NOOO! KQIX shut down by Vivendi

[Vel]

Damn. It was so good looking and promising.

Well I guess they could change the names of the characters and the title of the game and still release it, no?

[jetxl]

Jet: first of all relax!

Second all I'm saying (and do try to think that cpyrights don't stay forever but for only 75 years,if i'm not mistaken) is that i can undersatn vivendi and that i wuold be pissed if something like this happened to my game or music.

Of course i know that she stole each and every fairy tale she could get her hands on, but why all the hate? And why towards me, I did say that I'm the devils advocate here.

Relax, when somebody disagees with you you don't have to kill him...

Kinoko: I just remembered you saying something about noone and no one. Just that...

Nikolas, only the LAST part was aimed at you. The rest was quite general. [aimed at Nikolas]
Don't you see the irony of kq9 stopping because of copyright infrigment? [aimed general]
I am relaxed. You should read my posts slower. [aimed general]
And I certanly don't hold any grudges if someone disagrees with me.[aimed general]
I wished Helm would make that game about Roberta [aimed at mitteneers]

[Snarky]

Hey, you do realize that Roberta Williams had nothing to do with this, right? She doesn't work for Vivendi, she doesn't own the copyright, she wasn't the one who shut this project down.

It's true about the risks and about how they should have contacted them first (isn't that what the old Tierra did, contact Roberta Williams directly or something? And I know for a fact that I contacted Al Lowe - even though Vivenda now held the copyright. I couldn't contact them anyway - I tried but I couldn't. But I digress), but damn, that's a LOT of work, too much to go down the drain.

In fact, they did contact Ken and Roberta Williams. They were both supportive of the project. This is purely an issue with the current copyright holders, Vivendi.

Since we have no idea why Vivendi shut down kqIX there's no reason to assume they are being dicks for no reason, as the post they wrote said, all the games are being re-re-released so the games are still out there.

No, you're right. They might have a reason for being dicks. Maybe they're planning to make a KQ9 themselves. Maybe they've staked the future of the company on the sales of the new re-released games.

Yeah, right.

I'm sorry, but I can't see any plausible scenario under which KQIX would have any perceivable effect on Vivendi's bottom line. If anything, it would offer free publicity for the King's Quest collection. (The game looked like one long commercial for the previous KQ games.) I'm willing to bet they're only mindlessly adhering to some company policy.

It is a pitty, annoying and such... But I fear everything Vivendi did was correct and ethic.Ã, 

I can't accept the way they've handled this as ethical. Shutting down a five-year long (or so) fan project just as it's nearing completion? Not offer any way for the clearly very talented and dedicated team to work with the company? Disappointing the most long-time fans (probably) of any game the company owns without explanation?

I can see that from a very narrow view of self-interest, Vivendi is acting rationally. They don't want to cede control over their intellectual property, even old licences that are clearly lying unused, because they like having a portfolio of things they might one day want to exploit again. (Compare the resurgence of Prince of Persia.) It's easier for them to only halt fan games as they near completion, because most games never reach that point. And it also discourages other teams from taking the risk of having years of effort wasted.

However, I think this is an incredibly blinkered attitude. Remember, this is the company that publishes Counter Strike, an enormously successful shooter that grew out of a fan-made mod of Half-Life. As long as the company owns the copyright, they would be able to exploit the successful fan games, and simply ignore the unsuccessful ones.

Having people love your games so much that they want to make their own is an incredible asset for a company, and alienating those fans is just short-sighted and, yes, effectively evil.

[Andail]

The game didn't look that awesome to me.
But maybe Kinoko can tell us more about that, right?

PS:
(Let's just keep refering to Kinoko in a random fashion until she freaks out)

[Kinoko]

You mean like... now? O_O

[Raggit]

This may be a great way for me to get flamed, but what is wrong with the rightful owner of a copyrighter work saying, "Listen, we own this idea, not you."?

