first off, i will answer to your post about abandonware and all that, in great detail below. but first, i just want to say, i tried all the listed things, including downloading the program and removing all mention of the x52 in drivers. i even went so far as to disable windows update from auto installing drivers, and attempted to go into group policy editor and set the system to not apply drivers to any device without me doing it manually, but when i opened gpedit.msc i got an error telling me that "could not create the plug in" or whatever it said. so i was unable to do that. i followed the reboot, install as per instructions (to the letter, exactly as it was written in the install manual) and still, the moment the system recognized the x52, the lights on the stick went out, and it was unresponsive. as a test, i went to another computer, which runs XP and plugged it in. and while the lights were on, i went into calibration. quickly unplugged it, and replugged, so that calibration was still up and the stick was still lit, and..... nothing. no button or axis responded on the calibration test, even though the throttle did. i have already ordered another stick. and the stick HAS been shipped. FINALLY. it should be here saturday at the latest. i will let you all know how it goes.
on a side note, i bought a new ps2 to ps2 cable, but it had the same results as the one that came with the stick. so its not the connecting cable.
now, to deal with the abandonware issue. (i want you to know the ammount of work i put into this. really i do. i did a LOT of work on this).
websites tell you all kinds of things about abandonware and the like, that are simply made up or not true. but there is a nugget of truth in them. if you are interested, i will happily inform you of what the law says, and what is or is not legal about abandonware. i emailed my lawyer (not really my lawyer, he's the publisher's lawyer, who i can email directly with questions about my contract, etc.) to ask him if there was any law against downloading the full version of starlancer, since it was such an old game, and not sold anymore. he replied and told me that he would look it up and call me later.
when he called me, he informed me that YES it is NOT ILLEGAL to download the full version of starlancer. (please, dont go downloading it or PMing me yet!) he seemed like he was just dying to tell me more. so, like an idiot, i asked "Why?" because i thought it was weird that he told me it was NOT ILLEGAL instead of saying "yes, its LEGAL"...... for those of you who dont mind a little reading, please, read below where i have the ****** breaker. its an in depth break down of the law as it stands today. if you have ever, or have thought about ever downloading full games whether they are so called "abandonware" or not, then you REALLY NEED TO READ THIS. its the truth about whats legal and whats not when it comes to game downloading.
if you dont want the WHOLE explanation, then please scroll to the bottom, past the **** break.
*****************************Full and total legal explanation about so-called "Abandonware" **************************
ive heard all kind of things about abandonware, but from what i understand, and this IS law. i know, because i asked my publishing firms lawyer, andrew. he told me the bill number, im not sure what it was, it has like 5 numbers, a dash, then more, i will email him and ask him to send a link if possible. anywho, the gist of it was this: yes, there is no such thing as abandonware. however, there is a classification of games, that there can be no litigation for (in other words you can "illegally" get them and the "owner" cant do squat about it. i use quotes, because those are not the true terms, but laymen's terminology. its not illegal, and they dont own them)
it boils down to this:
the game is liscenced, to a company (or in rare cases an individual)
the liscense is only active for a certain period of time.
when that time expires, the game is typically re-liscenced to another publisher, or company for distribution (ie. Steam, GOG, etc.)
in the case that the game is not re liscenced, the game reverts to the owner of the games content (like bungie and halo, though Microsoft now "owns" it)
now that "owner" can re publish, reliscence, or take the property in question and make a whole new game, or sequel for publication and sale.
however, barring all those, the status of the said game or program is legally indeterminate.
so, in a nutshell, if the game is not published, or redistrubuted for sale within a certain period (games before 2005 had a max liscence term of 15 years, after '05 it can go up to 20 years) OR the "owner" of the game or program has not requested an extension of the liscence (which costs around 5,000 dollars on the cheap end) then, while it IS true, that the game is NOT FREEWARE OR ABANDONWARE, and no permission has been given to freely distribute the game, dissasemble its parts, or modify the main program (mods not included) in any way, people are essentially able to "get away" with it, because there is no law, allowing for litigation against an individual for obtaining the game of a company whose liscence has expired, lapsed, or been revoked. (keep in mind, this is for individuals ONLY companies are still subject to litigation.)
