Aye, sad to say this mod will continue to spread by backhand deals and limewire peer to peer torrents. something that burst onto the scene like this can't just fade quietly.
Morrowind 2011 Mod Collection Pulled After Complaints
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
I'm at a lack for words here. Ok, so all these mods were created by modders and offered up to the community to use as they see fit right? I mean, you can personally just go and download each and everyone of them separately an achieve the same result that this guy did. Then, wanting to share his joy with others such as these modders were originally doing, he releases a pack of these mods, nothing in which he claims except for the way to put them together. Sounds really stupid to me. I mean, all he really has to do is release his instructions online along with where to download each mod. That will make it a little less convenient for everyone but would end up in the same exact result. I just don't see any kind of reason for a problem here. All these modders are over reacting to this way to much. It's not like you need permission from them to go and download each mod individually, assuming they are all still provided online by the modders themselves. That is the only way I see a problem at all with this. I just don't understand some people.
Um, he did put one up. Which is exactly why this is the stupidest thing to happen this year so far.Eri said:
I love how everyone is obsessed with the fact that no money was lost.
So fucking what? The money isn't the issue in the slightest.
If someone took my work without asking, stuck it in a compilation with loads of other people's work and then put their own name in obvious prominent positions while leaving mine in the credits that no-one reads, then I'd be damn well pissed off too and, even though I'd have been perfectly happy for them to use it if they'd asked in the first place, once they'd done all that without bothering to ask I'd withhold my permission for them to use it just like these modders are.
So fucking what? The money isn't the issue in the slightest.
If someone took my work without asking, stuck it in a compilation with loads of other people's work and then put their own name in obvious prominent positions while leaving mine in the credits that no-one reads, then I'd be damn well pissed off too and, even though I'd have been perfectly happy for them to use it if they'd asked in the first place, once they'd done all that without bothering to ask I'd withhold my permission for them to use it just like these modders are.
How do these modders have any legal standpoint here to tell this guy how he can handle their material? Last time I checked Bethesda owns all the rights to the game, allowing people to make mods for zero financial reward.
This sounds to me like the modders are thinking of financial reward here.
Tyler Smith of Alberta would be in good conscience to get legal advice on this matter, find out every single modder that is pulling this legal snafu and getting Bethesda in on this.
This sounds to me like the modders are thinking of financial reward here.
Tyler Smith of Alberta would be in good conscience to get legal advice on this matter, find out every single modder that is pulling this legal snafu and getting Bethesda in on this.
It's a creative work, thus covered under copy-right. Besides, the legal ramifications aren't and shouldn't be the issue here - more that you're promoting the use of others work without their permission.Eri said:
You claimed the collaboration was a "mod", the implication was strong.FredTheUndead said:
According to the news post they contacted him through e-mail. What, you think they went to new-sites first? A more likely scenario is that the person who put this package together posted he was no longer offering the collection on Morrowind forums, a large discussion began, and news-site such as The Escapist caught wind of it and reported on it. Hardly making a "huge to-do".
The packages are still online, and won't go away. Threatening legal action isn't going to change anything. As a 3D modeler for games like Counter-Strike and Crysis, I can understand wanting some credit for your work, but there's a point where that desire for credit can transition into a rather ugly variety of attention whoring.
These guys need to get the fuck over themselves. If you release something for free online, by nature it's pretty much out of your hands. Even if you release on some "private forum" or whatever for people in some community for some specific game, that file is out of your hands. You can only hope the "readme" or "credits" file travels along with it, if that matters so much.
These guys need to get the fuck over themselves. If you release something for free online, by nature it's pretty much out of your hands. Even if you release on some "private forum" or whatever for people in some community for some specific game, that file is out of your hands. You can only hope the "readme" or "credits" file travels along with it, if that matters so much.
I... don't get it. So these mods are free, right? So the guys who made them would be perfectly happy for people to download them individually. But downloading them at the same time as other mods is somehow a massive problem that warrants everyone turning on the guy who put them together?
Is it that they don't like that he has written instructions on how to install them? That it's implying this is his own work? That the credits aren't comprehensive enough? I genuinely don't understand what they're getting angry about here.
Is it that they don't like that he has written instructions on how to install them? That it's implying this is his own work? That the credits aren't comprehensive enough? I genuinely don't understand what they're getting angry about here.
