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  3. Why FitGirl won't die: The repacker millions of gamers depend on in an age of surveillance

Why FitGirl won't die: The repacker millions of gamers depend on in an age of surveillance

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  • tetris11@feddit.ukT tetris11@feddit.uk

    You’re meant to check the CRCs before you extract to verify that you actually fully downloaded the file. Otherwise yes, people like myself will mock you online for this trivial anecdote

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    slurpingpus@lemmy.world
    wrote on last edited by
    #92

    Oh really? How come it installed fine the second time from the same file?

    It’s well-known that installation of FitGirl’s repacks can fail, and the recommendation is exactly that one don’t touch the computer while it’s going on, and retry again if it fails. Mock yourself for not knowing this, as this very thread contains more ‘anecdotes’ about the same.

    It’s some kinda super wonky compression that gives extreme space savings but is so fragile that the result isn’t guaranteed, which is precisely why it isn’t widely used.

    tetris11@feddit.ukT 1 Reply Last reply
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    • S slurpingpus@lemmy.world

      Oh really? How come it installed fine the second time from the same file?

      It’s well-known that installation of FitGirl’s repacks can fail, and the recommendation is exactly that one don’t touch the computer while it’s going on, and retry again if it fails. Mock yourself for not knowing this, as this very thread contains more ‘anecdotes’ about the same.

      It’s some kinda super wonky compression that gives extreme space savings but is so fragile that the result isn’t guaranteed, which is precisely why it isn’t widely used.

      tetris11@feddit.ukT This user is from outside of this forum
      tetris11@feddit.ukT This user is from outside of this forum
      tetris11@feddit.uk
      wrote on last edited by
      #93

      it’s well-known that …

      alright

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      • A arschfidel@discuss.tchncs.de

        I don’t know which stores exactly are listed there. But at least with some shady key resellers, piracy might actually be better than buying from them according to some indie devs: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48908726

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        stinkyredman@lemmy.world
        wrote on last edited by
        #94

        Isthereanydeal don’t list those shady resellers.

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        • tetris11@feddit.ukT tetris11@feddit.uk

          it’s well-known that …

          alright

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          slurpingpus@lemmy.world
          wrote on last edited by
          #95

          Great rejoinder there. “I didn’t research how stuff works, but I have an irrelevant rebuttal, and when people point out that it’s not how stuff works, I will reply ‘alright’, that will really put them in their place.”

          tetris11@feddit.ukT 1 Reply Last reply
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          • O omarfw@lemmy.world

            It’s more likely that the devs are not being given the time or resources to do this kind of thing properly. Their bosses are too concerned with what will save money and generate shareholder value.

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            klay1@lemmy.world
            wrote on last edited by
            #96

            absolutely this.

            1 Reply Last reply
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            • O omarfw@lemmy.world

              It’s more likely that the devs are not being given the time or resources to do this kind of thing properly. Their bosses are too concerned with what will save money and generate shareholder value.

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              gissamittjobb@lemmy.ml
              wrote on last edited by
              #97

              Gamedev is notorious for basically having permacrunch so this is the most likely reason

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              • S slurpingpus@lemmy.world

                Great rejoinder there. “I didn’t research how stuff works, but I have an irrelevant rebuttal, and when people point out that it’s not how stuff works, I will reply ‘alright’, that will really put them in their place.”

                tetris11@feddit.ukT This user is from outside of this forum
                tetris11@feddit.ukT This user is from outside of this forum
                tetris11@feddit.uk
                wrote on last edited by
                #98

                (Sorry, I just wanted to come back and say my response wasn’t very friendly or constructive but I think took issue with your (perceived) tone mostly.)

                I have had your issue once before in the past, but I genuinely don’t think it is such a pain point that it’s a frequent issue to prevent further use.

                I can imagine from a consumer point of view that there will always be faster way to pack data so that people can start playing instantly and leave the problem of storage to online game libraries. But from an archivist point of view I genuinely believe that the format she has chosen for those of us who want to replay a game every now and then and can suffer the hour long unpack is efficient for the storage/playing tradeoff

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                • Lvxferre [he/him]L Lvxferre [he/him]

                  Bingo. And this means they’re effectively choosing who their games are for. And then complaining the ones they didn’t choose decided to pirate it.

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                  lastweakness
                  wrote on last edited by lastweakness@lemmy.world
                  #99

                  I’m curious, are there countries where fast internet is way too expensive but video games are priced well?

