穹顶灯打不出阴暗面_数字发行的阴暗面

穹顶灯打不出阴暗面

You may recall the name G2A. The infamous key reselling site dominated game industry news last year. Many developers began to speak out about the site’s shady activities, which in turn helped to raise general consciousness about the problem of key reselling across the industry. Developers have known about the practice for years, but it’s still shocking to consider that many people still don’t know about (or perhaps don’t care about) this practice and how it can hurt developers.

Ÿ 欧可以回忆起那名字G2A。 臭名昭著的主要转售网站去年主导了游戏行业的新闻。 许多开发人员开始谈论该网站的幕后活动，这反过来又有助于提高人们对整个行业的关键转售问题的认识。 开发人员已经知道这种做法很多年了，但是令人震惊的是，许多人仍然不知道(或者根本不在乎)这种做法以及它如何伤害开发人员。

Although the noise (and headlines) around this issue has died down, it’s worth revisiting the topic again because the problem certainly hasn’t disappeared. Let’s start by examining the nature of digital keys: what they are, and how they are used.

尽管围绕该问题的喧闹声(和头条新闻)已经消失，但是值得再次重新讨论该主题，因为问题肯定没有消失。 让我们从检查数字密钥的性质开始：它们是什么，以及如何使用它们。

什么是数字钥匙？ (What is a digital key?)

Before I dive into the question of key reselling, I should start by explaining what digital keys actually are. The whole topic around digital keys and their reselling has only arisen thanks to the massive shift toward digital distribution in the game industry. There’s little question that this shift from physical to digital has, by and large, been a net positive. Physical production costs are reduced, product inventory is no longer a bottleneck, and the barrier between player and game is broken down. The shift from physical to digital products is itself a sizeable topic, because it’s not just a question of consumer access to a product or service; there is also, importantly, the topic of ownership in the digital realm (where consumers technically own licenses for digital products, which is different to owning the product itself). As you might expect, this subtle-but-notable difference has broader implications (including the way it touches on the question of secondhand purchases and selling of keys in general — it’s a topic that warrants further conversation, but is outside the scope of this piece).

在深入探讨密钥转售问题之前，我应该首先解释数字密钥的实际含义。 由于游戏行业向数字发行的巨大转变，围绕数字键及其转售的整个话题才出现。 毫无疑问，从物理到数字的转变总体上是净积极的。 降低了实际生产成本，产品库存不再是瓶颈，并且消除了玩家与游戏之间的障碍。 从物理产品到数字产品的转变本身就是一个很大的话题，因为这不仅是消费者对产品或服务的访问权的问题。 重要的是，在数字领域中还存在所有权的主题(消费者在技术上拥有数字产品的许可 ，这与拥有产品本身不同)。 如您所料，这种微妙但显着的差异具有更广泛的含义(包括它在一般二手钥匙买卖问题上的接触方式—该主题值得进一步讨论，但不在本文讨论范围之内) )。

The beauty of the digital key — and also one of its inherent flaws — is how it works. Keys for video games are generated in one of two ways. If you go to a digital storefront like Steam, Origin, Uplay (and many others), a key will be generated once you’ve made a purchase. That key gives the user a license for the purchased game. In these cases, the key is either automatically attached to the consumer’s account or it might be turned into a “gift copy” that can then be given to another person.

数字密钥的美丽以及它固有的缺陷之一就是它的工作原理 。 用于视频游戏的密钥是通过以下两种方式之一生成的。 如果您访问Steam，Origin，Uplay(以及许多其他产品)等数字店面，则在购买后会生成密钥。 该密钥为用户提供了购买游戏的许可证。 在这些情况下，密钥要么自动附加到消费者的帐户，要么可能会变成“礼物副本”，然后可以将其提供给其他人。

There are other cases where keys are generated and distributed, too. Game developers may generate several keys to supply to members of the press or content creators for promotional or review purposes. Typically, these creators request a key for a particular store, these keys are generated, and then emailed to the individual or publication. There are numerous services (like Humble Widget) that provide a platform for key distribution for members of the press.

在其他情况下，也会生成和分发密钥。 游戏开发人员可能会生成多个密钥，以提供给新闻界成员或内容创建者以进行促销或审查。 通常，这些创建者为特定商店请求密钥，生成这些密钥，然后通过电子邮件发送给个人或出版物。 有许多服务(例如Humble Widget)为新闻界成员提供了用于分发密钥的平台。

When a key is generated, it essentially remains “in play” until it becomes associated with a specific digital storefront or user account. It’s quite common for a developer to generate a batch of keys in advance (perhaps they create a set amount of keys) with the intention to distribute these to press and content creators later on. This is where the idea of key reselling comes in. And as we saw with the G2A story, it has become quit a lucrative business.

