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OKAY!! :p

My favorite games on Mac:

Divinity: Original Sin
Diablo III
League of Legends
Boarderlands 2
Boarderlands the Pre-Sequel

Chess. Duh. :p
 
This is very sad but truth be told, the games I have put the most time in with are Full Deck Solitaire and World of Warcraft on the Mac. I own a ton of great Mac games but I keep working on the Windows games backlog I brought with me some three years ago now when I became enlightened. Actually, I became the beneficiary of an early pension disbursement and within days ordered the iMac I'd wanted for years. The rest is history as they say.

By the way, how about these fancy updated forums? Seems pretty cool to me so far. :D
 
XCOM certainly is the best game I have recently purchased, I don't recall a game that both challenged me and aggravated me all at once
 
[The] internet is not a substitute for your brain.

You're right, critical thinking is important but not something you appear to be doing. It's important to read what others post before responding in a blind fury with things you yourself appear not to have read. You ultimately just undermine yourself and waste everyone's time - including your own.
Internet articles are not the epitome of truth, either. They are just opinions as well. Someone else's opinions, in particular. For every link you can provide stating an "opinion", there can be another one (and most probably more than one) stating the opposite.

Articles are informed opinions, which is more than you've been willing to do with what you've expressed in most of your posts thus far. As for the idea that you can find articles to contradict any article I may reference - you are creating a false equivalency. Just because you can find a dissenting view doesn't mean it has authority on the subject or makes a solid argument and is somehow equal to any other view. Again what is it informed by? Are you really going to post some unknown author from a no name website (as you have here) and expect that he or she speaks with the same authority and professionalism on the Android market as someone covering it from Forbes? Let's look at the absurd content of some of these pieces:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/piracy-android-how-bad-is-it-really/
"According to Android Authority, only 10% of the apps that were downloaded in 2012 were actually purchased, indicating that the rate of piracy was indeed somewhere around 90% — even back then."

If you had bothered to read this carefully and follow the link you'd realize this report (which there's no actual link to and doesn't appear to exist) by Starforce is untrustworthy, as the company sells "software for developers to secure their applications." One thing Starforce does say is:

"While there is no comprehensive Android piracy study, every developer estimates its rate."
http://www.star-force.com/press/articles/index.php?news=2520

So the company that is attributed with a quote (which appears to be bogus) about knowing the state of the industry says no one knows the state of the industry. Interestingly they also go on to support the idea that piracy can act as PR.

Now lets take a look at some of the other pieces you have, usually citing one or two developers, usually the exact same ones (hmm what great promotion) who tell us they've been burned by pirates.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opini...-a-problem-but-developers-shouldn-t-jump-ship

This piece very much like the rest you linked, takes one developer's self estimate on piracy and tries to blow it up to epidemic proportions:

"95 percent of the downloads of said release on Android hadn't been paid for."

But unlike some of those other pieces which uniformly act as press releases from the developer, with little to no scrutiny or questioning of anything they say, here there is at least some (though, very little) transparency on how those numbers were arrived at. The developer Ustwo admits that its figures of piracy didn't include Amazon making them near meaningless given the size of Amazon. We also don't know if they include free copies that were done as part of a promotion or users installing the same legitimately paid for app on a second or 3rd or 4th (family) device.

Further did you ever question why these types of articles pop up on 3rd rate websites all the time? And when you go to sites like Forbes, the NYTimes, the Economist or anything else with some real journalism you get a closer inspection of what is being said:

http://www.economist.com/node/3993427
http://freakonomics.com/2012/01/12/how-much-do-music-and-movie-piracy-really-hurt-the-u-s-economy/ (Both of these cover some of the fallacies of the BSA you link to)

Most of your articles just emphasize the larger issue of piracy on Android vs. Apple, but I've already stated my agreement that piracy is larger on Android than Apple. The reason why is at question here and the conclusion these developer puff pieces always reach for is the lack of DRM. Well sorry but the correlation of weak DRM on Android does not equate to the causation of piracy. There is much stronger evidence (which I've already provided) to suggest it is simply an issue of the low end market Android represents, (shocker poorer people may be more likely to take something they can't afford than those that can, and if they don't have the ability to steal something just don't buy it thus they're using Android junk phones instead of Apple).:rolleyes:

As for the Microsoft, Adobe, etc pieces you've linked, I've already accused you of uncritically regurgitating the propaganda of multinational corporations so I don't get why you're furthering my point again here.
"It is obvious that if I spent 5 more minutes searching, my post will have double the size..."
"Real discussions cannot be conducted with a mixture of links. Welcome to the internet...don't use it to make an argument if you want to be taken seriously..."