                  Edit: I mean priced well on launch, btw, not on sale

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                  • tetris11@feddit.ukT tetris11@feddit.uk

                    (Sorry, I just wanted to come back and say my response wasn’t very friendly or constructive but I think took issue with your (perceived) tone mostly.)

                    I have had your issue once before in the past, but I genuinely don’t think it is such a pain point that it’s a frequent issue to prevent further use.

                    I can imagine from a consumer point of view that there will always be faster way to pack data so that people can start playing instantly and leave the problem of storage to online game libraries. But from an archivist point of view I genuinely believe that the format she has chosen for those of us who want to replay a game every now and then and can suffer the hour long unpack is efficient for the storage/playing tradeoff

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                    slurpingpus@lemmy.world
                    wrote on last edited by slurpingpus@lemmy.world
                    #100

                    don’t think it is such a pain point that it’s a frequent issue to prevent further use

                    I don’t have statistics, but:

                    • I myself didn’t do any research specifically on this matter, and only learned of these problems through osmosis by randomly reading various threads on Reddit’s r/all

                    • I installed one single game from a repack by FitGirl

                    • my experience right away exactly mirrored that of which I’ve read previously

                    I don’t have problems with FitGirl using this compression, in fact I find it fascinating that such an algorithm exists. However, it obviously doesn’t meet standards to which a commercial publisher or storefront are held.

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                    • alessandro@lemmy.caA alessandro@lemmy.ca
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                      Why FitGirl won't die: The repacker millions of gamers depend on in an age of surveillance

                      Ask almost any PC gamer from Asia to South America, and they will tell you the same thing: FitGirl is the one name in piracy that everyone recognises

                      favicon

                      The Business Standard (www.tbsnews.net)

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                      krooklochurm@lemmy.ca
                      wrote on last edited by krooklochurm@lemmy.ca
                      #101

                      Maybe fitgirl is the bbw porn actress named fitsidney or fitsid for short.

                      Both are girls.

                      One fucks on camera. One repackage games. Same thing probably.

                      Think about it.

                      Edit: I’m doing a thorough and deep investigation of her videos for any clues and I’ll report back on any findings.

                      Edit2: the results are inconclusive and I’ll need to perform more research. It’s worth mentioning that fitsid is adorable and very enthusiastic in what she does, and is also kind of adorable much like fitgirl’s photo of Amelie. But, like, with cum involved.

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                      • O omarfw@lemmy.world

                        It’s more likely that the devs are not being given the time or resources to do this kind of thing properly. Their bosses are too concerned with what will save money and generate shareholder value.

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                        clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #102

                        It’s basic math for these executives, the cost of bandwidth is magnitudes less than than the cost to pay someone to reduce it. They do not care about the cost to gamers.

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                        • Lvxferre [he/him]L Lvxferre [he/him]

                          I’m aware that compression rates are a trade-off between space and processing time, and that there’s some balance to be had. However, I don’t see this balance from plenty commercial games; what I see instead is disregard.

                          Here’s a made up example. Suppose you have a choice between compressing a game:

                          • to 10 GiB, and it takes 2min to unpack it in a certain machine
                          • to 3 GiB, and it takes 8min to unpack it in a certain machine

                          FitGirl will consistently pick the later option. And it would be fine if devs picked the former, or a middle ground… but they don’t. Instead, often you get a 10 GiB file that takes 10 min to unpack, the worst of both worlds.

                          And it isn’t just a matter of the compression algorithm. The developers also have the freedom to choose how they split files; but they often create 9001 files the size of an ant, that is going to hurt decompression times. (Paradox Interactive, I’m looking at you.)

                          Tagging @fiestorra@discuss.tchncs.de, as it addresses what they said too.

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                          kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de
                          wrote on last edited by kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de
                          #103

                          Here’s a made up example. Suppose you have a choice between compressing a game:

                          • to 10 GiB, and it takes 2min to unpack it in a certain machine
                          • to 3 GiB, and it takes 8min to unpack it in a certain machine

                          The download size difference of 7 GiB only costs me another 60-80s to download as long as the Steam servers are serving well. So funny enough the first option would be better for me.