生成密钥后，它基本上保持“运行状态”，直到与特定的数字店面或用户帐户关联为止。 对于开发人员来说，提前生成一批密钥(也许他们创建了一定数量的密钥)是很常见的，目的是稍后将它们分发给媒体和内容创建者。 这就是密钥转售的想法出现的地方。正如我们在G2A故事中所看到的，它已不再是一项有利可图的业务。

获取密钥 (Obtaining keys)

Digital keys themselves have no immediate or direct monetary value per se. Money comes into the equation when the store (or user) decides to sell a key. Pricing can vary significantly depending on a wide range of factors (including the potential demand around the game the key is related to, and the overall availability/supply of keys). This is where G2A and its contemporaries come into the picture — but where and how do these sites actually acquire keys in the first place? There are two popular sources.

数字密钥本身本身没有立即或直接的货币价值。 当商店(或用户)决定出售钥匙时，金钱就变成了等式。 定价可能会因多种因素而有很大差异(包括与钥匙相关的游戏的潜在需求以及钥匙的整体可用性/供应量)。 这就是G2A及其与此同时代出现的地方-但是这些站点实际上首先在哪里以及如何实际获取密钥？ 有两种流行的来源。

The first relates to fraudulent transactions via stolen credit card numbers. Credit card fraud and the precise role it plays here is a large topic unto itself, but suffice it to say, a significant number of keys are initially purchased through this method.

第一个涉及通过被盗的信用卡号进行的欺诈性交易。 信用卡欺诈及其在其中扮演的确切角色本身就是一个很大的话题，但是可以说，最初通过这种方法购买了大量密钥。

Also, developers may be tricked into giving multiple copies of their game to the same scammer. There are plenty of stories floating around on Twitter and other locations about developers receiving fake emails from people claiming to be well-known content creators. They’ll ask for one key to use themselves, and then multiple additional keys for giveaways in exchange for free exposure.

同样，开发人员可能被欺骗将其游戏的多个副本提供给同一个骗子。 Twitter和其他位置上充斥着许多故事，内容涉及开发人员收到自称是著名内容创建者的虚假电子邮件。 他们会要求一个钥匙使用自己，然后要求多个额外的钥匙进行赠品换取免费的曝光。

灰色市场 (Grey markets)

Regardless how keys are obtained in the first place, they can be sold anywhere once they’ve been distributed initially. This is where sites like G2A come in — G2A was the premier “grey market” site for game keys at one stage. But whether we’re talking G2A or not, the principle is the same: these sites don’t care where the keys come from, and they make no attempt to police users on their service.

不管最初是如何获得密钥的，一旦最初分配密钥，都可以将其出售到任何地方。 这就是G2A之类的网站出现的地方-G2A在某个阶段是游戏键的首要“灰色市场”网站。 但是，无论我们是否在谈论G2A，其原理都是相同的：这些站点并不关心密钥的来源，并且它们也不会试图警告用户使用其服务。

This is also where things become blurry for consumers who use sites like G2A. They are making what they think is a legitimate purchase for something that may have been acquired illegally (or at least, unethically). Even if the original transaction was overturned because it was fraudulent, the key itself is still legitimate and still exists. The consumer who purchased the key will generally have no idea where it came from originally (the only exception being if the key is revoked — I’ll touch on that in a moment).

对于使用G2A之类的网站的消费者来说，这也是模糊的地方。 他们正在以他们认为是合法购买的方式购买可能是非法(或至少不道德)的东西。 即使原始交易因欺诈而被推翻，密钥本身仍然是合法的并且仍然存在。 购买密钥的消费者通常不会知道它的原始来源(唯一的例外是如果密钥被撤消，我会在稍后讨论)。

开发者的头痛 (Headaches for developers)

You might be looking at this situation and wonder where the damage is actually being done. Fundamentally, it’s the developer who is always hurt the most. Generally speaking, the developer is cut out of the transaction flow (especially in the case where a key is initially purchased fraudulently and the transaction is reversed).

您可能正在研究这种情况，并想知道实际在哪里造成了损害。 从根本上讲，伤害最大的是开发人员。 一般而言，开发人员会被排除在交易流程之外(特别是在最初以欺诈方式购买钥匙并撤消交易的情况下)。

In addition, every key that is acquired illegally and then sold on is another sale the developer misses out on entirely. For all those keys you saw on G2A or equivalent, none of the sale revenue reaches the developer unless said developer has agreed to work with one of these sites in the first place.

