Fallout Legal Fallout

Gamasutra follows up on previous indications that a legal battle is brewing over the Fallout IP. This is not actually over the rights to create a Fallout MMOG that Interplay retained when they sold the Fallout rights to Bethesda, but rather over recent bundles and other deals concerning the original Fallout games. Bethesda is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions against manufacture, sale, and distribution of the Fallout Trilogy, which includes the classic PC games Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics, saying "while Interplay was permitted to sell pre-existing Fallout games, it was required to submit to Bethesda all relevant packaging, advertising, and promotional material prior to bringing the catalog titles to market." Word is:
But Bethesda claimed that Interplay never sought pre-approval for those materials. The plaintiff said because of the alleged trademark infringement, consumers have become confused between the makers of the pre-existing Fallout games and Bethesda's more recent Fallout 3 -- a situation that Bethesda wanted to avoid.

Bethesda also accused Interplay of breaching the trademark agreement by signing licensing agreements with digital distribution sites like Steam, GOG.com, and GameTap to sell older Fallout games. The company claimed Interplay's alleged actions have caused the studio "immediate, substantial, and irreparable harm."

Bethesda is also asking the court for a declaration stating a trademark licensing agreement between the two companies is terminated. In 2007, Bethesda purchased the Fallout franchise from Interplay in full for $5.75 million. Within that purchase agreement was a trademark licensing agreement, the complaint said, that allowed Interplay to license back the rights to develop an MMO based on the Fallout series.
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Re: Fallout Legal Fallout
Sep 13, 2009, 10:30
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Re: Fallout Legal Fallout Sep 13, 2009, 10:30
Sep 13, 2009, 10:30
 
So you don't like any games that don't have leveling? The primary motivation to play any game should be the gameplay itself, not leveling. Fallout, Planescape Torment and all the other classic RPGs would have been just as great if there was no leveling and you just decided your stats at the start of the game.

Sorry, I disagree.

RPG mechanics are part of the game genre. What you're saying essentially amounts to... oh... that its unrealistic that your full tech tree would be unavailable at the start of an RTS game, so you shouldn't have to first research a Command Post Addon to get Super Assault Troopers. And maybe this is right, but it's still a valid part of the gameplay of a lot of RTS games.

Just like leveling is. A lot of people enjoy leveling up a character. And lets not forget where RPG games come from... They come from the tabletop games. "RPG" in this context does not simply mean behaving like a medic if you happen to be a medic in a game, it implies a whole assortment of baggage that goes along with it... Leveling mechanics in some form (Be they simple leveling up, or more complex skill-and-talent systems) are almost universal among pen-and-paper RPGs, and would be expected from most RPG players if they picked up a game that billed itself as an RPG... Particularly, to use your examples, Fallout and Planescape: Torment... Fallout, for example, being well known to have been "inspired" by GURPS, and Planescape being one of the most widely acclaimed Dungeons and Dragons lines. If I had picked up Planescape and hadn't been able to level my character, it would not be "just as great"... I would have been pissed off at devs for butchering the concept of the game.

Would it have impacted the story? No. Well, not much, it would have in a few places. But the story is only part of the reason I play computer games. If I just wanted a good story, I'd read a book or watch a movie. I play computer games to be entertained, and I find RPGs (leveling mechanics included) entertaining.
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