Blond_Knight Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Moon, Matt, BF guys, this is a question for you. What happens in say five years if elicense or Battlefront goes under and I for whatever reason need to unlicense and relicense my copy of TOW? Will I be SOL? Does the EULA that we never read and has slowly robbed us of our rights as consumers say that 1C, BF, or elicense has the right to revoke our "license" to use this product at any time without notice, too bad so sad? Im not trying to be nasty, but you, BF, will always have my $45.00. Will I always have access to my product? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destraex Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 u mean like Atomic games and CC...... if that was so I would have been in real trouble for all my copies (I own some twice) and whenever I reinstall the OS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 As we have stated in the past, should we AND eLicense ever go under, we would release free copies of our games for everybody to share. The EULA gives you unlimited right to license and relicense, and this right cannot be revoked. What is much more likely however is that you won't be able to play the games in 5 years because they won't be compatible with the new 16-core computers available then, nor with Windows FuturX or somefink... Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blond_Knight Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 Originally posted by Moon: What is much more likely however is that you won't be able to play the games in 5 years because they won't be compatible with the new 16-core computers available then, nor with Windows FuturX or somefink... Martin Well thats the nature of the beast. Thanks for your quick clarification about the license. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebasv Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Originally posted by Moon: What is much more likely however is that you won't be able to play the games in 5 years because they won't be compatible with the new 16-core computers available then, nor with Windows FuturX or somefink... Martin Thats why we computer nerds put our storage full with old **** so we can play games from long gone times Heck my XT pc still runs allthough im not to sure about most 5"25" flops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Originally posted by Moon: As we have stated in the past, should we AND eLicense ever go under, we would release free copies of our games for everybody to share. If BFC is going into bankruptcy, then you don't have control of your assets anymore. You don't have the right to give away company assets for free, you would commit a crime. Company assets might or might not be sold to satisfy creditors demands, and the decision about what is sold to whom is not in the hands of the bankrupt company. The EULA gives you unlimited right to license and relicense, and this right cannot be revoked. That's only useful if there is somebody to sue to get this right, but by it's very definition that wouldn't be the case here. You cannot blow away the games as gifts to the world, and you cannot continue to operate the elicense servers either. You might be able to tell the above to the liqidator, but chances are he wouldn't give a damn. His only purpose is to make the most money out of the assets, he has no interest in the former company's business or it's customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Redwolf, we're not operating the licensing servers, eLicense is. Both of us would have to go down for this scenario to happen. Releasing unprotected versions of the game exe's to existing customers is not the same as selling company assets. The EULA is not only useful if there is somebody to sue, but also if there is somebody like us who takes it seriously and is dedicated to hold up his end of the agreement with our customers. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeboy Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 16, we will not even have cores! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pvt. Ryan Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Originally posted by Moon: What is much more likely however is that you won't be able to play the games in 5 years because they won't be compatible with the new 16-core computers available then, nor with Windows FuturX or somefink... Martin How could you release this game without testing it so it works on hardware that won't be available until five years from now? That is unacceptable, or somefink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikoyanPT Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Battlefront has promised before that if a nuclear holocaust happens, they will teach coacroaches to deliver the unlicenced exe files to their costumers. The bad thing is that most costumers would be dead by then and probably not in the mood to play the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I don't question your intend, Martin, but legally it is fuzzy. If you get chapter 13 protection you have to be very careful that you don't do anything that could be considered giving assets away. Certainly, dropping the copy protection could be interpreted as such, because if it was useless, why did you use (and payed for) it in the first place? And out of interest, if BFC goes down but not elicense, who pays elicense for continuing to serve the BFC game keys? And if BFC is dead but elicense is not, who would resolve cases where somebody needs intervention to get his license re-activated after a computer crash or somesuch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Anything is legally fuzzy. Ask a lawyer Thing is, selling company assets is very much clear cut, while putting an unprotected exe (useless for anybody without the full game) is not. BTW, when I used the term "going under" I didn't necessarily think of Chapter 13. That chapter is not necessarily the same as "going under". Many publishers that went through chapter 13 are still around, including some very recent examples. The "going under" scenario I have in mind looks more like this: after another day on the forum, we close shop overnight in frustration, pull the plug on all the servers, and join Steve to live out in the Maine outback, without electricy and certainly without computers capable of running discussion forum software. eLicense is paid once - when the customer made the purchase. Once we're not there anymore, new customers would not be able to get the (eLicense protected) game, but this would have no impact on existing customers. eLicense is perfectly able to service the existing customer base, including key re-activation, without our help. In fact, that's what they do for the majority of their customers. Battlefront has chosen not to do it and handle it ourselves, but we wouldn't have to. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisND Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 Originally posted by Moon: The "going under" scenario I have in mind looks more like this: after another day on the forum, we close shop overnight in frustration, pull the plug on all the servers, and join Steve to live out in the Maine outback, without electricy and certainly without computers capable of running discussion forum software. LMAO... I think I have found a new sig line... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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