Square Enix Crack Down on Fan Made TYPE-0 Patch

EDIT: Wait, is this just a translation and nothing more, or is the guy hacking the game and "releasing" it with English language? If the former, that's pretty low of SE. If the latter, I don't see a problem with it.

What people always think of other people's legal and intellectual property.

Saw this coming a mild away. I feel sorry for the group that has been working their asses off to make the patch, free of charge, while dealing with ungrateful fans telling them to "hurry up" more than I feel any kind of sympathy for Square. For the longest time it didn't look like Type-0 was going to get a Western release date, period. So the patch was the only way for fans to enjoy the game unless they wanted to learn Japanese. They could have at least been like, "Hey guys, thank you for showing your support. Since we'll be bringing this game over you don't have to continue with this project anymore." Instead of plain right threatening them. I sincerely doubt the patch being available was going to turn people off from buying the game. You know what is likely to put people off from buying the game?

This.

Edit: It's just a translation, BoB.

Yeah the threats worry me.

Still, it shows just how much the fans want this game! (I do hope it's not troute)

Reading the comments in the linked page is painful. Definitely a few reasonable people on both sides of the debate, but some deleted comments here and there along with a lot of people raging at the reasonable.

So long as it's just a warning and, should Sky stick with closing down his end of things, it goes no further, then I don't see the problem. Hard to say what it is right now, though.

Many Japanese games are released in the West after a long time and this is something someone must see coming. Not just translating/rewriting the text of something and bringing it out in public is also against the law. That is even written in instruction manuals of (certain) games.

If the guy's post is any indication:

Unfortunately I’m forced to remove my posts and pages related to the popular Final Fantasy Type-0 fan translation project. That’s right, certain game company thinks that threats and false accusations are the way to treat its biggest fans

Sounds like more than just a warning.

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Many Japanese games are released in the West after a long time and this is something someone must see coming. Not just translating/rewritten the text of something and bringing it out in public is also against the law. That is even written in instruction manuals of (certain) games.

Do other Japanese game companies take three years after having fans wait eight years and counting for a spinoff game that turned into a main numbered entry because it's been eight years?

I'm not going to argue the legality of the issue, because there's nothing to argue there, but it'd be nice if publishers could show more tact.

Originally Posted by ToriJ

Do other Japanese game companies take three years after having fans wait eight years and counting for a spinoff game that turned into a main numbered entry because it's been eight years?

I'm not going to argue the legality of the issue, because there's nothing to argue there, but it'd be nice if publishers could show more tact.

If you ask so, yes, there are multiple games that came out after years have passed. And if Kingdom Hearts Final Mix would have been translated and released you can be sure Square Enix would have done the same thing to protect their 1.5 HD ReMIX. I am not even sure how legal streaming Final Fantasy on Twitch is because the manuals say you may not publicly, no matter through which medium, show the copryrighted product. Though Twitch might be an exception as it is such a big thing now and probably means more future buyers.

Originally Posted by ToriJ

If the guy's post is any indication:

Unfortunately I’m forced to remove my posts and pages related to the popular Final Fantasy Type-0 fan translation project. That’s right, certain game company thinks that threats and false accusations are the way to treat its biggest fans

Sounds like more than just a warning.

"Threat" is the very definition of your standard C&D that gets given to anyone as a warning. False accussations is something we can't verify and is possibly a matter of opinion at present. Either way false accusations are unrelated to hard legal action such as being sued. I've yet to see if this is anything more than "Dude, take it off your site, no more." Hard to really judge without getting more information from Sky.

SE have sent a C&D to a lot of sites in the past and this really doesn't come across as anything shocking to me.

Square could have handled it better with a gentle reminder or something instead of threats. As far as concern, some hardcore fans and the image of the company will be affected which is not beneficial to the company's cause.

EDIT: I think ToriJ nailed it.

Originally Posted by ToriJ

They could have at least been like, "Hey guys, thank you for showing your support. Since we'll be bringing this game over you don't have to continue with this project anymore." Instead of plain right threatening them.

Legality or no, I do think Square Enix could have been more softer in their approach. They have every right to make them stop the patch, seeing how they are releasing it to the West now (thereby making a patch redundant, essentially), but it's just how they've went about stopping it that isn't going to win them favors, really.

