Stronghold Games

Thank you for the response RoddimusPrime (love the name btw!).

But, it could have felt like you were pushing for more information and made further assumptions.

In regards to that, I was pushing for more information, but I was trying not to be a jerk about, I was just generally curious, and for a few reasons.

1: I would love to know how to buy vtes and relaunch it, but I’m 99% certain I can’t. With that though, I still have a burning desire to know as much about the “backend” of the game I love even if I never interact with the “backend” part. If that has caused frustration or discontent on anyone’s part, I apologize, sincerely and heartfelt.

2: I *do* have plans to release my own card game (not vtes or WoD related at all btw). In regards to that, all this info about patents and copyrights are helpful in getting to know what areas I need to research. One example is that these posts have lead me to a page

boardgamegeek.com/thread/493249/mythbusting-game-design-and-copyright-trademarks-a

that talks about “Poor Man’s Copyright” and how “There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration.” Which was new to me, as “Poor Man’s Copyright” was a strategy I was going to use to copyright my rules engine, but now I am planning to do research and try something different. I also didn’t know that not only was “tap” taken by WotC/Hasbro, but the act of changing your card orientation to show some form of activation was also taken. Now I may be able to fight some of this in court for my card game, but the fact is is that if I just skip all of it, hopefully WotC/Hasbro will just ignore me as I can’t compete in court "funds" wise.

I still plan on asking questions here as well as on other sites and with friends about this kind of stuff as it relates to VTES as well as just in a general way, but not with a malicious intent, nor an intent to push someone to make VTES alive again right now.

I assume VTES is down for the count for multiple years if not forever. If I do pose questions about what’s needed to revive it, it is not out of a desire to push someone to get it up and alive right now, it’s out of curiosity on what it takes to bring a game to market for my own edification. Also it’s a desire to get the info needed to bring VTES back put into one localized area so if someone/a group is interested in making it happen, they can see the info themselves and work from there. Plus it may help others to find out what to do if they want to make their own personal card game.

Hopefully this clears up my intentions and if anyone still has concerns about my interaction, please feel free to PM me via the board, email me via , and if they want, we can set up phone calls to reach mutual understandings of each other and achieving the exchange of information that is wanted while hopefully quelling any feelings of mistrust, frustration, and/or anger.

Thank you all for your time! =)

I'm certainly not taking any issue personally. I find the legal stuff interesting of course. And it's not out of question that I aim to create and publish my own game(s) in the future.

So carry on an feel free make further posts, etc.

gymim wrote:

I'm not understanding the above. My perception of the above is that I have tried to push "IC" members (what are "IC" members?) to put their house, business, and credit history on the line to break copyrights. This is just my perception of the above, I'm not claiming this is what it says.

The Inner Circle is the board of the VEKN (the guys who are currently working at publishing a new digital set for VTES). They decided, before they began this set, that they would avoid any possible copyright issues by NOT printing physical cards (so they were not generating profit for any party except maybe internet providers but that's so tenuous its rediculous). This is because they were worried that lawyers from companies, such as Hasbro, might come to sue them for Copyright Infringement if they did print more VTES. It's also a similar story for printing a new game using the CCP IP (I am assuming). However, AFAIK CCP & Hasbro have sent some kind of legal document (written on paper or an email) saying that the VEKN can make digital fan-based cards but cannot engage in profit-making (or something to that effect) so that the Board of the VEKN are safe from legal action for the course of action they are currently taking.

So, by pushing the "Like Hasbro are going to sue..." line of argument, it can be seen that you are trying to push those people into wagering their homes and livelihoods on the idea "Hasbro haven't sued Netrunner, so they won't sue us...". I understand their decision not to take the risk, I understand other people's reaction suggesting they'd be happy to take the risk.

So, by pushing the "Like Hasbro are going to sue..." line of argument, it can be seen that you are trying to push those people into wagering their homes and livelihoods on the idea "Hasbro haven't sued Netrunner, so they won't sue us...". I understand their decision not to take the risk, I understand other people's reaction suggesting they'd be happy to take the risk.

My perception of the above is (in a restated form) “Gymim, it felt like you tried to push the board of VEKN forward towards publishing a new set of VTES cards with a feeling like no one/company would sue, and that the board of VEKN should just put a set out and not worry about litigation”. If this is an incorrect perception, please clarify if that is ok with you.

If my perception is correct, here is my follow up. If I somehow pushed that line of argument, that was not what I intended and I am sorry. Litigiousness of companies is a big fear I have. With the game I’m working on I’m constantly worried about what I can and cannot add. In fact I’ve had to gut things out that I really liked just out of blanket fear that it referred to something that somehow some one/company could sue over it. I’m stating this to let you know that I understand being cautious about litigation and it has value to me. Also as an aside, it didn’t even dawn on me that the board of VEKN were making a set that could be pushed into publishing. I just assumed that if it did release a set, it would be completely digital with a statement of something like this is a work of art made by individuals not seeking profit and the use of these pieces of art are solely up to the individual and the makers are in no way responsible for how said art are used (or some such).

My inquiries were meant for my edification and never meant to drive anyone to publish anything. I am sorry for any negative feelings created by me being unclear with my objectives.