So I came across this article that PC gamer wrote today. It talks about the obvious from the headline but also how HBO was worried Paradox may be profiting from the CK II Game Of Thrones mod.
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unless paradox interactive (or the AGOT mod creators) intentionally start trying to monetize off of the mod, something of which would be pretty obvious no matter what, there's not a damn thing HBO or anyone can do about the existance or legal situation of the mod itself. if HBO or even George R.R Martin flat out sued today on copyright or IP grounds, there's at least one court precedent in favor of a defendant regarding user made content that would make a lawsuit an uphill battle. like the article says, the only thing PI is guilty of is association.
Booo. No AGOT licenses!! I wanna see Victoria 3!
true dat. however if PI got a license to make a dedicated GoT based on the CK2 mechanics and not have their hands tied behind their backs about any aspects of development, that would be pretty damn awesome. the publicity alone would probably be worth it.
While I think GoT's fantasy is a bit tabloid-trashy, I can see how PDS could make an epic game out of it, and I can't imagine it'd be anything but good for the studio .
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I'm sorry: this just isn't true. What is true is that so long as Paradox are not making money directly from AGOT then its harder to show monetary damages, though not necessarily impossible. However the rights-holders could attempt to get an injunction preventing distribution and publication of the mod based on the copyright - AGOT clearly copies significantly from Game of Thrones and arguably competes with any games they may publish.
Good news is HBO have done nothing for years now, and likely will do nothing unless circumstances change. Likely they figure that the mod makes for good advertising and causes no harm, whilst taking action would be a dumb PR move.
Modders are generally more competent than developers so it's probably better it stays in their hands. The only thing Paradox can bring to the table really are features which must be hardcoded. They'd mangle everything else.
The North Remembuhz DLC
Da Lion o Lannistuh DLC
Da Fishpeepl dlcc
da knites o da Vale STAY in da Vale dlc (unless u buy it!)
da IRON PRICE dlc (but really the gold price it's 9.99 euros)
that gay guy in the stormlands dlc
that gay guy in the reach dlc
dorne seduction funhouse party time excellence 2015 simulator dlc
also btw you gota pay to be the king 25 dollars targaryen dlc play as aegon da conkier and conker da westiros jaja?
Also they'd probably base it off the show or something and call Asha "Yara".
The North Remembuhz DLC
Da Lion o Lannistuh DLC
Da Fishpeepl dlcc
da knites o da Vale STAY in da Vale dlc (unless u buy it!)
da IRON PRICE dlc (but really the gold price it's 9.99 euros)
that gay guy in the stormlands dlc
that gay guy in the reach dlc
dorne seduction funhouse party time excellence 2015 simulator dlc
also btw you gota pay to be the king 25 dollars targaryen dlc play as aegon da conkier and conker da westiros jaja?
Also they'd probably base it off the show or something and call Asha "Yara".
Wait, what ? Modders are nice and everything, but in over 90% of the cases modding communities created things the devellopers weren't willing to put time in for some reason, not because those devs weren't able to do it.
Generally not. I've yet to see a mod that is as high quality as the main game. And remember what happened to EvW?
This is, of course, the reason why companies like HBO get worried about mods.
EvW wasn't a mod it was a licensed game based on Paradox's engine. Also Darkest Hour is better than Hearts of Iron 2 I think. Also there are plenty of mods for all their games that are better than the base game.
developers make the games, and modders (usually) find a way to enhance or stretch the limits of the game's capabilities. can we all agree on this?
Apparently Paradox was after the ASoIaF license many years ago when there was no show (and would have been much cheaper), however they apparently for some reason couldn't get it (whether they got a No from GRRM or his Publishers, or whether they just changed their mind is unclear). However, today that license would be expensive as shit.
Edit: The Angry Joe interview actually clears things up, apparently Fred had a meeting scheduled with GRRM back in 2005, that he had to cancel due to personal reasons.
Edit: The Angry Joe interview actually clears things up, apparently Fred had a meeting scheduled with GRRM back in 2005, that he had to cancel due to personal reasons.
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Yes. Essentially HBO could claim damages from the modders - from people without any money, remember? or accounting for profit - not a lot of point there, and a disastrous PR move. Or they could claim injunctive relief, again from the modders and likely to be successful but ineffective. Either way PDS does not appear to have said or done anything that would cause HBO any injury.
This scenario is comparable to the IP-farmers suing the ordinary joe-in-the-street for downloading free music. If you're not going after someone with deep pockets you're not going to get any money, and you're courting bad publicity, so there's no point unless you're deliberately committing an act of terrorisme(sic) (which admittedly is sometimes precisely the objective pour encourager les autres)
Modding is a very grey area when it comes to copyright laws and who's responsible for what. Basically all that's needed is one lawsuit going wrong, for modding to be killed, since game developers would stop making their games moddable. That's why mods like the Game of Thrones mod and the Elder Scrolls mod for CK 2 are very delicate situations, where one can only hope the IP owners choose to ignore them.