Private servers (etc) quick question - C&D?

Treees · 09-04-2012 12:09 PM

Hey guys, I've heard a buncha ideas go around about starting a private server. I've heard that there's a still-present Cease and Desist order (letter?) on making them. Apparently people have tried before but were arrested or whatnot for doing so.

Is this true? If it is, then that's another thing we have to worry about with NCsoft.... (Unless it was Paragon who did it, I'm really not sure and I don't have sources on me) Anyway, in the case that it is, don't forget about it

Again I'm not sure so any responses are appreciated especially with sources backing up

Thanks

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Dr_Darkspeed · 09-04-2012 01:33 PM

I think the current thoughts are:

1) Titan network is looking into seeign if NCSoft will sell the game(or IP), if so that wouldn't be a problem.

If 1) doesn't happen then:

2) Since there is no game to compete with, no profits are being lost, so they might just not care.

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Codewalker · 09-04-2012 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr_Darkspeed

I think the current thoughts are:
2) Since there is no game to compete with, no profits are being lost, so they might just not care.

Or they might see it as competition for their current games, competition that they can likely scare off with a single letter from their lawyers, which only costs them a few hundred dollars to have written.

It's definitely a legally gray area when it comes to discontinued games, and that's the reason that the IP buyout option is the focus.

SlickRiptide · 09-04-2012 01:43 PM

Typically speaking, companies that shutter their games don't actively pursue emulators the way they did when the game was generating revenue for them. At least, I've never heard of it happening.

Xieveral · 09-04-2012 01:47 PM

As long as there is no profit being made from the private servers, they might turn a blind eye to it.

They might be as militant as Blizzard but then again, there is a different situation. As far as NC is concerned, there is no longer anything to gain, they've shut down any way to pay for the game and its services. Compared to WoW private servers which are taking away profit from Blizzard because the actual WoW is still up and running.

Gangrel_EU · 09-04-2012 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlickRiptide

Typically speaking, companies that shutter their games don't actively pursue emulators the way they did when the game was generating revenue for them. At least, I've never heard of it happening.

there was work going on a TR server emulator after TR closed down... it recieved a C&D letter from NCsoft.

I do not know its current status (ie if it went underground or anything like that)

Leandro · 09-04-2012 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlickRiptide

Typically speaking, companies that shutter their games don't actively pursue emulators the way they did when the game was generating revenue for them. At least, I've never heard of it happening.

NCsoft went after a Tabula Rasa server emulator (INFINITERASA) with a C&D order and forced them to "shut down". And that's Tabula Rasa, the super duper failure that NC didn't want anything to do with anymore (to be honest, I kinda liked it).

So, be prepared for NCsoft to eventually come after a COH server emulator with a C&D order. Don't be surprised if that happens.

However, even with the C&D order in place, INFINITERASA is still seeing some code updates... someone fixed the resurrection code 3 days ago. Weird, huh?

You can never really shut down such a project. You can drive it underground, so the community can't have an open forum that everybody can see or a website to advertise their efforts. But the actual game servers? Good luck shutting that down. The actual community? Still going strong in closed forums, Facebook groups, Steam groups, and plenty of other places that are under the radar of a corporate lawyer, but not of players looking to join the fun.

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LittleDavid · 09-04-2012 05:50 PM

I don't even think TR was the failure that gaming journalism made it out to be. I think it was said that NCSoft killed the game off right after it was becoming profitable (generating enough revenues to cover its own expenses and its development I gather).

"I miss Tabula Rasa" was a search trend on Google a year or two after it died, after all.

But yes, here's a blogger writing about the C&D NCSoft gave to the TR fandom trying to keep the game alive.

Gangrel_EU · 09-04-2012 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittleDavid

I don't even think TR was the failure that gaming journalism made it out to be. I think it was said that NCSoft killed the game off right after it was becoming profitable (generating enough revenues to cover its own expenses and its development I gather).

Well, if was given enough time to live, it could have paid off its development costs... however, it had a very poor performance from launch, and could have well taken 10+ years to pay back, with minimal development on the game. It was doing *very* shakey financially.

