September 2002
- A "dev chat" with Brad McQuaid Vincent Archer
- Article on Griefers Rayzam
- Article on Griefers Stephen Miller
- Article on Griefers Michael R. Estepp
- Serialization, dealing with changing classes. Neil Edwards
- Serialization, dealing with changing classes. Sean Kelly
- Serialization, dealing with changing classes. Ammon Lauritzen
- Serialization, dealing with changing classes. Brian Lindahl
- TECH: Serialization, dealing with changing classes. Mark Kochanowski
- Ballerium: Interesting Game John Arras
- Ballerium: Interesting Game Valerio Santinelli
- Ballerium: Interesting Game John Robert Arras
- Ballerium: Interesting Game Crosbie Fitch
- Ballerium: Interesting Game shren
- Ballerium: Interesting Game Peter Tyson
- Ballerium: Interesting Game Valerio Santinelli
- Ballerium: Interesting Game Vincent Archer
- Ballerium: Interesting Game Mark Cheverton
- Ballerium: Interesting Game huserl@yahoo.com
- Ballerium: Interesting Game Adam
- Ballerium: Interesting Game Valerio Santinelli
- Ballerium: Interesting Game Jon A. Lambert
- Much Respect to JessicaM apollyon
- Much Respect to JessicaM Michael Tresca
- Much Respect to JessicaM Sean Kelly
- Much Respect to JessicaM Dave Rickey
- Much Respect to JessicaM Matt Mihaly
- Much Respect to JessicaM Michael Tresca
- Much Respect to JessicaM apollyon
- Much Respect to JessicaM Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Much Respect to JessicaM Sean Kelly
- Much Respect to JessicaM Michael Tresca
- Much Respect to JessicaM Paul Schwanz
- Much Respect to JessicaM Richard A. Bartle
- PK/PD (was Much Respect to JessicaM) justice@softhome.net
- MudDev - FAQ 1 Marian Griffith
- MudDev - FAQ 2 Marian Griffith
- [decentralization] Reputation device (fwd) J C Lawrence
- [decentralization] Reputation device (fwd) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- [decentralization] Reputation device (fwd) Crosbie Fitch
- ANNOUNCE: Open Betas Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ANNOUNCE: Open Betas Vincent Archer
- ANNOUNCE: Open Betas Richard Aihoshi aka Jonric
- ANNOUNCE: Open Betas Mordengaard
- ANNOUNCE: Open Betas Mordengaard
- Charlie Munger on the Psychology of Human Misjudgment J C Lawrence
- Charlie Munger on the Psychology of Human Misjudgment [summary of points] Sasha Hart
- Point of View Ted L. Chen
- Point of View Shane P. Lee
- Point of View Damion Schubert
- Point of View justice@softhome.net
- Point of View Shane P. Lee
- Point of View listsub@wickedgrey.com
- Point of View justice@softhome.net
- Point of View John Robert Arras
- Point of View Ted L. Chen
- Point of View Ted L. Chen
- Commercialization of virtual spaces Koster, Raph
- Commercialization of virtual spaces Jessica Mulligan
- Commercialization of virtual spaces Derek Licciardi
- Commercialization of virtual spaces Mike Shaver
- Commercialization of virtual spaces Justin Stocks
- Commercialization of virtual spaces Russ Whiteman
- Commercialization of virtual spaces Justin Stocks
- Flexible Perl MUD-like Server Project Luke Parrish
- Flexible Perl MUD-like Server Project stanza
- Flexible Perl MUD-like Server Project Joshua Judson Rosen
- Flexible Perl MUD-like Server Project Lars Duening
- MMOG growth Matt Mihaly
- MMOG growth Koster, Raph
- MMOG growth Daniel James
- UO Advanced Character Service Christopher Allen
- UO Advanced Character Service Jessica Mulligan
- UO Advanced Character Service eric
- UO Advanced Character Service Jessica Mulligan
- UO Advanced Character Service Matt Mihaly
- UO Advanced Character Service Matt Mihaly
- UO Advanced Character Service Amanda Walker
- UO Advanced Character Service Matt Mihaly
- UO Advanced Character Service amanda@alfar.com
- UO Advanced Character Service Marc Bowden
- UO Advanced Character Service Ted L. Chen
- UO Advanced Character Service Freeman, Jeff
- UO Advanced Character Service Damion Schubert
- Storytelling in MMOGs article Koster, Raph
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Jessica Mulligan
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Valerio Santinelli
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Paul Boyle
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Koster, Raph
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Ted L. Chen
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Poe, Lawrence
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article SpY
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Freeman, Jeff
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article SpY
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Derek Licciardi
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Freeman, Jeff
