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My reaction to anti 3rd-party software key-reseller propaganda

Delicieuxz

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While there are legitimately some things to take into consideration regarding purchasing games from 3rd-party key resellers, I think that there also is some false and exaggerated propaganda being pushed about them by some select neurotic develops who are upset that people aren't paying full dollar for their games.

 

Firstly, the G2A marketplace does not represent 3rd-party key-resellers - it represents a forum for individuals to sell their keys. Arguments made for or against G2A marketplace do not necessarily apply to businesses that are 3rd-party key-resellers, and arguments for or against 3rd-party key-resellers do not necessarily apply to the G2A marketplace.

 

Secondly, many of the individuals selling games on G2A got their keys legitimately, such as through Humblebundle, Bundlestars, in-store promos, during Steam, Origin, Uplay, etc sales, or as gifts, through trading, or from cheap eBay listings, and other situations. I have a lot of game keys I have not used, and I have lately been thinking about selling them on G2A. I think the idea that it would be better for developers or publishers if someone were to pirate a game than to buy a legitimate key from me that I gained through legitimate means is a great demonstration of a particular developer's stupidity. And, I expect that credit card fraud likely accounts for a small number of key-resale cases. That said, CC fraud tends to be a component of reseller and used markets, and if a person wants to boycott any potential for CC fraud, they should also be avoiding Craigslist, eBay, Amazon, Steam market, etc.

 

Thirdly, there are many sources for the keys that 3rd-party key resellers have to sell, and I'd bet that most of them are legally legitimate, even when they don't make publishers and developers the same amount of profit as they would like to be making from their sales. Credit card fraud is more likely to account for small numbers of keys here and there, and not the bulk key acquisitions that 3rd-party resellers make by buying games from one region where it's cheaper, and then selling the game in other regions, where it's normally more expensive.

 

 

Now, I think that the argument in this link: http://twinfinite.net/2016/06/dev-going-buy-g2a-please-pirate-game-instead/

 

... is plainly nonsense, and the hyper-subjective and, IMO, their "True Cost of G2A" balancing of cost between spending money, convenience, personal moral... is astonishingly ludicrous, dumb, and False. It is a case of some hyper-ventilating developer presuming to assert how people think and feel about various acquisition methods, and in doing so is also attempting to impose a dictation upon people's perceptions of what various acquisition avenues represent - with the basis for their argument being subjective opinion and re-framing the subject through acknowledging only particular potential aspects of it. Whoever wrote that is probably very lacking in social and life experience.

 

Also, there is a great stupidity in saying 'I'd rather have you pirate than buy G2A', and such a comment is obviously about making a point through hyperbolic emotional display (again, a lack of social skills), while disregarding relevant consideration of the matter. When somebody pirates a game, they make use of that game for free, and no money goes to the developer or publisher. When somebody buys a game key through a 3rd-party reseller, that key, if it works to access the game, was paid for by somebody somewhere down the line, and there was a transaction between publisher or developer and whoever first acquired that key. Therefore, with a 3rd-party key resale, some money has been made for the publisher, developer, or both. But with pirating a game, no money has been made for the publisher and developer.

 

That "True Cost of G2A" graph is as over-the-top cartoonish hysteria and as much deranged False propaganda as the 1930's DEA propaganda film Refer Madness.

4 Comments

This has a few good points. I, myself, own keys from Humble Bundle, Square Enix bundles, etc. that I have never used and won't since I have the games. To say that the whole of G2A is to be avoided is ludicrous since it will also affect those who legitimately obtained keys and will never get to use them. 

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13 hours ago, ARikozuM said:

This has a few good points. I, myself, own keys from Humble Bundle, Square Enix bundles, etc. that I have never used and won't since I have the games. To say that the whole of G2A is to be avoided is ludicrous since it will also affect those who legitimately obtained keys and will never get to use them. 

I would say the difference is that people who want to resell keys have alternatives such as Kinguin (No idea how they handle fraud - just an example).

 

G2A should be avoided until their predatory business practices that encourage fraud are dealt with. The big sticker being G2A Shield.

 

Fraud protection should not be an extra charge, as that's basically extortion in my opinion. As soon as G2A starts including fraud protection for free on every single transaction, and allows for an easy method for Developers to mass-ban keys they know are stolen - once they introduce those changes? I will support G2A and have no issues with others using the service.

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31 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

As soon as G2A starts including fraud protection for free on every single transaction, and allows for an easy method for Developers to mass-ban keys they know are stolen - once they introduce those changes? I will support G2A and have no issues with others using the service.

I don't use G2A shield as it is an upsell feature for little reward/benefit since Paypal protects more often than not. The only issue that I have with the mass-banning by developers is what about the customers who did purchase the game? They should be notified and told that the keys were stolen, how you can retain your key, and what to do in case the key is invalidated. I'd hate to lose a game/program with no notification as to when and why it happened. I doubt that the person/group who stole the keys is going to be punished by the legal system. 

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1 minute ago, ARikozuM said:

I don't use G2A shield as it is an upsell feature for little reward/benefit since Paypal protects more often than not. The only issue that I have with the mass-banning by developers is what about the customers who did purchase the game? They should be notified and told that the keys were stolen, how you can retain your key, and what to do in case the key is invalidated. I'd hate to lose a game/program with no notification as to when and why it happened. I doubt that the person/group who stole the keys is going to be punished by the legal system. 

I agree that there should be some "process" for a buyer who inadvertently bought a banned key.

 

But, if G2A "Shield" fraud protection was included free of charge, there already would be a process. The buyer would either be issued a new key, or a refund.

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