Upholding Downloads ToS in the Future?

[Joshua Prematta]

Hopefully this would have gone without saying anyway, but I wanted to get some clarity moving forward regarding mod standards.

After seeing the news about this company merger, one concern I had brought up was regarding the continuation of a high standard when it came to the modding community. In some of the mod showcase videos for Assetto Corsa, a concerning amount of mods showcased, and touted to be some of the best that the community has to offer, were in reality far from that. The presenter in the case of the video linked above conceded that models for two of the cars were ripped from Project Cars and ACC respectively, and promoted mod groups who constantly and verifiably upload ripped and low quality content, one of which actively trying to hide their traces via encryption and put some of them behind paywalls.

In the future, what should we expect to see regarding the modding standards on Overtake.gg? Should we expect to see such practices become accepted, or will we hopefully see a continued rejection on such content, or even steps taken to broaden these standards across the community?

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

I think you are asking fair questions that many will have, so thanks for the detailed post.

Up to this point, the community forums and the modding database are what made up much of the identity of RaceDepartment. It only became possible for these to grow to what the sheer large size they are now due to the outstanding quality and the high standards the contributions adhere to. Knowing how vocal I have always been against piracy and the use of illegally converted mods it's pretty obvious that these assets and values, along with the standards and rules/regulations, are to be carried over into the new joint entity, to be cherished and grown further along the same lines, rules and standards.

RaceDepartment consumes a huge amount of bandwidth each month and we have received a lot of critisism about mainly the download speeds and routing, which is one of my top priorities to address in the future. So in our joined strategy to further expand and grow the modding community at the new platform, we will be working on expanding the bandwidth as one of our first priorities. As stated in another forum thread by a user, we are being patient and asking you to do the same. Few things are for sure: Forums are staying, Mods are staying, rules and standards of RD are very good and will be there in the new platform as well.

So in short: both current platforms have areas where they can improve, in many ways complementary, so merging them into one creates a single destination for all sim racers.

 

[Jim Layee]

Now this place is effectively owned by the VAG was any assurance sought to ensure any mods using their IP would be still allowed ?

And can I get a clear answer to this , yes or no.

 

[Leyton2011]

Pretty sure that if they would want to get rid of specific mods, it would have been cheaper (and faster) to just send an email to Bram and ask to get it removed pending legal action (which I think is the process in place here at RD) instead of buying the entire platform ^^ so I can´t really see them being after that tbh.

 

[aasasd]

Now this place is effectively owned by the VAG was any assurance sought to ensure any mods using their IP would be still allowed ?

Just FYI, legal relationship between VAG and modmakers doesn't change in any way whatsoever because of the buyout—unless anything particular is in the agreement, of course. It was just as illegal to make mods using VAG's trademarks before. They just don't give a slightest damn about the tens of dollars that modmakers can receive from the mods, this is the nature of the whole mod scene and artistic content in general.

 

[Jim Layee]

Just FYI, legal relationship between VAG and modmakers doesn't change in any way whatsoever because of the buyout—unless anything particular is in the agreement, of course. It was just as illegal to make mods using VAG's trademarks before. They just don't give a slightest damn about the tens of dollars that modmakers can receive from the mods, this is the nature of the whole mod scene and artistic content in general.

The difference this time as part owners this could change their attitude to their own IP being used or even allowing the mods could be seen as tacit approval. I don't know that's why I asked.

 

[pz666]

The corporate world is always shady so I expect the worst...

And that's the opposite of the OP... More restrictions...

Whilst I do hope the current level of ethical standards are kept, I am fearful that the VAG would slowly bring in their standards... Which would result in anything with their trademarks, including skins, being removed from RD... Even just a logo...

Plus there's the opposite side of the coin, how long before one of VAGs competitors decides that they don't want their trademarks giving any money to a competitor...?

If this was just merger between 2 sim racing sites it'd be a non-issue, but since there's a large corporate entity with a history of being touchy and dodgy it's a really depressing situation without any light at the end of the tunnel...

As such I am looking for alternatives, if anyone wants to PM me some that would be great...

 

[HorneyMINI]

Overtake have supported and promoted the modding community since they launched. If you look at this YouTube playlist it might help you have more of an understanding of Overtakes approach to all things modding.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY3T64wjx0K7UoRa8MNgQ7pdmNZrHVkQC