there have been several bills introduced in congress to close this "loophole" however, they have all been defeated due to the usual political crap from that overgrown daycare center we call washington. democrats want to put up a net of regulation that would suffocate ALL business in america and make anyone wanting to make money move their operation overseas, AND republicans want to remove the nets entirely, and while it would promote business and create jobs, it would also let in the sharks who would start eating all the small fish up, leaving on the fat, gorged predators. and until they are willing to admit that each other have good points and some bad ones, and put the good bits together and try to stop the bad ones, then we are left with only the crap that one side pushes through against the other's will, and the mess thats left when the other side starts "undoing" what they didnt like about it.
im not gonna give ammo to any one side here, by naming which side messed this law up (3 years ago) and forgot that one little line (companies "AND INDIVIDUALS") because as is usually the case, BOTH parties are guilty. that one omission didnt create the tide of cracked/hacked/and pre-packed full game downloads, not until the OTHER SIDE litigated in favor of one of its buddies, the result of which was supreme court precedent that individuals could not be held liable for "unknowingly" downloading full games, because "its possible" they thought that it was just a demo. however, the company who they downloaded it from, bears the full responsibility under the law.
i will let you guess which side did what if you want, but frankly it doesnt matter. the result is that just about as soon as a game comes out, some computer savvy jerk will have it on megaupload with links posted on any one of a number of sites that deal in that sort of thing.
the only reason that these sites are able to keep doing this, is simple. the warez sites that you can get the files from NEVER have the files. just the links to services where the files are stored. and the sites that store the files are protected against litigation because they are not responsible for what its user's upload. they are only required to remove the offending files if contacted by either the "owner" of the files, or a legal government agency with proof that they are in fact "owned" by someone else. and the people who post those files? yep, fall into the loophole i just told you about.
now, all that being said and done, there are some things you DEFINATELY SHOULD KNOW:
1. keep in mind that this only applies to games that meet the criteria. (the liscence is not in effect, and its not currently being sold, or has been sold in the last X number of years.) and you download at your own risk unless you KNOW that the liscence has expired and the game is not and has not been for sale after the period of liscense lapse.
2. even though this is not "ILLEGAL" its not "LEGAL" either. you technically ARE breaking the law, but there is just no framework under which to CHARGE you with a crime. so while you might be safe from punishment for downloading certain games, you need to know that you are contributing to taking money away from hard working people who's love in life is to make games for people to enjoy. and for a lot of the people at this site, who like to make these great mods, and take pride in your work, you are in essence, stealing from yourself. every bootleg copy of a game and every dollar in lost revenue is a dollar not spent on bringing the next great game to market. not spent on fixing the game breaking bugs in a game you have been waiting on forever, and most appalling... that is a part of the reason you dont get the sequels you are begging for. (**COUGH**freespace 3**COUGH**)
3. one thing you had better believe as well, is this: this loophole WILL BE FIXED eventually. its only a matter of time. oh and due to congress not fixing this at the federal level, a few states have passed laws to correct this. im not going into the different laws of each state, but if you live in AK, SD, NV, or MA, then this applies to you: they can't jail you (state vs. federal laws) but they CAN and WILL FINE YOU. each state has different fine ammounts, but it cant exceed 1,000 dollars. and states that are currently considering adding fines to individuals are: CA, NC, TN, TX, MD, ND, LA. keep that in mind when downloading....
4. for anyone who has done this already, it might be a good time to think about stopping. if you havent been contacted by law enforcement yet, then you are safe, because they cant charge you for something you have done retroactively from the date of the law's passage (the same reason florida cant throw that evil bizznitch casey anthony in jail for that new law they passed concerning parents not reporting missing children within 48 hours. because they made that law because of her.) however, be aware, that it could take a week or two to notify you of the charges pending against you. (so the moral of the story here, is STOP downloading, unless you are willing to take the time to research the state of the liscence, and learn the ins and outs of your state and federal laws. and dear god, if you are willing to fill out the forms, make the calls, read pages and pages of legal-ese AND understand them, then you probably deserve a free game. however think about the week or two of your life you spent doing that, and you will probably agree, it would have been easier, and probably cheaper (counting man-hours and form filing fees) to just PAY FOR THE FREAKIN' GAME!!!!!)
****************************************End of in depth legal crap*************************************************
FOR ALL YOU LAZY READERS WHO JUST SKIPPED TO HERE: this is what you need to know: (in poetic form)
A Random Poster's Musings on Abandonware
Congress is dumb.
