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Guy Finds StarCraft Source Code and Returns It to Blizzard

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Re: Guy Finds StarCraft Source Code and Returns It to Blizzard

#91

Post by jpgvm »

madeofpalk wrote: post #64
jpgvm wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not normal source code. It's not like you found the source to the latest Halo game or something. This is like finding the source to the original Halo game, of little to no commercial value but of immense cultural value. Where possible these artefacts are archived so they will be around long after the companies have folded. Unfortunately it's just not possible most of the time as companies end up taking their sof…

> It's not normal source code. ...its not?

No. It's not.

Chiefly because Starcraft is not a normal game.

This is a game that defined a cultural generation in South Korea, established e-sports singlehandedly and in many ways made the RTS genre what it is today.

It should be archived. Even if it can never be released due to copyright or other legal nonsense it shouldn't be left to a commercial entity to ensure it survives.

Re: Guy Finds StarCraft Source Code and Returns It to Blizzard

#92

Post by uranian »

Fair chance Blizzard expected he had at least made a copy. Their being so generous with gifts and inviting him to speak with him personally seems to me a desperate effort to generate even more loyalty in him, which is actually really smart. It's their best chance for very little money and effort to prevent this source code to circulate on the internet.

Re: Guy Finds StarCraft Source Code and Returns It to Blizzard

#93

Post by Dylan16807 »

stingraycharles wrote: post #79
Vekz wrote: post #16

Heart breaking relevant reddit threads: https://www.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/640iem/foun... https://www.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/68xzxt/star...

It's a very twisted train of thought going on here. I had to dig a bit deeper in that thread to find them, but here is an example: https://www.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/68xzxt/star...

Go ahead and disagree with that train of thought, but I don't see how it's 'twisted' to call him selfish.

You can call the venom in those posts twisted, but that is a very different thing from saying the actual reasoning behind the posts is twisted.

Re: Guy Finds StarCraft Source Code and Returns It to Blizzard

#94

Post by Berobero »

jakebasile wrote: post #52
jpgvm wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not normal source code. It's not like you found the source to the latest Halo game or something. This is like finding the source to the original Halo game, of little to no commercial value but of immense cultural value. Where possible these artefacts are archived so they will be around long after the companies have folded. Unfortunately it's just not possible most of the time as companies end up taking their sof…

But in this case, that's Blizzard's right. They own it whether you like it or not. Just because something is important doesn't mean they should lose property rights to it. Abandonware is a thing and I remember there being some legal headway made recently in that respect, but Starcraft isn't abandoned. They just released a compatibility patch and made it free to download.

It's Blizzard's right, but only insofar as that happens to be what copyright terms say right now. Also, something having intrinsic value to society at large outside of the ability of a private entity to benefit from ownership is, quite literally, the reason why people should lose property rights to copyrighted works at some point.

Re: Guy Finds StarCraft Source Code and Returns It to Blizzard

#95

Post by jakebasile »

stingraycharles wrote: post #79
Vekz wrote: post #16

Heart breaking relevant reddit threads: https://www.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/640iem/foun... https://www.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/68xzxt/star...

It's a very twisted train of thought going on here. I had to dig a bit deeper in that thread to find them, but here is an example: https://www.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/68xzxt/star...

I feel bad for this dude. There are a lot of bitter people that are mad at him for doing what he thought was right just because they don't agree with the moral and legal situation.

Re: Guy Finds StarCraft Source Code and Returns It to Blizzard

#96

Post by scrollaway »

goldenkey wrote: post #83
scrollaway wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. When they fly people in (such as the press) the hotel accomodations alone ends up being worth 1.5-2k for the stay (3-4 nights, $500 ish a night at the Hilton anaheim), and I suspect he's going to be there a bit longer as they'll surely show him around the Blizzard campus in Irvine (and they did say they'll take him out for drinks etc). I would estimate they are likely spending up to 4k usd on this guy, just fr…

That's a joke for what that CD was worth in sheer value to the community of hackers and gamers and modders worldwide for years to come. Once he made that reddit post he sealed his fate. Should hsve just silently torrented it from a coffee shop over Tor. Silly kid.

I too wish I could be spending today looking at the SC gold master source code and playing with it, but it's really arrogant to say with definite certainty what this guy "should" have done.

Re: Guy Finds StarCraft Source Code and Returns It to Blizzard

#97

Post by jpgvm »

jrimbault wrote: post #73
jpgvm wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Removing from circulation permanently is basically the same as destruction for the purposes of archival.

More likely imo, someone will be charged with archiving it inside Blizzard and on their internal repos.

Blizzard already has the source code, in fact it's actively being extended as part of a HD remaster right now.

I have no doubt they are very happy to have the original copy back, it probably means quite a lot of the original developers and I would never dream of keeping it from them had it been up to me.

I would definitely hope they keep the hard copy somewhere safe but history hasn't been kind to game source code.

Re: Guy Finds StarCraft Source Code and Returns It to Blizzard

#98

Post by elementalest »

takeda wrote: post #35
sparaker wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is to say this guy didn't do the same :)

At that point that would be really stupid of him, since now they know who he is. Instead creating posts and teasing other people (for karma?) he should just leak it. People are saying that it would be wrong etc. For goodness sake this thing is older than half of people on HN. Everything there is outdated and piracy-wise is not much worth. Instead, preserving it to study and learn things about game development at that…

> Instead, preserving it to study and learn things about game development at that time would be far more valuable for the common good.

Given the game recently went free to play and many people still play it, its not surprising blizzard are not releasing the source. If the game had been dead for 5-10 years, then sure, they should probably release the source. Its still going strong and shows no signs of stopping in the next 5-10 years, especially now due to the remaster.

There are plenty of other games out there to learn from using the source, if that's your goal.

> For goodness sake this thing is older than half of people on HN.

Are you saying that half of HN are younger than 19? I would have thought the average age on HN would be somewhere around 30. I would expect the average HN person was a kid or teenager when Starcraft was released.

Re: Guy Finds StarCraft Source Code and Returns It to Blizzard

#100

Post by kgu »

eridius wrote: post #45
jakebasile wrote: post #44

It looks like someone found a copy of Blizzard's copyrighted source code, returned it to Blizzard, and got a reward. Why are people upset about this? It seems like the right thing to do to my mind. If someone found a copy of my own source laying in the street I'd be very happy if they returned it instead of releasing it on the net.

I don't know. A lot of people in this thread apparently never learned to tell right from wrong.

Edit: never mind, silly question
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