CALL TO ARMS!
The battle-cry has been heard. We have the ability to exact change and get Activisions attention! We have our online petition, which is now 1,300 signatures strong and still growing! We have our offline petition which is now 30 letters strong and still growing! We have a Facebook Group that is over 350 members strong and still growing!
We can still do more!
We need to hammer Activision... make TSL the topic of discussion at their office. We need to make them see that we are not just going to lay down and surrender just because they are Big and Powerful!
CALL TO ARMS!
It's time to make Activision feel some of the heat we can bring down on them. We can do that by emailing them the following email letter:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Your Name Here]
[Your Email Address Here]
To:
Activision Corporate Communications
corpcommunications@activision.com
On the website www.tsl-game.com, I just read about Activision having issued a cease-and-desist order to the creators of an eight year old fan project, the adventure game "King's Quest: The Silver Lining". I am emailing you because this is something you should be greatly rethink.
I wholly support your right to copy protection and would understand you not wanting to allow fan-made games of some of the more popular games you're currently producing; Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, even less recent works such as Lost Kingdoms. However, King's Quest hasn't been in the works in over 11 years.
The makers of TSL have been working very hard for a decade to bring fans something they can enjoy. It's in your best interest to allow such an undertaking to continue on multiple fronts.
1.) Allowing the release of such a well-made and serious King's Quest game for free, no cost to you, would allow life to be breathed back into the series. So, if you ever decided to make another, more official, game in the series, King's Quest IX, it would be far more likely to gain popularity.
2.) TSL has gained massive support over the years and, even people such as myself, whom have great respect for Activision and all related games, would lose respect knowing that you would crush a decade of hard work and ever growing hopes of fans
The world is about love and creativity, and that is what the Silver Lining project brings. Before issuing a cease-and-desist order against an eight-year fan project, you should try to understand the love and creativity people put into The Silver Lining. In the end, allowing a game like this to be made would not be detrimental to your company, it would make your fans as well as the TSL's fans happy and would gain your company respect.
Activision, the world is begging you! Retract the cease-and-desist order and show the world that Activision stands behind the morals and ideals it was originally founded on.
[Your Name Here]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
We can exact change, ladies and gentlemen. We can make Activision feel the heat of our movement. and the time to make them start feeling that heat is NOW.
Copy this letter and email it to corpcommunications@activision.com
Flood their inbox with this letter...
-David Reese
oberonqa@gmail.com
NOTE: Special thanks to Waltzdancing for locating the email address of Activision Corporate and Christoph Weiss for providing the letter.
EDIT: I am the voice of the community, and as such, if the community wishes to be tactful and diplomatic, then that is what I will be. I have changed the letter to the more diplomatic and tactful letter provided by Waltzdancing. Thank you Waltz.
To be honest...I liked the written letter template better. (even though that one brings up AGDI and this one doesn't) It focusses more on fan disappointment without becoming accusatory. Seeing that you're asking them for a favor, terms like "evil" and "your ip" between quotes seems to discourage the detached corporate rep from reading on.
(http://www.agdiforums.com/forum/images/avatars/moodpics/Nashblue.jpg)
It's not asking. It's demanding. There's a difference and it is a big difference. The letter is also designed to be flooded into the email box. One or two letters can be disregarded... but hundreds of letters all bearing different subject headers (you'll note I intentionally did not specify what subject to title the email) and that will force whatever corporate drone that is responsible for checking that email box to read each and every email.
The letter is designed to be demanding. What more can Activision do aside from shutting down the game with their C&D? The damage is done and this letter is meant to show the power of anger. It's meant to leverage that anger with the suggestion that more is to come.
Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire and as much as I would love to go to Activision with my hat in my hand begging for an audience with the great Bobby Kotick... I feel this letter is more direct.
And it's just the beginning. Wait until you hear what I have planned to say during the podcast....
I agree that this one is a little too harsh... no matter what kind of communication it is, it should be dignified and rational. Otherwise *we* risk being perceived as the "enemy".
I think this is a good idea, but it still may be a bit harsh. I know that is kind of the point.... But maybe don't use terms like "Evil" or whatever.
Hrmmm.... it has to be enough for them to listen, they have to respect it, but still.....
I dunno.
Quote from: Oldbushie on March 05, 2010, 11:49:48 AM
I agree that this one is a little too harsh... no matter what kind of communication it is, it should be dignified and rational. Otherwise *we* risk being perceived as the "enemy".
