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Icewind Dale Domain Registered To Trent Oster *Hint Hint*

JBottcherJBottcher Member Posts: 5
in Off-Topic
IWD Enhanced Edition coming soon, maybe?

WHOIS information for icewinddale.com:***

[Querying whois.verisign-grs.com]
[Redirected to whois.godaddy.com]
[Querying whois.godaddy.com]
[whois.godaddy.com]
Domain Name: ICEWINDDALE.COM
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Registrant Name: Trent Oster
Registrant Organization:
Name Server: NS75.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
Name Server: NS76.DOMAINCONTROL.COM

Discuss.

«1

Comments

  • KilliKilli Member Posts: 14
    Would love to see IWD next on the list :)
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    Trent's been known to buy domains on a whim; I wouldn't look to that as a definite sign of things to come, necessarily.
  • JBottcherJBottcher Member Posts: 5
    "Necessarily" ;)
  • Son_of_ImoenSon_of_Imoen Member Posts: 1,806
    Off-topic in an off-topic topic:


    How about planescapetorment.com?

    It seems like it's owned on the wrong side of the Pacific Ocean, both north-south and east-west speaking:

    Domain Name: planescapetorment.com
    Registry Domain ID: 79590646_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
    Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.melbourneit.com
    Registrar URL: http://www.melbourneit.com.au

    However, if you open http://planescapetorment.com/ it says:


    "Website Coming Soon! Stay Tuned

    This page belongs to a member of the InMotion Hosting network.

    If you are visiting this site, please check back soon."

    SOOOONNN!!?!


    Or is that just a standard remark of InMotion hosting?
  • LoubLoub Member Posts: 471
    With two spiritual sequels on the way (Pillars of Eternity and Torment: Tides of Numenera (which I supported, by the way)), one being the official second installment of the Torment series, I think it would be safe to assume that, if those games prove to be popular, an Enhanced Edition, or even a full remake, would very likely be released, probably as an attempt to milk on the Torment fame and because the original doesn't run well at all on modern computers.

    I also reckon that, without the pressure companies usually put on their developers, PoE and TToN are going to be highly memorable games, even if relegated to cult status like the original.
  • O_BruceO_Bruce Member Posts: 2,790
    I'm so excited. I just cannot hide it.
  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    Dee said:

    Trent's been known to buy domains on a whim; I wouldn't look to that as a definite sign of things to come, necessarily.

    Is that facetiousness?

    Because, like, being "known to buy domains on a whim" is not, you know, a thing. Nobody does that.
  • Troodon80Troodon80 Member, Developer Posts: 4,110
    @Schneidend, I'll take your 'nobody' and raise you one now-removed SendAndrewFowleyALoveLetter.com, as per these comments. Even though Foley was spelt incorrectly, it was a whim.
  • VallahadVallahad Member Posts: 10
    They are both stand out titles in their own right, almost as famous as Baldur's Gate itself. They are prime candidates for this new Enhanced Edition revival going on at the moment. Then again, the effort required to move two games of that size to a newer engine would be substantial.....all I can say is that the dogs have had a taste of fresh blood (BGEE), and the desire for more will be there, along with the potential revenue for the person willing to undertake the venture.

    I guess we shall have to wait and see, with bated breath and a weather eye on the horizon.
  • scriverscriver Member Posts: 2,072
    If they do anything stupid to PS:T I will hate them make snide and passive aggressive remarks about them on the internets forever. Hear that, Overhaul? PS:T is a classic. Handle with extreme care.
    Loub said:

    With two spiritual sequels on the way (Pillars of Eternity and Torment: Tides of Numenera (which I supported, by the way)), one being the official second installment of the Torment series

    There's nothing official about it. Would you mind explaining what definition makes you call it such?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,817
    Great find but I just want to emphasize the following.

    As it follows from http://www.cy-pr.com/whois/icewinddale.com , this domain was created in 1998 and since then the registration was just updated several times.

    It's an ordinary practice of domain registration by those who have some connection with the word in the domain name.

    If you compare it with baldursgate.com and baldursgateii.com domains (see http://www.cy-pr.com/whois/baldursgate.com and http://www.cy-pr.com/whois/baldursgateii.com) they were created in 2011. Obviously, this date is connected with the fact of Beamdog's intention regarding BGEE.

    Moreover, the data regarding the owners of those sites differ.

    So I think that the fact in the OP while being interesting does not show icewinddale.com is essentially connected to the future projects of Beamdog.

    ...But...

    What connection did Trent have with IWD in 1998? Maybe he became the new owner of this domain in 2013 or before.
    Trent Oster noted on Twitter in 2012 (April) that the subject of Icewind Dale "has come up a number of times" and the company is "interested".

