@ steel wind:
I want to thank you for educating us as well. (although someone at the rpgcodex made the same comment you made). I just think that this is good info to spread this word to as many people as possible. Especially to those people who think that
developers work for free (or bananas or something like that). It also clarifies that it really is the publisher that makes a ton of money, not the developers.
Well - that depends on the developer. If you've got the money to self-fund - you are doing pretty well - assuming your games are doing pretty well.
Mind you - it's the owners of the developer who are doing pretty well - as opposed to the shareholders of the publisher. In both cases, whether it's the publisher or the developer who is eating the lion's share from the kill - the grunt developer in the trenches is usually working the same long hours for moderate pay to make games that you -
hopefully - will love. They aren't doing it to get rich. If they were in it for the money, they'd be working IT at a bank or investment firm and going home at 5:00 pm and have their weekends off.
It's a depressing topic and there is no magic wand. But if you want to help? Try something easy. Next time you find yourself about to pirate a game you were feeling iffy about and were curious. Just....stop. Don't do it. But that's not enough.
It isn't enough to just stop at stopping. Instead, go out the next day and buy the goddamned game you were curious about. Yes, jump into the pool with the uncertain water. Even if you aren't sure you'll like it? Just do it.
I guarantee you that you will play that game longer and give it more of a fair shake and end up enjoying it far more if you bought it than if you pirated it. It's human nature to put more emotional investment into things in which we put a financial investment. Treat yourself. That emotional investment can and does pay off.
But... not always. If the game you hoped you'd might like turns out to suck (and yes, it might) chalk it up to your personal bit to keeping PC gaming alive. And in two, three or four months time - do it all over again and take the plunge on a game you were curious enough to try to pirate but iffy enough about to not buy it on release.
Individual choices can - and do - matter.