The Magpie on 24/6/2008 at 17:21
Quote Posted by Brethren
The big difference here being that these guys are actually trying to make money doing it. If it was a freeware game, you wouldn't see all the anger, just piles of laughter. This combined with the fact that a) as you mentioned, it wasn't one or two instances it was the entire game, and b) that they plagarized so blatantly, not even changing little details here and there to hide their crime. I mean, there's a screen from oblivion where they didn't even change the portrait in the picture frame.
It's hardly surprising that they are passing the buck in the blame department. They'd be crazy to come out and say, "Ok, you caught us, sorry about that!" I just find it hard to believe that in the end, that kind of lame excuse ("external souces") wills save them. I mean, at some point, Bethesda or Eidos or whoever is going to want to know who these sources are, right?
There's that, WRT the "see you in court aspect", the (
http://gameplasma.com/index.php?do=viewarticle&id=700) MPAA keeps their hands off since, well, they have larger fish to fry.
Were I seated behind an executive desk, though, I'd possibly have considered greenlighting a lawsuit anyway out of sheer sadism, just to watch the punters fry. It's a waste of money to be sure, but at least on just this one occasion some good PR might be had from an IP infringement case.
Unfortunately, while IANAL, I can't see any more legally responsible parties for the publication than the publishers. They would be the ones getting sued. And while they have already made complete fools of themselves in the QA department, and they have probably multiplied their sales by a lot in the window between the start of the controversy and the pulling of the game off the shelves. Still, dragging an indie games publisher to court over this would IMO do little for the improvement of our world. Majestic, now, that's another story... :ebil:
Thanks for the RPGNet thread link, GD. It's tedious and boring, but there's a kind of morbid fascination at work. I'm still hanging in there.
--
L.
Renault on 24/6/2008 at 20:36
Good points, but I have to admit...I had to google several of your acronyms. :o
There does seem to be little point in a lawsuit, but I would hope to God that Majestic hasn't (and won't) receive any royalties from the game. That would be the most unjust thing of all. The only thing worse would be if they were permitted to release a sequel in the future, based purely off of their recent infamy.
doctormidnight on 25/6/2008 at 00:23
Any indications of FM material being swiped?
Renault on 25/6/2008 at 02:18
I think that would be way too much work for these guys.
doctormidnight on 25/6/2008 at 02:26
I think a sufficient punishment would be a glyph branding to the forehead.
Gambit on 25/6/2008 at 02:49
No one see the irony on seeing Thief being stolen ?
Oh wait, not funny...
Heck, at least they used TDP sounds. It´s probably the oldest of all the other games they ripped off. So at least we can admire how TDP still ages well.
RavynousHunter on 25/6/2008 at 02:52
Just like fine wine, ain't it? Talk about ironic statements... :cheeky:
Gambit on 26/6/2008 at 00:48
Inline Image:
http://www.justadventure.com/Previews/Limbo/art6_s.jpgInline Image:
http://home.flash.net/~brenfrow/gz/gaz10.jpgOk, I had enough...
No seriously, taff this taffing taff. I can rationalize someone copying a digital background...
But stealing a copyrighted artwork to do a TAFFING PAPER DRAWING ! Taff you!
It would take less time to make an original orc drawing with a taffing pen and paper than copying all the details from another artwork.
This goes beyond lazy on epic levels...
RavynousHunter on 26/6/2008 at 03:30
I believe we will have to invent a new, stronger word to describe the levels of laziness present in this "game." I put game in quotes because it isn't really a game, its an amalgam of stolen artwork, ideas, sound effects, and ill-begotten code. I think the only original part of this entire game is the voice-overs, and even that might be, as Penn so rightfully puts it, bullshit.
demagogue on 26/6/2008 at 04:21
Quote Posted by doctormidnight
Any indications of FM material being swiped?
Yes, not Thief (so far as I know), but they stole from some UT 2004 fan maps.