That is what I was thinking.
Still, we should do this. Maybe just re write it or something.
Okay, how about something like this, I have used Christoph letter template but tried to tone down the words like *evil* to somthing more professional.
Dear Sirs and Madams,
On the website www.tsl-game.com, I just read about Activision having issued a cease-and-desist order to the creators of an eight year old fan project, the adventure game "King's Quest: The Silver Lining". I am emailing you because this is something you should be greatly rethink.
In 2010, corporations don't get away easily with unpopular actions like this one. People will do everything in their power to inform the world about and injustice done. They will blog, they will tweet, and they will talk about this on the radio and on television. They will start petitions and they will create networks and LET PEOPLE KNOW. If you think you can weather this storm, you are sadly mistaken. Even as you read this, the fans of The Silver Lining have a movement organized against your company at http://savetsl.co.cc/ which gains support every day and there is no telling how long you have left before the media gets wind of this movement and starts running stories about it alongside the stories about Infinity Ward.
The world is about love and creativity, not about money. Before issuing a cease-and-desist order against an eight-year fan project, you should try to understand the love and creativity people put into "your IP". You may be the largest game corporation in the world, but you are nothing without the fans who play your games.
Activision, the world is begging you! Retract the cease-and-desist and show the world that Activision stands behind the morals and ideals it was originally founded on.
[Your Name Here]
I have to admit, I find the letter to be a bit too harsh. the revised one is better, but still not perfect. I would try to keep the letters professional, to a degree.
May I also suggest that at the end of every e-mail, there be a personal story from a fan about their experiences with KQ? Just to give each e-mail a taste of individuality.
I was gonna say.... the tone of the first one here sounds a lot more like my rough draft of a letter which you said "bordered on hate mail", as I recall... if I can't be mean, neither can you! :P
Waltzing's letter is a lot calmer, which is good. However, I think we should fix it to say "something you should be greatly reconsidering".... it's a tiny, almost invisible grammatical error, but I think it would make a better impression. Also, it should be "an injustice done" not "and injustice done" -- although that wording might be too harsh as well. Overall nice job though! :)
(And, yes, Erpy, I know that my letter mentioned AGDI however it couldn't be helped in order to point out the financial gains Activision stands to make. I would bet that, since the games are out, Activision won't do anything anyways -- if there's anyway to ask for something to be leaked and not be able to do anything about it, that's it. If they shut you down any one of the how-ever-many people downloaded it could leak. I know I would. :P)
Okay, I have just gotten a letter from Colby James Garner and he wrote something on top of the form letter we are providing. I have tied the opening statment from his letter to the one from Christoph and this is what I have.
Dear Sirs and Madams,
On the website www.tsl-game.com, I just read about Activision having issued a cease-and-desist order to the creators of an eight year old fan project, the adventure game "King's Quest: The Silver Lining". I am emailing you because this is something you should be greatly rethink.
I wholly support your right to copy protection and would understand you not wanting to allow fan-made games of some of the more popular games you're currently producing; Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, even less recent works such as Lost Kingdoms. However, King's Quest hasn't been in the works in over 11 years.
The makers of TSL have been working very hard for a decade to bring fans something they can enjoy. It's in your best interest to allow such an undertaking to continue on multiple fronts.
1.) Allowing the release of such a well-made and serious King's Quest game for free, no cost to you, would allow life to be breathed back into the series. So, if you ever decided to make another, more official, game in the series, King's Quest IX, it would be far more likely to gain popularity.
2.) TSL has gained massive support over the years and, even people such as myself, whom have great respect for Activision and all related games, would lose respect knowing that you would crush a decade of hard work and ever growing hopes of fans
The world is about love and creativity, and that is what the Silver Lining project brings. Before issuing a cease-and-desist order against an eight-year fan project, you should try to understand the love and creativity people put into "your IP". In the end, allowing a game like this to be made would not be detrimental to your company, it would make your fans as well as the TSL's fans happy and would gain your company respect.
Activision, the world is begging you! Retract the cease-and-desist order and show the world that Activision stands behind the morals and ideals it was originally founded on.
