New Extra Credits is up

[Floppertje]

they're pretty much just describing shattered galaxy here.
for those of you unfamiliar with it (which I assume is most of you), it's a game where you fight in teams over control points in instanced battles.
when you start, you pick one of 3 factions. the map is divided in 52 area's of similar shape and size, each of which can be conquered by another faction who has control over an adjacent area, kinda like the Risk boardgame. when an area is attacked, people join the battle and spawn in a team of 6 units, which they use to capture or defend control points. when all points are captured or all attackers are defeated, the battle is over, the winner controls the area. certain areas give bonuses (I think, it's been a while since I played).
units can gain experience and become more powerful, can be upgraded with new equipment and even be transformed into better units. there is no base-building, resources are gained through battling and can be spent on upgrades or new units. also it's free, so you COULD check it out. I wouldn't hold my breath though, as it's not THAT much fun. capturing control points is alright for a bit, but it gets boring, they make the microtransaction-problem of selling better guns to people willing to blow more money on it and gameplay is just not very entertaining to me, but it's interesting as an example of what an MMORTS could be like.

 

[Outright Villainy]

This honestly seems like James saying 'Whatcha gonna do about it, Escapist?', because he knows that they don't have the money to sue him.

It'd also be a lot of bad publicity for the Escapist, people will just see them as dicks for suing them after not paying them. They can't win.

Not that I'm hugely sympathetic to the Escapist right now mind, and I admire this brass balls sort of approach from EC in posting it anyway.

 

[funguy2121]

So... They don't own the IP, but, are doing it anyway.


What could possibly go wrong.

Well, it's Extra Creditz now as opposed to Extra Credits. Even one letter can make a difference. Capitalism's a *****, ain't it?

Intellectual property's a *****. EC was created by Allison and tha boys, concept and all. That doesn't mean that the courts will come down in their favor. They will be able to continue, even if the name in all forms is taken away, so long as they get funding. You cannot copywrite looking at games within a broader sociological context.

 

[Con Carne]

I'm glad theyre not letting this current setback keep them from making new episodes.

 

[wolfchylde]

Let us not forget that part of the kerfuffle is that the Escapist still OWES the EC people money for the IP. You claim ownership of something you haven't paid for yet. Until that gets resolved, I don't believe the Escapist can successfully claim it's their IP.

 

[imnot]

OMG THERE WAS A PONY PICTURE EVERYONE POST POINES!!!!111

I joke dont.
Nice to see they are still going on with Extra credits.

[small].>
Post pon-[/small]BAN[small][/small]

 

[Makon]

Everyone is only assuming we know who owns the IP, and is assuming that the contract with TE is valid. I know that, at least on the second topic, the contract was voided by Alex and EC. Otherwise, you'd also be seeing the vid up here on TE, since they would be contractually bound to do so upon making it. As for the IP, last I checked it wasn't publicly available who truly owned the IP originally, and iirc, Alex had said that he had arranged for the EC crew to claim the IP of the show.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

I laughed when I saw the bundled highway, I RAWR'd when I saw the lightning bolts and I D'awwwwwwd when I saw the kitten in the Lucky Charms cereal box.

All in all, an excellent episode. Good to know they haven't lost a beat over this fiasco.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

Oh this is not what I wanted AT ALL!! I want Extra Credits and the Escapist to resolve their differences, realize they ARE in fact fighting for the same cause (that is the advancement of Gaming as a medium, no matter how difficult the journey) and continue to work together with mutual understanding!
Please James, if you read this: I know you're mad, and I COMPLETELY understand.....but give them another shot. Try and works things out. I'll beg on your metaphorical internet feet!

 

[MorsePacific]

I'm finding more and more reason to actually use Youtube rather than just watch cat videos on it once in a while.

It's great to see Extra Credits still chugging along. Today felt like business as usual.

 

[UnknownGunslinger]

Thanks a lot for sharing I dont know what I would do without the weekly dosage of Extra Credits I hope they can keep them up!

