GameSalad's License Agreement - I've seen the future (and some other stuff).

PhoticsPhotics Member Posts: 4,172
edited November -1 in Working with GS (Mac)
So hey, I'm uploading BOT to GameSalad. I have lots of time to chat while I wait for a file to return. But before I could upload my game, I had to agree to the new license agreement.

I hate reading these things. They should be much shorter. It should be like two word...

"Be Cool"

I interpret that as... don't screw with me and I won't screw with you… and hey, this is technology. It doesn't always work right… but we'll try hard to make it work right, OK?

GameSalad has conducted themselves in a highly professional manor, so they seem like a company I can trust. Yet, I'm supposed to click agree. That means I have to read it. So... I did... and I saw some interesting things.
Section 8

You agree not to use or launch any automated system, including without limitation, “robots,” “spiders,”

BOT has automated Spiders and Robots… it HAS ROBOT SPIDER! Maybe I'm really in trouble. HA HA.
Section 9

You acknowledge and agree that GameSalad may use the Software licensed to you hereunder to develop its own games and that GameSalad reserves the right to independently develop and publish games that may be substantially similar to your Submission(s). To the extent that any game independently developed by GameSalad appears substantially similar to any of Submissions, you hereby waive any claims you may have against GameSalad arising therefrom.

Wow, you want to make games "substantially similar" to mine? Does that mean GameSalad is going to make a giant Robot game called BUT.

I didn't interpret this as copying… more like… hey, if we make a space shooter and you make a space shooter, don't sue us.
Section 11

To the extent you hold any rights that conflict with the rights you have granted as set forth in these Terms, you hereby waive, and agree not to assert, any moral or similar rights you may have, and which apply to your Submissions or Feedback which GameSalad uses within the scope of the licenses granted by you under these Terms.

The wording seems really strange… moral rights? GameSalad, you can almost guarantee that if you screw with people's submissions, they will be exercising their rights. I'm thinking in general it says, "Hey… don't blame us if you get into legal problems with your submissions." I didn't see any rights that would conflict. It's pretty simple. I have the right to use my content. GameSalad might do some marketing or hosting for HTML 5 stuff. It's the same thing Apple gets for putting an app on an app store. If GameSalad keeps doing what they're doing, there won't be any trouble… but this section seems like it can be improved. There may be some special case submissions that should not be used for aggressive GameSalad marketing… like when Bumps ended up on the front page. I think GameSalad should work with developers first if they're going to do something grand like that. Maybe the extra attention could actually create issues.
Section 13...

EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT YOU REQUEST GAMESALAD TO SELL YOUR SUBMISSIONS ON YOUR BEHALF PURSUANT TO PUBLISHING SERVICES THAT GAMESALAD MAY OFFER UNDER SEPARATE TERMS OF SERVICE, GAMESALAD WILL NOT SELL YOUR SUBMISSIONS TO ANY THIRD PARTY.
So this is the future part. It's in all caps, so clearly it's important to GameSalad. It looks like they're thinking about setting up their own app store. That's pretty cool. Yodapollo already stated that Project Masala is not really about advertising, because it doesn't really make money. In the modern Internet age, what makes money? APP SALES!

They're pretty serious about this too. I could tell by looking at this...
If you use the GameSalad Embeddable Player on your website, you may not: (i) modify, build upon, or block any portion or functionality of the GameSalad Embeddable Player, including but not limited to links back to the Site; and (ii) sell advertising, sponsorships, or promotions for placement within the GameSalad Embeddable Player.

This is why I referred to Project Masala as "working for GameSalad and paying for the privilege to do so". I can't put ads in my online games. Imagine if Flash suddenly added such a restriction. Adobe shares would drop like a brick.
Also Section 13…

You may remove your Executable Package from the Site by accessing your Account and following the removal procedure specified on the Site; provided however, that such removal will not affect GameSalad’s continued right to use your Submissions pursuant to clauses (iii) and (iv) of this paragraph.

So immediately, I thought, "What are the clauses?"

Is it this?!
(iii) enabling Third Party Web Sites to embed all or portions of your Submissions into their web sites; (iv) marketing and promoting the Site and Services;

Why would GameSalad need the continued right to embed and market apps that have been removed? This part seems like a mistake.

