The Lost Vikings

[AutoAdmin]

Feel free to rate and discuss this game.

[MrFlibble]

The Lost Vikings is now officially available for free from Blizzard, just like Blackthorne:
https://us.battle.net/account/download/?show=classic

BTW, I think you should mark both games as freeware now, and add the links to the downloads from Blizzard to their pages.

[DOSGuy]

I'm not great at legalese, so the part that concerns me is:

This license granted is subject to the following limitations, and you agree that you will not:

• In whole or in part, copy or reproduce (except as provided herein), translate, reverse engineer, derive source code from, modify, disassemble, decompile, or create derivative works based on the Program;

I think "except as provided herein" means that you can't copy or reproduce the game, unless exceptions are listed within the document. Since the rest of the document contains no exceptions for making the game available to download from a website, there appears to be no exceptions to the prohibition on copying or reproducing the game. It looks like only Blizzard has a right to host downloads of that file. They are giving it away for free -- so it's freeware -- but it's not redistributable, so it's not really what I consider "full" freeware. There's also nothing to stop Blizzard from taking the download down, like Rockstar did with their free copies of Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto 2, and Wild Metal.

Snag a free copy while you can, just in case! I will update the "freeware" status of both games on the site.

[MrFlibble]

Actually, I did not suggest to add the game to the site - just to update its status (and provide a link to Blizzard as the only authorized download source). I think it goes without saying that they do not allow redistribution by third parties.

[Malvineous]

It's obviously a generic EULA they haven't bothered to tailor for the game, because it talks about a warranty of 90 days from the purchase date. I'm not a lawyer but I would also question the validity of the EULA given that it says you are not permitted to distribute "all files that are delivered to you" yet some of the files include a DOSBox launcher covered under the GPL licence which specifically allows you to distribute the (included) source.

In other words, the Blizzard EULA tries to override the GPL, despite Blizzard agreeing to abide by the GPL when they created the package for distribution. I am sure the EULA would be ruled invalid for the Launcher part of the distribution, so whether that also renders it invalid for the game itself is an interesting question...

But interesting find all the same, that you can download the full game for free!

[MrFlibble]

It's obviously a generic EULA they haven't bothered to tailor for the game, because it talks about a warranty of 90 days from the purchase date. I'm not a lawyer but I would also question the validity of the EULA given that it says you are not permitted to distribute "all files that are delivered to you" yet some of the files include a DOSBox launcher covered under the GPL licence which specifically allows you to distribute the (included) source.

In other words, the Blizzard EULA tries to override the GPL, despite Blizzard agreeing to abide by the GPL when they created the package for distribution.

Hmm, maybe "all files that are delivered to you" means the package in its entirety? If it said, "any files", then it would mean that the DOSBox files on their own are also subject to this clause.

As for the "purchase date" I suppose that the act of downloading from Blizzard might be considered "purchase" (for the price of $0), similar to how free games from GOG.com are technically games that cost $0. Not sure though as I'm not a lawyer either.