Legal?

[Ghuldaan]

Hi everyone,
i stumbled upon the Microprose Magic the Gathering 2010 Custom Installer ISO and i'm absolutely stunned. This is one of the greatest things besides the massive efforts the guys over at sc4devotion and Simtopolis do for SimCity 4.
Thanks to everyone for their work.
But, as you might have guessed, i have a question regarding the whole thing. Is this perfectly legal?
Not that i'd mind, but i'd like to post a link to your forum at steam, for all those users disappointed by Duels of the Planeswalkers which was just released and sucks in comparison to the old MTG.
I searched the forums but didn't find an answer despite the fact that the game seems to be abandoned.
Thanks for your help.

[stassy]

You could, but there is no comparison between Manalink and the new DotPW or even MTGO.

Even though DotPW is very limited card wise it's still a polished game that 100% work in its range.

The updates on Manalink are not 100% bug free and ML is only being kept alive by the good will of players on their free time.
Bringing steam users that expect a "greater" game than DotPW might also bring some issues, especially for those who didn't play the original game...

[Huggybaby]

We've already been mentioned in a few posts at Steam, feel free to do so again and elsewhere too. We aren't hiding anything from anyone and welcome everyone to enjoy this classic game. If enough people find out about it, we might eventually recruit an ASM programmer and then we can expand Shandalar.

As far as legality, that's up to lawyers to decide. As far as we're concerned the game is abandoned.

[Ghuldaan]

Thank you both for your replies and i will post a link and tell the people to expect "another" game than DotP.

[Salbei]

The game itself is no potential competition for superior commercial products.
We just keep a game alive that otherwise be unknown to the vast majority of people interested in playing.

The mechanics, symbols, wording and artwork are not our intellectual property, thus it should not be legal to use them commercially.
If, for whatever reason, we are forced to change all of the content i am quite sure this project would just "die".
But since we technically promote "their" product, do not make money by doing this, then it should not be in the interest of wotc to shut us down.

I really don´t want to know how many people we brought back to playing magic, buy Boosters, start playing MO , buy product there etc. just because WE refreshed peoples interest in the game.
Shutting us down would just unnecessarily hurt their own income without any benefit!
There is absolutely no plausible reason to risk a lawsuit they might lose just to hurt themselves.
I´m no lawyer and do not know US-law in any way - but i do know that wotc is a company. And it is in every companies best interest to make profit. Shutting down free promotion that we provide, that does in no way whatsoever hurt their income (it even increases their profit!), would not make sense to me.

Would be a different thing if we would start to charge money - but this would be against pretty much everything we stand for.

I certainly bought a couple cards i "playtested" here first that i would have never bought otherwise.I can only speak for myself here.

[juzamjedi]

Agreed - I only started playing Magic again because I found the freeware programs on this forum. Since then I have spent quite a lot of money (certainly over $1000 and probably over $2000, not sure) on MTG cards since I came back to MTG a couple years ago. Just look at the price of building decks in paper MTG and it's easy to spend that kind of money.

Even now with paper cards, I like playing Manalink and will continue playing it so long as it's available.

[Shadowcran]

The way I see it, it's legal. For one thing, a lot of these cards have been practically abandoned over the years making it public domain.

As far as current MTG stuff, this would only amplify interest in the newer games. You play this old version and you want to play more versions. This is why they released 'Duels of the Planeswalkers" on Xbox 360, to attract new players....or in my case, reattract old players. That's why the others haven't pursued any legality against manalink.

Companies are starting to realize that PC games NEED a way to improve upon them by regular players adding to existing games. Take The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind and Oblivion for an example. These games are thriving NOW, years after their release, thanks to a huge modding community that the company, Bethesda Softworks, provides for by putting a toolkit with the game. There are over 30,000 mods, from large to small, of this game and millions are still hooked on it thanks to all that. The company gets exposure and it doesn't cost them one red cent of advertising. Not only that, Bethesda now has a pool of creative talent they can hire from the modding community, and have done so.

If I was CEO of Disney(they still own MTG and Wizards of the Coast don't they?)I'd be hiring the ones who have contributed to all the improvements to an old game found here.

[semenelinista]

i think HASBRO, not DISNEY owns M:TG.. I agree with everythimg else...

[Enchanteur]

Hello !!

I don't know where to say that so I say that here :

I've tried official "Duel of the planewalkers 2012", and Manalink is faaaar better !!
Ergonomy of "Duel of the planewalkers 2012" is absolutly desastrous. And the program don't respect magic rules ! Priority and End-step are ignored. Game is so slow !
But AI is a little better that Manalink AI.

[gmzombie]

as long as there is a M:TG Online there will not be another non paid version i think. why make a game that you can play for free when you can have a game that works great and you get people to pay for?

[dingbat1]

The way I see it, it's legal. For one thing, a lot of these cards have been practically abandoned over the years making it public domain.

As far as current MTG stuff, this would only amplify interest in the newer games. You play this old version and you want to play more versions. This is why they released 'Duels of the Planeswalkers" on Xbox 360, to attract new players....or in my case, reattract old players. That's why the others haven't pursued any legality against manalink.

Companies are starting to realize that PC games NEED a way to improve upon them by regular players adding to existing games. Take The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind and Oblivion for an example. These games are thriving NOW, years after their release, thanks to a huge modding community that the company, Bethesda Softworks, provides for by putting a toolkit with the game. There are over 30,000 mods, from large to small, of this game and millions are still hooked on it thanks to all that. The company gets exposure and it doesn't cost them one red cent of advertising. Not only that, Bethesda now has a pool of creative talent they can hire from the modding community, and have done so.

If I was CEO of Disney(they still own MTG and Wizards of the Coast don't they?)I'd be hiring the ones who have contributed to all the improvements to an old game found here.

Legally, there is no such thing as "abandonware". What this website is doing is making use of Microprose's software without a license, or for those who legally purchased the game, in contravention of their license. We are also using WoC's (Hasbro's) intellectual property without their express permission. No one from the company will ever acknowledge that this website and modding exists, so as to avoid creating any implied permission.

As such, they can shut us down any time they want. If a "cease & desist" letter doesn't work, they will easily be granted an injunction, which will also work. The only possible defense would be the fair use doctrine, but that's generally limited to reviews and critiques, and doesn't really apply.

Comparing this to modding morrowind, or other games that are still available for sale is a false equivalence, because (A) Shandalar is no longer for sale, or supported in any way, and (B) there are other games, such as MTGO and DotP that are commercially available. Furthermore, accepting/targeting modding is a strategic business decision which does not make sense for all (or even most) games. It is a way to engage the hardcore gamer, who wants more product than the company can profitably provide.

From a business perspective, there are reasons for, and reasons against, allowing the continued modding going on here.
WoC would be justified in trying to protect their intellectual property by shutting us down, or because they feel we compete with their paid product. On the other hand, they may be interested in keeping this operating as a form of marketing. Or they may simply decide that the cost (both financial and in terms of goodwill) of shutting us down is not worth it.