In a report appearing over at the Courthouse News Service, it has been revealed that Turbine is suing Atari over Dungeons & Dragons Online.

Turbine alleges that Atari allowed for Turbine to pursue the DDO: Unlimited project in exchange for payments, as well as future royalty payments, but had no intention of devoting enough resources to promoting and distributing the title.

As a result of this, Turbine is accusing Atari of not living up to their contractual obligations, and alleges this was done purposefully so that Atari could claim Turbine was in breach of contract when the project ultimately suffered due to Atari not living up to their end of the deal. This would allow Atari to terminate their relationship with Turbine and pursue a new D&D project at Turbine's expense.

Turbine was contacted for a statement, but as a legal matter they cannot comment on the particulars of the case.

 If this is true, that's pretty low of Atari to do. 

I wonder how this is going to effect the launch of D&D??

Originally posted by hoopty

I wonder how this is going to effect the launch of D&D??

It seems to me that this is going to put things back.

There's no telling how long they could be in court.  The article doesn't mention anything about a length of time or how far they have gone with the case, or if they putting things on hold for this issue.  These are details that we really need in news like this.  Otherwise, it just seems like idle gossip.  Not my style, personally. 

It almost seems as similar what Hanbitsoft did to FSS over Hellgate.  Well I'm a sub for D&D and have never been a fan of f2p models.  Though in this case I hope it works out.  If the article is true however, I might consider a boycott of Atari products all together.  Just doesn't seem fair.

Just a heads up, but someone alluded to Atari people losing their jobs. There won't be any job losses due to action by Turbine, at Atari. Atari is kind of like EA, in that they are a publisher; not so much a developer. Turbine is a developer. In fact, Atari is a company whose business practices make EA look good. That is why the Atari guys are generally shunned by most devs. Unless convincing evidence comes out to alter the view, I would have to go with Turbine on this one, just based on what everyone in the industry knows about Atari, and how underhanded they can be.

Thank you for this post. It's interesting to know that Atari is being sued by Turbine for this.

I don't really trust court verdicts to be an accurate reflection of the truth, and of course there is still not one out, but considering Atari's track record the case rings true already now. I wouldn't mind seeing Atari get a whack over their corporate nose.

I look forward to more info as the case unfolds. Thanks!

Yeah, it was a shady thing to do on Atari's part. But what is the underlying message here? I think it's that Atari realizes that DDO in it's iteration isn't a very viable MMO. If the heavily instanced game as it was made (granted I haven't played it since a few months after it's release) was in such a state they had to open up a F2P portion to their business model, well they're hurting for subscriptions in my opinion.

I bet Atari wants to see the DnD license in a more traditional MMO setup, with a large world and multiple cities and such. To be honest, I do too. Granted, it'd have to be 3.5 ruleset or below.

Wow...this is bad for Turbine. And bad for DDO :(

I just hope Turbine wins this one, and maybe even close damn Atari ... but than again Atari just bought Cryptic...

Serves them well for going down with Bill Roper...that guy just invites catastrophies...

Anyway, rotten news

Originally posted by Lobotomist

Wow...this is bad for Turbine. And bad for DDO :(

I just hope Turbine wins this one, and maybe even close damn Atari ... but than again Atari just bought Cryptic...

Serves them well for going down with Bill Roper...that guy just invites catastrophies...

 

 

Anyway, rotten news

 

Oh crap! If Atari bought Cryptic, and the rumor is that Cryptic's "other MMO" they are working on is DnD based, then this makes sense, lol! It's not right, but it makes sense.

link to Filings: http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/08/26/Atari.pdf

Originally posted by Khalathwyr

Yeah, it was a shady thing to do on Atari's part. But what is the underlying message here? I think it's that Atari realizes that DDO in it's iteration isn't a very viable MMO. If the heavily instanced game as it was made (granted I haven't played it since a few months after it's release) was in such a state they had to open up a F2P portion to their business model, well they're hurting for subscriptions in my opinion.

I bet Atari wants to see the DnD license in a more traditional MMO setup, with a large world and multiple cities and such. To be honest, I do too. Granted, it'd have to be 3.5 ruleset or below.

Yes, you propose an interesting scenario of how things could play out.  On the one hand, I feel bad for Turbine and am tempted to boycott all Atari future products... However, on the other hand, if Atari does win, they could do whatever they want w/ the IP, and maybe hopefully make a new MMO with it that's possibly in a persistent world as apposed to instanced.  Maybe this could work out to the advantage of D&D fans overall.

If Atari does win, well maybe it would be in the best interest of the IP to shut down D&D and make a new MMO from scratch... well who knows at this point.

I guess we'll all find out soon enough what will happen after the court's decision.

Originally posted by Khalathwyr

Originally posted by Lobotomist

Wow...this is bad for Turbine. And bad for DDO :(

I just hope Turbine wins this one, and maybe even close damn Atari ... but than again Atari just bought Cryptic...

