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The Silver Lining - Cease and Desist

Started by Yonkey, February 27, 2010, 08:59:56 PM

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Dan

Perhaps, The TSL forum here could have an authenticator like copying a word to prove your human like other sites have.

atec123

the thing is they didn't register.  THey just used the guest accounts.  After this is resolved, I am thinking guest accounts won't be allowed.
Official maintainer of TSL in linux via Wine. TSL AppDB page
Maintainer of TSL in OSX via Wine
TSL IRC Chatroom Maintainer
We are the Defenders of Jazz Ballet
People say, when they see us:
Hey, folks! It's the Saviours of Jazz Ballet
Fearless heroes of kick and spin

Anon

As long as people can have a say elsewhere where they do not have to register, I think going back to the old registration policy would be nice for most.  Requiring registration everywhere could block great ideas from coming through (even though the guests so far haven't exactly been great thinkers).

There are non-registering forums that counter spam either with implemented coding programs or numerous moderators from around the world, present on the board at all times.


cle

Quote from: Yonkey on February 27, 2010, 08:59:56 PM
To Our Fans:

In 2005, Phoenix Online Studios received a Cease & Desist letter from Vivendi Universal, the owners of the King's Quest IP, in regards to our work on The Silver Lining. We complied with the request, and over the months that followed, we were able to work out a non-commercial fan license with Vivendi that allowed us to continue our work on the game.

We have spent a lot of time recently reworking the material of The Silver Lining into episodic releases, with the first out of a planned five episodes completed, and submitted for review, and had hoped we would be able to bring our game to you, the fans, in the Spring of 2010.

Recently, however, ownership of the Sierra IP changed hands and became the property of Activision. After talks and negotiations in the last few months between ourselves and Activision, they have reached the decision that they are not interested in granting a non-commercial license to The Silver Lining, and have asked that we cease production and take down all related materials on our website.

As before, we must and will comply with this decision, as much as we may wish we could do otherwise.

We cannot say enough how much we appreciate the support we have had over these years from our fans. Without you, we would never have gotten this far. There would be no game to develop, and no one to develop it for. You have been amazing and steadfast, and we will always remember that and appreciate it more than we can say.

Sadly, after eight years of dedicated work and even more dedicated fans, The Silver Lining project is closing down.

What the future holds for us, as individuals or a team, we cannot say. We have an amazing development team, however, filled with talented and hard-working individuals, and we hope the teamwork and rapport we've developed won't go to waste. We hope that when we do know what the future holds for us, our fans will be there to enjoy what we can give them still.

Again, thank you all so much for everything. This has been a long and crazy road, full of more twists than we could've anticipated, but more triumphs and wonderful memories than we could've ever hoped for. And for that, to all of you and to everyone on our team, we will always be grateful.

Thank You,

The Silver Lining Development Team


UPDATE:
Here are a few related links of interest:

Save TSL Petition - Petition link: here
Save TSL Facebook Group
Save TSL MySpace Page
Form Letter for Contacting Gaming Websites
Form Letter for Contacting Activision
List of websites discussing C&D
TSL Demographics Survey

Interviews:
ShDon Interview
MediaWhoreNetwork Interview - Part One and Two
IncGamers Interview
Joystiq Preview

atec123

Hmm... was that spam too or was that to get us back on topic?

either way....

BACK ON TOPIC :P
Official maintainer of TSL in linux via Wine. TSL AppDB page
Maintainer of TSL in OSX via Wine
TSL IRC Chatroom Maintainer
We are the Defenders of Jazz Ballet
People say, when they see us:
Hey, folks! It's the Saviours of Jazz Ballet
Fearless heroes of kick and spin

RollingStone

When I saw the original post again (thanks to that weirdo ::)) I noticed an interesting sentence:

"After talks and negotiations in the last few months between ourselves and Activision, they have reached the decision that they are not interested in granting a non-commercial license to The Silver Lining, and have asked that we cease production and take down all related materials on our website."

So there HAS been communication with Activision? With who? And what form was the C&D in? A letter? An email? Who exactly was it from?

I'm wondering about these things because our main problem right now seems to be in getting Activision - especially the people at the top - to talk to us or even acknowledge our existence. But it's strange that the same people who were willing to talk directly to us before would be so aloof now.

atec123

http://www.postudios.com/blog/forum/index.php?topic=8454.0

We are getting activision to notice us.  As for the team, I dunno, and I dunno if they are allowed to talk about it on a public forum either.  You never know.

