construct is the rising rival free opensource project to clickteams software. there was a big legal dispute, etc etc, spies lies lawyers, all hell broke loose. as such many people hated construct scirra and ashley. for reasons that were unfounded. it was just unneeded drama.
i dont mean we dont need your legal issue specifically. i mean we dont need the drama. you can deal with it in a quieter fashion instead of going to forums and requesting help in the form of them spamming emails and getting everyone riled up.
i dont mean leave well enough alone and be content. life isnt fair. man up and deal with it.
and construct was a quiet project that got big. it would have started no matter what. they dealt with it properly and now its here to stay and grow, and is becoming quite the game making software.
all im saying is you arent exactly going about this entirely the right way.
Nice letter, Shab . Guys, that's how a complaint letter should be written. Without excess emotion, with facts, and supporting your point without outright denying the other party's rights. Spamming them and swearing at them just makes things worse.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
Well I do appreciate your elaborating on previous posts before and to a great extent I do agree.
It's just that they've had so many years to ask me to take this down. - It came as a horrible shock and I did feel quite badly about it. I don't necessarily apologise for being emotional about my project - I don't make releases very often - I prefer to simply plough-on as best I can...
I would just say that -that- and the complete fear this put into me (as I don't want to lose this project and yet I started out fearing that I might be sued into bankruptcy over this last Friday) (don't laugh, I'm being serious) cumulated into that post on the website that was mostly designed to release some amount of steam. It is a game site after all, not the BBC I suppose. It was only meant to be taken as a joke and to underline that I don't plan on capitulating lightly. I've just been trying to make a rubbish situation seem slightly less grim. I find being light-hearted helps a lot, I wasn't trying to insult anyone. I think you might have got the wrong inference from it.
I think you're right. I do feel ownership to my game - a lot of effort has gone in. I love Star Fleet and those guys are right to be able to demand what they like. It's not their IP that I'm clawing at - it's just a shame that mine's got mixed up with it, in there as well. You're right the ownership's there - it just applies to my work, not theirs. It's a fine line, I know. I just thought it ironic that they were asking me to take down a site that was advertising their stuff for them basically. That's all I meant. It's a bit much to call me a prick over it.
It was meant to re-invigorate the series not bring it down like people seem to have been suggesting and just be a really good premise for a game at the same time.
Like I said before I really hope a happy compromise can be reached. Like I said I was hoping the IP owners would be proud of the game rather than try to tear it down.
At the end of the day - they can't really hope to take this matter to court as it will cost them a fortune and they will collect no revenue - and that's provided that they still want to take it down after learning the full facts.
I just want to say that I'm not a complete bastard or a prick but personal issues piled up on me last week and out of feeling quite cornered I've tried to use all the means at my disposal to save my project. The other fans of StarFleet have been very understanding of this as they have been put in the same position now and in the past. I just hope you can be as understanding yourselves cos I have found this seriously difficult.
I do completely agree and planned to send a more conciliatory email to Enoki but felt it best to keep my mouth shut for the moment and hope for the problem to go away. I would just point out that although I am very, very grateful to Mark for starting this thread - I honestly didn't put him up to it.
In way of spamming: all I have been asking is for people to appeal against Enoki's decision and try to bear witness that I'm not trying to do them any damage. I am honestly quite sure that no-one has abused or sworn at them in trying to back me up. I'm really very positive that that hasn't happened. That's not what I wanted myself and I've tried to ask people who I know would be able to support me properly. I know I haven't insulted them myself. - I just think people have been bemused by their attitude. There is a difference there and I think you may have misunderstood what I've asked people to do.
I don't need to "man-up". I'm fine the way I am. - I'm just trying to fix something that I think is crazy.
Now that I'm not as absolutely terrified about the whole thing as I was, I plan on conducting this thing more calmly. I'm very sorry to hear you've had similar difficulties yourselves. This sort of thing is just dire.
Thanks very much for sticking up for me in a great letter. (I really hope the first paragraph doesn't apply) (this is the first time I've had to do anything like this). All the other ones I've seen have been firm but very measured.
