What must I do with this guy ?

[yanuart]

Here's my conversation with someone who stole my game :
To be honest, i havn't bought this game , i used the CRACKED Version.!!!
but now i want you to help me if it's possible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

support@motoramagame.com wrote:
Hi, sorry for the late reply but I couldn't find your name on our customers
database. Could you please tell me your orderID or just the email you use when
you purchase this game.
I'll look it up and fix your game soon and sorry for the trouble.

Cheers

Quoting Pedram Aghaei
:

> My saves damaged and i've got message to send this mail to you.
> what shall i do with this damaged save?
> i've attached the bak file to this mail as you told in message.
> please help me and don't say that i must play all levels again!!!

---------------------------------

Actually I kinda confused with what should I do with these people cause since the release of my game I've met some pretty weird people from all over the net. From angry fans who think I clone a game to a 14 yr old kid who barely speak english and wants my game (saying he knows my game from indiegamer forum ??)
They have a habit of getting nasty easily and try to prove something (notice the overuse of punctuation marks on the email above) by doing destructive things like overuse of profanity, ruining my forum, spamming and such. I don't want any trouble from them, in fact I don't want anything to do with them.
Should I just forget him or give someone who stole my game a support ?

ps : No, I don't think they'll buy my game in the end :D

[mahlzeit]

Well, you have an opportunity here to turn a pirate into a paying customer. And it would be nice if you fix that bug because it's very annoying! ;)

[simonh]

Your download link on the homepage doesn't work yanuart.

[cliffski]

people have to get the message that using cracks isnt innocent. I'd reply and tell him his email was forwarded to the federation against software theft. Then I'd block his email address.
If your nice to him, he will just think that even the developer thinks using a crack is no big deal.

eeek - its true, your download links dead!

[Fost]

If you are lucky, he's on a static ip - if so:


Ban him by ip from your entire website
Fix the bug
Email him to say thanks for the advice and the bug is now fixed, oh, and by the way, you are now banned from the site because we don't like to have to deal with pirates. Have a nice day :)

[Anlino]

I agree with Fost. He didn't buy the game, so why would You help him? If he would've asked you nicely, maybe it would be another story, but notice "and now i want you to help me", and puzzle that with "I used the cracked version!". What do you get?

"I used the cracked version, and now i want you to help me!" Doesn't sound too good to me, but it is your choice;)

[Ricardo C]

I wouldn't go for the rudeness. Just explain to him why you are not going to give tech support to a pirate user, and that he's welcome to buy the game. Erm, with a legit credit card, lest he gets another bright idea.

[Captain Nemo]

Tell him that the pirated version always destroys saved games. Tell him to blame the pirate who did a bad job :D

[Savant]

Just tell him it's a known bug and it's being worked on. No need to even bother addressing the piracy.

[papillon]

Tell him that the pirated version always destroys saved games. Tell him to blame the pirate who did a bad job


"They cracked it? They broke it. Ask them how to fix it. I can only fix things that I made myself." :)

[yanuart]

yeah, I agree with savant. I wouldn't want anything to do with it and there's no use saying a thing or two about piracy, threatening won't do much but increasing the risk he'll do something you don't wanna cope with or at least you must have better things to do.

I've been through hell administering my site not to mention the money I spent since the release of the cracked version but I guess it's okay now.. I hope :(
There's a fix on that glaring bug allready, I guess the cracker cracked the older version of the game.

Malzheit : a simple redownload of the latest updates will make sure you won't have this problem again

Cliffski : My server was down for a brief period of time (mid Jan) that also caused all the emails on my both domain lost (iplayallday n motoramagame) :(
The reset n backup process didn't restore the content of emails just the mailbox with a list of email (OMG.. the download link! I forgot to check them all) and I happened to notice that you send an email to my iplayallday address ? what was in it ?

It's amazing that there isn't much of a discussion of website security and such cause besides making the game, that's what comes in second of the hardest part being an indie (at least for me). I can totally see why some developers won't even bother to sell their own game and leave that to portals.

[mahlzeit]

Malzheit : a simple redownload of the latest updates will make sure you won't have this problem again
Ah, excellent! I'll do this right away. ;)

[Gilzu]

Tell him that the pirated version always destroys saved games. Tell him to blame the pirate who did a bad job :D

Dungeon Seige II had a nasty bug at the end of Act II where (one) of the last bosses, A gigantic dragon, Just didn't appear. You got stuck at (almost) the end of act II without any hope of continuing your almost 25-hour spent game saga and character you developed.

I contacted Micro$oft for help and they claimed its a bug that appears only at hacked&pirated versions of their game. I politly stated that I did bought the game, sending a pic of the case, a recipt from the store (Once you play 25-hour straight, you figure out that you didn't even had the chance to even throw away the bag it was in) and, oh, a valid ID.