[Your Name Here]
"Dear Sirs and Madams" is wrong, please, please, please don't use it. I looked it up and in addition to sounding weird (think about it), and these are some better ways:
1. Dear Sir/Ma'am;
2. To whom this may concern;
3. Dear (company name);
4. Dear (presidents/v.presidents name of organization);
5. Dear (Mr/Ms/Mrs/Miss {specific name if known directly});
You can be firm in the letter but I agree that some of those were abrasive in nature. I will email them in my own words, thanks for getting the email address!
Feel Free to email them on your own guys, this letter we are working on. (We are still working it.) Is just if you don't know what to say or if you just want to put your name to somehting. I will be emailing them everyday so at one point I know I will use the template.
I have changed the letter to Waltzdancing's more diplomatic and tactful letter. As I am the voice of the community movement here, it falls to me to respect the wishes of the community and if the community says "be tactful and diplomatic", then that is what I will be.
We are the movement and we must be united. :)
I think that last letter is very well written. Tactful and polite. The only thing I'd change is the quotes around "your IP". Since you're dealing with a matter that concerns copyright, those quotes could be interpreted as sarcastic. You may personally feel that IP does not belong with Activision, but the people reading that don't need to know that.
(http://www.agdiforums.com/forum/images/avatars/moodpics/Nashnorm.jpg)
Quote from: Erpy on March 05, 2010, 05:12:51 PM
I think that last letter is very well written. Tactful and polite. The only thing I'd change is the quotes around "your IP". Since you're dealing with a matter that concerns copyright, those quotes could be interpreted as sarcastic. You may personally feel that IP does not belong with Activision, but the people reading that don't need to know that.
(http://www.agdiforums.com/forum/images/avatars/moodpics/Nashnorm.jpg)
Replaced "your IP" with The Silver Lining.
Okay, I'm a bit confused now. Are we using the letter in the first post?
Quote from: Haids1987 on March 05, 2010, 05:59:25 PM
Okay, I'm a bit confused now. Are we using the letter in the first post?
Yes, the original first post letter has been replaced with the more tactful and diplomatic letter.
Cool, thanks. :) I'm on it as we speak...
(Posted on: March 05, 2010, 05:02:23 PM)
One more question--what is the subject on this email? :D
Use whatever subject line you think is appropriate. Using different subject lines makes it more difficult for the receiver to sort through identical emails and therefore must read each one.
Oh, well I just named mine "SAVE THE SILVER LINING!" :P
Quote from: Haids1987 on March 05, 2010, 11:37:28 PM
Oh, well I just named mine "SAVE THE SILVER LINING!" :P
That works!
Okay guys, I am still working on the form email. Last night I woke up with an idea and am trying to work it in with my sisters help. Try to attach a personal story of kings quest to the email, anything that you can remember. A personal note to a email as well as the form letters might make them think.
What my idea is going to try and do is plant an idea of how much Kings Quest has had an affect on our lives and how much we enjoyed playing the original ones. If we can show them how much passion we have then maybe they will allow us to have the game.
Awwww, man! That's an awesome idea, but I already emailed Activision. :( Is it too late to email them my glory story?
I email them once a day.... so go ahead Haids.
LOL! :) Thanks, oberonqa. I think I will.
By the way, I keep meaning to ask you--your username...is it a play off of "Oberon," king of the fairies?
Quote from: Haids1987 on March 06, 2010, 01:06:15 PM
LOL! :) Thanks, oberonqa. I think I will.
By the way, I keep meaning to ask you--your username...is it a play off of "Oberon," king of the fairies?
More like a play on "Oberon", husband of Titania, the most beautiful lady in the land. Actually it's pronounced Oberon QA, with the QA standing for Quality Assurance. I used to work for Westwood Studios and the handle I used when working at Westwood was oberonQA. I also go by neocron79, which is the name of a D&D character I played when I was growing up, whose name was Neocron. 79 is the year I was born.
Okay, here is the final draft of the letter taking everyone's opinions. Try to email this whenever you can. I will mail this every day along with ober. Feel free to change it if you still do not like the wording. Remember this is for you to bounce off of or to use. I will also see if Atec can post this on the Save TSL Website.
To whom it concerns,
On the website www.tsl-game.com, I just read about Activision having issued a cease-and-desist order to the creators of an eight year old fan project, the adventure game King's Quest: The Silver Lining. I am emailing you because this is something you should be greatly rethink.
