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Why EA can't launch TS5
Mazakeen
Posts: 440 Member
I am worried due to the Judicial System.
What if... ...some clever brainiac look at all the mods out there, that build on and improve TS3 vastly, think, hmmm, this just must be added into the next iteration... ...Then the EA lawyers comes shuffling their feet... ...Nope, no, njetski, niet, nein. "-We don't own the rights"...
-After all there are modders out there stringently waiting to make money... ...-Like EA and their lawyers...
TL;DR -I think business is bad for game-development.
-Any other inputs to why TS3-redux is impossible?
What if... ...some clever brainiac look at all the mods out there, that build on and improve TS3 vastly, think, hmmm, this just must be added into the next iteration... ...Then the EA lawyers comes shuffling their feet... ...Nope, no, njetski, niet, nein. "-We don't own the rights"...
-After all there are modders out there stringently waiting to make money... ...-Like EA and their lawyers...TL;DR -I think business is bad for game-development.
-Any other inputs to why TS3-redux is impossible?
Rawwrr...
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Comments
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But even without adding functionality and features that originated in TS3 mods, there's nothing that says they couldn't make a good TS5. What they did with TS4 though makes me wary. I'm not entirely sure the people at EA in general, and Maxis specifically understand why the first three Sims games were a hit, and why Sims 3 is still so popular despite the new game.
Then again, EA is known these days for their yearly releases of CoD and various sports franchises which barely differ from previous releases in said franchises. So it's equally possible that if a Sims 5 got released, it would basically be Sims 4.2... EA, please note, that is NOT a suggestion.
Rawwrr...
Sorry, I should have explained.
It's a little bit of both for me. If I'm understanding what you're saying correctly though, this would never be an issue from a developing standpoint because mods created for this game aren't the legal property of the mod creator, as far as I know.
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Do you really think anyone at NRaas would be upset if this theoretical TS5 included some form of MasterController or Overwatch out of the box? We would be thrilled if they did that (and if it worked properly, of course).
But I had difficulty understanding the top post as well, so my response may not be addressing what the OP was trying to say.
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
Yes, i agree, that thought, of overly careful lawyers might be over the top. -After all, I don't know them. I just 'feel' they might want to avoid any possible future situation where they might get caught up in a 'judicial net'.
Particularily in the US, it is popular to make some sort of lawsuit, wether the coffee is 'to hot' or 'got the wrong colour'...
I guess, My mind made a semi-troll-thread, on a quest for some lively reactions.
As it is now, modders are happy to have stuff integrated, -but what if... (devils advocate) ...a modder comes and demand engine-crucial stuff to be removed, or to have a hefty reprise to let EA keep it... ...I see many resources lost in a US court.
-Just saying... ...-No triggering intended.
Rawwrr...
A modder is an end-user. End-users do not own the assets nor the code itself. These are all covered by IP Rights. With the IP owner's permission they can utilize these assets only under the conditions set out in the end-user agreement. Mods are part of that agreement. A modder can't mod poop without the assets/code. See rule #1.
A game dev can use inspiration from any mod they see & like, and they do it more often these days. Still, few devs are willing to blatantly incorporate user-made mods without some form of consideration to the modder(s). That would be a dandy way to cut the legs off your product.
I'd happily pay MOAR if they were to utilize the clever mods/fixes from NRaas!
While I personally like to reread novels I've read, I use Once Read in TS3 because otherwise my sims will read the same book fifty times and ignore everything else on the book shelf.
For many, many, years devs of any kind were(are) doing it for fun. Praise their spirits.
As You say, -I also know some 'darkened minds'... ...They left the narrow path-of-hobby and, well, they aren't doing that good.
Maybe Sims3 is just to advanced to remake? -I don't know? Not many left of the original developers.
Rawwrr...
Good arguements. I must concede. The EULA covers a lot. (I am scandinavian, I read, at most, manuals... ...not ownership-stuff).
Rawwrr...
If modders had clear rights to the content/concept of their creations there would be many instances of profiteering and/or legal action. As it is, the rare website paywalls we sometimes encounter to access the mods are a loophole in that.
