Crystal Towers 2 - The freer version

[davidn]

Six weeks exactly. That's actually not all that bad a time to have survived, given that it seems most major games don't even manage to be officially released before they're distributed under the table of the Internet for free. But yesterday evening I found the full version of Crystal Towers 2 had been uploaded to a number of torrent sites and is now spreading around the Internet (linking to it would seem a bit self-defeating). There's a note on what I think was the original upload that says "Support the companies, which software you actually enjoy! This game is only 5 USD, just go buy it." Thanks for that - wouldn't that have been better achieved by spreading around the actual free version that I put out?

After torrenting it myself to verify which version it was, I was able to find out quite a lot fairly quickly from just the uploader's username and IP address of the seed (which is 86.48.105.122). To inform you of the actual name and address of this night elf from Denmark would be a blatant step from the kind of casual stalking the Internet allows into actual vindictiveness territory, but seeing as I've only had one order from that country, narrowing it down wasn't exactly a task of Hercule Poirot proportions.

And I can't even pretend that I'm all that annoyed about it - because the reason I even noticed the torrent was because I had had an unusual spike in sales that day. That's certainly enough to readjust my thoughts on piracy fairly quickly - for these first twelve hours at least, it seems that the "pay what you want" model has something going for it, even if it's forced upon the author. So I suppose what I need to say, paradoxically, is - Lunaru, thanks very much, you tosser.

Anyway. I also noticed that a TV Tropes page has begun to take shape - if there's anything in the game that particularly charmed or annoyed you, feel free to let yourself loose on that.

Comments

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

"And I can't even pretend that I'm all that annoyed about it - because the reason I even noticed the torrent was because I had had an unusual spike in sales that day."

Hah! :) I feel a little bit better about the internet as a whole today.

Oh, man.. I'm all tempted to go looking through TVTropes to figure out the names for what I want to list on the CT2 page, but.... I don't dare open that can of worms..! :P

[dr-dos.livejournal.com]

Guess it's time to make an "Animals with helicopters" trope page.

[tamakun.livejournal.com]

Hm, this is definitely an interesting study in piracy. Not that I approve of the piracy, but the increased sales are definitely helpful in reducing the blow :)

What made you think to search for a torrent when you had a spike in sales? Or was it handed to you in a search engine when you were wondering who was talking about CT2 today?

[davidn]

I've tended to Google myself more frequently than I'd like to admit, after the release of the game - I actually found it through the alerts that I'd set up.

[xaq.livejournal.com]

I find it's a clear sign that you've made something good when people want to steal it, especially when even more people want to buy it afterwards to offset things.

If my own mentality is anything to go by, I would imagine a lot of those responsible for the sales spike were originally among the torrent-thieves who, after trying the swiped product out, decide it's worth the money (especially to ease that sudden sense of guilt).

[davidn]

That's right, of course - it's nice to get the implication that it's worth any old rope!

[kibet.livejournal.com]

I see someone hit the 100%

It also looks like the guy is a UG chemist. Can never trust those chemistry people!

[crassadon.livejournal.com]

I just want you to know that I resisted temptation to upload your game to torrent tracker sites, because I value your artistic endeavour. . .

. . .though now that you say that piracy actually increased sales, I rather wish I had! :(