Homecoming Server Update (April 29th): Stable?

[Rroff]

I don't know how many times it needs to be said. As soon as they start accepting donations, NCSoft will be a LOT more likely to intervene.

This seems to be misread; as the messages condoned to this matter are explicitly clear. Let me clarify;

 

The data we own today for CoH to run as it has is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Source: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

 

specifically referring to commercial purposes; this would allow donations to be accepted to individuals towards their values and cause, not to the product itself.

 

The moment they start soliciting for donations, do anything for profit or launch funding campaigns, etc. it treads a very fine line on what is already a sticky legal situation - if people want to approach them voluntarily to donate that is another thing entirely.

 

Regardless of anything like above the moment there is any potential profit making involved it significantly changes the scope and chances of legal action being taken.

[Silk]

I don't know how many times it needs to be said. As soon as they start accepting donations, NCSoft will be a LOT more likely to intervene.

This seems to be misread; as the messages condoned to this matter are explicitly clear. Let me clarify;

 

The data we own today for CoH to run as it has is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Source: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

 

specifically referring to commercial purposes; this would allow donations to be accepted to individuals towards their values and cause, not to the product itself.

 

I understand them not accepting donations.  Accepting donations for running costs falls under for profit which could be an issue.

[markofantares]

[Archangel26]

So, how do one get on a server, I can't see to find them.

 

[_NOPE_]

So, how do one get on a server, I can't see to find them.

 

Silk should have you covered here.

[Beyonder]

Thank you guys for your works. I really miss this game, an so happy to able to play it again. I saw this is expensive to run a server , so let us know if we can help in any way such as financial or anything.

[Xenon]

as always, the GMs, coders, and Devs are the real heroes.

 

[shwabbaman]

Okay, okay, hear me out... according to this article ( https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zm9az5/copyright-law-just-got-better-for-video-game-history ), if you host in the U.S. then all you need to do is register for Archivist status, obtain a full version of ALL the original code LEGALLY, and you can operate without fear of repercussion. You could even form a non-profit to accept donations to keep your archive running.

 

Or you could just host in China. They don't give a flying frick about international copyright and trademark laws XD

 

 

 

 

"Helpfully" Yours,

Your Friendly Neighborhood Shwabbaman

 

[Oklahoman]

You could even form a non-profit to accept donations to keep your archive running.

 

I don't know all the legalities needed to make this happen, but I love the idea of it ultimately being a non-profit endeavor - at least for the Homecoming servers. There will be plenty of servers, I am sure, each with their own rhyme and reason to everything.

 

A monthly donation gains you access to the game, and perhaps occasionally there would be small in-game purchases. Proceeds keep the servers going, pay a skeleton crew... and provide super hero costumes to kids at Children's hospitals across the globe. Just a thought.

[Harlequin565]

Another thankyou from me.

 

I also think it's a good idea to take your time to come to a decision regarding the financials. A rushed "give us your money" could have had all sorts of unintended consequences. If donations do become available, I think you'd be easily covered - however getting the correct processes in place to manage them will be the most important bit.

[Reality Bytes]

...obtain a full version of ALL the original code LEGALLY...

 

Sounds great, except this bit is going to be impossible I expect. I can't imagine NCSoft ever handing the code over willingly. Unless there's another legal avenue I can't think of, the leaked code is all we're ever going to see I would expect. If TonyV can somehow pull off a miracle and get a sanctioned server situation arranged, then legal cover for at least some server(s) will be possible. Otherwise, it will take some creative lawyering to find a safe harbor I imagine.

[srmalloy]

Okay, okay, hear me out... according to this article ( https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zm9az5/copyright-law-just-got-better-for-video-game-history ), if you host in the U.S. then all you need to do is register for Archivist status, obtain a full version of ALL the original code LEGALLY, and you can operate without fear of repercussion. You could even form a non-profit to accept donations to keep your archive running.

