Can Star Wars reclaim online gaming?

Image via Wikipedia

BioWare's plan to help the LucasArts empire strike back. Not that long ago, in a galaxy not very far, far away, the massively multiplayer PC game Star Wars Galaxies found itself spinning aimlessly into the depths of infinite (cyber)space like Darth Vader after the destruction of the Death Star. The millions of fantasy-hungry online gamers that LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment assumed would flock to Star Wars Galaxies like Womp rats to cantina trash had turned their backs on Wookiees for a world of Warcraft instead. While WoW boomed, Galaxies limped along like a rusty old bucket of bolts.

The short of it is that Star Wars Galaxies just wasn't fun enough. It was a needlessly complex affair that bogged the player down in micro-management instead of thrusting them into swashbuckling adventure. Hundreds of game-breaking bugs didn't exactly help the cause either. Subsequent updates and expansion packs rectified many of the problems, but the rebellion had already won and subscribers had punched in the hyperdrive en masse to escape to other worlds. Though the Galaxies servers are still running to this day, you'd be hard pressed to find much of anything going on.

However, there's no need to go crying into your blue milk just yet. There is indeed a new hope. Star Wars is set for a massively multiplayer reboot in the form of Star Wars: The Old Republic - a brand new MMORPG in development at BioWare studios.
Proven masters of the computer role-playing game, BioWare has its logo stamped on classics such as Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect, and of course, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Can they turn their impressive storytelling talents to pulling Star Wars out of the digital Sarlaac pit?

BioWare claim that a typical online game is built upon three pillars: Exploration, Combat and Progression. What they plan to bring to Star Wars: The Old Republic is a fourth pillar of Story. Players will be faced with ongoing moral choices, be accompanied by artificial intelligence-driven companions (such as sidekicks for Smugglers ala the walking carpet himself) and be immersed in a fully-voiced world (which is surely a first for any MMORPG. You can see a five minute preview of this here.
The Old Republic will hopefully deliver the high-action and space opera spectacle that one expects from the Star Wars license in massively multiplayer form. But will past Star Wars subscribers scarred by their Star Wars Galaxies experience be willing to return to that galaxy far, far away and resume their roles as bounty hunters, Sith and Jedi? Do or do not. At least there is a trial.


Source: http://digihub.brisbanetimes.com

Read more ...

Fantasy Kommander | Arcade |

Description
FK will turn you into a fearless General of the Humans, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves or maybe some other incredible race!
Who will prevail over the ancient continent of the Seven Pillars of Eukarion?
Setup your army and let the battle begin!
The game contains the following outstanding gameplay features:

1. Strategy-RPG turn based game;
2. A deep and involving Storyline set in a dark, medieval world inspir…
show more FK will turn you into a fearless General of the Humans, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves or maybe some other incredible race!
Who will prevail over the ancient continent of the Seven Pillars of Eukarion?
Setup your army and let the battle begin!

The game contains the following outstanding gameplay features:

1. Strategy-RPG turn based game;
2. A deep and involving Storyline set in a dark, medieval world inspired to the European Middle Age enriched by Fantasy narrative tradition;
3. 17 different Armies to buy, upgrade and unleash in Battle!
4. Each Army has over 20 characteristics (to manage and increase during the “war plan phase”);
5. 24 Special Abilities to increase the power of your Army;
6. 18 available spells playing the Elf General;
7. Over 20 different Enemy Armies;
8. High Replayability in Campaign Mode:
3 Different Generals (every one with unique abilities or spells):
The Elf Mage, The Knight, The Dwarft;
3 Difficulty Level, playable only at the end of every Campaign (you can play the hard campaign only if you finish the normal one before);
4 Different Endings in the Campaign Mode;
66 Different Battles to play!
9. 10 “Historic” Battles in War Academy mode;





Play free games at Kongregate

Read more ...

Marvel Creating Their Own MMORPG (Again)?

Image via Wikipedia

A new Marvel MMORPG is in the works, according to job listings seeking developers for the project that’s officially titled Marvel Universe Online.

This is the first specific mention of a “616″ universe game since plans to create a Marvel MMO got scrapped in 2008 and subsequently turned into Champions Online from Cryptic Studios.

News of a new Mighty Marvel MMO shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. It’s obvious that the organization has wanted to get into the MMO business for quite some time. The development company who published the job listing, Gargantuan Studios, is part of a Gazillion Entertainment who signed a 10-year deal to produce Marvel video games back in March.

