Interplay hiring, court filings

[Brother None]

Both Interplay (Technical Director, IT/Web Manager) And Masthead (designer, programmer) are expanding its teams (thanks anonymous and Ausir). Masthead's listings are fairly non-specific but Interplay's certainly point to working on FOOL, including this tidbit:<blockquote>Interplay's development team is located in Irvine, Orange County, CA with an important sub-contractor in Bulgaria. Applicant must be available to travel to Europe as necessary.</blockquote>Meanwhile, Duck and Cover has more court filings (thanks PlanHex), but there's little of interest there, other than that Interplay claims to have vetted its licensing of the Fallout PnP to Glutton Creeper with Bethesda, errr, implicitly.<blockquote>The APA contains a scedule of pre-existing outbound licenses of the Fallout intellectual property entered into by Interplay. Bethesda received and reviewed the schedule as part of its due diligence before executing the APA. The APA provides that if Bethesda did not approve of the outbound licenses associated with the Fallout intellectual property, Bethesda could refuse to execute the APA without consequence.

One of the outbound licenses was to Glutton Creeper Games for the creation of a Fallout pen-and-paper role playing game based on the Pre-Existing Fallout titles. Bethesda did not object to the Glutton Creeper Games license and proceeded to execute the APA even with actual knowledge of its existence. Thus, Bethesda accepted the Glutton Creeper Games license at the time it execute the APA.</blockquote>

 

[Ravager69]

Could someone explain the second part to me? It's all lawyer gibberish to me.

 

[Brother None]

Could someone explain the second part to me? It's all lawyer gibberish to me.

I did. Interplay states it sent a list to Bethesda when the Asset Purchase Agreement was signed informing Bethesda of "outbound licenses" it had entered at that point, and claiming that because Bethesda signed the APA while having been informed of said list of outbound licenses, Bethesda implicitly agreed to say licensing deals.

This is, of course, complete nonsense.

 

[ziggeh]

Theres obviously A LOT more to this whole story that we are not aware of. It will all unravel in due time im sure.

 

[Verevoof]

Can't this just be done and over with? I just want to see the results, cats, the results!

 

[Relentless666]

Hey, I live in Bulgaria, maybe I should join...

But to be serious, I don't think this legal battle would in any way benefit the franchise.

 

[Blackened]

Masthead (designer, programmer)

Designer for FOOL? Wouldn't that mean they actually create (design) the game - its story, gameplay, character system, etc. - basically the whole game, except the graphics and some not so important details? And, as far as I know, FOOL will be by Interplay, so most likely, I misinterpreted something.

Anyway, I, as Bulgarian, know of some good Bulgarian designers. So even if Masthead design FOOL, it won't be bad. And will be definitely better than Fallout 3 (though this doesn't means a lot, since most things are better than Fallout 3).

 

[Dionysus]

Designer for FOOL? Wouldn't that mean they actually create (design) the game - its story, gameplay, character system, etc. - basically the whole game, except the graphics and some not so important details? And, as far as I know, FOOL will be by Interplay, so most likely, I misinterpreted something.

It's a collaboration. I would assume that some of the game will be designed by Masthead. And design does include managing the visuals.

 

[SharkClub]

Wait so who's got the upper hand this time? It's really starting to confuse me...

 

[Brother None]

Wait so who's got the upper hand this time? It's really starting to confuse me...

Still the same.

Interplay's request to annul the entire APA still looks ludicrous.
Interplay's claim to the right to continue to sell Fallout 1/2/Tactics/BoS still looks valid.
Interplay's FOOL rights are a clusterfuck that I think both companies would be better to simply buy out of, though Bethesda would prolly win in court.

 

[ziggeh]

Well Its ironic that the project is codenamed "V13". If the whole FOOL thing went to shit for IPlay then they could just name it something else. Only a few things regarding the Fallout franchise are trademarked. The name and icons yeah but the likeness of nuka cola and a million other things could be in the game no problem. Either way Iplay will be releasing FOOL from where it stands now. Just depends on the name of the game. I'm not too worried, doubt they'd lose the entire right to publish the whole work based on the fact that it was being developed with the intention to use the fallout name.

