[Discussion] Was the Essentials Wiki taken down?

Fun though, now this thread is a hot topic!

Good luck risking yourself just to share a fangame then. Illegal matter isn't something to laugh at, in the internet or IRL. Having problems for that matter is just silly and ridiculous.
This is nothing about motivation, it's about being aware of the risks and the impact they will have on your life. What will you do with a penalty of hundred or thousand dollars? Yeah, the risk is low, but there is a risk. It's a shame for the fangame community, but it's true.

Guess so...
But passion must not be contained! I know the risks and I will (hopefully) take them. Maybe others shall follow, or they may not, it all depends on the mind of the one who goes. You might not want to take the risk, but I will. And if I am sued for creating something I love, so be it.

The amount of entitlement in this thread is simply sad. Sorry but "I spent a lot of time stealing those goods!" isn't a rational justification for doing it.

Also, Essentials is still as legal as it has ever been. The shut down the wiki. That's it. It's simply their way of deterring people from trying. It doesn't mean you can't use essentials as you have.

The lack of a wiki itself is a shame yes, but essentials has a tutorial for every major function built into the default maps. It's more than useable still.

Whatever happens to fangames here (if anything - and I personally doubt it), it takes time to make a decision. I'd rather people didn't jump to conclusions or made weird conspiracy theories. We know what we're doing.

BadSamaritan said:

The amount of entitlement in this thread is simply sad. Sorry but "I spent a lot of time stealing those goods!" isn't a rational justification for doing it.

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I'm not sure what you're getting at with this. I don't see any "entitlement" here. Just a bunch of people that are upset about a creative outlet being targeted by a company that they're obviously big fans of. No one is trying to make a "rational justification" for stealing. PE is far more than copyrighted assets, though. Although a lot of code in the engine is mimicking functionality that you find in Pokémon games, it still belongs to the creator. Just like any script that I make within the engine belongs to me, or any script that you make within the engine belongs to you.

And yeah, maybe we all should've seen this coming, as relatively harmless as the project was. Then again, you have companies like Bethesda that actually give people toolkits to mod their games, so the argument can just as easily be made that Nintendo should take their calendars, flip past the year of 1999 and join us all in the 21st century. Idk. That's my opinion. You obviously have your own opinion and that's fine.

Nesty said:

I'm not sure what you're getting at with this. I don't see any "entitlement" here. Just a bunch of people that are upset about a creative outlet being targeted by a company that they're obviously big fans of. No one is trying to make a "rational justification" for stealing. PE is far more than copyrighted assets, though. Although a lot of code in the engine is mimicking functionality that you find in Pokémon games, it still belongs to the creator. Just like any script that I make within the engine belongs to me, or any script that you make within the engine belongs to you.

And yeah, maybe we all should've seen this coming, as relatively harmless as the project was. Then again, you have companies like Bethesda that actually give people toolkits to mod their games, so the argument can just as easily be made that Nintendo should take their calendars, flip past the year of 1999 and join us all in the 21st century. Idk. That's my opinion. You obviously have your own opinion and that's fine.

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Hmm...well, if they are going to treat their fans like that, why don't we just make our own indie fan games that are "in the spirit of" Pokemon--turn-based fighting and quest RPG, for example, but are our own works and totally original as far as copyright is concerned? We could even make a few bucks off of it to boot. I mean, there are some things they can't copyright, as much as they would like to.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Pokemon Essentials, as it helped me breathe new life into my Pokemon fan fiction. I definitely didn't think I was committing any form of piracy, as I had to pay for the RPG Maker program and I was only planning to share with game showcase communities. Pokemon Essentials has it's own license, doesn't it? It's not like the developer of the program was doing anything illegal, either, as it was simply a program to help people understand how Pokemon games are made. Why Nintendo is so upset about us learning about their game mechanics and trying our hands at it ourselves is beyond me, but I think if they don't appreciate their fans, we should take our hard work elsewhere.

My suggestion for the creator of Essentials is to give us a "code only" stripped down version of the program, or even a version with the codes changed, if need be (even though I don't think that's really an issue) for the fans to do whatever they want with. You might even be able to charge a fee if there's no copyright to contend with. That might be a winning situation for everyone.

I might take a break from working on my Pokemon fan game until Nintendo comes to their senses, but I am still interested in using the RPG Maker program. Fan games are easier to make, and the stories are easier to tell, but they aren't all there is.

Well the default battle system in RPG maker sucks hard. I don't see any point in using RPG maker outside of pokemon essentials imo

IlligalBeagle said:

"Sure its illegal, but that is part of the excitement. We are all criminals harboring illegal copyrighted material in our computers and minds."
"You guys probably have some pictures on your computer somewhere from DeviantArt or something. Maybe it is even your wallpaper. The web is a place where all of the illegitimate things come and where they are found by people like us, who are simply browsing the web. Soooooo, again, we're all criminals in this great big world called the internet."

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None of what you are talking about is even considered actionable even if some of it could potentially be "illegal". Even violating copyright infringement on this level is not grounds for any legitimate legal action. You will never get in trouble for downloading & using any (humane) desktop background/wallpaper.
By your definitions - browsing the web would also be illegal - as our browsers cache (save) the images as we search through them.
These comments are simply ridiculous.

