MMORPG Ryzom Released Under AGPL 117
acemtp writes "Breakthrough for Free Software gaming. Ryzom announces full release of source code and artwork, and a partnership with the Free Software Foundation to host a repository of the game's artistic assets."
Re:They shouldn't have bothered. (Score:5, Insightful)
You mean like gcc, bash, make, etc? ;-)
And the FSF's position seems like some strange ideology... until you actually get burned in the proprietary world. Then a lot of what they're saying starts to make a lot of very practical sense, in a very real world way, very quickly.
Wonderful news (Score:4, Insightful)
This is a really good news. For what I remember, the whole 3D part / textures of Ryzom is of really high quality. This will be a huge boost for many independent developers who can't access quality 3D models easily.
Now, just have to fire up my install of OGRE3D, and check if I can load those models in it :)
Re:Free =/= Fun (Score:5, Insightful)
OTOH sizeable number of people would never call WoW "fun".
Heck, "free" could as well be actually an impediment - who knows how many people value their MMORPG, at least partially (but enough for it to be significant), because it costs them.
Re:Too bad it's under Affero (Score:4, Insightful)
If you have any commercial software in your office, you may rest assured that the same terms appear in license agreements you're already bound to.
The time to complain about this was about 30 years ago.
Re:Too bad it's under Affero (Score:4, Insightful)
You need to cite your FUD. I may not have a law degree, but I do have a dictionary and a copy of the AGPL which do not support your statement, not to mention the only semi-relevant link Google dragged up was a proprietary software company that threatened to audit you if you used Affero-licensed software on the same system as theirs.
Middleware platform maybe? (Score:3, Insightful)
If anything this might lead to development of MMO middleware which might help to curb the enormous costs of developing one of these games.
Re:Free =/= Fun (Score:3, Insightful)
OTOH sizeable number of people would never call WoW "fun".
That's because WoW is actually several games bundled together.
- Quest & Farm - this is actually work, if you think about it, and you need to do a lot of this to get to the interesting part
- Economy - Buy low, sell high, and you can avoid some or all of the above after a while; the auction house is basically economic PvP, with your progress measured in cash flow
- Kill the dragon with your friends - most fun for most people, progress measured by your equipped items; probably most successful because you show off your progress at all times
- E-Peen Hunting - all of the above: achievements, non-combat pets, mounts, titles, etc. Basically collecting random stuff you can show off.
And then there are the people who make [blogspot.com] their own games [blogspot.com] in it. Most people don't see past the farming part.
Re:They shouldn't have bothered. (Score:3, Insightful)
Yet, it is probably the most used compiler. Congratulations on missing the point.
Re:They shouldn't have bothered. (Score:0, Insightful)
What point? That people use subpar tools in freetard land? I think most people already know that.
Re:Free =/= Fun (Score:3, Insightful)
Let me toss up an analogy: Imagine a thousand Morrowind modders all constantly pushing their mods into one big ol' shared install.
Now, imagine trying to maintain a coherent artistic style. Imagine trying to keep the game's economy and progression balanced. Imagine trying to ferret out and shut up all the backdoors and logic bombs the cheaters and griefers are dropping into the game logic. Heck, imagine trying to keep the game stable on multiple platforms. It blows MY mind, anyway.
Re:FUD (Score:5, Insightful)
He specifically referenced legal audits, with the threat of bailiffs pawing through your hardware. A code audit is a very different animal, and nothing any open source supporter should be at all concerned about, even in the extreme case.
Re:Free =/= Fun (Score:4, Insightful)
Your'e overthinking it it. The obvious reason is that quality developers and artists expect to be paid for their work. There's no incentive for someone with a lot of talent to slave away on some boring but necessary part of an open source project for no reward when Blizzard will happily pay you to model those Stormwind streetlamps or program the boring bag interface code. Even Linux development is funded by large corporations whose business depends on Linux. Once again, capitalism reigns.
Re:You know that you failed your development... (Score:3, Insightful)
Ryzom has been bought by at least two different companies that have gone bankrupt. There is nothing technically wrong with the game it's just that the MMO industry is difficult to make a profit in.