Today's game giveaway can be obtained free <.................DELETED...........>
Note: please still support the developer, or use the key code in today's giveaway. It'll work with the site's demo.
Today's game giveaway can be obtained free <.................DELETED...........>
Note: please still support the developer, or use the key code in today's giveaway. It'll work with the site's demo.
Hi GMMan,
a great strategy for getting the game free, but unfortunatly such fixes (or cracks) are not allowed on this site so I've had to delete your article....Sorry.
Although its admirable asking community members to still support the developer, I very much doubt many would. That's not meant to cast aspersions on forum members who visit and post here regularily, but pointed at the silent majority who never comment or even vote in the applications comments section.
There are usually a few thousand downloads each day - at the very least, but we rarely see more than a few hundred votes and even less comments. The game giveaway section has a fraction of the downloads that the main site does, but that's still numbered upwards of a thousand downloads, but there's never more than around 40 or so comments.
I left the shell of your post so that you would know why it was deleted, and will delete the whole thread when you reply.
HI Whiterabbit, thanks for all of your hard work.
My comment relates to your statistics on how many people leave feedback. I don't tend to leave negative feedback because I am basically a polite person. After reading your post here, I am thinking perhaps I don't understand the entire concept, and that the developers really do value feedback that points out flaws, or simply negative opinions in general?
I am fairly new to the gaming world, and buy 1 to 3 games a month, but started out on another site and plan to finish up my years contract there before starting to buy elsewhere. I understand the frustration with people who always criticize but never buy. The game developers have to make a living, and there is a tendency in this world to take, take, take without being grateful. I think your post was interesting, and myself and others who have played without buying, need to repay the hard work by all parties by buying a game from a developer we find on this site. I figured that was the goal. If I am being thick headed, please clarify more for me.
In the time I have started to play games, I have become much more conscious of what company developed a game. This site helps me find good developers. I probably spend anywhere from $7 to $25 a month on games, so I do put my money out there. I know the people who create these games have bills to pay too.
Thanks once again for your hours of work on this site.
I actually made this article to show some of the weird ways that developers tries to "hide" registration keys and how insecure they could be when the system's cracked. Using a picture to handle unlocking is probably the most bizarre registration scheme I have ever seen.
(It also makes me wonder why the Linux version is free and the Windows version isn't. They created a loophole just waiting to be exploited. It's security through obscurity.)
Just to clarify, there's no "cracks" involved here. Just copying one file from the Linux version (freely available) on to the Windows version (just as freely available). I'd say it's the developer's fault for overlooking this hole and not developing a better registration checking system. Security through obscurity will always be cracked.
Anyways, I respect your decision to delete the post, Wrabbit.
"...the silent majority who never comment or even vote in the applications comments section."
Hi, W'rabbit. I am one of those people, but I don't download every day. Sometimes I do so at the last minute, figuring I'll try out the software when I get a chance to.
I also wanted to mention to you that I appreciate the way you are handling this thread/topic. Some moderators/admin will just leave a vague, non-explanatory note, and close the thread, leaving the OP wondering what they did wrong. The mod/admin doesn't ID themselves, so you can't PM them, asking for info/clarification. I had that happen to me the other day, and found out what I had done 'wrong', only when I clicked onto Forum Rules to reread it, and see if there was helpful-to-my-situation info.
Sue
Yes I used to have the same things happen to me so I try to leave the topic open long enough so the poster can see why it's being deleted or closed, or I will send them a PM explaining my actions.
Hi somefunnow,
Yes negative feedback is useful to developers as it may help to improve their product. As for my comment, from my own experience (though it’s not exactly the same as developing a game and hoping that people wont steal it) I would still say the example I'm about to talk about is basically the same thing, or at least related (scrub the word steal though as I think it’s too harsh a word).
