Pantheon - anyone been keeping track?

[loramin]

Originally Posted by Hitmonkey [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Daybreak owns the IP. Just because you're the developer on a project doesn't mean years later you get to make the exact same project for yourself with IP rights involved, and the reason why I mentioned it is if you watch the latest live in development playthrough even the classes are exactly the same it's pretty much the exact same game. Daybreak isn't going to let him make a MMO that's an exact copy of EQ live

Edit- by "exactly the same" I mean same names -same terminology, if you stripped the pantheon name and labeled it EQ Next you wouldn't know the difference.

You have to understand what "IP" means. It can mean trademarks, like say "EverQuest(tm)"; Pantheon definitely isn't using that. It can mean patents, like say "I've discovered an algorithm for sorting characters by race faster" ... but it's unlikely Pantheon is using any patented technology ... or, to be more accurate, they probably are, as is just about any software company on the planet; software patents are a mess. But Pantheon doesn't have to worry about them anymore than any other company their size.

So that leaves copyright. You can copyright works, but you can't copyright ideas. I can copyright this post (in fact, as the author by default I own the copyright on it), and Verant/SOE owns the copyright on their source code. But unless Pantheon literally copies old Verant code there's no copyright violation. And as a programmer I can guarantee they're not doing that, if only because 15+ year old code is nearly worthless.

So yes, you can make an exact copy of a game if you want, as long as you don't use their trademarked names, copyrighted images or source code, or violate any patents. And people have done exactly that: just look at the app store on your phone [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]. Or, more recently, some guy made a Zelda fan game, and Nintendo came down hard on him. He's still planning to release (basically) the exact same game, just now with the Zelda IP removed. And he's on solid legal ground.

Important Caveat: IP law is way more complex than my simple explanation, so if you want real answers talk to a lawyer.

Originally Posted by Triiz [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm surprised Daybreak wasn't all over shutting that shit down.

That was probably another factor making them abandon it (besides just the player complaints). Also the Daybreak agreement wasn't too long after that, but I don't think they were related.