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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2006 11:32 am
by whenders0n
Myth is nearing 10 years old and while its still a great game, its damn near impossible to find. I'm hoping that we can convince Take 2 games to release Myth and/or Myth II as freeware. Don't think their making much money on it but it would be a good PR move. Anyone interested in starting a petition, sign here. Thanks!
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2006 11:35 am
by William Wallet
While I think it wouldn't happen in a million years (and a petition most likely wouldn't do shit unfortunately) I definitely agree that this game needs to go abandonware/freeware/whatever you call it.
Basically, what more can be done with it - though you won't get many new players for a game this old, you can't exactly lure them in by saying:
"Uh... there's a demo... oh... and maybe you can find it on eBay... maybe".
Once the game goes completely freeware I reckon it'll be better all around, more people will be able to develop stuff for it, basically it'll be open season and (while it might open us up to some *horrid* variants of the game) you'll probably see some good shit get made.
Meh, that's just my interpretation anyway.
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2006 8:09 pm
by whenders0n
Absolutely - i do think it would revitalize the community quite a bit. Anyone reading this, if you want to help with a petition - I might be able to provide the web-space and I could probably figure out the scripting, though its not my speciality. The next move is to try to get slash-dotted or something like that. Spread the word. I do think this can happen. The fact that they released some of the net code for people to work on shows they are at least somewhat willing. We will see...
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2006 8:16 pm
by ChrisP
Sure, I support that idea though I don't know how likely it is to ever happen. But were Myth ever to go freeware, you could count on Project Magma to ecstatically promote, distribute and develop for it. To say the least.
It wouldn't cost Take 2 any lost sales, and they'd hold onto the legal rights to the franchise and name, but my guess is they just don't want to be bothered. Know how much silly fan mail requests they must get? Probably hundreds a day.
If I were the one to spearhead this difficult effort, I wouldn't bother with a petition. I'd probably try to get really friendly with some people at Bungie (don't just send emails, send good bottles of scotch) and get them to approach T2.
Surely, Bungie doesn't want Myth to vanish into oblivion. They did, afterall, opensource Marathon. More importantly, Take 2 is far more likely to have a dialogue on the subject with the makers of the game than with a few clinging-on fans.
There's been a thousand posts on this subject though. And so far, no individual(s) with the courage, persistency and right personality to do much about it.
Edited By ChrisP on 1137806275
Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 10:54 pm
by William Wallet
"And so far, no individual(s) with the courage, persistency and right personality to do much about it."
Sad but true... of course, half the problem is that nobody has the experience in pestering big name companies to do the thing we'd ask them to do.
Petitions don't hurt as such, but they have to be pretty big before they get noticed - and even then, all's they do is show that there's support for something. It still takes the other end to say 'yes' for it to work. (The 72,000 signatures on the "Original Star Wars on DVD" petition might be of interest to future petition starters).
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 4:42 pm
by Death's Avatar
Im really with CP on this one. Instead of spending a lot of time messing with petitions and calls to arms, etc, we should try a more direct method.
Heck, I'll pitch in a couple bucks for some scotch 
-DA
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 7:57 pm
by iron
It'll take a miracle for T2 to even answer phone calls about it, let alone agreeing to making Myth freeware. If only Bungie hadn't sold it...
Ah, the memories...
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 9:08 pm
by carlinho
uhh arff argg pirate morgan here...
just copied a quote from a forum I didn't write
ok no sensibilities.
good luck tomorrow, just deleted the link.
I'll cross my fingers
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 9:13 pm
by whenders0n
i'm sorry but how is piracy relevant to myth as freeware?
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 9:29 pm
by whenders0n
Ok so I'm going to make a few calls tomorrow and see where I can get. I agree that Bungie folks are a good first bet, and so I'll start there. I'll make sure to talk about worries about the community dying, etc. I'll keep you all updated.
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 12:42 pm
by whenders0n
BTW, emailing me any contact information you have with Bungie folks would be helpful - its quite hard to find.
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 5:22 pm
by iron
I can't help with contact info or anything, but I have heard that a couple of years ago Bungie offered to buy back the Myth series from T2 and were refused. Even if T2 aren't making any money off a game, it seems they have a policy of neither selling them to someone else or allowing them to be given away.
Edited By iron on 1138054985
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 5:41 pm
by whenders0n
does anyone know what the negotiation for the source code was like?
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:53 pm
by Industry
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. 622 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 (646) 536-2842.
But a quick look at their website will show you Take-Two isn't a Game company run old game programmers, its a Media Corporation run by MBAs. And right now they own some of the hottest games available, so Iron's post about them refusing to sell back the titles seems sensible to me from a business stand point. Why sell back a killer title to the competition? I think the best bet would be to contact Alex Seropian and hope that the sale contract that Bungie made required some sort of specific performance like say support for the Mac for future releases. And since Myth 3 didn't, helping Alex sue them, for breach. You can find Alex Seropian, founder of Bungie at his new company (sans MS) Wideload.
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 7:26 pm
by Industry
Of course, a complete plausible yet mind bogglingly complex alternative would be to simply make the game you wish Myth 4 would be and support the existing data formats.