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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:16 pm
by L4m3r
Longhair, a good way to make the destinction is "gratis" as opposed to "libre".
both are spanish for "free", but the former refers to cost, and the latter refers to freedom.
Also, I've seen people in #bzflag use "free as in beer" and "free as in freedom" to make the intended meaning clear.
Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 10:10 pm
by Longhair
@ Lamer:
Yeah, I had meant to get to the "gratis" vs. "libre" thing. Thanks for adding to it.
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 4:56 am
by The Vaxorcist
Hmmm, selling bzflag might be a good way to popularize it. Appearing in stores everywhere.
Just spiff up the graphics and sell in a shrink wrapped box - people don't have to know it's free. What they don't know won't hurt them.
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 6:19 am
by Davy Jones
That would be breaking the GPL
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 6:50 am
by blast
Davy Jones wrote:That would be breaking the GPL
It wouldn't be breaking the GPL, since the game isn't GPL. It is LGPL.
Here's a couple snippets from the LGPL license:
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom of use, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish); that you receive source code or can get it if you want it; that you can change the software and use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you are informed that you can do these things.
You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.
Source:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 6:59 am
by Grace F
It wouldn't be breaking the GPL, since the game isn't GPL. It is LGPL.
I dont know what that means but ok....
I think BZ should stay the way it is, F2P. Im not sure what would happen if it did become P2P
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 7:13 am
by the_j0k3r
if you are willing to foot the bill for packaging and getting stores to actually sell it then go ahead, but i think that bzflag is best keeping away from all money related things.
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:35 pm
by Grace F
the_j0k3r wrote:if you are willing to foot the bill for packaging and getting stores to actually sell it then go ahead, but i think that bzflag is best keeping away from all money related things.
Too right!!
BTW-Miss ya Joker! Been a long time
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 3:37 pm
by blast
I don't think you get it. The game wouldn't be sold in a box in a store. (It
could be, but nobody would buy it
) You would pay to play on certain servers that are of utmost quality. There would still be free servers to play on.
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 5:03 pm
by eagle
The p2p server sounds like a good idea. Maybe people would pay to play on a server and when they pay they become a member. That might eliminate cheaters who wouldn't want to waste money. The money earned could go to a faster connection or whatever.....sounds good to me. As long as the server owner doesn't charge outrageous prices then people might play. Of course the map would have to be good.
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 5:06 pm
by Longhair
I guess the big question then, is:
What would make a server good enough to pay for the privilege of being on there?
The BZFlag experience as I know it is pretty much satisfying the way it is right now. If gratis servers are still around, how would a P2P server compete? What would they do better?
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 5:10 pm
by eagle
Full time admins? new maps with some cool idea (that people will play for a long time)? no disruptions from spammers/cheaters? I don't know there might be some things I'm not thinking of. I guess that is one problem.
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 5:20 pm
by The Vaxorcist
Longhair wrote:I guess the big question then, is:
What would make a server good enough to pay for the privilege of being on there?
The BZFlag experience as I know it is pretty much satisfying the way it is right now. If gratis servers are still around, how would a P2P server compete? What would they do better?
Yeah. Charging would probably be complete suicide, considering how similar the servers are and how much they compete already. If someone was brilliant enough to charge, then they'd promptly fall from popularity like a GM that's about to teamkill.
I don't think anyone really disagrees on this. It's a bad idea, face it.
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 5:26 pm
by eagle
thats true....I don't think it would work, but it's a good idea if it would work. maybe a server owner could have people pay to (I don't know how well this would work ) get some privileges as long as they don't abuse them... lots of things would have to be worked out though.
Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:53 am
by The Vaxorcist
I'm don't think that there is a killer idea, but If you do come up with one, tell me about it.