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shadowfyr · 09-08-2010, 02:32 PM

May depend a lot of how you do it, and if the people running the original are... nice about it. One of the things about the EQ one is that it only works with the client up to about Titanium edition, which means the last 2-3 years, or so, of content is "not" in emulation at all. I am guessing that the WoW people a) had less of a sense of humor, and/or b) the people doing it tried to do something stupid, like using their own server *and* client, or something like that. But, that is only a guess.

But, you are right, emulation, in all cases, even for games where the original company doesn't exist and no one knows who, if anyone, bloody does have the rights any more, is potentially risky. Some companies will guard something that 4 people want to play, based on the theory that *maybe* some where down the line they will use the title, or remake (usually badly) the game. You get the same thing in the movie industry, with something like 80% of everything ever made either being permanently lost, or sitting in some warehouse, slowly decaying, beyond recovery, because the company who have the warehouse don't give a damn, until someone says, "Heh, if you are not going to do it, can we?", and they go, "Sure.. for $20,000." Apparently... cockroaches must pay a lot of rent or something, otherwise I fail to grasp how charging some people with almost no funding so much they can only restore about 3 movies a year makes a damn bit of sense, when 50 movies degrade beyond the point of recovery each year, due to being sat on by the owners.

Point is, there is something profoundly stupid about the whole thing. But, someone deciding to emulate a game... they have to do something sufficiently stupid, legally questionable, or just to the wrong company, to get nailed for something that Sony obviously doesn't seem to think is quite as big a deal as Blizzard did. Makes me seriously wonder what the issue actually was, and on whose side. I am better though that it was one of two things - WoW may keep some things on the server end, more than EQ does, which would make for a problem, since it would be using their "content", not just emulating the stuff that controls it. Or, they tried to make their own client, which would constitute "using Blizzard's intellectual property, without permission". Buying a client legit, then using that, isn't the same thing. Making **entirely** your own graphics, and using the servers as a base, but none of the quests, zones, etc., would also be acceptable. Its using their graphics, in your own client that is a major issue.

BTW, that is another reason Sony is probably not too worried. How many copies of Titanium edition EQ I do you think are out there, at least legitimately? And, you can't use the patched or newer clients (at all). But, again, as long as you stripped 100% of the Sony material out, there is no reason you couldn't also build your own client to for the servers either. Its just not what they "intended" to do, at this point, with the exception of those "custom content" servers in the list.

Still, you are right. It would be safer to build such a server, and the client, and not touch anyone else's content while doing it. But, that takes a "lot" of development time. A lot more than just working out how to talk to a non-patched, old, copy of someone's legit client.

09-08-2010, 02:32 PM	#106
shadowfyr Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 310	Re: The "Health," of Muds May depend a lot of how you do it, and if the people running the original are... nice about it. One of the things about the EQ one is that it only works with the client up to about Titanium edition, which means the last 2-3 years, or so, of content is "not" in emulation at all. I am guessing that the WoW people a) had less of a sense of humor, and/or b) the people doing it tried to do something stupid, like using their own server and client, or something like that. But, that is only a guess. But, you are right, emulation, in all cases, even for games where the original company doesn't exist and no one knows who, if anyone, bloody does have the rights any more, is potentially risky. Some companies will guard something that 4 people want to play, based on the theory that maybe some where down the line they will use the title, or remake (usually badly) the game. You get the same thing in the movie industry, with something like 80% of everything ever made either being permanently lost, or sitting in some warehouse, slowly decaying, beyond recovery, because the company who have the warehouse don't give a damn, until someone says, "Heh, if you are not going to do it, can we?", and they go, "Sure.. for $20,000." Apparently... cockroaches must pay a lot of rent or something, otherwise I fail to grasp how charging some people with almost no funding so much they can only restore about 3 movies a year makes a damn bit of sense, when 50 movies degrade beyond the point of recovery each year, due to being sat on by the owners. Point is, there is something profoundly stupid about the whole thing. But, someone deciding to emulate a game... they have to do something sufficiently stupid, legally questionable, or just to the wrong company, to get nailed for something that Sony obviously doesn't seem to think is quite as big a deal as Blizzard did. Makes me seriously wonder what the issue actually was, and on whose side. I am better though that it was one of two things - WoW may keep some things on the server end, more than EQ does, which would make for a problem, since it would be using their "content", not just emulating the stuff that controls it. Or, they tried to make their own client, which would constitute "using Blizzard's intellectual property, without permission". Buying a client legit, then using that, isn't the same thing. Making entirely your own graphics, and using the servers as a base, but none of the quests, zones, etc., would also be acceptable. Its using their graphics, in your own client that is a major issue. BTW, that is another reason Sony is probably not too worried. How many copies of Titanium edition EQ I do you think are out there, at least legitimately? And, you can't use the patched or newer clients (at all). But, again, as long as you stripped 100% of the Sony material out, there is no reason you couldn't also build your own client to for the servers either. Its just not what they "intended" to do, at this point, with the exception of those "custom content" servers in the list. Still, you are right. It would be safer to build such a server, and the client, and not touch anyone else's content while doing it. But, that takes a "lot" of development time. A lot more than just working out how to talk to a non-patched, old, copy of someone's legit client.