Freeshard

[Arcsalin]

Sorry Xest - did not mean to imply that freeshards were breaking the law..

Just that you/Arc clearly do not agree with mythics view. My view is that UK law is crap in places, the UK Govt disagrees, but I would hesitate to post anything which may encourage people to break it.

I said nothing about the law specifically, nor about disagreeing with what mythic's view. Just to clear this up - It is more to the point that at this present moment in time the Freeshard servers are offering what is clearly lacking in the present state of the game in which why people are/have/want to leave because this is not present in the current ruleset of daoc. Unfortunately, people that play this game are so short sighted that they may as well be fed by a drip because if I was Freeshard or mythic and I had incentives coming out of my arse for people to play and they were so good then those short sighted people would be in the palm of my hand and I would be making money off them. Freeshard you must remember on some part is doing this for love of the game and not by killing DAOC live.

These servers as I see them are nothing but beta servers for when the eventual life support machine is cut off from the already dying corpse. Several mmorpgs will replace this one and there will be freeshards for those also in time to come. The cycle will continue - Although I do think Larriod's idea was rather nice tbh and if I were a Mythic CEO then I would be certainly considering it as means of feeding of the back of a dead horse and still making money.

So for you and Ankh both, just to make this clear from almost all but my first post. My position is only that of the long term. Ankh you in particular are of no means to take the high ground as you have left this game more times than I have had hot curries in the Sahara. Ankh I know you want to go to Warhammer just like 90% of the people here that I am guessing at least want to go there also. Warhammer so everyone is saying will kill this game. And as I have said I will stay here or flit between DDO/LOTRO until I tire of mmorpg's.

But the essence of it down to this, there's nothing wrong with supporting something you like and even paying for it if you like it so much. But there's also nothing wrong with wanting to care for that same thing you had a passion for once its original owner no longer wants it and making preparations to do so is also in the best interests of those who wish to play this game till they want to stop and not before. If you actually bother to read the Freeshard pages concerning DAOC you will see that they are actually wanting to look after this game because they know what is going to happen to it.

[Lairiodd]

[UO] .... To stay legal, emulation servers do not distribute the official EA client files, and the users of the emulation software must not charge their players to be able to play on their individual shards ...

Ok, why does charging make any difference ?

I mean if its ok to provide the service why is it suddenly illegal to charge for it. Is it that charging will result in EA having a claim on the earnings and thus having no earnings protects against that ?

[Arcsalin]

I do wonder though - do the freeshards have the same classes, same abilities, same landscapes, same quests... same anything, in terms of the look/feel/design/text of the game? You don't just copyright the code when you copyright a creative product, you copyright the ideas. DaoC is not an application where you could argue that the same features would probably have been invented anyway. Someone sits down and writes a DaoC quest and I don't see how that differs from someone writing a novel - if the idea is stolen, that's an infringement, even if the words are different. If the words are the same, that's a clear cut case.

If I were to answer the first part of this quote I might dignify the subject matter with an incentive for people to jump ship so I am not going to =)

[Arcsalin]

Ok, why does charging make any difference ?

I mean if its ok to provide the service why is it suddenly illegal to charge for it. Is it that charging will result in EA having a claim on the earnings and thus having no earnings protects against that ?

I think that sentence lair is basically saying despite people running individual shards, the game content etc belongs to EA in this instance and any earnings thus should go to EA if the individual shard provider is charging for it. In other words misappropiation of goods or con merchant in small talk

[Lieva]

freeshard has been out ages now.
Iirc its how we got Selenia dressed in a pink robe and pink hat...

Though i think in those days it was more like playing against no one and just on your own in the daoc enviroment.

As for playing on a server with other people other than the ones mythic/goa host..surely thats wrong...moraly so?
Kinda like a pirate radio station?

[Satyn]

I do wonder though - do the freeshards have the same classes, same abilities, same landscapes, same quests... same anything, in terms of the look/feel/design/text of the game? You don't just copyright the code when you copyright a creative product, you copyright the ideas. DaoC is not an application where you could argue that the same features would probably have been invented anyway. Someone sits down and writes a DaoC quest and I don't see how that differs from someone writing a novel - if the idea is stolen, that's an infringement, even if the words are different. If the words are the same, that's a clear cut case.

that is exactly what freeshard server is.
But for example the insta dungeons are 1v1 rvr zones or fgvfg zones etc.

[Belisar]

Just to clear this up - It is more to the point that at this present moment in time the Freeshard servers are offering what is clearly lacking in the present state of the game in which why people are/have/want to leave because this is not present in the current ruleset of daoc. .

That is a massive jump from personal opinion to assumption that everyone or even a lot of people feel the same.

Join freeshard and get a templated L50 toon - I can see how that works and how it is of interest but am not sure how long the feeling lasts. Reading the State of the Realm thread and also the NE items it is also clear that a lot of peeps enjoy the social aspect of the current game.

Unfortunately, people that play this game are so short sighted that they may as well be fed by a drip because if I was Freeshard or mythic and I had incentives coming out of my arse for people to play and they were so good then those short sighted people would be in the palm of my hand and I would be making money off them. Freeshard you must remember on some part is doing this for love of the game and not by killing DAOC live.

Not sure I understand this point. You are saying that anyone not in favour of freeshards is shortsighted ?

Well my whole issue is that playing freeshards may lead to a ban. That is ok for you as you are not in game and clearly do not give a stuff about being back any time soon. But playing freeshards when you have a decent toon in the main game and have regular RvR or other in game activity that you like is surely shortsighted as you could get banned.

Several mmorpgs will replace this one and there will be freeshards for those also in time to come.

True enough I guess.

So for you and Ankh both, just to make this clear from almost all but my first post. My position is only that of the long term.

Don't see that tbh - playing a game where I do not have to level, understand or equip a toon is hardly long term. If you put no time into it's creation you are hardly going to put time into it's continuence.

The downside of DAoC is how long it takes to get to the end game. Freeshards evades that but simply means peeps who began before you could be higher RR or more experienced.

If you actually bother

My bother is simple. If peeps who still play regular DAoC play freeshards they could get a ban. I fail to see how making that sound good or in anyway positive is helpful. You have nothing to lose, as you have noted you have no active accounts but others need to be aware of the downside.

Coming here and admitting to using freeshards is going to give some people a hard time and some hard decisions to make. Why you would want to put them in a difficult position I cannot imagine.

[Haarewin]

My bother is simple. If peeps who still play regular DAoC play freeshards they could get a ban. I fail to see how making that sound good or in anyway positive is helpful. You have nothing to lose, as you have noted you have no active accounts but others need to be aware of the downside.

the problem is for GOA - gaining the evidence to prove you've used a freeshard.

[Belisar]

the problem is for GOA - gaining the evidence to prove you've used a freeshard.

Yes I know, still not sure I would want to take the risk, but it is all about personal choices.

[Xest]

that is exactly what freeshard server is.
But for example the insta dungeons are 1v1 rvr zones or fgvfg zones etc.

In other words it's different...

As for playing on a server with other people other than the ones mythic/goa host..surely thats wrong...moraly so?
Kinda like a pirate radio station?

You need a broadcasting license, pirate radio stations don't have one, hence illegal ]I mean if its ok to provide the service why is it suddenly illegal to charge for it. Is it that charging will result in EA having a claim on the earnings and thus having no earnings protects against that ?[/QUOTE] I'm not sure that information is 100% correct for all countries as I know some UO freeshards that charged for years without issue but afaik it's like you say, to do with loss of earnings.