I wholly support your right to copy protection and would understand you not wanting to allow fan-made games of some of the more popular titles you're currently producing; Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, or even less recent works such as Lost Kingdoms. However, King's Quest: The Silver Lining has been in the works for ten years.
The makers of The Silver Lining have been working very hard for a decade to bring fans something they can enjoy. It's in your best interest to allow such an undertaking to continue on multiple fronts.
1.) Allowing the release of such a well-made and serious King's Quest game for free, no cost to you, would allow life to be breathed back into the series. So, if you ever decided to make another, more official, game in the series, King's Quest IX, it would be far more likely to gain popularity.
2.) TSL has gained massive support over the years and, even people such as myself, whom have great respect for Activision and all related games, would lose respect knowing that you would crush a decade of hard work and ever growing hopes of fans
The world is about love and creativity, and that is what The Silver Lining project brings. Before issuing a cease-and-desist order against an eight-year fan project, you should try to understand the love and creativity the people put into The Silver Lining. In the end, allowing a game like this to be made would not be detrimental to your company; it would make your fans as well as the TSL's fans happy and bring your company respect.
Activision, the world is begging you! Retract the cease-and-desist order and show the world that Activision stands behind the morals and ideals it was originally founded on.
[Insert Personal Story Here, something that made Kings Quest Special to you. This will provide variety to the emails and hopefully touch the hearts of those who MAY have experienced that same idea, feelings, ect.]
[Your Name Here]
QuoteMore like a play on "Oberon", husband of Titania, the most beautiful lady in the land. Actually it's pronounced Oberon QA, with the QA standing for Quality Assurance. I used to work for Westwood Studios and the handle I used when working at Westwood was oberonQA. I also go by neocron79, which is the name of a D&D character I played when I was growing up, whose name was Neocron. 79 is the year I was born.
Yikes, if that's true then you're the same guy who used to be my co-moderator on the AGDI boards when we were still called Tierra. I kinda wondered where you went.
(http://www.agdiforums.com/forum/images/avatars/moodpics/Nashshy.jpg)
Quote from: Erpy on March 06, 2010, 06:55:09 PM
QuoteMore like a play on "Oberon", husband of Titania, the most beautiful lady in the land. Actually it's pronounced Oberon QA, with the QA standing for Quality Assurance. I used to work for Westwood Studios and the handle I used when working at Westwood was oberonQA. I also go by neocron79, which is the name of a D&D character I played when I was growing up, whose name was Neocron. 79 is the year I was born.
Yikes, if that's true then you're the same guy who used to be my co-moderator on the AGDI boards when we were still called Tierra. I kinda wondered where you went.
(http://www.agdiforums.com/forum/images/avatars/moodpics/Nashshy.jpg)
Yup... I'm still around. Surprised you remember me after all these years.
I've always been told I have a good memory. Personally I'd like to say I just have a good memory for any kind of stuff that's irrelevant on tests and exams. :)
(http://www.agdiforums.com/forum/images/avatars/moodpics/Nashmean.jpg)
LOL! Nothing wrong with a good memory. I always figured you'd end up being the forum admin over at AGDI. I was forced to split too much time between work and freelance while I was at Westwood. When I got laid off in 2002, I just didn't have the time to devote to freelancing for a while so I left Tierra.
God... hard to believe that back in those days QG2VGA had just started development (I remember Brittney Brimhall talking about it).
Okay, just so everyone knows what I was talking about when it came to a memory, this is exactly what my email looked like when I mailed it off to Activision.
After the form part this is what I wrote in myself:
To prove how much Kings Quest has impacted my life I want to share one out of a million of my favorite memories of Kings Quest with you.
One of my favorite memories as a child growing up is at the start of Kings Quest V when Graham is flying away with Cedric the Owl. This magical moment touched me as a child and made me reach for the stars. It made an eight year old believe in magic and inspired this TSL supported to reach for the sky I am now working on an elementary education science teaching degree in hopes of instilling the magic KQV gave me to other students in hopes of them as well reaching for the sky and never let anything, monsters, witches, evil wizards, or even fear, stop you from achieving your goals.
Thank you for your time and I hope you will reconsider this decision, because I would not be the person I am today without Kings Quest.
A huge feeling is coming on me reading all those comments
If we recall the followings:
- How we won with previous petition regarding Vivendi
- Ken Williams having signed petition
- Some already contacted Ken including receiving reponses
- A of the moderator meet with a couple at a marriage retreat!
