Rockstar: GTA 5 Let's Plays Good, Spoilers Bad

IanDavis

Blue Blaze Irregular 1st Class
Aug 18, 2012
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Rockstar: GTA 5 Let's Plays Good, Spoilers Bad



Rockstar details exactly what videos will get taken down and what won't.

A general rule on the internet is that when you tell someone not to do something, five more start doing it too. Even with a big stick like the [a href=http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf]DMCA[/a], it can be an unwinnable game of whack-a-mole for even the largest corporation. Even so, Rockstar's laying down the rules for videos from its fresh-off-the-line crime simulator Grand Theft Auto V. In short, Let's Plays are fine, but spoilers will get you flagged for removal.

There are three main things that will get a GTA 5 video pulled. First, no footage of any kind, even an unboxing, before the official release date. Second, in-game entertainment, like the TV shows, will also get pulled, as Rockstar claims that it would "prefer fans to experience these in the context of the game's world". Lastly, anything involving spoilers, including ending videos and cutscene montages.

Now, Rockstar makes an exception for the spoilers rule to allow for Let's Plays. As long as it includes narration, or is part of a larger gameplay video, it's ok to post. Also, it's not cool to take a screenshot and slap it on a t-shirt and sell it, but that should go without saying. Of course, Rockstar also maintains the right to change these rules however they please, just in case anyone gets too clever for themselves.

Most of the rules seem pretty standard, but it seems pretty common to post the ending videos. We'll just have to wait and see how these rules play out in the long run.

Source: [a href=http://support.rockstargames.com/hc/en-us/articles/200153756-Policy-on-posting-copyrighted-Rockstar-Games-material]Rockstar[/a]

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Glaice

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Mar 18, 2013
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Those two last reasons are a heap of crap if you ask me. The first is perfectly understandable with release date and all.
 

s_h_a_d_o

Mr Propellerhead
Jun 15, 2010
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A pity Rockstar doesn't apply the same conditions to some of the online reviews. :/
 

Lance Icarus

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Oct 12, 2007
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I think it's a great set of rules. More importantly, Rockstar actually made their rules clear to everybody. This is the kind of thing Nintendo really needs to do.
 

ClockworkUniverse

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Nov 15, 2012
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I was a bit upset until I got to the bit where the spoilers were allowable in Let's Plays. I'm glad that if they were going to impose restrictions, they took the time to think about how they should work and explain them thoroughly.
 

Roxas1359

Burn, Burn it All!
Aug 8, 2009
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Really though I'm glad that Rockstar is allowing the Let's Plays to be okay for now. Wish other companies would do that. Now all the YouTube LPers have to worry about is every other types of Copyright on YouTube because the YouTube system is broken beyond all belief. >.>
 

VanQ

Casual Plebeian
Oct 23, 2009
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Neronium said:
I'm guessing these don't apply to people who don't upload to YouTube, seeing as xXKurantXx on Game Anyone has been LPing GTA V since Friday, although they did give him a reviewers copy just like how Volition gave dsR07mm a copy of Saints Row IV a few weeks before release and how Mangg received a copy of Skyrim from Bethesda 2 weeks before it was released to the public.

Really though I'm glad that Rockstar is allowing the Let's Plays to be okay for now. Wish other companies would do that. Now all the YouTube LPers have to worry about is every other types of Copyright on YouTube because the YouTube system is broken beyond all belief. >.>
Did you even read the article? It says right there that Lets Plays are allowed as long as it's part of a greater gameplay video. So they have no need to worry about copyright claims from Rockstar.
 

TheIceQueen

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Sep 15, 2013
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Well, that sounds pretty reasonable. It's certainly a lot better than how most companies treat LPers.
 

Roxas1359

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Aug 8, 2009
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VanQ said:
Neronium said:
I'm guessing these don't apply to people who don't upload to YouTube, seeing as xXKurantXx on Game Anyone has been LPing GTA V since Friday, although they did give him a reviewers copy just like how Volition gave dsR07mm a copy of Saints Row IV a few weeks before release and how Mangg received a copy of Skyrim from Bethesda 2 weeks before it was released to the public.

Really though I'm glad that Rockstar is allowing the Let's Plays to be okay for now. Wish other companies would do that. Now all the YouTube LPers have to worry about is every other types of Copyright on YouTube because the YouTube system is broken beyond all belief. >.>
Did you even read the article? It says right there that Lets Plays are allowed as long as it's part of a greater gameplay video. So they have no need to worry about copyright claims from Rockstar.
I did, but in my defense things weren't processing correctly. It's currently 11 where I'm at and my brain is sorta fried. :p
I'll edit it later. It's good Rockstar is allowing LPs in this case since there are many game developers that seem to enjoy stopping them. *glares at SEGA for Shining Force removal*

But also while they don't have to worry about it from Rockstar, there are still false flaggers on YouTube that unfortunately succeed in getting people strikes. I know I've had to deal with more false flaggers when it comes to my LPs than the actual companies that made the game. Only 1 time did the actual company who made the game post a 3rd Party Content Maych ID on my video, and ironically it was a trailer I had made to announce my newest LP at the time. So, I just took it down since the game that trailer was about was already done. :p
 

Charli

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Nov 23, 2008
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This is actually fairly reasonable, and at least they have laid down the law BEFORE going on youtube rampages with youtube's auto flag system and clamming up when people cry foul without so much as a chicken bone of explanation thrown to the masses.

