[MUD-Dev2] [Design] "Why Pirate Games" Article

[Caliban Darklock]

> it does not cost $37.06 to ship a game internationally.

You're right, it doesn't. But you're one person sending to one person. 

Now get ten thousand of that game, and ship them to some other country for
retail sale. You need to give them to an exporter (who will want some
money), and then he'll load them into a transportation mechanism (which
costs money), and then tariffs need to be paid (which costs money), and then
they'll be unloaded at their destination (which costs money), and then
they're shipped to a storage facility (which costs money), where they will
be taken by an importer (who wants some money) to a distributor who will
sell them (at a profit) to a retailer that puts them on a shelf and sells
them to you. At a profit.

Compare domestic distribution: you give them to a distributor who sells and
ships them to retailers who sell them at a profit. Note that the
international distribution has eight points where someone other than the
game's manufacturer takes a profit, while the domestic scenario has only
three. Don't you think those other five points might inflate the price a
bit?

> What constitutes an "uncomfortable level of inconvenience"?  

What constitutes comfort? 

I get to install the game and play it. 

What constitutes convenience? 

I DON'T have to do anything difficult, lengthy, or confusing. 

So WHAT IF... your game installed while you were playing?

- Install begins: player fills out a short registration form and optionally
a detailed demographic survey.
- Install of core content and first few levels completes: registration and
survey sent to server, game starts. 
- During play of first few levels, installation proceeds in the background
and registration key is sent by email.
- When installation completes and player hits a level boundary or pauses to
save, suggest he check his email.
- Let the user enter the key at any time during the game. When a hard
boundary is hit, require the key to continue.