What we can do now is call activision.  I still haven't.  My ability to be civil and not cuss and yell at them is unfortunately not very good.  I have emailed them though and Done most of the other stuff.

Anyway, yeah.  Call activision and make us un invisible!
Official maintainer of TSL in linux via Wine. TSL AppDB page
Maintainer of TSL in OSX via Wine
TSL IRC Chatroom Maintainer
We are the Defenders of Jazz Ballet
People say, when they see us:
Hey, folks! It's the Saviours of Jazz Ballet
Fearless heroes of kick and spin

atec123

spammy needsta stop already.  I used to have all kinds of SMF (that's shat this forum software is right?)  hacks and stuff that could block spam, but I think it only worked with blocking people from REGISTERING.  The code thing doesn't help much, although there are some variations that help by blending different colors and making it more complex.

anyway......

back on topic.
Official maintainer of TSL in linux via Wine. TSL AppDB page
Maintainer of TSL in OSX via Wine
TSL IRC Chatroom Maintainer
We are the Defenders of Jazz Ballet
People say, when they see us:
Hey, folks! It's the Saviours of Jazz Ballet
Fearless heroes of kick and spin

Erpy

QuoteSo there HAS been communication with Activision? With who? And what form was the C&D in? A letter? An email? Who exactly was it from?

Of course there's been communication. The team themselves said that Activision wasn't aware of their existence until they contacted them and asked to review the finished content. The game didn't make it through the legal deparment and they were the ones who sent a C&D-letter. (most likely an email, though it could have been an actual letter)

That said, I don't think the team is going to give out the contact info of those they spoke to for the fans to vent to. The results would be messy.


eawhla

#709
More SAVE TSL


KITTY EDIT: more editing of spam :cat:

atec123


*sigh*
Quote from: Erpy on April 17, 2010, 05:37:09 AM
QuoteSo there HAS been communication with Activision? With who? And what form was the C&D in? A letter? An email? Who exactly was it from?

Of course there's been communication. The team themselves said that Activision wasn't aware of their existence until they contacted them and asked to review the finished content. The game didn't make it through the legal deparment and they were the ones who sent a C&D-letter. (most likely an email, though it could have been an actual letter)

That said, I don't think the team is going to give out the contact info of those they spoke to for the fans to vent to. The results would be messy.


there must have been.   I mean it's not just like *sends c&d* and that's all.  They must have discussed it at least a little.
Official maintainer of TSL in linux via Wine. TSL AppDB page
Maintainer of TSL in OSX via Wine
TSL IRC Chatroom Maintainer
We are the Defenders of Jazz Ballet
People say, when they see us:
Hey, folks! It's the Saviours of Jazz Ballet
Fearless heroes of kick and spin

Angelic_Sabyne

I didn't know if anyone had already done this, but I went ahead and sent an e-mail to EFF, asking if they can offer any sort of assistance or guidance on this.  I pointed them to this forum, in case they wanted to reach out to us community members.  I also aimed them at Yonkey's e-mail, in case they need to directly interface with the team.  (I figure Yonkey's the best one to reach the creative team through.)

Here is the letter I sent to EFF:

Quote
Dear EFF:

I am a member of the forums for the fan game The Silver Lining.  In case the name is unfamiliar to you, it is the unofficial fan-made sequel to the King's Quest series originally published by Sierra in the 80s and 90s.  Phoenix Online Studios was creating this game in an attempt to breathe new life into a series that had a lackluster eighth installment back in 1998, and they had no intentions of selling the game or making any sort of profit from it. 

After Vivendi issued a C&D against the development team in 2005, the team was able to secure a fan license after negotiating with the company.  However, the IP for the old Sierra titles has since passed to Activision when it was purchased by Vivendi, and the game has been shut down by a new C&D from Activision.  Not only has the game been shut down, but any and all material related to it on the main TSL website (http://www.tsl-game.com )  Understandably, both the creative team and those of us who are fans of the game are devastated.

Our community has not given up on TSL, however.  As you may have heard through the online community, we have been conducting a petition drive, as well as letter writing and calling campaigns to try and reach some sort of compromise with Activision.  So far, there has been no response from them, though some individuals within the company are well-aware of our efforts and may be trying to spread the word internally.

I am writing you this evening to ask you for any advice or assistance you can give to our community.  This has been a huge blow to us all, and any attempts to reach out to the creative team and the fans would be greatly appreciated, even if no assistance can be given.  This is a game that many people were waiting for, one that would spark a renewed interest in this old series.  We understand Activision's wish to maintain control of its IP rights, but feel that shutting down a fan project that would have taken no money from the company is an unwise decision.

