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Do you think Sierra should sell their KQ or other adventure

Started by Midnight Mist, December 16, 2003, 11:25:28 AM

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Midnight Mist

-series copyrights?

I know this might be a very odd place to ask this question,
but almost all other Sierra forums that I have visited lately
are now DOA, and what better place to ask than the KQ IX
fan game forums right? Anyway, I have thought long
about this for the past couple of days and I just wanted
an open opinion on the subject and am willing to be beaten
with a stick to a bloody pulp if it comes to that. (inhales) So
here I go...

I was thinking how Sierra hasn't touched a King's Quest
game in almost over 6 years now, and if they did, they would only be interested in making it into another action adventure
game (which isn't really a true King's Quest game IMO)
because they said it themselves, that they closed the
book on the point and click adventure game genre
because it doesn’t sell well anymore. The only other
exception I can think of for this is the LSL series.

There is little hope that another one will come (officially,
that is). I also have little hope that if they did do another,
it would not in anyway reflect the King's Quest world or
have proper story writing that would connect between
the previous other King's Quest games or just plain
confuse people again. Example: The lord of the dead in KQ
6 between the other lord of the dead in the dimension of
death in MOE. "Why are there two Lord's of the dead?"
Like that.

Maybe this is just me thinking out loud, but I think that if
Sierra doesn't want to make any new adventure games,
why hold one of the greatest adventure game series
hostage? The only other reason I can think of, is either
that King's Quest Trademark is like their mascot for the
company and they don't want to loss it or they are
keeping it out of respect for all the other fan game
projects out there, so any other company they sold it to
won't shut them down (which I’m hoping is the case).

I'm in no way saying that any other company will do better
game wise or story wise, but if anyone else is willing to
make another KQ adventure type game commercially, why
not let them have it. Heck, they could even try to sell it to
one of the fan game making sites if they can afford it. Not
just saying that because of where I am right now btw. The
copyrights would probably cost alot of mulah though, so
the odds are that would probably be out of the fan sites
question
(no offence  :( ).  

Anyway, that's my two cents on this thought. Anyone else?

Yonkey

It's kind of hard to give an unbiased opinion on this.  I mean, it would be wonderful for us if they did drop the KQ trademark or sell it. ;D But realistically, in order for them to give it up, they need to be convinced that it is in both the best interest of themselves and the other party involved.  I don't think they're keeping it out of spite or malice towards fan game projects.  I think they're just trying to protect their work and reputation earned from the series.  Some people would argue this is simply a matter of money rather than ethics, but I would say it's a combination of both.
"A wish changes nothing. A decision changes everything."

Erpy

QuoteMaybe this is just me thinking out loud, but I think that if
Sierra doesn't want to make any new adventure games,
why hold one of the greatest adventure game series
hostage? The only other reason I can think of, is either
that King's Quest Trademark is like their mascot for the
company and they don't want to loss it or they are
keeping it out of respect for all the other fan game
projects out there, so any other company they sold it to
won't shut them down (which I’m hoping is the case).

The reason they're holding on to the KQ copyrights is simple. It's their property and there's no valid reason for them to randomly drop copyrights. It certainly won't gain them any benefits. (and even if they considered it, the legal procedures needed for such a stunt would give more than enough time to rethink that whim and take it back) Sierra/Vivendi's shareholders would probably lose a lot of faith in the management if that management started throwing company property away. And Sierra as a devision of Vivendi (that might be sold one day) would decrease in value without these copyrights. Fan-games have nothing at all to do with this.

The idea that Sierra would hold on to the copyrights of their series so people can make fangames is very far-sought. It's just not business-like. In fact, if there were any completed LSL-fangames out there, Sierra would likely have sent them a c&d already. (with LSL8 on the way and all)



Midnight Mist

QuoteThe idea that Sierra would hold on to the copyrights of their series so people can make fangames is very far-sought. It's just not business-like. In fact, if there were any completed LSL-fangames out there, Sierra would likely have sent them a c&d already. (with LSL8 on the way and all)

I know. You can't really blame a person for hoping though.  :-\

In truth, they just plain don't care if people make all these games, because they think it will no longer make a profit on the open market any more.