Will people steal your maps if you don't protect them?

[Gespenst]

I was wondering, i'm making a map, and i was deciding whether to protect it or not. i wan't the Hive's public opinion.

 

[axemurda]

theyd probally rig it rather than steal it. And yes

 

[salamander]

It really depends on the map and the circumstances. If a pathetic map is made, then later "stolen" and improved to the point where it really is a great map, is this stealing? Also, if your map has been dead for several years, is it stealing then?

If you are afraid of your map being stolen, put an unnecessary amount of things into your map that reference you as the creator.

 

[donut3.5]

Protection (Is the map protected?)
Good- Map is unprotected, watermarked, or has open map protection (people can open the map and view triggers, object editing and the such, but cannot save the map)
Decent- Map is protected, but the author left an email address or other contact info so people wanting to learn can ask.
Bad- Map is protected and the author is selfish about map secrets.

As VG said in a very old post (http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19862), the best way to learn how to make a good map is to learn from others. With all the maps protected, newbies will have a harder time learning. If you're afraid of stolen content, post it on a well known site such as the hive, that's about the best equivalent the wc3 community has to a copyright, if anyone claims your map to be theirs, prove it to them that you released the map here. If you didn't, it was their fault for not putting it up first.
It's not always a correct system, but its the best one out there, especially since many people know how to deprotect a map.
--donut3.5--

 

[PurplePoot]

No reason not to protect them.

Protect them, if you want them open source then give a link to an open source version. Protected ones (with Vex's anyways) are a lot smaller, (except if you have tons of imports) and tend to be a bit faster too.

And it takes about 2 seconds to modify the maker name on a protected map, so I wouldn't be too keen on protecting it to actually stop people from stealing it.

 

[Turtles]

Yes, it will be taken and edited and messed up if its popular.. but if its popular, everybody knows its rigged. and does it really matter, anyway? it's just a game.

 

[The_Elite]

if your map is shit: no
if your map is great: yes

 

[Gespenst]

I gues i will protect my map and then release trigger codes and map data later on. any resources i made myself will be submitted. i plann to make a map(s) that are fun and easy to play, yet deep and complex.

 

[Yum]

I have read a lot about this and my theory is, if someone new to mapping has half a brain he/she can look up the answers to his/her problems or ask for help from the map-maker him/herself. Therefore, if you feel it's necessary to protect your map, go for it.

 

[ragingspeedhorn]

Moved to Warcraft Discusion.

 

[UchihaSasuke.gr]

Most people don't open maps to learn.they just open to steal and then give no credit aka IceFrog..

 

[MySpaceBarBroke]

I think either open map protection or map protection, but an offer to send unprotected versions to those who email you.

 

[NoNZealot]

Well people can hack into protected maps anyway I saw many around the net. Thats too bad that people likes illegal ways to get in any map. As for me I'd protect it but I'd sure give an e-mail as I always do. Well as for stealing, I never and ever stole anymap and won't do. Thats not my interest

 

[MySpaceBarBroke]

Map protection will at least filter out the thieves.

 

[UchihaSasuke.gr]

Map protection brings more thieves,like MySpaceBarBroke said...

 

[Shadow_Fox]

EVen if its a sucky map, if it has save\load codes someones prob gonna add a generator for it.

 

[Moontraveler]

Will people steal it or not really depends on how good it is...

 

[WerBackIII]

Man, I won't protect any map! I think that there's no point of protecting them, that only stops new (cool) maps to appear!


Ofcourse, Protect it if you want, but please leave an unprotected version without the things you want to hide!

 

[UchihaSasuke.gr]

If you post an unprotected map without the things you want to hide....Will it be the same?

 

[WerBackIII]

I mean:

OK, you want to see how A was done in a map. However, the author protected the map because he doesn't want B to be seen. And again however, he doesn't mind A to be seen. So he creates a map for not playing rules without the B, but with the A. Got it?

 

[UchihaSasuke.gr]

Yeah..Stupid.He could ask him.Do you think that creator will submit a map like this?

 

[WerBackIII]

Yeah... I don't see how can you ask a DotA psevdo-creator Icefrog for smthing. Yeah!