 

[jero cvmi]

relocation to Sofia, Bulgaria

Interplay is probably getting this engine dirt cheap.

Working on top notch tech for ex east bloc wage is an interesting irony.

Designer for FOOL?

More likely designer for earthrise i think

 

[Ausir]

Only a few things regarding the Fallout franchise are trademarked. The name and icons yeah but the likeness of nuka cola and a million other things could be in the game no problem.

Actually, I think Bethesda did trademark Nuka-Cola and some other things.

Either way Iplay will be releasing FOOL from where it stands now. Just depends on the name of the game.

After the lawsuit, they won't be able to afford relasing any MMORPG.

 

[Brother None]

Either way Iplay will be releasing FOOL from where it stands now. Just depends on the name of the game.

After the lawsuit, they won't be able to afford relasing any MMORPG.

They can't afford it now. So what's the diff?

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

I just want to see the results, cats, the results!

 

[Morbus]

If interplay wins, doesn't Bethesda have to pay for their legal expenses? Or is the American justice flawed to the extent that they don't? Because if that's the case... duuuuuuuuuude... :nono:

 

[Ausir]

They can't afford it now. So what's the diff?

Yes, but after the lawsuit, they might not even exist anymore.

 

[orionquest]

There's a few things that are being missed here about what's going on.

Bethesda has intentionally lied in their Court filings by claiming that the Fallout compilation games were not released until after They signed the 2007 Fallout IP sale agreement.

You cannot lie to a judge. This is not a playground game where you can hustle, lie, cheat and steal. We have civilized laws that must be upheld and lying is not part of it.

Twisting facts to your advantage is one thing that is frowned upon of course but intentionally lying in a clear and unequivocal way is not allowed in our justice system.

1)Glutton creeper rights were inherent.
2) Distribution rights were inherent.

Bethesda lied about those to Interplay partners and then lied to the judge in their response to Interplay's counter claim.

The first two transgressions are enough to nullify the contract way before any expiration dates for Fallout MMO since Bethesda's transgressions started soon after the asset sale was completed.

You cannot have a contract where you reap the benefits and turn around and prevent your contract partner from reaping all their benefits. The 5.75 mil that Bethesda paid was not the only part of the contract that needed to be upheld.

The Judge can nullify the contract and have Interplay return the 5.75 mil to Bethesda( which can be subtracted from the royalty rights Bethesda would owe Interplay or Interplay can borrow money or issue a secondary stock offering after their stock skyrockets from the news of getting the contract nullified.

This just in: you still cannot submit an outright lie to the Judge. It's really bad for you when you do that. Really bad.


I guarantee you that the judge will penalize Bethesda and the sanction might be severe enough as to go all the way up to nullifying the sale contract.

A contract can be nullified if one party was negotiating and acting in bad faith. It's happened before and it will happen again.


Bethesda went out of their way to sabotage Interplay's ability to reap the benefit of their end of the agreement and stonewalled their way to winding down the clock for the expiration day of FOOL funding availability by not allowing Interplay to announce they were working on FOOL before and after Fallout 3 became a monster hit. A tie in game to a 150 million plus seller will instantly skyrocket Interplay's value to 100 million and allow them to dilute shares and issue a secondary for 30 million to pay for the game.

Bethesda knew this and that is way they went out of their way in stonewalling, sabotaging, lying and preventing Interplay from effectively tapping the finance markets that a public company has at their disposal.

Bethesda told Interplay partners and licensees that Interplay did not have the rights to the products that they actually had rights to, effectively preventing Interplay from collecting vital revenue that they had a right to, especially with the tie in with a mega hit.

This is proof that Bethesda was trying to crush Interplay.

Now if you are a competitor and you crush your opponent that is one thing but if you are a contract partner and you attempts to crush your contract partner by lying on several occasions through legal threats and other means, you are in a heap of trouble in our justice system, especially after you lied to the judge and made a mockery of their court by submitting a completely 100% verifiable false claim.

That, in a nutshell, is malice.

Maybe in a Kangaroo court verifiable outright lying can fly but unfortunately for Bethesda this is a non starter and is not allowed in the United States of America.


