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The Dangers of Downloading?


pablonohablo

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I remember a discussion months ago about a possible A Game of Thrones series in which one commenter said that he, and many people he knew, were likely to just download the series instead of actually paying the money to get the series from HBO (via subscription or DVD). This commenter weighed this fact (the likelihood of many people not paying for A Game of Thrones) as a strike against the series being made. I'm wondering how true this would be.

We know that it hasn't been a fatal strike against the pilot being made, of course. I'm wondering how big a deal it would be come if the series was picked up for a full season.

I myself am planning on getting HBO if A Game of Thrones is picked up for a full season. I'm too cheap to get it now, but I'd definitely pay extra for A Game of Thrones. And I'd buy the full season DVD. I honestly wonder how many folks are like me and how many are like the commenter in the previous paragraph. And, if enough folks (who don't have HBO) are downloaders instead of paying customers, will that depress the show's ratings enough to keep HBO from picking it up for a second season? :huh:

All speculation at the moment, of course, but it's speculation about something that's looking increasingly like it might happen, and it's a question that's been on my mind.
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[quote name='Naknakkus' post='1595272' date='Nov 20 2008, 09.33']I always wait for the DVDs to come out, this goes for any TV series.[/quote]
I'll probably be on the DVD list too. We had HBO for six months (free offer) and hardly watched it. The same stuff seems to run over and over and over ... and none of it was anything we wanted to watch. The one show we did watch was Carnivale, which was, well, cancelled.

I enjoyed Deadwood and Rome on DVD. I'll probably do the same for GoT.

I'll just hope that I travel more for work so I can catch it at hotels. :)
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We already have HBO. We tend to have it for six months or so at a time, then cancel for about six months, and then come back again. We watch the heck out of it when we have it since many of the shows have full seasons up on-demand. The breaks we take allow us to qualify for special rates again. We will absolutely subscribe if/when AGoT is on the air. We'll only buy the dvds if we love the show.
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On a related note:

I always wonder how HBO can sell its DVD-Seasons fprr 100 Bucks in the US. (at least when they are new and at least in HBO's official online-shop).
Over here (Germany) a season consisting of 12-13 Episodes never costs more then 40 €, often you can get them much cheaper.

Lets check right now:

Rome Season 2 - HBO Shop 60$ (although they admit that the "list price" is 100 bucks).
For other shows the seem to have lowered their prices to 60$ per season, which is reasonable I guess, but I remember a few years ago it was still 100$.
The complete Sopranos collection is available for 400$. How much does Amazon.de want? 126€ (!!!). Amazon.com wants 255$, which is a lot less then HBO, but still more then in Germany.
Deadwood complete Set 180$. Amazon.de 90€ if you buy all three Seasons seperately. Amazon.com 113$.

Okay, maybe the differences aren't as big anymore as they were (if you're as stupid as to buy from the HBO shop), but still.

On Topic:

If HBO'd be available in Germany I'd subscribe, since they aren't I'll do something vaguely illegal...

HBO guy who is probably reading this: tell your bosses to bring HBO to Germany.
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Given that the BBC are co-producing, I'll probably watch it on that, although they'd better make sure they don't have too much of a delay behind the US airing (Rome season 2 was ridiculous - it was something like 4 months after it had been on HBO). It should be more like Heroes, where the BBC shows the episode the week after the US does (well, 9 days - US is Monday, BBC is the following Wednesday). If the broadcast delay is more than 2 weeks, I'll likely download.
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I'm the sort of person that always checks books out from the library and reads them before deciding whether I want to buy them. So I'd probably be part of the free-rider problem at first, considering that it's not free to watch. However, if the adaptation 1) doesn't break my heart and 2) isn't ridiculously expensive, I'll probably want to buy the DVD out of a combination of loyalty and pride.
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[quote name='Mister Manticore' post='1596079' date='Nov 21 2008, 07.19']Yes, they do offer many of their programs on iTunes.[/quote]
Is this somehow limited depending on where you live? I just checked the iTunes store and couldn't find a single TV program. Is that because I live in Sweden, or did I simply miss something?
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[quote name='phoenix_rising' post='1596918' date='Nov 21 2008, 17.41']Just get it .......ya bunch o leatches......[/quote]
Fine. You give us the money.


...honestly. Not everybody has enough to go around spending it on "extra" things. Most of the "leeches", as you so charmingly put it, still seem to want the DVD, since owning something is entirely different from just seeing it.
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I thought every member of this site would either hook up HBO or get the DVD eventually. Its the least we can do (unless its terrible quality). But not everyone can afford it whch is fair enough. Though I dont think there is anything wrong with downloading if the intention is to buy the series later (especially for those of us not in the US).

ulix - HBO series are cheap on DVD here too.

Ive bought all The Sopranos, Band of Brothers, Deadwood Season 1, Rome and all Entourage for anywhere between $19 to $30 AUD (1AUD = 0.65 USD)
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[quote name='Aoede' post='1596984' date='Nov 22 2008, 10.46']Fine. You give us the money.


...honestly. Not everybody has enough to go around spending it on "extra" things. Most of the "leeches", as you so charmingly put it, still seem to want the DVD, since owning something is entirely different from just seeing it.[/quote]

Agreed. I personally prefer watching TV shows on DVD than on tv
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Since I'm not in USA, my chances to view the series are, in order:

1-download as soon as every episode goes out
2-wait for either:

a/ English edition on DVD and buy it (and see it again)
b/ some Spanish TV buy the series and we can see here (again)

3- Buy the DVD in my language the release day and view it again

also, between 1/ and 3/ I'll show the series to a insane number of people, making sure that they will know when and where we can see it in our channels, and making more people buying the season in DVD as soon as they are released.


It was work with Rome, Galactica, etc... I own every season of the series I like in DVD, and lots of my friends too, cause we show ones to other the series we discover. In fact, it also happens with the books.


Also, if the DVD has a standard edition and a special edition, the one to buy is the special one.


All of this is in the case the show is amazing enough (as Rome, Heroes, etc...)
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I don't even have basic cable, so getting HBO would constitute a pretty major budgetary upheval. My usual model is to buy the season box sets of shows I like. Because I'll probably be getting the show on DVD, I can't really justify paying iTunes for the episodes as well, but if HBO had some sort of advertisement-backed streaming thing where I could watch full episodes, I would consider using that over my usual method of, er, vetting my DVD purchase options prior to their release.
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