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Subject: The Trinity Machinima Series
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Well, I just saw it on the front page and checked out the trailer that in itself was totally awesome, I'm really glad Bungie put it up. It does however raise a question in my head, did Microsoft not recently announce that any machinima series made with their games can not be a "lost chapter?" Don't take this the wrong way, I am by no means saying the the series shouldn't be, I want it to be it looks great, I'm just saying, is Microsoft allowing it, or is Bungie allowing it? IF not then I know of another machinima series that will never exist because of that rule and I want to know how it is that this series is allowed, if it is going to be allowed. Now I don't want this turning into some sort of huge debate so after someone gives a thourough answer let's turn the discussion back to the series itself and wether or not you think it will be good.

  • 09.06.2007 5:48 PM PDT
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If I remember the rules they put down correctly then you are right about the part on the "expanded universe" for the machinima.
I dunno how serious the community should follow the rules, but the new rules are more of a "don't make money off of us without our permission".
Besides that the machinima should be fun to watch once its out.

[Edited on 09.06.2007 6:15 PM PDT]

  • 09.06.2007 6:15 PM PDT
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Check out this post from The Codex Series website. (You can go there and see it on their front page.) I hope this clarifies as well as presents the extent the "Rules/Guidelines" Micro$oft has placed on the Machinima and Halo community as a whole. You might have to read the first paragraph slowly or multiple times to see exactly how far Micro$oft wants to go in limiting the usage of their intellectual property.

Microsoft 1, Community 0

Posted by Nerrolken Aug 15th, 2007 | 1:26 pm

As most of you now know by now, Micro$oft, in its infinite wisdom, has just released a set of guidelines determining how their fans can use their intellectual property. It seems that as long as you create purely G-rated material with their M-rated game, take a vow of poverty for the duration of your series, don't use any trademarked names like "Microsoft" "Bungie" or "Halo," recreate each of the thousands of sound effects from scratch and write all your own music, promise not to push the boundaries of what can be done in the game, and erase all relevancy to the game universe itself, then Microsoft has nothing against you using their games to make movies. And while I'm sure the world at large will enjoy all of the not-for-profit, silent-movie, non-violent gameplay montages to come, we here at Edgeworks think that this decision on Microsoft's part is not only incredibly damaging to a budding art form, but also a surprisingly counter-productive move for a company spending literally hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising to keep their games in people's minds for as long as possible. The amount of time a fan spends watching Halo machinima, let alone making Halo machinima, vastly outweighs the amount of time that same fan would spend watching ads for Halo 3 on television, and is much more effective at establishing the Halo franchise as something they want to spend their time enjoying.

However, Big Brother has spoken, and we must obey. Production was going to begin this week on a trailer for The Reclaimer, a sequel to The Codex and the final chapter in the Codex Series trilogy. Sadly, that sequel will never be made.

There is some confusion about whether these rules apply to future productions or are retro-active for all machinima, so until we get definitive clarification, we're going to assume that movies made before this announcement cannot be expected to adhere to principles unavailable during production. We are, therefore, going to remain online for now. However, rumor has it that Microsoft's Cease and Desist letters come with gag orders, preventing you from discussing why you went offline, so just know that if we go offline, it will be because Microsoft shut us down.

We at Edgeworks believe that machinima is a great way for budding filmmakers to learn and explore the art of storytelling, and we believe that a grassroots swell of creative people expanding upon their favorite games can only help the popularity and sales of the games in question. We believe that letting fans pour their creativity into a product elevates it even further, and that sort of passion should never be restrained. Microsoft had the opportunity to be at the vanguard of this movement and to go down in history as the company that shepherded community participation from the fringes to the heart of the entertainment world. Instead, they chose to strangle the infant in its crib.

Once again, I am reminded why I use a Mac.

[Edited on 09.06.2007 6:28 PM PDT]

  • 09.06.2007 6:25 PM PDT
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In reply to The Illuminast, the Codex Series is the one I was thinking about. If the trinity series comes out and micro$oft does nothing then I see no reason that the reclaimer cannot be made. Some may even think that Red vs Blue breaks these rules but as far as I know they have been certified or whatever to make money.

