Again? Really, they did this a couple months ago. Same game again -_-

9 years ago
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LOL, yeah Origin is pretty stingy with their free stuff aren't they.

9 years ago
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The current promotion is Red Alert 2, but it looks like they had to temporarily take it down so they're repeating Theme Hospital as a placeholder promotion for now. Good for those who missed it the first time, I guess.

Wow, you guys are loving Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™ On the House! The demand is so high that we need some time to cool down our servers. Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™ will return to on the house very shortly. Thanks for being patient!

9 years ago
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Good thing I saw the reddit post yesterday and got my copy of red alert before they did this crap.

9 years ago
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Did they run out of Command & Conquer Red Alert & Yuri’s Revenge? Is that why in my order history it still says "processing" since more than 24h? :(

9 years ago
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It would be peculiar to run out of immaterial, digital copies of their own game. More likely is that they have a limit on the number of copies to give away for free.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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:)

9 years ago
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Or its possible they had limited 'keys', since older games did have unique CD keys.

9 years ago
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Nah, don't think so. It's their game and it's their platform, I doubt they even need keys to associate a game with an account.

9 years ago
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Some games require a key. There have been games removed from Steam in the past for that reason, Prey being one of them (and a permanent removal from the store as new keys couldn't be generated), and another was a Star Wars game during one of the sales (this was only temporary as the company was able to send more into Steam later that week).

Even if EA own the game, that doesn't mean the game won't need new keys, and that will take some time to get the new keys added. It makes sense since the removal is supposed to be temporary.

9 years ago
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Like I implied below, removing a key-check from an executable is not exactly a big deal.

9 years ago
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Not all publishers do that. Heck, agreements with the developers could even make it difficult for them to make changes without someone coming after them for whatever.

Just understand, this is a likely reason for the temporary removal, and most publishers aren't going to include a scene crack to bypass such.

9 years ago
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I still don't think it would be a big deal, one way or another, but I meant my contribution to this topic to be mostly tongue in cheek and not a strenuous defence of my positions. So... :)

9 years ago
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They own the developer.

9 years ago
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Unimportant with the point I'm trying to make. There can be requirements in contracts that can limit the publishers, even if they currently own the development team.

9 years ago
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Most of the old C&C games required a CD-key, as DeltaBladeX pointed out. Giving away keys that other people already have might cause issues, in particular with things like multiplayer.

9 years ago
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...and most old games have a no-CD crack available that publishers can... borrow. ;)

9 years ago
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Do you think EA would like to go out and "borrow" someone else's code? Doing that would actually be highly illegal. And it still does not fix the multiplayer issues.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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It works, as long as the authors of the code don't complain, but they could possibly take Rockstar to court over that. And that would just be embarrassing.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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It would probably be both, as both parts did something illegal. That is, unless the group comes from a country that does allow you to modify code like this, but still does not allow it to be distributed this way (if my memory serves, it was for a long time allowed over here in Sweden, as long as you did not distribute it yourself, though I'm no legal expert, so I don't know to what an extent you were allowed to modify things to bypass copy protections for personal use only, but you were allowed to make copies of say music CDs and VHS tapes, and bypass any protection they had). And if they do come from a country that allows you to modify code like this, then clearly Rockstar would have done something illegal, but then they would also have to prove that MYTH themselves were distributing it, and that it was not someone who nabbed a CD that they had with the code on, or something like that.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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Then Ubisoft committed a crime, and it would have been really embarrassing for them if they were taken to court over it. Is it worth risking such embarrassment over giving away a free game?

9 years ago
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I am not too sure they committed a crime... They distributed a version of something they own (the executable for the game) as illegally modified by a third party. I don't think the third party can claim intellectual property on their modifications, so I'd say Ubisoft only made a fool of itself.

