Important News about Army Builder Data Files for GW Games – Please Read

Important News about Army Builder Data Files for GW Games – Please Read

A few days ago, we learned that www.datafilecentral.com, a hosting site for Army Builder data files, has been notified by Games Workshop that all GW-related files need to be taken down. This was completely unexpected, as the site has been operating for many years without complaint from Games Workshop (or anyone else). The AB user who manages the site informed us about this over the weekend, and he said that he has no choice but to comply with GW's demands.

We've already notified the data file authors for any games that are impacted, allowing them to migrate their files to new hosting sites. If all goes smoothly, nobody will even notice the change. However, given the number of game systems involved, it's possible that there will be a temporary hiccup with at least one of them. In the interests of transparency, we want to give everyone early warning of potential problems.

For those users who aren't already aware, it’s important to note that Army Builder data files for games are not part of the product itself, being instead created by independent data file authors who are not affiliated with us. Lone Wolf Development creates the Army Builder software, and dedicated gamers then create AB data files for their favorite games. The model is very similar to creating spreadsheets for Microsoft Excel, with game system data files being created, maintained, and distributed by volunteers who want to leverage AB themselves and enjoy sharing their work with the rest of the gaming community.

If there ends up being a problem with migrating the data files for a game you play, it means that the data files for that game will be temporarily unavailable for download through the updates mechanism. Once the files are removed from datafilecentral.com, they won't be available again until they are hosted on an alternate site and the author has updated Army Builder to know where they can now be found. Once that's done, the files will again be available.

Please note that if you already downloaded the data files for a game system, you won’t experience any interruption in your use of Army Builder for that game. Your saved rosters will also not be affected. You simply won’t be able to download the data files again until they’ve been re-hosted by the author.

The best way to safeguard against being inconvenienced by any potential hiccups with data files for any game system is to immediately grab all the data files you might need as a backup so that you won't need them during any temporary outage. If you then discover you need the files due to a system failure or upgrade, you can easily copy them from your backup, even if they are temporarily unavailable through AB. You can find a complete list of Army Builder data files on our web site here: http://www.wolflair.com/index.php?context=army_builder&page=supplemental_downloads

For new users seeking data files that have not yet been re-released, there will be no way to access the data files via AB. The only option for new users will be to obtain the data files from other users that have them.

As for what this means at GW, we know as much as you do. Army Builder has greatly enhanced the enjoyment of a vast range of miniatures games for 14 years now, GW's games included, and it's been a symbiotic relationship where everybody benefits. This could easily just be someone on the GW legal team doing a zealous sweep of anything that uses GW's IP, without any awareness of the long-standing allowance of AB data files. Or it could mean something has fundamentally changed in GW's philosophy towards AB. However, given that they have not contacted any of the data file authors themselves, including the high-profile 40K data file team, it seems to us that it's probably the former, and that's our working assumption right now. We're in the process of reaching out to GW to learn more, but we've heard nothing yet from GW ourselves.

Please note that the removal of data files from www.datafilecentral.com only applies to GW's games. All other games that are hosted there will remain, as other game publishers continue to view Army Builder and the fan-created data files as complementary assets that make their games easier and more enjoyable to play.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by these events. Since we’re unable to work directly with the Army Builder data files for GW's games ourselves, they are unfortunately beyond our control. We’re doing everything we can to minimize the disruption caused by this to our users, and will continue to do so in the future.

Thanks in advance for everyone's patience and support as we work through this!

Sincerely,
The Lone Wolf Staff

Leave it to GW to find more ways to alienate their fan base.

And to think I came to the forums today to see if there was any info on when we could expect to see 6th Edition updates for 40K, planning etc...

Is there anything we as hobbyists can do... contact GW, Write a Letter, wait until you hear back from GW and then the previous if need be?

I see no valid reason for GW to do this unless they were coming out with their own product to replace AB. It's not like AB creates an environment where you can play the game without purchasing a rulebook or codex

Very frustrated by GW ... Yet Again...

a response from Under-Empire.net, on which I posted the OP

"Given that GW has just entered the electronic book market, and appears to be intent on developing iPad apps, I find it hard to believe that this crackdown is a coincidence. As I understand it, the new electronic Space Marines codex contains an app to build a Space Marine army. Possibly, that's GW's idea: to force everyone into buying electronic codexes and army books, with army building software built into each."

Cat out of the bag? Seems like it to me.

I have the digital codex and don't recall seeing that part... so let me go and look and I will report my findings...

And that obviously screws people who don't have an iPad...

As I expected I see NO method for building armies in the existing digital codex space space marines. and I have the full version not the sample.