✵ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ✵
❧ I like to note how the GameFreak developers don't mind about fan-games, but rather encourage their making
❧ and also seem to joke a bit about it, whereas a few fan-made projects have been taken down by an
❧ enterprise that co-developed 3 Pokémon side-games and had a subsidiary co-developing an other... (actually, the takedown notice comes either from a division or either from T.P.C.I., a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company... silly me, attacking people who probably have no involvement in this...)
❧ But again, because of the joint venture GameFreak formed with Nintendo and Creatures,
❧ the property is equally shared and we're stuck with that.
❧ Besides, hadn't the joint venture formed, we probably wouldn't be here typing any of this...
❧ So I guess I "ain't got nothing"?
❧
❧ Still, regard the whole takedown thing... if it were to actually affect all the fan-games based off of it
❧ because said fan-games contain part of Essentials... I hope not, but if that was the case, maybe someone
❧ will find a way to bypass the thing similarly to what happened with rom patches
❧ which, in brute terms, are just the modifications done to the roms...?
❧ The deal with the wiki sure bothers me, I don't want to annoy experienced fan-devs with-

00.Archer said:

PSA: the Internet Archive has a backup from this year. If you need any information from the wiki, I recommend saving them locally. Here's the link:
https://web.archive.org/web/2018042...ntials.wikia.com/wiki/Pokémon_Essentials_Wiki

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❧ *Hugs Archer*
✵ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ✵

Scopulus said:

These comments are simply ridiculous.

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That's your opinion, might as well not quote me on that, but the quote is my opinion. We can all see in this forum thread that we all have different opinions. Let us not anger each other in the process. We are all in the same boat here (the wiki is gone boat). I am thinking that the reason a transference of Pokemon essentials here is banned is for our own good, for if Nintendo or Pokemon Co found out, they would have this place taken down too. Sooooo, let us not argue and let us speak with respect for the others opinion. Besides, we still have the wiki through the Wayback machine/ web archive (whatever you want to call it) and content dump (eventually). So we still have all of the information that we used to have (mostly). Let us not hurt each other and saying that what the other person is feeling is wrong because of we argue about opinions we aren't going to get anywhere. The fact is simple, the wiki is gone. Out home is here now. But if the verdict is delivered by the creator, we will build a new home, better than a dull Wikia Wiki. Or we might stay here and hope that new talent has a way to get here. Whatever Maruno says about the status of Essentials and if we are allowed to create a new place for it, that shall be final. But the internet shall carry the vessel along anyway. Buried beneath layers of web pages. Maybe someday, it will be found by a simple soul, who will carry it to safety and discover its secrets. Or it will be discovered by the company again and will be destroyed with a fatal blow. We do not know what the future holds. Only what it could be. In the meantime, we shall populate these forums until we all die off or leave.

People in nintedo knows very well the free publicity that fangames and romhacks make for its brand. I don't see them going seriously to shut down all this. The times they have shut down a fangame it's been for the echo these games had, even in news sites. Being possible of confusing new players if these games were official or not.

Neither I see making fangames as something illegal or stealing to nintendo, as nobody claims the game as his own intellectual property and nobody has intention of making any profit of it. I see it more like a cover of a song, made it by a fan as a way to honor the artist and its work.

I hope the shut down of the wiki is due to the located address it was and Maruno can take it back or relocate it in another domain.

Okay all that happen was a wiki take down due to violationg TOS nothing more. That doesnt change the fact that Essentials violated Wiki TOS. For now we can just keep posting tutorials and other stuff like we normally do. PC just doesnt want a nintendo on their back so they have to take caustion on what gets posted.

Zeak6464 said:

Okay all that happen was a wiki take down due to violationg TOS nothing more. That doesnt change the fact that Essentials violated Wiki TOS. For now we can just keep posting tutorials and other stuff like we normally do. PC just doesnt want a nintendo on their back so they have to take caustion on what gets posted.

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I mean, Fandom got a DMCA from Nintendo of America and has therefore taken down the wikia itself. They also sent a DMCA to Mediafire for the actual downloads themselves. That's pretty serious stuff.
But yes, you can still post tutorials and resources and the like.

I feel like something like this was a long time coming, what with fangames getting taken down in the past...

How will be with new game made with Pokemon Essentials???

Really bad news :(

fdl said:

How will be with new game made with Pokemon Essentials???

Really bad news :(

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maybe by not using ripped assets like official pokemon sprites?

Orondhor said:

Another site wouldn't really work in the long term, since Nintendo could easily DMCA it if they wanted, whether they actually have a legal basis or not..

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The site should be hosted in a country where DMCA doesn't work, e.g. Russia is good.

I thoroughly enjoy people publicly discussing how to hide something on a well known forum that's given access to hundreds of fan-games and hacks for over a decade. As if the people at Nintendo instigating these takedowns don't have the ability to use the internet.

BadSamaritan said:

As if the people at Nintendo instigating these takedowns don't have the ability to use the internet.

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i genuinely wonder if they do

(you're right though)