Sega.

Yes.

I'm looking at you Sega.

No we haven't forgotten about that yet.

They've left elbow room for lets players and all that needs to happen is some good audio management to make sure the narration is the focal point of the video and not the game footage/audio. Obviously any decent lets-player paces themselves with game content to make sure a good many gamers have completed the games campaign first, so that should be no issue for the pros.
 

Icehearted

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Jul 14, 2009
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Good. Let the little fucks that love spoiling shit because "lol it's just a game, deal with it" get smacked down. I paid $60 bucks to play the game and enjoy it, not just go through the motions already knowing what was in front of me because some dense little fuckstick felt like telling me everything because he just felt like being a fucker.

I'm fine if spoilers are clearly marked, or better yet left in threads explicitly for this kind of thing. Outside of that I just feel cheated, like I'm being forced to play the game under some other bastard's conditions. Shit's been spoiled for me before, it didn't ruing the game, but it ruined the experience.

Here's hoping Rockstar has enough pineapples to cram up some asses when asses act like asses.

s'cuse me, I need a xanax now... not even kidding.
 

Teoes

Poof, poof, sparkles!
Jun 1, 2010
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Give it, what, six months to a year before Youtube is full of unmolested videos containing spoilers, cutscenes and footage of in-game entertainment? Surely after this amount of time people should just stop caring. Great about the LPs though; it's nice that they're progressive enough to see that that can be used a good thing to help sales. Free advertising, right Nintendo?
 

josemlopes

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Jun 9, 2008
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I prefer if they let people post the videos but with clear indication that it had spoilers then "NO SPOILERS FOR EVERYONE", but I see what they are saying. To be honest I havent watched much because even certain features I almost consider spoilers since I want to experience them first hand
 

Strazdas

Robots will replace your job
May 28, 2011
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Wait? what? escapists agree that we should let them dictate rules of what we can upldo to youtube now? what is this i dont even? they have absolutely no right to dictate what game footage i upload on youtube. then again, we already got DCMA which in itself shouldnt be legal to begin with. not to mention that they now can prettym uch flag and remove anything they want - the purest form of censorship possible.

And if you dont want to see spoilers, why are you watching a video walktrough? oh your not? then i guess you wont see thep soilers in one, why are you raging?
 

-Dragmire-

King over my mind
Mar 29, 2011
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Charli said:
This is actually fairly reasonable, and at least they have laid down the law BEFORE going on youtube rampages with youtube's auto flag system and clamming up when people cry foul without so much as a chicken bone of explanation thrown to the masses.

Sega.

Yes.

I'm looking at you Sega.

No we haven't forgotten about that yet.

They've left elbow room for lets players and all that needs to happen is some good audio management to make sure the narration is the focal point of the video and not the game footage/audio. Obviously any decent lets-player paces themselves with game content to make sure a good many gamers have completed the games campaign first, so that should be no issue for the pros.
Sigh, nothing happened with that yet has it? Still can't get my head around taking down Let's Play's and fan made promotional material because a new title in the series is coming out (At least, that's the theory. No official word from Sega on the matter when I last heard about this).
 

putowtin

I'd like to purchase an alcohol!
Jul 7, 2010
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So fans of your game make videos that inspire people to go out and buy your game and you take them down?
Genius!
 

Subscriptism

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May 5, 2012
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What are they fucking Nazis? No unboxing? That's insane you bought the damn thing and yo aren't allowed to show it to people?

I'm not even going to try point out the other things wrong with this, better people will do and have done. I'll just say that rockstar clearly haven't seen how little was gained from things like this in the past.
 

TheEvilCheese

Cheesey.
Dec 16, 2008
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Subscriptism said:
What are they fucking Nazis? No unboxing? That's insane you bought the damn thing and yo aren't allowed to show it to people?

I'm not even going to try point out the other things wrong with this, better people will do and have done. I'll just say that rockstar clearly haven't seen how little was gained from things like this in the past.
Not what they said at all, they said no unboxing before the official release. They didn't want any footage up pre-release so as not to encourage view-whoring on ad supported channels by being the "World first GTAV unboxing" or whatever. At least, that's what it seems like to me. They really wanted to discourage leaked copies.

Post-release the only thing getting vids pulled is full spoilers, and let's be honest, in a month or two they wont care about those any more. That said, blocking spoilers is pretty damn stupid. If people want to be spoiled they will be, if they don't they wont go looking for spoilers. Don't treat us like babies.

It seems like a fairly reasonable response compared to all the other pieces of news on similar subjects of late.
 

Phrozenflame500

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Dec 26, 2012
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Oh fuck off Rockstar. If I wanted to spoil myself of the ending before I get there to see how what happens I should be able to watch a video not just check the wikipedia page.

Just because this is more reasonable then, say, SEGA doesn't mean it's any less unjustifiable.