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[Sou Da]

I'll just steal the Codex thread wholesale.

Autumn Leaves is a DLC-sized quest mod for Fallout: New Vegas developed by BaronVonChateau, who you may know on the Codex as Chateaubryan. By all accounts it's an excellent mod, taking inspiration from classics such as Planescape: Torment and proudly upholding Codexian design values such as choice & consequence and skill checks. Hell, it even has a Cleve Blakemore reference. Unfortunately, coming out only weeks before the release of Fallout 4, Autumn Leaves was overlooked by many players. Somebody at Bethesda must have noticed it, though...because it turns out they shamelessly plagiarized it for their recent Far Harbor DLC. And I don't just mean that they took inspiration. Take a look at Chateaubryan's comparison at Mod DB:

A few weeks before Fallout 4’s release, Autumn Leaves, a Fallout : New Vegas Mod was published on Moddb and the Nexus. It featured a colorful cast of excentric robots, in charge of a forgotten Vault where a strange murder happened. Sounds familiar ?

Maybe, to those who played Far Harbor’s “Brain Dead.”​

First off, both quests begins with a discussion through an interphone with the caretaker of the Vault, a headwaiter robot with a rather distinguished persona. The big mandatory Vault Door opens, leaving the player up for the exploration of said vault.

The main quest itself, which consists in investigating the murder by checking the crime scene, and speaking to every robot in the Vault.

The mysterious death of the prime financier of the Vault, who - in both cases - worked alongside Vault-Tec to build the special place.

The importance of voice modulators in the plot, to distinguish the robots between themselves.

The sexytime moment.

And of course, the mandatory “Let’s discuss paintings with a robot.”

Then, there’s the Neural Interface Matrix in BD versus the Neuro Comp Matrix in AL, the presence (and relevance to the plot) of a robotic expert in the Vault, the feel of the central atrium, the quasi-exclusive robotic cast confronted to a murder, the misleading piece of evidence (Keith/Rolland), among others.​

The Codex has always talked about how Bethesda are creatively bankrupt, but this is a new low. So what can be done? Bethesda are probably legally within their rights doing this. I say they should be publicly shamed into extending credit to Chateaubryan...but that would take a louder megaphone than ours. Ultimately, all I can say is that you should download and play Autumn Leaves. And not Fallout 4.

There's another post by the creator of the mode with more comparisons here: http://www.moddb.com/mods/autumn-leaves/news/big-publishers-and-a-small-mod

 

[xrayregime]

And they'll face no consequences, just like their game design.



edit: wow, that post by the creator himself is crazy

 

[Warxard]

Autumn Leaves is a better Fallout story than like the entirety of Fallout 4. If the ripping off was true than this is a very new low for Beth Soft.

I mean, they'll get paid anyway, so it's not like it matters in the end.

 

[Vital Tundra]

Holy heck. Effin shame. That user can fight this for sure right?

 

[Jarate]

And they'll face no consequences, just like their game design.

There are literal possible legal ramifications for this

also, this takes paid mods to a whole new level

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I started reading it assuming it would be a coincidence, but yeah...that seems pretty on the nose.

 

[nubbe]

Don't know the EULA
But I would guess all mods belong to Bethesda

 

[Levyne]

That was one of the highlights of the expansion for me too. Interesting, reading more at the link.

 

[HStallion]

So what recourse does the modder have at this point? I mean what does a mod even constitute as in the court of law? Its basically free content made by fans for a hobby for a game made by a huge corporation.

 

[Fahzgoolin]

WTF

 

[Baron_Calamity]

Wow, that sucks if true. I'm going to check this out for myself. That quest was the best part of the Far Harbor expansion.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

proudly upholding Codexian design values

barf

I also don't quite get what I'm supposed to see in this picture except that railing looks similar? Though the text makes it sound very hard to believe that it's all a coincidence. If I were that modder I would be proud though.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

Holy heck. Effin shame. That user can fight this for sure right?

There are literal possible legal ramifications for this

also, this takes paid mods to a whole new level

Doubt it. Creating a mod for a game usually comes with the stipulation that the maker of the game owns whatever you made.

 

[Durante]

Lol Bethesda.

Seriously, when you resort to something like this as a huge development studio a categorization as "creatively bankrupt" no longer sounds like something only some RPG nerds at an obscure site would consider.