  • 09.06.2007 7:09 PM PDT
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prehaps the makers of the trinity was certified to make this machinama by bungie or microsoft. that would mean they're able to make this series. but red vs blue, i believe, has a contract with microsoft. they recently promoted halo 3 with these videos, plus, there were easter eggs in halo 2 and 3 that originated from red vs blue. so maybe the trinity crew did the same

  • 09.09.2007 9:25 AM PDT
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You can enter into contracts with Microsoft to still be able to do this, but it is a matter of money. It is Microsoft's choice. Whether that choice is good or bad is irrelevant. When we buy a 360, Halo 3, and ANY other Microsoft product, we sign a contract to adhere to their policies about that product. While this may be an unfortunate turn of events, this is NOT a democracy. Petitions probably wont help. The real question is; how hard is it to get one of these licenses? While it is probably an insane legal no-man's land, it is kind of cool to hope that maybe, just maybe, we would only have to pay a $10 annual "protection" fee. As in being protected from them suing us. VERY reminiscent of organized crime, but only it IS legal.

  • 09.10.2007 8:43 PM PDT
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From machinimafordummies.com:

You can’t add to the game universe or expand on the story told in the game with “lost chapters” or back story or anything like that.

Yipes. It’s possible to read that as “if you mention Master Chief, we will sue your ass”. However, I’m told that that is very much Not The Intention. Indeed, the MS team had already been following the reaction online, and were frankly a bit aghast.

Why is this clause in there? Well, basically MS are afraid that some obscure Machinima creator will write a story set in the Halo universe that turns out to be very similar to an “official” Halo story, and will then sue MS for “stealing” their idea. It’s a problem a lot of content creators face.

However, they intended this clause to be read a lot more narrowly than it has been. Basically, it seems that provided you’re not explicitly setting your story within the main storyline of the Halo games, starring major Halo characters, MS will be fine with your work. The MS guys were pretty darned shocked at how scared they’d gotten the Machinima community - that certainly wasn’t their intention.

Obviously, the paranoid amongst us (and I’m often in their heavily-armed, fortified, survivalist camp) will say “great, but we’ve only got their word on that.” . No worries. In light of the reaction from the community, MS are looking at redrafting this clause to something totally different - perhaps an agreement that, if you’re using this license, you won’t sue MS for any similarities between your work and theirs.

  • 09.11.2007 8:13 AM PDT
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The Trinity series was opened for business yesterday. With episode 1 finally on display, what do you think of it?

I'm not a big fan of halo machima. I dislike how the creators voices are attributed to spartan renders. It doesnt fit to me, and all i can think about while i watch is how i want the character on screen to stop talking. This is not a shot at machima creator's voices.. you have lovely voices. But i cant see how these voices attribute to such imposing warriors.

I also found it strange that the Trinity series shows spartans referring to each other by their second names, and as though they had never met. The way a company of normal marines may begin with their superiors. Basing my opinions on the closeness portrayed in the novels, the Spartans all know eachother on a first name basis, and even if they have not spoken to each other, for years as the case may be, due to missions separating them, they all know eachother and their abilities like you know your mothers face.

Trinity unfortunately introduces many of the characters via a ranking spartan officer asking a squad leader what his squad mates names and specialties are.

  • 09.11.2007 2:06 PM PDT
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Posted by: just another fan
From machinimafordummies.com:

You can’t add to the game universe or expand on the story told in the game with “lost chapters” or back story or anything like that.

Yipes. It’s possible to read that as “if you mention Master Chief, we will sue your ass”. However, I’m told that that is very much Not The Intention. Indeed, the MS team had already been following the reaction online, and were frankly a bit aghast.

Why is this clause in there? Well, basically MS are afraid that some obscure Machinima creator will write a story set in the Halo universe that turns out to be very similar to an “official” Halo story, and will then sue MS for “stealing” their idea. It’s a problem a lot of content creators face.

