Gingerbread Man on 24/3/2005 at 23:23
The impact on Eidos isn't what bugs us, though. The annoying problem is when some jackanape from the INTERNETS takes something you've literally spent hundreds of hours of work on (possibly including painstakingly crafted objects and textures) and selling it.
And besides, Eidos has in the past taken these things seriously. As they should. It may not represent potential loss of sales to them, but it does represent unlicensed redistribution.
Free distribution of FMs and associated resources, with adequate statements of ownership intact, are what has kept the Thief series alive long enough for a third title. That kind of thing extends the life of a game, both by motivating people to purchase it simply on the strength of the sheer number of "mods" as well as maintaining a fan base in the event of sequels. It keeps awareness and interest up.
Making money off other people's work without their permission (both in the case of modders as well as the developers / publishers) is pretty much one of the most morally bankrupt and lynch-worthy offenses I can think of.
OrbWeaver on 25/3/2005 at 12:09
Quote Posted by Gingerbread Man
Making money off other people's work without their permission (both in the case of modders as well as the developers / publishers) is pretty much one of the most morally bankrupt and lynch-worthy offenses I can think of.
Interesting that you should feel that way. Personally, I am not bothered by what people do until such time as it affects me in some way - and if people want to scam other people by selling my creations (that are otherwise available for free), and other people are stupid enough to fall for it, then so be it.
Of course, if I was trying to
sell those creations and the scammer was cutting into my revenue, it would be a different story.
Fingernail on 25/3/2005 at 12:39
Darkmod position is, we're not using any names from the original games.
But since it's a free toolset, you can feel free to call the main character Garrett and his enemies Hammerites in your FM if you so desire. However, then you may have to face any consequences yourself (although frankly, Eidos don't go after fanfiction etc. or even art which copies their own, so I don't think they're gonna start going after fan mission authors. Way to alienate your fans).
Our campaign, though, isn't in the Thief universe, so we won't be doing this ourselves.
nobody on 25/3/2005 at 14:35
Forje, GBM,
I completely agree with you both. I know we've seen people trying to sell the stuff on Ebay, etc. in the past, I was just saying that we shouldn't expect Eidos to do the police work. If I ever see any1 selling fan missions on Ebay I'll certainly report them.
my point was that if there's a EULA it won't be made for our protection. I don't think I've ever seen a EULA that was primarily for the protection of the End User.
That and I wanted to clarify a point on copyright violation, but that's not too important.
Fingernail, I'm not worried about the darkmod's legality at all or even the stories portrayed by fans who make their own mission on your toolset.
belboz on 26/3/2005 at 07:42
When (monkeys bollocks with brains the size of a weasels dingle dangle) take your work and sell it they usually change the authors name to their own, to make it look like they created it, therefore they can sell it, and stoopid people ain't going to check to see who has copyright and who don't.
Weasel on 26/3/2005 at 17:35
Quote Posted by belboz
(monkeys bollocks with brains the size of a weasels dingle dangle)
Hey!!