 

[busterkomo]

Well, protection is almost required for any orpg's or any maps with a save/load system. Although I wouldn't be nearly as good at map making if everyone protected their maps.

 

[Kaitech[SanD]]

I suggest you protect it. I found out that one of my maps was hosted, stolen and hacked on a site then reprotected. I went over there, gave them stick, then gave them a fake version which just so happened to screw up their warcraft files when they opened the map!

 

[UchihaSasuke.gr]

Kick the ass of these bitches!

 

[busterkomo]

Yes, they will. Everyone knows how many versions of The battle of Troy and helm's deep there are.

 

[Gilles]

I would never protect my map, but I don't care about B-Net, it really sucks anyways. Uless you want to play either melee or DotA.

 

[UchihaSasuke.gr]

X Hero Siege is also popular on B.net

 

[Pyritie]

I don't think you can protect a campaign...

 

[Gespenst]

Personally, i think that certain people will be out to steal peoples' maps and dodge the admins and such.

Stealing maps is like any other form of stealing, you need evidence to bust a suspect, and as i have observed, unless you can verify yourself as the original map maker, noone can do much and the thief will indulge him/herself within the glory that your stolen map may bring them, therefore I am leaning towards map protection.

 

[busterkomo]

Also, its not really "stealing"(blizzard owns every map).

 

[Pyritie]

Saying blizzard owns every map is like saying paint manufactures own every painting. They don't.

 

[Amish_KOTP]

Let's clear some stuff up...
A) yes, people steal maps like crazy
B) it only seems like the good maps are the ones jacked because those are the ones we see on the custom game list and the ones we actually play
C) sometimes an unknown map can be modded just as easily as a known one. aka green TD which nobody really notices the original creator, only the guy who modded it
D) if it WASNT for unprotected maps most people wouldn't be as good of mappers as they are...I know I wouldn't...its easier to look at something that's working and see your mistakes than it is to make the mistake and look through all your code to find the mistake when there are too many to count

In conclusion, if you don't want noobs/map wreckers to get your map protect it...but if you want people to learn from it then keep it unprotected.

 

[thisruoy]

YA look at icefrog
He stole dota from the original makers and made it "better"

 

[Pyritie]

Yes, we know all about icefrog.

 

[Kaitech[SanD]]

DotA can't BE better, DotA sucls, end of.

I think you have your answer now, yes people will steal your map.

 

[Fulla]

Wasnt it Guinsoo who stole it, screwed it up, then handed it over to IceFrog and quit war3?
Icefrog actually did a pretty good job.

 

[Pyritie]

Except it has the 80 odd heroes, and only like 8 of them are actually balanced.

Let's not let this turn into yet another dota thread.

 

[Modo]

I protect my maps as much as best I can. It is not just for the original material that I make but also the material of others that may be taken without credits. I always include my email address and give credits that can be seen in the gameplay section of the map. I was a n00b once, still am really, and found it dissapointing when a map was un-openable. At first I thought it was my World Editor, but then I learnt the truth. Always protect your map because you never know how low people will go.

 

[Amish_KOTP]

Wasnt it Guinsoo who stole it, screwed it up, then handed it over to IceFrog and quit war3?
Icefrog actually did a pretty good job.

http://hiveworkshop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40307

Learn all you want and dont want to know about DotA there...its like 32 pages long atm and still getting longer...

 

[thisruoy]

Yey dota thread!

 

[Jacek]

every game has imbalances because if you want all heroes to be balanced, you'd have to make them completely same, without any differences...

well I wonder, if Eul is so angry about Icefrog and Guinsoo continuing DotA, why he didn't say it?

and no, people don't steal maps

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I don't think you can protect a campaign...

Stealing a campaign is nigh impossible. Depending on where you submit it, most of the people will know it's you, and if you ever have it "stolen", you could always report it, and it could easily be proven to be yours.

Maps, however, are something else, since they're used on BNet.

 

[SasukeUchiha8]

I think the hiistory of anime hero arena is a good example, its always hacked

 

[Amish_KOTP]

Mutating hero arena before that was the big hit...actually most hero arenas are all based on the original 3 or 4 of them