Ubisoft shuts down Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield 2.0 mod

Sean Ridgeley - Thursday, February 10, 2011 6:28pm (PST) 0 Favourite (0)

Still protective of eight year-old game

Ubisoft hasn't exactly been championed by the PC gaming community lately. Its always-on DRM system has recently been improved to requiring online checks at start-up only, but is still considered about the worst form around. Now they've put a halt to a mod project for the eight year-old Rainbow Six 3, dubbed Raven Shield 2.0.

Those unfamiliar with the modding community: mods are fan-created projects based on existing games which extend and/or improve the experience, free of charge. They're one of the most celebrated aspects of PC gaming, and tend to generate more fans for a given studio or franchise.

As you'd expect from the name, the goal was to overhaul the game completely, pushing the engine as far as it could go with new textures, a new UI, improved AI, and a whole lot more.

Modder "Masaketsu" says his team was issued a cease & desist letter for the project two weeks ago; they were given no clear reasoning for the move. We're inquiring with Ubisoft on the matter -- any comment we receive will be published here.

The team will continue to work on and research the project, but will not be publishing any results of the work, though some parts of it may wind up in other mods.

Update: Ubisoft has declined to comment.

Source: RvSGaming.com

Alternate Source: DasReviews

Section: PC Games

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0 thumbs!

ashantiqua Feb 10, 11

raven shield was my favorite r6 by far. the original was spectacular, but raven shield.... best close combat ever.

ubisoft, you better be making a proper raven shield sequel, or you just dumb.
Staff

0 thumbs!

chautemoc Feb 10, 11

quote ashantiqua
ubisoft, you better be making a proper raven shield sequel, or you just dumb.
If they are, this would only increase sales for it.
0 thumbs!

Hellfire29 Feb 10, 11

Mods, extra content for no cost. Seems a no brainer to me...
1 thumbs!

Zap_AWC Feb 11, 11

They don't want you to play an 8 year old game. They don't make money off that. Lots of execs say that "PC gaming is dying, just look at the lousy sales numbers" or "The internet is full of pirates not buying our product". What they fail to realize is that they are creating this situation. By releasing absolutely horrible sequels that are just console ports, they drive PC players to other games or away entirely. Or group played RVS for about 4 years solid. We got a dedicated server with the game, we got a map editor with the game. Ubi got free content that kept the game selling long after it should have died. Contrast that with today. Our group didn't even bother with Vegas 2 after seeing how buggy 1 was. We got bored with the maps in Vegas after a couple of months. We switched to COD4 with mods so we could make it more like RVS, but it's still not there. I think if they would release a new RVS with updated graphics and maybe a couple of new weapons, they would have a hit. I would buy it in a heart beat.
0 thumbs!

Pest_AWC Feb 11, 11

Other than Ravenshield, is there any other game that has fluid stance(precicely control how much you lean or crouch), fluid door opening(partially open, slowly or quickly open/close), footprints, and none of this respawn/3rd person magical view garbage?

Ravenshield is still the best FPS game after all these years...and won't be beaten while they keep pumping out console respawn run n gun shooters with regenerating health and aim assist.
0 thumbs!

Crafter Feb 11, 11

Does modding not count as "fair use" of a product in respect to copyright laws? And if it doesn't by some wild stretch of imagination, it should be.
Staff

0 thumbs!

chautemoc Feb 11, 11

quote Crafter
Does modding not count as "fair use" of a product in respect to copyright laws? And if it doesn't by some wild stretch of imagination, it should be.
I'm not a legal expert, but if I understand correctly, it's protected unless the rights owner feels it infringes in some way on the work itself or related properties (Ubisoft may feel people will play this instead of other Rainbow Six games, for example).

I imagine the mod team could take Ubisoft to court to debate the issue, but presumably the latter has a lot more money than the former.

Basically, you're always taking a risk unless you're working through games from a company you know fully supports modding (usually PC exclusive companies, or those with strong PC heritage like Stardock, Bethesda, Egosoft, etc). And of course, if your work has the potential to be a massive competitor to the game or franchise (World of StarCraft, for example), you're taking a high risk.
0 thumbs!

Twi Feb 15, 11

Good to see that other websites have picked up this story. I'm pretty sure if we (the mod team) fought this in court we would win, because I can't imagine what legal foothold UBI thinks they have. But unfortunately none of us can afford a lengthy court battle over a video game ... and UBI knows that.
Staff

0 thumbs!

chautemoc Mar 11, 11

Piracy is the reason for the DRM. If you don't like it, don't buy or pirate, please.
0 thumbs!

Crafter Mar 11, 11

DRM is the reason for piracy to some extent as well. Companies are making DRM more and more intrusive and annoying to the average user, and they aren't even getting anything out of it. The DRM will be cracked, it's only a matter of time. Don't make things worse for the people that actually buy your game.
Over time an increasing amount of people will, out of spite or wanting of less hassle, pirate or crack the game so they don't have to deal with stupid DRM like Assassin's Creed II's garbage. This, in turn, causes the bads to rage about piracy destroying their lives and make an even worse DRM scheme the next time, restarting the cycle.