Even if that were the case, sort of stupid until all codex's are digital. Not to mention, going back to long hand pen and paper means I now have to validate my opponents math and know whether S/He built their list following the rules vs the roster validation AB provided...

Yobtar said:

a response from Under-Empire.net, on which I posted the OP

"Given that GW has just entered the electronic book market, and appears to be intent on developing iPad apps, I find it hard to believe that this crackdown is a coincidence. As I understand it, the new electronic Space Marines codex contains an app to build a Space Marine army. Possibly, that's GW's idea: to force everyone into buying electronic codexes and army books, with army building software built into each."

Cat out of the bag? Seems like it to me.

Click to expand...

I spoke with our IP lawyer about this possibility, and he said that it was certainly not a tactic that he would have expected from GW, even if they were coming out with their own product. So it's definitely possible, but it seems unlikely, and the last thing we need is another wild rumor spreading that's based on a wild theory, especially one that flies in the face of what the lawyers think makes sense.

Looks like I need to head over to Under-Empire...

Hmm. I'm not able to reach Under-Empire.net. Is that the correct URL? If not, please point me to the right place.

Thanks!

rob said:

Hmm. I'm not able to reach Under-Empire.net. Is that the correct URL? If not, please point me to the right place.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

http://s6.zetaboards.com/The_UnderEmpire/topic/8824802/1/

Thanks for the link!

I probably have more to say in the future after I actually get a chance for some spare time, but for now let me say that as far as I am aware of things at the moment, the ab40k files will march onward.

With the advent of a new edition, there are some things which would need to be updated. However with the new look on allies, it may require some additional programming. With this as the case, as well as our general moritorium on updates to the AB40K files, the next update to the files that will include 6E updates will be available no sooner than August 1st.

GW's war on the community

I want to propose a third possibility. This is part of GW's new war on tournament play of 40K as it exist today.

I got my rules at midnight last night and drove home 3 hours in the middle of the night. You might call me a HUGE fan boy. I even spend a lot of time running a major podcast and blog. SO I am very committed (in every way) to 40K.

I have gone from being giddy little school girl so excited by 6th ed that I could not contain myself ( I even have a still unfulfilled order for the $150 buck with shipping collector copy) to what I am now less that 12 hours of exposure to 6th ed and the travesty of a joke the FAQ's are. I am so upset I really cannot even express it well.

6Th Ed is obviously at every level anti organized play in nature. It is literally as if they had that as part of their design mandate. It is full of outstanding and well established game methods that we have all been begging GW to do for years and years.

The problem is that it is an unholy mess. Not the writing or necessarily the organization but what they actually did to the mechanics and individual rules which just destroyed the viability of multiple armies and characters. Kharn is only able to hit at initiative 1? Really?The implementation is just so bad that a bunch of kids who have never played a game could have done better. It is so bad in fact that I will call first thing Monday morning to see if I can please cancel my collectors edition.

I think that trying to kill Army Builder may very well be part of their war against tournaments. With out having AB list to draw from TO will have a nightmare time having to confirm and add up all these army list created in all sorts of short hand methods.

I am sorry for rambling on but I am a 47 year old man who loves this game and I am nearly in tears as it becomes increasingly obvious that this new edition of 40K is a train wreck. To hear that they have attacked the community again through a tool we have all used for years and which is in all likelihood completely safe because GW chose more than a decade ago not to challenge this use of its IP.

I really hope Lone Wolf Like Chapter House has done, steps up and challenges this school yard bully like behavior.

Sorry this is such a mess. I have been reading these rules and play testing them for 12 hours and I am dead on my feet. To bad only 16 people ever had a piece of designing 6th ed. It shows.

Good Luck!
Jeff

And i've just pay for the license ;(

sad sad news

Sometimes I wonder if they just enjoy crapping where they eat?

pivich said:

And i've just pay for the license ;(

sad sad news

Click to expand...

Me too. I have had my eye on this product for years and wanted to use it for 6th ed. I just bought this 2 days ago and now if there is no support allowed for GW games, then I've pretty well wasted my money. I'm very sad and disappointed to hear this.

So I hope that means those of us that purchased a license that is still active that purchased this for 40k will be either credited extra months of updates equal to the time it takes to resolve this issue or refunded our purchase price seeing as how we were mislead to believe that this was a legal contract with GW to use their name. I mean it's not like this program was only ten bucks. If you are no longer providing updates for 40k and 6th edition then I am effectively getting burnt for over half the money I paid for AB seeing as I have more than half a year left on my updates which will be wasted. I mean isn't there anyone on the Lonewolf team that can buy a 6th edition rulebook and incorporate the new rules into the update, I mean that is why we paid for this product right?

philosopherof40k said:

So I hope that means those of us that purchased a license that is still active that purchased this for 40k will be either credited extra months of updates equal to the time it takes to resolve this issue or refunded our purchase price seeing as how we were mislead to believe that this was a legal contract with GW to use their name. I mean it's not like this program was only ten bucks. If you are no longer providing updates for 40k and 6th edition then I am effectively getting burnt for over half the money I paid for AB seeing as I have more than half a year left on my updates which will be wasted. I mean isn't there anyone on the Lonewolf team that can buy a 6th edition rulebook and incorporate the new rules into the update, I mean that is why we paid for this product right?