However, they intended this clause to be read a lot more narrowly than it has been. Basically, it seems that provided you’re not explicitly setting your story within the main storyline of the Halo games, starring major Halo characters, MS will be fine with your work. The MS guys were pretty darned shocked at how scared they’d gotten the Machinima community - that certainly wasn’t their intention.

Obviously, the paranoid amongst us (and I’m often in their heavily-armed, fortified, survivalist camp) will say “great, but we’ve only got their word on that.” . No worries. In light of the reaction from the community, MS are looking at redrafting this clause to something totally different - perhaps an agreement that, if you’re using this license, you won’t sue MS for any similarities between your work and theirs.


Yeah, it's more of a protect their asses thing than sue ours. I get it.

  • 09.11.2007 2:34 PM PDT
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The entire production really had me squirming.

I can look past what they assume normal interaction consists of between servicemen, and even the relatively choppy/heavy-handed story progression.

What really eats me up in the end, is the voice acting. Some of these fellas manage to pull off a believable (relatively) timbre related to the various situations the characters find themselves in. Others? Not even remotely close. In the end, every last one of them could stand to emote a hell of a lot more than they did in their launch. Some of these voices really take you out of the experience. Honestly, if you dont posses a strong, confident tone...you're not really going to convince anyone that you should be voicing such storied characters.

So far these folks are big on concept, not so impressive when it comes to execution. I hope at the very least, that some of the voice "talent" become a little more comfortable in their speaking roles.

  • 09.12.2007 1:00 AM PDT
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Posted by: DEATHPIMP72
Anyone but Foman. He smells like cheese.

It's tough to say. There was a pretty extensive thread about the new Game Content Usage Rules when they first came out, and at the time I said that it seemed like really bad drafting by a lawyer who did not consider the business implications of his/her overly broad language, and that bad drafting was probably re-worked to seem even worse by the Microsoft marketing department. I stand by that assessment and continue to agree with everyone who said that they think the language is much more broad than Microsoft's actual intentions. Judging from what people claim are the reactions of more community-oriented Microsoft employees, it seems that this assessment is right.

Unfortunately, the rules are rules, and the license is still a license, Microsoft's "intentions" notwithstanding. Until they re-draft that language, the video posted on Bungie.net's front page is in violation of the Game Content Usage Rules whether the rules are enforced in this instance or not. If protecting Microsoft from lawsuits is really the intention of these parts of the Usage Rules, then Microsoft has no excuse for not getting the rules reworded immediately to the language that JAF quoted. It would take one of their in-house lawyers 20 minutes to do it.

As already noted previously, Microsoft gains tremendous amounts of money indirectly through machinima, and the machinima community-Microsoft relationship should be a symbiotic one. Microsoft gets free advertising of Microsoft games, not to mention the possible purchase of other Microsoft products like higher-end operating systems and video editing and sound software. The Machinima community gets endless hours of enjoyment. It is amazing to me that the Game Content Usage Rules were not reviewed by anyone with a brain, apparently, before they were pasted on the website. It is more amazing to me still that the rules in their current format are still there, while Microsoft stands to lose an immeasurable amount of money with very little benefit.

In other words, the prevention of the teeny tiny number of people who would try to make money off of their machinima or sue Microsoft for "stealing their idea" is being far outweighed by the disillusionment of the Machinima community and the discontinuation of an emerging art form that has, up until now, thrived on Microsoft products.

[Edited on 09.12.2007 1:30 AM PDT]

  • 09.12.2007 1:28 AM PDT

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Posted by: x Foman123 x
Unfortunately, the rules are rules, and the license is still a license, Microsoft's "intentions" notwithstanding. Until they re-draft that language, the video posted on Bungie.net's front page is in violation of the Game Content Usage Rules whether the rules are enforced in this instance or not. If protecting Microsoft from lawsuits is really the intention of these parts of the Usage Rules, then Microsoft has no excuse for not getting the rules reworded immediately to the language that JAF quoted. It would take one of their in-house lawyers 20 minutes to do it.


