TSR Sharing your infomation!

[Devilfish]

I only came over to see if Ayyuff being FA was a new thing.

Old news, but I haven't seen it in this thread yet, so:

TSR welcomes ayyuff!

Author: Thomas|TSR | Posted Feb 23, 2009 | 27 comments

We are always happy to welcome talented artists to our FA team, and ayyuff is no exception! She's a talented lot artist with an eye for details - be sure to check out her latest and upcoming lots. Give her a warm welcome in her guestbook!

[crunk]

Is it just me or are some of the people they promote to FA not exactly... talented? Obviously quantity over quality. Making homecrafter stuff look good can take some practice, but who the hell would PAY for something they can easily make themselves? Also, when I look at a lot and think "I could build that" - the person who made it wasn't exactly straining themselves.

[Devilfish]

It could be a sign that the really talented creators are just saying no to TSR FA recuitment drones and they simply have to make due with the ones who say yes. But this is frightfully optimistic and makes me a bit ill.

[calalily]

 Must be really jamming a thumb in their buttholes.

Is it just me, or does Calalilly have some perverse obsession with peoples private parts

South Park reference to Steve Irwin.  It's a byword for really pissing them off.

Is it just me or are some of the people they promote to FA not exactly... talented?

There are a plethora of good houses in the community - lots of people make stunning ones - so why you would buy them is beyond me.  Yes, it does seem that TSR talent is pretty low at the moment. 

[minionsRmine]

EA helps TSR. This will not ever end. If you don't like EA helping TSR, don't buy EA's games. I'm aware of several folks in the community, not related to you all, who have tried for years to get EA to see what TSR really is. The thing is, EA doesn't want to see. There is a partnership going on, and I'd be willing to guess that no amount of treachery from TSR, valid screenshots from Coconut, or whinings will ever get them to see that. Besides, if EA really wanted to see, don't you think that Coconut's info and the behemoth blunderings of TSR would make them do a double-take at least? Makes you wonder who's related to whom.

[Pescado]

The fact that people miss when they try to "make EA" see anything is that EAxis is EVIL. This means they simply do not care, and frankly, they would rather deal with what they're familiar with, namely, another evil business, than have to contend with the vagaries of unwashed fans. It's that simple. People trying to change EA's behavior are fighting against an entrenched climate of greed and apathy, whereas PMBD is taking advantage of that greed and apathy to exist and stab TSR in the face. The fact of the matter is simple: as long as EAxis remains trapped by its own greed, it can't effectively support  paysites like TSR. So long as EAxis is unwilling to release the grip on Sims rights, paysites lack any legal standing to support them. The objective isn't to get EAxis to destroy paysites, the objective is to get the community to balk at them, crushing their business model by playing EAxis's own greed against them: EAxis won't shut us down in TS2 because they have to repudiate their own EULA to do it, and it is unlikely the rules will change in TS3 simply because EAxis cannot let go of its own greed.

[Darqstar]

But, couldn't EAxis sell a license to TSR allowing them to make money off CC?  I've worked enough retail to know that merchandising is big business.  Like the H&M pack, either they gave EA a blanket license to use their name in the packs, or they are getting a cut from every H&M pack sold. 

In these times of Economic greed struggle, why wouldn't EA simply sell TSR a license allowing them to sell custom content.  Granted, it would be a lousy thing to do, but pleasing their fans has never been something EA worried about, why start now.

[jssimone]

But, couldn't EAxis sell a license to TSR allowing them to make money off CC?  I've worked enough retail to know that merchandising is big business.  Like the H&M pack, either they gave EA a blanket license to use their name in the packs, or they are getting a cut from every H&M pack sold. 

In these times of Economic greed struggle, why wouldn't EA simply sell TSR a license allowing them to sell custom content.  Granted, it would be a lousy thing to do, but pleasing their fans has never been something EA worried about, why start now.

Both parties are too selfish for anything like that to actually work, but if that's the plan, prepare to p&l at the inevitable legal disputes that will arise.

