legal issues regarding mmorpg's

[gubble_bum]

Hey guys, Fist off- I wasnt sure whether to post this here or in gaming cuz it doesnt EXACTLY fit in with that. So if this belongs either there or elsewhere then go ahead and move it.

anyway..

I was thinking about creating a mmorpg with a ssb theme (for those who dont know.. ssb= super smash bros.) where you can choose a character and gain experience points, skills, items, etc..

I just wanted to know the legalities on creating things like this. This is going to be a 100% free to play game that wont be open to the public (only certain people so far). I dont intend to make ANY profit from this and my team who will be assisting me in creating this will be volunteering only -i.o.w. they wont be getting paid.

I realise that ssb is copyrighted and such and i want to do this without any legal risk. So if anyone knows if this is OK or what needs to be changed to make it OK then please let me know!
Many thanks in advance!!

[Alchemy_God1]

No idea if it's ok or not legally, but sounds awesome

[gubble_bum]

thanks! I'm also looking for coders who are familiar with C++ or visual basic.. not sure which one i need tho cuz i'm illiterate that way lol

[Magewout]

As long as you don't charge people for it I think it's okay. Be wary though, in the past Nintendo has proven they don't really like this kind of fanmade stuff (like the OoT 2D remake).

There's a Zelda MMO being developed by hyrule.net though, maybe you could ask them whether they had to deal with any kind of legal issues before they started the project.

[OnixRose]

you should be able to make a game legally, so long as you don't use any copyrighted material such as characters and what not, but even if you do use copyrighted material so long as you stay under the radar (i.e. don't post about it on forums) and make sure it's not distributed I'm sure no one will know or care too much

[Relambrien]

We'll need more information on the game you're making before any of us can come to a reasonable decision.

For instance, are you going to be using Nintendo characters? While I think this is -technically- illegal, hundreds of Flash games on Newgrounds and other sites show that this probably isn't going to be a problem. To be safe, you could add in, "Mario, Link, warp pipes, [insert other things used here] (c) Nintendo. All other copyrights belong to their respective owners." or something like that, amending it as necessary. It could just be at the bottom of every page on the website or somewhere in the game.

You say it's based on Super Smash Bros., but how far do the similarities go? If it's an MMO, I doubt you're talking about the battle system. From what I can gather, the only SSB things you could really "copy" are the story from Brawl's SSE, the characters used, (which are all in other games anyway), and items.

Third, I know of a browser MMO that's basically a direct ripoff of DBZ, but they haven't had any problems, and they're free-to-play.

I'll end with this. Most game companies only tend to care about games like this when people are enticed to play them instead of the company's game. Since Nintendo doesn't have an MMO, I doubt your game would cost them any remotely noticeable profit. The fact that it'll be free-to-play helps you, but I think in terms of copyrights, it's -technically- illegal to use characters etc. without permission, though I doubt anyone will care.

[gubble_bum]

well heres what i had in mind for my storyline:
You can start by selectiong a character (a character from ssb of course). and the story is that master hand does something (perhaps kidnaps someone or sumthing dramatic of the sort) and you have to stop him.. so you go on an adventure through all sorts of town, battle enemies (some might include other nintendo chars. ie koopas, goombas, etc...) and you will level up and gain skills, buy items and weapons etc.. i might even re-create some towns like onett for example.. but i dont think i wanna push things that far..

[jewpinthethird]

Yes. It's illegal if you don't get permission from Nintendo to use their characters, or pay their royalty fees.

No. You won't get in trouble for it unless you start to profit off of their intellectual property.

[Commandersa1]

You do not know how to code, but you want to make a MMORPG?

xD Good luck, and do not use Nintendo's characters. Make your own up.

[OrganisM]

Well, there's all sorts of Halo offshoots, so I can't see anything wrong with an SSB MMO... good luck doing that though, that takes a lot of resources.