Oh... and I love Section 27. It lets me skip all the new stuff. Blah blah blah... oh it's you Mike... yeah... you're cool. You don't need to read this.

Also… 9600 Great Hills Trail… did you guys move? That address looks new.

Anyway... my app is done. After making this thread... wasting all that time... I got a message, "Code signing failed. Make sure your Mac developer certificate and WWDR certificate are installed."

I'm not surprised. HA!

Comments

  • RevnanRevnan Member Posts: 1
    Photics, I'm curious - in what region or under what court system are you barred to practice law, or to offer legal advice? Where is your law degree from, and in what year did you receive your diploma?
  • PhoticsPhotics Member Posts: 4,172
    DISCLAIMER: I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice :)
  • PhoticsPhotics Member Posts: 4,172
    Revnan said:
    Photics, I'm curious - in what region or under what court system are you barred to practice law, or to offer legal advice? Where is your law degree from, and in what year did you receive your diploma?

    DISCLAIMER: I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice!

    I have questions about the EULA and theories as to what GameSalad might be doing in the future. My comments are what I was thinking while reading it. I had to make the decision to accept the license agreement. Can I trust GameSalad? I think so. I accepted the license agreement even though I had trouble understanding what some parts meant.

    It is not a recommendation of what you should do.

    I do think we should be able to discuss this though. From the way I understand how things work, we give GameSalad permission to use our games for marketing. What if we don't like what they do? Are we screwed?

    The main point of the thread is to ask questions to GameSalad... to see if they'll clarify what they mean. Also, that there could be some insight into the future of GameSalad by actually reading the agreement. I imagine that a lot of people just skip these things. And because people just skip it, we can't talk about it.... which means we can't improve it.

    Maybe a separate agreement is coming for us to publish games through GameSalad. If Project Masala is the beginning of the GameSalad Marketplace... or maybe the new addition is groundwork for the GameSalad Marketplace, that's pretty cool!

    ...and I STILL CAN'T PUBLISH MY GAME.
    I don't understand what the error is about. :(
  • EastboundEastbound Member, BASIC Posts: 1,074
    Check your provisioning profiles in xcode. If you have two of the same name (probably one that is expired), delete the older one.

    At least that's what was wrong when I was getting the error.
  • PhoticsPhotics Member Posts: 4,172
    Eastbound said:
    Check your provisioning profiles in xcode. If you have two of the same name (probably one that is expired), delete the older one.

    At least that's what was wrong when I was getting the error.

    This might be something to try. I created a new user, so the keychain should have been cleared out... but maybe there's something screwy in Xcode and it's carrying over to the new user.

    Although, there aren't any provisioning profiles from the Mac App Store. This is so frustrating :(

    Also another comment about the license agreement to GameSalad... thanks for adding the date at the top and the bottom, so at least I know when to look for changes. I'm trying to follow the rules honorably and as best I understand them. I also think you're a cool company and I do not think you're trying to rip off my work. But after reading the license agreement again today, I got new questions.
  • butterbeanbutterbean Member Posts: 4,315
    My brain hurts!

    I hate code signing failures, such a pain.

    The easiest way to check is go into your keychain access under utilities.

    You should have 5 certificates in total.

    1 is the WWDR certificate you download in the provisioning portal (iOS)

    2 & 3: The iOS development AND Distribution certificates

    NOW the last 2:

    3rd party mac developer INSTALLER certificate, and 3rd party mac developer APPLICATION certificate

    You should have 5 total if you're doing both iOS and MAS games, so if you have more than that, or less, then it could be triggering an error.

    Hope this helps out!
  • PhoticsPhotics Member Posts: 4,172
    I have four...

    • Mac Developer
    • Mac Installer
    • iPhone Developer
    • iPhone Distribution

    So, I get the WWDR certificate from the iOS side... and it's going to work for Mac? I didn't see where to download a WWDR certificate on the Mac side of the developer website. There's a hyperlink, but clicking on it does nothing.

    EDIT: This is going off-topic, so I posted here... http://gamesalad.com/forums/topic.php?id=26300
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