You might need to take more time reading and writing than linking or searching. I've linked articles to support what I say. It is not a substitution for an argument itself, as you're doing with your post. However your distain of informed and critical argument should be clear to anyone reading your posts by now.

Providing crap resources to justify gullible views is no substitute for the rigor of critical thinking substantiated by clear evidence.

Cheers.;)
 
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I understand our latest posts are getting deleted from this thread and maybe it is for the better, so I guess this is pointless.

Yes we are at an impasse. Even when text is underlined and bolded for you, it still isn't enough to make you read or understand it nor do you read or examine links - including your own.

Regardless, I was sure about your reaction for my latest post. From "you have no links, you have no arguments" you now move to "my links are better than yours".

1) You had some claims (piracy doesn't function as PR and Android has piracy because of low DRM) which was disproved with my argument and the evidence I used to support it.

2) Your rebuttal of links to poor sources that present fictitious citations and even undermine your own claims (on PR) is no substitution for a well supported, well articulated argument.
You seem to highly value sites and persons that can easily be characterized as policy makers.

I value journalism that has some integrity and actually bothers to question and investigate the press releases companies hand them and not simply act as publicists. This seems perfectly reasonable of me.

I linked you articles coming from the real persons behind software. But according to you, their opinion doesn't matter because...they do not write articles for the economist. I've also linked you the opinions of big players of the market whom their products are being main targets of piracy for years.

1) The developers in question weren't big players.

2) Nearly the same 2 developers were in all of your links making their cries of piracy with zero inspection look like a PR stunt more than something to be taken seriously. Ustwo even admitted to the fallacy of their claims by acknowledging some of the things the data didn't take into account.

3) The sites themselves did not question or inspect the developers statements to validate them in any way thus acting as little more than publicists. You couldn't get the same story into a trusted source this way.

But, hey, these are just puppets of the BSA, right ? Unlike forbs [sic] and the economist that they are dedicated on writing the truth and they have no other influences from anywhere else, right ? Right...

1) The BSA is a lobbying and trade association not a journalistic institution that tries to present a factually accurate story.

2) Citing the BSA is absurd. You might as well ask Philip Morris if cigarettes cause cancer.

3) Any institution is susceptible to influence - that doesn't mean they are. At the same time comparing the journalistic standards of something like Forbes or the Economist to the generic and slanted sites you listed is another ludicrous false equivalency. (You haven't googled this term by now?)

FWIW, in such matters, I'd chose a developer's opinion over a CEO's opinion any day. If you've only bothered to check the link with the title "our most successful game, was our less profitable", you could see a different side of the story. But it is not on forbes, so...bad luck for me.

1) It wasn't fact checked by the ghetto sites carrying the story. In some cases (gamasutra) it is simply his posted open letter with no intermediate at all - to which he admits helped to increase his sales.

2) This was the same small developer making the rounds on all the 3rd rate sites you linked making his story appear more like a PR campaign for his game than some victim of piracy.

3) None of these articles address the actual cause of piracy on Android. Making your inclusion of them a red-herring.
Obviously, there's nothing I can do in order for you to take under consideration anything that is not fitting exactly to your opinions/beliefs.

1) Yes I'm impervious to your poorly articulated, poorly supported, poorly sourced claims.

Heck, after all this discussion you're still missing my point which was not to support that piracy is the end of the world as we know it, per se.

I got that point. I have nothing to say on the subject, as all of my posts have constantly reiterated what a waste of time worrying about piracy is.

Oh well, I should pay more attention to my own statements; This is internet :rolleyes:

Yeah it might be more reasonable to detail your views, cite credible sources, substantiate your claims, and meaningfully address the opposition before expecting people to naturally agree with you.:rolleyes:
 
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...if you could also answer without personal insults, it would be great...

Criticizing your views is not the same as insulting you personally. There's a distinction. If it's upsetting to hear that someone finds your views naive, unquestioning, uninformed, gullible etc and provides you with a thorough and informed argument as to why - then maybe you should a) get better views or b) not post in the first place.

Obviously I disagree with you, now for even more points than before (like what I would consider a good journalism since I have minor respect for the sources of your links).

1) Considering you cite lobbyists as sources of evidence along with reports derived from companies that have a vested interest in selling anti-piracy software, why should anyone care about what you find to be "good journalism?"
What I found really disturbing, though, is the fact that some of the sources I've linked talk about loss of jobs, which - if true - is something that should not be taken lightly.

