For posterity
Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 1:42 amHey guys,
This is going to sound crazy, but I don't really feel like letting Blizzard snuff out our fun - it can't hurt to explore every avenue. Please read my admittedly long-winded e-mail below. If you think there is hope I encourage you to visit http://www.valvesoftware.com/email.php and send another exact copy of my e-mail which will be supplied below this paragraph. If thousands of us do it Gabe might actually pay attention and at least release a response. This is operating under the assumption that the community is driven by the mechanical feel of vanilla/TBC WoW and would be indifferent about the Lore and everything else Bllizzard's copyright applies to. If you want an example of how this turned out for DOTA, please check out the changes they had to make during that process (Wraith King rather than Skeleton King, Invoker in comparison to Kael'Thas, etc...) If you agree even partially please e-mail a copy of my e-mail (see below) to Gabe Newell! On the subject line type "We need a Leviathan" (if it is uniform is will garner attention) and then personalize the signature at the bottom with your main's in-game name! Let's fight this every way we can! Also, if you do e-mail this, please share it with everyone you know who plays or supports Nostalrius, if most of the people who signed the petition also participate in this experiment I'm sure he will acknowledge it.
-EMAIL BELOW-
Dear Mr. Newell,
I wanted to propose a very provocative idea to you that would require tremendous efforts on your parts and on behalf of your company. However, in the long run, I believe it to be the key to a long-dormant market that has been disenfranchised.
I bring this to your attention in particular because I know you have the means, and not only the means - the outright gall to do it. And I also have evidence of this that I want to remind you of before I get to my proposal.
Years ago at this point, you discovered another untapped market - DOTA. You know better than I, but I believe that you have profited from your efforts applied to obtaining the legal rights required to pioneer your DOTA franchise. I believe that DOTA is a front-runner, if not flagship, product owned by Valve. But why is DOTA in particular relevant?
Because DOTA was an underground community project that was conceived through and by people with minimal means and monstrous proportions of passion for gaming. Blizzard (back when they had shreds of integrity remaining) inadvertently supplied a community with the tools to build a game that they actually wanted to play.
Whether or not you are in favor of what the gaming industry has become, I think you of all people realize there are thousands upon thousands of individuals who are disenchanted with modern gaming. There is a distinct uproar culminating, and I believe it will only grow. People who grew up with games and are now adults have the time and money to allocate to gaming, yet they can't find a game they enjoy.
Personally, I find that games made by the community are an inevitable future of the "industry". But as it stands now there are ample legal boundaries that are hindering the growth of this future where supply is represented accurately by demand.
Ideology aside; you saved DotA 1's community and gave them a permanent home. The endeavor was rife with copyright issues which resulted in courtroom proceedings with Blizzard, and you stood up to them and ensured that the community would be able to stick together rather than wither under the pressure of a hungry community surviving on the meager means that Icefrog could muster.
And you went about it in an extremely benevolent way; you hired Icefrog, you listened to community concerns, you have allowed the game to stay true to what made it such an underground sensation. While I and many others don't agree with everything that DOTA has become, it still is obvious that it has remained true to the core values and for that you can never receive enough praise.
Blizzard on the other hand, has this reoccurring habit of accidentally spawning offshoot communities and utterly failing to embrace them. It is evident that they are not the same company they once were; it is an atrocity that the people that propelled them into the luxurious position in the industry that they now occupy was forged by their employees that have long since departed from the company and the loyal customers that they have gradually alienated and insulted.
You may already be familiar, but if not, let me acquaint you with a recent phenomenon in the gaming scene: https://en.nostalrius.org/
Here are some data points in the form of an infographic: http://i.imgur.com/jxtOQlu.jpg
I don't think I'm erring when I suggest that this scenario is comparable to the situation that you originally found the DotA 1 community struggling with. I don't think I'm wrong when I suggest you could contrive a method to save it despite the undoubted presence of legalities involved. I don't think 150,000 concurrent players (for a game with no advertising and the ever-present risk of losing all progress) is a market to scoff at. I don't think Blizzards assertions as to why they won't provide the home this community needs holds water. I don't think these players are going to aimlessly drift into games that are offered currently by a legitimized market source.