You know technically since its posted on Bungie's website there content usage rules have some effect in this as well. Since Bungie is a Microsoft asset and Bungie controls there own front page when they posted the link to the Trinity video they were in effect taking away any legal leverage Microsoft might have had over them because they've been officially endorsed by Bungie, a Microsoft company.

  • 09.12.2007 2:25 AM PDT

etc etc/glaringly obvious/and so on, and such <=Not redundant!
Posted by: Cr4ne Style
Taxes do nothing to affect the share of wealth, since taxes are only applied to income.

So that's not even a part of the conversation at all, so it's pointless talking about it....

"for a "best" moral to exist, there must exist the "best" moral base. If the base of morality varies from location to location, culture to culture...then there can't be an absolute moral..

Posted by: The Illuminatist
We at Edgeworks believe that machinima is a great way for budding filmmakers to learn and explore the art of storytelling, and we believe that a grassroots swell of creative people expanding upon their favorite games can only help the popularity and sales of the games in question. We believe that letting fans pour their creativity into a product elevates it even further, and that sort of passion should never be restrained. Microsoft had the opportunity to be at the vanguard of this movement and to go down in history as the company that shepherded community participation from the fringes to the heart of the entertainment world. Instead, they chose to strangle the infant in its crib.

Once again, I am reminded why I use a Mac.


i am glad to see that you felt comfortable telling us how you guys at edgeworks feel about using microsoft's intellectual property. but, how you feel about using their material is not nearly as important as how they feel about you using their material. if you think that "letting fans pour their creativity into a product elevates it even further" then i expect that you guys will encourage users to do all sorts of nifty stuff with your intellectual property. if you believe so strongly that "that sort of passion should never be restrained," then i cannot wait to see how you guys might deal with people using your group's material outside of your control and without your permission, and do so while drawing attention and dollars to their efforts.

  • 09.12.2007 5:47 AM PDT

etc etc/glaringly obvious/and so on, and such <=Not redundant!
Posted by: Cr4ne Style
Taxes do nothing to affect the share of wealth, since taxes are only applied to income.

So that's not even a part of the conversation at all, so it's pointless talking about it....

"for a "best" moral to exist, there must exist the "best" moral base. If the base of morality varies from location to location, culture to culture...then there can't be an absolute moral..

Posted by: x Foman123 x
As already noted previously, Microsoft gains tremendous amounts of money indirectly through machinima, and the machinima community-Microsoft relationship should be a symbiotic one. Microsoft gets free advertising of Microsoft games, not to mention the possible purchase of other Microsoft products like higher-end operating systems and video editing and sound software. The Machinima community gets endless hours of enjoyment. It is amazing to me that the Game Content Usage Rules were not reviewed by anyone with a brain, apparently, before they were pasted on the website. It is more amazing to me still that the rules in their current format are still there, while Microsoft stands to lose an immeasurable amount of money with very little benefit.

In other words, the prevention of the teeny tiny number of people who would try to make money off of their machinima or sue Microsoft for "stealing their idea" is being far outweighed by the disillusionment of the Machinima community and the discontinuation of an emerging art form that has, up until now, thrived on Microsoft products.


i am surprising to me that someone with a legal background is making such claims. you mention that the relationship between microsoft, the makers of halo, and the machinima community (thousands of people about the world who use microsoft's intellectual property in any way they see fit and without permission in the vast majority of cases) should be symbiotic.

what exactly do you mean? do you mean that it should not be parasitic? do you mean that one side should not be allowed to benefit by using another's property without an agreement in place? do you mean that both groups should act consistently with intellectual property laws?

is that what you mean?

this is off topic, but i wonder what percentage of folks who think that microsoft has acted badly have downloaded music or movies without consent. i also wonder how many of them have had their own intellectual property rights violated.

  • 09.12.2007 5:56 AM PDT
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Meh, it was boring.

  • 09.12.2007 6:01 AM PDT

etc etc/glaringly obvious/and so on, and such <=Not redundant!
Posted by: Cr4ne Style
Taxes do nothing to affect the share of wealth, since taxes are only applied to income.

So that's not even a part of the conversation at all, so it's pointless talking about it....