 

[Dane Tesston]

Oh god... so much bettwer quality than the escapist vids (in terms of video and sound quality, not content) Im sorry but it is. Its just so jarring to realise how poor the uploads have had to be here.

I'm not picking up any real difference. Don't get me wrong, it's a good episode, but I just don't think I'd notice anything different if I saw it here first.

 

[Callate]

So... They don't own the IP, but, are doing it anyway.


What could possibly go wrong.

I think they just don't own the episodes they sold to The Escapist?

Doesn't seem likely, if that was the case they probably wouldn't be having such a big dispute over the IP.

I'm going to take a wild guess here that a media company that's allegedly having difficulty paying off its content providers isn't going to leap at the opportunity to engage in costly legal jousting with a small set of people who are also financially strapped (i.e., not likely to pay off even in the event of a successful legal challenge), in part because of the media company's inability to pay them.

Not least because said media company probably doesn't want any more of its subscribers to "ragequit", as it were.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Extra CreditZ? For Gen X!

Xyz's summon! Anyways, nice to see they're not stopping with the release of videos.

I myself am not into RTS's, but this was still an interesting episode. I kinda liked the art in this episode.

 

[Jodah]

Well, it's Extra Creditz now as opposed to Extra Credits. Even one letter can make a difference. Capitalism's a *****, ain't it?

Go one second into the video. =D

Well, shit.
I'm not too familiar with IP or copyright laws (read: "not at all"), but since they're not getting paid for it, I think they'll be safe.

It don't work like that unfortunately.
But their professionals so I'm sure they wouldn't be silly enough to breaking any laws.
Like someone further up said, (purely speculation here)they own it if they created it.
unless they were payed by the escapist to make the material, then they are in the shiz,
I love extra credits.

That's incorrect. (See bolded part).

The Escapist owns the IP, so they own Extra Credits. James and friends seem to be fucked if Alex calls in his lawyers on this.

But he may not. The Escapist is in a bad financial position and he may not have the money for a legal battle, and the Extra Credits crew might not have enough money to even cover the court costs, much less pay any money awarded by the court in the event that the Escapist wins. (And since they own the IP, they would without a doubt.)

This honestly seems like James saying 'Whatcha gonna do about it, Escapist?', because he knows that they don't have the money to sue him.

Plus the EC crew can make a strong argument that The Escapist was in breach of their contract first what with the 20k in back pay. Between that, the fact the Escapist has no money to hire a lawyer, and the bad publicity involved in suing someone you didn't pay in the first place it would likely lead to the end of the Escapist.

 

[GeorgW]

I'm worried about the legal repercussions about this, but it's still nice to see a new EC on a Thursday night.

 

[Uszi]

Thankyou for posting this, I wouldn't have found it otherwise.

On the other hand, maybe if this is posted every week here, grabbing major attention, the Escapist may realise it's mistake and rehire them.

They wouldn't come back. They left the Escapist, not the other way around.

That's incorrect. (See bolded part).

The Escapist owns the IP, so they own Extra Credits. James and friends seem to be fucked if Alex calls in his lawyers on this.

But he may not. The Escapist is in a bad financial position and he may not have the money for a legal battle, and the Extra Credits crew might not have enough money to even cover the court costs, much less pay any money awarded by the court in the event that the Escapist wins. (And since they own the IP, they would without a doubt.)

This honestly seems like James saying 'Whatcha gonna do about it, Escapist?', because he knows that they don't have the money to sue him.

Plus the EC crew can make a strong argument that The Escapist was in breach of their contract first what with the 20k in back pay. Between that, the fact the Escapist has no money to hire a lawyer, and the bad publicity involved in suing someone you didn't pay in the first place it would likely lead to the end of the Escapist.

Someone in the other thread who seemed familiar with legalese said that if you're fighting over a contested IP, you'd be advised to continue to act like it's yours for as long as possible, since letting the other party visible control it could be construed as giving up rights to it.

Or... something like that.

 

[Kailvin]

Why do I feel like they just described global agenda? Honestly the AvA combat in that game was the best MMORTS to date. It was done very well and close to what they described