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Emulated Servers
jado818
Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 356
Well lets play a hypothetical thought game here. (If this thought game is somehow dangerous to the MMO community feel free to delete)
I'm trying to figure out the legality of emulated servers on older mmo's .. say ones that came out before the digital millenium copyright act.
any smart folks out there that have some lawyerish knowledge?
From my understanding copyright on use only extends to 10 years.. after that you should be able to emulate a game as long as you don't charge for it or make the game client available for download (they still have to buy discs)
So just a few questions is all.. I know emulated servers can be legal.. its just finding the right way to implement them is all.
If anybody know a good resource also would be cool.
Comments
It can't be that illegal, since there is EMUs for: UO, SB, WoW, to name a few... you'd think if a company like the cash krazed Blizz would allow it to exist they must not have a valid legal way to shut it down.
I don't know, but any MMO that old is going to suck once the nostalgia dies down. Even a game as deep as classic Galaxies would struggle to keep me, as it just looks and feels so damn old.
A graphical overhaul, however, would win back many.
As long as they insist players use a legally obtained copy of the client software and don't ever except any form of payment from their player base they still aren't exactly legal but they walk the fine line of not being worth the game publisher sueing them out of existance. No emulated servers are completely legal unless it's for an 'abandoned' game or they have the IP owners OK.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
IDK i found a couple that have healthy populations.. not mentioning any names.. and the EULA's don't seem that robust.
Could just be that the games are so old company don't care anymore.. but they do seem to be trying hard and insisting they are following the law heh.
but me.. i always like to double check stuff if imma put time into a gaming community.
I think emulated servers can fall under whats known as Fair Use which has four legal tests.. (again im not a lawyer so feel free to call bull shit if i'm saying stuff wrong)
the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
the nature of the copyrighted work;
the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
Your talking about live games? That's just theft imo. Stop looking for ways to 'legalise' it and support the hobby you apparently enjoy.
not talking about live games.. like saying if a mmo had 25 expansions and had been out for years.. and a significant amount of people hated the new version..
could create a classic server with just the first expansion not for profit.
again this is all a thought game.. i don't own or run an emulated server and its not about "stealing" or making money.. its about doing things in the right way so people can keep on enjoying old games they have already purchased.
Like EQ you mean?
Yeah, thats a live game.
You might be able to find a legal loophole, others apparently have, but ethically? Theft.
I will leave this thread and leave you to it now though. It's not part of the part of the hobby I have any interest in.
not talking about eq or any other mmo in particular...
but you obviously seem to have strong opinions about copyright and have no interest in discussing it in a civilized manner. So take care.
It does seem like a worthy topic to discuss imo ... out right copying and selling something is wrong when its not yours.
how you use something you have already purchased though is murkier and talking about it can only help shed light on the issue.
Pretty sure this is wrong, as some people attempted to make an E&B server and were shut down.
Everything creates huge amounts of negativity on the internet, that's what the internet is for: Negativity, porn and lolcats.
Must be nice living in black and white world...
A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true...
I would agree with you, but we are talking about this over the internet. And most of the time that just spirals down into something not pretty.
The issue can be murky, when talking about a product that the copyright owner no longer provides, but somehow still views it as theft if someone else "pirates" said product. And most MMO game sites frown on any talk of these things because most of the time it ends up as just free advertising for pirated versions of games that are still out.
I wish you luck in keeping this topic civil and non-delete-worthy.
Everything creates huge amounts of negativity on the internet, that's what the internet is for: Negativity, porn and lolcats.
It is a bit sketchy and I can only talk from the UO perspective.
The server where the UO runs is written with new code, totally original.
You access the server with the copy of your game you bought.
So it is not illegal, but problem is that all the artwork and so are not yours, so if you would profit from it you could get sued.
Emulated / Private ,etc servers are on grey line. Propably depends on certain country laws and if they make money either for subs or through cash shops.
What I find very ironic though is that emulated servers for many games are nowadays ONLY possibility to play certain mmorpg title WITHOUT cash shop that break immersion for some folks and obviously have impact on gameplay and game itself and game world / economy.
Talk about ridiculous.
The disc gives you access to the game, the game itself you do not own...and I have YET to hear of any game being old enough to fall into public domain.
Besides, if you are willing to put up the money to run your emulator on a server for others to play, why not just pay the sub for the game you are trying to steal?
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
I thought you were taking off man >_>
I mentioned it before.. lots of people hate what live versions of older games have become.. that would be the reason to make an emulated server so you can remain entertained with a game.
{mod edit}
saying its stealing repeatedly doesn't add anything to the conversation.
You have issues with the fact that I have an ethical stance on theft...
what strange times we live in...
Actually most servers are not stealing anything.
Most UO servers are recreating an era the company is not interested to recreate, while others went total orginal ways like level and class based or news maps.
we get it.. you think its stealing.. now let the grown ups talk a bit.
if you think your behaning like an adult your insane, calling other peop,e trolls and then talking down to them like there 5 ISNT behaving like an adult.
Apparently stating the truth in my sig is "trolling"
Sig typo fixed thanks to an observant stragen001.
Abandoned means either the copyright holder released the rights or just doesn't exist anymore(Went out of business without anyone buying their IPs). E&B was still copyrighted and still is so it wouldn't be considered 'abandoned'.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
I'm not sure about games that are no longer available to play from their parent company, but apparently no one here remembers what happened when Blizzard decided to go after an emulator.
I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. -sagil
Agreed. If you hope to keep any thread open the best way is to simply not to respond to anyone you think is "Trolling" as it by definition is simply seeking a response.
Everything creates huge amounts of negativity on the internet, that's what the internet is for: Negativity, porn and lolcats.
Closing this because we do not allow discussion of private servers.
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