Straight Talk Express with the Compendium...Next Stop: Truth

[desrever]

PESSIMIST!
Ugh, I just embaressed myself....
I deserve a Picard
 

[ctnovelist]

 

CE team: I'm very sorry to hear about this, guys.  You worked very hard to get to this point, and I personally believe that the basis for this C&D is questionable.  However, I think you've made the right decision not to ignore it.  You don't want to go up against a corporation in a legal battle.  With our murky legal system, that sort of situation is trying in the best of times.

I certainly don't see any harm in continuing to communicate with them in the interest of negotiating a solution.  I think SE has become way too harsh in this particular situation and greatly risks upsetting a large fan base by making this move.  If you have the drive to keep going, then I think it's worth further discussions.

I'm kind of curious.  From the community at large, is anyone here LESS likely to buy an SE game as a result of this kind of behavior?

From what you've already been through, you probably already have SE's contact info for the Japanese headquarters.  If not, send me an email to novelist@chronotrigger.info and I'll be happy to share with you the info that I have.

[joe_devore]

I'm kind of curious.  From the community at large, is anyone here LESS likely to buy an SE game as a result of this kind of behavior?

Me at least for some time  <_< Not that I can afford it anyway.

[Acacia Sgt]

I'm kind of curious.  From the community at large, is anyone here LESS likely to buy an SE game as a result of this kind of behavior?

No. If a SE that I can buy gets my interest, I probably will.

However, if I don't, it's more likely that my parents wouldn't let me, or I bought another game instead, or for anything else. But because of the C&D that CE got, I don't think so.

[fwaeld]

This just confirms that the great company that made Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and so many other masterpieces is long gone.  Its all about money now. They used to put actual effort into creating epic tales, and they actually listened to their fans. Now its just one bucket of sour milk after another from their aging Final Fantasy cash cow. They basically punched the entire Chrono fanbase in the gut with this one. I'll never buy a Square-Enix game again.

[OverlordMikey]

This just confirms that the great company that made Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and so many other masterpieces is long gone.  Its all about money now. They used to put actual effort into creating epic tales, and they actually listened to their fans. Now its just one bucket of sour milk after another from their aging Final Fantasy cash cow. They basically punched the entire Chrono fanbase in the gut with this one. I'll never buy a Square-Enix game again.

See the C&D: Director's Reponse, we have reason to believe SquareEnix was sent an E-mail telling them that the group responisble was planning on chargeing for the game...a lie of course, but the fact remains. Now that the wheels have already turned it will be difficult to convince them to allow CE to go onward, btu we have to try.

The whole gang up,demonize, and burn SE thing is overdone at best.

[Megamanx]

I'm kind of curious.  From the community at large, is anyone here LESS likely to buy an SE game as a result of this kind of behavior?

I wasn't really planning on it anyway.  XIII looks like trash, and I cant even think of any other games they're working on atm.  That's how irrelevant SE has become.  There was a time where I would have to atleast consider EVERY game they released.  Now, I'd be hard pressed to consider ANY game they release.

[Mr Bekkler]

I'm kind of curious.  From the community at large, is anyone here LESS likely to buy an SE game as a result of this kind of behavior?

This guy. Right here. Almost bought the new FF3 and 4 and either Dragonquest 4 or 5 for the DS yesterday, instead I went for the Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, the Resident Evil remake, and the Megaman X collection for the Gamecube/Wii. I buy a bunch of games at once when I buy games, and SE could have retained some loyalty, but fuck em, I don't care about em any more. I'm done.

[KebreI]

I am still going to buy SE games under the stipulation that they are good, Dissidia: Final Fantasy(PSP), FFXIII does look good to me, and I still need to pick up Star Ocean 4.

[teaflower]

If I buy another SE game, it'll be used. I simply can't afford a new game anymore. I'm broke and the new consoles... hurt my brain anyway. I probably wasn't going to buy one of the new ones, but this... don't think I'll even consider it. The most is I'm asking for CT:DS for my birthday, and my mom might get it new.

[quintin3265]

Hi,

I heard about this situation through the game music community and had to register to say that I completely support the project.  I will not be buying a game from Square Enix again.  Their behavior with this issue was appalling, and their games are so buggy that they are unplayable.  I sold my copy of Star Ocean: The Last Hope because the game is unplayable.  There is a showstopping bug that crashed every time I beat a boss necessary to progress the story.  What kind of incompetent people does this company hire that they can't resolve a fully reproducible bug and that they would shut down a fan project that would provide lots of free exposure for their own upcoming Chrono Trigger releases?

First, I read through this thread and I noticed a few inconsistencies with what's being said here.  As far as I can tell, the game code has been "destroyed."  Even if it wasn't really destroyed and actually is archived somewhere, any "negotiation" with Square would be an admission of guilt, because the game's code no longer officially exists.  There is no way that this project will ever see the light of day again even if both sides want it to go on, because someone would have to admit guilt.

