Should There Be An Expanded Universal Backup?

[Retera]

What if someone built like a giant backup similar to the wayback machine but for Hive models and textures and assets and stuff? This could take the form of a giant ark to save the collective custom resources available on Hive, so that even if social media manipulates the minds of the userbase to delete all of their stuff this kind of backup system would retain the memory and the inspiration of what Hive had been and could be.

I think this is particularly meaningful now in an era where there is going to be financial pressure on Activision to "sink the ship" of the original game, probably. We can see this already with custom mapmakers who were trying to make advanced Reforged graphics custom maps. At some point, that kind of stuff probably just isn't going to be supported in the long term.

I prefer to believe that Warcraft III modding is a cool part of history, and that even if Activision or later Microsoft want to nix it from our planet and eliminate it, it would be nice if we could take steps so that Warcraft III modding would continue to be a technology/experience available to the human race.

In my opinion, we are achieving that well both because users can play on backup clients of Frozen Throne, but also because of projects like Warsmash or W3CE. So, for the original game's technology (software) we mostly have this long-term vision covered. But what if social media gets into everyone's heads and makes all the best content creators on Hive delete their uploaded resources? Should we have some kind of long-term plan to retain custom resources if they are above a certain bar of quality?

Or, conversely, do people disagree with me and say it's not allowed to continue to support custom assets after they are taken down like that? Does the Hive Workshop expressly state anywhere what license is used for the 3D models that it offers for download? Or can users choose a license? If we had a feature to choose an asset license for example, I might choose to use something more liberal that gives people who download my 3D models permission to create derivative works or re-upload those models back to Hive in the event that I lose my mind and delete them... But maybe other content authors would use a different more prohibitive license? Does Hive already account for that?

Curious on peoples' thoughts. Hope everyone is doing well.

 

[General Frank]

See replies here:

Grendel, deleted resources and free will

So... I guess Grendel had another fit and deleted all of his resources. Among his resources was the model I needed, which looked like a meat blob with a bone tentacle. Now it's gone. After that, it makes me wonder why authors are even allowed to delete their work uploaded to the site. Why do...

www.hiveworkshop.com

 

[tillinghast]

you got nothing to do Retera? go help this guy

Problems: Normal map looks glossy and Geoset Visibility

Hello Hive Community, I'm new to modeling, especially with Retera’s Model Studio. Currently, I'm working on a bunch of Troggs. As the basis for the models, I used the Draenei Guardian. Unfortunately, I’m confronted with some problems which I just couldn't solve. 1. Problem: Normal Map You can...

www.hiveworkshop.com

 

[Retera]

Seemed like the result of that thread was that the people in favor of deleting resources being allowed, then went on to delete their resources. Seems like maybe the problem is contagious. So that's why I was thinking, if we consider it like a contagion without focusing on specific people, we might eventually lose the entire Hive's asset database. That's what made me think to ask.

 

[General Frank]

People are in favour of letting people decide what they want to do with their resources.
Your solution is yet again so robotic and so cold that it does not include the wishes of people and the possible arguments and lawsuits. You are well aware of lawsuits, right? RIGHT?

 

[FeelMyRash]

I think blaming "social media" for people deleting their resources isn't very accurate.

I'm not a model creator but I've personally thought about deleting my maps simply because I no longer want them on the site anymore. I haven't done this for multiple reasons that are, once again, of my own volition and not influenced by "social media".

Let's also not forget that Hive itself could be considered a form of social media.

Of course this is just my opinion, and it does not relate to the question.

Should Hive have an "Ark" for resources (maps included)? It could be argued that this already exists to an extent. I have several resources backed up, even ones that no longer exist on the site. Obviously not everything is backed up, though.

It would be in the best interests of the community that this "Ark" is made. So I suppose that's my answer. But I'd personally have it so Users could choose if they want their resources backed up, though it would defeat the purpose.

 

[Retera]

So, I asked a lot of questions but did not feel that I provided a lot of answers. I was not claiming to be the expert on this.

If you want to avoid lawsuits, wouldn't it be smart for the Hive resources sections (i.e. models) to list the license used for each asset or bundle? I mean maybe I'm confused and it is already clearly specified somewhere, but it seems to me that declaring the license for a work would cause less lawsuits and not more.

As an example, when I look at the first 3D asset on the models section currently: Steward
What is the license for that artwork if I download it? Where can I find that on the download info? If I were to go to some other 3D model site such as TurboSquid -- here's a random example that came up when I opened it -- there is clearly a 3D Model License: Standard block that includes a hyperlink to the legal text regarding the license of the downloaded asset.

But, to directly answer your question, no I am not aware of any and all lawsuits that the Hive Workshop has been involved in. I'm not really in the know in that way. From my perspective I feel as though admitting that is rather human and not robotic.

Edit:

you got nothing to do Retera? go help this guy

Why am I more qualified to help him than you? He said his model works in Retera Model Studio but not in the game. So the game is broken and he probably needs Activision to help him, who knows? Yes, I could sit with the thing he was creating and identify all problems and make it work on the Reforged client perfectly if that were my prerogative. But what if instead I want the technological longevity of our game and I decide in my personal life that means not focusing on the Reforged graphics mode?

 

[Technopig]

A huge Noah’s ark of Warcraft resources. Why wouldn’t someone want this! Protect wc3 at all costs