GTA V Flooded With Negative Reviews On Steam After OpenIV Modding Tool Shuts Down (kotaku.com) 127
OpenIV, a popular modding tool used by tons of GTA V fans, is shutting down. After nearly 10 years of operation, the creators claim they have received a cease and desist from Take-Two Interactive -- the publisher of Grand Theft Auto. The news has shocked the PC Grand Theft Auto community, who use OpenIV to add thousands of mods into GTA V. Many upset modders have retaliated by flooding GTA V with negative reviews on Steam. Kotaku reports: According to a post on the official OpenIV website, the alleged cease and desist came on June 5th 2017. The supposed problem, OpenIV's creators say, is that the program allows "third parties to defeat security features of its software and modify that software in violation Take-Two's rights." After discussing their options, the team behind the tool says they decided it was not worth their time to fight back. "Yes, we can go to court and yet again prove that modding is fair use and our actions are legal," creator GooD-NTS wrote. "Yes, we could. But we decided not to. Going to court will take at least few months of our time and huge amount of efforts, and, at best, we'll get absolutely nothing. Spending time just to restore status quo is really unproductive, and all the money in the world can't compensate the loss of time. So, we decided to agree with their claims and we're stopping distribution of OpenIV."
Kerbal Space Program (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Kerbal Space Program (Score:4, Insightful)
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We could crowdfund it. How much does SpaceX charge for an ICBM trajectory, say a 5 ton tank of hydrazine, right in the CEO's office?
Re:Kerbal Space Program (Score:5, Funny)
Proof that video games lead to violent fantasies - Exhibit A
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Or, as the SJW's refer to it, "Chervil Space Program".
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I hate to have to explain my jokes to you monolingual types, but here goes: "Kerbel" is the German word for "Chervil", which is a delicate, parsley-like herb used in French cooking.
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No, it's that SJWs are more likely to eat parsley whereas real men who play video games have never seen a "parsley".
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I'm not a credible witness.
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I was rotten before video games. Before games existed (except pong and space war), me and my middle school friends plotted shooting down the goodyear blimp with model rockets. Yes, I'm that old.
Video games saved the blimp.
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Re:Kerbal Space Program (Score:5, Informative)
That's the snag with Steam, they moved to a model where you can't easily block updates. It used to be you told it when you wanted to update, but now your choices are limited to "update immediately when a new version is available" and "update before playing". Yes, you can go around this with some planning by using offline mode but it's a bit of a hassle. So much for all the Valve fans defending tooth and nail their DRM.
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If you're running current, you're right. But you can select previous versions from the 'Beta' tab (from 'properties') and stay there (for now).
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Says the AC, without looking.
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It's not a problem with Steam, it's a problem with shitty companies.
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No, the shitty company is the shitty company's fault. The inability to keep the program you paid for when Steam wants you updated is Valve's fault.
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You agreed to the ToS, which stipulates that software can be updated whenever, wherever, for any reason.
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You knew exactly what you were getting into, and you entered into the agreement willingly.
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No, some games were purchased before the TOS changed. However the original TOS probably had a clause that said they could change the TOS at any time.
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How would you do time acceleration? Run at the lowest speed of all the players (going to have to implement alarm clocks, let the other players see anything actually happening)?
Force everything 'real time' and recreate the boredom?
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no problem! they're going to license the multiplayer from No Man's Sky which deals with this issue.
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick (Score:3, Insightful)
Fuck you, Zelnick. The GTA community will accept nothing less than your resignation and the firing of the asshats in the company who dreamed up this fuckwaddery to justify their unnecessary jobs.
>in violation Take-Two's rights
Oh boo hoo hoo cry me a river. You have been as profitable as a pure golden turd and it is the fans and modders who made that possible. Fuck them over and they will desert you.
Re:Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh boo hoo hoo cry me a river. You have been as profitable as a pure golden turd and it is the fans and modders who made that possible.
For anyone not experienced in gaming, modding can turn a good game into a great game, and a great game into a timeless game.
It's sort of like open source software. Community members put in time and effort to create custom content, and everyone benefits from it (including the publisher, who now has an awesome game on their hands with sales through the roof.)
Often, modifications go above and beyond content like extended campaigns or additional characters - engine hacks and patches are often necessary to incorporate new content and functionality that simply did not exist previously.