Now, personally, I don't see why they would choose to stop this individual game, other than the size and magnitude of it would stand to take away sales from the release of the collections.  And if you'll look it up, that is a legal and valid reason for them to request them to stop, and if needed, sue.

What I don't understand is why they don't go after the defamatory projects.  Maybe they will.

And, like was said before, Roberta Williams has nothing to do with this.  In fact, I doubt she even would've had any complaints against the project.  Many of the original creators of these games actually like the fan made games.  In an e-mail to me, Lori Cole praised the VGA remake of QFG2 and other fangames.   (Yes, I really do have an e-mail from her.  I e-mailed Lori Cole from their Transolar site.)

Anyway, that's make take on the situation.

[Kweepa]

There's always the possibility that the game never existed outside of a few screenshots, and this Vivendi letter is a fabrication...

[Squinky]

Thats actaully what I've been thinking too. But I was afraid to face the angru mobs by saying it. The game to me looked like any other team fan game that will never, ever, get done. I think they wanted a way out that would get them a little something to bitch about, then move on to an easier project.

I mean, just ask Kinoko...

[Vel]

Oh come on, that sounds ridiculous, after the amazing trailer.

[IM NOT TEH SPAM]

It's pretty easy to make a trailer out of nothing.  Right now, I bet I could make you a trailer for a new game using nothing but some concept art, some 3d models, and a basic terrain I have on my computer... doesn't mean it's anything coherent.

I'm not agreeing or anything, just pointing something out...

[MrColossal]

Either way, it doesn't matter.

There's no need to bring things like this up since it would just create bad feelings, I know if I read that my hard work was put into question I would be a little more than offended.

There were tons of screenshots of the game in action, I'm sure that's proof enough.

[Potch]

I actually worked as a writer on this game for a short time, back in the early days of production, and yes, they DID contact Roberta Williams, and got permission from her to do it.  I believe at the time that Sierra was still around, and I think they contacted Sierra about the project as well, and they really didn't care.  They never said yes or no, they just didn't care.   I could be wrong about that, as it was a few years ago and my memory is a bit foggy.  But I believe that they did try to cover their asses on it. 

Anyway, it is a shame, as I know how the story was going to pan out, and it would have been an incredible addition to the KQ history.  They really were doing some great work.   

[big brother]

For the record, a copyright can last up to 95 years (thank you, Mickey Mouse) as long as it's work held by a corporate authorship. Before the Copyright Extension Act of 1998, a copyright only existed 50 years after the death of its author. This act tacked on an extra 20 years (45 to some corporations). In addition, this act retroactively increased the protection of works created prior to 1/1/78.

This act almost seemed tailored specifically for Disney's Mickey Mouse. Even though Walt stole the idea from Kinoko, anyways.

As for KQ9, I don't think they need to scrap the project, just tweak some things and add some biting jokes against Vivendi. After all, they don't hold the rights to popular kid's stories. But even the idea of unifying lots of fairy tales in one bigger story is far from new -- children's books have been doing that long before Roberta Williams was old enough to use a typewriter without soiling her diaper.

I think the KQIX team could have chosen a better idea for a game.

I'm surprised Vivendi hasn't approached AGDI yet, especially considering the publicity they got for the KQ remakes. Maybe they're next on the hit list.

[GarageGothic]

I'm surprised Vivendi hasn't approached AGDI yet, especially considering the publicity they got for the KQ remakes. Maybe they're next on the hit list.

Perhaps if you read the legal statement on AGDI's website:
"King's Quest, Quest for Glory and all related material are copyrighted by Sierra Entertainment, Inc. and are used with permission."

[Vel]

Which is why they should release QfG2 VGA ASAP. Once released, it will be impossible to ban.

[TheCheese33]

Universal was being a bitch. The whole reason that they did this was because they lost rights to HL2 publishing, because they were stealing profits from Valve. I say let the game continue, just don't call it King's Quest. Then, those fancy suits back at Universal won't be able to do a damn thing about it.

