emily Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 I just received a reply to my PM asking permission to create an official topic for this game, that I sent before this topic existed. So... this topic is now an official one, I guess? Not that it matters, it will change absolutely nothing. Quote believe victims. its actually not that hard, and youd look kind of bad if you were to, say, side with an abuser because theyre your friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBBBalta Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 and you could always ask lego, i mean, SERIOUSLY, what are they going to do about it other than rub it in our faces? nothing. and most of it is probably too old to salvage anything from it, and bionicle sets are dead, so what do they have to lose? Someone did ask and they said no. IIRC it was a pretty boilerplate legal response. Maybe GregF asked for us? I don't remember what the scenario was exactly, but it was established pretty early on that Lego wasn't OK with the release of the game. If you want I can probably dig up a link. can you dig a link? because when this happened, will make a big difference in this conversationThere were a number of people who sent e-mails and such to LEGO asking about the game. Some were immediately told that it would be flat-out illegal, while others stated that they'd forward the request to people higher-up. As far as I know, no one got a definitive reply from one of the higher-up people, and keep in mind that those who said no were just customer service reps who had likely never even heard of LoMN before and just heard "make LEGO game free to download." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BULiK Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 yeah, i thought of that, and we just need to get in contact with the higher-ups.like I said before, what do they have to lose? Quote Visit www.BZPRPG.com to view my project of archiving BZPower's RPGs, and also access the BZPower Roleplaying Wiki BZPRPG Profiles - Ghosts Of Bara Magna Profiles Exo-Force RPG Profiles - Six Kingdoms: Apocalypse (Knichou, Berys, Arnex, The Taku, Exuze) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Reidak Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 First off, really glad that this topic is back up. I'm not so sure this is exciting as many people make it out to be, for several reasons:[*]Legally, neither Deep Brick nor RedQuark can put up even a demo of LoMN, because they do not hold the copyright to it[*]Lego holds the copyright to the game, so only Lego could legally put the game itself up for download. If Lego gives Deep Brick or RedQuark permission, they could upload it themselves, but I find that unlikely The last we heard from RQ was that he was working on a secret plan of sorts to allow the game to be made legally available to download. No word yet on how this has progressed during the forum downtime, of course.Aside from asking Lego - who, as the copyright holder, is the only entity who can legally distribute LoMN - for permission, I'm not sure what RedQuark could do.Well, RQ has understandably not revealed details of his plan yet, so there's no real way to judge whether it will work short of waiting for further word from him. As for the programming stuff, members such as JMMB, DJ Reidak, and alpha123 seem convinced that they'll be able to pull this off given enough time. I don't know much about that kind of thing, so I'll leave it up to them to respond if they wish... Second off, I want to make it clear that I have faith that other people here will be able to fix this game if we are able to get it. I can make some decent programs in Microsoft Visual Studio (VB.NET), but what other people can do here is way over my head. DJ Reidak Quote "Perhaps the ending has not yet been written" - Atrus (Myst) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
that guy Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 and you could always ask lego, i mean, SERIOUSLY, what are they going to do about it other than rub it in our faces? nothing. and most of it is probably too old to salvage anything from it, and bionicle sets are dead, so what do they have to lose? Someone did ask and they said no. IIRC it was a pretty boilerplate legal response. Maybe GregF asked for us? I don't remember what the scenario was exactly, but it was established pretty early on that Lego wasn't OK with the release of the game. If you want I can probably dig up a link. can you dig a link? because when this happened, will make a big difference in this conversationThere were a number of people who sent e-mails and such to LEGO asking about the game. Some were immediately told that it would be flat-out illegal, while others stated that they'd forward the request to people higher-up. As far as I know, no one got a definitive reply from one of the higher-up people, and keep in mind that those who said no were just customer service reps who had likely never even heard of LoMN before and just heard "make LEGO game free to download." Bioran23 actually contacted Lego's legal department. This was their response:Dear KanohiJournal Representative:I understand that you are seeking information about an unreleased LEGO Group video game product known as "BIONICLE®: The Legend of Mata Nui" (the "Game"). I have been informed that you want to know whether the Game may be made available to the public, either through the KanohiJournal.com web site, or through a third party. I have also heard that there is some interest in altering the Game to bring it from its current developmental stage to a more finished state. The LEGO Group has no plans at present to distribute the Game, nor to license its distribution via outside entities. The LEGO Group suspended its plans to