Third party UO on Facebook ad

[G.v.P]

Hey guys, I use Facebook and for the first time this morning I saw an ad for an illegal third party shard called blah blah blah. Sort of sounds like an incantation one might use to cast a spell. Anyway, I wasn't sure where I might post my rant, but I thought to ask if anyone had seen a similar ad themselves? What I'm curious about is how they have the money to sponsor ads...an no offense to the people leeching off of emulated software, but why EA do nothing to protect their product?

 

[Nok]

I saw the ad too. It is for the same pirated shard featured in the GameSpy article "Abandoned Ware #4: Ultima Online".

 

[hen]

Facebook is evil.

 

[G.v.P]

I saw the ad too. It is for the same pirated shard featured in the GameSpy article "Abandoned Ware #4: Ultima Online".

Ah my bad. Just saw that thread :x.

Hmm.

And hey, FB isn't...okay, you're right. But I think MySpace was more evil...

 

[Lord Raven]

I saw the ad too. It is for the same pirated shard featured in the GameSpy article "Abandoned Ware #4: Ultima Online".

They are regular "Tweeters." There is one other freeshard I know of that also Tweets. If EA wanted to find them and shut them down, it would take one Google search.

Honestly, I wish UO was promoted on Twitter as well as the non-mentionable freeshards! Though to be fair, @UOHerald does tweet when there is a patch update, server issue, etc. But as far as involving folks in events using Twitter... they fall short. Maybe they could use someone who is savvy in that kinda stuff? @ravenofminoc <<<<< Tweet me UO!

I know of 4 UO related Twitter feeds:

UOHerald: The Official Ultima Online Twitter
MythicNews: UO, DAoC, Warhammer, etc.
UONews: Last post 22 Jul 09 (inactive)
UltimaOnlineEA: Looks like it comes from UO, last post 5/2?

​

UO has a Facebook page as well, which is current. Plus you can comment on it! (Of course you'd need a FB account to do that).

 

[Aran]

Is the free shard hurting you in some way?

 

[Capn Kranky]

As some have mentioned it seems to hurt more when it is coupled with a reference that UO is abandonware ... without proper fact checking prior to that assertion.

Other than that I have no problem with FS, etc.

 

[Aran]

It's pretty close to.

 

[Capn Kranky]

agreed ... did you notice in the latest video there was no question/mention of improving ingame CS but damn a lot was stated about improving this or that. without decent CS there is no game.

a couple more purchases and I'll have all the PC-based Ultima games, ennyhoo. <shrug>

 

[G.v.P]

Is the free shard hurting you in some way?

For anyone who creates their own content it's sort of a slap in the face as well. Designers are more keen when it comes to copyright infringement or reverse engineering.

I guess my question is how "free" are the free shards? They have to be making money of some sort if they have ads on Facebook. Sort of like how there's no such thing as a non profit organization. But if the free shards are entirely free and they make no income at all from sponsors or ads then why would they pay to advertise their product through Facebook?

UO's greatest competition, in terms of niche gaming, may very well be free shards. If people accept free shards as a by product of abandoned ware, then UO may get closer to actually becoming abandoned ware, heh. I'd think EA would want to protect their investment...but yeah, that's a very old argument, isn't it...maybe it's just the way it is. Next we'll see bootleg DVD sales through Facebook, haha.

 

[Capn Kranky]

The FS I am familiar with do not require anything to be paid, however if you wish to donate they will gladly take it! Sort of like an "honor box" of snacks or something.

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

I would be willing to bet that "leaving the freeshards alone" was a term in Richard Gariott's selling contract.

Because there is no way EA leaves their game to be stolen like this, they never did for any other games ?

And the way these shards finance is through donations, they sell in game items or advanced character tokens ?

So yes, it must happen often that they are making alot of cash, knowing people and their addiction.

These shards have generally more GMs, more EMs, more custom content, fine tuned pvp, lore, history...

I have seen a friend of mine play on them and they lag less, crash less, have no hackers.

This is more than ridiculous if you ask me.

But I am a man of my word and principle is my guide ; I refuse to play there exactly because I think "nothing is free" exept my unconditional love.