Being an avid [Twitter] follower of several Marvel editorial staff members, I don’t recall a specific reference of this new MMO project either. However, since the development team isn’t even place, it’s possible that most of the initial groundwork wouldn’t be discussed in detail anyway.

Warren Ellis-plotted battle raids are one step closer to reality.

Source: http://geeksofdoom.com

Read more ...

Intellectual Property in Virtual Worlds

Call them what you will, massively multiplayer online role playing games, virtual worlds or video games. Regardless of their label, these online environments in which users socialize or play games are now in the mainstream. With popularity and subscribership on the rise, virtual worlds, like World of Warcraft, EverQuest, There and Second Life,

Image via CrunchBase

are big business. A growing audience and expanding revenue stream also mean that virtual worlds find themselves increasingly the subject of litigation. Indeed, some law firms have developed specialized practice groups to address this new and unique medium and the range of issues it presents. Alex Pham, "These Lawyers Got (Video) Game," Los Angeles Times, Dec. 3, 2008.

It is not surprising that copyright and trademark issues arise frequently in virtual worlds, given the fact that they are products of copyrightable software code and thus by their very nature implicate intellectual property analysis. Additionally, MMORPGs, such as Second Life and WoW, have developed marketplaces for the sale and barter of virtual goods for real money or virtual money that may later be converted to real money. As in any marketplace, there is also a need to identify the source of virtual goods, especially in virtual worlds such as Second Life, which allows its users to generate their own virtual content and retain intellectual property rights in the content they create. "Second Life Residents To Own Digital Creations," Nov. 14, 2003; Second Life Terms of Service §3.2. Some entrepreneurs in Second Life have applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for registration of their avatars (the user-created character representation of the virtual world participant in the virtual environment) and other marks for their virtual businesses.

Recently, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a registration for a Second Life avatar as a design mark. U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3531683 for the Aimee Weber avatar claims computer programming services, namely, content creation for virtual worlds and three dimensional platforms in International Class 42. This avatar has become identifiable with the virtual world content services provided by the real person and registrant Alyssa LaRoche. A related mark, Aimee Weber Studio (& design), Registration No. 3531682 for the same goods in International Class 42, was granted on the same day. These were the first U.S. trademark registrations to be issued for marks that identify services provided solely within a virtual world. These registrations establish that use of marks to identify source purely within an MMORPG creates enforceable trademark rights in the real world. It further indicates that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office identifies use of a trademark in a virtual world as "use in commerce" that may be regulated by Congress, supporting trademark rights. It also suggests that infringements occurring wholly within a virtual world, such as Second Life, would be equally cognizable in a U.S. federal court.

TRADEMARK AND COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENTS

Given the rising popularity of virtual worlds and the ability to generate real-world income from activities within the virtual realm, it is not surprising that the virtual marketplace is thriving and that trademark and copyright infringements occur on a regular basis. In Second Life, real world luxury brands, such as Porsche, Chanel, Rolex, Gucci and others, are in frequent, substantial and highly visible use despite the fact that their real world corporate owners do not have an official presence in Second Life. Benjamin Duranske, "Rampant Trademark Infringement in Second Life Costs Millions, Undermines Future Enforcement," Virtually Blind (May 4, 2007). Instances abound of sales of virtual iPods, preloaded with copyright protected songs. Id. Copyrights and trademarks are further infringed by the use of CopyBot and other software to make copies of virtual goods. Owners of trademarks and copyrights originating in the virtual world and the real world have experienced counterfeiting within this virtual realm. See Eros v. Leatherwood, Complaint, Docket No. 8:07-cv-01158 (M.D. Fla. 2008); Eros v. Simon, Judgment by Consent, Docket No. 1:07-cv-04447 (E.D.N.Y. 2008) (Plaintiffs alleged copyright infringement against defendant who exploited a software flaw to copy software and replicate plaintiffs' virtual products).

Instances of trademark and copyright infringements occurring in virtual worlds have been well-documented and analyzed in blogs and traditional publications. As the topic of virtual worlds is fairly new, there has been relatively little comment on intellectual property issues likely to arise in the context of MMORPGs. Interoperability may be an upcoming development that will raise such new issues.

