DotA 2 Official Thread (NDA has been lifted!)

[vlad321]

Killiana1a said:

vlad321 said:

Killiana1a said:

Up front, I am biased. I have a few questions:

1. If IceFrog and others are taking map editors from games like Warcraft 3 and other Blizzard products, then why should we expect Blizzard to continue to provide map editors in the future when anonymous players/indie developers are using them to create a mod to get hired on by the competition?

I would expect Blizzard to have a better intellectual property legal team who cows any anonymous, indie developer not to take their material, use it as a developer kit, and create a career off of it without monetarily compensating Blizzard. Frankly, Blizzard by giving out free developer kits...excuse me, map editors, they (with DOTA 2 being developed by Valve) are basically giving out free developer kits. One hell of a free lunch if you ask me.

2. Are there any examples of a fan made mod of a mainstream game being turned into a full on game that has sold over 1 million copies?

3. How many copies you expect DOTA 2 to sell? Will it sell only to the existing DOTA playerbase or do you expect Valve to try and develop it in such a way that it can penetrate the market further?

I am just amazed in Blizzard's position. They invited DOTA 2 courtesy of Valve Corp. and IceFrog upon themselves by not realizing the legal and financial consequences of including map editors with their RTS games. Instead of a free developer kit, they should have expressed in full legal language that the use(s) of this [insert game name]'s map editor is for your sole private enjoyment and/or to be uploaded and enjoyed by the game's community. If your use of this [insert game name]'s map editor results in a video game market product and/or sequel of aforementioned video game market product, then all potential financial monies are the property of Blizzard. Furthermore your use of this [insert game name]'s map editor may not be used to further future career gain. The [insert game name]'s map editor is for recreational use only and is provided freely so long as the use of it is intended to benefit the [insert game name]'s community and Blizzard.

Ever hear of Counter-Strike? What about Team Fortress?Alien Swarm? There's actually a lot.

You sound more like a console player than a PC gamer with all this nonsesne you are talking about.

Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, and Alien Swarm have all coincidentally financially benefited Valve Corporation. Alien Swarm being stolen intellectual property of those who created Unreal Tournament 2004.

Essentially, my question remains. What benefit is it to a company to provide a free developer kit in the form of allowing modding or map editors if they will never see a direct financial gain from the products created from the free developer kit?

Will we see the end of modding and map editors if individuals like IceFrog take developer kits from companies like Blizzard, create and launch a successful modification, and then sign up with the competition to make a sequel to a Warcraft 3 based modification?

At this point in the global economy, I expect companies to clamp down on this crap. Not clamp down on it by not releasing map editors and modding, but expressing in legal language in the software license agreements that these map editors and the like are basically a charity from the developer and that their use is for recreational purposes only.

I know every other video game player wants to create a MineCraft and spend the rest of their lives living in a mansion and smoking medicinal marijuana everyday, but lets not crash the party in progress. If you want to make a game, then develop it from the ground up. Don't be a leech on other's intellectual property they allow you to play around with.

Refer back to my second statement in my previous post. The answer to your questions should be fairly obvious.