Question: Legality of Free of Shards?

[Colonel Shuffle]

Greetings, all. First let me say this is my first post, but I have been lurking here for several weeks since boredom and nostalgia prompted me to google "UO" and "IPY." I am really excited about this shard and all of the things Az is doing to rekindle our love for this wonderful game that (for most of us, I presume) was a big part of our lives from 1997-2001.

Over on the off-topic board, I saw that EA/Mythic are entertaining the idea of opening up a "classic" shard. Well, that got me wondering: Does EA/Mythic have any legal recourse to shut down a free shard? I fully expect IPY 2.0 will bring in a ton of players, like IPY 1.0 did, and will easily rival (surpass, probably) the population numbers on EA/Mythic's shards. My fear is that they would realize that IPY's popularity drastically reduces the chance old players would opt to pay to play EA/Mythic's "classic" shard and, as a result, would try to shut it down.

I know free servers have been around for almost as long as UO has existed, but has their legality ever been litigated? I assume EA/OSI didn't view free servers as much of a threat in the early years of server emulation, but clearly well-executed free servers like IPY have an impact on the numbers of people willing to pay to play UO.

Do any of y'all have any answers or thoughts to the matter?

[Seneschal]

Good question!

I'm no expert in law by any means, but from my own general research, I've found this post explains it best by Anti-Basic:

http://www.runuo.com/community/threads/the-final-word-on-the-legality-of-running-a-shard.96202/#post-806363

However, EA has money for lawyers, whereas most free-shards do not. So if they were adamant about shutting down servers, they probably could.

[keuse]

If EA or mythic had the basis to shut down free shards legally they would have done it years ago such as when IPY first opened, had thousands of players and was getting lots of press.

however it would be very interesting if before opening a classic server they let loose a legion of lawyers to shut every player run server down.

but to gain what, 4000 subscribers at most? not worth it.

[Colonel Shuffle]

Thanks for the responses. Seneschal, your link answered a bunch of my questions, so thanks for posting that.

I really don't think EA/Mythic will decide after all of these years to finally go after free servers, but I think an official classic shard brings pre-UO:R server emulation and EA/Mythic copyright interests into a more direct conflict than they have been in the absence of an official classic shard.

Hopefully, they would realize that going after servers like IPY only antagonizes those people who would be most interested in a classic server; and whom have long been forced to turn to free servers to play a style of UO that EA/OSI/Mythic destroyed over the last decade.

[Aarlock]

It's also worth mentioning that EA released a "classic" shard this past October to gauge interest. While it was mean to be temporary, I recall the announcement shutting it down saying something along the lines of "Due to waning interest." This leads me to believe that the possibility of an official classic shard is pretty small, particularly given that they are worrying about a new expansion.

[Pud.S]

Trust me, they want these animals caged up on IPY, just like the cdc guy on the walking dead says...

"THERE IS SOME NASTY **** IN HERE, THAT YOU DON'T EVER WANT GETTING OUT"

[Diz]

Great question.

Question the legality of everything.

HACK THE PLANET (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drJWxMLrpE0) AS PUDS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cipc8EowshY) AKA ZERO COOL AKA CRASH OVERRIDE WOULD SAY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiWeQdhwbXw)

[n0m3k]

dIZ... dON'T scare us with your crazy wild theories!! EA can't touch IPY...



(i hope)

[keuse]

all of the 'wolves' online are on player run servers
the EA/Mythic classic servers will be 90% noobs.
pick your poison gents.

[atlas]

EA could go after a private server, but their success lies not in the law, but intimidation. Just host the server in a foreign country and ignore the letters they send you and you're fine.

[Crankshaft]

If EA decided to go after IPY they would make stronger that which they wish to destroy. You would have press coverage out the ying yang and this server would get a lot of world wide attention.

Anyone can sue anyone for anything, but they would have a hard time explaining why they waited 10 years to decide to do something if it was detrimental to their IP. Most IP and patent infringement violations need to be acted on immediately or you appear acceptant of the use.

[Epsilon]

Staying "classic" takes away the ability to make more money by releasing expansions. Call of Duty locks maps already in the game and sells you the unlock button and calls it map packs. The price is only $15! Capitalism. We lost classic UO because it wasn't as profitable.

[Nateh8sYou]

IF (and thats a big "if") EA had the legal recourse to go after free servers, they would not go after IPY specifically. They would go after the creators of RunUO among other UO emulators (not sure if Sphere is even used anymore). The precedent in this has already been set by Blizzard winning their case against Scapegaming.

