Outside the realm of "the next big thing will be created within the sc2 arcade" Blizzard is pretty justified in their ownership of our projects.
The responsibility imposed on them by us mapmakers is enough. They created the arcade, and tools for us to use to create within the arcade. If they did not own your project, and you used copy-written material, they could still be held accountable.
They are providing you with a lot of copy-written material. Stuff that belongs to them. the editor belongs to them. If I let you borrow my super cool Lego's, and you built a really neat castle with them; those are still my Lego's and I want them back!
They are providing you with an exclusive server to host your projects on; the only server in the world which can support hosting your project.
If you want to take your project and walk, what you would be left with that you could use elsewhere, would be absolutely nothing.
They are providing you with a lot of copy-written material.Stuff that belongs to them.the editor belongs to them.If I let you borrow my super cool Lego's, and you built a really neat castle with them; those are still my Lego's and I want them back!
That's like saying an artist's work belongs to a paintbrush maker because they made the tools the artist used.
Can understand not being able to sell something entirely made of Blizzard assets.
But what if I want to remake my map on anther engine and use the same name/design to attract the players of the original map?
That's like saying an artist's work belongs to a paintbrush maker because they made the tools the artist used.
If that is what you want to compare it to; it would be more like painting with a special paint-brush that only 1 person makes. They also make the only paint that the paintbrush is able to paint with. They also own the only canvas that the paint can stick to. They are not selling or giving away any of the above; but they will let you use them. the brush, ink, and canvas are theirs though.
I believe my lego concept would be much better understood:
a few weeks ago, i tried opening my editor and it had a new eula/contract i had to agree to.. to use the editor i bought.
This new agreement made a point of stating that if someone does a hugely popular map on their arcade and (for x reason) would subsequently want to take it off of it (delete it from the arcade).. then blizzard can re upload it against the author's wishes.
amazing contract!
ps: now i'm totally with GlornII up until that part (using/creating with their tools/uploading). It is normal / standard that blizz should have total control in so far as uploading a map is concerned. On the other hand, i know you can fight this new statement and win (they should not be allowed to keep your map up against your wishes). This type of illegal clauses in contracts are common in dysneyland, not so in europe!
About the probability of the "next great thing" to appear on arcade:
yes, it could happen, but there is every reason why it wont (i'll elaborate if you want a list, but what i just stated should suffice).. not enough success in bnet2.0 for it to happen, there simply is not a "worldwide community" big enough for it to work. dota came out of such a platform (with "too many people" on it for this community "power" to not be allowed to have a mind of its own (as opposed to being completely submitted to its platform/blizz).
Ah, so *technically* a "Dota 2" could happen from SC2?
I think it kinda works like this:
You made it, and they own it. You still own your intellectual properties, but they own everything you made. If you made a successful map, they could copywrite it and call it theirs. They would be allowed to prevent you from working on the project anymore. They could not however (I believe) simply "Steal" your workings. They would need to re-create your work.
More importantly for Blizzard though, if you made a hugely popular map (and because they never pay attention to the arcade) and they did not notice; but Steam did... Steam could start making your game on their platform. Then Blizzard could say, "Woah Woah Woah, you are clearly ripping off OUR game." This is exactly what happened with DoTA, because blizzard did not claim ownership of what was made with the editor.
The only time this really impacts a mapmaker is if they make a project which is more popular than every game currently on the arcade (combined). Hasn't happened yet, for anyone. No one has even gotten close.
(Back to legos) We are building a robot with legos, and asking if this is gonna be the robot that rises up to enslave humanity.
well there are lot of platforms for warcraft 3 that allows you to download pirate copy and just play wc3 and custom maps. And i doubt that owners of those platforms pay something to Blizzard. But instead using their game to basicaly make money from nothing. Especialy while they earn money in a form of donations they don't even pay much taxes from it.
those guys barely own anything to earn money. It is a platform with code and servers (could even not be their own) and a website.
i think Blizzard doesn't want sc2 to become the same thing which is kind of expected lol xD.
Did they ever update it after the backlash?
Because if not, that's incredibly lame.