Unfortunately, no. If you read deeper in the story:

 

Any "eligible library, archives, or museum" that gets an online game working in this way won't be able to allow public access from "outside of the physical premises." This means that a museum that gets an old MMO working won't be able to host it for a worldwide audience of fans, it will only be playable in-person by researchers or visitors.

 

[Supranova]

Wow, you guys are going through a lot for this. I can't thank you enough. That's a lot of hardware, I guess this means it wouldn't be possible to run this game for a small group privately, like 1 to 8 people :(

 

Actually it would. They're only running it on those specs because they're hosting thousands of players. I'm fairly confident that my 8-core i7 with 64gigs of ram would be able to run the game for a dozen of friends if I turned it into a dedicated server.

[SupaFreak]

Just wanting to add my thanks and appreciation for all this!

[SirCowdog]

As many others have said, I also want to thank you guys for setting up and running these servers.  I never thought I'd get to play CoX again, and I really appreciate the chance.

[TechGod522]

just map server dc'd and put into queue upon re-connect

[kiros]

Hi i'm just getting here. just figured this out a few days ago. great work!

 

is there any guide on how to get in? cause there doesn't seem to be any

[juicer2020]

We all know the real heroes are. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication to our community!

[ovoriaz]

 

always with you if one day you want a donation I pay as much on everything TRUE GOOD MMO and more well directed than the heroes ask for more so for the moment I support you and I continued!

[War Blunt]

You guys have gone above and beyond. I appreciate all you do. I was one of the original beta players on this game and loved it from day one. Thank you for bringing it back. Forever in your debt !!!

[Shektor]

I never played the game before, but i gotta say it's great ( not perfect, no game is ). The amount of dedication you guys are showing is inspiring and the fact that you are paying 4,700 dollars monthly shows it. The problem is that NCSOFT might close these servers as a example for others, because financialy these servers aren't hurting them, but it might lead to the creation of GW2 or Lineage 2 private servers ( or more of them ). NCSOFT only really cares about the Korean market so COH isn't an issue for them because the game was never really liked in Korea ( They like anime like games or lolis and stuff ). Honestly I would be really disapointed if these servers are closed, so you maybe wanna consider taking servers in Russia or China, both of them kinda dont fucking care about the whole private server thing ( especialy if if these servers cause problems to a company in South-Korea).

 

In conclusion, I hope you find a way to keep this project alive and would really apreciate the appearance of a donnation system, I woundn't mind giving you guys like 20 € per 2 months to keep this game alive.

[_NOPE_]

The servers are hosted in the Netherlands I think, and I THINK that they also don't follow US or Korean law? But I might be wrong about all of that.

[Schwivid]

Shektor, this is not hurting NCSOFT in the slightest.  They ABANDONED the game, and just shut it down.  I'm personally glad that the fine upstanding individuals who decided to bring it back did. And to the wonderful Devs behind this, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! Me and two of my friends have been talking about this game for years, wondering and searching for something like this.

[SunGazer]

Wow, you guys are going through a lot for this. I can't thank you enough. That's a lot of hardware, I guess this means it wouldn't be possible to run this game for a small group privately, like 1 to 8 people :(

 

No, the CPU/memory requirements scale dramatically based on the number of active zones. A small server for you and your friends can run comfortably on most modern desktop computers as long as you unload empty zones.

 

Is there a how-to somewhere to set-up one's own private server?

[Supranova]

Shektor, this is not hurting NCSOFT in the slightest.  They ABANDONED the game, and just shut it down.  I'm personally glad that the fine upstanding individuals who decided to bring it back did. And to the wonderful Devs behind this, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! Me and two of my friends have been talking about this game for years, wondering and searching for something like this.

 

Just because NCSoft closed the game doesn't mean they forfeited their rights: they still own the Intellectual Property. But as long as the Homecoming team isn't profiting from said Intellectual Property (which they aren't, in fact they're losing money) there is no reason for NCSoft to be upset about that and close the servers. This is why they aren't accepting donations.