"for a "best" moral to exist, there must exist the "best" moral base. If the base of morality varies from location to location, culture to culture...then there can't be an absolute moral..

Posted by: The Illuminatist
Check out this post from The Codex Series website. (You can go there and see it on their front page.) I hope this clarifies as well as presents the extent the "Rules/Guidelines" Micro$oft has placed on the Machinima and Halo community as a whole. You might have to read the first paragraph slowly or multiple times to see exactly how far Micro$oft wants to go in limiting the usage of their intellectual property.

Microsoft 1, Community 0


i followed your advice and i checked out the website that you provided. it seems that there is a group of people using microsoft intellectual property to create many little videos, and you distribute those videos to the public. i also see that you accept donations to advance your group's financial interests, and, as far as i can see, the only reason that visitors would feel the need to do so is because they enjoyed your group's use of microspft intellectual property.

i also see that your group sells various items (that all relate directly to microsoft's intellectual property), that you guys have gone to the trouble of copyrighting your own material, and that your group has received loads of attention as a result of your work with micrisoft's material.

can you do us a favor and explain how in the heck the score is "Microsoft 1, Community 0"? if you are a member of the edgeworks group, then how on earth can you feel betrayed or damaged by microsoft in any way? since you have benefited so much because of their intellectual property, how exactly are you guys losing out?

  • 09.12.2007 6:14 AM PDT
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Wow, Illuminatist, you deserve to be arrested.

  • 09.12.2007 6:24 AM PDT
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Posted by: DEATHPIMP72
Anyone but Foman. He smells like cheese.

Posted by: sesquipadelian
Posted by: x Foman123 x
As already noted previously, Microsoft gains tremendous amounts of money indirectly through machinima, and the machinima community-Microsoft relationship should be a symbiotic one. Microsoft gets free advertising of Microsoft games, not to mention the possible purchase of other Microsoft products like higher-end operating systems and video editing and sound software. The Machinima community gets endless hours of enjoyment. It is amazing to me that the Game Content Usage Rules were not reviewed by anyone with a brain, apparently, before they were pasted on the website. It is more amazing to me still that the rules in their current format are still there, while Microsoft stands to lose an immeasurable amount of money with very little benefit.

In other words, the prevention of the teeny tiny number of people who would try to make money off of their machinima or sue Microsoft for "stealing their idea" is being far outweighed by the disillusionment of the Machinima community and the discontinuation of an emerging art form that has, up until now, thrived on Microsoft products.


i am surprising to me that someone with a legal background is making such claims. you mention that the relationship between microsoft, the makers of halo, and the machinima community (thousands of people about the world who use microsoft's intellectual property in any way they see fit and without permission in the vast majority of cases) should be symbiotic.

what exactly do you mean? do you mean that it should not be parasitic? do you mean that one side should not be allowed to benefit by using another's property without an agreement in place? do you mean that both groups should act consistently with intellectual property laws?

is that what you mean?
Uh, I am not sure what you're getting at here dude. Symbiotic is a pretty simple concept, and I explained it adequately in my post. I never said that there should not be an agreement in place. I said that whatever agreement IS in place should accurately reflect Microsoft's intentions in putting an agreement in place!

What are you talking about?

  • 09.12.2007 8:09 AM PDT

etc etc/glaringly obvious/and so on, and such <=Not redundant!
Posted by: Cr4ne Style
Taxes do nothing to affect the share of wealth, since taxes are only applied to income.

So that's not even a part of the conversation at all, so it's pointless talking about it....

"for a "best" moral to exist, there must exist the "best" moral base. If the base of morality varies from location to location, culture to culture...then there can't be an absolute moral..

Posted by: x Foman123 x
Uh, I am not sure what you're getting at here dude. Symbiotic is a pretty simple concept, and I explained it adequately in my post. I never said that there should not be an agreement in place. I said that whatever agreement IS in place should accurately reflect Microsoft's intentions in putting an agreement in place!

