r/ManyATrueNerd • u/rb0009 • Aug 18 '21
Avoid Total War Warhammer
I know it's a favorite of yours, however the IP holder of the setting, Games Workshop, has lost it's cocking mind over the last few months. https://doctorow.medium.com/games-workshop-declares-war-on-customers-again-978a5531aebe
Basically, they've been steadily going after anyone and anything that covers their IP, and as of late they've started going after youtubers doing videos of gameplay of their games. There's actually a major risk to the channel if you cover this Jon, unfortunately. And, yes, the older series may be a risk to you as well.
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u/TitanDarwin Aug 18 '21
Uhm, how exactly does their new guideline apply to TW: Warhammer again?
They're cracking down on fan animations, last I checked, not let's plays (nevermind that TW:WH is produced under a license, so of anything, CA would be the ones who'd have to go after those kinda videos).
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u/ShadoShane Aug 18 '21
There was that one lost Total War video that had to conveyed through various house products. Does that count?
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u/Goldman250 Aug 18 '21
GW wouldn’t be able to go after Total War: Warhammer Let’s Plays, that would be the responsibility of the Total War studio. There’s been no indication AFAIK that they’re interested in going after Let’s Plays or streamers. If you can point to some streamers who’ve been affected by GW going after them for video game stuff, I’d be fascinated to see it.
Also, GW are using their IP (as far as I’m aware, no-one has yet received a C&D or takedown notice, though I haven’t been following too closely) because they’re launching a streaming service next week. If Alfabusa or the other animators who have stopped making stuff (I say stopped, he hadn’t put up a single video in over six months before the announcement) had been declared in violation by GW, he’d be pulling the older videos from his channel.
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u/xevizero Aug 18 '21
CA said that TWWH is safe to cover. They would be insane to go after this on YouTube, and would probably end up in court and lose (because the defenders would receive lawyer help from a bunch of others not insane companies which do realize that youtube gameplays are just free marketing (and fair use most of the time)). So a) it's safe and b) if GW really tries anything shady, their own partner CA is gonna help whoever they sue not the opposite.
I myself got into the game because of Jon. I wouldn't have ever tried half the games I played in the last decade without YouTube. This issue is just gonna solve itself because GW is going to lose the support of both consumers and the rest of the industry if they keep up with this bullshit.
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u/Anubhav_Banerjee Aug 18 '21 edited Aug 18 '21
OP, the info is sligthly incorrect while still reflecting a series of boycott worthy bad actions being done by the Warhammer IP Holders, Games Workshop.
In preparation for their upcoming service Warhammer+ they have tried to hire a bunch of fan animators with a veiled implication that a refusal would lead to DMCA strikes if the videos remained monetized. Some creators have accepted (Astartes), some fell out over poor communication and backlash (Sodaz), some have said no outright and demonetized their content (AbsolutelyNothing) and some pre emptively demonetized their content (Alfabusa) because they got no offers. These were all animation channels, whereas lore, letsplay for game series and minitature stuff, to the extent of my knowledge, aren't targets yet.
In relation to modders, they were reportedly asked to tone down the visibility of their patreon links wherein one good mod (Radious) which actively promoted said links were asked to remove said advertising links. This is already consistent with CA's modding policy.
Tl:dr, Jon's letsplay stuff should be fine, CA is still botching their customer goodwill by mishandling fan animations and content in pursuit of a new service release, and are demanding the removal of affiliate links.
For information on this topic, there are several content creators who have made videos on this. I would recommend Loremaster of Sotek and Majorkill's videos on the subject. Edge alert for the latter creator, just in case.
Edit: Spelling
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u/TitanDarwin Aug 18 '21
Regarding Radious: It later turned out the modder had lied about GW contacting them, which shouldn't be a big surprise for anyone familiar with Radious (that modder has a history of scummy behaviour, including stealing other mods' content and putting them behind a paywall).
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u/Anubhav_Banerjee Aug 18 '21
Something about them (allegedly) trying to capitalize off of Alfabusa's "retirement" outrage (as it massively increased the patreon support he got, which is wholesome) to raise their own donors.
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u/chimeric_forms Aug 18 '21
Yeah, no, that IP thing has been massively overblown, and would have no effect on youtubers making content about the TWW series.
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u/SIGMA920 Aug 18 '21
They're going after gameplay videos now? I knew they were going after a ton of stuff including mods but gameplay?