Take-Two vs The GTA Modding Community, 2021 E&E Edition

[Telephone]

On 9/22/2022 at 2:28 AM, CoffeeMaker said:

 

I also want to see GTA IV source code leaked, all of it because they punched PC users in the face when they removed multiplayer from it. Basically stole from you. That's why I avoid Steam from now on, only on GOG where I can download the game and play it offline.

I imagine the horror behind GTA IV's source code. That game's optimization was crappy all around.

 

Maybe it's for the best that nobody can lie their eyes upon it... /s

[Adminsaredicks]

On 9/19/2022 at 4:02 AM, Lock n' Stock said:

Shaking down people who dare to fix their dogsh*t broken ports. Utterly disgusting.

 

F*ck these cunts. Hope these leaks are just the beginning.

Pitty me for feeling bad for them with this leak.

 

No kidding, they truly deserve it! Rockstar become Popstar...

[Ehrmantraut]

Mixmods is currently tagged as malware by google. The owner Junior Dj believes T2 is responsible for this since the page marked as malware was re3/reVC, even though there were no links to download the mod there. Weird.

[BS_BlackScout]

Definitely not ShareMods related lmao

[greggrulzok]

i hope its a signal that rockstar knows that they are gonna lose the case against the re3/reVC project next year, so they are desesperately trying to wipe any mention of it from the internet.

[Carbonox]

https://www.pcgamer.com/atlus-is-suing-fans-for-reviving-its-long-dead-mmo/

 

I feel like Rockstar's actions as of late have emboldened other hostile developers like this to lash out. Not a good timeline.

[Lock n' Stock]

16 minutes ago, Carbonox said:

https://www.pcgamer.com/atlus-is-suing-fans-for-reviving-its-long-dead-mmo/

 

I feel like Rockstar's actions as of late have emboldened other hostile developers like this to lash out. Not a good timeline.

This cancer has now spread to the East, it seems.

[bahraini_carguy]

47 minutes ago, Carbonox said:

https://www.pcgamer.com/atlus-is-suing-fans-for-reviving-its-long-dead-mmo/

 

I feel like Rockstar's actions as of late have emboldened other hostile developers like this to lash out. Not a good timeline.

And to think that this came from Sega of all companies (Atlus is owned by Sega after all) makes it even worse.

 

For all the b.s Sega and it's developers may have done over the years, at least they aren't Nintendo when it comes to their attitude towards modding scene, emulation or gaming preservation (didn't they officially allow rom hacks?). It's actually one of the things i liked about Sega nowadays, that and their Yakuza/Like a Dragon series.

Edited September 30, 2022 by bahraini_carguy

[greggrulzok]

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/tattoo-artist-successfully-sues-2k-for-replicating-their-designs-on-a-wwe-2k-wrestler/

>A tattoo artist has successfully sued 2K Sports and its parent company Take-Two Interactive for including her designs in WWE 2K video games.

>Catherine Alexander filed the lawsuit in 2018, claiming that her tattoo designs had been used without her permission in WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17 and WWE 2K18.

>2K argued that the use of the tattoos were considered fair use, because they were used for the purposes of realistically recreating Orton, rather than Alexander’s original expressive purposes.

>A jury at the US District Court Southern District of Illinois rejected this argument, though, deciding that the use of Alexander’s tattoo designs in the game didn’t constitute fair use, and that she was entitled to damages.

Take Two is no longer untouchable, i hope they lose the re3/reVC lawsuit too.

[Lock n' Stock]

41 minutes ago, greggrulzok said:

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/tattoo-artist-successfully-sues-2k-for-replicating-their-designs-on-a-wwe-2k-wrestler/

>A tattoo artist has successfully sued 2K Sports and its parent company Take-Two Interactive for including her designs in WWE 2K video games.

>Catherine Alexander filed the lawsuit in 2018, claiming that her tattoo designs had been used without her permission in WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17 and WWE 2K18.

>2K argued that the use of the tattoos were considered fair use, because they were used for the purposes of realistically recreating Orton, rather than Alexander’s original expressive purposes.

>A jury at the US District Court Southern District of Illinois rejected this argument, though, deciding that the use of Alexander’s tattoo designs in the game didn’t constitute fair use, and that she was entitled to damages.

Take Two is no longer untouchable, i hope they lose the re3/reVC lawsuit too.

A sign of hope.

