NCSoft Declines More Interviews from Increasing Gaming Press Requests

That article made me laugh. Sure SOME of what it said is actually true, but some of it is also pure hearsay.

This whole Anti-NCSoft thing is kinda silly to me. I doubt NCSoft truly cares what a few thousand people think...when GW2 has already sold over 2 million units as of mid September. Articles like these discredit the author more than the subject in my opinion. Felt like I was reading a National Enquirer Gaming article.

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Originally Posted by Paladiamors I love you, I Burnt the Toast!

I can't blame them, I was going to contribute to this conversation but then I realized that there are people here trolling the forums illegally.

Oh yeah I forgot if you are not totally up the SaveCoH backside then you are a troll. Speaking of illegal - how's that emulator coming along?

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Originally Posted by Codewalker I can't blame them, I was going to contribute to this conversation but then I realized that there are people here trolling the forums illegally.

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Originally Posted by Paladiamors I love you, I Burnt the Toast!

Oh I am not doing an emulator LOL! I am morally against them as they are nothing but stealing. Professionally I could not be involved with one if I even wanted to - I am a Federal employee, and well I value my job way more than a game.

The emulator is the main reason I no longer participate in anything Titan related. NO Titan is not endorsing an emulator, but a few key people at Titan are knowingly working on it. I refuse to be associated with such a thing or any group that takes part in it.

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Originally Posted by Evil_Legacy What made COX a good game is also the Devs listened to ideas from the players, even ones they probably thought was off-the wall or impossible at the time. WIth that mindset running a game, that takes out the big factor of what made COX good. Now, it's "If you are not part of the SaveCOH" and agree with everything I say, you are a troll." Or Unicorn as some circles call it now. Too closed minded for that type of person or people to run a game that is nearly as good as COX. Plus I find it not wise to talk about illegal activities on the company's forum that a person is planning on stealing from. That is like sitting on a porch of a person's home and talking about how you are going to steal their tv because they are not using it. Now if an illegal emulator or what ever they call it now do pop up, NCSoft have a good starting point of their investigation if they do not outright find it anyways and have the information of possible participants and when they get caught many now cant even say "I didnt know it was illegal" when they have the postings about how it was planned out and where these plans are located. So it makes it's easy to prove the intent. To steal.

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Originally Posted by Paladiamors I love you, I Burnt the Toast!

You're right EK, it was missed. I'm glad somebody got the absurdity of showing up to tell people who are doing nothing but discussing possible ideas on forums that they're somehow breaking the law. Trolling is definitely illegal, as is anything else that I declare so, as high king of the Internets. QED. (note for E_K: That was a satirical statement and not intended to be taken literally)

Disagreeing with somebody isn't trolling, and anyone who's actually been paying attention would have seen me defending dissenting opinions from people who were calling them trolls. Thanks for the non-sequitor.

Now, posting wild accusations insinuating that people are participating in illegal activities without a shred of evidence beyond rumors, nor seemingly an understanding of even WHICH laws are involved, much less how they apply (feel free to educate me if you in fact do)... that I would classify as trolling. Possibly even slander.

Plus the fact that my blood starts to boil every time I click on a recent thread and see the same 3 posters complaining about the same things over and over again, tells me that I'm probably falling for a troll... hook, line and sinker.

I'm expecting that emulator, if it ever gets up and running (with the game code being "all sorts of spaghetti" such hopes look doubtful), will be slapped down by NCSoft with a C&D order. It's the type of thing they'd do, just to piss in everyone's cheerios.

Can someone please point me to where developing an emulator is illegal? I keep seeing that word tossed around, and it's pure BS.

What would be illegal is if we developed software that infringed upon NCsoft's intellectual property. What would be illegal is if we started distributing the game client without a license. I have repeatedly denied any such intention to the point where I'm blue in the face. That's not happening. Get over it. The more people talk about how what we or anyone else working on an emulator is illegal, the more foolish they sound. If you really think I'm doing something illegal then either put up or shut up--call the cops on me (because I'm doing something illegal!) and be done with it, or I don't want to hear any more talk about it.

What is perfectly legal is reverse engineering the protocols that the server implements. This isn't just hypothetical, it is well established. It is no different than, for example, writing a server that emulates Microsoft Exchange to an Outlook client. Not only do those exist, but several notable companies are right this moment openly operating within the U.S. Google it, then come back and explain to me how they've been able to miraculously avoid the wrath of our justice system while so blatantly doing such illegal things.

At worst, reverse engineering the server is breaking the Terms of Service. Breaking a click-through Terms of Service document is not illegal. If an emulator is released and NCsoft decides in its insanity that it has somehow suffered financial damage from it, they are free to file a civil lawsuit against whomever does it and to try to recoup those losses by trying to convince a judge and/or jury that the $0 they would have made is greater than the $0 they're making with an emulator being out there. But the notion that the police will come arrest you (which is what happens when you do illegal things) or a DA will show up at your house to force you to stop is ludicrous. In the meantime, if NCsoft feels I'm violating their Terms of Service, they are free to engage in the recourse of cutting off my service to the ga— Oh wait. That's right.

