Did we all waste our money upgrading Civ2?

[Panda]

I've often wondered exactly what it was we paid for when MPS released Conflicts in Civilization, Fantastic Worlds, and the Multiplayer edition.

Either

1. The scenarios were commerical releases, and therefore under copyright, or

2. MPS bluffed that the new .exe constituted a new game and with the scenarios could therefore be sold as such.

We know that the plan has always been to include a MP feature as evidenced by menu pop-ups in the original game.txt file, and there was sufficient code in place to allow an enterprising programmer to release his own MP patch for 2 players. This undermines any case which could be made arguing that Conflicts in Civilization was a new game to sold under commerical law.

If only the scenarios were sold and the new version a patch, would this imply that any version newer than 2.42 should be public domain? Has anyone ever asked before? And what the hell was the cynicism behind the decision about retro-compatibility for? Not exactly a good way of maintaining a loyal consumer base. [insert offensive adjactive of your choice here]

[Sten Sture]

I often wonder at the business decision to sell the "upgraded" exe as a new title instead of releasing it as a patch. With just a little bit of forsight MicroProse could have kept upgrading the software in the public domain and sold licensed versions of the scenarios at $10 a piece. I am sure you wouldn't mind getting a few coins in tribute for some of the work you have done.

MP could have created a single wildly popular game, and like Gillette or Nintendo, made their money selling scenario "cartriges" that they didn't even have to develop.