Click to expand...

You were never misled to believe that there was a contract between GW and Lone Wolf. Everything on this site and when buying the Army Builder software makes it clear that Army Builder is only a framework and other people have to provide the data files for Army Builder to work properly. You can go build your own data files for 6th edition if you want, just takes a lot of effort. In the FAQ Lone Wolf states that they don't develop most of the data files.

You haven't lost any functionality and the AB40K team has said they are going to continue developing 6th edition.

Lone Wolf owes you absolutely nothing.

This is a portion of the Please Read First post in the 40K section of the forums

"Intellectual Property. All games systems have copywrights on their game material. If we developed our files and charged for the service, we could be sued by GW for instance as we are making money on their product. As such we do develop our files, but they ARE NOT a replacement for the printed codex rules. In fact, you are still required to own the Codex rules if you use the datafiles.

As for LW making the files themselves, these same issues would arise for them. This is a key reason for LW specifically NOT providing datafiles. They also DO NOT HOST the files. They do however provide a services that when files are updated and those datafile maintainers provide the file locations, AB will get the updated files for you. You however are not required to use the auto-update feature and therefor not pay the annual subscription."

Also in the home page of Lone Wolf, there was never anything to suggest that they had any type of sanction from GW, product is a list building program compatable with game systems like 40k and Fantasy, nor do you need to continue to pay the subscription to import the new data files created by unpaid volunteers and not Lone Wolf, again from the please read first post

"The purchase of Army Builder did not provide you the purchase of datafile rulesets also. It DID however provide you the tools to create any datafile ruleset you wish. Every person is more than able to maintain their own files. I personally recommend against it, as if everyone did their own files then how do you know their version is correct? But if we are not getting something done fast enough, that is an option provided."

The data file maintainers also have not been sued or had any action taken against them, it was the host server that had to remove the files, the maintainers are still planning on updating the files.

We spent the past week at PaizoCon, so we're now finally back and getting caught up on everything. In this post, I'll attempt to address a few important items brought up in posts above.

1. All of the data files, save a few from long-outdated products that haven't been updated in many years for which the author email addresses no longer work, have been re-hosted. So there has been almost zero interruption.

2. Thus far, not a single data file author has been contacted by GW. This significantly reinforces the working theory that someone in GW legal took action against a single site, without there being any "greater agenda" lurking behind the scenes. If GW really wanted the files to stop, they would contact the authors and/or contact us. Neither has happened.

3. As pointed out above, the assorted data file authors are continuing to develop their respective files with every intention of releasing them in the exact way they always have. The only difference is a new hosting site, which is irrelevant to users leveraging the Updates mechanism.

4. Also as pointed out above, Army Builder is sold as a framework, with the data files developed and distributed separately. We don't develop the data files for GW's products, and that's because we can't legally do so. However, we can make it easy to access the data files created by others. This is outlined on our website and in a number of places within the product. It's a lot like the distinction between Excel and spreadsheets written to utilize Excel.

5. We stand by our products and have always offered a 60-day money-back guarantee. That's not changing. If anyone wants a refund, they simply need to contact support with the appropriate order number or license number to request it.

To sum up...

This has essentially been a non-event for users. Had we chosen to stay quiet about it, probably nobody other than the data files authors would have ever noticed the change, since the availability of data files has been virtually uninterrupted through the Updates mechanism. However, it's always been our policy to be forthright with our users, so we outlined what was going on.

Based on how everything has transpired, there is absolutely zero reason to assume anything has fundamentally changed regarding Games Workshop's views towards Army Builder. There is simply no evidence to support such conclusions at this point, since not *one* action (out of many) that would be expected from GW in such a scenario have been taken. The declaration that Army Builder is "doomed" is akin to Chicken Little declaring "The sky is falling!" Given how things have played out thus far, there is simply no factual basis for that belief.

All that being said, we'll happily refund recent purchases for anyone who is still worried.

Was this a DMCA takedown?

Rob, what kind of notice was sent to the hosting site? Was it an official DMCA takedown notice, or a letter from GW's lawyers asking for the data to be removed?

Considering that the MLB lost a major case regarding the use of player stats, GW might want to be carefull in what they do as it could come back and bite them.