Like most writers in this industry, I hang around NeoGAF while pretending that I don't. In doing so, I stumbled across a rather interesting thread detailing how Epic banned an Unreal Tournament III modder from its message board after he accused the company of stealing his creation, as seen (ridiculously briefly) in the Xbox 360 trailer:
I'm sure many of you already seen the new UT3 360 trailer, but what most of you don't know is that one of the maps shown there ( DM-ArcticShipment ) is actually a user created map done by a member that goes by EpicJon on the Epic Forums.
The map, while not being exactly the same, is a blatant rip off, it's a cargo boat, in the middle of the Artic ocean, with snow falling and with icebergs on the background. When EpicJon posted about his discontent in the Epic Forums he got banned and his thread deleted.
There is, of course, much discussion on the ethical and moral nature of Epic's supposed actions, but let's take a minute to look at this sensibly. Both maps are boats in the middle of the arctic, and they do share similarities -- however, boats in oceans are not exactly original game settings, and the same can certainly be said for snow and ice. It's not out of the question to consider that Epic was inspired by EpicJon's map, but by the same token, accusing the company of blatantly ripping him off isn't really founded, and simply not true (even if inspired, the maps are not carbon copies by a long shot).
Of course, where Epic screwed up is in silencing the accuser without the courtesy of explanation. Some would argue that Epic owes no such explanation, considering that the map similarities could just be coincidence, and the mod is a derivative of Epic's original game anyway, but in doing things the way Epic apparently did them, it just looks like a dick move and ensures that gamers are going to assume the worst, which is exactly what's happening.
We'll try and get some official word from Epic on the matter and hopefully clear up this silly business, but I know one thing -- you'll never be Valve if you make your modders feel alienated, Epic.
Contest:
8:17 PM on 04.20.2008
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Either way, it is a great source of creative talent available to developers who would otherwise be restricted to the imagination of the same level designers for each game. The downside is that it might come off as a bit shady if the modder doesn't get any benefit himself. I'm not sure about this particular case, but the idea of a developer adapting mods as its own is not a new concept (most pertinent example: Valve).
/agree
Granted, banning the guy outright may not have been the right way to go about doing things, but complaining was not the best thing for mister EpicJon to do either. He could have at least contacted Epic through email or something to try and get a response from them.
Your in for a treat if they recognize you in anyway what so ever. Valve will only pay you pennies on the dollar take your shit and leave you in the dirt. CS/TF are examples.
Thats the way it is Mods are free not only for the players but for the company to exploit. Their only redeeming factor is in the hope that the company will buy into them somehow.
Companies have a way of wasting a whole lot of money for things that won't make any difference in how many people buy their product (Limited Edition GTA IV Xbox 360 Console, even though I wish I had one. LOL).
Whether or not the company is legally right, the right thing to do, to foster goodwill and community, is to award those within the community for their work, even in small ways. A little love goes a looooooooonnnnnngggg way.
I haven't seen both maps side by side to see if they are similar... but if it is some 13 year old kid that made the map, shouldn't he feel honored that epic used it? I think epic should give him a little recognition though.
Of course, in this case Epic did NOT take the map and distribute it with UT3 but instead was inspired by the setting and concept and created an entirely new map based on it, which is A-ok, if morally questionable and a dick move on Epic's part, especially once they banned him and deleted the thread when he spoke up.
I'll reserve judgement on the forum banning until I know how he behaved and what was said.
http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=610397
The guy did ask in a courteous manner. I don't think he or anyone is asking for any money. Just you know, a little recognition "Thanks for making a cool map, we made a similar one in response to it's popularity"
if they would have pointed out why it was NOT a rip-off, or even said that it was in fact a homage to his map, things would've turned out a lot better, they would've prolly gotten of with sending the guy a signed copy of UT3 or something like that :-)