Slitherine's fault and responsibility !!!

[kondi754]

Noticed that many links to user's custom scenarios and campaigns are no longer available

I believe that Slitherine should collect such links, players and modders come and go, so we have no right to expect that someone will be here all the time and share their works non-stop...
It is Slitherine's duty to provide its customers with uninterrupted access to such content !!!

[zakblood]

i disagree, as part and parcel of making content eg modding, is to keep it updated and also host where and if needed or possible by the person who makes it, not the owners of the game par say, and is what happens everywhere else as far as i know and have been with, then again i'm not management either so they may disagree and have a different view on it, so will pass it on

[kondi754]

Nonsense, it's just a matter of a bit of goodwill, it seems to me that Slitherine does little for users of his forum at all
They could finally try a little more
And archiving files shared by members would be a good start!

[zakblood]

i'll pass it on, like i've said i would, but don't agree with it,

archiving files is one thing, hosting and maintaining them and keeping them up to date if anything patch wise alters them is another.

and that's if the owner / maker can be reached and asked and gives permission to host and gives the files in the first place, as with age, people move on and links die and backups aren't made and kept, that's life.

but good luck and hope you get an official reply asap

pm sent to admin

[kondi754]

Thanks Zakblood, I didn't want to offend you, sorry
I think the admin's answer will be negative, but it's always worth trying

When it comes to copyright, if anyone has shared their files on the forum, it has already downloaded by a lot of people, so the copyrights are probably not a problem for Slitherine anymore
I'm thinking rather of a file-sharing platform that would be made available by Slitherine for members, where every creator/modder would post and update files.
The thing is that these files would be on the Slitherine server and wouldn't be deleted as on most public servers - it really requires a minimum of inputs (I think users of Matrix and Slitherine forums would contribute for the purchase of the server ), but only a little of goodwill...

[zakblood]

most of the newest games already have the system in place, but to do it retrospectively may be a bit harder, so good luck, if you don't ask, then you won't know, so as soon as the pm is seen and a reply is posted, everyone will know, one way or the other, and no offence taken.

i've done quite a few mods in my time, made them, altered and hosted them time and time again, so hope it works out for you and for everyone

[terminator]

A long time ago, there was a "Games Depot" on the Wargamer.com very useful, but unfortunately it disappeared

[pipfromslitherine]

When users give permission we put their mods onto the official ingame list, where they are (barring any server issues, ahem) always available. But not everyone wants to release their mods to us in this way, and we don't and can't take them without permission.

Cheers

Pip

[kondi754]

When users give permission we put their mods onto the official ingame list, where they are (barring any server issues, ahem) always available. But not everyone wants to release their mods to us in this way, and we don't and can't take them without permission.

Cheers

Pip

So give people space on the server to put their files there, I think most of us will prefer to upload them to your than on other servers
Increase the size limit of files which can be attached with a post to at least 100 MB
Your answers are really peculiar, I get the impression that you don't care about this forum... if the players do all work for you
Write better that you don't want to do it

[pipfromslitherine]

When users give permission we put their mods onto the official ingame list, where they are (barring any server issues, ahem) always available. But not everyone wants to release their mods to us in this way, and we don't and can't take them without permission.

Cheers

Pip

So give people space on the server to put their files there, I think most of us will prefer to upload them to your than on other servers
Increase the size limit of files which can be attached with a post to at least 100 MB
Your answers are really peculiar, I get the impression that you don't care about this forum... if the players do all work for you
Write better that you don't want to do it

We cannot give people space to post whatever files they want - it opens us up to huge legal liability. Hence we curate those mods which people give us permission to host for them.

The fact many of our games have integrated mod downloading shows how important it is to us. But (again) we cannot just take people's mods and host them without permission.

Cheers

Pip

[kondi754]

Oh I see... you're probably right, it's better to do nothing - there will be no problems.
However, thanks for the answer

In that case, one more question - if I see that many people are looking for content which is no longer available but I downloaded it earlier and I have it on my disk, can I share this files in this forum (as links, of course )
I'm not the owner, but it was previously made available to everyone, so I guess its creator resigned from the copyright ?
I'm asking because I'm not sure about your interpretation of copyright in the web.

[pipfromslitherine]

There is a huge difference between a corporate entity hosting the (copyrighted) content and a poster linking to them. One we are liable for, the other is covered under common safe harbor content laws.

And, again, how is hosting mods internally when we are able doing nothing? What is your solution?

Cheers

Pip

[Fluffi]

Regarding the whole situation, I feel like a more simple alternative could be made by just uploading your own works to the forums. I am making an attempt at such, but having no experience in the BA editor as well as having very little confidence in my own scenario-creation capabilities means my work may be subpar at best currently. I've heard that the process is more simple than it looks, but as someone who happens to be more of a visual learner, I have a harder time understanding a lot of what needs to be done to successfully create the campaign I'm envisioning (this extends towards figuring out how to access and use custom AND DLC units like Petcat's M26 Pershing or using the French units from the Blitzkrieg DLC). If anyone has the spare time to create a slideshow, video, or illustrated tutorial for creating scenarios, please let me know. Thank you .

[AEWHistory]

If I can interject for a moment: while I think that the idea of Slitherine hosting the files is a splendid idea, for reasons that Pip has already stated it is not something they can do unless given permission. So this seems to be the rub: how to encourage more scenario builders to willingly give permission to Slitherine to post their content. Perhaps a simple sticky with requests for said content and what to do to submit it would suffice? If such a thing already exists, I haven’t noticed it. The downside is that there are already a lot of stickies on this site, but if people chip in and point modders and scenario designers to the correct information then hopefully more information can be archived.

As for the other requests, like updating the scenarios, that needs to remain in the hands of the designer of the scenario. Just my $.02, but asking Slitherine to maintain and update files that they themselves haven’t created isn’t fair IMHO.

[gdrover]

Why not release the content that is approved by the creators as a new product so that it is easily accessible.
I think that fans would would happily pay for expansions with more content to games they enjoy.

[pipfromslitherine]

You can already download the permitted content directly ingame. I am not sure asking people to pay for it as well would be eagerly received

Cheers

Pip

[rico21]

I will soon make a scenario.
My problem is not to post it,
nor that others appropriate it,
or to ridicule others
or to prevent players from buying new games by spending their time on old games.
No, I only have one problem ...
Time.

[terminator]

I will soon make a scenario.
My problem is not to post it,
nor that others appropriate it,
or to ridicule others
or to prevent players from buying new games by spending their time on old games.
No, I only have one problem ...
Time.

If I understand correctly, you’re about to make a scenario, but you don’t have much time ????

[rico21]

This is my life story

[Patrick Ward]

I think what this thread shows is how little many people are even aware of the concepts of copyright and interlectual property rights and the consequences of breaching for a company like Slitherine.

For example, copyright will only lapse 70 years after the death of its author. Even a CC type license doesn't stop that. And it doesn't matter if the author vanishes or ignores your emails. They still own the copyright.

It'd be interesting to know what impact the new European copyright law/directive will have. Some of it looks like it could cause no end of issues for anyone hosting.