The Silver Lining - Cease and Desist

[Erpy]

I personally believe this C&D could have been prevented, but I don't think it's fair or even possible to put the blame on one particular party.

- Activision could have offered to finalize the procedures for the fan license from the get-go or at least shouldn't have been so quick to send a C&D... but on the other hand, those procedures should have been finalized before the merger between VU and Activision even took place and it was never Activision's job to finalize procedures supposedly finalized by its "predecessor".

- Vivendi Universal Games should have pushed the TSL team to get those signed contracts over there ASAP and finish things up properly...but on the other hand, VU Games is a corporate giant and fangames make up a miniscule spot on their massive agenda so it's not surprising they don't treat a fan license as something that has major priority on their work schedule, because it hasn't.

- The team should have checked and doublechecked to see if their fan license was covered and finalized instead of assuming it would be. Unlike Vivendi's lawyers, the condition of the license WAS a top priority for them and when years of work from all your members is at the stake, you just can't afford to miss any fineprints whatsoever...but on the other hand, dealing with a corporate giant is a long and painful process. When KQ1VGA 4.0 and QFG2VGA were submitted, we sent a CD-R through snail mail twice...the first one got lost somewhere along the way, we had to contact them again, acknowledge they didn't have what we sent, send it again, check with them again and confirm they received it this time. It's not a particularly efficient process.

So each party has their own side of the story. Wanna blame one particular side? Just take the first half of one of the three preceeding paragraphs and ignore the rest. In the end though, it's good that someone was able to get through and establish communication with Activision, because "death by bureaucracy" is probably among the worst ways to go under...right up there with eating a cat cookie "au naturel" or pushing a rock from the wrong direction.

[KatieHal]

Exactly--there were many assumptions, misunderstandings, etc, on both sides. We're not saying we didn't make any of those by any means. It's very much a learning process, and we know much better now than we did back then about these things. We were first-time game designers, but also first-time contract negotiators!

[Erpy]

Then I hope that experience will serve you well in the talks to come.

[crayauchtin]

So what if Activision decides to grant POS the license that was brokered under VU? (meaning case-by-case approval of freeware games, but no commercial ventures) Would you continue pushing for a commercial endeavour or be content with what is finished now?

Erpy, are you asking if POS will try to make original games they can commercially sell when this is all over? Cause that is a good question!

[Erpy]

I WOULD be interested in the answer to that question, but no, that wasn't what I was asking.

My question was mostly what the ideal scenario was that the "Save TSL"-group had in mind...a fan license like the one VU offered in the past, resulting in a freeware game, would be the most beneficial in the short run since all fans can quickly get the game they've been waiting for (or rather the start of the story) free of charge, but statements made by the team members would indicate no further chapters would be developed since doing so for free would not be viable, so a free fan license would be detrimental to the possibility of developing the project as it was originally written.

But they already answered that.

[waltzdancing]

Our ideal scenario right now is the fan license. It is the quickest way to get the game to the fans and then let POS make the decision on what they want to do. I hope that answered your question Erpy. With just a fan license, it would cut into the project but we may see the other chapter in time but lets get over this first hurdle first.

[liggy002]

I'm sure that we will see the other Chapters eventually.  The team doesn't want to just produce an incomplete game and leave it at that.  Though, when we see them, they will be commercialized and not free.  I also have a hunch that they will been producing their own IP which should be exciting and something to look forward to on the horizon.

By the way, are there any Shenmue fans out there?  There is somewhat of a similar situation happening with Sega- they don't want to produce Shenmue 3 because they believe the production cost would exceed the revenue.  if there are any fans here, a help with that petition would be useful as well.  They left it on a cliffhanger and for such a great game it is sad to see it incomplete.

[atec123]

I would help (at least a little) even without knowing what's going on.  stuff like that just sucks.

[I_am_so_nifty]

I'd just like to add that I wouldn't mind if we had to wait a few more months for a commercial version of the game--if that's possible, you know. It would help fund future projects and even the other chapters, so I think it's a smart idea if Activision allows it.

[waltzdancing]

I just want a game. A series would be nice but anything would be great. Its also cool that Activision is starting to talk so maybe something can happen here. No matter what I will be content and happy.

[cupcakedoll]

Every day I get on waiting to hear the good news and see a happy King-Graham-hat logo. 

If these talks go pear shaped and we have to get back to yelling at Activision, it'd be nice to have the names and positions of various people on the Activuisuion staff.  All the "how to convince companies to do stuff" lists say it's much better to write to people by their names.  Anyone want to do some googling on that?

Another thing we could do is get an ad in a gaming magazine, an actual paper one.  A quarter page with the sad King-Graham-hat logo and a short explanation of the situation might bring more letter-writers to the cause.

Totally unrelated story: Once at a renfaire I saw Graham's hat.  Blue with a red feather.  I still regret not buying it!

[waltzdancing]

A lot of legal stuff needs to be worked out. Its going to take time and within that time I am continuing to download the on line signatures and send them to activision along with any mailed in signatures I receive. Talking is good but because it is a large company, we need to have patience and to keep on trucking.

[I_am_so_nifty]

If these talks go pear shaped and we have to get back to yelling at Activision, it'd be nice to have the names and positions of various people on the Activuisuion staff.  All the "how to convince companies to do stuff" lists say it's much better to write to people by their names.  Anyone want to do some googling on that?

This link might help. --> http://www.activisionblizzard.com/corp/ml/aboutUs/corporateManagement.html

[kindofdoon]

I received an email from TSL today with the subject line "Important Message from our Narrator, Amy Kurylo!‏"

Excitedly, I opened it, only to find that the email was blank. It contained only the text "Hello Everyone!"

What happened? Does anyone have the rest of this email? Is there any update?

[koko_99_2001]

Here's what mine said:

Hello Everyone!

The wonderfully talented Amy Kurylo, our narrator and singer of "The Day You Were Gone," has a special request for anyone who's able to donate to a really great cause. In her words:
"I'm part of an 18 piece jazz ensemble that is going to go to Europe to play to find a cure for polio. I will be singing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland for two days. It's the epitome of Jazz festivals - like saying I'm going to sing at Carnegie Hall. Plus, I'll be in Paris, London, Liverpool and parts of Germany singing at concerts with the band - All to raise funding for Polio. Bill and Melinda Gates foundation will match whatever we raise over there. Here's the dilemma. The trip will have to wait another year without the Montreux Jazz Festival if we don't raise a little more funding in the next 2 weeks. ... this is an opportunity for a lot of cool things. Helping kids, helping the band ... If nothing else, it's a great cause."

You can donate money and get more information here through their website:

http://www.rivercitiesjazz.com/europetour.php
It is indeed a good cause, and doesn't just give our narrator a great opportunity, but also gives some kids who greatly need it a chance to get a vaccine for a potentially debilitating disease!

[tessspoon]

Mine was fine as well.

[kindofdoon]

Well, that's a great cause; however, I was hoping for TSL news.

Strange about the email, though...Perhaps Hotmail is just being stupid as usual.

[Enchantermon]

It's not just Hotmail; mine was messed up as well.

[cygnus]

are the talks with actvision going well?

[oberonqa]

are the talks with actvision going well?

Well as they say, no news is good news.  Still no new developments to report.