Daneel_

For those of us out of the loop, could you explain what fyre map was and why it was IP theft?

As someone who’s seen KQ mentioned several times in the past but never had the chance to play it (I’m in Australia!), it seems that someone made a custom map for KQ and it wasn’t well received by BB?

I’m really split on how to react to this and my opinion really hinges on exactly what fyre map was.

I definitely support the ability of cabinet owners to be able to what they want to the cab though. They bought it, it’s theirs. What’s going to happen in 30 years when people own them as collectors items and need to service/update them with zero support? That’s not to say I support IP theft - I’m strongly against it, I just want to know how this was IP theft.

Thanks for the summary and for taking the time to continue to respond to what is obviously a hot potato.

That’s a fair response, and I understand your position.

My main questions would be “was it intended for use in a public place (ie, accepting money)?” and “did they try to pass your work off as theirs?”.

If they went on stream and said “we made a hack for KQ, loaded it on our own cabinet, and we’d love to show it to you” then I’m all for it. An example of this being phenomenally successful is the rom hack scene for super mario world, which has revitalised the game and developed an entire community around it. Another success story would be dance dance revolution - I know some of the most fun I’ve had playing it is on custom songs on a privately owned machine running stepmania.

If instead they made the hack, put it on a public machine and just started advertising that they had a special edition (or something equivalent/similar overall) then I’m 100% with you. That’s misleading advertising and I respect the decision to shut that down. It’s your brand name at stake there.

There’s a fine line to tread with custom mods/hacks. On one hand it provides an outlet for the most passionate members of the community to give back, enriching the experience for everyone. On the other hand it needs to be done in such a way that it respects the original creators and the rest of the player base.

I think you’re trying to walk that line from what I can see here. It’s not easy, but it seems like you’re at least open to the idea of end-user content in future. I’d love to see the ability for people to load custom maps on the cab when it’s in free-to-play/private use mode for example. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.

Thanks for responding and for the AMA :)

They did have separate hardware for each user.

This is how you respond to queries about mods. It’s the only decent response on the topic in the whole AMA.

Thanks again for taking the time to answer - it really goes a long way to rebuilding trust with the community I’m sure :) obviously I’m not a member of the enthusiast KQ community, but I would imagine others in the community are reading this with interest, and it’s interesting for me as a gamer, maker, hacker, and tinkerer.

Great response! Confusion is certainly a reasonable reaction, no shame there at all.

At the very least it’s sparked some debate and provoked thought. Sounds like long term things will work themselves out :)

Hope the whole team is safe and well! Stay curious too.