Lawyers are smart.
Warez sites are sneaky.
Skirting around the law is an art.
Full games for download
Might sound good at first.
But all the stuff that gets cancelled
Would make your heart burst.
So if you are gonna do it,
You better get on it fast.
Just remember you're making,
Yourself into a horse's ass.
Except in rare cases
Where its done intentionally
Like how "betrayal at krondor"
Was released for free.
now, if that leaves you scratching your head, please, just take a little time, and read the stuff between the **** lines, ok? at least that way you will know the truth of the law, you wont get in trouble (unless you like playing roulette with your permanent record), and you might get some good games, or at least be able to play those games whose discs are too scratched or broken that you miss but dont wanna pay for again.
now. i have spent over an hour on the phone with 'drew, who i swear talks in that horrid monotone voice that ben stien made famous. i fought against sleep while listening to him drone on and on, and read from the law books. i did that to make a point here. and i guess its one you all already know. "just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD do it."
also, i PAID for starlancer. a long time ago. i just didnt pay for a scratched up disc. i want to clarify, that it is 100% legal to download ANY game that you ALREADY OWN. the law states you are able to backup the software or games you OWN. (that doesnt mean you get to download the "gold" edition of a game when you only own the original, even if all it has added to it is the free patches you could download on your own. i know, because i had him check that too. because i think thats a super stupid part of the law, but it has to be the EXACT same game. same release date, same everything. even new artwork on the cover, or a UK version when you own a US version will get you in trouble.)
also, i had him check, which was the actual point of the entire conversation, that starlancer DOES fall into the legal loophole category. however, if you ever ask a lawyer a question, just accept the answer, ok? imagine all the text i wrote between the *******legal info****** tags multiplied by 10, and not in plain english. let that be a lesson to all of you. never ever, ever, ever-EVER! ask a lawyer that most awful question...... "why?".
so that sums it up. unless living in the states listed above you wont be tossed in jail for it or fined for it. but you will still be A BAD PERSON, you evil freebie wanting layabout slackers! in the words of everyone's father since the beginning of time all the way back to Ogg, and his dad, Ugg, "go get a job, ya lazy bum!" (or, as Ugg said to Ogg, "Ugga oggaloo, mugg-ugg YEE-AAAGGG--URRRRGGGG--UUURRRGGAAAGGGUUUGGG!")
Please note, that FOR THE RECORD I, Josh Hines/Volyren Nightsong or any other wholly owned monicker or alias that refers to me in any way, DO NOT condone not paying for games. when you get a game for free that you did not earn or was not given to you by a proper owner of the game, you are taking money away from the people who bring you those games in the first place, and therefore lowering and stimying the ENTIRE GAMING INDUSTRY. if no one had ever stolen a game or pirated them, we would already be playing freespace 3, because their sales would have been bigger on 1 and 2. we would also already be playing elder scrolls 4: skyrim because they wouldnt need to add expensive copy protection and then troubleshoot the bugs that causes with the game. it probably would have been out by now, if that were the case.
now, this post has gotten entirely too long. i dont feel like proofreading it, i have already been fighting sleep thanks to 'Drew's incessant monoton voice babbling legal-ese at me for the last hour, and then repeating it here as best i could.
so this post ends now (after this)
thanks again for the help with the stick, i will let you all know how it goes when the new one gets here.
you can probably stop offering help ideas, at least until i get my new one, and then only in the event it doesnt work. once again thank you all. you have been a great help, and even if the old stick was broken (even if it isnt, im DONE with it. i dont even wanna look at it... soo many hours wasted in frustration.....) its nice to know people out there are willing to take time out of their day to read my huge-mongously long posts, and then try to help me out with an issue which, after checking many, MANY other sites, i know to be a BIG PROBLEM AND HUGE PAIN IN THE YOU KNOW WHAT. the x52 just suffers from too many design and production flaws to have ever been a stick for the masses. judging from the way others have listed their grievances, the x-52 should rank right up there with the Generation 1 xbox 360's and the evil red ring of death.
goodnight to you all, thanks again, and i hope this monstrosity of a post helps clear up some of the laws surrounding "abandonware" (never has something been so aptly named, and yet so misleading at the same time....)
later guys (and/or gal(s))