I wonder how other large Japanese developer-publishers handle stuff like this? And also how Western developers deal with translations in other countries... although I imagine there is less income to be made in those kind of situations.

This seems like a fairly unique situation based on my brief research, in that they are translating a game for one console but the game is now being released on a different console in the language being translated to. Not sure I can find any kinds of precedent for this one.

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Originally Posted by ToriJ

Do other Japanese game companies take three years after having fans wait eight years and counting for a spinoff game that turned into a main numbered entry because it's been eight years?

I'm not going to argue the legality of the issue, because there's nothing to argue there, but it'd be nice if publishers could show more tact.

If you ask so, yes, there are multiple games that came out after years have passed. And if Kingdom Hearts Final Mix would have been translated and released you can be sure Square Enix would have done the same thing to protect their 1.5 HD ReMIX. I am not even sure how legal streaming Final Fantasy on Twitch is because the manuals say you may not publicly, no matter through which medium, show the copryrighted product. Though Twitch might be an exception as it is such a big thing now and probably means more future buyers.

Main reason I ask is because the average Japanese game takes a year at most to come over, so three years seem a little long by comparison. That might be because publishers planned to localize it from the start, though. I can't remember how recently Square decided they were going to make an official English translation.

Originally Posted by Loony BoB

Originally Posted by ToriJ

If the guy's post is any indication:

Unfortunately I’m forced to remove my posts and pages related to the popular Final Fantasy Type-0 fan translation project. That’s right, certain game company thinks that threats and false accusations are the way to treat its biggest fans

Sounds like more than just a warning.

"Threat" is the very definition of your standard C&D that gets given to anyone as a warning. False accussations is something we can't verify and is possibly a matter of opinion at present. Either way false accusations are unrelated to hard legal action such as being sued. I've yet to see if this is anything more than "Dude, take it off your site, no more." Hard to really judge without getting more information from Sky.

SE have sent a C&D to a lot of sites in the past and this really doesn't come across as anything shocking to me.

Ah. I have my definitions of "threats" mixed up, then. I still don't agree with a C&D being the first response in this case.

Originally Posted by Loony BoB

I wonder how other large Japanese developer-publishers handle stuff like this? And also how Western developers deal with translations in other countries.

I doubt many of them would be any better, to be honest. I know Kojima was pretty cool about a Metal Gear remake fans were working on a little while back.

Originally Posted by ToriJ

Main reason I ask is because the average Japanese game takes a year at most to come over, so three years seem a little long by comparison.

That is all nice but it doesn't void being protected by copyright and if I can read such things even in instruction manuals it should be easy to not get in trouble.

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

That is all nice but it doesn't void being protected by copyright.

Nor did I make that claim, so I don't know what you're arguing. The whole reason this came about is because Square's fans wanted to play the game. They weren't making money off of it, they weren't doing it for profit, they were doing this because of a love for Final Fantasy and from their perspective they pretty much just got dumped on. This is why I'd endorsed a gentler approach unless the person proves to be flat out unreasonable. If they were doing this to rip them off it'd be another story, but like most similar cases, they weren't. And like most similar cases, the holders of the copyright weren't hurting that badly.

Originally Posted by ToriJ

Nor did I make that claim, so I don't know what you're arguing.

I don't argue, I said that to make the point, that there is no arguing.

Square Enix are a Japanese company. Japanese business ethics aren't exactly renowned for being tactful or softhanded, and PR is often not given as much precedent as Western consumers are used too from Western companies (just look how long it's taken Nintendo to adjust to a more westernized style of marketing etc.). Such cultural differences are often overlooked. Japan is very different to most western countries.

Aulayna makes a really valid point. Up till now, I can't really figure out the Japanese culture and their beliefs. It is really complicated and goes way back into the past.

Originally Posted by ToriJ

Ah. I have my definitions of "threats" mixed up, then. I still don't agree with a C&D being the first response in this case.

It's pretty standard as the first "go-to" thing for every company in the world, fans or otherwise. I mean, a certain site/forum that we all happen to post in may have received a C&D from Square-Enix a long time ago for hosting ROMs. We took it on the chin and removed them at the time, and I for one never felt EoFF was threatened when it happened. Hell, they give us stash to give away these days!

Eh, makes sense for them to C&D. They're releasing an English version, why not try and crack down on the possibility that they will lose out on sales in future because of this.