    And maybe the domain in the OP is indeed connected with IWDEE. Moreover, the domain name structure of icewinddale.com is very similar to the domain names of BGEEs.
  • moody_magemoody_mage Member Posts: 2,054
    Vallahad said:

    They are both stand out titles in their own right, almost as famous as Baldur's Gate itself. They are prime candidates for this new Enhanced Edition revival going on at the moment. Then again, the effort required to move two games of that size to a newer engine would be substantial.....all I can say is that the dogs have had a taste of fresh blood (BGEE), and the desire for more will be there, along with the potential revenue for the person willing to undertake the venture.

    I guess we shall have to wait and see, with bated breath and a weather eye on the horizon.

    Not quite true - there exists a (still beta) mod which converts IWD to run in the BG2 engine which happens to be the engine the EE's use. It's entirely possible.

    http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showforum=155
  • Troodon80Troodon80 Member, Developer Posts: 4,110
    edited February 2014
    @bengoshi,
    bengoshi said:

    As it follows from http://www.cy-pr.com/whois/icewinddale.com , this domain was created in 1998 and since then the registration was just updated several times.

    Time to crank up the Wayback Machine. Links to the site, as of 1998 and 2006 (a fan-made forum).
    bengoshi said:

    What connection did Trent have with IWD in 1998?

    As far as I am aware, the site did not belong to Trent back then. The site history states that there has been two registered owners. It apparently started off as a fan-site to Drizzt but later changed the name from Drizzt's Homepage to Icewind Dale.
  • VarwulfVarwulf Member Posts: 564
    @bengoshi A commendable bit of sleuthing there, my good man :)
  • karnor00karnor00 Member Posts: 680
    bengoshi said:

    If you remember, during the BGEE IP crisis last year Oster told that they move to other projects while they could't get money from selling BGEE. And it really looked like they didn't work on BGEE for a while. It can be so that the Devs started their work on IWDEE that time.

    I think it's pretty unlikely that they worked on IWDEE during the IP problems. Because I'm pretty sure that IWD was also owned by Atari so would have had the same IP problems.

  • Troodon80Troodon80 Member, Developer Posts: 4,110
    bengoshi said:

    If you remember, during the BGEE IP crisis last year Oster told that they move to other projects while they could't get money from selling BGEE. And it really looked like they didn't work on BGEE for a while. It can be so that the Devs started their work on IWDEE that time.

    That seems highly unlikely if this:
    bengoshi said:

    February of 2013.

    is correct.

    Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition was pulled from sale during June 2013, long after the apparent purchase. It could, however, have been purchased in anticipation, though. But it seems unlikely that they would be working on it during problems regarding intellectual property. If Atari still owned those rights, then it would be unwise to shift anyone from the current project onto another potentially dead project. I am unsure who currently owns the licence for Icewind Dale, but it appears as though Atari did during ~2008 to the 4th of May, 2010, which appears correct given the news spread around that Atari purchased the franchise during 2008. Currently, however, the trademark (and presumably the licence and franchise) belongs to Wizards of the Coast; which was filed on the 20th of May, 2010, under the following:
    Word MarkICEWIND DALE
    Goods and ServicesIC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Interactive entertainment software, namely, video game programs; multimedia computer game programs, computer game software, computer game discs, downloadable software for use in playing computer games. FIRST USE: 20000620. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20000620
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    bengoshi said:


    I should also prove @Dee 's words - through the Reverse Whois Lookup I see Trent Oster is associated with 32 domains, including icewinddale.com. But unfortunately I cannot see their full names - it will cost 99 dollars to be able to see a full report:)

    I'll throw in a couple of dollars for this list to be made public :)
  • CoM_SolaufeinCoM_Solaufein Member Posts: 2,606
    edited February 2014
    Interesting that you mention that. I'm one of those, like Trent, that buys up various domains like some that are BG related.
    ajwz said:

    If we all pitch in together and buy the BaldursGate3.com website then hand the ownership rights over to Trent, that would mean that BG3 was in development, right?

    Post edited by CoM_Solaufein on
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,817
    What Troodon is talking about can be seen with the following link: http://www.trademarkia.com/icewind-dale-85043957.html

    On Thursday, May 20, 2010, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for ICEWIND DALE by WIZARDS OF THE COAST LLC, Pawtucket, RI 02862. The USPTO has given the ICEWIND DALE trademark serial number of 85043957. The current federal status of this trademark filing is REGISTERED. The correspondent listed for ICEWIND DALE is WIZARDS OF THE COAST LLC of WIZARDS OF THE COAST LLC, 1027 NEWPORT AVENUE, PAWTUCKET, RI 02862 . The ICEWIND DALE trademark is filed in the category of Computer & Software Products & Electrical & Scientific Products . The description provided to the USPTO for ICEWIND DALE is Interactive entertainment software, namely, video game programs; multimedia computer game programs, computer game software, computer game discs, downloadable software for use in playing computer games.

    So, the Icewind Dale trademark is indeed registered by WoTC. What is interesting is that WoTC also owns Baldur's Gate trademarks (http://www.trademarkia.com/baldurs-gate-76678910.html and http://www.trademarkia.com/baldurs-gate-76678911.html). By the way, the registration of both BG trademarks should be renewed till May 27, 2014, so there's a theoretical chance that the new registrant will be not WoTC;)

    But this is not what I want to concentrate on. The most important thing from my point of view is that if a company owns a trademark it doesn't mean the same company owns IP rights. These are the different rights.