As much as I refused to sell any of my items for PROFIT, I refuse to PROFIT from something that was most likely financed by selling items for PROFIT.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

Hey guys, I use Facebook and for the first time this morning I saw an ad for an illegal third party shard called blah blah blah. Sort of sounds like an incantation one might use to cast a spell. Anyway, I wasn't sure where I might post my rant, but I thought to ask if anyone had seen a similar ad themselves? What I'm curious about is how they have the money to sponsor ads...an no offense to the people leeching off of emulated software, but why EA do nothing to protect their product?

As long as they aren't using subscription / donations

it is probably legal to advertise their "hobby"

its not like its pirated software
or theft of copyright images
stratics allows

R. Images created using shard emulators may be posted on the forum. Many of our participants create cartoons utilizing shard emulators. These cartoons add tremendous value to our forums and are perfectly acceptable.

I mean ... you REPORTED the ad to facebook ... right?

 

[Capn Kranky]

I would be willing to bet that "leaving the freeshards alone" was a term in Richard Gariott's selling contract.

Because there is no way EA leaves their game to be stolen like this, they never did for any other games ?

I have little doubt this may be true ... EA and the game-makers are pretty darned touchy about this.

And the way these shards finance is through donations, they sell in game items or advanced character tokens ?

One that I play on allows you to collect extra special goodies in the game that can be turned in toward ingame items or a token for something. But they do not ask for RL funding other than a donation and it gets you nothing but a "thank you" email.

... bypassing other comments ...

But I am a man of my word and principle is my guide ; I refuse to play there exactly because I think "nothing is free" exept my unconditional love.

I don't play FS unless I am not actively subscribed to UO as EA runs it. Currently I am not enrolled in EA, therefore I wander the ether searching for what I wish UO to be.

I won't mix apples (EA) and oranges (not EA) with the danger of getting rotten fruit salad (EA account ban) in the end. One never knows who lurks on FS and I don't use any names I have ever used on EA shards.

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

There is plenty of evidence that seems to support the fact that Origin did not have EA in its favors, even that they disliked them and created the "guardian" as a kind of pun.

I would not be surprised that there was conditions to the selling.

There is some shards that directly sell items for donations, many of them, and I have confirmed through sources that they do indeed make money, it not only pays the server but is profitable (but supposedly they reinvest all in the shard)...

Oh and Fayled, I was there when we built the first emulators, and let me tell you this is one fine example of reverse engeneering that required hacking the client.

Even worse, the people who created the main emulators have so much improved on the code that its close to hacker free, I have seen the code myself and it is better, cleaner, more stable than UO has after collecting millions upon millions of dollars.

It is much more than first meets the eye, thats for sure.

 

[Capn Kranky]

Which goes to bolster comments from player of those shards ... that EA needs to take a close look at how the game has been improved and take lessons.

But the all-mighty Electronic Arts "Gods" seem bent on ignoring excellent advice. I can't tell you how many folks I have encountered - all former EA customers - who threw off the yoke of fiefdom to the uncaring and went "feral" to find satisfaction.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

Which goes to bolster comments from player of those shards ... that EA needs to take a close look at how the game has been improved and take lessons.

But the all-mighty Electronic Arts "Gods" seem bent on ignoring excellent advice. I can't tell you how many folks I have encountered - all former EA customers - who threw off the yoke of fiefdom to the uncaring and went "feral" to find satisfaction.

excellent advice ... pfffft

If you were to have taken ... 1% of the excellent advice that YOU have been given ...

you wouldn't be here ... now would ya ...

 

[Capn Kranky]

Fayled .. I hang here to watch and see what happens in EA-land. If it ever becomes worth it to return I will. But there are additional metals, hides and monsters ... all unique and specific to the shard you are on.

Many of the shards have solved some of the long-standing EA bugs that prople still get bitten by. What would it hurt to find out on a friendly basis how niggling little issues could go away, rather than advocate that players go to those places instead of the pay-to-play? To me it is poor business sense to not improve to product as it is expanded.

Case in point - sort of: Look in Homes & Castles forum. What used to be a viable technique for making spiral and L-shaped stairs now seems to be broken due to recent patching. Process that can create uniqueness in a design is now broken or destroyed (dunno which). Why?