On the other hand, while I won't be buying Square games anymore, I disagree that the author is "risking his life" over the project.  First, this is likely a civil and not a criminal matter, so only money is at stake, not anybody's life or even jail time.  Second, if the code still "existed," taking the case to court, no matter the outcome, would have risen the profile of the project so high that either outcome would be very negative to Square, just like Microsoft backed down after refusing a refund for an academic copy of Windows.  I'm sorry to say that I do think this is an act of cowardice, even though everyone says it isn't.  Whoever wrote the first line of code should have decided to either follow the project through to the end, or to not start at all.

Finally, why didn't anyone think of offering to sell the game to Square when the letter was received?  They might have been willing to pay a hefty sum for all that work.  Everyone would have won - the company gets a great game to put out on the virtual consoles, the contributors make money, and the game gets lots of players.

-Steve
http://www.remixsite.org/

[RySenkari]

Well, if they get a big cash settlement, they'd garnish the CE guys' wages for the rest of their life until they paid it off. Either that or they'd have to declare bankruptcy, which financially ruins your credit rating for the rest of your life. I don't think they'd go to jail even if they couldn't pay it off, but it would still be unbelievably difficult for them to get credit for anything (which means they couldn't buy a house).

Yes, I know a lot of us wish they WOULD fight for it, but come on. Even if they had the entire support of the video game community behind them, their lives would still be made ridiculously difficult for the next 5-10 years or more. They'd probably have to drop out of college.

First, I read through this thread and I noticed a few inconsistencies with what's being said here.  As far as I can tell, the game code has been "destroyed."  Even if it wasn't really destroyed and actually is archived somewhere, any "negotiation" with Square would be an admission of guilt, because the game's code no longer officially exists.  There is no way that this project will ever see the light of day again even if both sides want it to go on, because someone would have to admit guilt.

It would be really dickish of Square to expect that the CE guys totally trashed the code. Obviously they'd have to keep a copy somewhere just in case they could negotiate some type of deal where they got to release the game. The CE creators have no legal obligation to destroy anything until this is absolutely 100% settled.

[Chrono Mizaki]

Well... I knew about the CE project, but I haven't been bothered to check up on it. It was only the past two days that I knew about the C&D and I'm really sorry to the team for their project to be trashed by the C&D. However, if Chrono Trigger exist as a PC game, you would've got away with it because of the modding community.

However, the fan's comment and such just piss me off, especially with the 'boycott SE'. Because some of them will resort to 'pirating their games' to punish them (and I know it). So here's this: You're not punishing them, you're just dirty thieves.

Not saying that any of you said it, I'm just pointing that out.

Me? There are still some SE franchise I'm interested in, so I'm not on the 'boycott' bandwagon, despite being a huge Chrono Trigger fan. I just knew it would get a C&D, so you could say I washed my hands of it. I just wanted to avoid disappointment and... I actually made the right choices. So no big loss for me.

I got to really question this: But does the Japanese Headquaters have any knowledge in this? Or is it something to do with the American Branch? Because if that's the case, you cannot blame it all on SE.

[Shinkinrui]

I'm sorry to say that I do think this is an act of cowardice, even though everyone says it isn't.  Whoever wrote the first line of code should have decided to either follow the project through to the end, or to not start at all.

I'm starting to understand why the long-established members of this community are getting pissy with at lot of us newcomers. Stuff like this is SO easy to say. It's obvious he's formed an opinion without reading up on everything the team has said, but BOY HOWDY, he sure knows the way they SHOULD HAVE handled it. Hat's off to you, internet tough guy.

Finally, why didn't anyone think of offering to sell the game to Square when the letter was received?  They might have been willing to pay a hefty sum for all that work.  Everyone would have won - the company gets a great game to put out on the virtual consoles, the contributors make money, and the game gets lots of players.

Another case of not bother to read. A lot of people have already suggested this. Lo and behold, someone DID think of it. Indeed, the modders themselves thought of this! Except they went one step further:

We made it very clear in our replies that SE could have the rom hack, for absolutely nothing in return.  And that it would be beneficial for everyone involved if we worked together.

So, before you start spouting off about the way they should have handled this, lrn2read and at least make an informed comment

[MDenham]

Well, if they get a big cash settlement, they'd garnish the CE guys' wages for the rest of their life until they paid it off. Either that or they'd have to declare bankruptcy, which financially ruins your credit rating for the rest of your life.

I wasn't aware you were planning on dying in the next 7-10 years.  (I'm pretty sure it's "your credit is hosed until the bankruptcy rolls off, which is 7 years later".)