Yet again you select a product that has significantly larger sales volume than any FS addon would ever have. That's not apples to apples.

Ed- are you saying that FS addons generally have a sales volume "significantly less than 1000 units"? If that's the case, it certainly is a marginal business. Especially with simmers like me who budget for only one or two addons annually.Alex Reid

I didn't say anything except you can't compare a console game with an FS addon.

Hello everyone.There is a simple fix, for Piracy. Write code that works and provides added value to the customer. There is a common denominator to most / all the complainers, lousy and too expensive code. The developers are wasting too much time trying to protect their code, instead of writing something that works well and has value added to the customer. I've been in the industry for many years and I found that the ones that complain are the ones that struggle to write the 4 lines a day, and are the most likely to commit Piracy. Fix: Write good code, learn to be efficient, do it because you want / like it, or get out and do something you like. It's obvious that some people lack common sense when they value some of the things they do, mainly because they don't know what they are doing, and writing code is very difficult for them. In over 30 years I've only encountered about 5 Real Programmers the rest were / are amateurs, pretending to be programmers. TV

Hello everyone.There is a simple fix, for Piracy. Write code that works and provides added value to the customer. There is a common denominator to most / all the complainers, lousy and too expensive code. The developers are wasting too much time trying to protect their code, instead of writing something that works well and has value added to the customer. I've been in the industry for many years and I found that the ones that complain are the ones that struggle to write the 4 lines a day, and are the most likely to commit Piracy. Fix: Write good code, learn to be efficient, do it because you want / like it, or get out and do something you like. It's obvious that some people lack common sense when they value some of the things they do, mainly because they don't know what they are doing, and writing code is very difficult for them. In over 30 years I've only encountered about 5 Real Programmers the rest were / are amateurs, pretending to be programmers. TV

So, you're a commercial member? Funny, your tag doesn't show it.As for the rest of your statement... my 30yrs in the industry doesn't match your experience with piracy at all. People steal because they can. Period.

The argument has shifted its ground. First, comparing business and entertainment software is incorrect. When evidence relating to entertainment software is introduced, then that's incorrect because it's the wrong sort of entertainment. Underlying the latest argument is the view that flight simulator pirates are, somehow, a better class than other pirates. If they are prevented from piracy then then they'll buy the product at a greater rate than pirates of other entertainment software. Is there any substantiated evidence to support this?

The argument has shifted its ground. First, comparing business and entertainment software is incorrect. When evidence relating to entertainment software is introduced, then that's incorrect because it's the wrong sort of entertainment. Underlying the latest argument is the view that flight simulator pirates are, somehow, a better class than other pirates. If they are prevented from piracy then then they'll buy the product at a greater rate than pirates of other entertainment software. Is there any substantiated evidence to support this?

Understand the fact that academic arguments have no value in the cottage industry we participate in.At the end of the day, one may win an academic debate, and lose the battle against thieves.I think Geof put it succinctly. Piracy has little effect in folks minds until it's their IP that is stolen and redistributed.Would one ask Geof to quantify his loss? If so, why? It seems that would be intruding into Geofs personal business and is considered very poor taste.If your neighbors house is broken into, it has little personal effect on YOU.If YOUR house is broken into, the effect is more dramatic.That is the reason I've repeatedly asked if YOU have skin in the game?If not, why continue flogging the same academic debate?

Hello everyone.There is a simple fix, for Piracy. Write code that works and provides added value to the customer. There is a common denominator to most / all the complainers, lousy and too expensive code. The developers are wasting too much time trying to protect their code, instead of writing something that works well and has value added to the customer. I've been in the industry for many years and I found that the ones that complain are the ones that struggle to write the 4 lines a day, and are the most likely to commit Piracy. Fix: Write good code, learn to be efficient, do it because you want / like it, or get out and do something you like. It's obvious that some people lack common sense when they value some of the things they do, mainly because they don't know what they are doing, and writing code is very difficult for them. In over 30 years I've only encountered about 5 Real Programmers the rest were / are amateurs, pretending to be programmers. TV

Wow,Write the perfect program--it will never get pirated.Build the perfect car--it will never get stolen.Design the perfect motorcycle--nobody will ever take it.

Hello,

Understand the fact that academic arguments have no value in the cottage industry we participate in.

I understand this and agreeWhat I understand also:As this is cottage industry it's also a "cottage group" of FS2004 softwares addon's crackers.How many they are in the world .. 2 .. 3 or 4 ?All the cracked addon's are generated by same source(s) and after are spreaded on the internet.All those crackers (I suppose) are legitim owners of the addon's.BTW .. they have not too much work to perform as many FS addon's have no anti-crackers protections at all.Regards.Gus.

First, comparing business and entertainment software is incorrect. When evidence relating to entertainment software is introduced, then that's incorrect because it's the wrong sort of entertainment.

mgh, The Gamasutra article also refers to a 70% increase after the first incremental DRM improvement. So there

Hello,I understand this and agreeWhat I understand also:As this is cottage industry it's also a "cottage group" of FS2004 softwares addon's crackers.How many they are in the world .. 2 .. 3 or 4 ?All the cracked addon's are generated by same source(s) and after are spreaded on the internet.All those crackers (I suppose) are legitim owners of the addon's.BTW .. they have not too much work to perform as many FS addon's have no anti-crackers protections at all.Regards.Gus.

Yup, common knowledge on all points. Welcome to the wonderful world of FS Development. :(

The argument has shifted its ground again

That is the reason I've repeatedly asked if YOU have skin in the game?

If by that you mean if I have any connection with a developer then the answer is that I've given before - no. But I am aware that piracy has a real cost which, at the end of the day, falls on buyers like me..

If not, why continue flogging the same academic debate?

But it isn't academic. If the global losses to developers because of piracy are really $48 billion/year (BSA report) then it would be worth spending, say, $20 billion/year to reduce piracy by 50% - the industry would be $8 billion/year better off. If the real losses were a $4.8 billion/year as suggested John Gantz of IDC then it would be some $17 billion worse off. The same principle applies to all software producers - even cottage industry ones.

The same principle applies to all software producers - even cottage industry ones.

No one is disputing the same principals apply...it

mgh, The Gamasutra article also refers to a 70% increase after the first incremental DRM improvement. So there's a correlation for sure.

Yes there is and I've never denied the correlation - I'm discussing its magnitude. The article list four fixes that were taken and then immediately goes on to say:"From the results above, it seems clear that eliminating piracy through a stronger DRM can result in significantly increased sales

No one is disputing the same principals apply...it's the numbers that are in question.I really don't see why mgh's status is relevant

Call of Duty sold 1,000,000 copies in the UK alone... and how many in the FS addon industry sold 100,000 copies of a single item?