It feels if we're actually play KQ9 in real world!
"We'll win"
Thank you for the upbeat words, Splat. With all of us standing together we can have this order removed and Kings Quest can continue.
Just sent in another email with story attached, though I rewrote the letter just so they're not all exactly alike.
My only concern with adding the story bits is if they come after the form part, will anyone even bother reading that for down enough to check that it's different from all the other emails?
Well, I'm sending my story separately from the form email, so they'll have two from me to read.
Quote from: Haids1987 on March 07, 2010, 11:40:19 AM
Well, I'msending my story separately from the form email, so they'll have two from me to read.
Good idea. I think I will do that.
To keep you all inform.
The original KQ creators, "Ken and Roberta Williams" support fan made games as we read the following:
http://www.bigbluecup.com/yabb/index.php?topic=40255.msg532020#msg532020
Keep it up!
I have just send the Email to Activision based on waltzdancings template. I added the following as personal remark:
'I remember my first KQ game. It was KQ5 which I played on a 8086 CPU with 2 MB Ram. It only had 10 MB HD so I had to remove everything, even the OS. I had to start the PC with a floppy and then I could start the game.
Save games also had to be saved on a floppy. There were simply no more space.
This game opened my eyes for the Adventure games and ever since I played many adventure games but often go back to replay the old KQ games. The story and the characters really got me hooked.
For this reason I was so happy to learn that some fans were making a sequel to this game and I have followed it since the beginning. I really looked forward to the release this spring'
Mine is sent too. Just so Activision can't miss my 'personal story' I interjected it in the template as a second paragraph. I also made some changes to the template itself, so it should appear at first glance as a totally different email. ;D
Quote from: copycat on March 08, 2010, 04:48:38 PM
Mine is sent too. Just so Activision can't miss my 'personal story' I interjected it in the template as a second paragraph. I also made some changes to the template itself, so it should appear at first glance as a totally different email. ;D
Ooooooh, nice! Stealthy! :yes:
Feel free to change the template as much as you want. It is just there for you to gather ideas. I liked the interjection of the story at the second paragraph.
I finally sent my email, I wanted to think long and hard about the personal story aspect. Here's hoping we can move mountains!
Cheers! ;D
In my next email I'm gonna record something on youtube and paste it in my email! And it'll be the first thing I say so they'll have to watch. ^^ Posting that in your email and sending it to Activisoon could really catch their attention. =o
As long as you don't make the title or picture that shows up as a preview related to TSL, they probably will click it and watch, lol. (Whoever's in charge of checking emails over there, anyways =P)
I've already joined the facebook group, signed the online petition, made my offline petition, and emailed them! I wanna be a part of the podcast, too.
My mom and I are gonna boycott them, hehe. >D
Quote from: MaliDuer on March 13, 2010, 05:04:07 PM
In my next email I'm gonna record something on youtube and paste it in my email! And it'll be the first thing I say so they'll have to watch. ^^ Posting that in your email and sending it to Activisoon could really catch their attention. =o
As long as you don't make the title or picture that shows up as a preview related to TSL, they probably will click it and watch, lol. (Whoever's in charge of checking emails over there, anyways =P)
I've already joined the facebook group, signed the online petition, made my offline petition, and emailed them! I wanna be a part of the podcast, too.
My mom and I are gonna boycott them, hehe. >D
Thank you for your continued support of TSL. We gladly welcome you into our company, and if you have any ideas or suggestions, just post here and we'll go from there. :)
Well, the youtube thing kinda was a suggestion. =o If we send our emails with youtube videos there might be a chance they'll watch and might make more of an impact becuase of the effort we took to record these things, even if it didn't take much, you know? I just really love KG ^^ I grew up on this stuff and I'm disappointed to see so much hard work go to waste because of what Activision said. =<
Here's my letter. I didn't try to be polite at all.... ::)
To whom it may concern:
I am a dissatisfied customer who wants to let those in charge know that any type of media associated under the Activision label will not be purchased with my hard-earned dollars.
Why, you may ask? Simple. Because you've become a prime example of what I absolutely loathe about today's economic greed and what it does to everyone it crosses.