    Intellectual property rights have many forms and there can be an agreement between the interested parties affecting all, several or only one of them. Copyright Law of the United States grants certain rights to the owner of a copyright in a work:

    - the right to reproduce the copyrighted work;
    - the right to prepare derivative works based upon the work;
    - the right to distribute copies of the work to the public;
    - the right to perform the copyrighted work publicly;
    - the right to display the copyrighted work publicly.

    The particular scope of rights that are given from one party to another is a subject of each agreement and can differ a lot. The parties are free in agreeing the scope of rights that suits the the most.

    The distribution right grants to the copyright holder the right to make a work available to the public by sale, rental, lease, or lending.

    This right allows the copyright holder to prevent the distribution of unauthorized copies of a work.

    The famous summer problem of Beamdog was caused by their publishing partner - Atari, so the subject they discussed related to the distribution rights of BG:EEs.

    And as it follows frow the Atari bankruptcy docket (http://bmcgroup.com/restructuring/Debtors.aspx?ClientID=316)
    there was an executory contract between Atari Interactive Inc and Beamdog. As it can be seen from the Atari Interactive Inc Schedules, it was calked a Baldur's Gate Sublicense Agreement. And the nature of Debtor's (Atari's) interest in this contract was a License.

    A license may be granted by one party - a licensor - to another party - a licensee. And because the contract between Atari and Beamdog was a Sublicense Agreement, Atari was not a licensor, it was a licensee. So, an ultimate license holder (and owner) of Baldur's Gate was another company, most probasbly WoTC.

    There's no word about Icewind Dale in Atari schedules, and taking into account the bankruptcy procedure needs the 100% accurate picture we can conclude Beamdog could work (or at least examine the possibility of work) on IWDEE during the conflict with Atari. Even if Atari somehow had some rights regarding Icewind Dale, the sublicence nature of the Baldur's Gate agreement can point to the fact that a licensor of Icewind Dale is not Atari.

    Taking into account that WoTC is an owner of both trademarks, Atari doesn't own the exclusive rights even regarding BG, and Trent Oster apparently has a very good relationship with WoTC (as it follows from his tweets and interviews), we can - think - that reaching an agreement regarding those IP rights that give permission to work on IWDEE was possible even during the known conflict with Atari, it's possible now and will be possible in the future.
  • Troodon80Troodon80 Member, Developer Posts: 4,110
    bengoshi said:

    What Troodon is talking about can be seen with the following link: http://www.trademarkia.com/icewind-dale-85043957.html

    The most important thing from my point of view is that if a company owns a trademark it doesn't mean the same company owns IP rights. These are the different rights.

    I mainly pointed out the Icewind Dale trademark because it also falls in line with line with the purchase of licensing rights during the same year. It would make sense to purchase the righs to use a trademark to a licence you hold, after all.
    bengoshi said:

    The famous summer problem of Beamdog was caused by their publishing partner - Atari, so the subject they discussed related to the distribution rights of BG:EEs.

    There's no word about Icewind Dale in Atari schedules, and taking into account the bankruptcy procedure needs the 100% accurate picture we can conclude Beamdog could work (or at least examine the possibility of work) on IWDEE during the conflict with Atari.

    I would say it is far more likely that they were moved back to MDK2 HD, which is a game already earning revenue, rather than a brand new project that may never actually see the light of day; depending on whether or not the contractual issues were resolved.

    The problem is that no one but Beamdog and Atari actually knows what was involved, in-depth, with the 'contractual issues'; only that it looked rather grim for a while, and that it was eventually resolved. It obviously had something to do with distribution, since Atari were still selling it, but there are numerous rumours floating around about what caused the whole thing in the first place—details of which will likely never be confirmed or denied due to further contract NDAs that are most probably in place. We do not have all the information.

    If Atari still owned the Icewind Dale licensing rights (which I'm not sure they did at the time), and had not yet entered into an agreement with Beamdog regarding Icewind Dale, then it is highly unlikely that they would enter into such a contract while 1) they were going through bankruptcy and were preoccupied, and 2) while there was some outstanding 'contractual issue' on a different licence, even if both the contractual issue and the bankruptcy were connected.

    If, as the trademark suggests, Wizards of the Coast owned the licence/franchise and trademark, then, yes, it is possible (maybe even probable) that they were working on Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition during the 'contractual issues.' No one but Beamdog would be able to say for certain.
  • QaetaQaeta Member Posts: 7
    Schneidend said:

    Dee said:

    Trent's been known to buy domains on a whim; I wouldn't look to that as a definite sign of things to come, necessarily.

    Is that facetiousness?

    Because, like, being "known to buy domains on a whim" is not, you know, a thing. Nobody does that.
    Tell that to my room mate lol
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