What are you talking about?


i understand the meaning of the word 'symiotic', but i suspect that i thought you had something else in mind. as far as i can gather, groups like the ones in question can contact microsoft and attempt to get permission to use microsoft's intellectual property. and, microsoft can judge how they would like to allow their property to be used by others.

isn't this the case now? if so, then microsoft may choose not to allow people to use their intellectual property. it is their material, and they can deem who can and cannot use their material for public distribution. where is the problem?

do you believe that the new terms of use are unfair in some way? or, do find the terms acceptable, and simply hope that microsoft will liberally permit groups who contact them to use their property?

as far as i can gather, nobody has good reason to complain because microsoft has the right to determine how their property is used in these contexts. i am sure folks who make videos using microsoft's property wish that they could all do so with no strings attached, but that is just their own self-interested desire.

  • 09.12.2007 8:17 AM PDT
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Posted by: DEATHPIMP72
Anyone but Foman. He smells like cheese.

Posted by: sesquipadelian
Posted by: x Foman123 x
Uh, I am not sure what you're getting at here dude. Symbiotic is a pretty simple concept, and I explained it adequately in my post. I never said that there should not be an agreement in place. I said that whatever agreement IS in place should accurately reflect Microsoft's intentions in putting an agreement in place!

What are you talking about?


i understand the meaning of the word 'symiotic', but i suspect that i thought you had something else in mind. as far as i can gather, groups like the ones in question can contact microsoft and attempt to get permission to use microsoft's intellectual property. and, microsoft can judge how they would like to allow their property to be used by others.

isn't this the case now? if so, then microsoft may choose not to allow people to use their intellectual property. it is their material, and they can deem who can and cannot use their material for public distribution. where is the problem?

do you believe that the new terms of use are unfair in some way? or, do find the terms acceptable, and simply hope that microsoft will liberally permit groups who contact them to use their property?

as far as i can gather, nobody has good reason to complain because microsoft has the right to determine how their property is used in these contexts. i am sure folks who make videos using microsoft's property wish that they could all do so with no strings attached, but that is just their own self-interested desire.
Oh I never meant to imply that anyone except Microsoft has a right to use Microsoft IP for any purpose other than intended. I think that the Game Content Usage Rules are not necessarily unfair but rather poorly drafted to reflect Microsoft's intent. Microsoft, I would hope, should realize the value of the machinima community for marketing purposes (and they seem to realize this) and should (again, for marketing purposes) encourage machinima. They clearly don't have to, and I did not mean to imply that their allowance of machinima is anything but permissive.

To this end, what I was saying is that the Game Content Usage Rules as they are currently written seem to be an unwise marketing move -- even though Microsoft has the right to restrict machinima in this way. And if the rules do not reflect Microsoft's intent (as expressed by Microsoft employees after the rules were posted and complained about), they should be rewritten as quickly as possible so as not to estrange the machinima community.

  • 09.12.2007 8:37 AM PDT

etc etc/glaringly obvious/and so on, and such <=Not redundant!
Posted by: Cr4ne Style
Taxes do nothing to affect the share of wealth, since taxes are only applied to income.

So that's not even a part of the conversation at all, so it's pointless talking about it....

"for a "best" moral to exist, there must exist the "best" moral base. If the base of morality varies from location to location, culture to culture...then there can't be an absolute moral..

Posted by: x Foman123 x
Oh I never meant to imply that anyone except Microsoft has a right to use Microsoft IP for any purpose other than intended. I think that the Game Content Usage Rules are not necessarily unfair but rather poorly drafted to reflect Microsoft's intent. Microsoft, I would hope, should realize the value of the machinima community for marketing purposes (and they seem to realize this) and should (again, for marketing purposes) encourage machinima. They clearly don't have to, and I did not mean to imply that their allowance of machinima is anything but permissive.