1) You don't read your own links never mind the ones I provided that dispel this myth.
However, this might make it easier for you to get my initial point, so let me ask you only this: if a number of people that repeatedly use pirated copies, used the arguments you linked as the excuse (e.g. "by using illegal copies we are actually promoting that said s/w, so it's fine"), would you be ok with that or would you think that they are just using cheap excuses to justify their actions ?

1) Everything is an anecdote to you. This is another red-herring. It shouldn't matter what anyone's personal feelings are if the evidence is to the contrary. As has already been explained to you this is not a matter of subjective feelings this is about carrying a true or false belief. Namely whether piracy is something that a) can act as PR and b) what causes piracy to be so high in the Android market.

2) My personal feelings are that I don't care about piracy and those that scream about its importance have vested interests (as your links demonstrated) in convincing the public it's a problem for them when in fact it has more to do with the policies and practices of the businesses themselves. Maxis closed this year not due to piracy but due to a broken DRM crippled release of Simcity and the policies of EA (link already provided). HBO's piracy is high because they don't release shows at the same time in other countries nor do they have options like HBO Now available outside the US (link already provided). Example after example shows the same trend. All of which have been covered already but anyone reading your posts by now should understand reason and evidence don't inform your views as much as a bleeding heart to a sob story and obedience to the official narrative of piracy spun by multinational corporations (as your links to Microsoft and Adobe demonstrated).
 
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You [sic] constantly twisting everything. Check up [sic] your previous posts and I'm sure you'll see the personal tone I'm talking about. But whatever.

If there's a constant to your posts it's their failure to make distinctions. In this case between you and your writing.

It is [sic] already explained to you that I believe linking anything other than technical guides is a poor way to make an argument in a discussion, as this would result in just parroting other's opinions.

You can believe that but you'd be wrong. I'm well aware of your inability to discern the difference between those that speak with substantiated claims, expertise and authority and those that don't.

And please, don't talk about lobbyists when you link from economist and forbes. Seriously, man...

Linking to Forbes and The Economist is doing YOU a favor as they're generally pro business and therefore more likely to support business issues rather than scrutinize and be critical of them. That should tell you something about the claims they are challenging AND something about how unreasonably charitable I am to use them as a source against your farce of an argument.

You on the other hand are so inept as to link papers from ACTUAL lobbyists which have zero credibility as they are LITERALLY the definition of a paid shill.

You still think that you hold the absolute, one-and-only truth. Of course it's your own personal right to highly value whatever source you choose, and ignore any other. But this is just your choice. You'll have to recognize everyone else's right to have a different choice, though.

I simply have some scrutiny as to what informs me and don't carry childish notions that all sources are somehow on equal footing to one another and it's simply subjective as to which one is more credible. There are good sources and bad, any reasonable person should be able to understand this. However not being able to distinguish the difference and not understanding the criteria of integrity that separates them certainly goes a long way in explaining why your views are as flimsy and incompetent as they are.

Every article from any source has an agenda behind it, and the sources of your links don't differ.

Yes some sources (like journalism) care about truth while others are paid not to (lobbyists).

However, if your personal feelings about piracy (or for any other matter) boils down to "I don't care about it", then there's no reason to talk any further about it, is it [sic]?

There's ample evidence not to care about it because we as the public are substantially less responsible than the businesses themselves for the predicament - as case after case has already shown, having been repeated many, many, many times to you by now.

...you seem to constantly ignore the point... used illegal software some years ago. More than once. The difference is that I did not grabbed [sic] from any convenient excuse to justify it. So I expect from [sic] anyone else to do the same.

Your concern was addressed.
It is an anecdote, a red-herring and should not be confused with the sources that actually cause or influence piracy.

I hope this wraps it up from my side.

Somehow I doubt you won't bludgeon our eyes with another failure of reasoned argument.

:eek::eek::eek:
 
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As far as I remember, other people in the beginning of this conversation expressed similar opinions to mine about piracy, didn't they ?

Appeal to bandwagon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum

It's clear that you don't want anyone to disturb your fairyland bubble you live in...

I'll happily change my views when a well informed, well articulated argument presents itself. It's simply the case that either a) you aren't capable of presenting one, b) you don't value presenting one or c) both a) and b).

My money is on c).

I have the feeling I'd have more chances [sic] if I tried to convince Kim Jong-un to restore democracy in North Korea, than my efforts to make you see the other side of the story, where real people express opinions different than yours.

You use false equivalencies like a teenage boy uses a box of Kleenex (zing). :rolleyes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_equivalence

If there is another side to "the story," that's credible and worthy of attention you certainly aren't presenting it, mostly because what you've presented is largely anecdotal, misleading or literally paid propaganda from lobbyists.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Logical-Argument
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/what-does-sic-mean/
 
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This arguing has gone from derailment to full blown hijack of this thread. They delete the derailing posts and yet you two just keep on going.