If you're still involved in gaming when you hit my age you'll have seen every twist of this argument there is, and then promptly forget half of what you'd read
The real issue is how expensive a particular feature would be for developers to add, and whether or not it fits their given 'vision' for a particular game. Judging by recent efforts, they're seeking ways to simplify and make developing the game easier so I don't have much hope for a fully featured Sims game coming down the pike. Sad to say it, but that's what I think.
ETA:
I take it you haven't been keeping up with popular TS4 mods these days!
Where are we going, and why am I in this hand basket?!
Those twists of arguments is propably one reason why I made this thread. The evolusion of internet and ways of making money, also make (some) part-time modders partly inclined to considering what I would call 'stalling progression'. Not because they 'have to', but they can.
I have, as a digression to the topic, seen people insisting on 'freedom of speech'. Well, yeah. They might be legally entitled to call me [bleeep], but they don't have to, -purely out of respect.
I am just afraid, (exluding the EULA), that lawyers/modders will get their plum in a back-gear when a sound franchise ought to develop into a new, potential, fantastastic version/iteration.
-But back to original question, is there other reasons we'll never see a proper TS3(5)?
Rawwrr...
I don't see this being an issue at all. Excluding provisions in the EULA for the moment, a competent lawyer wouldn't just shuffle her feet and say "No." A competent lawyer would be able to examine the mod in question, determine which rights (if any) the modder holds, and be able to advise EA how to add the feature without infringing on the modder's rights. I assume the 'rights' you are referring to are copyrights. You cannot copyright an idea (at least in the U.S.). You can only copyright the artistic expression of the idea. I doubt it would be very difficult for EA to do its own artistic expression of a mod feature to add that idea to a future sims game. Also remake of TS3 would might be an entirely different computer language (and hopefully 64 bit), and have an entirely new UI, look, etc., so it's not likely EA could use the actual code of the mod.
Also, EA has done this before. TS2 had a ton of mods. Some of those mods added features like assignable beds and ways to control which townies could visit a given community lot. EA has added both those features to TS3. I haven't heard that TS3 suffered from any issues between TS2 modders and lawyers in its development; I'm not aware of any precedence for this concern. If it was a valid concern then I think it would have come up already.
But, as others have said, it's almost certainly a moot point due to the EULA.
Possibly a fundamental move by consumers to mobile gaming (i.e. phones and tablets). If desktops and gaming worthy laptops go the way of the dodo bird, expansive games like a remake of TS3 as TS5 might not come to pass. I don't know how well consoles could really do a game like TS3 justice.
Anything a modder makes for the game is technically the property of EA so they could literally back engineer anything they want, add it to the game and never pay modders a nickel.
As far as modders banding together to try and present some type of competition, I suppose anything's possible, but I think people vastly underestimate the amount of resources it would take for starters, then there is the problem of creating a game close enough to the Sims model to pose a threat. Come too close, and there is the potential for lawsuits. Not close enough and it can't really be considered a threat to usurp the Sims customer base.
The Sims will probably remain a monopoly forever, and as long as it keeps making money they will keep 'em comin'.
Rawwrr...
This comment is just oozing with innacuracies. (It's been 2 1/2)
They are semi-open neighborhoods. TS1 & TS2 were closed.
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This is a problem with TS3 not TS4. If you play TS3 without mods you can only play one family per save file.
In TS4 you can rotate through all of your households and progress them together on the same file.
You may find loading screens so abhorrant that you keep your Sims sitting at home but for the rest of us this is not the reality, your Sims are free to travel.
If you play a semi regular rotation everyone ages at roughly the same rate with the exception of the townies.
The longest lifespan is more than long enough to accomplaish every goal for every life stage for every family as long as you play with aging on for the current house and aging off for everyone else.
In the U.S. there are no generalized "Intellectual Property" rights. IP rights are either under copyright law, patent law, trademark law, and possibly trade secret law in some cases. The only area a modder might have an IP right that I can imagine would be under copyright law. And as I said before, in the U.S. you cannot copyright an idea. The distinction between an idea and the artistic expression of that idea is not always easily to make though. All you have to go by is prior court decisions. This is where a lawyer would come in and analyze the specific situation. I don't know much about U.S. copyright law, and even less about European copyright law. I doubt it would be much of an issue without the EULA, but, of course, any competent lawyer would advise an EULA just to be safe.