Giveaway of the Day Forums

1. 

   Anonymous
   Unregistered

   It seems we are only seeing software from companies that cannot afford a proper beta test team. Instead, they use GOTD as their beta run. Just look through the past archives of previous giveaways.

   Though this is not necessarily a bad thing (free software is certainly a good thing, in spirit), it doesn't seem to be clear on the GOTD site that this is what you will get if you participate in the giveaway of the day.

   I see only products offered that are not nationally (or even regionally) known. Where are the "Big Boys" of Photoshop, Corel, AutoCAD, SoundForge and Nero giveaways? I'll tell you where; they're on the torrent and pirate pages.

   IMPORTANT: One of the selling points GOTD could make to the big boys in bringing their products here is that the pirates will come here to get their downloads, instead of snagging them illegally and being forced to reciprocate uploads to others to keep their download credits up. The product they download will satisfy their greed and inhibit their sharing. It's not a perfect solution--it's a damn good enticement to the big boys. One that we, too, would benefit from.

   The big boys can (and do) run their own beta tests. They would not need to do it here. We would not be their guinea pigs.

   And GOTD would not seem so much like a BOTD.

   Posted 12 years ago #
2. 

   Whiterabbit-uk
   Games Guru

   That's a very good point Kerry and one the giveaway team should follow through with your reasoning. It makes very good sense and could only enhance the giveawayoftheday projects standing with the search engines further.

   It would be fabulous to see some of the big boys here. At a push they could at least offer older versions of their software (for example in the case of Adobe photoshop give us the lite version which is still a superb photo editing suite. (I'd love to see any version of 3DSMax given away, something I've wanted for a long time but just haven't been able to afford it.

   Personally I find torrent sites and those who rip off developers scum and scabs. It's basically stealing and as such should be punishable as a crime. Unfortunately too many kids today think it's okay to download from these sites. I've even caught my own son getting a copy of Camtasia (I've got a purchased copy, but I've never bothered to upgrade to a newer version as the one I have (v6) does everything I want it too; when I found my son had v7 he tried to justify it by saying he wasn't able to add voice overs to his minecraft videos with my version. Suffice it to say I deleted the program and have given him a warning that his power lead will disappear if I catch him stealing again.

   I've spent literally tens of thousands of pounds just on games over the past several year and am proud to say that (apart from gifts from friends I've contributed to the developers coffers as I realize that most of the money they make goes into improving their products and creating even better games, which I'm 100% behind. (Scuze the rant, it just makes me mad when I'm on a forum and see a post where some d&%kwad is bragging about how just managed to get a copy of a recently released game or application. Grrrr it makes my blood boil.

   Posted 12 years ago #
3. 

   ChrisS
   Administrator

   Kerry, I think you're underestimating the problem. The piracy is an outgrowth of a failed political system which proudly proclaims that it's OK to "take from the rich". This isn't a place for a political discussion so I'll only add that economic prosperity requires respect for private property, which includes intellectual property. Once it becomes clear that you won't reap the fruits of your labors then you'll stop laboring, but if you don't intend to labor in the first place then you need to find a way to justify stealing. And if you take a look around the world you'll find that the "justifiable theft initiative" has a lot of support.

   Posted 12 years ago #
4. 

   Anonymous
   Unregistered

   Chris, I wasn't suggesting this as a weapon against pirates. I just thought it was a good sales argument for getting the big boys over here.

   Posted 12 years ago #
5. 

   Anonymous
   Unregistered

   ...AND I wanted to point out that we're doing a great deal of beta testing here...

   Posted 12 years ago #

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