[fido123]

Change everything slightly, like make a character named Blink and make him look sort of like Link with similar abilities. Also if you don't know how to program yourself I suggest you give up now. If you want to learn go to http://www.holtsoft.com/ and download Turing and the PDF handbook on the front page. Also it will try to redirect you so it's going to take a lot of entering the URL in a gain and going to the undirected page >_<. If you can't manage to get the files send me an e-mail. That's a good learners language and at best you could make a good Text Based MMO but you need to start somewhere...will take you years =D.

[OrganisM]

Fido, your method is the surest way to be sued for millions.

[fido123]

Really? You see it a lot in TV shows where they make fun of a character that belongs to a corporation and they change the name and characteristics slightly...but I'll take your word for it.

[Kekeb]

Don't start with turing, from the code I've seen it could lead to bad coding practices.

[Tokzic]

I was thinking about creating a mmorpg

I'm also looking for coders who are familiar with C++ or visual basic.. not sure which one i need tho cuz i'm illiterate that way lol

so what exactly are you contributing to the project if you aren't going to program

are you just going to pester everyone and insist that they do what you tell them to

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by fido123

Really? You see it a lot in TV shows where they make fun of a character that belongs to a corporation and they change the name and characteristics slightly...but I'll take your word for it.

Parody is protected free speech.

I don't mean to sound advertiser-y, but if you're interested in Super Smash Bros as a MMO, I believe Nexon's new Sugar Rush game is similar to that.

If you want to go ahead with this, just don't use any images, characters, art, or sound/music that's copyrighted. Make up your own graphics, make your own characters, make your own music. If you don't do that, Nintendo will have every right to sue, but truth be told, they'd probably just serve you with a cease and desist, assuming you're not making a profit off of it, that is.

[OrganisM]

Originally Posted by Tokzic

so what exactly are you contributing to the project if you aren't going to program

are you just going to pester everyone and insist that they do what you tell them to

If you take such a project seriously, there are going to have to be game designers (programmer and game designer are NOT mutually inclusive) and people who direct the project.

That said, I don't see this working if he has no such knowledge or abilities of his own and expects people to come and program thousands of hours worth of C code for him.

[Commandersa1]

Originally Posted by OrganisM

If you take such a project seriously, there are going to have to be game designers (programmer and game designer are NOT mutually inclusive) and people who direct the project.

That said, I don't see this working if he has no such knowledge or abilities of his own and expects people to come and program thousands of hours worth of C code for him.

The person who "directs" the project should have a fair amount of knowledge in programming as well as the program you use. There are tons of kids who want to make a game, but do not care about taking the time to learn how to do it properly, I.e. the person who made this thread. He did not even come up with his own idea. I guess he does not need graphic design people because Nintendo already made the characters for him. He needs someone who can code in C++ and is willing to split the credit 50/50 even though the coder is doing all of the work. gubble_bum should go and buy C++ books and code himself before starting this project. Start with a Tic-Tac-Toe game or something as simple. MMORPG? xD

[OrganisM]

Originally Posted by Commandersa1

The person who "directs" the project should have a fair amount of knowledge in programming as well as the program you use. There are tons of kids who want to make a game, but do not care about taking the time to learn how to do it properly, I.e. the person who made this thread. He did not even come up with his own idea. I guess he does not need graphic design people because Nintendo already made the characters for him. He needs someone who can code in C++ and is willing to split the credit 50/50 even though the coder is doing all of the work. gubble_bum should go and buy C++ books and code himself before starting this project. Start with a Tic-Tac-Toe game or something as simple. MMORPG? xD

Re-read what I posted. I just said that without knowledge of coding, he can't expect to get something done.

In a larger game development company, one can be a game designer without the knowledge of a programmer, but that's next to impossible in a smaller group.

And yeah, I was just thinking the implications of making an MMO with a group of 5 people. ROFFAL. Just a simple text-based game would take many hours for a beginner.

[fido123]

Originally Posted by Kekeb

Don't start with turing, from the code I've seen it could lead to bad coding practices.

WHAT HAVE THEY BEEN TEACHING ME

Python a good one? Been learning that and Learning BASIC then C++ starting in September.