There's always that temptation in high school and college to simply copy someone else's work to get out of writing really boring papers. Still, no matter how great the temptation, it's good to abstain from such activities. While it's not only wrong, it can be extremely embarrassing if you're found out by the teacher and penalized for plagiarism.
We guess that someone over at Mortal Online really didn't want to work up an original terms of service (TOS) for the game, as a few sharp-eyed players noticed that the document not only was extremely similar to one in another MMO but failed to replace mentions of its source game. It appears as though Mortal Online took EVE Online's TOS and reworked it slightly -- and imperfectly -- for its own nefarious purposes, as you can see in the graphic above. The TOS has since been changed to eliminate the mention of EVE.
This recalls a similar misstep from last year, when Alganon was caught with its pants down after "borrowing" a press release from BioWare.
[Thanks to Jokkl for the tip!]
Reader Comments (61)
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 10:06AM Lenn said
So, people *do* read those things after all? I always thought that was an urban legend.
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 12:26PM Fabius Bile said
@Lenn
FYI, you are about to become an human Cent-iPad
Reply
FYI, you are about to become an human Cent-iPad
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 10:08AM karmamule said
You know you're playing a budget MMO when....
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 10:08AM KureAc said
I only know of mortal online from talking from within the artists community althou i havn't seen much talk of the game from elsewhere
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 10:11AM FrostPaw said
Not only could they not be bothered to create their own terms of service.
They also copy pasted someone elses without bothering to read it!
funny stuff.
They also copy pasted someone elses without bothering to read it!
funny stuff.
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 10:12AM Tizmah said
Copy and Paste strikes again.
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 10:12AM smartstep said
bahahaahahahaha
but seriously
/facepalm
but seriously
/facepalm
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 10:13AM Xpander said
hmm i wonder why they forgot Find and Replace
Find Eve and Replace with Mortal.
Problem fixed :)
Find Eve and Replace with Mortal.
Problem fixed :)
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 10:15AM (Unverified) said
Have you played this game? it is the worst MMO I have ever played. Hands down, just terrible. You float above the ground (walking) Combat is atrocious, and you have no idea what anything does. Scenery is actually quite nice, but that is do to the engine, and nothing on their part.
Stay away from this game.
Stay away from this game.
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 10:25AM Azev said
@(Unverified)
Not even close to the worse mmo in its current state. Yes this is embarrassing but they are a small indy developer with a small budget. People will blow this way out of proportion and just use it as an excuse to bash a game they do not like.
For there sake I hope its a busy news day.
Reply
Not even close to the worse mmo in its current state. Yes this is embarrassing but they are a small indy developer with a small budget. People will blow this way out of proportion and just use it as an excuse to bash a game they do not like.
For there sake I hope its a busy news day.
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 5:13PM (Unverified) said
@(Unverified) Like others have said, I guess this person hasn't played since release. I was in beta block B, and the game was so horrible, I didn't even play the game more than a couple days when it hit release.
However, I've since returned (been back for going on 2 weeks now) and the amount of progress this game has made is staggering. In my opinion, this game now blows Darkfall out of the water. It started in a waaaaaay worse condition, but now I prefer it in every way imaginable. Everything from the crafting system, to the way combat works, to the skill caps, to the player housing (you can actually choose where you place your houses/castles/keeps etc.) is better than Darkfall. But I'm biased...no skill caps + melee combat that feels like fighting with knives in counterstrike = fail in my book. Mortal has managed to get really close to the awesomeness of Mount & Blade combat (including multiple hit boxes and weapon collision detection etc.) and for an MMO that's a cool feat.
Now, are ALL of the bugs and glitches worked out? Of course not. But I have yet to play an MMO, even from a AAA company that doesn't have any bugs or glitches. But, I can't express how much better it has gotten from the state it was in during beta/release.
If you haven't played MO since release, and you actually like the sandbox PvP concepts of the game, you owe it to yourself to give it another whirl with a free trial.
Reply
However, I've since returned (been back for going on 2 weeks now) and the amount of progress this game has made is staggering. In my opinion, this game now blows Darkfall out of the water. It started in a waaaaaay worse condition, but now I prefer it in every way imaginable. Everything from the crafting system, to the way combat works, to the skill caps, to the player housing (you can actually choose where you place your houses/castles/keeps etc.) is better than Darkfall. But I'm biased...no skill caps + melee combat that feels like fighting with knives in counterstrike = fail in my book. Mortal has managed to get really close to the awesomeness of Mount & Blade combat (including multiple hit boxes and weapon collision detection etc.) and for an MMO that's a cool feat.
Now, are ALL of the bugs and glitches worked out? Of course not. But I have yet to play an MMO, even from a AAA company that doesn't have any bugs or glitches. But, I can't express how much better it has gotten from the state it was in during beta/release.
If you haven't played MO since release, and you actually like the sandbox PvP concepts of the game, you owe it to yourself to give it another whirl with a free trial.
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 10:17AM dudes said
Lol, now that's indie thinking. "I'm too busy coding my sparkly new sandbox and fixing this fps issue, need a Terms of Service.., hey good game, EVE eh? Yoink."
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 11:07AM SnarlingWolf said
@dudes
I don't even think it is a big deal. A lot of ToS agreements are just about the same thing. Why reinvent the wheel when it already exists?
The stupid part is being so lazy that you can't read through it once to change all references to another game. That is truly as lazy as it gets.
Reply
I don't even think it is a big deal. A lot of ToS agreements are just about the same thing. Why reinvent the wheel when it already exists?
The stupid part is being so lazy that you can't read through it once to change all references to another game. That is truly as lazy as it gets.
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 10:22AM Malvious said
ROFL...
Featured Stories
The Daily Grind: Are you still excited to try RIFT's free-to-play option?
Posted on May 18th 2013 8:00AM