 

[G.v.P]

it is probably legal to advertise their "hobby"

Their "hobby" is illegal. There's no debate.

5. Rights and Responsibilities.

(d) Official Service. Ultima Online has been designed by EA.com for play only on the Service. The Software is licensed to you for play on the Service only. EA.comdoes not grant you a license to use the Software for any other purpose. You agree to play Ultima Online only on the Service and not through any other means. You further agree not to create or provide any other means through which Ultima Online may be played by others - for example, through server emulators. You may not reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the Software, including any proprietary communications protocol used by the Software. You acknowledge that you do not have the right to create, publish, distribute, create derivative works from or use any software programs, utilities, applications, emulators or tools derived from or created for Ultima Online unless specifically authorized in writing by EA.com.

its not like its pirated software
or theft of copyright images
stratics allows

I mean ... you REPORTED the ad to facebook ... right?

The ad is for pirated software; the graphic of the ad is copyrighted material and the link from the fan page directs the user to a method by which to patch the original software as to reverse engineer the content. True, there is no "donation" link on the Facebook Ad page, but there is a donation page through a sublink on their website. How convenient, eh? . But the kicker is the USD donations are for in-game items within their third party world.

Anyway, the rules at Stratics have no bearing on the legalese set aside by EA, and only the copyright holder can take real legal action, which is why a few of us have wondered if EA will do anything or if EA will continue to treat emulators as you assume Stratics does--as "Fan Sites"--since the Fan Site income is probably negligible and not worth pursuing.

Anyway #2, if a mod is nearby, I wonder if it wouldn't be better if this thread was appended to this thread? Apologies to Nordberg.

 

[Smoot]

I think its cool that UO is getting some face time on facebook. Gotta give the people that run the shards credit, they work alot harder than EA does on and for their product.

Freeshards will be around much much longer than EA's UO anyway.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

Their "hobby" is illegal. There's no debate.

The ad is for pirated software; the graphic of the ad is copyrighted material and the link from the fan page directs the user to a method by which to patch the original software as to reverse engineer the content. True, there is no "donation" link on the Facebook Ad page, but there is a donation page through a sublink on their website. How convenient, eh? . But the kicker is the USD donations are for in-game items within their third party world.

Anyway, the rules at Stratics have no bearing on the legalese set aside by EA, and only the copyright holder can take real legal action, which is why a few of us have wondered if EA will do anything or if EA will continue to treat emulators as you assume Stratics does--as "Fan Sites"--since the Fan Site income is probably negligible and not worth pursuing.

Anyway #2, if a mod is nearby, I wonder if it wouldn't be better if this thread was appended to this thread? Apologies to Nordberg.

Please to point out where a yes/no was indicated to MY question:

I mean ... you REPORTED the ad to facebook ... right?

it is not quite clear ...

 

[G.v.P]

Please to point out where a yes/no was indicated to MY question:

I mean ... you REPORTED the ad to facebook ... right?

it is not quite clear

From what I can tell you were able to Google "Facebook Ads" and throw up a link without seeing the actual ad, looking at the actual "fan page," or viewing the actual website with the donation link. My suggestion for you is to continue your Google searches, preferably until you feel as if you can add something of value to our conversation. I'd suggest ending with copyright law once you've viewed the former. Until then, I apologize for your lack of comprehension.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

Please to point out where a yes/no was indicated to MY question:

I mean ... you REPORTED the ad to facebook ... right?

it is not quite clear

From what I can tell you were able to Google "Facebook Ads" and throw up a link without seeing the actual ad, looking at the actual "fan page," or viewing the actual website with the donation link. My suggestion for you is to continue your Google searches, preferably until you feel as if you can add something of value to our conversation. I'd suggest ending with copyright law once you've viewed the former. Until then, I apologize for your lack of comprehension.

hmmmm ... so

You did NOT "report" this ad you are taking offense to?
You did NOT "report" this ad TO the peeps at facebook?
You did NOT "report" this ad to anyone that could give you an answer/position OF facebook

'smatter?
afraid of talking to the facebook?
ya seem fairly confident here ...
should work well for you there ...

its just facebook bubba ... nothing to fear ...
probably won't even read your e-mail

I at least asked you some pertinent questions ...
o'well ...