bring the Game to market because it no longer fit within The LEGO Group's overall marketing strategy. The LEGO Group, however, retains all rights in the Game, including the right to control when or if the game is to be released to the public.The LEGO Group is, and always has been, the exclusive worldwide copyright owner for the Game. As such, it would be a violation of LEGO Group intellectual property rights for anyone to copy, publish, host, or distribute the Game, whether in its present state or in any altered form, without express permission from The LEGO Group. This is true regardless of whether a fee is charged for access to the Game. Because The LEGO Group is not prepared to allow the release of the Game, we must respectfully decline to grant permission for the Game to be copied, published, hosted, or distributed by KanohiJournal.com or any third party.The LEGO Group is aware that one or more persons may be in possession of copies of the Game. Any such copies are not authorized copies, and therefore have been made in violation of our intellectual property rights.Thank you for your interest in the BIONICLE® storyline, characters and products. I wish you success in your future online ventures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Xemnas~ Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I guess the statement in the post above mine means that even if anyone succeeds in fixing the game, no one is going to be able to play it? Quote BZPRPG Profiles Ghosts of Bara Magna Profile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltraHau Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) I guess the statement in the post above mine means that even if anyone succeeds in fixing the game, no one is going to be able to play it? Correct. This is exactly why I think having the BZP community put its efforts somewhere else (like a high-quality community game) would be better - we wouldn't have to deal with Lego's legal department. Edited October 25, 2011 by UltraHau Quote Every moment gives us a chance to become more than what we are.-Ryu, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike: Fight for the FutureNot luck. It's what you do that makes you a hero.-Kopaka Nuva, MoLI have but one destiny.-Takanuva, MoL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha123 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Oh well. I don't think we'll be getting this for quite some time. I guess we can just hack save files until then. BTW, the last time I recall hearing from Deep Brick was December 2010 - about 10 months ago. Any word since then? I thought the legal reply was kind of funny though. What typical legal stuff. Just a long-winded way of saying "Yeah, not a chance". The LEGO Group is, and always has been, the exclusive worldwide copyright owner for the Game.Is that true? I thought Sapphire had part of the copyright. Quote If the Kanohi masks are a type of technology and most of the MU citizens are Biomechanical beings then how would a Kanohi mask recognize the difference between a Matoran and a Toa? Muffin button Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopaka - Toa Nuva of Ice Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Oh well. I don't think we'll be getting this for quite some time. I guess we can just hack save files until then. BTW, the last time I recall hearing from Deep Brick was December 2010 - about 10 months ago. Any word since then? I thought the legal reply was kind of funny though. What typical legal stuff. Just a long-winded way of saying "Yeah, not a chance". The LEGO Group is, and always has been, the exclusive worldwide copyright owner for the Game.Is that true? I thought Sapphire had part of the copyright.That's what I thought too--Sapphire used to have part of the copyright. Thing is though, I don't see why LEGO insists on preventing the game from being uploaded. Just because they have nothing to gain doesn't mean they have anything to lose. Unless, of course, there's something they're not telling us. Quote The power is in me. The sword is but the focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Takua- Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) That's what I thought too--Sapphire used to have part of the copyright. Thing is though, I don't see why LEGO insists on preventing the game from being uploaded. Just because they have nothing to gain doesn't mean they have anything to lose. Unless, of course, there's something they're not telling us. I don't think there's some evil conspiracy going on here; GregF described it like this: Let's say you've become a fantastically popular writer here on BZPower. You've made up some awesome characters and a great plot for a series of stories that everyone loves. However, when you were just starting out you promised that you would write a few stories that you described as "awezum!!1!" and they'd be about the characters that later went on to become popular. You still have these stories but they're really bad (you were just a beginner writer then and used leetspeak and no capitalization) but everyone wants to see them. Clearly you might say, "Well, of course I'd give them away!" but you can see how releasing those stories might actually do damage to the stories that you've already written, if, say, a character behaved completely differently than they did in your more recent stories. So in that sense, they do have something to lose. Of course, we might say, "But the game isn't as bad as you claim it is, and it's an important part of the canon!" Remember, though, as it was all Lego's idea, it's entirely their prerogative to decide just how bad the game is and how much it might damage what they've already got going. In the above example, you certainly wouldn't say that your fans have a "right" to