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                          • P periodicallypedantic@lemmy.ca

                            Folks here are like “everyone uses it. Eventually all gamers realize it’s better”

                            Me, having never even heard of this in my 30 years of gaming: 🫣

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                            djsoren19
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #104

                            I mean, do you pirate games? If you’ve never gone to a torrent site in your life it’s not surprising, but FitGirl’s repacks are so numerous that it’s hard not to notice them if you do pirate.

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                            • K kieron115@startrek.website

                              Steam gets around this problem by doing the decompressing on the fly as you download. Go check out your CPU usage next time you install a game.

                              Edit: I think this is also why it defaults to not downloading while you game. Steam doesn’t want you to have a bad experience from the decompression.

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                              LikeableLime
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #105

                              It will also use ALL your bandwidth by default. I can’t even watch a yt video or anything while doing a steam download unless I limit the bandwidth in settings.

                              K 1 Reply Last reply
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                              • L LikeableLime

                                It will also use ALL your bandwidth by default. I can’t even watch a yt video or anything while doing a steam download unless I limit the bandwidth in settings.

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                                kieron115@startrek.website
                                wrote on last edited by kieron115@startrek.website
                                #106

                                What kind of router do you have? If it has any kind of “smart queue” or “smart qos” you could try enabling that and it will de-prioritize steam’s packets (as needed) so that web browsing and voip still work.

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                                • K kieron115@startrek.website

                                  What kind of router do you have? If it has any kind of “smart queue” or “smart qos” you could try enabling that and it will de-prioritize steam’s packets (as needed) so that web browsing and voip still work.

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                                  LikeableLime
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #107

                                  Awesome thank you for the tip. I’m not too well versed in networking so I never really dig around in my router settings. I’m just using the Modem/router supplied by the ISP right now and it doesn’t look like it has anything like that from a quick look through the config page.

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                                  • Lvxferre [he/him]L Lvxferre [he/him]

                                    Note plenty FitGirl repacks are lossless; as in, she isn’t taking less important files out of the game, she’s compressing it better. 90GB→35GB seems accurate; you often see ~1/3 of the original size, like this. And it shows plenty game devs

                                    1. do an extremely bad job at basic tasks like compression.
                                    2. give no flying fucks about players, who might have really slow connections.

                                    And then those same developers get amazed at the fact FitGirl is so popular. “Maybe we’re doing something wrong? …nah.”

                                    I Cast FistI This user is from outside of this forum
                                    I Cast FistI This user is from outside of this forum
                                    I Cast Fist
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #108

                                    A lot of devs stopped giving a flying fuck to disk space and performance a long time ago. “32GB of RAM and 500GB of disk space? Don’t mind if I do!” - for a pixel art 2D platformer

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                                    • S stupidbrotherinlaw@lemmy.world

                                      I suspect FitGirl is a morbidly obese 58 year old man with a twisted sense of humor.

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                                      wubwub@lemmy.zip
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #109

                                      Omg He’s just like me fr fr

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • I Cast FistI I Cast Fist

                                        A lot of devs stopped giving a flying fuck to disk space and performance a long time ago. “32GB of RAM and 500GB of disk space? Don’t mind if I do!” - for a pixel art 2D platformer

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                                        wubwub@lemmy.zip
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #110

                                        It’s so infuriating I’ve either got 3 brand new games or 30 older games installed on to my device.

                                        Even mobile gaming is getting out of hand

                                        1 Reply Last reply
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                                        • alessandro@lemmy.caA alessandro@lemmy.ca
                                          This post did not contain any content.
                                          Link Preview Image
                                          Why FitGirl won't die: The repacker millions of gamers depend on in an age of surveillance

                                          Ask almost any PC gamer from Asia to South America, and they will tell you the same thing: FitGirl is the one name in piracy that everyone recognises

                                          favicon

                                          The Business Standard (www.tbsnews.net)

                                          R This user is from outside of this forum
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                                          rekabis@lemmy.ca
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #111

                                          Piracy is the response when companies refuse to serve market needs.

                                          I mean, there will always be people trying to get something for free when they normally have no problem affording it or obtaining it personally. It’s why the Parasite Class continue to drive down wages while raising prices for that sweet labour-free profit margin, even though they already have obscene amounts of wealth. Their boundless greed demands they squeeze even more out of the Working Class whose labour is the source of all wealth.

                                          So yeah, there we’ll always be some people who will pirate purely for the fish.

                                          But in the end, any significant piracy is 100% the fault of those very companies that complain about it.

                                          S 1 Reply Last reply
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