I used to share the responsibility of running a box server which allowed me and my colleague to run several games for a first person shooter clan. It cost us about $100 every month, which was actually a really good bargain, and ran it for a small clan of about 15 players who used to play virtually every night and at weekends all day. We ran the server for about 18 months but when the server costs increased we asked the community for donations to keep the servers running as neither of us could afford to pay out much more. We were a very close knit group and really enjoyed playing together. We had a Team speak server as well, so we were all always chatting to each other and generally having a brilliant time, yet when it came to helping us out, not one person came forward and offered to contribute. We rely tried to keep the servers open as we didn’t want to lose the community because it was a good one. But no one came forwards and offered a helping hand. To this day I cannot understand why no one was willing to contribute a little. Between the clan it would have cost about $7.50 each per month. Everyone was employed in gainful employment, and most were buying games all the time, so it came a sa shock to both of us that no one wanted to help out. I’m still in touch with some of these people and they frequently reminisce about ‘the good old days, and how much fun it was and also what a pity that it had to end; as it did because the two of us couldn’t afford to keep it open any longer. I think that it illustrates what I was trying to imply by my statement; that is, when things can be had for free, even though requests for money are made, it's rare that people make contributions. There was a brilliant Battlefield site that used to host a really good collection of modifications (mod’s) and maps for the first three versions of Battlefield. (Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Vietnam and Battlefield 2) There were hundreds of the best mod’s and maps all of which had been downloaded thousands of times. Repeated requests were made for help towards the running costs of the site because the bandwidth had to be paid by someone. Eventually the resource had to be shut down because of lack of contributions. Also if you read through some of the comments on these forums, especially posts related to Gamehouse, I've seen community members saying they don't mind having to put up with the advert so long as they don't have to pay for the game, or word to that effect, which all goes to show, that expecting the community to open up their wallets and purses to pay for a service that they can get for free is very unlikely.
I’m no angel either as I have loads of games given away for free and it’s been along time since I made a contribution to any freeware site (though I have in the past. I’ve given away as much as $40 to some gaming sites). I’ve got several game giveaway games that because they are free standing I’ve not bothered buying after I’ve done a format because I know they are free standing so effectively I have the full version; though I have bought some because I feel guilty. I just imagine trying to create a game myself and realize that there’s a lot of work goes into a lot of the games we see (or used to see on the game giveaway). However, that said I do contribute an enormous amount of cash to game developers, for example my Steam account which I opened in January now has 160 games in the games list, though I have been a cheap skate and bought most of them at deal prices. But I also buy a lot of hard copies from online game distributors and always (well nearly always) pay premium prices for them. Just as an example, one particular arcade game I purchased four years ago ended up costing me over $170 because they kept releasing expansion packs. I always bought them when they were released, even though I knew eventually they would sell the packs for a third of the price. Now the whole series can be bought for less than $5. Another example would be silent hunter IV. I preordered a limited edition copy, which included several items such as medals; books etc, and paid around £60 for it. The same ‘limited edition’ version was being sold last year for £9.99 (lol) – I have to laugh at myself as I’ve still not played the game, so may as well have waited until I was ready to play it (I got side-tracked by other games that I bought at the same time) Last month alone if I take away the hardware I bought for my computer (a new gaming keyboard and mouse plus a Novint Falcon game controller and a new graphics card) I still spend over £500 on games. Yes I know that’s ridiculous, but I do feel sort of content knowing that some of that money will go into developing even better games. I’m one of those gamers who wants full immersion, lol, so will go to great lengths to make sure I get the games I want, despite being virtually house bound.
We are seeing a new generation of games coming out, with newer games engines that enable more realistic battles and the use of more senses when playing games, as well as realistic physics. All of that costs money to develop. Where does it come from, mainly from the sales of their software product; though all that I’ve said is just my opinion. I don’t mean to come over holier than thou. I realize many community members are not as lucky as i am with respect to being able to afford to buy games on a regular basis
If I’ve offended anyone with my opinions I apologize; all I was trying to do was put what I said above into perspective. Sometimes a few words are all that’s needed, but in this case I think my initial statement may have been misconstrued, so I felt it required expanding upon.
Sorry I’ve waffled on far too long. My opiates have just kicked in and I always waffle a little too much when that happens. I’m sure those that have to take similar medication will appreciate what I’m saying. :)
HI Whiterabbit, just read your post this morning. Thanks for all the info, it was interesting and you didn't waffle too long. :)
I know people have varying financial situations. And for some $5 a month would be tight. However, most of the people playing these games could probably afford $5 a month, and if all those who never buy would just buy a game every other month, or now and then, just spent $60 a year, that small amount from all would add up.
After all, how much fun do we all have from all of these games. I know I get hours of pleasure from games, and I wish my Grandfather, who was homebound would have had something like this to do. We are lucky!
Yes I agree. I don't know how I'd be if it wasn't for the many games i pay. Being stuck at home with little do do would be a nightmare. I know there are many activities available though so i'm sure I'd have found something to occupy my mind. Still, computers are so versatile. you can use the for playing games, designing a home, creating a recording studio or a photo lab, and even a art syudio, or just use it for playing your favorite films and music (though it's always a good idea to upgrade your graphics and audio cards for such things), plus there are numerous other activities.
I used to read a lot, but since taking opoids on a regular basis I can't concentrate long enought to enjoy a book for more than several minutes. There's always the TV, but even that gets a little stale after awhile. :)
Anyway, glad you found something of use somefun now. :)
You must log in to post.