I am not saying that Interplay is without fault but Bethesda;s transgressions came first and are more damning and Bethesda's lying and sabotage of a public company and their ability to raise funding through a stock secondary offering creates many twists in this case since they were done to defraud Interplay out of their right to produce a Fallout MMO.

Bethesda has been sabotaging Interplay from day one, regardless of what Interplay had coming to them for mistreating their employees who had back pay coming to them.

Bethesda overstepped their rights within the contract and their doing so effectively nullified it.

Their bad and they will pay for it dearly.

 

[Morbus]

I guarantee you that the judge will penalize Bethesda and the sanction might be severe enough as to go all the way up to nullifying the sale contract.

A contract can be nullified if one party was negotiating and acting in bad faith. It's happened before and it will happen again.

And I guarantee you, without any freaking concrete knowledge and dealings with any of the parties involved, that Bethesda was acting in bad faith. I'm with you there, lying is very bad in this case, but if it depends on whether Bethesda was acting on good faith, then their bust, simple as that.

Bethesda went out of their way to sabotage Interplay's ability to reap the benefit of their end of the agreement and stonewalled their way to winding down the clock for the expiration day of FOOL funding availability by not allowing Interplay to announce they were working on FOOL before and after Fallout 3 became a monster hit. A tie in game to a 150 million plus seller will instantly skyrocket Interplay's value to 100 million and allow them to dilute shares and issue a secondary for 30 million to pay for the game.

Dilute shares altogether? What do you mean, they make them void? I don't understand. :\

Also, what I'm more interested in right now, is the Interplay's ability to maximize "profit" in this whole business. I mean, if Bethesda is going to give something back, then they might as well give a whole load of stuff.

Bethesda told Interplay partners and licensees that Interplay did not have the rights to the products that they actually had rights to, effectively preventing Interplay from collecting vital revenue that they had a right to, especially with the tie in with a mega hit.

This is proof that Bethesda was trying to crush Interplay.

Now if you are a competitor and you crush your opponent that is one thing but if you are a contract partner and you attempts to crush your contract partner by lying on several occasions through legal threats and other means, you are in a heap of trouble in our justice system, especially after you lied to the judge and made a mockery of their court by submitting a completely 100% verifiable false claim.

The bold part is the heart of the matter, and something I did not quite get up until now. That's actually the very heart of the thing: Interplay is not Bethesda's competitor: they are they partners, and Bethesda, by trying to take them down (well, they try to take everyone down as far as I know, unless they are licking their butts constantly), they're basically saying they can't be trusted and they don't act in good will. If the press covers this "just right", Bethesda may find it very difficult to find partners in the future. And of course they have LOADS of background for us to see this is not an isolated case. What happened with Star Trek was a good example...

I am not saying that Interplay is without fault but Bethesda;s transgressions came first and are more damning and Bethesda's lying and sabotage of a public company and their ability to raise funding through a stock secondary offering creates many twists in this case since they were done to defraud Interplay out of their right to produce a Fallout MMO.

And how will the court see Interplay's faults in the light of Bethesda's? I understand the later's came first, but that doesn't excuse the original's, does it?

Their bad and they will pay for it dearly.

To think I'd see the day...

 

[Brother None]

Dilute shares altogether? What do you mean, they make them void? I don't understand. :\

If your share value is sky-rocketing, you can issue new shares - kind of to represent your company's growth - which dilutes the value of existing shared but also puts a lot more money in the company's coffers.

The bold part is the heart of the matter, and something I did not quite get up until now. That's actually the very heart of the thing: Interplay is not Bethesda's competitor: they are they partners, and Bethesda, by trying to take them down (well, they try to take everyone down as far as I know, unless they are licking their butts constantly), they're basically saying they can't be trusted and they don't act in good will. If the press covers this "just right", Bethesda may find it very difficult to find partners in the future.

Bethesda is a media darling, though, and nothing that has been revealed has been particularly shocking or incriminating.

Glutton creeper rights were inherent.

How so? The argument presented above is specious at best, and would probably not hold up in court.