In its complete financial year, it only made 12Mn Won (ish), and that included its launch period as well, where it made around 1/2 its yearly total (going from Launch Quarter to Last quarter). I am ignoring the actual last quarter that it was listed in, because it only made 182Mn Won (a drop of 90% from previous quarter, but as that is a partial financial quarter for money coming in, i can let that slide).

Chances are that after they slashed the development staff down, it was *possibly* starting to break even on a monthly basis... however, it was a declining playerbase. Would F2P have saved it? Quite possibly... but the conversion to F2P is something that you have plan out ahead of schedule, and cannot just flip at a moments notice if you havent even considered the option.

Kitsune Knight · 09-04-2012 06:23 PM

I tried TR during the period it was free and... I think there'd have been a good chance I'd have subscribed (I mean other than the fact that they were closing it down ). I hadn't known too much about it before (I think the grand sum of advertising done for TR was a topless photo of the character on the box in some gaming mag... at least that seemed to be the only thing anyone ever spoke of).

I enjoyed the third person combat system and non-fantasy setting. The character creator was primitive compared to CoH (although the graphics were nicer- all 5 of them ), but that's something that could be corrected with time, and still the norm now for most games (APB is the only other one I've touched that didn't suck). Why did it 'fail'? I don't know. Maybe it was just before it's time... launched back when 'MMO' still meant 'elves in woods' and anything else was just some crappy half ***** RPG with an online mode that didn't work. Personally, when I played through ME2 years later (as in, this summer), I just now realized that it strongly reminded me of my short time in TR.

Circling back around to the topic... TR might be a different situation, in that NCSoft was wanting it dead, at least by the end (maybe even before). Losing the lawsuit (and the appeal) probably ensured that they'd not even consider selling the IP to someone that was offering them way more than it was worth.

NCSoft might still come after a CoH emulated server, certainly none of us can say for sure. If we have to resort to that, we should definitely be prepared for that inevitability. Hopefully, we won't ever have to go anywhere near that situation, and NCSoft sells the IP+code+accounts DB to a worthy company that tries to bring back the old team. Unlikely, but, occasionally unlikely happens.

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Gangrel_EU · 09-04-2012 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kitsune Knight

I tried TR during the period it was free and... I think there'd have been a good chance I'd have subscribed (I mean other than the fact that they were closing it down

). I hadn't known too much about it before (I think the grand sum of advertising done for TR was a topless photo of the character on the box in some gaming mag... at least that seemed to be the only thing anyone ever spoke of).

Ahh, the nude Sarah Morrison pic that was done for Playboy i *think*.

Yeah, apart from that, there wasn't much advertising full stop for the game.

Quote:

I enjoyed the third person combat system and non-fantasy setting. The character creator was primitive compared to CoH (although the graphics were nicer- all 5 of them

), but that's something that could be corrected with time, and still the norm now for most games (APB is the only other one I've touched that didn't suck).

Agreed for the lack of options for the character creator, although they did also have a few unlockables later on

Quote:

Why did it 'fail'? I don't know. Maybe it was just before it's time... launched back when 'MMO' still meant 'elves in woods' and anything else was just some crappy half ***** RPG with an online mode that didn't work. Personally, when I played through ME2 years later (as in, this summer), I just now realized that it strongly reminded me of my short time in TR.

I heard several reasons why it failed, although I would probably say that it was ahead of its time in trying to cross over genre's (ie the 3rd person Shooter and MMO). Whilst there were games like Tribes/Planetside out previously, they relied heavily (at least in my experience) in actual FPS shooting skills. You *didn't* need them for TR (although they were handy), and so it was too removed for the MMO players (no tab targetting), and different enough for the FPS players (it needed a subscription, and their elite FPS skills were *not* needed).

Stuck in the great big no mans land with a distinct lack of advertising.

I still want my TR T-Shirt

(have the beanie hat though

)

LittleDavid · 09-04-2012 06:37 PM

I remember in the final days before TR closed down, a lot of people trying the game out and saying "Why is this shutting down? They should make it free to play! It's awesome!"

The character creation system didn't bother me, incidentially. The game's more military in style, so I didn't mind that you couldn't design a custom costume or anything. I would have wanted more precise body morphing options, though. Especially some kind of indicator on how tall I was making my characters, like City of Heroes does. Few games do that.