Rockstar Speaks Out On OpenIV Shutdown

ffronw

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Oct 24, 2013
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Rockstar Speaks Out On OpenIV Shutdown

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1379/1379204.jpgRockstar says that Take-Two dropped the hammer on OpenIV because it was enabling malicious mods for GTA Online.

Popular Grand Theft Auto modding tool OpenIV was recently shut down [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/170569-GTA-Mod-Tool-OpenIV-Gets-Cease-and-Desist-from-Take-Two] due to a cease and desist from Take-Two. Now GTA developer Rockstar has spoken out on the matter, and says that the decision was made because OpenIV was enabling "malicious mods" for GTA Online.

In a statement provided to PC Gamer [http://www.pcgamer.com/heres-rockstars-statement-about-take-two-shutting-down-gtas-openiv-modding-tool/], the developer says,

"Take-Two's actions were not specifically targeting single player mods. Unfortunately OpenIV enables recent malicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with the GTA Online experience for everybody. We are working to figure out how we can continue to support the creative community without negatively impacting our players"

Obviously, this leaves some question as to what the future of GTA modding will look like, but Rockstar has yet to clarify or expand on what sort of plans it may have. If you already have OpenIV it seems to still be working. If you don't already have it, it is no longer downloadable from its website.

If Rockstar clarifies any further, we'll let you know.

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TilMorrow

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Jul 7, 2010
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Unfortunately OpenIV enables recent malicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with the GTA Online experience for everybody. We are working to figure out how we can continue to support the creative community without negatively impacting our players.
"So we thought shutting down the only legitimate and open modding software that actually has the least functionality for affecting online instead of contacting said team and exploring how they used the code and identifying where online restrictions could be enabled whilst we continue debating how to deal with hackers who mainly use different software from OpenIV or their own code bases to hack the online public servers. We will also continue to punish players who are given hacked cash against their will as well as players who happen to be in the vicinity of a hacker and was the only one reported at the time."
 

Bobular

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Oct 7, 2009
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If the people behind the mod are willing to stop because they were told to by Rockstar, I'm going to guess they'll be more willing to put in things so that it can't effect multiplayer so people can keep their single player mods. Sounds like Rockstar have just gone in hard and fast with the cease and desist and only stopped to think about it when it damaged their reputation.
 

JenSeven

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Oct 19, 2010
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From what I understand, OpenIV explicitly claims they do not endorse mods that affect GTA:O, and really only want mods that enhance the Single Player. I think the cheating in GTA:O comes from several other sources.

Bobular said:
Sounds like Rockstar have just gone in hard and fast with the cease and desist and only stopped to think about it when it damaged their reputation.
It wasn't Rockstar that did it. It was Take-Two Interactive, the publisher.
They sent a rather badly worded message to the people behind OpenIV to tell them to stop.
Rockstar here is just trying to limit the damage that Take-Two has done.

I really feel sorry for Rockstar here, for being stuck with a publisher that has its head stuck so far up its own arse that they can't even write a normal cease-and-desist letter.

And not just that. If you are a Let's-Player, and you put your Let's-Play of a GTA game on Youtube, Take-Two will flag it and claim all add-revenue from your video. No matter if it is a transformative work.
 

Setch Dreskar

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Mar 28, 2011
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Nile McMorrow said:
Unfortunately OpenIV enables recent malicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with the GTA Online experience for everybody. We are working to figure out how we can continue to support the creative community without negatively impacting our players.
"So we thought shutting down the only legitimate and open modding software that actually has the least functionality for affecting online instead of contacting said team and exploring how they used the code and identifying where online restrictions could be enabled whilst we continue debating how to deal with hackers who mainly use different software from OpenIV or their own code bases to hack the online public servers. We will also continue to punish players who are given hacked cash against their will as well as players who happen to be in the vicinity of a hacker and was the only one reported at the time."
+50 points.
 

Covarr

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May 29, 2009
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I get the impression that Rockstar isn't any happier about this than us, and that they would've worded that a lot less gracefully toward T2 if it wouldn't have gotten them in trouble.

P.S. Thanks
 

Setch Dreskar

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Mar 28, 2011
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Bobular said:
If the people behind the mod are willing to stop because they were told to by Rockstar, I'm going to guess they'll be more willing to put in things so that it can't effect multiplayer so people can keep their single player mods. Sounds like Rockstar have just gone in hard and fast with the cease and desist and only stopped to think about it when it damaged their reputation.
The thing about OpenIV was that it was impossible for it to affect the multiplayer, in fact the team bent over backwards to make sure the system could never be used to mess with it. This smacks more of coming up with an excuse after the fact to justify Take Two's bad behavior and not much more than that.
 

Xorph

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Aug 24, 2010
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Setch Dreskar said:
Bobular said:
If the people behind the mod are willing to stop because they were told to by Rockstar, I'm going to guess they'll be more willing to put in things so that it can't effect multiplayer so people can keep their single player mods. Sounds like Rockstar have just gone in hard and fast with the cease and desist and only stopped to think about it when it damaged their reputation.
The thing about OpenIV was that it was impossible for it to affect the multiplayer, in fact the team bent over backwards to make sure the system could never be used to mess with it. This smacks more of coming up with an excuse after the fact to justify Take Two's bad behavior and not much more than that.
Of course, there's always the possibility that some hacker recently found a workaround in IV's code and was exploiting it to affect GTAO. That seems to be what Rockstar's saying, at least.
 