 

[KingBroly]

Doubt it. Creating a mod for a game usually comes with the stipulation that the maker of the game owns whatever you made.

even if it's used in a different game? From a different studio?

 

[adversarial]

"You automatically grant to Bethesda Softworks the irrevocable, perpetual, royalty free, sublicensable right and license under all applicable copyrights and intellectual property rights laws to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, perform, display, distribute and otherwise exploit and/or dispose of the New Materials (or any part of the New Materials) in any way Bethesda Softworks, or its respective designee(s), sees fit."

Doesn't that mean they technically own it? Still doesn't sit well, even if they do.

 

[Sub_Level]

 

[Warxard]

IT
JUST
/WORKS/

Godd Howard, the chosen one

 

[Sou Da]

barf

I also don't quite get what I'm supposed to see in this picture except that railing looks similar? Though the text makes it sound very hard to believe that it's all a coincidence. If I were that modder I would be proud though.

You should probably read the moddb link, if more people are confused I'll update the OP with pictures.

 

[Toxi]

barf

I also don't quite get what I'm supposed to see in this picture except that railing looks similar? Though the text makes it sound very hard to believe that it's all a coincidence. If I were that modder I would be proud though.

Why would you be proud of someone ripping off your work without credit for profit?

And yeah, RPG Codex is a pile of dicks, but they're absolutely right to speak up about this.

 

[JaseC]

even if it's used in a different game? From a different studio?

The developer is irrelevant in this instance. Bethesda owns New Vegas and always has, not Obsidian, as is generally the case with publisher-backed projects -- the company footing the bill is the copyright holder.

 

[jacobeid]

No wonder the DLC is good then. Bethesda didn't make it.

 

[NCR Redslayer]

He cant keep getting away with this!

Spoiler

oh but he can

 

[BassForever]

On the one hand it's within Bethesda's right according to what others have posted to do this

Still feels super scummy, they could have at least credited the guy for the work he did.

 

[Nibel]

Of course they can do that legally and the modder can't do shit about it I assume

But man is that embarrassing for one of the biggest studios on this planet to do shit like this

 

[Doug Heffernan]

There are literal possible legal ramifications for this

also, this takes paid mods to a whole new level

How so? It's a mod, not an IP. You can't claim ownership of a mod based on the fact that it's... well, a mod.

 

[Bulzeeb]

"You automatically grant to Bethesda Softworks the irrevocable, perpetual, royalty free, sublicensable right and license under all applicable copyrights and intellectual property rights laws to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, perform, display, distribute and otherwise exploit and/or dispose of the New Materials (or any part of the New Materials) in any way Bethesda Softworks, or its respective designee(s), sees fit."

Doesn't that mean they technically own it? Still doesn't sit well, even if they do.

Well if thats from the EULA then they are not doing anything wrong since they can reproduce, adapt, etc the mod.

 

[barit]

God damn, stop making games and just play the publisher role Bethesda. It's embarrasing at this point

 

[Dennis]

They can't keep getting away with it!

Actually, they probably can.

 

[EightBitNate]

Doubt it. Creating a mod for a game usually comes with the stipulation that the maker of the game owns whatever you made.

Yeah but can they repackage it and sell it as their own without informing the original creator? Sounds like a legal gray area, to say the least.

 

[NeOak]

barf

I also don't quite get what I'm supposed to see in this picture except that railing looks similar? Though the text makes it sound very hard to believe that it's all a coincidence. If I were that modder I would be proud though.

Because they ripped more than just a visual item that cannot be seen in a picture.

 

[Vital Tundra]

"You automatically grant to Bethesda Softworks the irrevocable, perpetual, royalty free, sublicensable right and license under all applicable copyrights and intellectual property rights laws to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, perform, display, distribute and otherwise exploit and/or dispose of the New Materials (or any part of the New Materials) in any way Bethesda Softworks, or its respective designee(s), sees fit."

Doesn't that mean they technically own it? Still doesn't sit well, even if they do.

Yeah seems so. But for one of the biggest names in the industry to completely just take another persons work without any credit, is scummy as fuck.

 

[VolticArchangel]

Ahh, so this is the "true" reason for them directing mod creators having their content stolen to be filed under DMCA, outside their jurisdiction, in the recent mod theft clusterfuck on their forums.

GG Bethesda. You're going to alienate the remaining tiny minority of modders that still believed in you.