9 years ago
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Ubisoft still does not own the code that someone else made, even if it was made illegally, and this is one of the cases where the law is quite clear in regards to what you can and can not do. Basically, the author of the code has the same rights to it as the author of any other bit of code, or heck, if you take a photo of something and upload it to the internet you have the same rights to it as the author of the code. It would be just as illegal for Ubisoft to use the code as it would be for them to use your photo in one of their games. If you make it, it's yours.

9 years ago
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Not a lawyer and IP law is a complicated, irrational field. This said, I think I disagree. So you're telling me if a take a DVD of Pulp Fiction and recut it in chronological order (something a warez scene group did back then) I have rights over my creation? I don't think so. It's completely derivative and unauthorized. Also, what rights would I have? The moral one of attribution or material rights of selling, licensing, renting my work? Consider that there's no cumpulsory licensing model, so what would I owe to Miramax, Tarantino and so on? Nothing? You see how implausible that is? Sure, a picture of a Coke can is yours, but this is just not the same.

Also, we were originally talking about a binary file that has been patched, there's no source code to speak of.

9 years ago
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You are confusing different things here. If you re-cut scenes, all you've effectively done is re-shuffled something (and actually, if you're able to get it to count as "fair use", then you own the rights to this re-cut), but you've not created anything of your own.

If you on the other hand were to splice in some scenes of your own, then those scenes would be yours. The company that made the movie would not be allowed to re-release its movie with your scenes in it, even if you're not allowed to spread your copy, because it contains content that someone else made. Basically, your version can only be spread if you and the company that made the original movie, agrees to it.

And creating a crack for a game is like splicing in scenes of your own. You're adding code to it.

Also, we were originally talking about a binary file that has been patched, there's no source code to speak of.

Does not matter, it's still code. Code owned by someone.

9 years ago
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Derivative work doesn't automatically enjoy copyright protection. When it does, yes, the rights on the work are shared and an agreement is needed. I don't think a no-CD crack would be considered derivative work, without even considering it's the product of an illegal action (generally speaking illegal actions do not grant rights).

Also, I am not sure a patch replacing bits in a binary file is code that someone owns, but I might be wrong.

9 years ago
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i didn't have this one :3

-grabs 123 copies-

9 years ago
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I really think this is the best Theme style game ever!!!
who else had super hairy people?!

View attached image.
9 years ago
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I agree. Theme Hospital is just an outstanding game in general, and I think it's just more fun than any other Theme or Tycoon game on this scale

9 years ago
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is that chewbacca? :3

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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the first CD-rom days
good old pirating games ;)

9 years ago
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maybe we ll create a new topic like free keys or somethimg ?????????
and everyone will add there information of rfee titles ?????
not creating a new theme !??!?!?!!?!??!

9 years ago
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just join Jamesbond group...

9 years ago
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are you a question mark addict???????????????????

9 years ago
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Ahh love this game! I played it when they gave it away last time. Definitely worth picking up if you didn't get it before :-)

9 years ago
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AMAZING! thanks man, this game is pure gold.

9 years ago
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I hope after running out of C&C:Red Alert 2 keys, EA will think about why the hell did they kill C&C with that C&C 4 abomination, and they lost a lot of $$$ by not releasing that frostbite engine based C&C. (i hope EA will someday stop being a moneyw.ore and will let their devs do awesome games again.)

9 years ago
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No more red alert 2????? Yesterday they said that their servers are over heated and they will make red alert 2 awaible again. DAMN it those lying bastards. I want red alert not this

9 years ago
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Relax. They didn't promise that they'd be back today. Have some patience.

9 years ago
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Did you actually read the text on the page?

Wow, you guys are loving Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™ On the House! The demand is so high that we need some time to cool down our servers. Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™ will return to on the house very shortly. Thanks for being patient!

9 years ago
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Just checked my library and saw red alert 2 there :D

9 years ago
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Yeah I think they just had to load in more keys for it.

9 years ago
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Thanks for the heads up.

9 years ago
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Actually I am pretty happy i saw this :)
Since i am looking for this game for a long time :D

9 years ago
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