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Thread: Video game preservation | |
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Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted January 22, 2012 10:50 PM |
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Video game preservation
I'd like to share an interesting article at Gamespot about game preservation, that is, making sure video games do not vanish after support from publishers ends.
As someone who has spent countless hours developing material for HoMM, I've always wondered what would happen to that material as the years ticked by. There are obvious copyright issues in here, and as the article suggests, this seems to be a bigger issue with online games than with traditional games in which the end user owns a hard copy of the software, and can run the software independently of the developing company. That said, as the video game industry increasingly relies on online content and, especially, central servers to run games, video game preservation will become a bigger and bigger issue.
Consider: had H2/H3 been made in today's business environment, it's very likely that when 3DO went under, our ability to play and make maps, not to mention a mod like WoG, would have been effectively terminated.
Something to think about.
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elodin
Promising
Legendary Hero
Free Thinker
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posted January 22, 2012 11:51 PM |
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Sigh......."modern gaming companies".........sigh.........dddddddrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...........sigh"
I don't pirate games. But "modern" gaming companies treat me like a pirate. Their idiotic drms impose on me things that the companies have no business imposing on a paying customer who mostly plays single player or hotseat games. Ubi-X is a good example and is particularly relevant given this site. I purchased HOMM6 "to support the franchise" even though I KNEW the game would "suck" compared to other games in the series given the dumbing-down features that had been revealed prior to the game being ordered. With the additional "surprises" for single players and Conflux bugs I can say I was "royally screwed" by Ubi-X. The pirates play a game that is superior to the one that I purchased..... And dispite the many months since release there is no good and well-documented map editor. USER MADE MAPS HAVE BEEN THE PRIMARY REASON FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE SERIES, YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER UBI-MORRONS.
The least a company can do is ensure their drm does not "screw over" customers. Ubi-X apparently has no desire in ensuring that that is the case.
I prefer to own a hard copy of my games. However in recent years I have purchased game downloads on STEAM, IMPULSE, AMAZON, and gogamer.com. No doubt that in the future one or more said sites will "sell out" or shut down and "screw me over."
In all honestly, in recent times I have had more fun with indie game developers than with games produced by the "big name" guys. Independent developers are still at the stage where they love what they produce and where they listen to their customer base.
Until fairly recently I had not played many "indie games." Based on recent experiences I've missed out on some great games!!! I've also recently begun to "repurchase" great games that I once played that I no longer have a copy of. Some of the older games put the "modern" dumbed-down games to shame.
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Revelation
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baklava
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Mostly harmless
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posted January 22, 2012 11:58 PM |
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Edited by baklava at 23:58, 22 Jan 2012.
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I agree wholeheartedly with El's post above, and only have one single thing to add.
Quote: The pirates play a game that is superior to the one that I purchased.....
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"Let me tell you what the blues
is. When you ain't got no
money,
you got the blues."
Howlin Wolf
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Doomforge
Admirable
Undefeatable Hero
Retired Hero
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posted January 23, 2012 12:25 PM |
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Nice post Elly ^^ I agree. The pirates get better games than legal users, what a cruel joke.
Also, SOPA/PIPA type of "agreements" allow censorship of the Internet and are pretty much a joke. Maybe even constitutional joke.
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We reached to the stars and everything is now ours
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