Stuff like this isn't called for either: "You use false equivalencies like a teenage boy uses a box of Kleenex (zing)."

Attacking the other person does nothing to advance your argument. Are you trying to persuade someone to see your point of view or simply berating them for not already sharing it? Please do not answer that rhetorical question.

I am writing this reply because I see this exchange as not being the norm here at MacRumors where this kind of fighting and insulting does not seem to be tolerated thankfully. There is nothing civil, helpful or useful going on here. You two do not agree. You are not going to agree. This back and forth is at best an exercise in futility that both of you are above if you'd just disengage and think about what you are doing here. It's noticeably out of place for this forum as hijacking a thread and for a less than civil tone punctuated by personal attacks.

Please consider ending this now. I'll go so far as to recommend editing out all the posts too although I suspect every one of them and this one too will all be deleted soon and I hope that they are if you cannot do it yourselves. Why push the envelope, create work for moderators and wind up being told to stop it when you could just do it on your own?

Well, I did not insult anyone, in any way. You won't find any post of me insulting anyone from 2011 that I joined this forum. However, you're right on all the rest.
I deleted (emptied, can't really delete them) my remaining posts. Thank you.
 
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Well, I did not insult anyone, in any way.

Don't sell yourself short, you're clearly taking a personal swipe here:

You don't want anyone to disturb your fairyland bubble you live in...I have the feeling I'd have more chances [sic] if I tried to convince Kim Jong-un to restore democracy in North Korea, than...

I wasn't offended by it. It was the last resort of someone without a compelling argument to make.

This arguing has gone from derailment to full blown hijack of this thread. They delete the derailing posts and yet you two just keep on going...There is nothing civil, helpful or useful going on here.

I'm not sure why you've repeatedly shown up here to mother this thread - it's not yours after all. The author hasn't complained - I'm not sure why you feel the need to (I'd guess you bear some relation to the past removals).

Further this thread was on the 2nd page heading for death before the piracy/DRM tangent brought it back to life. Threads are conversations, they can drift from where they start. They're not chapters in a book.

This concern also begs the question why if you don't find the discussion valuable do you seem to keep following it? This isn't Disneyland, we're all adults, people are free to disagree with each other and carry on about their disagreements. There would be nothing worth writing otherwise. What kind of critical exploration happens in a thread with everyone agreeing with each other exactly? I think I've done more than my part to bring some critical thought and substance to the topics gone over here. Hopefully that's enjoyable for some to read even if it's not you.

Besides I'm sure there are more than enough threads on macrumors that could match your criteria for the banal. Although your own threads would undermine that interest, including what you've posted about being fed up with Steam - not exactly a love fest. Should I parent you on 'a proper way' to express your distaste or say it doesn't matter, it has no value, etc.? I don't think so.

Stuff like this isn't called for either: "You use false equivalencies like a teenage boy uses a box of Kleenex (zing)."

Attacking the other person does nothing to advance your argument.

To misconstrue that joke as an insult is deceitful on your part. Clearly in the context I was responding to, it was satirizing antonis's lame attempt at derisive hyperbole. Among other things, you would blatantly have to ignore the (zing) and :rolleyes: to take it as some serious attempt at injury.

Are you trying to persuade someone to see your point of view or simply berating them for not already sharing it?

Poorly supported, poorly articulated, poorly scrutinized views need berating - we wouldn't want someone reading such ignorance and mistaking it for anything else.

I am writing this reply because I see this exchange as not being the norm here at MacRumors where this kind of fighting and insulting does not seem to be tolerated thankfully.

Don't falsely attribute me with this kind of fiction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem

Please consider ending this now. I'll go so far as to recommend editing out all the posts too although I suspect every one of them and this one too will all be deleted soon and I hope that they are if you cannot do it yourselves. Why push the envelope, create work for moderators and wind up being told to stop it when you could just do it on your own?

You're out of line here. You're not a moderator, your not the author, and this discussion is supposedly not of interest to you. So find something better to do with your time than monitoring and playing cop to it - it's not a contribution.
 
Well, I did not insult anyone, in any way. You won't find any post of me insulting anyone from 2011 that I joined this forum. However, you're right on all the rest.
I deleted (emptied, can't really delete them) my remaining posts. Thank you.

I'm sorry, I did not mean you about that. I meant that in reference to the quote right above it.
 
*shrug*

Glad we agree you're not adding anything of value to the thread.

We don't agree. However, I am not interested in arguing endlessly with you about anything. It is very, very rare I do this but welcome to ignore. Sorry, but I just don't have time for this.
 
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