[fovmester]

This is the reason why the adventure game genre is still dead! Why kill an innocent (and very promising) fan game, when you haven't released a single KQ-game in years, and probably never will?

Had KQIX been successful the attention it would give the genre might have sparked new commercial value into the old adventuregame-trademarks. Which Vivendi would gain a lot from! Conclusion: They kill themselves!

[IM NOT TEH SPAM]

I looked up vivendi universal on wikipedia.  List of their assets:

    * Canal+ Group includes: multiThématiques
    * CinéCinéma,
    * Planète
    * Jimmy and Seasons
    * Sport+
    * CanalSatellite
    * Ma Planète
    * Extreme Sports Channel
    * NBA+
    * Pilotime
    * StudioCanal

[edit]

Music

    Universal Music Group labels include:

    * MP3.com

    * A&M Records
    * Barclay Records
    * Decca Records
    * Deutsche Grammophon
    * Dreamworks Records
    * Geffen Records
    * Hollywood Records in the US and Canada only
    * Interscope Records
    * Island Def Jam Records
          o Island Records
          o Def Jam
    * Jazzland Records
    * Lost Highway Records
    * MCA Nashville Records
    * Mercury Nashville Records
    * Mercury Records
    * Motor Music Records
    * Polydor
    * Philips Records
    * Stockholm Records
    * Universal Classics Group
    * Universal Motown Records Group
    * Universal Music Group Nashville
          o Universal Records
          o Universal South Records
          o Blackground Records
          o Motown Records
          o Republic Records
          o Cash Money Records
          o Bad Boy Records
          o Casablanca Records
          o Street Records Corporation
    * Urban Records
    * Verve Records
Universal Music Group also owns local "Universal" labels in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey.
Video Games
    Vivendi Universal Games labels include:
    * Blizzard Entertainment
    * Coktel
    * Fox Interactive
    * Knowledge Adventure
    * Massive Entertainment
    * Radical Entertainment
    * Sierra Entertainment
(Partial) List of Video Games published by Vivendi Universal Games and Universal Games
   * Crash Bandicoot (1996)
   * Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1997)
   * Crash Bandicoot: Warped (1998)
   * Crash Team Racing (CTR) (1999)
   * Crash Bash (2000)
   * Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (2001)
   * Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure (2002)
   * Crash Bandicoot: N-Tranced (2003)
   * Crash Nitro Kart (2003)
   * Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage (2004)
   * Crash Twinsanity (2004)
   * Crash Tag Team Racing (2005)
   * Spyro the Dragon (1998)
   * Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (1999)
   * Spyro: Year of the Dragon (2000)
   * Spyro: Season of Ice (2001)
   * Spyro: Season of Flame (2002)
   * Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs (2003)
   * Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy (2004)
   * Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly (2002)
   * Spyro: Hero's Tail (2004)
   * HULK (2003)
   * Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (2005)
   * Half-Life 2 (2004)
Telecommunications
    * SFR Cegetel Group
    * Maroc Telecom

Strait from Wiki.  They're richer than god.  They don't need to worry about a fangame of an ancient video game taking away their sales when they got all that shit that is currently selling.

[Nikolas]

Nipper I think you're right, but do keep in mind, that KQIX could start a thing that nobody could even stop. You see the thing with copyright is so stupid the way it is and I believe that we should **** Vivendi and everyone like them.

BTW did you know that "happy birthday to you" song is copyrighted? You have to pay fees to have it in your movie! For f*** shake this is shit! And even worst it's not the creator who has the copyrights, it's the publishing comopany and now Vivendi.

How beautiful, you spent your life, eating from others people work!

SHIT!

[TheCheese33]

Reminds me of that Simpsons joke; they go caroling, when that lawyer happens to be in one of the houses, and says that all of those songs are copyrighted! So true!