 

Eat sh*t, Zelnick.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, greggrulzok said:

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/tattoo-artist-successfully-sues-2k-for-replicating-their-designs-on-a-wwe-2k-wrestler/

>A tattoo artist has successfully sued 2K Sports and its parent company Take-Two Interactive for including her designs in WWE 2K video games.

>Catherine Alexander filed the lawsuit in 2018, claiming that her tattoo designs had been used without her permission in WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17 and WWE 2K18.

>2K argued that the use of the tattoos were considered fair use, because they were used for the purposes of realistically recreating Orton, rather than Alexander’s original expressive purposes.

>A jury at the US District Court Southern District of Illinois rejected this argument, though, deciding that the use of Alexander’s tattoo designs in the game didn’t constitute fair use, and that she was entitled to damages.

Take Two is no longer untouchable, i hope they lose the re3/reVC lawsuit too.

lmao I can't believe a tattoo artist totally pwned T2 to the max. Hopefully the re3 case will close on the same note.

 

How much she's going to demand in damages, though?

Edited October 3, 2022 by H-G

[Spider-Vice]

Reading the article would help:

Quote

The jury determined that Alexander was entitled to $3,750 in damages. It also determined that since none of the game’s profits came as a direct result of her tattoos being included, she wasn’t entitled to any further compensation.

 

[Jason]

There's been a fair few cases of tattoo artists suing video game devs/publishers over using their designs, not even sure this is the first time Take-Two has had to deal with it.

 

I always gathered it was a dodgy area and was a reason why some devs were hesitant to use the real tattoos of players in games.

[sivispacem]

It's an interesting area but I don't think the assertion a tattoo artist holds copyright to a work applied to someone else's body would hold up under more stringent legal scrutiny- in these circumstances, at least. 

 

If someone's likeness is at least in part predicated on physical attributes such as visible tattoos, then I don't see how a studio that licensed the likeness of an individual would be going outside of fair use in representing someone's physical appearance in an accurate way.

 

Sounds like exactly the sort of thing that gets slapped down in 5 seconds at appeal. 

[arisfelbonilla]

6 hours ago, H-G said:

lmao I can't believe a tattoo artist totally pwned T2 to the max. Hopefully the re3 case will close on the same note.

 

How much she's going to demand in damages, though?

HAHAHA seriously for a simple tattoo they lost   It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard

and I don't think I'll lose RE3

[ChengizVlad09]

How come t2 is so easy to initiate and wage an all out war against " its own community " for even trying to improve video games that are more than 20 years old by now, community that btw, never wanted a dime for their work, demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars in 'damages', willingness to publicly destroy people's lives in front of the court of law - literally for nothing - yet there's this alleged, underaged kid, who single handedly brought them to their knees with what is probably the greatest video game leak ever, not to mention the threats about releasing the source code of their newest as well as the upcoming projects a top of what seemed to be a setting of an illegal open auction of their intellectual property and bottom line, they didn't even bother to send their 'private investigators' to the kid's door to have a chat with his parents - wouldn't be the first time as we all know? Hell, not even a phone call? Is it karma coming to bite their asses? Damn, are their standards getting lower or perhaps they are becoming inconsistent with their own policies? How come there was no swift and brutal reaction from the big bad wolf for all to see? Something is a bit smelly up in here, maybe I'm wrong or can't point out to it just yet. Sure, they might have shat their pants alright, sure it is probably an underaged person we are talking about here so they have to tread carefully, but for what was and somehow still is on stake here, their reaction was mild, if there was any to begin with. I have so little faith in them, that I don't even trust them sh*tting their pants, not until we can all take a good strong whiff of it once that turd slides down their silk suits, publicly for all to see.

Maybe, just maybe, that turd is about to hit the glazed floors beneath their feet sooner rather than later and ultimatelly, this can be another good sign for the guys wrongly accused here, a top of every single valid point they hold in that ridiculous indictment they face against.

Edited October 29, 2022 by ChengizVlad09

[VCPR]

16 hours ago, ChengizVlad09 said:

How come t2

Three words and already you got that wrong, it was R* initiative

[NightmanCometh96]

4 hours ago, VCPR said:

Three words and already you got that wrong, it was R* initiative

They might as well be one and the same at this point. I was willing to give R* some slack for going back a bit and letting OpenIV continue after the 2017 fiasco, but after everything they and T2 have done since then to screw over the modding community? Not a chance in hell.

 

As for the answer to the question:

21 hours ago, ChengizVlad09 said:

How come t2...