EA is still a publically traded company, not some single entity that can do whatever they want and don't have to answer to anyone but themselves *cough cough T$R cough cough*. Their fiscal information has to be transparent and subject for review by the shareholders. T$R doesn't have the management to pull off what would be legally required of them to jump into business with EA. They just don't. Someone would miss something (re: Tomass would cook the books) leaving EA to explain why they're losing money in the CC license agreement to a bunch of pissed off shareholders. And that's just one obvious issue, I won't even go into the fact that T$R could never manage the oversight required to keep the CC they're selling with permission from EA teenaged, non borked, without copyrighted logos, ect.

Just because someone at T$R knows someone at EA and their ZOMGBFF!!!! does not mean that EA the company would be willing to risk the potential legal issues that could arise by giving T$R a license. And if they do, it'll be hilarious. 

[calalily]

EAxis won't shut us down in TS2 because they have to repudiate their own EULA to do it, and it is unlikely the rules will change in TS3 simply because EAxis cannot let go of its own greed.

I agree - not that they can make anyone abide a contract they haven't agreed to.  I agreed to the non-commercial thing - they can't unilaterally change the contract, unless they get rid of it altogether. And then I shall buy Russian Sims 2 at a fraction of the cost and laugh my arse off at EA for deserving to lose money.

But, couldn't EAxis sell a license to TSR allowing them to make money off CC?  I've worked enough retail to know that merchandising is big business.  Like the H&M pack, either they gave EA a blanket license to use their name in the packs, or they are getting a cut from every H&M pack sold. 

In these times of Economic greed struggle, why wouldn't EA simply sell TSR a license allowing them to sell custom content.  Granted, it would be a lousy thing to do, but pleasing their fans has never been something EA worried about, why start now.

Problem is that EA can't take H&M clothes and sell them - not without radically restructuring their business. Whereas EA has the ability to take TSR custom content, drop it into the game and sell it. Most licensing agreements are on the side of the person giving the license - so TSR has all of its rights removed and EA can farm them how they like.  And that includes taking their content and dropping it straight into the game.  They'd also be putting their official EAxis seal of approval on it - no more half arsed FAs for a start, as well as all that precious monies TSR will have to pay.  That's if FAs like being farmed for content and paid lowly for a hobby and all.  

The other part of the problem is that they might have the right to sell, but that doesn't mean that they have the ability to shut down sharing. Sure, some of us won't be filesharers if EA changes the contract, because of our principles, but there was a thriving underground filesharing community before, so there will be in the future.  The other problem they face is that a lot of people know it's possible and prevalent to share files - far more than ever before.  They'll be looking out for it via PM.

Just because someone at T$R knows someone at EA and their ZOMGBFF!!!! does not mean that EA the company would be willing to risk the potential legal issues that could arise by giving T$R a license. And if they do, it'll be hilarious. 

Yes well they obviously got MaxoidDrea to ask the legal team, and she made promises/assumptions she wasn't qualified to make.  TSR sticks its fingers in its ears over the result and make out like the EULA changed, but the legal team wouldn't make more trouble for themselves by writing something their children will be in court over.

Good point about quality - TSR is rather crappy compared to EA - and that's saying something. Even Will Wright in a video I saw once pointed out how crap they were.

[Pescado]

And, of course, any attempt made against us will ultimately only worsen the problem. At the moment, the system operates rather crudely, mostly due to lack of serious pressure to improve it. But we can do it. We have the technology.

[El Diablo]

You can copyright your graphics and your text on a website, but you can't copyright methods of doing things or processes - like layouts and formatting, for instance. Copyright has to do with distribution rights, not creation. For instance, a computer users' manual will be copyright by the computer company, not by the technical writer(s) who actually did the work. That's because "work for hire" copyright goes to the employer/entity paying instead of the person who actually does the writing and graphics. It's also possible to sign over copyright to another party - various branches of publishing expect authors to retain copyright and others expect to have it signed over with (hopefully) additional wording that specifices the actual creator's right to be paid royalties on a work to which they no longer hold copyright. Current copyright law covers static works and doesn't translate well to dynamic works, which most websites are - they really need to come up with a method for attributing rights to dynamic works that isn't copyright or trademark or patent, since none of them apply entirely. Anyway, just as with the .package format, just because someone thinks they own something doesn't mean that they actually do.