Ah, but your example has you tying your free thing to a main product, one that you would get paid for. Compare that to mods, where there's really no payment other than internet fame, which is obtained by people knowing about and using your materials. But still, I understand what you're saying.Maze1125 said:
It just seems a little harsh for the developers to threaten immediate legal action for an activity that is somewhat common, the bundling of compatible mods together...
Every modding scene has it's share of drama queens, unfortunately. If an end-user cares who wrote the mods they will look at the credits. Most of the time they won't do that or even look at the name of the person on the download page. I for one don't have a clue who wrote any of the large number of mods I use in Oblivion, FO3, Dragon Age, etc. because I never bothered to look.
I understand that the mod owners were pissed, but personally I think they were overreacting. Isn't the point of modding to make the game better and more varied for yourself and other people? This way, your mods are reaching more people through this compilation than they would have on their own. Oh well, thank god for bittorrent use the bittorent link on the wordpress site if you haven't downloaded it yet.
A question. If the guy had just made a thread on some mod site with his youtube video and then gave all the download links and a detailed explanation of how to get them all to work together, all with credit to the modders of course, would he still be wrong?D_987 said:
My mind is full of fuck. Was someone profiting from this? No? Then we don't have a problem. Seriously it's a pretty safe bet that he got all if them from the mod site which is as we all know free so what in the hell are the modders getting so pissy about. They're mad people don't have to download them one at a time any more?
I'm just not seeing the copyright infringement. He didn't claim the mods were his own, just that this was, in his opinion, the best way to put them all together. I've seen that COUNTLESS times on other games with no issues. The only time it ever did become an issue was when a mod author went through and actively removed any mention of the actual authors. One example being the Jedi Academy mod, Knights of the Force. That guy stole every model, animation, everything to make this mega mod, stripped all credits, and then on top of that included a virus with the package that he finally released. That was wrong - really wrong.
All I see in this situation is a guy with good intentions trying to revitalize interest in an old game. He wasn't scamming anyone, and he wasn't purposefully trying to leave any credits out... so maybe the wolves should have backed off a bit and tried working with him rather than scream at the top of their lungs that it was "ALL WRONG! TAKE IT DOWN NOW!"
Edit: Oh yeah, totally forgot to mention on that KotF mod. The guy was charging a shitload of money for it before it was even released. Scammers like that should rot in hell.
All I see in this situation is a guy with good intentions trying to revitalize interest in an old game. He wasn't scamming anyone, and he wasn't purposefully trying to leave any credits out... so maybe the wolves should have backed off a bit and tried working with him rather than scream at the top of their lungs that it was "ALL WRONG! TAKE IT DOWN NOW!"
Edit: Oh yeah, totally forgot to mention on that KotF mod. The guy was charging a shitload of money for it before it was even released. Scammers like that should rot in hell.
Huh. I can't help but think that the individual modders are being quite silly... anyway... the mod compilation seems to be a single download that comprises a long list of individual mods that could be downloaded and installed (in the correct order, and individually) from here [http://forums.encyclopediadramatica.com/showthread.php?p=321965] for much the same effect.
No, the fact he went out his way to make himself seem more important [his name was specifically mentioned in all the press reports and on the front page of the site holding the explanation; he contacted the press and not the other way around - at least according to this news report] and didn't ask for permission before distributing other peoples work are the issues here - if he linked people to places the modders would want their work downloaded from [and thus people are more likely to see their names etc] I'm sure it'd have been acceptable, especially if he'd gained permission [as every guide like that I've used claims they have done].jboking said:
A: ... why the heck would you not ask? If he'd have asked, problem solved.
B: Hypocrites. Anyone who made a mod of this sort's goal is to improve the game, right? Then a compendium like this would be the ultimate (in graphics, anyway) fulfillment of that goal, and you would think they would be honored to be part of that. Apparently not so much, hmm?
B: Hypocrites. Anyone who made a mod of this sort's goal is to improve the game, right? Then a compendium like this would be the ultimate (in graphics, anyway) fulfillment of that goal, and you would think they would be honored to be part of that. Apparently not so much, hmm?
Thanks for the link, getting it right and and devoting this weekend to playing some new and improved morrowind.Phyroxis said: