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Complaint against mtjpub

Gloob2K

Registered User
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Jul 15, 2001
Messages
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I just realized that mtjpub.com was releasing a tickling IF. I find this... not right.

The z-machines were meant for the free distribution of IFs. They are selling their IFs for $19.99. It doesn't matter how many rooms it has, or how good the story is... it's supposed to be free! If they wrote their own program, then I wouldn't be complaining, but instead, they're taking a game engine meant for the free distribution of IFs and are selling one now! Honestly, it's not that hard to program one of these. I've programmed lots of IFs in a programming language called inform, and some of them are huge (over 500 rooms). They're all free.

Thanks for listening.
 
Actually we did quite a bit of research when we decided to publish this game. Where permission was not directly given as part of the program used we asked and received permission from the authors of the programs.

As for the ease of programming IF. All I can say is that I know of only two IF programs ever created with the tickling community in mind. Both of which were done by Kunzite.

Kunzite’s “A New Project” interactive tickling fiction game took roughly a year to create. I personally invested in the commission of six illustrations that ship with the product. I have no problem charging for this or any publication that we distribute.

As has been said too many time by various vendors of this community. We are NOT getting rich doing this. There is little to no profit in what we do and if not for our personal love of the genre we would have folded up this commercial venture long ago.

I suggest that the next time you would like to issue a complaint that you would address it to us first and give us a chance to respond.

Morandilas
MTJ Publishing

Here is an excerpt from the author's "Notice of copyright" from the "Informs' Designer Manual"...

A story file produced with the Inform system belongs to whoever wrote it and may be sold for profit if so desired, without the need for royalty payment, provided that it prints a game banner conforming to the standard library's banner at an early stage in play: in particular, this banner must contain the information that the story file was compiled by Inform, and the version numbers of compiler and library used.
 
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Dear Gloob,

I appreciate your vigilance, but I feel that the phrasing of your complaint is inherently misleading. I do not consider the Z-machine to be the main element of the product we are selling: rather, it is the prose that I have written that constitutes the mainstay of the game. To say that it is somehow dishonest to sell a game programmed in Inform is tantamount to saying that it is dishonest to sell published works written in Microsoft Word (or, if you like, a shareware text editor).

It is true that there are free Inform games in existence (although none of them except my previous game are about tickling). There are also a plethora of free comics out there, but MTJ Publishing charges for "Vellicatrices: Unlimited" because of the quality of the artwork and the clear creative effort put into its making. Clearly no one expects FTKL and BZ Tickler to program the software used to digitize their artwork. Similarly, the use of a pre-existing language and compiler to make an interactive fiction game should not be the major point of this product. As with all of MTJ Publishing's works, what you are paying for is the content, but that content requires a platform in order to be enjoyed.

I feel that the work invested in "A New Project" speaks for itself. The quality and quantity of original prose and design is something that I am quite proud of and that I hope people have enjoyed. However, if you are still unsatisfied, I encourage anyone who has purchased this game to speak out here and say whether they think their investment was worthwhile.

Yours truly,
Kunzite
 
There are numerous examples of free engines on the market which have provisions for the work produced to be sold. The Inform engine appears to be one. I know of at least one other; Agetec's RPGMaker allows you to sell the RPGs produced with it as long as you notify them that you're doing so, and use their logo.

Video game programming is NOT trivial work. Even IF games require a lot of planning and scripting (although I'd argue they're more like written works than programming projects unless you write the parser and story engine yourself) and if the person who finishes such a work wishes to sell it, and the copyright/distribution guidelines/laws set forth by the toolmakers they're using allow it, then they're entirely within their rights to make money off of it.

Quite frankly, the main reason most IFs are free is because nobody in their right mind would expect to profit off of them today, when gaming has moved so far beyond simple text commands. The only reason Kunzite will make any money off of this is because it's specifically focused to a market where no real offerings of this nature exist. It's one of the reasons I'm working on TS.

just a ramble from your resident game-programming expert.
 
Phineas,

I appreciate your comments and agree with what you have to say.

Introduced nearly twenty years ago it is obvious that interactive fiction gaming is a dated genre. However the ability to step into and immerse yourself in a diabolical world of tickle torture is a new level of entertainment for tickling fiction enthusiasts.

Kunzite's "A New Project" simply gives tickling fans yet another choice in tickling entertainment.

Choice is a good thing.

As for your ambitious project "Ticklish Situations." It will be a groundbreaking event when it's released. I look forward to it and you can count on me as a customer.

Morandilas
MTJ Publishing
 
More complaining? Why do people here complain about everything? Go about your lives. If you don't like something here walk away from here. Better yet, go to the AMT. You'll feel at home.
 
Phineas,

I appreciate your comments and agree with what you have to say.

that's good. 😀 although looking over my post again I realize it could be construed as a negative comment towards Kunzite's IF, and this is definitely not the case. What I meant was, the original poster's comment about all of his IF being free was pretty much irrelevant; you can't really market IF today so if you write any it HAS to be free. Unless...

Introduced nearly twenty years ago it is obvious that interactive fiction gaming is a dated genre. However the ability to step into and immerse yourself in a diabolical world of tickle torture is a new level of entertainment for tickling fiction enthusiasts.

...and I would argue that such an offering is actually BETTER than normal "flat" fiction due to the whole interactivity aspect. IF is actually a very good medium for delivering immersive tickle fiction - and since there is currently very, very little in the way of tickle-oriented video games of any sort, IF is definitely marketable to such a niche - even moreso than regular published fiction. If people will pay for a well-written story, it goes to assume they will also pay for well-written IF, and may even enjoy it more.

Kunzite's "A New Project" simply gives tickling fans yet another choice in tickling entertainment.

Choice is a good thing.

Agreed!

As for your ambitious project "Ticklish Situations." It will be a groundbreaking event when it's released. I look forward to it and you can count on me as a customer.

thanks alot. 😀 It really steams my gasket when people get up in arms about people "daring" to charge for their work, especially where things like software is concerned. As I'm sure you and Kunzite will attest, developing a good software product, be it IF, a video game, or a chat client (hehe) is an amazing amount of work and requires no small modicum of talent. If the author wishes to be compensated for his efforts, it's more than fair. It's not like shooting a video, where (at minimum) all you need is a camera and a photogenic participant or two. This stuff is hard, even when the engine is provided for you as is the case with IF these days.
 
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