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General discussion (archive)Excellent gaming news from Activision! [/sarcasm](120 posts)(120 posts)
(120 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted March 01, 2010
http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/03/01/0546238/8-Year-Fan-Made-Game-Project-Shut-Down-By-Activision
What a great way to show how much you care about gamers, the people who are, you know, pira^H^H^H^H your customers.
Post edited March 01, 2010 by Lehti
Posted March 01, 2010
Ah yes, this.
I feel bad for the people who were working on it. I mean, this happens all the time, fan game projects being shut down when they get big, but it must be especially galling since they actually had a fan-license for a while.
Can someone explain to me why they don't 'just' remove all references to KQ and continue working on it? (maybe it isn't that simple, I don't know anything about the project or Kings Quest).
Posted March 01, 2010
Activision does a Square Enix. Move along, not much to see here.
Posted March 01, 2010
The only way to safely make a fan work is for it to be a mod of one of the originating games or otherwise require some data files. Any project that requires an original game--no matter how major a revamp/sequel/etc. it is or how little it uses of the original data--gets a free pass because it isn't an independent work. I have never heard of any fan project that requires base data being shut down, but there are many, many cases of standalone projects being shut down.
If the project doesn't require some official base it is basically only alive for as long as the copyright holder wills it, unless you are lucky enough to get an official blessing (not many ask, however, because they want to get as little official attention as much as possible to avoid being shut down).
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LordCinnamon: Can someone explain to me why they don't 'just' remove all references to KQ and continue working on it? (maybe it isn't that simple, I don't know anything about the project or Kings Quest).

Some fan projects do this, others just disappear.
Post edited March 01, 2010 by Arkose
Posted March 01, 2010
I will never, ever understand this behavior. Don't wanna lose the sales? Just make a better game than amateur studio for crying out loud!
Posted March 01, 2010
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Fenixp: I will never, ever understand this behavior. Don't wanna lose the sales? Just make a better game than amateur studio for crying out loud!

And by making sure that the amateurs' games doesn't get released, you WILL release a better game then they do - because they can't release anything. From a certain viewpoint it's simply an easier and quicker way to the same goal.
Posted March 01, 2010
Well they have all they would need to make a better game: Big budget, bigger team... So it really all comes down to laziness and sure profits. Which is evil. No surprise there, since it's activision we're talking about...
Post edited March 01, 2010 by Fenixp
Posted March 01, 2010
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Arkose: <snip>
If the project doesn't require some official base it is basically only alive for as long as the copyright holder wills it, unless you are lucky enough to get an official blessing (not many ask, however, because they want to get as little official attention as much as possible to avoid being shut down).
<hack>

They asked for the blessing, they got a licence. Then Activision arbitrarily revoked the licence. You're probably right in that it's a legal move, though I'm not a lawyer.
It's just sad to see a ginormous multinational company force a small team of hobbyist to throw all their work away. Do they honestly think that a tiny hobbyist team can compete with the all-mighty ActiBlizz?
Posted March 01, 2010
Well, just another reason to overwork the copyright. Nobody needs a copyright for up to 70 years after his death.
[darksarcasm]However, that'd be a great excuse to actually kill copyright holders for cultural reasons just like we did in Germany to earn the fruits in these days.[/darksarcasm]
Posted March 01, 2010
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Lehti: http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/03/01/0546238/8-Year-Fan-Made-Game-Project-Shut-Down-By-Activision
What a great way to show how much you care about gamers, the people who are, you know, pira^H^H^H^H your consumers.

Fixed.
Posted March 01, 2010
I can't but wonder how much of this decision has been influenced by Good Old Games. I mean, now that Activision is releasing old games here it surely wouldn't want these sales to be minimized due to a free, newer release of a game wearing King Quest's name.
I am not saying that I blame GOG or anything like that nor that I agree with the move ActiBlizz just made but I can sort-of-see their standpoint in all of this.
Posted March 01, 2010
Yeah, this is sad. I have no idea why Activision would consider these people so much of a threat, but it angers me.
I mean, they have the right, I don't really hold it against them, but wow... why?
Posted March 01, 2010
It is still my view that if customers stop purchasing from any company that is not user friendly and politely let them know why they are not buying, things would change in a flash.
If too many sales are lost and the company knows why, they would change the way they did things.
After all, it is all about the bottom line and not the customer.
Post edited March 01, 2010 by Faithful
Posted March 01, 2010
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Faithful:

I totally agree, just look at EA and how they changed after all the backlash they got
Posted March 01, 2010
Given that approval was successfully sought from Vivendi, Activision had no reason to do this. Not that it stops them, mind you. Only customers voting with their wallets will do that.
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General discussion (archive)Excellent gaming news from Activision! [/sarcasm](120 posts)(120 posts)
(120 posts)