Well....some have the beta....some have the gold version for reviewing or beta testing.....and some have the...uh...less-than-legal copy of FL.

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Some people *cough* downloaded the full version through various sources.

Kick, Ban, Deflower.

Without having proof, most of them play a warez version...

I know that only a couple of hundred people can legally have access to the beta and the gold.

Best Regards
Christian "Bargib" Koerner
Editor in Chief, The Lancers Reactor

K thanks for the answer...i want a beta

JT Curry

You want the full version..not the beta. It will be in the stores ( US ) next week..Tuesday. Those who downloaded the illegal copies are crooks. Plain and simple.

Having been guilty of the warez download of a few games myself, I do not defend those who download just to avoid paying for the game. However, I do condone try-before-you-buy and Demo's are nearly always perfect where the full game may still have serious bugs.

Downloads of warez as try-before-you-buy are for various reasons.

1. The problems and major bugs associated with Windows has made people cautious (and rightly so) of anything that bears a Microsoft logo.

2. Is it really compatible with my machine? My software salesman won't refund my money just because the spec of my PC isn't up to playing it. I've seen Demo's that require P2/300Mb but the full game requires a P4/1.3Gb even when the box says a P2/300 still because the box was designed when they were top of the range processors.

3. I don't have a standard sound card/graphic card or whatever, will it still play? Remember that the Demo often comes out long before the game is actually developed and may still support non-standard hardware but the release version had to be "trimmed".

None of these reasons can condone piracy but for most people, it is a means to test the game to save shelling out many bucks to buy something that's going to sit on the shelf forever more because it won't work. I'm not sure of the US law regarding purchases of this sort but in the UK, it's Caveat Emptor (buyer beware). If we pay out 49 UKP to buy a game that won't work, it's tough luck.

I got burned with Ion Storm's 'Daikatana' and it's game stopping bugs. The UK waited nearly a year for a patch but the US got one within weeks. Quite a number of people who bought the European version downloaded the US .exe file from people in the states that bought it so they could patch it with the US patch to keep playing. I vowed never to buy another Ion Storm game again and never to get my fingers burned like that again. Hence the visits to the warez sites but I still say if the game is worth it, I'll buy a legal copy.

Terminus was a great game but never realeased in the UK but after lots of perseverance and a year down the line, I finally tracked down IGN, a place who would ship a copy over to me so I now own a legal copy of Terminus.

Warez versions often have the voice and cut scenes hacked out to save space, because of this, the game is already a cut down version akin to a demo. The only difference is that it has all the levels.

If you're playing a pirated version with no intention of buying it, you should have your balls cut off and served back to you in a red hot chilli sauce.

--
My idea of an OS is one that operates the system, not a self contained package of every piece of software ever invented.

Can anyone tell me what is the difference between the gold-version (which some people already have through internet) and the Version of Freelancer which will be in stores next week?
I mean gameplay, features, etc.

well, the warez version is most likely floating around the irc channels. More than likely this is the full game, so peeps with a broadband connection shouldnt have any problem acquring it. Where these copies come from? Most likely from people who work or have connections to the duplication houses or the distribution centers. Then theres the review versions that go out to the media. So, yes the warez version would probably be out several weeks before the game comes out. oh well....

there is another way someone could have the full version.


someone staged a coup in teh security at all teh shipping sites and just gave some to nerds and stuff.

-I trade for a living, rouges piss me off, come get me, catch me if you can, i will leave you in the dust, or you'll die trying, take your pick.-

@Heretic Inc. We trade because we own.@

The demo is try-before-you-buy and even if the game has serious bugs and the demo doesn't, that doesn't mean its not going to be a good game eventually. There's no reason to play the demo, say, "Well the full version may have serious bugs so I should download it and check it out," and then warez it and never buy it. That's just unacceptable.

In FL's case, the demo is released after the game went gold.

Actually another reason to download and play warez version, is because someone can't wait for the release. I see nothing bad in downloading the warez version now and buying the full game when it comes out. (Don't look at the like that, I am on 56k which is a good alibi )

Gold version is the ORIGINAL game disk: the one that developpers make and then it's copied and sent to the stores. There's only ONE gold disc but the retail version is the exact copy.
Another way to get the gold version is to be a friend/relative to a Microsoft/DA worker and ask from him.
Most people who live arround MS HQs can get the game or at least the beta.

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Bazil, M. P.
Webmaster and founder of Roughnecks -Freelancer Division
"If you would care to follow me... " -- DEATH of the Discworld

Yep, yep. That's a gold

Though if you were in the beta, you get a slightly different "gold version" The only difference is the graphic that is printed on the disc. It says GOLD on it where as I know the retail one doesn't say gold. (This is what Freelancer and Dungeonsiege betas did.)

Just by 2 cents.

cheers,

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The demo is try-before-you-buy and even if the game has serious bugs and the demo doesn't, that doesn't mean its not going to be a good game eventually. There's no reason to play the demo, say, "Well the full version may have serious bugs so I should download it and check it out," and then warez it and never buy it. That's just unacceptable.

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I agree with the last point.
Though I have some games, or better had, that I somehow never bought, was years ago, and most bother me not (mostly stuff we played on lan partys mp, and never again), only sc and hl, those two really bother me, I must buy them sometime (have cs retail though), had them even in my hands and wanted to buy them ... but well than my gf told me how very much she would like to have .... and I run out of money ... I know lame excuse, but sometimes it just happen. Good that it happens now very rare (actually in the last year not a single time), as I have more money to spend and buying a game does not hurt my wallet for the next 2-3 months
what I really do not like are ppl that just warez cause they could, if someone simply has a limited budget I have no problem with that, as long has he still buys aswell, what these days most ppl I know do.

btw what really makes me wonder is, how many ppl are strikly against pay to play and aswell strikly against warez. Pay to play is something I have bother somehow much much less, than spending money for a game that I play 2 days and never again. (like my populus 3 and black and white originals)