Remember that R*/T2, for whatever reason, considered a mere save file a threat to the GTA IP (LibertyCity.net speculated that it may have been due to an "automated request", but knowing Take-Two, I doubt it was a mistake). If they're petty and scummy enough to do something like that, then frankly, all bets are off. It would not surprise me if they go all out on GTA VI (when it finally hits PC as a 1-year R* Launcher exclusive in 2026) to the point of banning your Social Club account if the game detects the inevitable ScripthookVI in the install folder.

Edited October 29, 2022 by NightmanCometh96

[ChengizVlad09]

@VCPR it's the same sh*t, yeah. It's just that the bigger turd is in charge, that's all.

[greggrulzok]

CD Projekt does what crapstar don't  https://www.thegamer.com/the-witcher-3-current-gen-update-modders-credited-paid/

[NightmanCometh96]

On 12/6/2022 at 8:53 PM, greggrulzok said:

CD Projekt does what crapstar don't  https://www.thegamer.com/the-witcher-3-current-gen-update-modders-credited-paid/

And to think, at one point, Rockstar was more than happy to showcase things like Yeardly Diamond's videos or GTA 1's map being ported to IV on the Newswire. How low they've fallen since then. That good will and embracement of the modding community died for f*cking shark card sales; anything other than their own products (more specifically, the ones that are currently on the market and/or have not been delisted) are now considered "harmful" to their IP for "reasons", including prototype footage/documents from the original GTA devs and even measly save files! It's disgusting. 

 

I can understand giving R* a little bit of "leeway" since they can create good games (or, just one brand new in-house title since 2013, anyway...); but how anyone, GTA fan or not, is able to defend the actions they and Take-Two have taken against modders and the community at large is beyond me.

Edited December 8, 2022 by NightmanCometh96

[Kalashnikov1947]

So, any news about the Re3 & ReVC lawsuit yet? I feel like I'm getting radio silence about the whole situation.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Panzermann11

[Guest]

22 hours ago, Panzermann11 said:

So, any news about the Re3 & ReVC lawsuit yet? I feel like I'm getting radio silence about the whole situation.

It's adjourned to like June 2023, sadly.

[NightmanCometh96]

I’m sure I’m far from the first person to wonder about this (and I’ll admit it’s a petty, tinfoil hat theory), but sometimes I get the feeling that Rockstar/Take-Two purposely titled the “remasters” the “Definitive Editions” to take away potential traffic from the Definitive Edition Project (i.e. an assortment of mods/scripts/etc. that does a far better job at improving the OG games on modern hardware than R* itself ever has).

 

Granted, another T2 IP, Mafia, also used the DE branding for its remake and remasters; but knowing how much disdain R* and T2 seem to have for modders, in the case of the GTA Trilogy specifically, I would not be surprised if the name was chosen (at least partially) to spite the single player side of the modding community.

Edited December 17, 2022 by NightmanCometh96

[universetwisters]

4 hours ago, NightmanCometh96 said:

I’m sure I’m far from the first person to wonder about this (and I’ll admit it’s a petty, tinfoil hat theory), but sometimes I get the feeling that Rockstar/Take-Two purposely titled the “remasters” the “Definitive Editions” to take away potential traffic from the Definitive Edition Project (i.e. an assortment of mods/scripts/etc. that does a far better job at improving the OG games on modern hardware than R* itself ever has).

 

At least you mention it yourself it’s a tinfoil hat theory lol. Not only that but I can’t think of what else they would’ve called it. “Trilogy Remastered” doesn’t sound as grand as “The Definitive Edition”. Especially considering that this is the first time I’m hearing of the aforementioned mod project, it might just be a coincidence + lack of alternative titles than deliberate 

[B Dawg]

 

[universetwisters]

I wonder what the settlement entails? Maybe we’ll find out in the coming days 

[greggrulzok]

I f*cking hope its not something about agreeing about stopping the development of the reverse enginering projects

[greggrulzok]

In a perfect world R* pulls a CDPR, hires them and hand them over the source code of the classic trilogy to make the true definitive edition.

 

anyway, hopefully the outcome its something similar to what Bethesda responded to the guys of OpenMW, like allow them to continue the project as long as they dont port it to modern consoles.

[Magic_Al]

2 hours ago, universetwisters said:

I wonder what the settlement entails? Maybe we’ll find out in the coming days 

Usually it's a point of a settlement that no one ever finds out.

 

My guess is it was only worth it to Take-Two to pursue this until the Definitive Edition came out and made its money.