Legality of a Warcraft II Mod

SinbadEV · Post by **SinbadEV** » 30 May 2007, 05:53

Okay, Obviously we can't CALL it a Warcraft II mod... and I'm not volunteering to make it... but how much do you think we could get away with...

I mean it's Blizzard can hold the copyright on "Elven Archers" or "Foot Soldiers" or even "Gold Mine", "Town Hall" or "peon" can they?

And it's not like they can really stop another game from requiring one to build a lumber mill to allow one to build a unit that requires wood right?

But could we really get away with a Mod that basically duplicated the entire game without using any trademarks?

Cause I know a couple people that think Warcraft II was the be-all and end-all of RTSes and wouldn't mind playing a 3D version of it.

Dragon45 · Post by **Dragon45** » 30 May 2007, 05:53

As long as its hosted in China or something, no worries. That way even if Blizzard cares (unlikely), nothing will happen

oh and if you can get a WCII mod working, it would be cool. DO IT!

Felix the Cat · Post by **Felix the Cat** » 30 May 2007, 06:24

Would it be illegal? Yes.

Is pretty much every game of Spring played online illegal anyways? Yes.

Does anybody give a shit? Jury's still out on that one, but leaning toward no.

Peet · Post by **Peet** » 30 May 2007, 06:26

If by anybody you mean ANYBODY, yes. If by anybody you mean the average spring player, no.

Felix the Cat · Post by **Felix the Cat** » 30 May 2007, 06:28

P3374H wrote:If by anybody you mean ANYBODY, yes. If by anybody you mean the average spring player, no.

By "anybody" I mean "anybody with the power to issue cease-and-desist orders and/or take legal action against makers of mods that violate their intellectual property rights".

Zpock · Post by **Zpock** » 30 May 2007, 07:02

There are two ways to go here:

1: Make it feel the same but yet make it a little bit different here and there all over the place. Basically try to push it as far as possible without getting the bloodsucking lawyers after you in the first place.

2: Be a rebel and piss off corporate scum as much as possible, use the names and trademarks and everything, but make sure you take precautions like the china server and stuff, then laugh at the bloodsucking lawyers.

Muzic · Post by **Muzic** » 30 May 2007, 07:07

Woo...Now just for the melee combat to work >.<!

SwiftSpear · Post by **SwiftSpear** » 30 May 2007, 07:16

Spring doesn't do anything illegal. We just provide an engine that runs player made content. There's nothing illegal about allowing that engine compatibility with older unit formats from other games. Any given spring mod has their own responsibility in terms of copyright and trademark adherence.

Neddie · Post by **Neddie** » 30 May 2007, 07:39

Out of the question. Blizzard is very territorial, and they have the financial muscle to back it up.

Besides, AoE II was a better game. Superior features and game economics. Oh, and texturing.

hilal · Post by **hilal** » 30 May 2007, 12:02

neddiedrow wrote:Out of the question. Blizzard is very territorial, and they have the financial muscle to back it up.

ive always wondered why blizzard hasn't shut this down yet....http://server.war2.ru/modules/mydownloads/

yuritch · Post by **yuritch** » 30 May 2007, 12:28

That server is in Russia (.ru domain), maybe that's the reason?

rattle · Post by **rattle** » 30 May 2007, 15:59

WarCraft II? Very, very original...

Aside from legal issues the game was partially focused on melee.

Radja · Post by **Radja** » 30 May 2007, 16:32

freecraft was a similar project and got a c&d letter from blizzard

Relative · Post by **Relative** » 30 May 2007, 16:51

I would rather see more original IPs rather than modders leeching off other successful commercial work that although may be enjoyable create copyright problems (no offense). KP, EE, or Nanoblobs for example.

smoth · Post by **smoth** » 30 May 2007, 17:30

wht not just FINISH the kingdoms port?!?!

oh wait.. melee doesn't work.

KDR_11k · Post by **KDR_11k** » 30 May 2007, 23:10

SwiftSpear wrote:Spring doesn't do anything illegal. We just provide an engine that runs player made content. There's nothing illegal about allowing that engine compatibility with older unit formats from other games. Any given spring mod has their own responsibility in terms of copyright and trademark adherence.

Yeah but Spring usually ships with XTA.

Snipawolf · Post by **Snipawolf** » 30 May 2007, 23:14

Bah, I dislike all of the TA branched things.. Too many units and counter-units...

Post by **Tim Blokdijk** » 30 May 2007, 23:21

SinbadEV wrote:...
But could we really get away with a Mod that basically duplicated the entire game without using any trademarks?
...

Read up on freecraft.
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?si ... 86&tid=210
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratagus

Felix the Cat · Post by **Felix the Cat** » 31 May 2007, 00:47

SwiftSpear wrote:Spring doesn't do anything illegal. We just provide an engine that runs player made content. There's nothing illegal about allowing that engine compatibility with older unit formats from other games. Any given spring mod has their own responsibility in terms of copyright and trademark adherence.

If you're replying to my post, note that I said "pretty much every game of Spring played online" is of questionable legality at best.

Spring RTS Engine

Legality of a Warcraft II Mod

Legality of a Warcraft II Mod

Re: Legality of a Warcraft II Mod