Quote:
Originally Posted by Duo
MapleSEA is also run by asiasoft if i'm not mistaken, and that doesn't have an IP block does it?
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So what? IP Blocks are not added because the company licensing the game wants fewer customers, but because the license requires it.
ESTsoft --- the people making Cabal --- license the game to regional operators. If they think that people from regions not covered by the license would use the game (in considerably large numbers), an IP block is required.
That's why Cabal Europe is IP blocked --- it's in english, and USA doesn't even have an operator. So a lot of US people would use Cabal Europe, and last time I checked, USA wasn't even part of Europe.
In fact, as far as I know, they even HAVE an US licensee, except that this one decided to not use the license. If that's the case and the contract doesn't have an exit route for such a case, they can't even give a cheap temporary US license (maybe backed by the promise to provide a way to easily transfer US characters over to the US operator when they find one) to Cabal Europe because that would most likely violate the contract they have with the US licensee.
I believe Cabal JP and others not having an IP block is because comparatively few people outside the respective regions use it. And of these people, the ones that don't understand anything because they can't read the language will most likely move to a version in their region when it becomes available (whereas, to go back to Cabal Europe, a US player wouldn't have a real reason to move to the US version and start from scratch).
Of course, all of the above is my understanding of how licensing a game to an operator works.