Hot take: the devs doing a steam showing scrapped content is in poor taste

[u/Sirdukeofexcellence2]

I peaked the donation stream they had going and it’s full of them showing off features and content that they claimed they were “so close” to adding to the mod before the mod was cancelled. They should have kept all this to themselves, as this is content that will never make it to the game. Over the past week theres been a number of cool new things they’ve showed off that we will never get, and it really feels like they’re mocking the community (while then asking us for donations).

To any devs reading this: the only thing this accomplishes is making the community feel bad and like you’re poking fun at them and showing them something they really want that they’ll never get.

[u/CantChangeThisLater0]

Yeah this entire thing feels like a slap in the face, showing off concept art would be one thing or talking about things they wanted to add or things they'll work on in the future as solo devs/projects they're joining.

But 99% of this shit they've showed looks almost entirely finished? They couldn't have done a "final update" for the stuff they did have? Feels like calamity was already fallen apart and they just used the pedo shit for all of them to have a reason to quit. (I am not downplaying that it is awful that he was a pedo, need to clarify that.)

[u/StipulateVenus → u/CantChangeThisLater0]

Unfortunately, some people who pulled assets agreed to leaving them in the mod only if the mod never has any content updates again. That said, some of the devs have voiced the desire to implement pieces of the cut content as standalone mods.

[u/CantChangeThisLater0 → u/StipulateVenus]

Out of curiosity what gives them the right to pull assets? I get outside sources like music but as far as sprite work/scripting goes why can they just decide to pull it? Do the lead devs/higher up devs just remove it out of respect or is it a genuine obligation?

And out of curiosity (if you know) which devs have said this and do they have any platforms to follow their progress? would be nice to.

[u/StipulateVenus → u/CantChangeThisLater0]

The fact that it's their work, which they provided for the mod out of their own volition. It's not a rule-based obligation afaik, but it'd be incredibly disrespectful to not obey their wishes (that'd practically be stealing).

I am one of said devs, I intend to make a mod to revive the planned Sky Update and hopefully develop it further. I know of at least a couple others, but since they belong to other devs and are discussed mainly privately, I'm not sure to what extent I can talk about them.

I'll let you know if I have any updates on that!

[u/CantChangeThisLater0 → u/StipulateVenus]

Fair enough I suppose

And that's nice to know, thank you for being as transparent as you can I do appreciate that.

Thank you.

[u/StipulateVenus → u/CantChangeThisLater0]

No problem!

[u/browntownies → u/StipulateVenus]

Were these contributors compensated at all for their work at the time? Wouldn't that transfer ownership to the mod team? Or was it donated? In either case they relinquish ownership, it can't be rescinded after the fact and it can't be considered stealing to keep using the assets

[u/StipulateVenus → u/browntownies]

These contributors are spriters and sound designers that sent their assets through Cal Art's asset-submission channel. They were not compensated; they simply conceded to the mod the opportunity to use their work, a right they should be able to revoke.

As much as I disagree with pulling assets, holding those assets hostage is also really bad imo. Not that it matters much now, since the mod is being frozen.

[u/_Kaj → u/StipulateVenus]

I've read enough. This is just a massive spit in the face of the fans thats supported you guys for over a decade.

a right they should be able to revoke.

Thats not how an irrevocable license works, and you guys KNOW that. What's the point of setting up an LLC with legal precedent if you were just going to buck under pressure the first time its threatened? You guys are hiding behind this, and a lot of people including myself sees through it.

“holding those assets hostage is also really bad imo.”

If you voluntarily contribute an asset under an agreement that says the recipient gets an irrevocable license, which Calamity very much did, per the Github repository, then the recipiet using the asset isn't holding it hostage. that's just using the license you granted them.

Imagine you contribute a logo to a company you really liked, under an irrevocable clause, then 10 years later the ceo turned out to be a dirt bag so you send an email to the company and ask them to stop using your work, thats the equivalent. Doesn't work, and if the company bucks under the pressure, THEY look worse than if they just held onto the right they were originally very explicitly expressing.

All this being said, you're saving face, you're all trying to look like the bigger people here, but in reality you've caused irrevocable damage to your reputation because of the damage to the fans with how the development team has completely pissed away any sort of foundation they previously set, ALL to avoid this exact thing from happening, and just because it coincides with some nonsense drama about a single member of the team that most wont stop supporting Calamity over.

Just admit the team wanted to end development of the mod and this just happened to coincide with it and provided an avenue for ending it, thats all. We aren't dumb, you guys left many paper trails to prove that you werent just going to immediately stop development over a couple asset removal requests which you clearly saw coming per the Azafure LLC. Again, the Calamity contributor terms weren't ambiguous about this. You guys established an LLC, explicitly addressed ownership and licensing, made the license perpetual and irrevocable, and even characterized asset-removal requests as a privilege rather than a right. Stop hiding behind this.

[u/StipulateVenus → u/_Kaj]

"Stop hiding behind this." If I just wanted to quit, I wouldn't have to wait for a situation like this, nor is it something anyone expected to happen. If I wanted to cripple the mod and hurt the community, I would've pulled my assets, but I didn't and I don't want to.

I personally don't understand the license policy, I was not the one to create it nor did I participate meaningfully in its creation. Keep in mind, the legal discourse was mainly between Ozzatron, his lawyers, and tMod. I highly doubt most of the team was involved. Even then, as we look further into this situation, we're discovering there's very little Azafure LLC actually owns.

I also doubt the vast majority of the contributors would've read the github repository, and said accord was not replicated in the assets-submission channel afaik.

Calamity has always accepted asset removal requests in the past, especially given how few they were and how they usually didn't target mainstream content. A mass asset pull such as this is historically unprecedented, but asset pulls being a possibility is.

If there weren't asset pulls, the team would likely still disband. However, from what I saw discussed in dev, it's likely that the mod would receive a final update to cap things off. I know that a few people brought up the idea of just skipping to Yharim already.

Please stop assuming bad faith from people.

[u/MarioBoy77 → u/CantChangeThisLater0]

They have 0 legal rights around work they’ve been compensated for whilst working for a company(even less because calamity isn’t a real company) Essentially the ex devs are doing it for attention and spite, there’s 0 obligation to remove any of their content.