Virtual worlds now are self-contained and discrete. There is presently no way to move from one MMORPG to another without creating a new account, a new avatar, and a new virtual existence. Interoperability is not yet a virtual reality, but it may be soon, if the experimental stage goes well. In July 2008, Linden Lab, creator and publisher of Second Life, and IBM, in a joint project, were able to teleport an avatar from Linden Lab's Second Life Preview Grid into a different virtual world running on an OpenSim server. This experiment was the first time that an avatar moved from one virtual world to another. The goal of such experimentation is to allow avatars to seamlessly transport between and among virtual worlds, such as Second Life, There, WoW, EverQuest II and many more. When full interoperability is achieved, publishers and intellectual property holders may face some new challenges.

TOUs, TOSs AND EULAs

Virtual worlds are at their essence computer programs created by copyrightable software code. As with other software and most Internet Web sites, virtual worlds are governed by their respective terms of use, terms of service and/or end user license agreements. These TOUs, TOSs and EULAs are contracts that provide the rules users must abide by in order to access and participate in each virtual world. Although there may be some commonality, each virtual world has different rules for its users. When interoperability is achieved, these differences will need to be reconciled, perhaps in a master TOU or TOS. Otherwise, significant problems will likely arise upon full interoperability between virtual worlds.

For instance, Second Life is not as highly regulated as other virtual worlds. Second Life is unique among virtual worlds because it allows users to create their own content within its world and grants users intellectual property rights in their creations. "Second Life Residents To Own Digital Creations," Nov. 14, 2003; Second Life Terms of Service §3.2. ("Linden Lab acknowledges and agrees that, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, you will retain any and all applicable copyright and other intellectual property rights with respect to any Content you create using the Service, to the extent you have such rights under applicable law.") In contrast, WoW is highly regulated, does not allow for user-generated content and claims all rights in all intellectual property arising from interaction within WoW. See World of Warcraft Terms of Use Agreement §4; World of Warcraft End User License Agreement §4(a). An argument may be made that a user transporting an avatar from Second Life to WoW will, by virtue of teleportation into WoW and engaging in game play, impliedly accept the WoW TOS and EULA and also grant a license or ownership right in his or her user-generated content to WoW's publisher, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Similarly, any content created by Second Life creator and publisher, Linden Labs, could be licensed by implication to Blizzard (under its TOS).

Transporting from a restrictive virtual world to one that is less restrictive may also cause problems. WoW avatars are solely the property of Blizzard, and users may not change the appearance of WoW avatars beyond those user-selected characteristics and configurations allowed by Blizzard. Users could circumvent this restriction by transferring their avatars to Second Life and altering those avatars in Second Life. This would also give rise to a claim by Blizzard that such users created unauthorized derivative works, in violation of Blizzard's copyrights -- copyright infringement.

NEW INFRINGING ACTIVITIES

Interoperability also raises the possibility of new infringing activities. The transportation of avatars between virtual worlds could allow or later lead to the transportation of virtual goods between MMORPGs. This could result in virtual gray-market goods -- the importation of trademarked and copyrighted goods designated for one virtual market to another. Interoperability could allow virtual goods designated for one virtual world to be imported to another, where that good is not available, available in limited quantities or is available at a higher price. Much like their real world equivalent, the importation of gray-market virtual goods will implicate U.S. trademark and copyright laws, along with contract law, based upon TOUs, TOSs and EULAs.

CONCLUSION

The intellectual property issues raised by virtual worlds are truly intriguing and may be analyzed from a variety of perspectives. As these virtual worlds continue to expand and evolve, so will the intellectual property issues they engender.

Jess M. Collen and Matthew C. Wagner are partners and Oren Gelber is an associate at Collen IP, a firm specializing in all aspects of intellectual property. They may be reached at 914-941-5668 or though the firm's Web site http://www.collenip.com/.

By Jess M. Collen, Matthew C. Wagner and Oren Gelber
Source: http://www.law.com/

Read more ...

Dreamfall

Dreamfall continues the story of "The Longest Journey," one of the most critically acclaimed adventure games ever made, and brings adventure gaming into a new era. Focusing on story and characters, Dreamfall features unparalleled 3D visuals, advanced character animations, stunning audio, and innovative gameplay - wrapped in a unique and magical ambience.

Dreamfall is set in the 23rd Century, where a young woman accidentally uncovers a conspiracy related to dreams; a conspiracy that may herald the destruction of the twin worlds of science and magic. Confronted by mysteries that she cannot resolve on her own, she must seek assistance from the one person who might have the answers: April Ryan, the heroine of "The Longest Journey."

Play Dreamfall Now

Read more ...