So, like, why isn't there a free Myth?

[vinylrake]

myth basically IS abandonware, he has a point

"abandonware" is just an internet concept, legally the term has no meaning and doesn't impact the rights of a copyright holder to control distribution of one's legal intellectual property.

[The Elfoid]

Zak's just trying to point out Take2 might be happy to put TFL/Myth II (I suppose we'd ask about TWA while we were at it?) up as abandonware/freeware. The real difference between the two is freeware tends to be distributed by the owner, abandonware's more when they just say "oh do what you bloody like with it, we're not paying attention anymore". The most recent itteration of their website even removed Myth from their list of games.

We'd be asking for something in the middle of the two, really. So the fact Myth, in real-life terms (as opposed to legal, official terms) abandonware, means they might well be happy to do some kind of deal.

Hell, if it got us the Myth rights, we could even consider volunteering other concessions, such as having the Take2 logo slapped on a load of Myth websites and the server lobby (in the corner or something). There's all kinds of things we could attempt to offer to them. Updates could include an HTML document detailing other current Take2 products - pushing Myth back into the "Take 2 family", such as it is.

I'm sure server activity stats showing player spikes during MWC season could be given examples of how this community has successfully maintained the Myth Community when it has made an effort. I remember Blades showed some info on that once, and it was quite obvious how much of an impact MWC had - it was huge. MariusNet must have equivalent figures. Does Magma's site traffic increase much with new patches?

I know I'm throwing a LOT of ideas into the mix in my last few posts, if someone could summarise it more concisely than I have (it's a flaw in my writing, I admit) for people it might make for quite a convincing read, I think. I don't know if it'll work, I really don't know what Take2's thoughts will be, but I really think we should TRY.

Myth For Mythers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuz76MN0DEQ

[vinylrake]

i am sure there is some kind of spike, but this years MWC has only 10 teams so far, and probably not more than 100 players total so i can't imagine that kind of 'spike' being very impressive. i don't know as this is particularly relevant to taketwo's willingness to go along with the idea of abandoning myth, just saying i wouldn't use current activity stats to show anything other than the fact that myth is dying.

[GodzFire]

Elfoid and Zak. The problem never has been what COULD be done with the Myth series. The problem always has been it being impossible to get in contact with someone at Take2 who will even look. Take2 NEVER responds, to anything.

[The Elfoid]

I'd guess industry insiders - and we must know some within Myth - would know the correct channels to use.

Again, I'm using my knowledge of business models within the music industry to judge. When bands ask Andy Copping, festival promoter for Download Festival and other Live Nation festivals, if they can play his events, his response is always "your promoter/management should know how to get in touch with me". Essentially, anyone with a serious chance of being able to talk the business language he needs to hear knows the correct route.

There HAS to be a method, because deals between owners of copyrighted material and others who use it occur all the time.

I remember Lothar, and others (Blades too I believe) got back a $ figure for buying the franchise, so someone in there responds. Lothar only did that in like 2006 or something too, certainly post Myth effectively being abandoned.

What exactly is it you have tried to contact them about Godzfire? I would hazard a guess something like this would warrant a response, because a lot of stupid people would react to a lack of response with "Oh, well, they clearly don't care about Myth anymore so it'll be ok to host it for free download!". They'd stop and pay attention, because they'll know a lot of people out there operate like that, even if WE aren't fool enough to think that.

[vinylrake]

ps. I don't mean to disparage your ideas Elf, they are an interesting and fresh take on an age old question.

pps. you really ought to helm an MWC team this year made of non-competitive players - just for the fun of it.

[The Elfoid]

Nah it's cool, I getcha - I did consider the MWC note one of the least likely ideas to be of much use, but I was just throwing everything out there to see what we have to work with because it's only once every rock has been turned over we can give up.

