DO NOT POST LINKS TO THE PIRATED, ILLEGALLY FAN TRANSLATED VERSION

[Archeia]

Ignoring this one major rule is violating the Steam TOS and our EULA.
This is grounds to an immediate ban.

Originally posted by CherryDT:

First, RPG Maker 2000 and 2003 were never free.

It was a Japanese-only product and sold in Japan. Then, a certain Russian programmer created an English translation of RPG Maker 2000 and introduced the software to Europe and the US this way. Other fan translations followed, and RPG Maker 2000 even made it into the German gaming magazine "Screenfun", and games made by it were distributed on CD in the magazin. They also had tutorials. When RPG Maker 2003 came out, again only in Japan, some other people translated RPG Maker 2003 to English as well, etc.

These fan-translations were distributed in the Internet without approval of ASCII/Enterbrain, and tons of people used the software "for free", without having bought any license, since an English version wasn't even supposed to exist! And just because RPG Maker 2000/2003 didn't have any DRM which would check for a valid license, it does not mean you can do whatever you want and illegally give a software to tens of thousands of people. It still had a license agreement.

See also this message by Enterbrain from 2002[wayback.archive.org].

And now, we finally created an English version which is official. Officially translated, officially released, officially supported, officially licensed, and you can sell your games made with it. Apart from that, we improved and fixed several things. This is not just another fan-made translation, it was translated and updated by Degica (by order of Enterbrain) and us (by order of Degica).

Thank you.

[asus349]

how is it pirating when its was free before it was realesed on steam?

[LUCE0_N0N_UR0]

The steam release is the only official English release. All other copies are unauthorized despite them being so publicly traded around the web.

[asus349]

but is enter brain a pirated on its own game? so that means the one i have payed for on the studios wed page back in 2004 is pirated? so i dont get it... so who owns the game dav engin?

[CherryDT]

What? Nono, wait a second.

First, RPG Maker 2000 and 2003 were never free.

It was a Japanese-only product and sold in Japan. Then, a certain Russian programmer created an English translation of RPG Maker 2000 and introduced the software to Europe and the US this way. Other fan translations followed, and RPG Maker 2000 even made it into the German gaming magazine "Screenfun", and games made by it were distributed on CD in the magazin. They also had tutorials. When RPG Maker 2003 came out, again only in Japan, some other people translated RPG Maker 2003 to English as well, etc.

These fan-translations were distributed in the Internet without approval of ASCII/Enterbrain, and tons of people used the software "for free", without having bought any license, since an English version wasn't even supposed to exist! And just because RPG Maker 2000/2003 didn't have any DRM which would check for a valid license, it does not mean you can do whatever you want and illegally give a software to tens of thousands of people. It still had a license agreement.

See also this message by Enterbrain from 2002[wayback.archive.org].

And now, we finally created an English version which is official. Officially translated, officially released, officially supported, officially licensed, and you can sell your games made with it. Apart from that, we improved and fixed several things. This is not just another fan-made translation, it was translated and updated by Degica (by order of Enterbrain) and me (by order of Degica). Why is it "ripping off" people to commercially release a software in another language for which illegal fan-made translations happen to exist already?

If your point is that you already own a valid Japanese license (which is probably true for very few people here), then I'm sure you can contact the rpgmakerweb.com staff and ask for a free license for the English version there. I'm not sure if they'll do it, but you can try, since asking is free.

[Archeia]

RPG Maker 2000 is also sold in the Enterbrain store while Rm2k3 has stopped production in Japan. You can even see it over their website[tkool.jp] and the old store page.[web.archive.org]

[k0fe]

Originally posted by tomtrainm:

its was free

LOL

[Remi-Chan: Chaos Goddess]

But wait, what if... I am already bananan?

I am beyond your jurisdiction, be glad I don't have the motivation to be as petty.

Keep removing my links and I may change my mind.

[similarly]

I live in Japan. I bought RPG Maker 2000, 2003 and XP in Japan (all in Japanese). I also bought a few of their other titles, like Character Maker and a kind of Story Maker. I then bought XP and VX Ace in English, and have now bought 2003 in English.

The original RPG Makers in Japan were about 10,000 yen each, or roughly (at that time) a hundred bucks. They most definitely were NOT free.

Now at one time, I did use the illegally translated version, but at that time, I had already bought 2003 in Japanese, so I felt that it was okay. Not super-okay, but okay. And as soon as I found this official version for sale, I deleted the "unofficial" one and bought this.

I think it's AWESOME these are available. I've had 15 years of fun with them. Enterbrain is a company I think deserves our support.

[RpgBlaster]

That Was over 10 year anymore have illegal download rpg maker so
1000000000 people go to jail ?

[asus349]

did any one sell the software or make a game that makes money off of it but illegal "if you sell any of are thing" it should be fine however this is a new and remastered build you should buy this it has more code and fix's that the old one did not

[Myst Leissa]

The way I feel about this is...lied to all over again, yes I thought RPGMaker 2003 was free at one point, I realize now that's wrong but still if your going to lie to people your just as bad as the people that distrubuted it for free. My social circles tell me when something is of no value on the market you make it free, because guess what? It's free already, your not going to find every copy and your not going to be able to fine people for what you "deserve". Basically what I'm trying to say is... I love this tool but it's....kinda ironic they didn't release it in the US till AFTER it had been ported by unoffical means. Personally, I will buy the real thing (even thouugh I see no reason why I have to since I was lied to that it was legal to begin with) eventually but I'm afraid I don't care for their method of doing things.

I just hope when I *do* get around to buying it they haven't removed the "misfeature" i made use of to allow for character transformatiions (something RPGMaker 2 and 3 didn't support)


Tbph even though it was through no fault of my own I feel bad about the fact that I used the software unknownly as such - I'll probably use my pending credit on Steam to set things right as best I can; but that'll be up-to a week from now..

[Archeia]

Your post doesn't make sense. What did we lie about exactly? We updated the Engine with new features and have made it clear that it was never free and never will be. Fan translations is fine and all that, but we don't want ANY links of that over in the official steam boards.

It was released to the USA because of fan requests. BECAUSE IT WAS PIRATED HEAVILY, Enterbrain canned their initial plan of releasing it to the west. If it wasn't for us and the fans, Rm2k/3 WILL remain illegal to use.

[[TMI]RastaMan]

How about russian translation?
I know where grab rusian patch for VX Ace and XP, but how about 2K3 and 2K?

[Archeia]

no. RM2k3 translation is painful and it's a lot more complicated to multi-translate. It will remain in English.

[Bechstein]

Originally posted by Archeia:

no. RM2k3 translation is painful and it's a lot more complicated to multi-translate. It will remain in English.

I know Russian is a very different language from Japanese and English, but the lack of an official patch is going to help preserve the Unofficial Illegal Russian Translation patches that are out there. When a viable legal solution is unavailable, those desperate enough will solve their problems in illegal methods. Perhaps some passionate translators would volunteer.