I predict that these players will continuously bounce around private servers hoping to exist in secret until Blizzard breaks their spirit and they give up on gaming entirely.
Modern MMORPG's are a caricature of the games they derive themselves from and if you investigate my claims I think you will find overwhelming evidence. There will be a resilient few who eventually create an incarnation of previous instances of MMORPGS that will be either legitimate or hidden to the point of being a myth.
But that doesn't have to be the course. You could intervene as you have in the past. I admit the details are different and the logistics are daunting. Yet, the challenge of the process is exactly what draws hundreds of thousands of people globally to this forbidden community. The game is rewarding because it is arduous. This is the same type of mentality harbored by the DOTA community, and as there is a demand for DOTA, I sincerely believe you will find an insurmountable demand for a permanent home for this community.
I don't believe that it is time for this community to die just because Blizzard doesn't deign to support it.
To sweeten the proposal, if you choose to investigate and attempt to revitalize this slumbering giant of a community, there is already an extremely professional core of developers and representatives devoted to this project who would love the opportunity to work for you supplying as much or as little of the logistical efforts towards achieving this goal.
While it seems like an impossibility to gain legal rights over the content used I assure you that it is not the lore of the game, or the avatars, or anything that Blizzard owns definitively that the community is attached to. It is the mechanics, the social structure, the pacing, the overall style of this iteration of an MMORPG. You could rename/redesign anything you needed to and so long as you retained the mechanical feel and experience and kept out all of the terrible features that the modern MMORPG has been afflicted with the community would support you financially for your efforts.
This isn't about the World of Warcraft, this isn't about Azeroth, this isn't about Thrall or Jaina - replace them all with your own creative efforts. This is about a void that is present in the industry. This is about showing Blizzard they were wrong to think that they could force a community to settle for mediocrity. This will be punishing hubris.
On behalf of Nostalrius' community I implore you to investigate my claims and assess if what I propose could be arranged. I thank you for considering us. Not only do I believe this could be exceedingly lucrative for your corporation, but also you would be preserving countless friendships that have been fostered by the Nostalrius team for the last 14 months.
We need a Leviathan.
Thank you for your time, -Saintnixon
This is going to sound crazy, but I don't really feel like letting Blizzard snuff out our fun - it can't hurt to explore every avenue. Please read my admittedly long-winded e-mail below. If you think there is hope I encourage you to visit http://www.valvesoftware.com/email.php and send another exact copy of my e-mail which will be supplied below this paragraph. If thousands of us do it Gabe might actually pay attention and at least release a response. This is operating under the assumption that the community is driven by the mechanical feel of vanilla/TBC WoW and would be indifferent about the Lore and everything else Bllizzard's copyright applies to. If you want an example of how this turned out for DOTA, please check out the changes they had to make during that process (Wraith King rather than Skeleton King, Invoker in comparison to Kael'Thas, etc...) If you agree even partially please e-mail a copy of my e-mail (see below) to Gabe Newell! On the subject line type "We need a Leviathan" (if it is uniform is will garner attention) and then personalize the signature at the bottom with your main's in-game name! Let's fight this every way we can! Also, if you do e-mail this, please share it with everyone you know who plays or supports Nostalrius, if most of the people who signed the petition also participate in this experiment I'm sure he will acknowledge it.
-EMAIL BELOW-
Dear Mr. Newell,
I wanted to propose a very provocative idea to you that would require tremendous efforts on your parts and on behalf of your company. However, in the long run, I believe it to be the key to a long-dormant market that has been disenfranchised.
I bring this to your attention in particular because I know you have the means, and not only the means - the outright gall to do it. And I also have evidence of this that I want to remind you of before I get to my proposal.
Years ago at this point, you discovered another untapped market - DOTA. You know better than I, but I believe that you have profited from your efforts applied to obtaining the legal rights required to pioneer your DOTA franchise. I believe that DOTA is a front-runner, if not flagship, product owned by Valve. But why is DOTA in particular relevant?
Because DOTA was an underground community project that was conceived through and by people with minimal means and monstrous proportions of passion for gaming. Blizzard (back when they had shreds of integrity remaining) inadvertently supplied a community with the tools to build a game that they actually wanted to play.
