Selling items in-game and Mojang EULA

[Maxiride]

I was reading this article https://mojang.com/2014/06/lets-talk-server-monetisation/ and this one https://mojang.com/2014/06/lets-talk-server-monetisation-the-follow-up-qa/ and a question came up in my mind.

How are these rules applied with game content added by mods such all the ones present in FTB packs?
Can I sell on my server items not present in the basic minecraft? And this is related to, and not limited to, pulverizers, wands, third-party ores, Mystcraft dimension, RFTool dimension, etc etc the list of stuff not in th epure minecraft is huge

Here are the main quotes I would like to present:

You are allowed to charge players to access your server
So long as the fee is the same for all players, you are allowed to charge for access to your server. You are not allowed to split your playerbase into paying, and non-paying users, nor can you restrict gameplay elements to different tiers of player.

You are allowed to sell in-game items so long as they don’t affect gameplay
We don’t mind you selling items in game, but they must be purely cosmetic. Pets, hats, and particle effects are OK, but swords, invincibility potions, and man-eating pigs are not. We want all players to be presented with the same gameplay features, whether they decide to pay or not.

So what about an electric furnace for instance?

Can I sell “kits” for hard currency if I provide a balanced alternative for non-paying users?
If the “kits” contain gameplay-affecting features they are not allowed. Gameplay balance is not relevant to the EULA. If the items included in the kit are purely cosmetic, you can charge real money/hard currency.

An average FTB player doesn't give a sh*t IMHO about aesthetic in the huge universe of possibilities given by modded MC.

 

[Taldrakkan]

If I'm correct, I believe people get around this by taking donations, and then afterwards and totally completely coincidentally freely giving absolutely definitely random players certain items. Legal stuff is as legal stuff does and it's always annoying and confusing.

 

[psp]

If I'm correct, I believe people get around this by taking donations, and then afterwards and totally completely coincidentally freely giving absolutely definitely random players certain items. Legal stuff is as legal stuff does and it's always annoying and confusing.

Exactly.

 

[Taldrakkan]

"Donors may get gifts such as XYZ if donating $X"
With a heavily implied "may". Also, it's hard enough for anyone to press charges or do anything about blatantly selling things that are against EULA, trying to stop someone that has done anything to "work around" it is a nightmare. That's why most people sell in-game currency that can be argued doesn't directly affect gameplay, but then allows players to buy things that do.

 

[ljfa]

"Donors may get gifts such as XYZ if donating $X"

This would probably count as selling since you get something in return for money.

That's why most people sell in-game currency that can be argued doesn't directly affect gameplay, but then allows players to buy things that do.

This is also adressed by the EULA iirc.

 

[psp]

99.9% of servers just fuck the eula and still sell items that have in-game benefits.
I mean who can blame them? The eula is dumb and has never been enforced.

 

[psp]

There is nothing wrong with denying people from monetising other people's property.

But they let people create whole intricate economies and let servers get dependent on selling items that have an in-game benefit to support themseleves. They didn't enfore the original eula for years. Then they just up and tried to screw everything up.

I, to date, only know of 3 servers (public) that completely follow the eula.

 

[Taldrakkan]

This would probably count as selling since you get something in return for money.

I'm skeptical about that. It follows the same principles as what people do to avoid breaking California's gambling laws (Which is make rewards potentially available to everyone, but drastically increase the chances for people who pay, therefore you are not receiving something for paying, because everyone is able to get it) and that's been done for ages and quite publicly.

 

[ljfa]

But they let people create whole intricate economies and let servers get dependent on selling items that have an in-game benefit to support themseleves. They didn't enfore the original eula for years. Then they just up and tried to screw everything up.

Independent of what Mojang wants, monetizing mods without permission has never been allowed. It's a different story for vanilla items. If Mojang doesn't want to enforce the Eula on vanilla servers it's their decision.

 

[Taldrakkan]

There is nothing wrong with denying people from monetising other people's property.

Except they're not selling the code or the IP, which Mojang owns. They're selling a value in the server's database, which is owned by the server owner. It then becomes a bit of a grey area.

The servers were building their economies on something that is, and was illegal. That isn't Mojangs fault.

As I stated above, what is being sold is rather questionable, your Electric company can't forbid you from selling data on your computer because they provided the electricity that runs it. You own what you do with what they provide, same with Mojang providing the code, and you owning the server-side data.

 

[psp]

Independent of what Mojang wants, monetizing mods without permission has never been allowed. It's a different story for vanilla items. If Mojang doesn't want to enforce the Eula on vanilla servers it's their decision.

I'm not talking about modded servers.