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Marc DM
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Matt Mihaly
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Marc DM
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Matt Mihaly
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article holding99@mindspring.com
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Sean Kelly
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Marc DM
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Sean Kelly
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Mathieu Castelli
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Matt Mihaly
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Matt Owen
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Damion Schubert
- Game developers gear up for cyber wars Michael Tresca
- Online Games Resource Guide Valerio Santinelli
- Critique this combat system Britt Green
- Critique this combat system Paul Schwanz
- Critique this combat system Edward Glowacki
- Critique this combat system hart.s@attbi.com
- [TECH] new linux thread library coming for libc Bruce Mitchener
- Zhe4 shi4 shen2me zhan4? Richard A. Bartle
- Grouping in MMP Games Dave Rickey
- Grouping in MMP Games Clay
- Grouping in MMP Games Amanda Walker
- Grouping in MMP Games Alex Kay
- Player Created Content - The Holy Grail? Matthew Dobervich
- Player Created Content - The Holy Grail? Matt Mihaly
- Player Created Content - The Holy Grail? Sulka Haro
- Player Created Content - The Holy Grail? Matt Mihaly
- Player Created Content - The Holy Grail? Michael Tresca
- Emoticons: When was the "big bang?" Randolf Richardson
- Emoticons: When was the "big bang?" Darren Henderson
- Emoticons: When was the "big bang?" Elia Morling
- Massive Online Gaming magazine Dr. Cat
- Massive Online Gaming magazine Matt Mihaly
- Massive Online Gaming magazine Dave Rickey
- Massive Online Gaming magazine Matthew Dobervich
- Massive Online Gaming magazine Dr. Cat
- Massive Online Gaming magazine Mark Cheverton
- Massive Online Gaming magazine Zach Collins {Siege}
- Massive Online Gaming magazine Dr. Cat
- Massive Online Gaming magazine shren
- Massive Online Gaming magazine Peter Tyson
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) Ted L. Chen
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) John Robert Arras
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) Ted L. Chen
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) John Robert Arras
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) Derek Licciardi
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) Matthew Dobervich
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) Travis Nixon
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) Ted L. Chen
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) Sasha Hart
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) Ted L. Chen
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) hart.s@attbi.com
- Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View) Kwon J. Ekstrom
- MUD-Dev Storytelling in MMOGs article Clay
- Diamond Age (ex story telling in MMORPG) Mathieu Castelli
- visualization toosl for text mud builders... (aka automapper) fred@clift.org
- Understanding Simulation hart.s@attbi.com
- Understanding Simulation Damion Schubert
- Understanding Simulation Michael R. Estepp
- Understanding Simulation Ron Gabbard
- Understanding Simulation shren
- Understanding Simulation Sasha Hart
- Understanding Simulation shren
- Understanding Simulation Peter Harkins
- Understanding Simulation shren
- Future of MMOGs Valerio Santinelli
- Future of MMOGs Shane P. Lee
- Future of MMOGs Eric Lee {GAMES}
- Future of MMOGs Crosbie Fitch
- Future of MMOGs Koster, Raph
- Future of MMOGs Mike Shaver
- Future of MMOGs Crosbie Fitch
- Future of MMOGs Joe Andrieu
- Future of MMOGs Crosbie Fitch
- Future of MMOGs Jeremy Noetzelman
- Future of MMOGs Sean Kelly
- Future of MMOGs Dave Trump
- Future of MMOGs Matt Mihaly
- future of MMOGs Adam
- Future of MMOGs Brack, J. Allen
- Future of MMOGs Matt Mihaly
- Future of MMOGs Matt Chatterley
- Future of MMOGs Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Future of MMOGs Damion Schubert
- Future of MMOGs Derek Licciardi
- Future of MMOGs Jon A. Lambert
- Future of MMOGs Valerio Santinelli
- Future of MMOGs Travis Cannell
- Future of MMOGs Dr. Cat
- Future of MMOGs Crosbie Fitch
- Future of MMOGs Koster, Raph
- Future of MMOGs Crosbie Fitch
- Future of MMOGs Adam
From: "Crosbie Fitch" <crosbie@cyberspaceengineers.org>
> From: Koster, Raph
>>"Information must be free" just leads to proprietary information
> Noo. That's wrong man.
