NCSoft, y u no more like Hasbro?
By
Another_Fan,
Posted on: 2012-11-14 16:06 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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Well, that means that anyone can develop for the console without having to get licensed for it, so it is a slightly different case. |
Originally Posted by Coyote_Seven
From Wikipedia:
After the Atari Corporation properties were bought out by Hasbro Interactive in the late 1990s, Hasbro released the rights to the Jaguar, declaring the console an open platform and opening the doors for homebrew development. The Jaguar was legally theirs and they would have been within their rights to just sit on it and let it rot while preventing its fans from (legally) enjoying it ever again. But they officially let it go, thus spreading more joy and happiness into the world (not that they're not already a source of fun and joy with all the games and toys they make). Why can't that sort of thing happen more often? |
Also, the people are not allowed to use the Atari Logo, or say that they are authorised or approved by Hasbro.
So there are limitations on it.
And as far as I am aware, no-one is allowed to develop a *clone* of the Jaguar either.
So whilst I can see where you are coming from, it is a different case for it.
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Well, once NCSoft was done with CoH, they could have officially declared the server and client code as "open source" and allowed anyone to play with it or use it however they wanted. I seem to recall that happening in the past, though not with an MMO that I can recall.
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Originally Posted by Gangrel_EU
Well, that means that anyone can develop for the console without having to get licensed for it, so it is a slightly different case.
Also, the people are not allowed to use the Atari Logo, or say that they are authorised or approved by Hasbro. So there are limitations on it. And as far as I am aware, no-one is allowed to develop a *clone* of the Jaguar either. So whilst I can see where you are coming from, it is a different case for it. |
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I don't think they can. They didn't own the game engine, and I'm sure some of the server-side stuff is from the Cryptic side as well.
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Originally Posted by Coyote_Seven
Well, once NCSoft was done with CoH, they could have officially declared the server and client code as "open source" and allowed anyone to play with it or use it however they wanted. I seem to recall that happening in the past, though not with an MMO that I can recall.
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"I do so love taking a nice, well thought out character and putting them through hell. It's like tossing a Faberge Egg onto the stage during a Gallagher concert." - me
@Palador / @Rabid Unicorn
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Considering that Cryptic still owns the engine, NCSoft couldn't do this even if they wanted to.
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Originally Posted by Coyote_Seven
Well, once NCSoft was done with CoH, they could have officially declared the server and client code as "open source" and allowed anyone to play with it or use it however they wanted. I seem to recall that happening in the past, though not with an MMO that I can recall.
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Originally Posted by Rabid_M
I don't think they can. They didn't own the game engine, and I'm sure some of the server-side stuff is from the Cryptic side as well.
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Originally Posted by Brillig
Considering that Cryptic still owns the engine, NCSoft couldn't do this even if they wanted to.
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From what I can remember being said on these forums when the "engine licensing" was brought up, was that NCsoft had been licensed it in perpetuity for City of Heroes and also for a 2nd MMO.|
Originally Posted by Coyote_Seven
I was never clear on how that arrangement came to be, as I knew the modern Cryptic Engine used in CO and STO is not what is used in CoH. Well... bummer!
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If NCsoft are allowed to "release it to the masses" is another thing, one which I believe that only Cryptic are allowed to authorise.
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If they did, it would be an interesting move on their part. Good PR from the masses, and a nice kick at NC Soft, all in one.
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Originally Posted by Gangrel_EU
If NCsoft are allowed to "release it to the masses" is another thing, one which I believe that only Cryptic are allowed to authorise.
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"I do so love taking a nice, well thought out character and putting them through hell. It's like tossing a Faberge Egg onto the stage during a Gallagher concert." - me
@Palador / @Rabid Unicorn
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Well for one thing preventing people from developing for a platform involves much work and is often on shaky legal ground.