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It was fun in the heyday of doom mods. I ran the simpsons mod with the atari levels.
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Indeed. It brings to mind the original, vanilla version of Skyrim compared to the incredible breadth of mods that transformed the game into a beautifully realistic fantasy sandbox. If there was a reason why the game won Valve's Test of Time gaming award, it has to be because of the immense modding community surrounding the game.
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Oh ya, that was a major overight shitstorm. Turned pals into enemies overnight too. It never really recovered. Two camps - modders who mod in an open source style or those very interested in making money out of their hobby if only there was a way to do so.
Ie, they mod for several years, having fun at it, no complaints. One day they hear they can make money at it! After the weekend the offer gets pulled back because of huge outcries from the player base. Modder doesn't go back to making mods like always
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If I may interject for a moment, many people believe that the spirit of free software is that you should not charge money for distributing copies of software, or that you should charge as little as possible. This is a misunderstanding. Distributing free software is an opportunity to raise funds for development. Don't waste it! For example, you could charge a nominal fee to package and sell mods on magnetic tape, as the FSF does with Emacs and plans to do one day for Hurd.
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Oh boo hoo hoo cry me a river. You have been as profitable as a pure golden turd and it is the fans and modders who made that possible.
For anyone not experienced in gaming, modding can turn a good game into a great game, and a great game into a timeless game. It's sort of like open source software. Community members put in time and effort to create custom content, and everyone benefits from it (including the publisher, who now has an awesome game on their hands with sales through the roof.) Often, modifications go above and beyond content like extended campaigns or additional characters - engine hacks and patches are often necessary to incorporate new content and functionality that simply did not exist previously.
Ahh but you have a hard time monetizing new DLC and new games if everyone is playing the 'timeless' modded game. Money grab, pure and simple.
I played GTA because it was sometimes fun with my friends. Once I got temp banned for inadvertantly receiving hacked money from an unknown player on the server (who was just spewing money out), and after repeatedly getting instakilled by pots and hacks I said fuck it. I hope this nails the coffin shut.
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Yes! I don't game anymore but when I did, moding was crucial. I could not believe how many talented people are out there that turned, as you say, a good game into a great game, and a great game into a timeless game. The Elder Scrolls series, Total War series, Space sims [freelancer anyone], GTA indeed, strategy [civ]......now that I think about it, did I ever played a game without mods? Hardly...
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Except that GTA6 will still sell infinity+ units and the modding community makes up a tiny percentage of their player base.
Take-Two won't give a fuck.
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Not so sure that is the case.
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Fair enough. Please point me to a case where Take-Two gave a shit about their loyal playerbase (i.e. modders) vs. their stock price. I'll wait.
No, seriously... I'll wait...
*heat death of the universe*
I'm waiting...
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Get a life and go outside. Time to grow up.
Little kids go outside to play. Sounds like it's time for YOU to grow up, junior.
Re: Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick (Score:1)
Going outside now costs $130 hour. Thanks for being complicit and letting corporations take over the world.
Got my Steam refund in.... (Score:3, Interesting)
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Believe "Steve Jackson" when it comes to gaming. :)
BTW, there's already a Jimquisition [youtube.com] on this shit. NSFW-ish.
Banning mods on day one would have been a dick move, but letting them flourish, then banning them years later? That's No Man's Sky level asshattery.
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Steve, if you buy a Take-Two game in future, please let this comment be a reminder that you're a liar.
*warp to 2018*
Hi Steve, you liar!
Crazy thought process (Score:5, Insightful)
"We have a game here that customers really enjoy adding their own content to, at their own time and expense, which results in the game remaining entertaining longer and increases purchases... we've let that go for years because it benefits us. So what the hell, let's shut it down, reduce the value of our product, and piss off our customer base. It's a bold plan, let's see how it plays out!"
They want to protect their DLC which apparently makes more than the game itself... but their DLC is already making money. Shutting down 3rd party content isn't going to result in a boost to that income stream, and since they turn out new content at a pathetically slow pace, it's actually likely to go down as players get bored and move on to something else.
Re:Crazy thought process (Score:5, Interesting)
> it's actually likely to go down as players get bored and move on to something else.
You're right, but you're not factoring in GTA VI into that. They want to stomp the modding community before they start hyping what's new in GTA VI, otherwise those features will be reverse-engineered.
