Abandonware and the Rise of Indies and Tabletop Gaming (EDITED).docx, by Rachel Fong
ChrisProvidence
Time Traveling Unequal Treaty Destroyer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
When we were all sent back to 1911, the video games industry was the last thing on anyone's mind.
Of course, the servers were still up and Steam was thankfully saved by a few Valve employees who were here for a DOTA 2 tournament, but we the game industry was effectively dead.
That isn't an insult to any of the studios in Taiwan, of course, but almost every single developer on the planet would not be born for at least another fifty years. Which left us with an important question: What happens next?
For the games themselves, they were left in a legal limbo, now that there wasn't anybody to claim ownership of them. In theory, this would mean that nobody would be able to claim ownership of the media for fifty years, but recent legislation has created a new copyright category of "Abandoned Media." During a grace period that lasted from January to July 1911, individuals and companies could submit applications to a board to claim copyright of intellectual property they either owned or worked on.
By the time August came around, most games were unclaimed, or their claims were rejected, leaving them in the category known as "Abandoned Media." Think "Public Domain," but you are legally required to disclose what software it was adapted from.
For example, the recently-announced 1911 Revolution game "Tip of the Spear" will be required to state that it is built on a modified version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
With this newfound freedom, 1911 saw its fair share of "Standalone Total Conversion" games, which are exactly what they sound like: Total conversions of a game engine based on a previous engine. Imagine the Hearts of Iron IV mods, Kaiserreich or The New Order: The Last Days of Europe, except they would be launched as standalone games.
Of course, those specific mods are expected to remain free on Steam Workshop, while the newly-announced Total Conversion mods are in early production, with only a few teams even releasing concept art. Only a few have been released by December 1911, and as you can imagine, they're rushed to all hell. 1912, however, seems much more promising.
Of course, rushed total conversions aren't the only new games on the market. Local indie devs have also stepped in to help with the 1911 dryspell, and these smaller games have been a welcome breath of fresh air for gamers in Taiwan. Sure, they may be smaller in scope and lower-budget, but they should scratch that itch if you're looking for a new game this year.
And with the lack of sales and competition from the now-dead AAA industry, sales have practically skyrocketed in the last year for dozens of indie studios, while even more aspiring young indie devs are stepping up to the plate. Will they all be hits? No. But there are plenty of new indie games to choose from, and this new generation of developers don't seem to be stopping anytime soon.
Of course, this is mainly for the PC market, which is limited to Taiwan. Take one step on the mainland and there are almost no video games. Though that's less due to a lack of enthusiasm and more due to the lack of anything that could play a video games outside of a soldier who brought his laptop with them.
And when your only person you can play EU4 with is busy marching with you to Haishenwai, multiplayer gets pretty boring.
Enter tabletop gaming.
Of course, this isn't much of a surprise when the nearest computer is located at the city administration office. Without computers or mobile phones to play games on, what other options do you have?
Trust me on this. I saw it for myself firsthand while I was on campaign.
Believe it or not, one of the marines I was embedded with had their own D&D group set up. Apparently the gunner on his tank was the DM, while the driver, loader, and commander were the players. One day, while we were all waiting to push into Manchuria, some of the local teenagers in Tianjin were watching them play, and asked if they could join in with the game.
The gunner was hesitant, of course, but his commander talked him into it and handed the kids some character sheets. The tankers taught them basics, and it turned out the teenagers were fast learners. Next thing you know, they were coming by the base every day asking if the tankers when there would be another session.
But all good things had to come to an end, and that came when the Manchurian Offensive began. But with the commander being who he was, he'd managed to get access to a printer and copy the guidebook for the teenagers as a going-away gift.
Last I've heard of them, they modified it to handle D6s and started printing their own copies.
Will it take off? I don't know.
Truth be told, nobody really knows.
Maybe tabletop gaming is just a fad on the Mainland. Maybe indies over-saturate the market back on Taiwan and Sturgeon's Law rears its ugly head again.
Or maybe we're seeing the start of something new.
EDITOR'S NOTE (Delete Later):
Rachel, Michael said it's fine if you tell the D&D story, just don't mention him or his guys, alright? He doesn't want to get in trouble for wasting government resources.