Whether or not you are in favor of what the gaming industry has become, I think you of all people realize there are thousands upon thousands of individuals who are disenchanted with modern gaming. There is a distinct uproar culminating, and I believe it will only grow. People who grew up with games and are now adults have the time and money to allocate to gaming, yet they can't find a game they enjoy.
Personally, I find that games made by the community are an inevitable future of the "industry". But as it stands now there are ample legal boundaries that are hindering the growth of this future where supply is represented accurately by demand.
Ideology aside; you saved DotA 1's community and gave them a permanent home. The endeavor was rife with copyright issues which resulted in courtroom proceedings with Blizzard, and you stood up to them and ensured that the community would be able to stick together rather than wither under the pressure of a hungry community surviving on the meager means that Icefrog could muster.
And you went about it in an extremely benevolent way; you hired Icefrog, you listened to community concerns, you have allowed the game to stay true to what made it such an underground sensation. While I and many others don't agree with everything that DOTA has become, it still is obvious that it has remained true to the core values and for that you can never receive enough praise.
Blizzard on the other hand, has this reoccurring habit of accidentally spawning offshoot communities and utterly failing to embrace them. It is evident that they are not the same company they once were; it is an atrocity that the people that propelled them into the luxurious position in the industry that they now occupy was forged by their employees that have long since departed from the company and the loyal customers that they have gradually alienated and insulted.
You may already be familiar, but if not, let me acquaint you with a recent phenomenon in the gaming scene: https://en.nostalrius.org/
Here are some data points in the form of an infographic: http://i.imgur.com/jxtOQlu.jpg
I don't think I'm erring when I suggest that this scenario is comparable to the situation that you originally found the DotA 1 community struggling with. I don't think I'm wrong when I suggest you could contrive a method to save it despite the undoubted presence of legalities involved. I don't think 150,000 concurrent players (for a game with no advertising and the ever-present risk of losing all progress) is a market to scoff at. I don't think Blizzards assertions as to why they won't provide the home this community needs holds water. I don't think these players are going to aimlessly drift into games that are offered currently by a legitimized market source.
I predict that these players will continuously bounce around private servers hoping to exist in secret until Blizzard breaks their spirit and they give up on gaming entirely.
Modern MMORPG's are a caricature of the games they derive themselves from and if you investigate my claims I think you will find overwhelming evidence. There will be a resilient few who eventually create an incarnation of previous instances of MMORPGS that will be either legitimate or hidden to the point of being a myth.
But that doesn't have to be the course. You could intervene as you have in the past. I admit the details are different and the logistics are daunting. Yet, the challenge of the process is exactly what draws hundreds of thousands of people globally to this forbidden community. The game is rewarding because it is arduous. This is the same type of mentality harbored by the DOTA community, and as there is a demand for DOTA, I sincerely believe you will find an insurmountable demand for a permanent home for this community.
I don't believe that it is time for this community to die just because Blizzard doesn't deign to support it.
To sweeten the proposal, if you choose to investigate and attempt to revitalize this slumbering giant of a community, there is already an extremely professional core of developers and representatives devoted to this project who would love the opportunity to work for you supplying as much or as little of the logistical efforts towards achieving this goal.
While it seems like an impossibility to gain legal rights over the content used I assure you that it is not the lore of the game, or the avatars, or anything that Blizzard owns definitively that the community is attached to. It is the mechanics, the social structure, the pacing, the overall style of this iteration of an MMORPG. You could rename/redesign anything you needed to and so long as you retained the mechanical feel and experience and kept out all of the terrible features that the modern MMORPG has been afflicted with the community would support you financially for your efforts.
This isn't about the World of Warcraft, this isn't about Azeroth, this isn't about Thrall or Jaina - replace them all with your own creative efforts. This is about a void that is present in the industry. This is about showing Blizzard they were wrong to think that they could force a community to settle for mediocrity. This will be punishing hubris.
On behalf of Nostalrius' community I implore you to investigate my claims and assess if what I propose could be arranged. I thank you for considering us. Not only do I believe this could be exceedingly lucrative for your corporation, but also you would be preserving countless friendships that have been fostered by the Nostalrius team for the last 14 months.
We need a Leviathan.
Thank you for your time, -Saintnixon