Insight on licensing and your opinion - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Zeraph · 04-13-2010, 06:56 AM

So I've played a lot of foreign/global games. I've recently just learned (maybe you all knew this already heh) that they will totally fuck you over.

My 1st case was with Neosteam EU...of course when I first played it it wasn't EU, it was just neosteam (and there was no NA neosteam available). Not only did I play but I beta tested it as well. They released cash shop and were making money and everything, so you can't say it was still in beta when they became DBs (gamigo games that is, neosteam is just the title of the game). Anyways, took a break for a few months and then realized I've been IP blocked. I talked to customer support and all, but they won't do anything, and handled it rather badly to boot.

My 2nd experience was with Aika. This time I was on the right side of the bans though. But it doesn't make it any better. Just the threat of bans (before they have done so, not even sure if they have yet, it just started a few days ago) destroyed the game's population. And since it was a mass PvP game, it likely won't recover. This time the company that was a douche bag was gpotato. Oh, and their cash shop was released too, they were making money off it, they can't claim that it was still in beta.

Now both of those games have parent companies they bought the license from, and were ultimately screwed from. I forget at the moment what their names were, but both are at fault. Neither warned anyone that they may have to IP block. Apparently if you're in the biz you know these things, but they seem to want to keep it a secret from the players.

So what do you think? Is this acceptable behavior?

I'd advise anyone thinking of playing a foreign game to be extra cautious. Its not right, but you should do tons of research to see if you can trace back their business lineage to see where it comes from and if there are plans to make a version closer to you. Although this is possibly and probably impossible to find out before the axe drops. Not much you can do.

Jozrael · 04-14-2010, 11:29 AM

As a note, there's always the possibility of proxifying your game, with maybe a latency/performance cut.

LoL does this too ;\.

Zeraph · 04-14-2010, 11:59 AM

My main gripe isn't that its done, its that they don't tell players before they start making money. LoL didn't do that I hope?

Also, I've heard proxies can work, but do you know for certain? They give you a new IP address, but can you get an IP address from another country? Cause the bans are country wide, not user specific. I'm sure its technically possible, but I'm not sure how common it is.

Jozrael · 04-14-2010, 02:40 PM

Yes there are country proxies.

I think LoL did do this...but then relented on EU because they cut a new deal with GOA. However, the SEA debacle they could not cut such a deal, so SEA players are still IP banned, and it was 3 months after the cash shop started.

Granted, Riot was as generous as possible - full refunds of course, transferred accounts, blah blah blah...but I mean the SEA servers aren't up yet.

Distributors are out for blood - they do not want their citizens giving their money straight to the source when they're doing the legwork to get the game up and running in their region.

04-13-2010, 06:56 AM	#1 (permalink)
Zeraph Banned Location: The Cosmos	Insight on licensing and your opinion So I've played a lot of foreign/global games. I've recently just learned (maybe you all knew this already heh) that they will totally fuck you over. My 1st case was with Neosteam EU...of course when I first played it it wasn't EU, it was just neosteam (and there was no NA neosteam available). Not only did I play but I beta tested it as well. They released cash shop and were making money and everything, so you can't say it was still in beta when they became DBs (gamigo games that is, neosteam is just the title of the game). Anyways, took a break for a few months and then realized I've been IP blocked. I talked to customer support and all, but they won't do anything, and handled it rather badly to boot. My 2nd experience was with Aika. This time I was on the right side of the bans though. But it doesn't make it any better. Just the threat of bans (before they have done so, not even sure if they have yet, it just started a few days ago) destroyed the game's population. And since it was a mass PvP game, it likely won't recover. This time the company that was a douche bag was gpotato. Oh, and their cash shop was released too, they were making money off it, they can't claim that it was still in beta. Now both of those games have parent companies they bought the license from, and were ultimately screwed from. I forget at the moment what their names were, but both are at fault. Neither warned anyone that they may have to IP block. Apparently if you're in the biz you know these things, but they seem to want to keep it a secret from the players. So what do you think? Is this acceptable behavior? I'd advise anyone thinking of playing a foreign game to be extra cautious. Its not right, but you should do tons of research to see if you can trace back their business lineage to see where it comes from and if there are plans to make a version closer to you. Although this is possibly and probably impossible to find out before the axe drops. Not much you can do. Last edited by Zeraph; 04-13-2010 at 01:59 PM..

04-14-2010, 11:29 AM	#2 (permalink)
Jozrael Junkie	As a note, there's always the possibility of proxifying your game, with maybe a latency/performance cut. LoL does this too ;\.

04-14-2010, 11:59 AM	#3 (permalink)
Zeraph Banned Location: The Cosmos	My main gripe isn't that its done, its that they don't tell players before they start making money. LoL didn't do that I hope? Also, I've heard proxies can work, but do you know for certain? They give you a new IP address, but can you get an IP address from another country? Cause the bans are country wide, not user specific. I'm sure its technically possible, but I'm not sure how common it is.

04-14-2010, 02:40 PM	#4 (permalink)
Jozrael Junkie	Yes there are country proxies. I think LoL did do this...but then relented on EU because they cut a new deal with GOA. However, the SEA debacle they could not cut such a deal, so SEA players are still IP banned, and it was 3 months after the cash shop started. Granted, Riot was as generous as possible - full refunds of course, transferred accounts, blah blah blah...but I mean the SEA servers aren't up yet. Distributors are out for blood - they do not want their citizens giving their money straight to the source when they're doing the legwork to get the game up and running in their region.