buying while you can download and play, and about unreliable , please, there are over 500+ seeders for FM12 and it’s working for everyone. :)
Johnny Karp
17 сентября, 2012 at 20:57
Well, ask those 500 seeders which version of the game they are playing. I’d guess the latest patch is still out of reach for them. That’s about the reliability. The rest is only about being honest I’d say but that’s a complicated concept for some.
Jamie
17 сентября, 2012 at 23:53
Stealing is wrong, plain and simple. In some cases (such as where a parent can’t afford to feed or clothe a child), it might be understandable, but even in these extreme cases, it’s still wrong.
is goi
The problem is, it’s all too easy in the online age to forget that, when you buy a product online, you are actually visiting an online shop, and products sold online are very much as real as those in shops.
The best analogy to downloading illegal copies of a game is going to a cinema with a camera, shooting what you see on the screen, and selling it as the genuine article. It isn’t, never will be, and as others have shown, every copy illegally dowloaded (stolen) impacts on the ammount of money developers have to work with on future versions of the game. Eventually, the price will reach a point that nobody would buy it if it went higher, and the software company will have to make the hard decision to stop producing new games. Does anybody seriously want that?
Joseph Diamond
18 сентября, 2012 at 01:43
You made a dozen of inaccurate points in your speech that I’m not even willing to respond to that.
Joseph Diamond
18 сентября, 2012 at 00:23
I just don’t see harm if I download the game since I wouldn’t pay for it if no download was available, so no one loses in this situation.
Johnny Karp
18 сентября, 2012 at 06:24
I assume that you can download the game legally in your country, can’t you?
Joseph Diamond
18 сентября, 2012 at 17:09
I don’t see how that is related…but the answer is yes.
Long
18 сентября, 2012 at 09:18
Love should not be bought or cheated but I think FM is the only love that I willingly and proudly buy every year since FM 2011.
Best regards from Vietnam :)
acss
18 сентября, 2012 at 19:11
I have one question for johnny, darren and others who are against piracy: do you always buy software for your computer and never ever used unlicensed software, no matter what were the conditions? I honestly don’t know anyone who hasn’t at least once used unlicensed software, or downloaded illegal music, movies or any other product. I don,t think piracy is ok but i cannot judge people for doing it and i don’t think anyone should.
Johnny Karp
18 сентября, 2012 at 19:18
I have to repeat what I have already said: piracy in general is a very complex issue, I’m not going to get into that discussion because we’d keep commenting here for years. What I wanted to say with this post is that the people who make this game deserve your 30 pounds or whatever, because of the five reasons that I have listed in the post. I hope you can agree with that.
acss
18 сентября, 2012 at 19:45
I agree with your post johnny. I just don’t agree when some people are judging others because no one is perfect. We all brake rules sometimes. And i just hate hipocrisy.
Darren Smith
18 сентября, 2012 at 20:02
Well I hate sitting by while a great company gets screwed over which is what is happening to SI. It was mentioned that for every 1 game that is bought 12 are illegally downloaded, if that keeps escalating I’m not sure how this game could stay alive in the long run, yes that is an assumption but they’ll surely struggle to maintain the constant flow of cash into development. I understand what you are saying and I do apologize for coming across as judging people, I’m not trying to make this personal towards people who download the game, I just don’t understand how some people say it is OK to do. If people acknowledged that it is a problem and stealing, then I wouldn’t get so highrate, but someone telling me that it is OK to steal someone elses work just isn’t on.
But I’ll reiterate that reading back on some of my comments I should have had more tact with my wording and approach.
Josh Legg
19 сентября, 2012 at 17:24
Before I start, I have bought every single version of Football Manager and Championship Manager since the beginning. I was always brought up to value the price of money. I’m your average Joe earning about £20k a year. I would never ever steal anything from a shop, online or download a game. Purely for the fact that my money will go towards the progress and development of the game that I love.
However, as for people who believe that the company will not be able to «stay alive in the long run.» Surely, you lot can do a bit of maths. 1 in 12 is legally bought right?! Let’s say that 12million people in the UK own the game, that means the total cost spent on that game in the UK alone is £30million!. (Enough to buy Port Vale, I hear you scream.) And you have to think about every other country who have the game. I have no fears about the long run of this game.
The underlying issue, is getting a pirated copy is far to easy!! The government and law forces should come down hard on people that MAKE it for people to download. And sustain it with consistency, but then again that’s hard in a world we live in. And as for the whole stealing side of it, technically the people that are downloading it aren’t stealing, as they are being offered the game by someone who has STOLE the software. I know a couple of people who have given there mate a fiver for making a pirated copy they haven’t stolen it, their mate has. If someone came and said to you here’s a iPhone for £50, which you know has been stolen, would you say no and purchase it for £500.
Just throwing a couple of things out there, as I said from the beginning I have bought every game and completely agree with some points made. But the people who don’t buy the game legally shouldn’t be slayed, the people who create those opportunities SHOULD.
Johnny Karp
19 сентября, 2012 at 19:06
I agree with your reasoning Josh but I seriously doubt that they are selling 12 million copies in the UK. I don’t know any official sales figures so I won’t speculate on a particular number but 12 million seems way too many. Secondly, income is not profit, there are costs involved.
Johnny Karp
19 сентября, 2012 at 19:19
I’ve done some quick research and I have found the sales figures for Football Manager 2012: 1.3 million copies (global), around 1 million copies in Europe. But you were right, there were about 12 million people playing the game :)