此外，开发人员完全错过的另一笔买卖是非法获取并出售的每把钥匙。 对于您在G2A或同等产品上看到的所有密钥， 除非该开发商首先同意与其中一个网站合作， 否则任何销售收入都不会到达开发商。

Fraudulent keys can also devalue the game in question. There will always be a theoretical maximum number of people a game can be sold to — the people who purchase the game via a key reseller represent lost sales from the developer’s perspective.

欺诈性的按键也可能使游戏贬值。 从理论上讲，始终可以销售给游戏的最大人数—从开发商的角度来看，通过主要经销商购买游戏的人代表了销售损失。

One way developers have combatted this problem over time is to revoke keys that were initially purchased illegitimately (but that were perhaps purchased legitimately further down the line). But this too can have negative consequences for the developer, because it can generate negative PR from angry consumers who found out that they don’t actually have access to the game they think they bought — all through no fault of their own. As you can imagine, this issue can then be picked up by YouTubers who might be in a position to amplify any outrage directed towards a particular developer.

开发人员长期解决此问题的一种方法是撤销最初非法购买的密钥(但可能是在更远的范围内合法购买的密钥)。 但这也会对开发人员造成负面影响，因为它会引起愤怒的消费者的负面PR，他们发现他们实际上没有获得他们认为购买的游戏的权限-完全没有自己的过错。 您可以想象，YouTuber可以解决这个问题，他们可能会加剧针对特定开发者的愤怒。

保护自己作为开发人员 (Protecting yourself as a developer)

The whole key reselling business is a pretty grim story. And developers can often feel like they are in a no-win situation. But there are a few things you can do, as a developer, to protect yourself.

整个关键的转售业务都是一个严峻的故事。 开发人员通常会觉得自己处在双赢的局面。 但是，作为开发人员，您可以做一些保护自己的事情。

My first tip is to ensure that you don’t sell your game without any kind of fraud protection. Fortunately, in today’s market, it’s quite easy to acquire basic protection by using third-parties like Humble Widget or itch.io.

我的第一个秘诀是确保您在没有任何欺诈保护的情况下也不会出售自己的游戏。 幸运的是，在当今市场上，通过使用Humble Widget或itch.io之类的第三方来获得基本保护非常容易。

Also, when you’re being approached by content creators, make sure to check their credentials. Just because someone says they are a big name or they have a huge following doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. Check their channel/or their streams to see how active they are. And if their email appears to come from a big, well-known name, then make sure you email them directly through their channel to double-check their legitimacy. It doesn’t hurt to ask for any credentials you require to satisfy yourself that you’re dealing with a legitimate content creator.

另外，当内容创建者与您联系时，请确保检查其凭据。 仅仅因为有人说自己是个大牌或拥有大量追随者，并不一定意味着它是真的。 检查其频道或流，以查看其活跃程度。 而且，如果他们的电子邮件似乎来自一个知名的大人物，那么请确保直接通过他们的渠道向他们发送电子邮件，以仔细检查他们的合法性。 索取您需要的任何凭据，以使自己与合法的内容创建者打交道，这无害。

合法密钥销售 (Legal key sales)

My final point may be a controversial one. At the end of the day, I do feel that consumers should have the right to sell keys (new or used) in a legitimate second hand market. But for that to happen, there would need to be changes to the law when it comes to the nature of ownership around digital products. This is definitely a broader question with significant longterm implications.

我的最后一点可能是有争议的。 归根结底，我确实认为消费者应该有权在合法的二手市场上出售(新的或二手的)钥匙。 但是要做到这一点，就数字产品所有权的性质而言，有必要对法律进行修改。 这绝对是一个广泛的问题，具有长期的重大影响。

As a developer, it’s important to consider how you might protect your products. I also hope that consumers will become more aware of dodgy key reselling practices and understand that purchasing keys for ultra-low prices isn’t a good way to support your favorite developer.

作为开发人员，考虑如何保护产品非常重要。 我还希望消费者能够更好地了解狡猾的密钥转售做法，并了解以超低价格购买密钥不是支持您喜欢的开发人员的好方法。

Game-Wisdom. It has been revised and published at SUPERJUMP with permission. Cover image by Game-Wisdom上 。 经许可，已在SUPERJUMP上进行了修订和发布。 封面图片由 Jason Rost. Article images by Jason Rost撰写 。 Fredrick Tendong. Fredrick Tendong的文章图片。

翻译自: https://medium.com/super-jump/the-dark-side-of-digital-distribution-ca8b1562d2ae

穹顶灯打不出阴暗面