see your old stories. Maybe, if you don't think they're too embarrassing, you would post them. But it's your decision to make, and Lego has made their decision. Edited October 25, 2011 by -Takua- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltraHau Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Oh well. I don't think we'll be getting this for quite some time. I guess we can just hack save files until then. BTW, the last time I recall hearing from Deep Brick was December 2010 - about 10 months ago. Any word since then? I thought the legal reply was kind of funny though. What typical legal stuff. Just a long-winded way of saying "Yeah, not a chance". The LEGO Group is, and always has been, the exclusive worldwide copyright owner for the Game.Is that true? I thought Sapphire had part of the copyright. Of course not. Lego merely licensed the Bionicle name and brand for them to make a Bionicle game; Sapphire never owned even a portion of the game's copyright. Take Lego Racers, for example: The game says "Copyright 1999, The LEGO Group", even though High Voltage Software developed the game. Quote Every moment gives us a chance to become more than what we are.-Ryu, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike: Fight for the FutureNot luck. It's what you do that makes you a hero.-Kopaka Nuva, MoLI have but one destiny.-Takanuva, MoL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopaka - Toa Nuva of Ice Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 That's what I thought too--Sapphire used to have part of the copyright. Thing is though, I don't see why LEGO insists on preventing the game from being uploaded. Just because they have nothing to gain doesn't mean they have anything to lose. Unless, of course, there's something they're not telling us. I don't think there's some evil conspiracy going on here; GregF described it like this: Let's say you've become a fantastically popular writer here on BZPower. You've made up some awesome characters and a great plot for a series of stories that everyone loves. However, when you were just starting out you promised that you would write a few stories that you described as "awezum!!1!" and they'd be about the characters that later went on to become popular. You still have these stories but they're really bad (you were just a beginner writer then and used leetspeak and no capitalization) but everyone wants to see them. Clearly you might say, "Well, of course I'd give them away!" but you can see how releasing those stories might actually do damage to the stories that you've already written, if, say, a character behaved completely differently than they did in your more recent stories. So in that sense, they do have something to lose. Of course, we might say, "But the game isn't as bad as you claim it is, and it's an important part of the canon!" Remember, though, as it was all Lego's idea, it's entirely their prerogative to decide just how bad the game is and how much it might damage what they've already got going. In the above example, you certainly wouldn't say that your fans have a "right" to see your old stories. Maybe, if you don't think they're too embarrassing, you would post them. But it's your decision to make, and Lego has made their decision.Well if it's comparable to the Hangover pics at the end (anyone seen that movie?), I suppose it might be in Lego's best interest to keep it locked away forever. Quote The power is in me. The sword is but the focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatanui Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Today makes exactly one year after the first gameplay videos were uploaded. About time for DB to get a chance to try the game again. ~Gata. Quote - Gata Please don't use my avatar or signature without permission, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBBBalta Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Does anyone know of any forums, etc. where RedQuark is active? He doesn't seem to have realized that the forums are up again, so is there some other way we could contact him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snaffle J. Bean Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Does anyone know of any forums, etc. where RedQuark is active? He doesn't seem to have realized that the forums are up again, so is there some other way we could contact him? A while back, I thanked him for uploading the videos via a PM to his account on the website he uploaded them to, and he responded. That was before the forums went down, though. I'm not sure if he still reads any messages he gets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBBBalta Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 (edited) Does anyone know of any forums, etc. where RedQuark is active? He doesn't seem to have realized that the forums are up again, so is there some other way we could contact him? A while back, I thanked him for uploading the videos via a PM to his account on the website he uploaded them to, and he responded. That was before the forums went down, though. I'm not sure if he still reads any messages he gets.I doubt he'd still check "that site" regularly, as he only used his channel for the LoMN videos. Other than the video-hosting-site-which-shall-not-be-named, I know he's a member on BZP (of course) and the "other" Bionicle news site. No idea if he's active there, though I doubt it.EDIT - PM'd Tren Krom in the hopes of getting his help contacting RQ. I also was looking around the old topic and saw that RQ promised to let us know if his secret plan failed. So hopefully, no news is good news, unless he forgot. Edited December 10, 2011 by Toa Balta #3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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