I figured I'd throw that first part in there as the letter was intended for Mr. Enoki, and being proper and apologetic is almost a standard for normal japanese business letters when dealing with a "controversy".
No problem man, I'm glad we've come to realize each others points of view. I hope that you can work something out with the creators and distributors.
I sent a reasonable response to this matter to all five of the e-mail adresses stated upon your website, Crash; of which suitably helped your case fairly.
If you'd like for me to give you the exact e-mail, just say so. I hope that everything comes out alright.
I started this thread because i had been in contact with Crash for a few monhs now. I stumbled upon his game when trawling through Wikipedia many weeks back for articles on shows i vaguely remembered from my youth. Star Fleet was a show i'd watch every Saturday afternoon before visiting my nan. It was a show that stuck out for me because i'd never seen anything like it since and is one of my earliest memories. I contacted Crash (Piers Bell) because i admired his dedication to the show and the care he'd put into his game.
I don't believe in theft of IP's. If someone stole/made money from my own IP without my consent i'd be pretty p****d! And though i disagree quite regularly with most business's operating in 'rip-off Britain', i do believe they have a right to charge what-ever they want in a competitive market. However, as a customer and a consumer, it is my right to chose whether i want to pay what they want to charge. Often i have gone without things i've wanted due to (what i've believed to be) excessive profiteering - Rock Band and it's high price-point being one recent example.
For me, the greatest travesty here is not that Crash wants to fight the owners of Star Fleet/X-Bomber (even though it is those owners who fired the first shots with their cease and decist requests), it is the fact that Mr. Enoki et al have seemingly gone in without compromise and without doing their homework. Not only that, they have done nothing to keep the Star Fleet franchise going in this country themselves. That to me is more of a crime!
For the record, my ideal out-come would be for Mr. Enoki and the other Star Fleet/X-Bomber owners to work with Crash in using this game to further the marketing of Star Fleet in the UK. Links to official web-sites, investment or more advertising for the up-coming DVD box-set within the game and on the website would benefit Crash, the brand and the fans more than anything else.
Thank you guys for all your efforts. You've all been great.
I understand that Enoki and Co have got really wound-up by the emails they've received. I don't think there's any harm in the fact that they've been rattled just a little. I don't think it's done any damage. The plan now is to just sit tight and see what happens. There's gonna be a meeting sometime this week between Fabulous Films (UK) and Enoki Films (US) to decide what they're gonna do about X-Bomber The Game.
Take care guys, keep your fingers crossed that this time next week (or whenever) X-Bomber isn't just another listing on Isohunt.
Originally Posted by Crash I understand that Enoki and Co have got really wound-up by the emails they've received. I don't think there's any harm in the fact that they've been rattled just a little. I don't think it's done any damage.
If I were getting spammed by outraged fans over something like this, then I would either respond in kind, or feel compelled to actually pursue legal action. What you've done is no better than a site selling registered information to spambots, aside from that you didn't sell his info.
Well your idea of spam and mine are obviously very different.
What I've asked people to do is send Enoki and co emails that pertain directly to the recipient due to a process that the recipients themselves have started.
There's nothing legal to pursue here and that's simply what we've been trying to tell them.
I've read all the emails that have been copied to me and every one that I've seen has been fantastic. There may be some that have shown outrage that I haven't seen (and I even find that fair enough) but all the ones I've read have been very measured, concerned and well-written.
I don't think they have the option of responding in kind to their potential customers - that would simply get published on xbomber.co.uk as well, which would be contrary to their interests.
They hit us first, we hit back (pretty convincingly). They complained. I put a stop to it and took the addresses and emails down.
I think that shows a strong but measured and understandable response and it shows good will in me removing the information once they complained (not even directly to me in point of fact) on the basis that I hoped our points and objections had been received, understood and taken on-board.
I'm sorry you feel the way you do - I couldn't think of a better way to save my game.
Advertisement
Post Reply
. Guys, that's how a complaint letter should be written. Without excess emotion, with facts, and supporting your point without outright denying the other party's rights. Spamming them and swearing at them just makes things worse.
Edited by the Author.