As for your example, depending on the media source that fanfiction is based off of, you're talking about infringement on a copyright and/or trademark, and a fanfiction story can't be published for sale without the permission of those who hold the rights to what are presumably specific and identifiable characters. Obviously, though, the actual story portion isn't covered by those copyrights and trademarks, placing the work into a sort of limbo where all the plot, action and dialog are owned by one party, and the characters performing these actions and speaking the words are owned by another party. Change the names and whatever circumstances are necessary in that story, however, and you have magically removed the claims of all parties except the actual author, who then has copyright over the entire thing.

Fake edit: I see that your question is already answered. Have some redundancy! With a side of overkill!

Copyright's a fuddled issue to be sure, especially in these high tech times. I recall reading many years back, when the original Star Wars came out and fan fiction started showing up (not to mention non-licensed images cropping up on all sorts of paraphanalia), George Lucas was complaining about it to Gene Roddenberry and asked him how he dealt with all the copyright infringement on the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry said, "Don't do anything. They'll make you rich." So yes, technically your fan fiction featuring copyrighted (actually, trademarked) characters, titles and so on are violating the law, but how much fan fiction gets sued? Especially the stuff that's not commercially published.

It seems to me that's the same tack EA's taken all these years toward pay sites. Why spend the time and huge amounts of money in legal and court costs to stop sites that are keeping the avid interest in The Sims alive and thriving? That's not a moral issue, it's a business decision.

[eternal_darkness]

The other part of the problem is that they might have the right to sell, but that doesn't mean that they have the ability to shut down sharing. Sure, some of us won't be filesharers if EA changes the contract, because of our principles, but there was a thriving underground filesharing community before, so there will be in the future.  The other problem they face is that a lot of people know it's possible and prevalent to share files - far more than ever before.  They'll be looking out for it via PM.

Agreed. It's also doubtful that EA would help them prevent the sharing of their files. Heck, they can't even keep people from redistributing their games. That whole "wait for till they make a statement" thing is BS. It's obviously a ploy to keep people from canceling their subs. EA is milking T$R for all they're worth, and T$R is dumb enough to be proud of it.

[Darqstar]

Oh, I'm not saying EA should or is going to give TSR permission.  I was saying that IF they did, it wouldn't matter, it wouldn't change the past.  Also, I wasn't sure if EAxis could sell them a license or not.  But, after reading and thinking about it, I can see where it would be difficult.  It's not like TSR is making T-shirts with the Sims 3 Logo and selling them, in that case, it's something completely different from the actual game, you're just licensing company X to use your trademark logo on  clothing items.

I've thought for years that EA's opinion of the whole shebang was, "Police yourselves idiots, and leave us out of it."   I even used to understand that attitude.  Back then I thought that it was pretty simple, TSR charged, EA didn't care. Pirates shared, EA didn't care.  TSR cried about it, and tried to get everyone to go to their side, Pirates thumbed their noses.  Lather.  Rinse. Repeat. Nothing more damaging than whining and laughing happening on either side. 

But, if it isn't EA announcing that TSR is A-Okay in their books, then what is supposed to be happening this week or next?  Unless TSR is full of shit, which they very well could be, considering their record,  EA is supposed to make an announcement about them.  What could EA say that would possibly make TSR feel that they have been absolved of their crimes against the community?  

The only thing I can come up with is some sort-of green light for them to continue what they're doing.   And I'm wondering if it will have anything to do with Sims 3 coming out in June.  


EDIT: Clarify a point.

[El Diablo]

Geez, that will be interesting. You guys are right, though, file sharing isn't going to stop because of an announcement from EA no matter what it says. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. I'd think they'd be lots more upset about all the people arring their SuckuROM products. Personally, I've got so much content after years of downloading that I don't and can't use more than a fraction of it in actual game play. It would take two or three hours to load. So if I stopped acquiring new content tomorrow I'd still have more than enough to keep me happily playing until I completely burn out on The Sims and go find something else to obsess over.

[SnarkyShark]

The only thing I can come up with is some sort-of green light for them to continue what they're doing.   And I'm wondering if it will have anything to do with Sims 3 coming out in June. 

EA has been tacitly doing this all along by inviting them to fan-events and, more recently, creators camps. Like it's been said before, EA would be cutting their own throats if they gave TSR any other endorsement other than that.  If there really is an "announcement", I would imagine it probably has something to do with the tool Thomss has been angling to get in order to make Sims 3 content (whatever that means) exclusive to his site. Maybe some crappy pattern making tool.