Why didn't you just get the torrent?
Just kidding!

On serious note have you ever dived into the ethics of "abandonware" here?
 

abandonware. Humm I've been thinking about that some too. I just bought "temple of elemental evil" thought amazon and it was just 2 cds in a jewelcase, no manual, nothing cool. And I know that no one actually involved is gonna get a cent (poor troika), it really made me feel "why did I bother."
 

vs, you bothered, because the people involved were paid for that copy. True they should have given you the manual as well. And you're luck if you actually got a jewelcase, ToEE like (unfortunately) most games (now) come in sleeves so that you have to provide your own jewel case.
Of course you should have asked condition and completeness on the used item if you cared.

Now abandomware in general... my mind is currently blank on an old game that I "must" have to give an example for. While I worked for a store, I picked up duplicates of a few games, so that if something happened I'd still have a copy and theoretically do multi-player.

- Yaverot of gameTZ.
 

Just to clarify this is the new version of ToEE. Surprisingly there are still copies in warehouses somewhere. I know its not quite the same used copies (which is more of an issue with console games,) but the issue remains.

The hole uses game market sort of makes me sick, honestly. Where some store is giving pennies on the dollar for games and then selling them for almost full price. With no additional money going to the publishers/developers.

But people do have a right to sell items that they have own...Eh there are so many issues with non-finite products that one could debate.

Anyway- looking forward to hearing about Frayed Knights again.
 

As far as abandonware - I consider it a gray area.

Legally, it is not a gray area at all - somebody somewhere owns the right to sell and distribute it, period. If they choose not to sell it, that's it. Nobody is entitled to a copy of that game for any price.

And now, companies are starting to sell their old games / licenses again via downloadable games & GameTap and stuff - so that makes it even less gray.

However, in a lot of cases, the developers and copyright holders really do not care, and will turn a blind eye to it. They don't want to officially support the game, because the last thing they want is tech support calls for a 15-year-old game that has to run under DOSBox. But they don't want to relinquish the copyrights that may still have value. And they don't want to bring the legal hammer down on people playing their old games and enjoying them and making themselves ripe customers for potential new games in the series.

So - in that case - it's tolerated, and it seems to be more of a "no harm, no foul" kinda situation.

As for used games - there are some real problems with the redistribution of digital product, for which a perfect duplicate can be made at near zero cost. So it's sticky, but I'm definitely in favor of the customer having the right to re-sell a game that they are tired of. I mean, to some degree, that encourages more customers - knowing that you can turn around and sell it back or to someone else later makes some folks feel far more comfortable with the purchase decision.

Incidentally, I bought the Temple of Elemental Evil too, not long ago, via Target on-line. So it's also a legit copy. I haven't played it yet, but it's on my list.

I could potentially be enjoying a few days off next month, so I may put in some hardcore RPGing time in!
 

This is why I'm looking forward to the launch of Good Old Games in September. I just wish they had a list of titles planned for release beyond the teaser graphic.

I'm still wondering what the catch is, because no DRM, price point between 5 and 10 (US) dollars, and full support for XP and Vista sounds too good to be true. I guess I'll find out when the beta launches.
 

(Oops, correction: 6 to 10 USD. Still crazy cheap.)
 

Oh, oh! I still haven't played much of Wiz8. You're going to catch up and fly past me, and I'll still be attacking flying insects outside of town...

Congrats on finding a legit copy, though! Good find!
 

As far as Good Old Games are concerned - I don't know more than what's on the web page. But I personally feel that in the case of older games, "crazy cheap" with no DRM is still better than what they'd make for their copyright-holders than through traditional channels.

As far as DRM is concerned - these games are 5 years old or older. It's not like these games haven't been pirated to hell and back already. Adding DRM at this point would be like trying to install a very expensive, computer-controlled, titanium barn door long after the horses have fled. "Crazy Cheap" is a reasonable alternative to piracy for people like me who still feel an ethical pull to pay people for their work - including the work to set up a site and work out the deals so I can obtain these old treasures.

I'm way cool with this, and I think it's a great idea. In all honesty, while graphics and physics resolution are getting much better, the industry seems to be just getting more and more stale (due to fewer releases, I think, more than anything else). If you wanna play something new and exciting, you might have to go back and play something old and forgotten. How's that for bizarre?