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GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

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GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby Spack » Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:03 am

In case anyone hasn't heard about this yet, GW legal appears to be swinging the hammer at DataFileCentral (they host the Army Builder files, and are not related to LoneWolf in any way, just an AB user who volunteered to host the files to keep them independent of the software), heard about this in advance but LoneWolf have posted up details on their forum so it's public knowledge now. Reposted from http://forums.wolflair.com/showthread.php?t=21779

A few days ago, we learned that http://www.datafilecentral.com, a hosting site for Army Builder data files, has been notified by Games Workshop that all GW-related files need to be taken down. This was completely unexpected, as the site has been operating for many years without complaint from Games Workshop (or anyone else). The AB user who manages the site informed us about this over the weekend, and he said that he has no choice but to comply with GW's demands.

We've already notified the data file authors for any games that are impacted, allowing them to migrate their files to new hosting sites. If all goes smoothly, nobody will even notice the change. However, given the number of game systems involved, it's possible that there will be a temporary hiccup with at least one of them. In the interests of transparency, we want to give everyone early warning of potential problems.

For those users who aren't already aware, it’s important to note that Army Builder data files for games are not part of the product itself, being instead created by independent data file authors who are not affiliated with us. Lone Wolf Development creates the Army Builder software, and dedicated gamers then create AB data files for their favorite games. The model is very similar to creating spreadsheets for Microsoft Excel, with game system data files being created, maintained, and distributed by volunteers who want to leverage AB themselves and enjoy sharing their work with the rest of the gaming community.

If there ends up being a problem with migrating the data files for a game you play, it means that the data files for that game will be temporarily unavailable for download through the updates mechanism. Once the files are removed from datafilecentral.com, they won't be available again until they are hosted on an alternate site and the author has updated Army Builder to know where they can now be found. Once that's done, the files will again be available.

Please note that if you already downloaded the data files for a game system, you won’t experience any interruption in your use of Army Builder for that game. Your saved rosters will also not be affected. You simply won’t be able to download the data files again until they’ve been re-hosted by the author.

The best way to safeguard against being inconvenienced by any potential hiccups with data files for any game system is to immediately grab all the data files you might need as a backup so that you won't need them during any temporary outage. If you then discover you need the files due to a system failure or upgrade, you can easily copy them from your backup, even if they are temporarily unavailable through AB. You can find a complete list of Army Builder data files on our web site here: http://www.wolflair.com/index.php?conte ... _downloads

For new users seeking data files that have not yet been re-released, there will be no way to access the data files via AB. The only option for new users will be to obtain the data files from other users that have them.

As for what this means at GW, we know as much as you do. Army Builder has greatly enhanced the enjoyment of a vast range of miniatures games for 14 years now, GW's games included, and it's been a symbiotic relationship where everybody benefits. This could easily just be someone on the GW legal team doing a zealous sweep of anything that uses GW's IP, without any awareness of the long-standing allowance of AB data files. Or it could mean something has fundamentally changed in GW's philosophy towards AB. However, given that they have not contacted any of the data file authors themselves, including the high-profile 40K data file team, it seems to us that it's probably the former, and that's our working assumption right now. We're in the process of reaching out to GW to learn more, but we've heard nothing yet from GW ourselves.

Please note that the removal of data files from http://www.datafilecentral.com only applies to GW's games. All other games that are hosted there will remain, as other game publishers continue to view Army Builder and the fan-created data files as complementary assets that make their games easier and more enjoyable to play.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by these events. Since we’re unable to work directly with the Army Builder data files for GW's games ourselves, they are unfortunately beyond our control. We’re doing everything we can to minimize the disruption caused by this to our users, and will continue to do so in the future.

Thanks in advance for everyone's patience and support as we work through this!

Sincerely,
The Lone Wolf Staff


I can't discuss it futher yet, suffice to say the AB40k team are aware of the issue though.
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby mattjgilbert » Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:53 am

They really are nailing their own coffin* shut.

*it's the best coffin in the world and is adorned with hundreds of skulls. It's warped at one end with some air bubbles and the lid has a good join after some Green Stuff work.

Let's hope this is an oversight and will resolved quickly.
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby mattjgilbert » Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:55 am

Or this is a prelude to them trying to bring out their own software again.
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby Ljundhammer » Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:06 am

That was my first thought.

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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby estarriol » Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:24 am

To be honest Ab has always walked the IP line, and GW have a heavy handed habit.
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby mattjgilbert » Thu Jun 28, 2012 11:16 am

Army Builder has never gone near the GW IP. The software itself is totally agnostic.
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby Baragash » Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:24 pm

Digital SM Codex has that facility already apparently, they're just trying to remove the competition.
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby BANE » Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:32 pm

I agree with the theory that GW will release their own system
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby mattjgilbert » Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:42 pm

Baragash wrote:Digital SM Codex has that facility already apparently, they're just trying to remove the competition.

So to get an army builder for your force you need to own the digital codex (and then it's the only army you can do it for)?
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby cgra1 » Thu Jun 28, 2012 1:12 pm

Id have to buy an Ipad first :cry:
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby killmaimburn » Thu Jun 28, 2012 2:04 pm

I'll miss it if they totally destroy all sources (2.2 still here)
If any of you used armies of imperium GW builder cd ...whoah I mean that was some terrible crap right there. (and I tolerate a fair level of crapness)
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby Baragash » Thu Jun 28, 2012 3:19 pm

mattjgilbert wrote:
Baragash wrote:Digital SM Codex has that facility already apparently, they're just trying to remove the competition.

So to get an army builder for your force you need to own the digital codex (and then it's the only army you can do it for)?


It seems unlikely that they'd put it in each digital codex, then allow you to avoid buying said codex by having an additional army builder programme that covered all the armies.

If they were complete bar stewards they'd have the army builder as a separate additional lulwut price and it would only allow you to build armies that you owned the digital codex for.

EDIT: more directly on topic, GW just appointed a specialist digital marketing agency, so this is probably part of that strategy.
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby BANE » Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:43 pm

There is always battlescribe which is unaffected and in my opinion superior to AB
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby Stunty » Thu Jun 28, 2012 7:09 pm

I like Battlescribe too, I'm currently writing some data files for it
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Re: GW swings the banhammer on Army Builder files ...

Postby jlong05 » Thu Jun 28, 2012 7:17 pm

Doesnt battlescribe have a no GW rule?

http://battlescribe.blogspot.co.uk/2011 ... ement.html
The only "hobby" GW is interested in is lining their pockets with your money.

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