 

[OdysseusVA]

Bethesda gonna Bethesda

GOTY, amirite?

 

[Bulzeeb]

Of course they can do that legally and the modder can't do shit about it I assume

But man is that embarrassing for one of the biggest studios on this planet to do shit like this

yeah, this is the really sad part, it really confirms that the company is completely out of ideas

 

[Leafhopper]

I knew it was too good to be true.

Nothing illegal about it but, it's lame as hell.

 

[Cranster]

So much salt over a mod that 99% of the Fallout community never heard of until today.

 

[Sou Da]

Because they ripped more than just a visual item that cannot be seen in a picture.

Nah that's on me, I should have edited this better.

 

[Matush]

Doubt it. Creating a mod for a game usually comes with the stipulation that the maker of the game owns whatever you made.

Pretty much. ToS surly got this covered.

 

[Mechazawa]

Holy shit, it's, like, not even trying to dance around the plagiarism from the creator's description.

 

[Calm Mind]

Meta levels of scum

 

[Fantastapotamus]

Why would you be proud of someone ripping off your work without credit for profit?

And yeah, RPG Codex is a pile of dicks, but they're absolutely right to speak up about this.

No, I would be proud that somebody took my idea and put it into a big game. That they did it without giving credit is fucked up. Shame on you Bethesda, it's not like it would be hard to contact that guy and just ask him. Seriously, did they really think nobody would notice?

I'm not trying to defend Bethesda here, I don't even like Fallout 4. At all.

Because they ripped more than just a visual item that cannot be seen in a picture.

I know, that's why I wrote that second sentence. I was just not sure what I'm supposed to see in this picture and thought that I may be missing something.

 

[Heckler456]

I know it's Bethesda, and people are going to shit on them regardless. But if I were a mod maker, I'd be pretty proud that they took my idea and implemented it into the game. It's kinda lame that they didn't offer any acknowledgement I guess, but then again, a murder mystery is hardly a novel idea either. And from what I can tell, the only particulars that they took from that DLC were aspects of the story, so it's not as if they literally took the mod and ported it over to the game.

Plus, it's a single quest. I haven't played the DLC yet, but I'm guessing that it isn't nowhere near a significant chunk of that particular DLC. Not really a reason to call them creatively bankrupt. And, if game devs were to have to acknowledge every single person and place form where they get their ideas (because I can assure you, a very significant amount of them aren't novel either), well...

 

[Slime Scholar]

So much salt over a mod that 99% of the Fallout community never heard of until today.

Not sure what point you're trying to make with this? If they ripped off of someone else's hard work, it's wrong. That's not "salt."

 

[HvySky]

Wish I was surprised, but it is Bethesda after all.

 

[Soulflarz]

Can we stop quoting beths legally allowed to do this without citing it? Everythings just falling under "at least, we think".

barf

I also don't quite get what I'm supposed to see in this picture except that railing looks similar? Though the text makes it sound very hard to believe that it's all a coincidence. If I were that modder I would be proud though.

Why would you be proud of someone stealing your work uncredited? A big name using your idea uncredited isn't a good thing.

So much salt over a mod that 99% of the Fallout community never heard of until today.

Again, salt is valid, we aren't mad over having not heard about it.
What are you trying to say, that being annoyed about it isn't valid or something?

 

[Risev1]

As shameless from Bethesda as this is if true, it still isn't plagerism like the article suggests, considering Bethesda has ownership over all mods from their games, including New Vegas.

 

[collige]

Well if thats from the EULA then they are not doing anything wrong since they can reproduce, adapt, etc the mod.

That seems to be the case, but I would be very interested to see if this would actually hold up in court. Is there any precedent for this being legally enforceable?

 

[Kallor]

So much salt over a mod that 99% of the Fallout community never heard of until today.

"Its ok to stomp all over somebody if they're unknown or smalltime. SALT. Todd Howard be praised!"

 

[Sou Da]

No, I would be proud that somebody took my idea and put it into a big game. That they did it without giving credit is fucked up. Shame on you Bethesda, it's not like it would be hard to contact that guy and just ask him. Seriously, did they really think nobody would notice?

I'm not trying to defend Bethesda here, I don't even like Fallout 4. At all.



I know, that's why I wrote that second sentence. I was just not sure what I'm supposed to see in this picture and thought that I may be missing something.

I agree for sure, the biggest offense is the lack of credit.