If you do wish to get in touch with our community, this thread will give you a place to talk to us fans and obtain any feedback you might require:  http://www.postudios.com/blog/forum/index.php?topic=8394.0  If you need to speak with the creative team directly, your best contact would be the Web Director, who can get you in touch with the team.  His e-mail address is neil.rodrigues@postudios.com.

I apologize if this is a duplicate request, but I had not heard of anyone contacting you about this matter.  I want to make sure all possible options are utilized in saving this game.  As I said before, any assistance you can give on this matter is appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

ytdrlynooj

#712
Love TSL



KITTY EDIT: Bye bye spam! :cat:

Yonkey

Quote from: Angelic_Sabyne on April 18, 2010, 12:48:29 AM
(I figure Yonkey's the best one to reach the creative team through.)
Definitely.

Like I said, I'll be sure to notify you of any new developments. 8)
"A wish changes nothing. A decision changes everything."

Angelic_Sabyne

Quote from: Yonkey on April 18, 2010, 05:52:36 AM
Quote from: Angelic_Sabyne on April 18, 2010, 12:48:29 AM
(I figure Yonkey's the best one to reach the creative team through.)
Definitely.

Like I said, I'll be sure to notify you of any new developments. 8)

Great.  :)

If I receive any responses from EFF, I'll definitely post them here and let you know as well.

RollingStone

Quote from: Erpy on April 17, 2010, 05:37:09 AM
I don't think the team is going to give out the contact info of those they spoke to for the fans to vent to. The results would be messy.
Don't worry; personal attacks weren't my intention. I just thought that it would be helpful to know where, exactly, in the company we should aim our complaints. The different departments probably have different phone numbers, email addresses, etc. Knowing that the LEGAL Department sent the C&D definitely helps.

By the way, I'm probably the only one here who doesn't know this, but what does "EFF" stand for? :-[

atec123

Quote from: RollingStone on April 19, 2010, 12:34:51 PM
By the way, I'm probably the only one here who doesn't know this, but what does "EFF" stand for? :-[
http://tinyurl.com/db7se4
I didn't know either.  Google is your friend though.
Official maintainer of TSL in linux via Wine. TSL AppDB page
Maintainer of TSL in OSX via Wine
TSL IRC Chatroom Maintainer
We are the Defenders of Jazz Ballet
People say, when they see us:
Hey, folks! It's the Saviours of Jazz Ballet
Fearless heroes of kick and spin

Dan

Nice!

Btw, Activision Blizzard profits are up --  :o

"Activision Blizzard Inc. . . . company now expects 2010 earnings of 72 cents a share up from previous forecast of 70 cents. . . . boost comes from strong global demand for the World of Warcraft and Call of Duty games said Chief Executive Bobby Kotick.

Wall Street Journal Fri. April 16, 2010 -- page B4

think they would be nice to TSL if it could get interest up in King's Quest again and make them more money if not for any other reason --  :-\

waltzdancing

Just sit tight everyone, Yonkey has said it is going to be a creative week so he is clearly up to something. Keep your fingers crossed and keep pressuring them.

blueskirt

Back on the subject of buying the KQ rights from Activision if the petitions don't work, if you go for a donation campaign (but there's probably better plans), I hope you'll handle it better than the current petition campaign is handled. The petitions campaign should have been ready the moment you announced the cancellation of TSL to the press, not a week later.

If you are serious about this, you must get everything ready before the first announcement. If you need as many payment method as possible, you got to do it before the campaign begins. You must prepare a list of websites and forums to announce your project. Every gaming news and reviewing websites out there: Joystiq, Destructoid, The Escapist, Gamasutra, Gamespot... Indie sites like Indiegames.com, TIGSource or Jayisgames, every adventure games sites you can think of: Sierra sites, Lucasarts sites like Mixnmojo or Telltale, even Monkey Island sites and forums. Adventure games development sites like AGAST, Adventure Developers, AGS, Wintermute... adventure reviewing sites, like JustAdventures, Adventure Gamer or Adventure Treff, any abandonware websites you can think of, Abandonia, Underdogs, GOG.com... even gaming sites and forums in foreign languages, everyone interested in King's Quest, Sierra, adventure games, old games or indie games should be aware of your project.

You must reach critical mass, you must reach momentum speed if you want to get the money needed to buy the rights. The moment the machine is started, it shouldn't stop.

That's all I have to say.