I have followed the fan game "The Silver Lining" though it's 8 years of hard work and couldn't believe that a group of independent thinkers were strong enough to keep something fueled for as long as it was. The first time TSL was issued a C&D letter, I was crushed. Why, after all of these years of hard work, would a corporate money machine be threatened by a group of fans trying to revive what no one else would? This is a game that has been dead for 11 years. The only thing we've seen of Kings Quest in that time frame is a horribly thrown together mess of a re-release for the XP... And it didn't even work on my computer, I'll add.
The fans were strong. We were all strong. We rallied together, and showed Vivendi what we thought of this atrocious and slimy move. We appealed to them the only way we knew how: emails, letters, and any other way we could get our voices heard. In the end, Vivendi did the smart thing and gave the people who were responsible for their economic success what they wanted. They gave these beautiful individuals the opportunity to make something great, and I was proud of the company for seeing that TSL was not a threat to their business... But what they did for or to the fans was.
And now you're trying to tear it down again.
I'm deeply sad, hurt and angry for what you've done. I myself have drawn fan art, wrote fan fiction and even designed Halloween costumes that were inspired by this game. Do you want to send me a C&D letter for this as well? And what is TSL if not a work of fan art and fan fiction that should FLATTER you. It was made by fans, for fans.
Even if you had offered to buy the game, it would have been better than shutting it down. I hate this company for it's decision and I'm not afraid to let all of you know it. And until you re-think this stupid move, you will get no commission from me... And trust me... I know a lot of gamers who feel the same way. This was a very stupid and unnecessary mistake.
- A Lost Customer!
HEADS UP EVERYONE!! I will be mailing the first wave of letters tomorrow in the afternoon. I will still be collecting them so keep them coming. :D The mail here will be picked up at 4pm Mountain Standard Time so if you want to have your letter mailed tomorrow please get it to me before then.
Thanks
Quote from: waltzdancing on March 15, 2010, 05:59:28 PM
HEADS UP EVERYONE!! I will be mailing the first wave of letters tomorrow in the afternoon. I will still be collecting them so keep them coming. :D The mail here will be picked up at 4pm Mountain Standard Time so if you want to have your letter mailed tomorrow please get it to me before then.
Thanks
should I update the website?
Sure. This is just the frist round. I will still collect them if people haven't sent them to me or if I haven'g gotten them yet
Wait, are you collecting them from this discussion board or do we need to email them to you directly?
Emails are sent privatly by you. We are collecting the offline petitions to mail in.
Okay, great. I'll email you after I get it printed out. :) I've got a few people here willing to sign it too.
Just sent my email, and plan to get the offline petition printed out and signed soon... :)
has the first wave been sent yet, waltz?
Yes, she said she sent the first wave and is making Activision sign for them :P
Yes, the first wave of letters was sent yesterday at 1:30. It was sent through certified mail and they will receive the package either tomorrow or the next day. It weighed 2 pounds 7 ounces
And she also included a printout of the online petition signatures, which came in at 88 pages.
Wow! That's a lot of signatures!
Once I figure out how to post a picture I will show everyone what it looked like before I mailed it. It was very impressive. I am tracking the package and will let the forum know when Activision has it.
Quote from: waltzdancing on March 17, 2010, 09:42:55 AM
Once I figure out how to post a picture I will show everyone what it looked like before I mailed it. It was very impressive. I am tracking the package and will let the forum know when Activision has it.
Upload the picture to ImageShack (URL: http://imageshack.us/)
Then post the link to the image here.
:)
(http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/5155/packagepj.th.jpg) (http://img36.imageshack.us/i/packagepj.jpg/)
The package with everything in it at the post office getting ready for shipment. Travel Safely!
(http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/2991/14182360.th.jpg) (http://img714.imageshack.us/i/14182360.jpg/)
This is what was in the package before it was mailed. Sorry about the pictures quality. They were taken on my cell.
Hope the links work. Also here is a current shipping status of the petition
Your item was processed through and left our FAIRACRES, NM 88033 facility on March 16, 2010. The item is currently in transit to the destination.
EDIT (By Yonkey): Turned links into pics! ;D
That's awesome! Thanks for posting them for us to see!
I'm curious, has anyone gotten any response from Activision to their emails?
No. But they aren't coming back either so they have to be going somewhere.
Wow, 88 pages of online petition signatures o.o That's as many signatures as the cheese I eat in one week! (I have an unhealthy obsession with cheese XD) Let's hope that'll catch Activision's attention!
