Lunar Threads

Has anyone seen the GameFAQs poll of the day?

"Have you ever shoplifted a video game?" It's kind of a bold poll question to ask, not that the results are likely very honest.

Oh, people steal silverware from the dining halls here sometimes. I just think it's kinda silly. My plastic set of 50 or so forks, knives, and spoons has served me excellently, the very few times (like last night) where I eat a microwave meal that I can't gobble up with my hands alone, for popcorn doesn't make an interesting meal.

That's an interesting poll. And the accuracy of the results... yes, it might be inaccurate, but I'd like to believe it's somewhat true. Less than 10% trying to shoplift, not sure what to make of that. (...what are estimated shoplifting rates?)

Have I ever "Shoplifted" a videogame? Well the poll is actualy vague, it doesn't specify if I ever shop lifted from a game or any kind of retail store. I have shoplifted a game, in terms of "Piracy".

All the games shops I know of either keep the software behind the counter and only leave the cases on the shelves, or all the cases have a magnetic strip which sets alarms off if you try to leave without the strip being deactivated. Same goes for videos and music.

I know several people that abuse the returns policy of such shops though, so that they effectively get unlimited free rentals. It's something of a bother to think that I might be paying full price for an item which has already been handled and played for free by someone else.

Stealing silverware and items from restaurants is quite silly. It's still stealing, and it forces the management to raise prices in order to compensate. Especially for smaller restaurants, it can be a major hassle. KF

When I was in the dorms in college I borrowed a knife and probably a fork from the dining commons. I think I returned them before moving out. Considering the exorbitant prices they were charging us for the meal plan and the total lack of flexibility in it at the time, it was hard to feel very guilty about it.

Kizyr wrote:Stealing silverware and items from restaurants is quite silly. It's still stealing, and it forces the management to raise prices in order to compensate. Especially for smaller restaurants, it can be a major hassle. KF

Oh Kiz! You just forgot one major factor! I have conscience. I'm an evil lil' imp bent on world domination based on stolen silverware!
OH!! I should tell you guys about the time I stole the Salt and Pepper Shakers!!

...IN FACT! I WILL!!

It's really not that long, but my pockets all ready had the silverware, so I had to find another place, and you never know if you are REALLY bein' watched, so I slid them down my pants, No lie, I had them situated just right, and as I walked you could hear them clank. Kinda funny, until my friends decided to stop and not tell me so I bumped and they started to slide... so I made haste in not so haste form and I was VICTORIOUS!

Full might I add!

World domination based upon a multitude of silverware? Sounds kinda like Olaf.

Depends on what they see as shoplifting. I've never shoplifted an item in my life, but I will be totally honest when I say I download old games as well as music. Shame on me, maybe. Depends on how someone looks at it.

Kizyr wrote:Stealing silverware and items from restaurants is quite silly. It's still stealing, and it forces the management to raise prices in order to compensate. Especially for smaller restaurants, it can be a major hassle. KF

Actually, it is quite a pain. I work for a restaurant, and I think we just had a pepper shaker stolen today. They come in sets of four (soya, salt, sugar, pepper...) so one missing deems the whole set disfunctional.

As for myself, I stole a small wooden block and a marble from my elementary school in the second grade by hiding them in the toespace of my shoe. I felt awful afterwards, and never stole anything again.

i steal games regularly, its called bit torrent and outdated systems.

*sigh* And that's what gives BitTorrent a bad name.

I've never shoplifted anything.

I have, however, downloaded the ROMs for SMS, Game Gear and Genesis games which I do not own. It's kind of hard to feel guilty about this for two reasons.

First, if I managed to buy those games through ebay and got the equipment necessary to play Japan-only games (eg, Lunar Strolling School, Phantasy Star Gaiden), I would have had to pay a fortune to someone other than Sega. Sega and the developers wouldn't be getting a dime from me 'buying' these games.

Second, if not for the popularity of emulation, Sega, Nintendo, etc never would have begun to use emulators to re-release classic titles. I understand that most of those old games can now be emulated legally at a relatively low fee compared to trying to get the original systems and cartridges. If not for emulation, these games may have simply vanished from existence forever.

I no longer have any ROMs, but if would have liked to have saved the ROMs for the SMS and Genesis games that I own. My SMS and my Genesis still work, somehow, but I can't see them working forever.

The Game Gear doesn't have any copy protection; I played Walking School on a US Game Gear just fine.

actually bittorrent's bad name is generated mostly from pirated music, movies, and applications. if a system hasn't been in production for over 15 years, i see nothing wrong with emulation (neither do most european court of appeals, incidentally).

aside from that, i regularly use bit torrent to acquire podcast/vidcast content, 1080p media, and a few data streams from my old job that are only sent out via bit torrent since each file is over a gb.

Alunissage wrote:The Game Gear doesn't have any copy protection; I played Walking School on a US Game Gear just fine.

Ack, my weak justifications are being chipped away at

I guess I can be glad that the worst I did in my 'young and stupid' days was emulate Japanese Game Gear games which I could have bought through ebay and played on an American Game Gear.

It's still really hard to obtain a lot of rarer Lunar merchandise.

Things like the Game Gear Lunar: Strolling School, or the Magical School Lunar anime video are hard to come by and, by now, just worth their collector's value. Anyone who'd actually want to play or watch either wouldn't spend the time tracking down the original merchandise for it; only hardcore collectors are going to bother doing that.

When it comes to the Sega CD and PSX games, though, rarity doesn't cut it as an argument.

That's the general standard I've used on these boards, by the way, with what is and isn't allowed discussion for emulation, ROMs, and downloaded video. KF

When it comes to the Sega CD and PSX games, though, rarity doesn't cut it as an argument.

Considering I saw EB for fairly cheap on Ebay recently, Lunar TSS and EB aren't that rare. The Playstation remakes go for more, generally speaking.

only problem is finding a sega cd to play them my discs still function, sadly my genesis has gone to the grave.