contact with EA or DICE

[mistryx]

I was wondering, do you DEV's have any contact with EA or DICE, ie tips and hinds?
no pun intended, just wondering

[Thermis]

We've sent liaisons to EA and Dice in the past asking for the source code. Others have asked on their own. But we've always met with the same result. Which is a big resounding no.

[Arnoldio]

PR works hard, and gets a nice f off from EA.

Thats with most things in life...

[karambaitos]

PR works hard, and gets a nice f off from EA.

Thats with most things in life...

To anything from EA/DICE the entire DEV team would have to sell their souls to them then they would consider it. EA is evil pure and simple.

[Rudd]

Give EA its due peeps, we have a platform for a mod thought we'd like certain capabilities.

EA did have a mod liason, no idea what happened to him, and EA's cooperativeness has waxed and waned depending who is in that post, e.g. the last one I knew of put up the .8 advert on teh BF2 website, but used an image that was sent to him in .5 (A10 over basrah)

[Dude388]

Give EA its due peeps, we have a platform for a mod thought we'd like certain capabilities.

EA did have a mod liason, no idea what happened to him, and EA's cooperativeness has waxed and waned depending who is in that post, e.g. the last one I knew of put up the .8 advert on teh BF2 website, but used an image that was sent to him in .5 (A10 over basrah)

True...but it would seem that most requests for source code have resulted in the follow retort from EA

[Qaiex]

It's a business thing. DICE aren't calling the shots, and they aren't the bad guys, the developers who make the battlefield games are possibly just as much victims as the PR devs are. They just want to make games, but to be able to do that they need money, which they get from other people who invest in their company, and to get the money they need, to make the game they want to make they need to follow the investor's rules and regulations, and convince them that the product isn't just a good concept or a fun game, but something that can generate profit.

EA is a corporation, even if they wanted to give the source code to the PR team their lawyers would never let them.
They have a "responsibility towards the stockholders and board of executives" and giving away the source code could result in them losing a tiny insignificant amount of money, which naturally is entirely unacceptable in the corporate world.

Like I said, they're a corporation, their only job is to make as much money as possible and produce the least amount, cheapest, worst quality products they can get away with to maximize profits.
And if that means having to deny the PR team the opportunity to make the game the devs want to make, or poison 10 villages in some country in Africa, then that's what they will do, with no remorse or second thought.

And that's why I hate corporations.

[gazzthompson]

It's a business thing. DICE aren't calling the shots, and they aren't the bad guys, the developers who make the battlefield games are possibly just as much victims as the PR devs are. They just want to make games, but to be able to do that they need money, which they get from other people who invest in their company, and to get the money they need, to make the game they want to make they need to follow the investor's rules and regulations, and convince them that the product isn't just a good concept or a fun game, but something that can generate profit.

EA is a corporation, even if they wanted to give the source code to the PR team their lawyers would never let them.
They have a "responsibility towards the stockholders and board of executives" and giving away the source code could result in them losing a tiny insignificant amount of money, which naturally is entirely unacceptable in the corporate world.

Like I said, they're a corporation, their only job is to make as much money as possible and produce the least amount, cheapest, worst quality products they can get away with to maximize profits.
And if that means having to deny the PR team the opportunity to make the game the devs want to make, or poison 10 villages in some country in Africa, then that's what they will do, with no remorse or second thought.

And that's why I hate corporations.

surely if the had a open source game , LOADS of awesome mods would come out and people would still need to buy the original and they would make more money?

[Qaiex]

They unfortunately don't see it that way. The only people I think actually gives a shit about the players seems to be Valve.

[jermaindefoe]

tbh i understand them not giving away the source code. If one of there competitors get hold of it then they might be able to use it in some way. I'm no expert on code but i'm sure if giving away the code wouldnt hurt them then they would give it away.

[Spinkyone]

Sure they want to protect their investment but in other areas EA has been quite flexible with PR in the past as PR used/uses several BF2:SF assets which are off limits to other mod teams under the mod EULA. PR has been granted exceptions in quite a few areas but asking for more of EA just ain't gonna happen for a mod anyway.

[CodeRedFox]

At the end of the day DICE, BF2, and the Engine is still a big IP to protect. We work with what we get.

[snooggums]

tbh i understand them not giving away the source code. If one of there competitors get hold of it then they might be able to use it in some way. I'm no expert on code but i'm sure if giving away the code wouldnt hurt them then they would give it away.

They could easily maintain use restrictions for the mod developers to avoid dissemination of the source code while still allowing them to play with changes like an increase in number of players or number of bodies in vehicles. It is of course their choice to not do so too.

[IAJTHOMAS]

They could easily maintain use restrictions for the mod developers to avoid dissemination of the source code while still allowing them to play with changes like an increase in number of players or number of bodies in vehicles. It is of course their choice to not do so too.

Yes, but what if they breached the restrictions? The damages would be huge and mod teams aren't official companies, have no assets etc. Chasing individual developers thought the courts of multiple jurisdictions isn't feasible.

Legal rights are useless unless you can enforce judgment.

[rushn]

I say we revolt and rebel and atack them with everything we got until we get justice!

[BloodBane611]

Yes, but what if they breached the restrictions? The damages would be huge and mod teams aren't official companies, have no assets etc. Chasing individual developers thought the courts of multiple jurisdictions isn't feasible.

Legal rights are useless unless you can enforce judgment.

Realistically, the potential for actual damage is low. However, why would they pay someone to work with (and police) mods (that make them almost no money) when they could simply not open up their code?

Simple business decision, there's really no point in the continual discussions on this.

[IAJTHOMAS]

Realistically, the potential for actual damage is low.

Heh, breach of an IP licence on something like BF2, the damages would be astronomical.

And as to paying them, I think snooggums was suggesting that BF2 could give out free licences to use the source code, rather than getting paid to work for EA in someway.

[ElPablo99522]

Seriously? I thought EA and DICE would love the PR mod and the team because of the incredible work they've done, damn, this mod's been featured on the Battlefield 2 website also hasn't it right?

[jermaindefoe]

tbh i would doubt that EA really cared about this mod at all. I think the phrase is bigger fish to fry

[Koroush47]

Dice and EA can get lost. EA is the cause of horrible games being released all the time.

They unfortunately don't see it that way. The only people I think actually gives a shit about the players seems to be Valve.

Valve is the best game company.