[quote=“Kadamose”]
Sega no longer makes ANY money on this game, and do not benefit from the Ebay purchases…so all of you who are bitching about the pirating of this game, need to stick your tail between your legs, and shut the hell up.[/quote]
Do you own the publishing rights to Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG?
No.
Do you own the intellectual property of parts or the whole of Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG?
No.
Does the person who provided the CD-images you have linked to own either of these?
No.
Are they therefore breaking copyright protection law?
Yes.
By posting that link, Kudamose, you are posting a link to illegal use of intellectual property. This, as I am sure I do not need to remind you, is against the law. Illegal activities on the internet are common, and whilst it may seem that there is little going on to prevent it, hosting companies do keep an eye on their hosted websites for illegal activities, or the breaking of any ToS that the Webmaster agreed with upon activation of his or her account.
Chris, more commonly known to us as Solo Wing Dragon, pays for the privilege of keeping The Will of The Ancients on the internet. He pays for it with money that he has earned. Right now, Kudamose, you are paying absolute sweet fanny adams for the privilege of using it, as are we all.
If you were to take a part of Solo’s website and use it on your own, you would be performing a theft of intellectual property. Solo could sue your BUTT off just for that, even if it is not affecting him in terms of finances. It is HIS work, HIS labour and HIS dedication that makes this website possible, along with contributions from others. He could sue you despite the fact that you have not caused him loss of earnings. Granted, it is unlikely, but the key word here is “could”.
If you are providing pirate downloads, then not only is it an arrestable offence, but SEGA would be well within their rights to sue you for stolen intellectual property. Again, it is not likely, as SEGA have much more important things to worry about, but the fact is, they could.
If you truly are as much of a SEGA fan as you claim to be, then you should respect SEGA’s copyright and ownership of intellectual property on Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG.
Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG will never achieve the same greatness as Final Fantasy VII did. Final Fantasy VII was the equivalent of Star Wars for RPGs. Had A:PDRPG been released earlier in the console’s lifetime, it is possible that it would have been better received, but of course, it did not. It is in the same category as NiGHTS: Saturn games that were beyond their time, only unknown to the public due to the Saturn itself being out of vogue. To argue that pirating the game will make it gain the respect it deserves, when in fact it has already received critical acclaim from several publications and continues to do so today, is poorly judged. The only area in which the game has not received this acclaim is amongst casual gamers, most of which do not care about the Sega Saturn console.
If Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG is perhaps re-released on the Playstation Three or X-box Three-Sixty, then it may gain another shot at the fame amongst casual gamers that it deserves. Until that time, the foremost RPG in people’s minds will continue to be Final Fantasy, despite strong contendership from Skies of Arcadia, Legend of Zelda and, of course, Panzer Dragoon Saga. These series will be left for the happiness of the people who do not buy poor EA games, who will listen to new ideas and who do not ignore consoles based on the fact that another one is coming out (I am referring to the quote in Computer and Video games where a reader said: “What’s Dreamcast? All I want to hear about is Playstation 2.”)
In conclusion, pirating Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG will not achieve it any increase in status. All it does is breaks the law and infringes on SEGA’s intellectual property.