That's so exciting, Waltz! Thanks for doing that for us!
Today in the mail I received the signature on the return receipt. Signed by an Eric Eglen.
http://yfrog.com/1xsignaturemwj
Petition signed and validated, sent a huge, friggin e-mail to them, and sent the template e-mail from two different e-mail addresses. This seriously made me angry.
QuoteHi,
I would like to know, why on earth did you send a Cease and Desist letter to the developers of The Silver Lining? They're making a quality game true to the previous games, a game serious that hasn't been touched for so long, with a gameplay genre that is one of the least profitable ones out there, that the slightest notion that you'd ever do anything with the rights to the series is quite farfetched.
Even if you do plan on doing something with it, the release of TSL would only create more interest sequels - unless you're afraid that the quality or content of the game would be bad enough to negatively affect whatever you're going to do with the rights. But if that was the case, why not make an agreement with the developers where you could have some control, so it wouldn't release without you giving the permission after doing a quality and content control? Or, heck, take the whole team in, and release the game yourselves? That's eight years of work you could get pretty cheap, you'd definetly come out as a winner both in terms of profits and reputation! I mean, these guys are already doing this without being paid, and without commercial intent.
Speaking of reputation, do you even realize how your reputation has declined amongst King's Quest fans after sending this Cease and Desist order? There's absolutely no obvious reason for it, unless it's quite simply because you're holding the rights to the franchise, and want to point that out. If there's another reason, it must be very obscure. In any case, it seems like the person who made the decision of sending the order to the TSL team really didn't think this through. You've got an opportunity here, but instead you choose to act like, pardon my language, d***** bags. And yes, that is how many KQ fans now view you.
Was this even discussed with any marketing councellors, or the like? I'm quite sure you know that King's Quest has one of the largest fanbases out there when it comes to graphic adventure games. I'm also quite sure you know how popular the TSL project is. And I would even bet you know that these KQ and TSL fans buy and play other games, like the ones released by you, Activision. Now, would someone with even the slightest sense of what good public relations is simply stop a quality project that has so many followers, and just be, pardon my language again, be an ass about it? I do not think so. I think the only ones who has had anything to say in sending the Cease and Desist order are the people you use to check if anyone is using the title you have the rights to. But you are welcome to try and convince me otherwise - though that would need to be a good and detailed explanation, which I'm sure you would not care to give anyway. But please, at least prove to me and other gamers that you have some dignity left.
The previous rights holder could see that there would be no negative consequences to speak of by letting the team release TSL. In fact, I'd wager that they even saw the opportunities, especially seeing as the KQ series is still being sold to this date. I personally bought the collection myself less than a year ago, brand new, at my local GameStop. Several friends of mine have bought it in the last couple of years, too. TSL could've been free marketing for you, or even a new game you could release without much production cost. Why don't you see the opportunities?
I know I will get a negative reaction everytime I see your logo from this point forward, unless this whole thing suddenly takes a different direction. I doubt this electronic letter will have much to say in the case, but please, at the very least bear this in mind: I'm not an avid fan of the King's Quest series. I've only played through two of the games, despite owning all eight. And I wasn't even registered at the TSL forum, nor have I been keeping myself updated on the project on a regular basis. And yet, see how negatively your actions have affected my view on Activision.
Sincerely,
EDIT (By Yonkey): Fixed tags.
To send an email to the Sr. Manager of Corperate communications use this email
adyer@activision.com
It will go straight to his email and not into the pool where it is lost.
You're full of good information, Waltz. :yes:
I was going to ask how you even got that email address, but maybe we'd rather not know? :P
I do alot of research regarding Activision. At least two hours a day, I have no life ;D When I talk with the Operator she tells me where I am being directed and who's office it is. I write down the name and then I go to the internet and start digging. Its all legal, the operator is full of ingormation if you know how to work with her.
Hi folks! I'm just getting on board with the new Save TSL effort. I was there when it was Vivendi, and when they relented I sent a thank you card. Now I'm putting together my email and paper mail to send to Activision.
Is there a central list of all the email addresses and people's names? If not, could somebody make one? *bows in Waltz's direction*
Quote from: cupcakedoll on April 15, 2010, 08:47:02 PM
Is there a central list of all the email addresses and people's names? If not, could somebody make one? *bows in Waltz's direction*
thats a good idea if it hasn't been done yet.
welcome to the forum!