Also, we're still doing that Mega-Campaign, right?
-Martin
Of course, the servers were still up and Steam was thankfully saved by a few Valve employees who were here for a DOTA 2 tournament, but we the game industry was effectively dead.
That isn't an insult to any of the studios in Taiwan, of course, but almost every single developer on the planet would not be born for at least another fifty years. Which left us with an important question: What happens next?
For the games themselves, they were left in a legal limbo, now that there wasn't anybody to claim ownership of them. In theory, this would mean that nobody would be able to claim ownership of the media for fifty years, but recent legislation has created a new copyright category of "Abandoned Media." During a grace period that lasted from January to July 1911, individuals and companies could submit applications to a board to claim copyright of intellectual property they either owned or worked on.
By the time August came around, most games were unclaimed, or their claims were rejected, leaving them in the category known as "Abandoned Media." Think "Public Domain," but you are legally required to disclose what software it was adapted from.
For example, the recently-announced 1911 Revolution game "Tip of the Spear" will be required to state that it is built on a modified version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
With this newfound freedom, 1911 saw its fair share of "Standalone Total Conversion" games, which are exactly what they sound like: Total conversions of a game engine based on a previous engine. Imagine the Hearts of Iron IV mods, Kaiserreich or The New Order: The Last Days of Europe, except they would be launched as standalone games.
Of course, those specific mods are expected to remain free on Steam Workshop, while the newly-announced Total Conversion mods are in early production, with only a few teams even releasing concept art. Only a few have been released by December 1911, and as you can imagine, they're rushed to all hell. 1912, however, seems much more promising.
Of course, rushed total conversions aren't the only new games on the market. Local indie devs have also stepped in to help with the 1911 dryspell, and these smaller games have been a welcome breath of fresh air for gamers in Taiwan. Sure, they may be smaller in scope and lower-budget, but they should scratch that itch if you're looking for a new game this year.
And with the lack of sales and competition from the now-dead AAA industry, sales have practically skyrocketed in the last year for dozens of indie studios, while even more aspiring young indie devs are stepping up to the plate. Will they all be hits? No. But there are plenty of new indie games to choose from, and this new generation of developers don't seem to be stopping anytime soon.
Of course, this is mainly for the PC market, which is limited to Taiwan. Take one step on the mainland and there are almost no video games. Though that's less due to a lack of enthusiasm and more due to the lack of anything that could play a video games outside of a soldier who brought his laptop with them.
And when your only person you can play EU4 with is busy marching with you to Haishenwai, multiplayer gets pretty boring.
Enter tabletop gaming.
Of course, this isn't much of a surprise when the nearest computer is located at the city administration office. Without computers or mobile phones to play games on, what other options do you have?
Trust me on this. I saw it for myself firsthand while I was on campaign.
Believe it or not, one of the marines I was embedded with had their own D&D group set up. Apparently the gunner on his tank was the DM, while the driver, loader, and commander were the players. One day, while we were all waiting to push into Manchuria, some of the local teenagers in Tianjin were watching them play, and asked if they could join in with the game.
The gunner was hesitant, of course, but his commander talked him into it and handed the kids some character sheets. The tankers taught them basics, and it turned out the teenagers were fast learners. Next thing you know, they were coming by the base every day asking if the tankers when there would be another session.
But all good things had to come to an end, and that came when the Manchurian Offensive began. But with the commander being who he was, he'd managed to get access to a printer and copy the guidebook for the teenagers as a going-away gift.
Last I've heard of them, they modified it to handle D6s and started printing their own copies.
Will it take off? I don't know.
Truth be told, nobody really knows.
Maybe tabletop gaming is just a fad on the Mainland. Maybe indies over-saturate the market back on Taiwan and Sturgeon's Law rears its ugly head again.
Or maybe we're seeing the start of something new.
EDITOR'S NOTE (Delete Later):
Rachel, Michael said it's fine if you tell the D&D story, just don't mention him or his guys, alright? He doesn't want to get in trouble for wasting government resources.
Also, we're still doing that Mega-Campaign, right?
-Martin
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