Bobular

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Oct 7, 2009
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JenSeven said:
Bobular said:
Sounds like Rockstar have just gone in hard and fast with the cease and desist and only stopped to think about it when it damaged their reputation.
It wasn't Rockstar that did it. It was Take-Two Interactive, the publisher.
They sent a rather badly worded message to the people behind OpenIV to tell them to stop.
Rockstar here is just trying to limit the damage that Take-Two has done.
My bad, I put Rockstar because when I scrolled up to check which one was responsible the articles title had Rockstar in it and I didn't re-read the article[footnote]In my defense I've not had much sleep the last few days[/footnote].

Setch Dreskar said:
Bobular said:
If the people behind the mod are willing to stop because they were told to by Rockstar, I'm going to guess they'll be more willing to put in things so that it can't effect multiplayer so people can keep their single player mods. Sounds like Rockstar have just gone in hard and fast with the cease and desist and only stopped to think about it when it damaged their reputation.
The thing about OpenIV was that it was impossible for it to affect the multiplayer, in fact the team bent over backwards to make sure the system could never be used to mess with it. This smacks more of coming up with an excuse after the fact to justify Take Two's bad behavior and not much more than that.
I've never actually modded GTA[footnote]I just believe that it should be a consumer right to be able to mod the single player part of a game you've purchased[/footnote] so I don't know much about the mod its self, but the way Rockstar's message is worded it seemed as if they were targeting it because it could effect multiplayer, if you're telling me that it already can't effect multiplayer then I agree with you that this sounds like Rockstar making excuses for Take Two.
 

Zydrate

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Apr 1, 2009
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I never actually modded GTA. I never even beat the campaign so there wasn't exactly a shortage of stuff for me to do. When I watch modded videos it's mostly sandboxy nonsense that doesn't really add actual content. Mostly just people jumping super high, one-hit KO'ing tanks with fists, and reskinning everything into an unrecognizable and ugly mess. Not really my jam.

Online used to be a ton of fun but I can't even play it now without someone plating a campfire in my chest (Which kills me every 20 seconds) or exploding cars drop on top of me.

Best in private, friend-bound sessions but the gaming community I'm in does not play it consistently. I'd love to do some Cunning Stunts, Frogger, or any number of things that Achievement Hunter does but everyone just... doesn't.
 

Laughing Man

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Oct 10, 2008
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"Take-Two's actions were not specifically targeting single player mods. Unfortunately OpenIV enables recent malicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with the GTA Online experience for everybody. We are working to figure out how we can continue to support the creative community without negatively impacting our players"
Lol, what little respect I had for Rockstar as a developer has been utterly blown away this week, this week will go down as the marker for why I will never buy another GTA game again. Not only did Rockstar Squat over my console and release the utter spew of diarrhetic crap that was the Gunrunning DLC, a DLC that managed to some how triple down on grinding and stupid spending for weapons and equipment that range for stupidly pointless to game breakingly OP they then utterly lost ANY spine they had by towing the T2 line and giving us the BS rhetoric about how they dropped the hammer on Open IV 'because it allowed people to do malicious things in online'.

Put simply and this is coming from a day one player who owned the game on both PS3 and PS4 and until a month ago was still playing GTA Online on a regular basis.

Fuck you Take 2, Fuck you Rockstar, Fuck you GTA.
 

MetaJoy

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Jun 17, 2017
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All it is it smoke and mirrors. The greed driven skuz balls at T2 thought they had a clever idea about ruining the single player experience in the hopes that people would stop playing it and switch to the online mode. They must have thought they could get away with it because they have such a poor opinion of their customer base, compounded with such high a opinion of their own infallibility, that they thought nothing of consequence could come from "people" so far beneath them. Well T2 is starting to feel the sting now as the massive hands of public opinion have them bent over a barrel, learning the meaning of "pushed in" (Overwhelmingly Negative on Steam!). I just can't wait to see what happens when their investors start to get skittish from the drop in popularity of their biggest product and start to sell off their stock before it takes another dive like it did in May!
 

Nimbus

Token Irish Guy
Oct 22, 2008
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Even if this were true, and it most likely isn't, fraudulent copyright claims are not an acceptable way to secure your online services.
 

Smithnikov_v1legacy

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May 7, 2016
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Well, nice coward move there, Rockstar. Damn you all. Never buying from you or TT ever again for this shit. I don't care if you offer Manhunt 3 and We Are the Mods for a buck.
 

FalloutJack

Bah weep grah nah neep ninny bom
Nov 20, 2008
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Already debunked by Jim Sterling and probably every other person reporting on this.

Care to try again?
 

Truehare

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Nov 2, 2009
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"We are working to figure out how we can continue to support the creative community[...]"

That, for me, explains everything. I'll bet we can expect a modding tool from Rockstar or Take Two in the near future, and that's the real reason why they preemptively shut down the competititon.

And, the way things are going, they will do everything they can to make the mods made with their own tool paid mods.

Hope I'm wrong, but with the daily shitshow we've seen coming from this industry in the recent past, am I really that far off the mark?
 

JenSeven

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Oct 19, 2010
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Truehare said:
"We are working to figure out how we can continue to support the creative community[...]"

That, for me, explains everything. I'll bet we can expect a modding tool from Rockstar or Take Two in the near future, and that's the real reason why they preemptively shut down the competititon.

And, the way things are going, they will do everything they can to make the mods made with their own tool paid mods.

Hope I'm wrong, but with the daily shitshow we've seen coming from this industry in the recent past, am I really that far off the mark?
Interesting take, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
Also, it was Take2 that did it, not Rockstar.

But yeah, it seems like an industry standard to first salt the earth and get everyone pissed off and worked up about something, and then releasing their own version of it, expecting everyone to forgive and forget all the nonsense and crap that they just did.