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"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

by fendrak 16y ago

jsz0 16y ago
Does modding a video game really classify as an essential liberty?
- gosub 16y ago
  Is a sub-case of the more general "freedom to tinker" with the things you own.
  - m_myers 16y ago
    If I read the article correctly, you can tinker with it. You just can't use your tinkered version to host a game. If I'm wrong, please correct me.
    - crystalis 16y ago
      Well, considering that their infrastructure also prevents you from hosting a game on your LAN or even playing it in an entirely singleplayer mode...
      - m_myers 16y ago
        Really? Then that really does put quite a damper on things. (I'm not much for MP myself; I don't think I've ever owned a game that didn't have a single-player mode.)
- Gormo 16y ago
  Why shouldn't it? Everything described at that level of specificity seems to be trivial in comparison to such grand notions as "essential liberty"; but if we want our concept of liberty to have any real substance, we have to understand what it means especially in the context of our superficially-trivial day-to-day endeavors. Granted, given that this instance applies to a single PC game, and there are plenty of other games with thriving and robust modding communities, I'd hardly say this is an example of real oppression. But it's this kind of heavy-handedness - as we've also seen in their decision to eliminate LAN play - that has led to me not purchasing Starcraft II, despite looking forward to it for quite some time. Which I suppose is just as well: Civ V will be out later this year, and I can't imagine Firaxis even having the inclination to treat their modders with such paternalistic contempt.
lmkg 16y ago
You were pre-empted by the article itself: > "Keeping people from seeing your hate speech and obscene images on our private game service is not the same as relinquishing your constitutional freedoms in the hopes of increased personal/familial security," Bashiok continued. "Ben [Franklin] would tie you to a kite and let go of the string for making such comparisons." While I don't necessarily agree that all user-made mods should be stored on Blizzard's servers, I also don't think that SCII map mods are a valuable or important form of personal expression. Blizzard isn't censoring an important channel for political opinions, they're making sure their game stays a game. This isn't necessarily a decision I agree with, but I think it's a defensible position to take.
- mfukar 16y ago
  If creation isn't an important form of personal expression, what else is left?

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

by fendrak 16y ago

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

jsz0 16y ago

Does modding a video game really classify as an essential liberty?

gosub 16y ago
Is a sub-case of the more general "freedom to tinker" with the things you own.
- m_myers 16y ago
  If I read the article correctly, you can tinker with it. You just can't use your tinkered version to host a game. If I'm wrong, please correct me.
  - crystalis 16y ago
    Well, considering that their infrastructure also prevents you from hosting a game on your LAN or even playing it in an entirely singleplayer mode...
    - m_myers 16y ago
      Really? Then that really does put quite a damper on things. (I'm not much for MP myself; I don't think I've ever owned a game that didn't have a single-player mode.)
Gormo 16y ago
Why shouldn't it? Everything described at that level of specificity seems to be trivial in comparison to such grand notions as "essential liberty"; but if we want our concept of liberty to have any real substance, we have to understand what it means especially in the context of our superficially-trivial day-to-day endeavors. Granted, given that this instance applies to a single PC game, and there are plenty of other games with thriving and robust modding communities, I'd hardly say this is an example of real oppression. But it's this kind of heavy-handedness - as we've also seen in their decision to eliminate LAN play - that has led to me not purchasing Starcraft II, despite looking forward to it for quite some time. Which I suppose is just as well: Civ V will be out later this year, and I can't imagine Firaxis even having the inclination to treat their modders with such paternalistic contempt.

lmkg 16y ago

You were pre-empted by the article itself: > "Keeping people from seeing your hate speech and obscene images on our private game service is not the same as relinquishing your constitutional freedoms in the hopes of increased personal/familial security," Bashiok continued. "Ben [Franklin] would tie you to a kite and let go of the string for making such comparisons." While I don't necessarily agree that all user-made mods should be stored on Blizzard's servers, I also don't think that SCII map mods are a valuable or important form of personal expression. Blizzard isn't censoring an important channel for political opinions, they're making sure their game stays a game. This isn't necessarily a decision I agree with, but I think it's a defensible position to take.

mfukar 16y ago
If creation isn't an important form of personal expression, what else is left?