Serves them well for going down with Bill Roper...that guy just invites catastrophies...

 

 

Anyway, rotten news

 

 

Oh crap! If Atari bought Cryptic, and the rumor is that Cryptic's "other MMO" they are working on is DnD based, then this makes sense, lol! It's not right, but it makes sense.

Incredible... is this The Curse of Bill Roper at work on games not even associated with him?  Will is somehow and mysteriously spread across to board to unrelated titles?  Being "flagshipped" once was bad enough.  O.o
 

I hope Atari succeeds in their nefarious plan. I love D&D more than any other IP ever, but DDO is disgustingly bad. Turbine ruins everything and I hate them. I would love to see a new D&D project come up.

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Originally posted by Khalathwyr
Yeah, it was a shady thing to do on Atari's part. But what is the underlying message here? I think it's that Atari realizes that DDO in it's iteration isn't a very viable MMO. If the heavily instanced game as it was made (granted I haven't played it since a few months after it's release) was in such a state they had to open up a F2P portion to their business model, well they're hurting for subscriptions in my opinion.
I bet Atari wants to see the DnD license in a more traditional MMO setup, with a large world and multiple cities and such. To be honest, I do too. Granted, it'd have to be 3.5 ruleset or below.

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I really would too, but I am nearly certain it would be 4.0. Shame, but almost certain.

From what I remember, DDO isn't distgustingly bad at all. It's quite competent as an MMO where you can explore and actually go dungeon crawling. Remember Dungeons & Dragons?

At least the first several levels were nice. I don't know about the rest of the game content.

Can anyone name any other MMOs with similar freedom when it comes to exploring, climbing, jumping, swimming? And not just as a gimmick either, but as a necessary part of the game that rewards you?

A large world might be cool, but it seems it's something they could add if they wanted to / had the resources. No need for the game to be completely trashed and remade.

I think everyone should read the Filing http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/08/26/Atari.pdf and if even half of that is truth then I hope Atari will be put out of buisness for good, seems like a very shady company.

"Atari’s conduct as described herein not only constitutes a breach of its obligations
under the Agreements, but also constitutes actionable fraud. By this lawsuit, Turbine seeks to
recover in excess of $30 million in losses occasioned by Atari’s breach and wrongful conduct.
Turbine also seeks a declaration that Atari’s claim for additional royalty fees and purported
grounds for termination of the parties’ Agreements are unfounded and without basis in the
Agreements."

Turbine even tried to help Atari when they financial troubles...

"At one point, in or about September 2006, Atari owed Turbine millions of dollars in outstanding
royalties which Atari told Turbine’s former Chief Financial Officer, Peter Faubert, that Atari
simply did not have the money to pay. In an effort to accommodate Atari and Atari’s financial
distress, Turbine agreed to offset the royalties owed to Turbine by Atari against those owed to
Atari by Turbine"

This not about if you like the game or not, this about a company screwing over another company badly, and also screwing all the people who enjoy DDO and think its a great game. (one of the best MMOs in my opinion)

Originally posted by Dubhlaith

 

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Originally posted by Khalathwyr
Yeah, it was a shady thing to do on Atari's part. But what is the underlying message here? I think it's that Atari realizes that DDO in it's iteration isn't a very viable MMO. If the heavily instanced game as it was made (granted I haven't played it since a few months after it's release) was in such a state they had to open up a F2P portion to their business model, well they're hurting for subscriptions in my opinion.
I bet Atari wants to see the DnD license in a more traditional MMO setup, with a large world and multiple cities and such. To be honest, I do too. Granted, it'd have to be 3.5 ruleset or below.

---

 

I really would too, but I am nearly certain it would be 4.0. Shame, but almost certain.

Well, here's hoping. That said, I have to agree with you as they even define the "classes" in 4.0 with MMO gaming terms (Tank, DPS, etc.)

@Baneshade - "Dungeons" don't always have to be underground or in an enclosed space. Overland areas are fully capable of being "dungeons" in their own right. I say that as a long time DM/GM and player for pencil & paper tabletop DnD, Shadowrun, Gamma World, etc.

http://www.massively.com/2009/08/26/breaking-turbine-sues-atari-over-dungeons-and-dragons-online/#continued


Here is the massively write up about the story, seems more detailed.
 

 basicly no company can afford f2p venture so any means to get money is good as long as its not coming from our own pocket

.why did they bother with this is a mystery to me.cant compete with wow in p2p  and cant afford f2p market oh i got it 

having read the article i do hope atari just plainly remove right from ddo pay the 30 million and just re-lunch the game ,

coming to the court after what 2 years gees come on basicly turbine cant afford another publicity campain new f2p ddo 

lol ddo is 2 years old atary did their part when game was lunched their part is done and finished ,the new f2p version is turbine or whatever new guy descided f2p was good idea want publicity at next superbol im sorry but its not atary problem anymore 

they done their part when game was lunched 

men in america everybody sue everybody some people have too much time on their hands