Realize the chance of a Dota 2 ever happening again is slim, but what does Blizz have to gain from owning the rights to the maps we make?
Beating a dead horse here.
Outside the realm of "the next big thing will be created within the sc2 arcade" Blizzard is pretty justified in their ownership of our projects.
The responsibility imposed on them by us mapmakers is enough. They created the arcade, and tools for us to use to create within the arcade. If they did not own your project, and you used copy-written material, they could still be held accountable.
They are providing you with a lot of copy-written material. Stuff that belongs to them. the editor belongs to them. If I let you borrow my super cool Lego's, and you built a really neat castle with them; those are still my Lego's and I want them back!
They are providing you with an exclusive server to host your projects on; the only server in the world which can support hosting your project.
If you want to take your project and walk, what you would be left with that you could use elsewhere, would be absolutely nothing.
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
That's like saying an artist's work belongs to a paintbrush maker because they made the tools the artist used.
Can understand not being able to sell something entirely made of Blizzard assets.
But what if I want to remake my map on anther engine and use the same name/design to attract the players of the original map?
@zrankzappa: Go
They don't own the idea, they own the literal assets. As long as the new game doesn't shamelessly rip off the visuals, then you should be fine.
You can do this. Intellectual properties are still your own; and the names we put on maps are not trademarked.
If that is what you want to compare it to; it would be more like painting with a special paint-brush that only 1 person makes. They also make the only paint that the paintbrush is able to paint with. They also own the only canvas that the paint can stick to. They are not selling or giving away any of the above; but they will let you use them. the brush, ink, and canvas are theirs though.
I believe my lego concept would be much better understood:
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
Ah, so *technically* a "Dota 2" could happen from SC2?
a few weeks ago, i tried opening my editor and it had a new eula/contract i had to agree to.. to use the editor i bought.
This new agreement made a point of stating that if someone does a hugely popular map on their arcade and (for x reason) would subsequently want to take it off of it (delete it from the arcade).. then blizzard can re upload it against the author's wishes.
amazing contract!
ps: now i'm totally with GlornII up until that part (using/creating with their tools/uploading). It is normal / standard that blizz should have total control in so far as uploading a map is concerned. On the other hand, i know you can fight this new statement and win (they should not be allowed to keep your map up against your wishes). This type of illegal clauses in contracts are common in dysneyland, not so in europe!
About the probability of the "next great thing" to appear on arcade:
yes, it could happen, but there is every reason why it wont (i'll elaborate if you want a list, but what i just stated should suffice).. not enough success in bnet2.0 for it to happen, there simply is not a "worldwide community" big enough for it to work. dota came out of such a platform (with "too many people" on it for this community "power" to not be allowed to have a mind of its own (as opposed to being completely submitted to its platform/blizz).
I think it kinda works like this:
You made it, and they own it. You still own your intellectual properties, but they own everything you made. If you made a successful map, they could copywrite it and call it theirs. They would be allowed to prevent you from working on the project anymore. They could not however (I believe) simply "Steal" your workings. They would need to re-create your work.
More importantly for Blizzard though, if you made a hugely popular map (and because they never pay attention to the arcade) and they did not notice; but Steam did... Steam could start making your game on their platform. Then Blizzard could say, "Woah Woah Woah, you are clearly ripping off OUR game." This is exactly what happened with DoTA, because blizzard did not claim ownership of what was made with the editor.
The only time this really impacts a mapmaker is if they make a project which is more popular than every game currently on the arcade (combined). Hasn't happened yet, for anyone. No one has even gotten close.
(Back to legos) We are building a robot with legos, and asking if this is gonna be the robot that rises up to enslave humanity.
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
well there are lot of platforms for warcraft 3 that allows you to download pirate copy and just play wc3 and custom maps. And i doubt that owners of those platforms pay something to Blizzard. But instead using their game to basicaly make money from nothing. Especialy while they earn money in a form of donations they don't even pay much taxes from it.
those guys barely own anything to earn money. It is a platform with code and servers (could even not be their own) and a website.
i think Blizzard doesn't want sc2 to become the same thing which is kind of expected lol xD.
Would be funny if they pick on zolden xD