> The meme is this: "Information wants to be free"
> Like 'ideas want to be free' like 'birds want to be free', like
> 'secrets want to be told', that kind of thing. Just like Open
> Source needing to get across 'Free as in Speech, not as in Beer'.
> There's nothing stopping anyone selling a piece of software to the
> public domain. Look at Blender. That was a proprietary piece of
> software and after receiving $100,000 from 'the interested
> community' the proprietary owners released it to the world as Open
> Source software.
> Similarly, there's nothing stopping a company or individual
> selling information to the world.
> You create a game. You say "I'll sell this to the world for X
> dollars". As long as enough people come forward with a few dollars
> willing to represent a proportion of the world, such that 'enough'
> times 'few' dollars is X, then you got a deal. Sold to the world
> for X dollars!
> So, "Information wants to be free" turns into "Information wants
> to be sold" cos it has to go via "Information wants to be free and
> if the only way it can be free is if the owner sells it, well,
> then the information wants to be sold".
[...]
> The people is the tide. The sand is intellectual property.
> Copyright/IP law/etc. is the line in the sand.
> Commerce is the gyroscope.
> People think it's going to get pushed over and that when it falls
> to the ground dead, we're all going to starve because no one can
> make any money any more. But it won't fall over.
> So, you're right, commerce will get pushed into precession (rather
> than recession) by the failure of copyright, or in other words, it
> will adapt to make money no matter what the circumstances. If
> there are artists that need money, and there are people with money
> that need art, there's a market, there's commerce.
> I really don't know how people can worry about commerce. Sure, you
> can worry about some of the big publishers that may be too
> gigantic to adapt to the change in prevailing conditions, but
> change happens - the big and old die out, and the nimble and young
> prosper.
> Commerce has a big voice and you're going to hear the agonised
> roars of those dinosaurs for quite a while as their 'oxygen' of
> copyright disappears.
> But, the world isn't ending for the little guys who just want to
> make art and get paid for it.
It seems to me that Crosbie is perhaps over-simplifying the issues;
whilst that sometimes works (if there is an underlying trend that in
practice will prove so strong it in effect brushes the more complex
issues aside), I can't see it in this case.
To add to the melting pot, an article from theRegister yesterday
[twice in as many days - I'm obviously getting too lazy to write my
own posts ;P]
http://theregister.co.uk/content/6/27687.html
(Note that the context to the article is primarily copyright issues
within the IT and music industries, although the example given
(quoted below) is from the book-publishing industry. In typical
theRegister fashion, its a pretty opinionated article, but its the
example thats important.)
(brief snippet from the start of the article, explaining what its
about)
"Copyright is being abused by well-heeled special interest groups
with the cooperation of a corrupt Congress; there's no question
about that. But that hardly means that copyright is a good thing
only for special interests and a generally bad thing for the
public, which seems to be the assumption on which the Eldred
crusade is based."
