Atlus Issues Threat to Players who Stream Too Far Into Persona 5

[TheMysteriousGX]

You know, if they just wanted a cut of the ad revenue, I could get behind that, but this is asinine.

Between this and what some folks I respect are saying about the characterization, I figure this isn't the time for me to try starting the Persona franchise.

 

[sXeth]

On the one hand, yeah. The basic spirit of the statement is a noble enough intent. "We worked hard on crafting this piece of work and want it enjoyed as we intended to present it.".

On the other hand, you're abusing a system in a way that has nothing to do with its actual spirit. And not really achieving your sated aim either. Are they going to DMCA every forum that has a spoiler discussion thread too? Reviews that slip too many details in? Etc. Is an Atlus SWAT team going to break in the windows of a moving bus to silence someone discussing it with their friend?

The timing of the announcement/threat is a bit of a d*** move too. If an LPer or streamer did buy the game primarily for their professional endeavour, they only got told this after doing so. Some this won't matter too. But some probably operate on budgets (both fiscal and timewise), and may have slotted Persona into their schedule/finances rather then another game, and now have their channel affected by missing content. Sure, you can play the game offline for itself. But you could also have been playing a different game online and paying the bills.

 

[sageoftruth]

On the one hand, Atlus are acting like unnecessary and short sighted jerks.

On the other, I can't stand JRPG elitists and this will send them into a tizzy....

What to do, what to do...

JRPG Elitists? I'm surprised they're still a thing. I thought JRPGs were currently struggling to stay relevant. I mean, we've still got lovely gems like the game in question, but I was under the impression that the genre in general stopped being regarded as awesome after the PS2 era. Still, that can cause some elitists to just cling even tighter to their pride.

 

[SD-Fiend]

And there's already two big spoiler bosses in the basic search results.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

I can't wait for the next Jimquisition episode because you can bet your ass this is going to be a major part of it.

 

[RaikuFA]

I can't wait for the next Jimquisition episode because you can bet your ass this is going to be a major part of it.

Funny thing, the second I finish reading this post I get a notification of a new Jimquisition and it's on this subject.

 

[ElPolloDiablo657]

The ONLY and I mean ONLY reason I bought/have any interest in playing Persona 5 is because I watched an entire almost 200 hour let's play of 4.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

I can't wait for the next Jimquisition episode because you can bet your ass this is going to be a major part of it.

I can't wait for the next Jimquisition episode because you can bet your ass this is going to be a major part of it.

Funny thing, the second I finish reading this post I get a notification of a new Jimquisition and it's on this subject.

Guess this story warranted an early release. He really is fast on the ball isn't he?

Spoiler: Vid here

 

[hermes]

I'm not sure if this is Atlus saying "Youtube's copyright policy is bullshit, so limit your videos to protect your channel," or Atlus saying, "hey, don't be a dick, don't spoil the game for others."

If you read the original notification, you get the distinct impression that this is Atlus saying "The story is the main draw of the game, so if people watch enough videos of it, they will have no need/interest in buying the game themselves"... basically, youtubers == pirates, and lets play in youtube == entire movies in youtube.

Of course, this is foolish, since "lets play" are rarely just video dumps and youtube content is a huge source of awareness for a videogame... In fact, I would say they owe a lot of the success of Persona 4 in the west to word of mouth, lets play and endurance runs. Atlus trying to control the conversation in perpetuity during one of the busiest March in years only assures the game is released with little fanfare, and these backward policies dominate the conversation instead of the content of the game.

This being a Japanese title with a single-playthrough story means our masters in Japan are very wary about it...

This couldn't be worded better if it were satire.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Question: Does this rule affect Let Plays? 'Cause I don't have a PS4, and since I'm rather impatient, this is the only way I can see the game at the moment...

 

[SomeGuyOnHisComputer]

I really didn't care that much about P5 (mostly because I don't know much about it). Hell, I don't even really watch streams/lets plays. So maybe I should be keep my big mouth shut, but I can't tolerate this kind of shit. Like on my mental list of game companies, they just took a noes dive from one of the good ones to "probably better off not even being in the games industry" tier. Like EA or Activision level shit. Fuck em. I honestly wouldn't mind seeing some sort of protest with LPers and streamers uploading their playthroughs to sites that Atlus has no control over.

Maybe I should explain why this annoys me so much. It's because I genuinely think video game footage is better off being in a "wild west" area or even outright public domain. Dictating what footage people can feature opens the door to stifling criticism. I understand that's not the intention here, but tolerating it sets a precedent.

At any rate, if I do end up developing an interest in P5, I'll have to remember to buy it used.

 

[4Aces]

Also is content ID something you can just brandish like a flail now? Publicly?

I think they are specifically targeting YouTube, when you can just wave you hands in the air and claim ownership and YT panics and takes the video down. This kind of BS logic would not survive Twitch, unless their TOS has changed significantly in the last year. There are rules for spoilers, but streaming is far too established for a game company to try this. It sounds more like they want to hide the quality of the ending(s) and not the ending(s) itself (themselves).

 

[Foolery]

Huh. Kind of a bad move on Atlus' part. At the same time though, people are assholes when it comes to spoilers.

 

[BrawlMan]

Atlus, your fan base aren't dumb-asses and I expected better from you. I expect this shit from companies like Nintendo, or some small name, huge ego, butt fuck developer from Steam Greenlight, not you. If you are so worried about spoilers, where was all this concern when Persona 4 and Catherine were out. There were plenty of full playthroughs of those games. Why do you care all of a sudden now? We don't need another video game company abusing the copyright system for petty reason. People know how to avoid spoilers, and there are other video sites other than YouTube, where people can place their full Let's Plays on.