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This is 100% about GTA V Online exploits and the in game economy and RSs ability to make money off of it. They have NOT went after the GTA V single player Role Play mods. Yet.
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You're right, but you're not factoring in GTA VI into that.
That's not quite accurate. I've factored GTA 6 into things, and will not be purchasing it.
Going by the responses on steam, twitter, youtube, etc., there seems to be a couple million others who have factored in GTA 6 similarly as well...
The vast majority of us that use single player mods were already going to buy, if not pre-purchase, GTA 6 as a simple matter of course.
Why would passionate fans of the series, demonstrated by our continued use of the game long after the mainstream got bored with it, not have
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Re: Thread for those who don't care (Score:1)
I prefer gnome2 over mate. IMNSHO
This is *all* about GTA VI (Score:5, Insightful)
They recently displayed a GTA VI demo at E3. Up until now, modders were great for sales and retention. But now they have a sequel and they have to hype how much better the sequel is going to be than the last one.
Think about it this way: any new feature announced for GTA VI will see GTA V modders seeing if they can't just mod that into GTA V. Which would take a dump on their marketing. GTA V is the old stuff, GTA VI is where their profit is. Modding isn't for your benefit, it's because it extends the lifetime, community and sales of the product. But now, they don't want that. They want to create a clear distinction by which GTA VI is "better" than GTA V. How better to do that than crushing the mod scene?
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They want to create a clear distinction by which GTA VI is "better" than GTA V. How better to do that than crushing the mod scene?
By *gasp* making a better game.
I guess maybe you can only rehash the same idea before you achieve perfection.
Shadowrun, while probably not nearly as popular as GTA, is a game with a good modding community. The long story short is that somehow, copies of the game still sell, despite the prevalence of modders.
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By *gasp* making a better game.
That's kind of the issue. I don't know if TT really has the parent's logic in mind, but if they do then this would be exactly what they're concerned with: How can you make a "better" game when any improvements you add are immediately back-ported to the prior game by third parties you have no control over? I mean I'm sure there's some limits to what modders can do, but how much of a gap would TT have to jump in order to be so definitively unique that modders couldn't clone it, while at the same time still
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They recently displayed a GTA VI demo at E3.
You got a link to that, because I'm pretty sure they didn't.
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Looks like they did: GTA IV demo at E3 [google.com]
Did you bother to actually click on any of that shit? All those videos are fake.
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Wait...they put GTA in vi? Take that, emacs!
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Funnily Candy Crush is one of the best examples of a profitable casual free-to-play game.
They went for too much and will pay. (Score:1)
Take Two/R* first co-opted modders through GTAForums with some success.
Unfortunately, they went for too much by trying to kill off modding entirely. Hopefully they reverse course, as they've removed any goodwill.
Impotent protest (Score:1)
Rockstar has made their cash. These whiners can kick rocks at this point.
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Can I have your copy?
THIS (Score:2)
This is how you kill your customer base. Brilliant move, guys!
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Well, they WANT to kill the player base for GTA V, since GTA VI is on the way.
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I highly doubt that.
Most people don't know about this, the modding community is relatively small compared to new and returning buyers.
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Oh well, no purchase from me. (Score:2)
I remember when companies used to give a shit about customers. Now days, apparently not. Fuck them.
If your going to treat people that actually BUY your game and then go through all the trouble of doing mods to actually make it BETTER, and you shit on them.. them fuck you.
Never ever by a game from these assholes again. Oh, legalize.. my humble opinion and all of that.
GTA will survive (Score:1)
security catch-all (Score:2)
Cousin Roman: "Terrorism."
Security. That's why we can't let you install mods on your very own personal _gaming_ system. It might start world war III or collapse the stock market, WE JUST DON'T KNOW!!!!!!!!!! so turn everything off.
Does nobody see the parallels to Microsoft? (Score:2)
Hi, We are a software publisher known mostly for a single product. Sure, occasionally we produce other products, but there's one cash-cow we always return to. We tell people it's better every time we release a new version, but we know that nobody really believes that. We certainly don't.
We allow modifications and additions to our software, up to a point, but when we can no longer monetize them, or they threaten our longer-term strategies, well... sometimes you have to make unpopular decisions. This is OUR p
GTA IV (Score:1)