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An update on Steam / GOG changes for OpenTTD

openttd.org

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Re: An update on Steam / GOG changes for OpenTTD

#171

Post by ux266478 »

dryarzeg wrote: post #48
lstodd wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Open internet is dead only to those that don't take the effort to discover. Otherwise it's still as open as it always was. Since there was an internet to speak of, there always were and still are vast amounts of people unaware of stuff that exists, limited by no "platforms" but only by their own lack of desire.

That is true to some extent. However, let me ask you one simple question: how would you try to search for something if you are not aware of it's existence? In other words, how people that are not aware of existence of open-source projects (such as OpenTTD) are supposed to discover them if they're not searching for them on purpose (which is impossible given that they have no clue about their existence)? Of course ther…

> how would you try to search for something if you are not aware of it's existence?

You're asking a leading question. The verb you're using here is one specifically indicating interaction with a "platform" (a digital aggregation of information). The answer is you don't search anything, you completely change your epistemic and interaction model. Instead you build a social web of people who have their own social webs, and you share things you've made and things that have been shared with you. This is your "platform".

Re: An update on Steam / GOG changes for OpenTTD

#172

Post by samrus »

you know, given that i've often said "if youre getting it for free, your the product" i am ok with this

its not really possible for the rights holder to compete with a free product, since they arent harvesting data or oxploiting the userbase, so they need to charge. and openTTD getting a cut of the money really does show that this is fully collaborative

Re: An update on Steam / GOG changes for OpenTTD

#173

Post by da_chicken »

zem wrote: post #132
bombcar wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's interesting to look at your opinion (not you particularly, but everyone) and see if it would have been different if instead of "Atari" it was "Chris Sawyer". If it would have been, then there's probably an inconsistency somewhere.

I don't think it's inconsistent to think that a person's right to their IP is worthy of respect but a faceless corporation's isn't. you can disagree, but it's not an inconsistency.

Eh, Sawyer's career has left him a multi-millionaire, and Transport Tycoon is the foundation of that. If you've already made several lifetimes worth of income, I also don't really care about your IP rights anymore.

Re: An update on Steam / GOG changes for OpenTTD

#174

Post by limagnolia »

benoau wrote: post #44
paxys wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are people supposed to understand the "nuance of the situation" when they aren't even sharing it? What is the problem to begin with? Why can't both projects continue to exist independently?

The problem is copyright won't expire on the 1995 game until some time next century, while a French company that acquired Atari's name and copyrights 20 years ago is now asserting their exclusive rights over the IP.

Does OpenTTD contain any Atari IP? I thought it was completely re-written, and did not include any of the original game assets?

Re: An update on Steam / GOG changes for OpenTTD

#175

Post by zem »

da_chicken wrote: post #173
zem wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's inconsistent to think that a person's right to their IP is worthy of respect but a faceless corporation's isn't. you can disagree, but it's not an inconsistency.

Eh, Sawyer's career has left him a multi-millionaire, and Transport Tycoon is the foundation of that. If you've already made several lifetimes worth of income, I also don't really care about your IP rights anymore.

i don't care so much about his IP rights (legal) as about the fact that this is his project (moral)

Re: An update on Steam / GOG changes for OpenTTD

#176

Post by bigyabai »

superxpro12 wrote: post #106
aeturnum wrote: post #70

I don't have much to add except to say that I think this is a stand-out example of how companies and preservationists should work together and not against each other. The childish folks who are upset about this aren't familiar with the realties of either open source games perseveration nor the realities of being an IP holder. This is as close as we have gotten to the Good Place. I wish Atari luck on the re-release an…

This is about as much as you can hope for tbh. More than a fair compromise. Society has become quite 'entitled' to 'free' things. As popular as they are, torrents and free streams and emulation and clones of games in an open source lib are all stealing something. I know thats an unpopular thing to say but it a fact. Now, those rights violations viewed in a larger context may change one's opinion on the whole, and I'm…

> clones of games in an open source lib are all stealing something

If you're going that far, aren't proprietary games and software "stealing" open source libs too? I think your definition is a bit wonky.

Re: An update on Steam / GOG changes for OpenTTD

#177

Post by bigyabai »

johnnyanmac wrote: post #104
legitster wrote: post #15

As a sidenote, this whole situation implies just how important platforms are. Nothing about OpenTTD has changed. You can literally just go download it off their website for free - same as it was 20 years ago. And you can add it to your Steam library just fine. It's only been on the Steam store for 5 of those years. But the open internet is dead now and just being "de-merchandised" from a platform feels like being rel…

That's why we need to reel in these platforms. The mobile ones are slowly starting to relent, but that's only the beginning.

The mobile ones only have one storefront. PC games distribution is a healthy and competitive market.

Re: An update on Steam / GOG changes for OpenTTD

#178

Post by maybewhenthesun »

blizdiddy wrote: post #114
maybewhenthesun wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in a sane copyright structure You are not wrong. But alas we don't have that. ANd in the reality we live in this collaboration is way better than the alternative.

We know what the law is… the law is bullshit. Is it easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism?

No. Or maybe yes (with the current US government the end of the world is quite easy to imagine... )

But what I can imagine has very little to do with what actually happens.

Re: An update on Steam / GOG changes for OpenTTD

#179

Post by Asooka »

dryarzeg wrote: post #48
lstodd wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Open internet is dead only to those that don't take the effort to discover. Otherwise it's still as open as it always was. Since there was an internet to speak of, there always were and still are vast amounts of people unaware of stuff that exists, limited by no "platforms" but only by their own lack of desire.

That is true to some extent. However, let me ask you one simple question: how would you try to search for something if you are not aware of it's existence? In other words, how people that are not aware of existence of open-source projects (such as OpenTTD) are supposed to discover them if they're not searching for them on purpose (which is impossible given that they have no clue about their existence)? Of course ther…

By googling "best open source games" and finding blogs and forums that talk about them. In fact googling that exact phrase returns as its first search result a Reddit thread in which OpenTTD is one of the first games listed.

It's not like you can discover it on Steam any easier.

Of course, searching for information itself is also a skill, but it is a truly essential one for the modern world.

Re: An update on Steam / GOG changes for OpenTTD

#180

Post by joemi »

rvnx wrote: post #164

Perhaps it is time for the law to evolve so softwares that are abandoned for x years become public domain (like Epic Pinball, Age of Empires, etc)

Isn't it already like that, more or less, but the length of time it takes is longer than any software has so far existed?
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