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Originally Posted by Coyote_Seven
From Wikipedia:
After the Atari Corporation properties were bought out by Hasbro Interactive in the late 1990s, Hasbro released the rights to the Jaguar, declaring the console an open platform and opening the doors for homebrew development. The Jaguar was legally theirs and they would have been within their rights to just sit on it and let it rot while preventing its fans from (legally) enjoying it ever again. But they officially let it go, thus spreading more joy and happiness into the world (not that they're not already a source of fun and joy with all the games and toys they make). Why can't that sort of thing happen more often? |
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Actually, it would have to be PWE, since Cryptic is a subsidiary now too. And open-sourcing the engine wouldn't do much other than make it possible for NCSoft to release the server software - everything that Paragon built on top of Cryptic's engine is not under PWE's control.
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Originally Posted by Rabid_M
If they did, it would be an interesting move on their part. Good PR from the masses, and a nice kick at NC Soft, all in one.
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I was under the impression that Cryptic sold the engine to NcSoft awhile back.
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No, it was licensed. Cryptic still owns it. (Or now PWE)
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Originally Posted by blackjak
I was under the impression that Cryptic sold the engine to NcSoft awhile back.
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Ryzom (aka Ring of Ryzom, if you go back to its original name) is a MMO that released its source code irrc.
And much like the Jaguar, it is only of interest to a very small group of enthusiasts.
This is the kind of stuff I'm actually hoping for at this point.
I know NCsoft is done with it. Whether they bury it or not remains to be seen. I like to think that Cryptic/PWE would be willing to see the engine become freeware or abandonware since none of their other games use it, but in the end, who knows?
I just know I'm going to miss my Paragon City, and the great Dev team that seemed to be churning out better and better stuff all the time.
However, even without that kind of support and the updates, I'd like to see it continue on in some way. There's always character concepts to be built, friends to play with, and a city in need of saving... or controlling...
These things should be put in the hands of those who are willing to keep it going. Even before this was announced, my secret wish was that if they ever closed it, they'd allow private hosting for solo or group play. I have my SG mates that still love playing and making characters, and frankly I could spend hours at a time myself just soloing with new character ideas... and it just kept getting better and better... Even then, I'd be just as happy with what I had, and would be happy with just what is (especially if they just let them release I-24)...
Sorry, this is why I don't post. Getting emotional now. Anyway, I think you all got my point...
"I play characters. I have to have a very strong visual appearance, backstory, name, etc. to get involved with a character, otherwise I simply won't play it very long. I'm not an RPer by any stretch of the imagination, but character concept is very important for me."- Back Alley Brawler
I couldn't agree more.
It can often be very very difficult to turn something that was one proprietary into Open Source.
Invariably, proprietary software tends by its nature to have bits and bobs bolted on that have licences or patents attached. Something like a game engine strikes me as being very difficult to acheive OS on
With the added complication of the Cryptic engine - which I am pretty sure is only licenced, but in perpetuity from Cryptic - it would be almost impossible to do.
Generally, Open Source projects tend to start life as OS, and once released under the GPL it's probably harder to turn them closed source (but there's less imperative too)
Even if NCSoft wanted to do this, I cannot see them being able to - and in fact it probably would be a wrong move at this stage. If they did, there could well be a lot of mini-CoH projects fire up (Hamlet of Heroes?) which would weaken the game community and structure and hold no hope for Paragon Studios and those who lost their job.
Far better from a practical POV to reboot Paragon Studios as a single entity and let them republish teh game.
Thelonious Monk
From Wikipedia:
After the Atari Corporation properties were bought out by Hasbro Interactive in the late 1990s, Hasbro released the rights to the Jaguar, declaring the console an open platform and opening the doors for homebrew development.
The Jaguar was legally theirs and they would have been within their rights to just sit on it and let it rot while preventing its fans from (legally) enjoying it ever again. But they officially let it go, thus spreading more joy and happiness into the world (not that they're not already a source of fun and joy with all the games and toys they make). Why can't that sort of thing happen more often?