Game Development Community

Buying software cheap, is it possible?

by Romano Del Vecchio · in General Discussion · 02/18/2005 (8:03 pm) · 29 replies

This site is kind of shady, is something like this possible? Is this a fraud?
Click Here
I have found couple of similar sites. Has anyone experience with e-shops like this one?
There are few site where you can buy Paint Shop pro with some kind of "2 year upgrade plan"(20-40$), but they gave no details.
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Torque Owner Bryce
Toy Story 2 was O.K.
#1
02/18/2005 (8:14 pm)
I dunno...Take no chances. It's either it's a scam or these dudes are smoking something.

Torque 3D Owner Jacob
#2
02/18/2005 (8:21 pm)
I'd be careful...3D Studio Max 7 for $90 - saying it retails for $280...hmmm...over $3000 off on that one.

Torque 3D Owner Matthew Langley
Torque
#3
02/18/2005 (8:34 pm)
Its probably the 1 year student license version

Torque Owner nibbuls
#4
02/18/2005 (10:04 pm)
The 1 year student liscence is $600.

Well, here are some things that suprised me. These people are obviously not authorized retailers.

Quote:Discreet 3D Studio Max 7
retail price:
$280
our price:
$90
you save:
$190
Quote:Adobe Photoshop 8.0/CS
retail price:
$500
our price:
$80
you save:
$420

Quote:Why OEM software is so cheap?

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) which means that you will only download software via the Internet, without spending too much money on shipping. This is the only difference[?!?!?!?!?]

Quote:We offer our customers to download software.

Note that we are not selling any trial, incomplete or academic version of software! It is original and fully functional.

My question is that how does shipping and packaging cost $3101??? Oh, maybe the software boxes have 24k gold lining!

So... is someone going to report this?

::Edit::
I placed a thread on the discreet forums.

Employee David Montgomery-Blake
David MontgomeryBlake
#5
02/18/2005 (10:23 pm)
All Hong Kong DVD's are legal, too. Full Lord of the Rings Complete Set for $15.

Nintendo DS games for $2. Playstation games for $5? Wow!

Torque Owner nibbuls
#6
02/18/2005 (10:25 pm)
The fact is that Discreet is not the kind of company to "give you a deal"... It's more like a cut-throat company.

Torque Owner Alan Chen
#7
02/18/2005 (10:32 pm)
Why do you want to report someone that hasn't done anything to you? It's bad karma.

#1, no one is probably going to care
#2, what they're doing may be legal in their municipality
#3, these guys probably won't rip you off because this software is flowing around on the underground already for free

Torque Owner nibbuls
#8
02/18/2005 (10:34 pm)
Well, I guess it's ok to steal music, movies, and software because EVERYONE is doing it....

Employee David Montgomery-Blake
David MontgomeryBlake
#9
02/18/2005 (10:54 pm)
@Alan
So, why did you buy Torque? Was it to make a free game?

Torque 3D Owner Willbkool
#10
02/18/2005 (10:56 pm)
The one year student license for 3ds max is not $600. It is around $100. I bought the edu version of 5.1 for $500 dollars and it's not just for a year. I upgraded to a full commerial license for another 2 grand though.

If something sounds too good to be true, then you can bet it is. Although I just bought VS Pro 2003 for $380, not an edu version either. So there are some good deals out there. But not THAT good.

Torque 3D Owner Stephen Zepp
#11
02/18/2005 (11:10 pm)
The definition of OEM software (as far as I am aware, this is an opinion, not a researched fact) is that it can only be legally distributed with OEM packages--i.e., a computer with bundled software. This definitely sounds quite illegal.

Torque Owner Josh Moore
#12
02/18/2005 (11:42 pm)
Quote:
We ship your order to you in a plain brown envelope, to ensure your privacy. There is no mention of the contents on the package, so no one but you knows what you've ordered. This discreet packaging is just one more way that we take care of our valuable customers.

Torque Owner Joshua Dallman
Default Studio Name
#13
02/19/2005 (12:37 am)
Legit?

Registrant:
   Karine Sahakyan
   sahakyan_karine@yahoo.com
   6 Azatutyan av., ap.51
   Yerevan, Yerevan 375010
   Armenia

'nuff said.

Torque Owner Romano Del Vecchio
#14
02/19/2005 (1:50 am)
@Joshua
Where did you get this?

Torque Owner David .NfoCipher. Bunt
Default Studio Name
#15
02/19/2005 (2:02 am)
Man whois
NAME
whois - Internet domain name and network number directory service

SYNOPSIS
whois [-adgprR] [-h host] name ...

DESCRIPTION
Whois looks up records in the databases maintained by several Network In-
formation Centers (NICs).

Torque Owner Romano Del Vecchio
#16
02/19/2005 (2:05 am)
Please check this site to. CDW I've heard for them before, on Amazon you can read rewievs of their services. Anyway this is VERY cheap, if compared with other stores.

[qoute]
Category Creativity application
Distribution Media CD-ROM
License Pricing Academic
License Qty 1 user
License Type Complete package
Subcategory Creativity - graphics, Creativity - image editing
Version
[/qoute]
Price is academic, commercial use possibility?

www.cdw.com/shop/products/specs.aspx?EDC=690007

Has someone heard before about this "2 year upgrade plan"? They have no info on site about it.

Torque Owner Romano Del Vecchio
#17
02/19/2005 (2:20 am)
@David Bunt
Thanks

Torque Owner David .NfoCipher. Bunt
Default Studio Name
#18
02/19/2005 (3:28 am)
Most academic software is licensed for just that - a school project. They're usually crippled in some fashion and/or have watermarks in the resulting images.

Torque Owner David .NfoCipher. Bunt
Default Studio Name
#19
02/19/2005 (3:34 am)
Have you looked at any open source projects to meet your needs. Like GIMP?

Torque Owner Romano Del Vecchio
#20
02/19/2005 (5:29 am)
@David
I've tried Gimp only once and I hated it.
I have some knowledge of PhotoShop ans PaintShop pro. Maybe I am just a spoiled brat, but PaintShop is much better.
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