Their reply was a simply asking me if by any chance I manually saved an early copy of the character because they hadn't found a way to fix the bug yet. about two months later I saw that their bugfix for those who encounter the bug simply bypassed the fight with that dragon. Micro$oft.

Lesson - If you can't fix it - don't claim its because of a hacked version.

[Tom Gilleland]

I wouldn't reply to him at all. Because if you reply you will have to be confrontational and he might cause other problems for you. It's just not worth it. He will not convert to a paying customer because he cracked the game.

Once I had an grandma type lady ask me for support on a title her friend copied to her hard drive. She just didn't know she was doing anything wrong, so I helped her and explained nicely what she had done.

Tom

[Bmc]

just don't reply back.

it's a waste of your time to provide support to someone using a pirated copy of your software.

[yanuart]

I wouldn't reply to him at all. Because if you reply you will have to be confrontational and he might cause other problems for you.
Yeah that's what I did a few days ago but then he send me another email so I had to reply him somehow cause not replying might cause other problems too.

[Sharpfish]

Simply right a non-confrontational - FACTUAL standard mail:

"We are sorry but YourGameCompanyName does not give technical support to illegal users of our software. We can only spend our valuable support time on our paying, legitimate customers. We hope you understand"

I would send that and then ignore them. If they start trying to post on your forum you have 2 choices, ban them or loose the forum ;) (It has been said for our business a forum can be a liability depending on the users of it and without the time or money to moderate it properly).

It is of course easy to get fired up about such things but in any contact as a company, it is probably best to stay neutral and to the point.

[Captain Nemo]

I wouldn't want anything to do with it and there's no use saying a thing or two about piracy, threatening won't do much but increasing the risk he'll do something you don't wanna cope with or at least you must have better things to do.


If that is such a concern you might consider giving him a refund for all the trouble your game is causing him. :rolleyes:

[Shaz]

I don't think you can assume he won't buy the full version. If he's asking you for help and he's admitted he got a cracked version (and just by the way he said it) I'm guessing he's feeling just a little bit guilty.

Calling him a pirate or saying he's engaged in something illegal is inviting him to respond just the way you're expecting. Giving him the benefit of the doubt and an opportunity to "redeem" himself (by giving him support WITHOUT compromising your business) may just earn you a grateful, paying customer. And of course what's going to happen if you DO give him support now? He'll just know he can get cracked versions of ANY of your games then come whinging to you for support, and probably try it with other developers as well - you don't want to set a precedent, and you don't have to compromise, but there IS a "middle ground" where he may be willing to meet you.

How about something along these lines:
"The problem you have encountered is a known bug, and we do have a solution. Unfortunately, when you download a cracked version of a game - any game - it comes complete with existing bugs, and you are not eligible for the available updates. (You could also mention some of the other nasties that can come with cracked versions - spyware, crack CAUSING other problems that aren't there in the original - I did read somewhere this can happen but agree with the earlier comment not to blame that for this particular problem, etc - keep this list to disadvantages to the "customer", don't say anything at this stage about YOU not getting money from it).

The benefits you receive by purchasing and registering your product through proper channels are free updates for the life of the game as well as free technical support from its creators (you could go on here if there are other benefits - additional levels, level editor, etc) - $[insert price here] is a small price for this. Your [insert name of game here] game was created by a very small team of independent game producers (or change this if you're a team of one). We do not have the finances or the resources to provide support to people who have not purchased the game. The benefit *I/we* receive when you purchase the game through proper channels is funding to allow me/us to continue adding enhancements and applying bug fixes to the game, and to give players support when they encounter problems, as well as the means to continue developing more great games for your enjoyment.

If you wish to purchase and register this game, follow the link below. At that point you can download the latest version which is free of this bug."

Mention at the end whether he will need to play all his levels again, or if he can just install over the top of his cracked version and keep his current stats. I sure hope he can - telling him he loses his position in the game may just peeve him enough to wipe out the rest of your email. Telling him he can keep all his stats and position may just give him the impression you're trying to help him, but he's got to play by your rules.

Summary - you're saying piracy is not the way to go, without calling him a pirate, and without actually saying the words, you're telling him you won't help him unless he pays for the game. Oh - and if he doesn't buy it from you, then he's left with a game with a bug, and he knows why.

[Grey Alien]

I found my game on a crack site. There are more downloads of the crack than sales of the full game! depressing or what. Anyway I asked them to remove it with a sob story about got wife+kids to support and they did.

[yanuart]

I found my game on a crack site. There are more downloads of the crack than sales of the full game! depressing or what. Anyway I asked them to remove it with a sob story about got wife+kids to support and they did.
Will it work on russian warez site ?