On the other hand, it could be argued that EA has allowed these types of servers to exist for years without any legal action, thereby damaging it's copyright.

[Az]

Staying "classic" takes away the ability to make more money by releasing expansions. Call of Duty locks maps already in the game and sells you the unlock button and calls it map packs. The price is only $15! Capitalism. We lost classic UO because it wasn't as profitable.

Definitely.

[Diz]

I've felt that UO could still be profitable if it was ported to mobile. Somehow.

DLC is ruining games, not just MMOs. I'm ****ing sick and tired of having to buy a game, and not have access to the full game without paying for more garbage to break the glass ceiling. Even single players games are doing this ****, because they aren't paying to play online. It's ruining gaming for me when I buy a game and the first thing that hits me is the option to pay to download the rest of the game... fudge that.

[Pud.S]

Count me in for PvP on your futuristic Nomad-like device, Diz. Assuming HCI grows into something more than video skyping, in the future I'd very much like to play this shard, with the Iris v10 3d patch implemented, on something like the old virtual boy (this time no cords), and my char runs where I think it should.

Oh, and it would still be free to play.

[Romp]

they would have a hard time explaining why they waited 10 years to decide to do something if it was detrimental to their IP. Most IP and patent infringement violations need to be acted on immediately or you appear acceptant of the use.

That is absolutely rubbish.

[Budikah]

We could have an opportunity to wage war against EA... marching to the beep-boop-bit-bops of Diz's soundtrack.

[Bongzilla]

dIZ... dON'T scare us with your crazy wild theories!! EA can't touch IPY...



(i hope)*knocks on wood*

[Bongzilla]

That is absolutely rubbish.
Does it really matter after 15 years?

[atlas]

I'd advise those of you complaining about DLCs, micro-transactions, etc to get used to it. That's the future of the video game industry. Games will be free to download, but you'll be nickel and dimed to the point where heavy users spend far more than $60.

This is already the case in Asia, where most MMOs are developed. Companies like Nexon and Perfect World are multi billion dollar enterprises. The company behind Farmville (Zynga) is already worth more than all of Electronic Arts. Even EA is experimenting with this model. They already have Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield Play 4 Free, BattleForge, and Need for Speed World.

The way EA is declining, I wouldn't be surprised if the Ultima franchise was put up for sale eventually. EA already gutted Origins, then Mythic, and are now pinning their hopes on their latest big acquisition, Bioware. If their new Star Wars MMORPG flops like WAR did, EA will be in trouble.

[Faded]

ea sold the right to uo a while ago to some chinese company who is making a sequel that will be Asian based only. i remember reading this in the last year looking for classic server info.

[atlas]

ea sold the right to uo a while ago to some chinese company who is making a sequel that will be Asian based only. i remember reading this in the last year looking for classic server info.

Are you sure they sold the rights? Its more likely they sold the Chinese company a license to create an ultima-themed game. If they sold the rights, they would have to pay that Chinese company fees just to run the current UO service + spinoffs like Lord of Ultima. Highly unlikely.

[Diz]

atlas, I know all about how it is.

I do not have to "get used to it" and I never will. Nobody has to accept any bull****, especially some cookie cutter anime MMO carrot sticking you for ten bucks every few months for the newest content. BARF!

This website existing and us talking is proof that there will always be a niche for MMO gamers that like the undercurrent, the indie, the free, etc.

This is my MMO manifesto. You may swindle me with DLC once in a while, oh dear EA, but not all of us... n so on n so on...

[Epsilon]

I can't see Ultima Online lasting longer than the Emulation of the game. The spirit of the game will remain in the emulation because we are the real enthusiasts and the majority of us would have been more than willing to continue to pay for the original game we bought way back when.

..concerning DLC - Blizzard has done a model job by supporting Diablo 2 LoD, adding more content(ACT V) to the original game, cut scenes, characters, and tons more replay value. While CoD holding back maps to sell later is lamo. Incidetally, I did enjoy the zombie game and the hidden smashtv thing was a nice addition and could have been a full xbox live arcade game. Props for that.

more great DLC is Red Dead Redemption bargain value addition zombie release.

[Faded]

Are you sure they sold the rights? Its more likely they sold the Chinese company a license to create an ultima-themed game. If they sold the rights, they would have to pay that Chinese company fees just to run the current UO service + spinoffs like Lord of Ultima. Highly unlikely.

that must have been what it was then.

[abm]

It is okay people. Computers will soon be a thing of the past. Our children will all be playing virtual reality games with headsets on. And we will all be old reminiscing about the days of computers, Nintendo 64 and this amazing program called Ventrilo.