Chittering Clawbug Avadon Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Square Enix announced the re-release of Final Fantasy VII for the PC with several enhancements, including a character editor: "The rumors of a Character Booster [in Final Fantasy VII] turned out to be true. At any point in the game, you can press a button to max out your hit points, magic points, or Gil (money). This will let you easily bypass difficult sections of the game, for better or worse." http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Final-F...rmed-44263.html This sounds similar to the character editor included in Avernum. Will the developer be suing or will he lose control of his Spiderweb IP? If that happens, might we soon see Shapers and Avernum agents being brought into the Final Fantasy franchise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Character editors are probably common enough that they can't really be protected as intellectual property. Now if the look is similar enough that would be different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall The Ratt Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 I don' think Jeff could successfully sue claiming that the "in game" (for lack of better phrasing) character editor is his intellectual property. Plus, even if he wanted to sue, I'd bet the lawyers Square Enix could hire would be far superior and more numerous than the lawyers Jeff could hire. Edit: Sniped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chittering Clawbug Avadon Posted July 5, 2012 Author Share Posted July 5, 2012 Character editors are unheard of for console RPGs. Now that Final Fantasy is adopting it, it is likely that Square Enix might copyright or patent it. By then it would be too late to protect any of Spiderweb's IPs. That is why so many companies file suit, because the courts want to see you actively protecting your IP, and companies that fail to do so will lose their IPs to competitors who copy them wholesale. If the developer is reading this, get in touch with the EFF or other groups for legal help to fight off this threat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chittering Clawbug Avadon Posted July 5, 2012 Author Share Posted July 5, 2012 @Ratt That's why the developer has to get in touch with the EFF for legal help and to make a big stink over this. get the Penny Arcade guys involved, post to the usual gaming news channels in order to portray this as the David versus Goliath fight that it is. We cannot allow the Japanese to steal any more of our IPs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Prince of Kitties Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 In other words, be bad guys? I'm sorry... that's just... why? *facepalm* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Lilith Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Originally Posted By: Avadon Character editors are unheard of for console RPGs. Hackers have been modifying console RPGs to include character editors since the late 90s. The idea of a character editor is not in any sense the invention of either Jeff Vogel or Square Enix. Sorry to burst your bubble. In any case, what they're doing sounds more like a set of cheat codes than a full-featured editor, and cheat codes are even less of a new invention than character editors are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Triumph Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Originally Posted By: Lilith Originally Posted By: Avadon Character editors are unheard of for console RPGs. Hackers have been modifying console RPGs to include character editors since the late 90s. The idea of a character editor is not in any sense the invention of either Jeff Vogel or Square Enix. Sorry to burst your bubble. In any case, what they're doing sounds more like a set of cheat codes than a full-featured editor, and cheat codes are even less of a new invention than character editors are. Inconceivable!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Men are from Slars Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Uh, yeah, character editors predate Spiderweb Software and Square Enix (and SquareSoft and Enix) by pretty much forever. What in the world gave you the idea that this was an original Spiderweb idea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unflappable Drayk adc. Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Yes, it might sound similar, but Character editors are almost all like that. What is a character editor if it goes like this: Click to reveal.. (Crappy but original Editor) change_coins=-500000 hit_points_limit=-99999999 change_lvl=-99999999 reward_give=-9999999 //feather pillows max_stats=0 acid_on_face=1 But I would really support this madness if the Shapers and Avernites got in their stuff (of course, without permission)... ---------- -Nightwatcher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt BMA Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Maybe the option to turn off the character editor (if you can't resist the temptation of having it around ) did come from Spiderweb ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Men are from Slars Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 No. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Celtic Minstrel Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Originally Posted By: Avadon Character editors are unheard of for console RPGs. Now that Final Fantasy is adopting it, it is likely that Square Enix might copyright or patent it. By then it would be too late to protect any of Spiderweb's IPs. That is why so many companies file suit, because the courts want to see you actively protecting your IP, and companies that fail to do so will lose their IPs to competitors who copy them wholesale. Um, I kinda suspect character editors don't qualify for a patent... though I'm not really sure about these things. Still, I know there have been precedents on things that are kinda similar (I recall something about one application copying the menu layout of another which was deemed okay; can't remember whether this was a copyright or a patent case though). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrulous Glaahk JamesMighty Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Copyrights and patents are funny things, you have to be speciffic on what they are protecting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious Artila shoopypit Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Square enix can copy all they want. They are still failing financially and their games still suck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Enraged Slith Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 I'm still mad that they stole the whole RPG thing from him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgeoning Battle Gamma Cpt. Charles Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Originally Posted By: Triumph Inconceivable!!! I do not think that word means what you think it means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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