(from the third section of the article, by Thomas C Greene)
"Spending lots of time losing lots of money:
Let me break it down to you. First off, a copyright is not a
single right but actually a bundle of rights that you grant to
publishers for a limited time in exchange for money. To make it
simple, I'm going to approach this in an exemplary manner.
Let's say you've spent three years researching and writing a book
-- hardly an unusual investment of time and effort. Your agent
suddenly announces that he's lined you up with a publisher, and
you've just spent more money on the case of Champagne you bought
to celebrate your achievement than the book is going to yield. But
you don't know that yet. You think you're going to make big bucks.
But when the much-anticipated contract arrives, you'll wish to God
you hadn't sprung for the '89 Roederer Cristal.
The publisher has done a bit of a cost analysis. He's going to
print 30,000 copies of your magnum opus and he reckons he'll sell
20,000. Those that get returned or sold at remainder, well, you
don't make any money on them. He figures he'll bring in about
$300,000 gross. He figures printing, promoting and shipping will
cost him about $250,000. That leaves $50,000. He wants to make
about fifteen per cent on his outlay, or $37,500, which leaves you
something like $12,500 when all is said and done. Now your agent
takes ten or fifteen per cent of that, and you end up with less
than $4,000 a year for your efforts, positioning the illiterate
teenage Martian at McDonald's who stuffs up your lunch order
considerably higher on the economic food chain than you,
Professor.
Now, who's the real dummy?
Unfortunately, US sales of your magnum opus are inadequate to
inspire the publisher to exercise those paperback rights he
insisted on buying. But fortunately, your agent isn't half the
moron you are. The publisher bought a slew of rights for that
lousy $12,500, but your agent (you can go kiss him now) made sure
that they would revert to you within two years if the publisher
failed to exploit them. These include translation rights into
numerous languages, English language rights abroad; paperback
rights, second serial rights, and performance and dramatic
rights. Your first serial rights were exercised, with profound
futility, trying to get America interested in your tome when the
publisher managed to wedge Chapter One into the New Yorker.
The book sells poorly and the publisher's estimate of returns and
remainders proves horribly accurate. You think maybe you'll give
up writing.
But lo and behold, two years later, when you get your translation
rights back, your agent makes a fresh deal and you find that your
book -- maybe it was you; maybe it was the translator -- is a
smash hit in Japan. Everyone is reading it. Soon you're selling
the Japanese paperback rights for several hundred thousand
dollars. Riding on the Japanese buzz, you manage to sell the
French and UK rights. The book sells well in both markets and goes
into paperback again. Finally, you're making some decent money.
Several years pass and the book goes out of print. Again your
agent proves himself an invaluable asset. He's managed to keep
your contrats free of ambiguous language which would allow greedy
publishers and blind zealots to claim that the book is in print
merely because it's available as a Web object or a print-on-demand
entity. Five years after it goes out of print -- meaning it's not
available in retail shops thanks to your agent's intelligence and
experience -- you get all of your un-exploited rights back. You'll
likely sit on them for a while because you're busy right now, but
in time you'll try to wring some more money out of them. Or
perhaps your estate will, after you've died and become even more
attractive.
Meanwhile, your very decent return on investment on MagOp One has
inspired you to write more books. You've got more talent than your
original publisher imagined. The fact that you made decent money
the first time around didn't tempt you to sit on your ass and suck
your thumb as the Eldred crusaders pretend, but in fact inspired
you to spend more time producing good copy because now you know
there's money to be made. And it inspires others to do the same,
because now they know there's money to be made.
And so long as you have those rights to sell, your publisher,
whoever and wherever he is, gets a little short-term monopoly
which ensures that there's money to be made for him, too. And this
is how excellent, seventy-year-old books like "Good-Bye to All
That" manage to stay in print in handy little paperback editions
which we can read conveniently on the subway."
Adam M
- Future of MMOGs Adam
- Future of MMOGs Amanda Walker