Reverse engineering the server is legal. Period. End of story. Nobody wants to do this, but I've shelled out a lot of money for the game, I have the client legally installed on my computer, and if reverse engineering the server is the only way I can continue using the software I've paid good money for, then I will support any such efforts underway. Again, if you think this is illegal, then you really need to stop gabbing here and read up on some cases that deal with reverse engineering so that next time you post, you will be more educated and not stating things that are patently false.

Meanwhile, NCsoft has within itself the power for me to voluntarily stop encouraging efforts to reverse engineer the server; in fact, I'd voluntarily encourage everyone else to stop encouraging it as well. All they have to do is to provide some means by which I can continue using the software I've paid good money for. If they'd sell the game, then it would be a moot point. If they don't and lo and behold someone implements a game server that's compatible with the client, then 1) I don't see what difference that makes to them since it's not going to financially impact them either way, and 2) it's their own durn fault for effectively disabling my software by shutting down their servers and forcing me to take measures to use what I've paid for. I have no sympathy for them, because they are the ones who are making the decisions here, they are the ones who are instigating these measures, not the players or the fans of the game.

For weeks, we played nice and tried to take the high road. Reverse engineering was mentioned, but I explicitly stated that it was only an option at some indeterminate point in the future, reserved for if and when we feel that there are no other options left for us to preserve the game. Well, NCsoft pretty much made it explicitly clear to us that it had "exhausted all options" to preserve the game, so here we are. At this point, I have given up any realistic hope that NCsoft will take any further steps to voluntarily sell or otherwise continue operation of City of Heroes, so to be blunt, I really don't give a rat's *** if someone reverse engineering the server hurts NCsoft's feelings or not. I'm not concerned one bit that this will negatively impact any potential negotiations with them because that time is way past. They've had months of golden opportunities to save face and extract themselves from this situation. They could have taken actions for this situation to be win-win-win for us, themselves, and Paragon Studios, but instead they chose to kill Paragon Studios (in the process deliberately and needlessly jeopardizing the livelihoods of 80+ people), lie to us, and make an incredibly stupid public relations misstep. So yeah, I'm not too concerned about what they think. They obviously do not have our interest in mind in these decisions; I'll be damned if I continue kowtowing to a company that cares so little about our community.

If they want to talk, they have my phone number and e-mail address. I'm more than willing to hear them out but I'm done kissing up. They blew their opportunity to have me grovelling to them, offering whatever concessions they probably would have asked for. At this point, they'll have to make it worth my time, not the other way around. Personally, I doubt the company's financial stability, so I figure that we might have a decent chance to get City of Heroes back at fire sale prices when they have a significant change in management or when their company is stripped of its assets and sold off to someone else. Until then, we've got a lot of work to do.

Dont recall anyone saying an emulator was illegal but we are talking about the illegal emulators. You know the ones that break actual laws like copyright laws and stuff.

If it was that good and easy to do as someone made it seems, I havea feeling it would have been ready to be up and running now with not much, and as someone pointed out, many people on the Titan network advised against it and Titan is not endorsing it? Why not? But in a way it was already obvious since they didnt remove the emulator that is planning on using illegal methods then it would seem they would endorse an illegal emulator. And if it is so legal and safe, then why not endorse it and or get to work on it? Either way I want to see this emulator just so I can see what NCSoft does, especially if it's the illegal type. I wonder what the Titan Forum's residence lawyer have to say about this illegal emulator thing that is being planned there, and I'm not talking about using the base I'm talking about the planned one that is talking about a direct copy of everything possible, even stuff that may or may not be trademarked and or under copyright.

And I guess NCsoft is suppose to answer to Titan now or else face the "wrath of god" if they dont answer when Titan says and how they want an answer? lmao. With that attitude, I really really wonder why they dont want anything to do with Titan or anything that appears to be coming from them or is replying to them. Go ahead and turn up the "heat" on them, I dont mind a little entertainment. I doubt it will convince them to all of a sudden reply "As your service, master." Probably more like "Dang, another email from these Titan nutcases. Put them on the ignore list with PETA and Al Qaeda. We dont want to get caught talking to them."

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Originally Posted by mauk2 Evil_Legacy became one of my favorite posters with two words. "Kick Rocks." I laffed so hard. Never change, E_L!

Heh, i may be having a bad writing day with not properly wording replies.

I was describing the differences between that case and what's happening here, with CoX that will soon to be no longer be running and NCSoft not having as large a coffer as Blizzard and if the people involved small enough, may result in NCSoft not bothering with them.

It wasn't meant as a how-to instruction for skirting the law.