To this end, what I was saying is that the Game Content Usage Rules as they are currently written seem to be an unwise marketing move -- even though Microsoft has the right to restrict machinima in this way. And if the rules do not reflect Microsoft's intent (as expressed by Microsoft employees after the rules were posted and complained about), they should be rewritten as quickly as possible so as not to estrange the machinima community.


thanks for restating your stance for me. i suppose that i agree with you almost entirely. it may be more effective to allow machinima for the sake of adding interest in the title, which may end up in added game sales (but, we cannot know the business impact of machinima on microsoft's sales).

as for microsoft's intent concerning the usage terms, we can only guess wildly about that. i do not think that we can take anything posted in the threads as being an accurate portrayal of the official company line (it may be, but it is just as likely to be an employee's personal view involving what the company might mean). i suspect that we will learn more about how they will enforce rights infringements as we see established machinima groups' efforts in the next year. if they continue without interuption, then everyone will be happy. if they start to shutdown groups, then we will know their intent as well.

  • 09.12.2007 9:10 AM PDT
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Posted by: just another fan
From machinimafordummies.com:

You can’t add to the game universe or expand on the story told in the game with “lost chapters” or back story or anything like that.

Yipes. It’s possible to read that as “if you mention Master Chief, we will sue your ass”. However, I’m told that that is very much Not The Intention. Indeed, the MS team had already been following the reaction online, and were frankly a bit aghast.

Why is this clause in there? Well, basically MS are afraid that some obscure Machinima creator will write a story set in the Halo universe that turns out to be very similar to an “official” Halo story, and will then sue MS for “stealing” their idea. It’s a problem a lot of content creators face.

However, they intended this clause to be read a lot more narrowly than it has been. Basically, it seems that provided you’re not explicitly setting your story within the main storyline of the Halo games, starring major Halo characters, MS will be fine with your work. The MS guys were pretty darned shocked at how scared they’d gotten the Machinima community - that certainly wasn’t their intention.

Obviously, the paranoid amongst us (and I’m often in their heavily-armed, fortified, survivalist camp) will say “great, but we’ve only got their word on that.” . No worries. In light of the reaction from the community, MS are looking at redrafting this clause to something totally different - perhaps an agreement that, if you’re using this license, you won’t sue MS for any similarities between your work and theirs.

Phew *Breathes sigh of relief*

they are human after all then

  • 09.12.2007 11:00 AM PDT
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well, as everyone is stating their opion on what the rules should be, I'll state mine.
My opinion is that as long as those who make machinima do so under a set term of conditions, then they should not have to get a license. The terms are as follows:
-no excessive use of 53xual , racially, or obscene words or content.( Halo is an M rated game, and therefore the machinima should reflect to in game content in these terms. A few things are allowable, but excessive use is not permitted)
-Somewhere in every machinima there must be a statement that says that whatever game is used, is the the intellectual property of microsoft, and so on.
-You may not profit from the machinima in anyway, wether through donations or other items
-Microsoft may require you to send them the actually video and give it an okay before it is released to the public. If they don't like some of the content( such as the items mentioned in the first mark), or think that it comes to close to aligning with the storyline of the game.
-You may not use hacks, mods, etc. to create your machinima.
-you can't use sound effects from in game unless they are created by microsoft or in this case bungie.(I suppose this would make things duobly difficult to come up with the sound effects and then getting them to play over the original, so it might do if microsoft gave machinima makers a huge set of sound effects that they could use to replace the ones that they don't have the rights to.)

well that's my two cents, or however much. I actually hope micro$oft reads this thread, everyone's coming up with some great ideas that could help them be more specific, if they evr update the rules.

-D96

[Edited on 09.14.2007 10:14 PM PDT]

  • 09.14.2007 10:13 PM PDT

Tyler Moore

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THE NAME OF THE SONG USED IN EPISODE 1 OF TRINITY IS CALLED? THE SONG STARTS AT THE 4:40 MINUTE MARK, AND RUNS THROUGH 5:50. I WOULD BE ETERNALLY GREATFUL IF ANYONE KNEW THIS SONG'S NAME, AND COULD POST IT HERE. THANKS FOR ANY HELP.

  • 09.15.2007 7:52 PM PDT
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The first episode was amazing. The voice acting was great, the action was phenomenal, and last but not least, the head bobbing was perfect.

  • 09.15.2007 8:37 PM PDT

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