As for MWC2011...I just don't have the time. Nor can I really get the players - I could get Trev, Youngsy and myself attempting to turn up most weeks, but the only players who are willing to join any kind of TFS roster tend to be....really new, unreliable, and awful. We normally get the 3 of us and one other player of note, with maybe 2-3 of us able to show up to any given game, and at best 5 or 6 players total. But I mean, I've had guys on my team who didn't know what pus was until DURING the game - there's a point where it goes from people who are having a laugh and don't care, to just playing with people who are incompetant.

It isn't their fault and I don't hold it against them, but I just don't have fun leading a team that is guaranteed to kill itself in any given game BEFORE the opposing team even gets a look at them. Any player at my skill level tends to be one of the less good players on a better team, but based on my attempts in the last two MWCs, and TWS2, absolutely nobody wants me on their team. Welcome in the Myth Community, and not regarded as a complete idiot anymore though I may be, I tried that approach and no team would go near me with a barge pole (except Saints Row, back when they'd only existed for about 5 minutes and had aquired about 20 members or something ridiculous).

In conclusion: call me a grumpy old man who takes his game a tad too seriously, but no MWC for me. However, as I say roughly once a year: I'll attempt to play some myth with you sometime VR! And every year, at some stage I tend to manage like 3 games somehow. So here's hoping.

[GodzFire]

Someone else try to explain it to Elf. I guess I'm not getting through.

[vinylrake]

i am sure he gets the point godz, my guess is that he is just not as convinced as you are that there isn't some way to get a response from Take2.

ps. Elf, if no one wants you on their 'competitive' team, all the more reason to field a 'misfits of myth' team (The MythFits?). I am sure there are enough players floating around who don't have enough 'cred' to be invited onto any of the more aggressively obnoxious teams to field a team.

[punkUser]

Yah definitely - we totally have a "for fun" team with several members that I'm pretty sure don't know what puss is too I'm still totally stoked about playing in MWC though

[carlinho]

that's why I make new plugins with new units, so nobody knows how they behave except me and in the first week of testing I can kill them all, before they learn and they discover I suck at playing....hehehe

[ducky]

awesome post, elf.

i wonder what branch of take2's vast corporate structure myth falls under? maybe we don't even have to reach someone in new york to get this approval.


edit: in fact, i would first try to find out where the hell myth is in this company before talking about business plans. i might even just do that (but perhaps not now at 3:30am)

[The Elfoid]

Their website has a phone number, postal address and e-mail address. E-mail tends to be the least productive method of contacting companies, despite being most convinient - they just don't take anything so seriously at that level. I doubt whoever they have at the end of the phone is likely to be the right person, but ducky's right - myth probably isn't their "job" anyway.

But they MIGHT have details to who we DO contact. I was hoping someone within the community could get us to that quicker, knowing the correct channels, but that's a route we could take as well. (I was gonna say "take too" then realised that's a horrid pun).

Didn't MythDev used to sell Myth merch? T-shirts / prints and stuff. Again, another thing we could offer Take 2 in exchange for something like this - we could run a store on their behalf. Peanuts compared to their annual revenue, they'd sell maybe 50 or 60 t-shirts with the Myth logo on it, but if we agree to do all this for them, who knows what they'll let us do in return with their non-profitable game? (I'd also love a Myth shirt, natch)

[vinylrake]

that's why I make new plugins with new units, so nobody knows how they behave except me and in the first week of testing I can kill them all, before they learn and they discover I suck at playing....hehehe

i don't know about the sucking part, but i definitely noticed you lured me into beta-test your Ancient Greek units then made the units so graphically enhanced they wouldn't run on my machine and then by the time i got a memory upgrade you had 'moved on' to another project.

it struck me as suspicious at the time, now i know why!

[Jon God]

that's why I make new plugins with new units, so nobody knows how they behave except me and in the first week of testing I can kill them all, before they learn and they discover I suck at playing....hehehe

i don't know about the sucking part, but i definitely noticed you lured me into beta-test your Ancient Greek units then made the units so graphically enhanced they wouldn't run on my machine and then by the time i got a memory upgrade you had 'moved on' to another project.

it struck me as suspicious at the time, now i know why!

hahaha

I still need to see that plugin, though.