UberDeux

I’ve spent the last few days reading these forums, catching up on the latest of what’s going on in the FL world. I’m encouraged by the enthusiasm so many people are showing for this game after so long. I’m also pleased to see the persistent and continuing desire to see this game live on. I’ve read many ideas and well thought plans. In fact, the “Mission” forum itself is a tribute to the community at large and their ceaseless work to keep this game and the many outstanding servers from disappearing.

I have many things to say in this post, but first, I want to assure the Freelancer community that as long as you are here Freelancer will never perish. While there is a player who is still willing to post their ideas, thoughts, concerns, dreams, and hopes…the multiplayer game will live. It’s when the last CD is shelved and the last server closes it’s doors will the game finally assume it’s final resting place among the great games of all times.

While places like The-Starport exist, and there is a community to populate it, Freelancer will live.

Next, I’d like to extend an apology to Roo Avery. While reading through the topics in the forum, I came across some posts that indicated some discourse between Roo and the Uber project. Roo, let me assure you that your contributions were always appreciated and your suggestions were always considered to be from a position of wisdom and experience. I’m truly sorry if things appeared to have anything less than honest intent.

While I’m offering apologies, I’d also like to apologize to the Freelancer community itself for conceptualizing, enacting, and promoting a project that I was unable to see through to completion. As Roo advised, we made several mistakes in the beginning. While it wasn’t the mistakes in planning and execution that ultimately led to the demise of Uber, they certainly made the finale possible. What truly led to the demise of the venture was that I, for RL reasons, suddenly became unavailable to oversee and drive the project.

I’ve learned a lot since then, namely, that all successful businesses take great pains to ensure that the welfare of the enterprise is not jeopardized by the absence of any one individual.

With that statement, I’d like to announce the initiation of the new and much more focused UberLancer Project.

This Project is not very unlike the original Uber project in that we aspire to create a brand new version of Freelancer. We need (and depend on) the ideas and input of the FL community. Without the community, we really have nothing. I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage everyone who reads this post to register at UberLancer.com and start brainstorming.

Something that is unlike the previous project, and that a lot of people will find incredulous, is that one of our top goals this time around will be the acquisition of the Freelancer code itself. With possession of the code we will have unlimited possibility and freedom to enact all of the things we’ve dreamed about for years. We will be able to hard code the redirection to a new global server, and much more.

Now, I’m not fooling myself into thinking this will be easy. We all know that Microsoft won’t even respond to individuals asking about FL. What we’re going to do at UberLancer is organize into a non-profit corporation, called a 501(7), and then contact Microsoft on a corporate level to inquire about the code.

If you visit the Uber site, you’ll notice a change in the leadership structure. I mentioned above how successful businesses make sure the removal of one person will not kill their business. The admin system at Uber will be a corporate structure. It has to be in order to be legally recognized as a corporation. The site and project will not be run by any single individual. Instead, the community at large (in other words YOU!) will elect a board of directors who will in turn appoint the officers (Chairman, CEO, CFO, COO) who will actually run the site/business.

Organization of the business will be the first priority and creation of the product, whether it’s a rewrite or a mod, will come after. But the ideas can start now. Dreaming is always fun do to. In fact, the ideas are the heart and soul of a project like this. I’ve seen many good ideas for what we’d like in a new game.

The legacy that Freelancer will leave is not just that it’s a really good game, but also that it’s a game that can live again. This time with the community in charge.

http://www.uberlancer.com

It appears I wasn’t clear in my initial post. UberLancer isn’t a mod anymore. It’s not intended to compete with any other mod and there will not be a server. The idea is to organize into an entity that is capable of negotiating with Microsoft and securing the code for the community. Once we’re able to pry it from Microsoft’s hands we can offer it as freeware with our own fixes (repoint the global server links) and the community will be reborn.

Once we (as a community, go look at Uber’s structure) are in possession, we can rewrite it into everything we’ve dreamed. We CAN make a FL2.

Freelancer is what, 7 years old? A couple of years ago this wouldn’t even have been conceivable. Now, Microsoft has all but abandoned the game. There is only one thing in the way of us doing what we need to do with it: copyright. All we have to do is what Roo said, which is organize. We have to create an entity that can actually talk to MS on a high level. Sending an email or a petition isn’t going to cut it. We need a team to be able to sit and reach an agreement.

It may never happen, but at least we can say we tried. There’s nothing in this project that can be seen as divisive. We don’t need modders. We need executives.

That could be a problem for sure if there is any truth to it. Another problem is going to be the talent that was involved with the creation of the game. From producers, programmers, voice talent, etc., we have no idea what how the compensation was structured. Are there any royalty or syndication clauses? Distribution stakes?

I’ve thought long and hard about this and the more I learn, the greater the challenge seems. This is going to be hugely difficult to pull off, harder even than the original idea of just creating a v2 mod. It’s going to take a focused and organized attempt, and even then the chance for success is probably not too good.

But what have we got to lose?