Bethesda counters Interplay's counterclaim
- Thread starter Brother None
- Start date
Methinks it has more to do with the fact that Interplay's lawyers actually want to win whereas Bethesda/Zenimax's lawyers are attempting to drain Interplay of funds by making this court case as long as possible.
UncannyGarlic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
I think that it's a case of Interplay hiring good firm and getting them really familiar with the case whereas Bethesda has missed twice with neither firm really being very familiar with the case (or very good period) and trying the strategy of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks.
Takashi
Chimichangas!
The thing I find most ridiculous about this is that Bethesda thinks they can get away with saying "You can make an MMO based off the Fallout franchise but you can use no items that are actually linked to the franchise. Have fun!"
TheWesDude
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
interplays counter should follow as such:
so you really think that we would need ANYONE's permission to release a MMO branded fallout without using the trademarked name, any intellectual property ( such as setting, stat/skill, lore, or individual items ) and release it?
i would love to see interplay's lawyers respond with something like that. US patent/copyright laws only require 40% difference from any other product currently released to be considered an original work.
so you really think that we would need ANYONE's permission to release a MMO branded fallout without using the trademarked name, any intellectual property ( such as setting, stat/skill, lore, or individual items ) and release it?
i would love to see interplay's lawyers respond with something like that. US patent/copyright laws only require 40% difference from any other product currently released to be considered an original work.
generalissimofurioso said:
If that is really their strategy, its a risky one. If interplay can proof it, or the judge gets the impression that beth does it just to play the superior money and time card, it could backfire horribly.
If they are found acting in bad faith now, Interplays claim that the whole contract was set up in bad faith by bethesda gains strength and might just convince a judge to cancel the whole contract. And this is the one outcome bethesda really, really doesn't want to happen. Loosing the rights for the MMORPG is peanuts compared to that. They are playing with fire, i tell you.
I think Interplay's lawyers are my new idols. So far it seems they are Chief Hanlon, whereas Bethesda is Joshua Graham.
Wonder where their Boulder City lies, though.
Wonder where their Boulder City lies, though.
If the courtroom explodes, we'll know why.
UncannyGarlic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
Interplay brought the pick of destiny to court?generalissimofurioso said:
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what if it happens in the end that this was herves plan already from the first day he sold the franchise to Bethesda corupting and destroying them in the process and thus save that way Interplay.
I would not be surprised. He is a weasel.
I would not be surprised. He is a weasel.
TheWesDude
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
Crni Vuk said:
problem is that if beth can get the judge to accept that, then the judge would just rule that interplay signed a bad faith contract on purpose, so it stands as is.
of course if herve did not have adequate legal representation/review when the contracts were being drawn up there are 2 outcomes..
judge can say you knowingly signed a contract without adequate informed counsel, it stands...
or judge could say that beth created and due to economic distress coerced interplay into signing a bad faith contract and nullify one/both.
your evil twin
It Wandered In From the Wastes
Crni Vuk said:
I think it is more likely the thinking was this:
1) Interplay couldn't afford to make a decent Fallout 3 (or a decent ANYTHING)
2) Bethesda would be likely to make a succesful game (we may say Fallout 3 "is not really Fallout!" but there's no denying it is successful, and an OK game in its own right
3) A succesful Fallout 3 would bring the Fallout brand to the attention of a wider set of gamers
4) The popularity of the Fallout brand would generate interest in a Fallout MMORPG, and make it easier to find investors
5) The popularity of the Fallout brand would make the new generation of gamers curious and interested in checking out the old Fallout games, generating a massive boost in sales of the back catalogue
6) Both points 4 and 5 would provide enough money to make a decent Fallout MMORPG (assuming the development team isn't incompetent)
Unfortunately it seems that Bethesda/Zenimax decided they didn't really like having Bethesda do all the hard work of getting Fallout into the public conciousness and then having Interplay clean-up with a Fallout MMORPG that rides on the success of Fallout 3.
Thus Bethesda/Zenimax put in clauses where if the game was not of a sufficient level of quality or did not have a sufficient level of funding by a certain date than Interplay couldn't make the game anymore. And given Interplay's previous incompetence they thought it likely that Interplay would struggle to meet those criteria. Unfortunately for them, the contract was a bit too vague - exactly how do you quantify how much money a game has invested in it a quarter of the way into development? Cold hard cash? Stocks and shares? Loans? Money that has already been spent on making the game, or spare money sitting in a bank account, ready to be spent? (Surely all money would be used to pay the development team rather than sit there idle!) And how do you quantify "full development", if Interplay has a room of people coding stuff or making artwork, that's development, what makes it full of not? There have been brilliant games made by teams of less than 20 people. Unlikely in this day and age, but certainly plausible when the game is still pre-alpha. Should Interplay just start arbritarily employing people to not do very much, just to meet a standard of "full development"?
If Herves did anything "shady" or "weasel-like", it was simply realise that the clauses on development and funding were vague enough to get around them, if need be. And Bethesda did act in bad faith as they did everything they could to make it impossible for Interplay to get funding. Bethesda had said that any packaging and adverting for the classic games of the Fallout MMORPG had to be approved by them, and then when Interplay tried to show them they would not reply to phone calls and emails, or reject things without explaining why. So you ended up with a year or two of trying to develop the MMORPG without being able to advertise what the game was.
It would have been much easier to attract talent or investment if Interplay had been allowed to say "we're developing a Fallout MMORPG, come join us!" Instead out of desperation they started saying "we have a new project, codenamed V13", which was obviously Fallout to everyone. And then Bethesda started kicking up a stink about that.
The bad faith was mostly on Bethesda's side... but Herves could see that, and gambled he'd be able to prove it!
Do you think Herve The Weasel Cain would have planed a such a plot without thinking about it before it all started ? He is like the Master when he thought out his plan to unite humanity or the Emperor when causing the colapse of the Republic. A mastermind, the Da Vinci of coruption. He has everything under control from his Interplaystar as everything goes like foreseen. And Bethesda will either join the dark side or destroyed.TheWesDude said:
*By the way I am just joking for those which havnt got it yet.
well it has a reason why Herve ended thrown in to the reactor core ...
*Though you know what would be cool if the judge (or jurry ?) would be Fallout fans. I mean the real die hard Fallout fans which have a glitering gem of hatred around their neck on a chain or something.
*Though you know what would be cool if the judge (or jurry ?) would be Fallout fans. I mean the real die hard Fallout fans which have a glitering gem of hatred around their neck on a chain or something.
Ausir said:
At this point in time, yes. If the contract gets cancelled and everything reverts to Interplay and herve starts to sue for the ill gotten money beth made by using a franchise they did not own and demands royalties from the fo3 sales and...
Beth will burn and zenimax will sink. Who knows, in a year from now todd will work at Interplays cafeteria.
Meanwhile, Herve Caen tweets "Another good day for Interplay today..."
Oh my!
Speculate!
(no don't)
Oh my!
Speculate!
(no don't)
Crni Vuk said:
All joking aside, Herve really doesn't have that type of acumen. Burdened with a huge ego, he is more reactionary and not a master planner. He is often dumbstruck by the unwillingness of others to accept his "brilliant" plans and blindly lashes out in anger.