The TESO Non-Disclosure Agreement: How It Impacts YOU!

With the release of the new Beta signups, we were encouraged to fill out as much information about ourselves as we could to demonstrate that we were honest individuals who could assist Zenimax in attempting to make TESO one of the greatest and most successful RPGMMO's of all time.

What some people failed to notice, however, was the Non-Disclosure Agreement that EVERYONE "signed" by clicking the acceptance box at the bottom of the form. In this thread, I plan to go into detail about exactly what it says, and what it means for YOU if you are chosen to be a Beta Tester.

First and foremost, here is the link to the Non-Disclosure Agreement:
http://elderscrollsonline.com/en/legal/nda

Lets go into detail about some of the pieces of this Agreement. I'll take some brief quotes from throughout the page, explain in a little more detail what it means, and place a summary of what will be required of everyone at the bottom of this page.

Skip to each Section Summary in Yellow, and then find the Agreement Summary in Green at the bottom of the page.

Quote:1. Representations of Reviewer. To confirm Your agreement, You must click on the “I Accept” button at the end of this Agreement. By clicking the “I Accept” button, You represent and warrant to ZeniMax that (i) You have read this Agreement prior to accepting and are fully familiar with its contents; (ii) You are 18 years of age or older as of the Effective Date; (iii) You have not, and will not in the future, enter into any agreement or understanding, whether written or oral, with any third party that impedes or conflicts with the performance of Your obligations set forth in this Agreement; and (iv) Your representations are true and correct as of the Effective Date. If You do not so agree or if You cannot make such representations, You will not be permitted to playtest the Game.

Most of this information is straightforward, but I'll reiterate the important parts. Zenimax is looking for individuals who are OVER THE AGE OF 18 to do the testing for their Beta, and anyone who is under this age will most likely not be given access to the Closed Beta. It also states that if you lie about your age or other aspects of your character, you'll be kicked from the Beta until the official launch.

Quote:4. Nondisclosure of Confidential Information. You acknowledge that ZeniMax, through the investment of significant time, effort, and expense, is providing You confidential and/or proprietary trade information, intellectual property, business information or materials as part of the Beta Trial and that ZeniMax wishes to maintain the confidentiality of its Confidential Information. As a material inducement to ZeniMax to enter into this Agreement and to permit You access to participate in the Beta Trial, You hereby expressly represent and agree that You will not disclose, nor make any use of, or benefit from, directly or indirectly, the Confidential Information of ZeniMax.

(a) “Confidential Information” as used in this Agreement shall mean any and all information or material, of every kind and form, in electronic or tangible form, relating to the Beta Trial, Game or any other ZeniMax products and services which are made available to You by ZeniMax under this Agreement, whether or not designated as Confidential Information by ZeniMax. Confidential Information includes, but is not limited to, all information relating to the Beta Trial, Your selection as a Beta Trial participant, the Game (including but not limited to information and ideas relating to the Game, software, software code, designs, graphics, rules, playing strategies, artwork, visual depictions, plot, theme, settings, characters, characterizations, skills, emails, screenshots, marketing emails, marketing and promotional plans, current, future or proposed products or services of ZeniMax, written or printed documents, announcements or prereleases, product samples, artwork, graphics, promotional and/or marketing items), the Beta Trial forums and other private ZeniMax forums, business and/or trade secrets, testing protocols, processes, and standards relating to the Game and/or associated products or services of ZeniMax.

This section states that we cannot disclose or use any of the information we find in Beta Testing for personal fame, such as making real-life bets with people that something in the game will be "This way instead of that." Going into more detail, it explains what information cannot be released, including
YOUR SELECTION AS A BETA TESTER PARTICIPANT. This is to prevent people from being contacted by organisations who wish to mine people for information for whatever reason. It also states that we cannot talk about any information we find in the game, such as Quests, perks, major game features, etc. If you tell ANYONE that you are helping to test TESO, you are breaking the contract that you signed with Zenimax and can be REMOVED FROM BETA TESTING. Sorry guys, no spoilers or quest guides til Launch! However, this IS an exception to this rule:

Quote:(c ) You agree to hold in strictest confidence and not to disclose or reveal to any person or entity Confidential Information without the express prior written consent of a duly authorized representative of ZeniMax. In particular, You must not discuss the Beta Trial with anyone associated with a competing videogame, any videogame publisher or developer, any news or information service (whether television, magazine, online, newspaper or otherwise), or review, report, online blog, or in any online forum or chat room, other than the official Beta Trial forum or specifically designated private ZeniMax forum. Except as expressly authorized by ZeniMax, You additionally agree not to use any of the Confidential Information for any purpose whatsoever or to disclose any of the Confidential Information at any time to any third party by direct or indirect means. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, You agree that any reports or announcements concerning Confidential Information which are not made or authorized by ZeniMax, and which appear prior to ZeniMax’s official disclosure of such Confidential Information, shall not release You from Your obligations hereunder with respect to such Confidential Information. It shall be Your duty to secure the authorization of ZeniMax in the event of any reasonable doubt on Your part regarding the status of disclosed Confidential Information.

We will be allowed to release information that we find in the TESO Beta Testing, as long as we have it approved by Zenimax before we write or talk about it. This means that players who are also writers will be able to release articles, but they just need to send them in to make sure there isn't any major spoilers that are released before the official launch.

Those are the majority of the main points of the Agreement, but it also going into more specific detail about stealing designs from the game, reverse-engineering the systems, how Zenimax is allowed to edit your posts and threads found on the forums that will be provided for us, and many other claims such as the fact that all information or images found in the game may be subject to change before the official TESO release, meaning they could surprise us by adding/removing content without notice.

In the end, here are the major points that you need to remember about Beta Testing:

-You must be at least 18 to participate in Private Beta Testing
-If you lied about your age/information, you may not be able to join testing
-If you are chosen, DON'T TELL ANYONE
-You can't talk about anything you see in the testing, even to friends
-You can't write about anything you see outside the Beta forums
-You can't take screenshots of gameplay to post for everyone
-If you do without permission, YOU'LL BE KICKED FROM TESTING
-You can get permission from Zenimax to release information to the public

Just remember to think before you talk about the game publicly, and you shouldn't get in trouble! :)

i already read this. i do understand :)

So basically dont do sht but play for hours on end, in your cave, and talk to no one. Got it!

If I do get selected I won't be doing shit on any forums anywhere, or even show my face in wow for probably a few weeks. haha.

pretty standart NDA here realy. tho with the hand on already i wouldnt have expected it to be that strict.

Thanks for confirming what I thought it meant.

The only thing here that is out of the ordinary is the fact that you can't even tell people that you are taking part in the beta.

Well it's probably to have those who are not choosen continuesly fed with the hunger of anticipation fueled by mystery. Like the South park episode where cartman bought an amusement park and made the commercial "You can't go" and then suddenly people wanted to go.

Mh, I found it extraordinary that you could tell people you were taking part in a beta of some recent MMOs. I was used to not being allowed to talk about anything. But I had expected an even less strict NDA, as well.

The restrictions are for the good of the game and the company, but on the other hand it's bad for us who will have to wait more, even though we may have some friends who'll be testers in the future...The fact of keeping secrets of the things you do in the game is too difficult, I would be too enthused and happy I could say everything to my friends :P

I particularly like the part of the NDA where it says if you break the NDA and they decide to sue you over it, you have to pay their attorney fees. That should scare people enough to keep them quiet... hopefully.

(January 23rd 2013, 03:11 AM)Hentmereb Wrote: The only thing here that is out of the ordinary is the fact that you can't even tell people that you are taking part in the beta.

I'd be more surprised if it wasn't there. Most NDA's include it.

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This forum will too be filled with the most elusive questions (and hints) of who is and who isn't in beta.

P.S You are allowed to state that you have an NDA with Zenimax Online, but cannot give out more details (Guess what that would mean).

(January 22nd 2013, 08:13 PM)Shadowfox Wrote: So basically dont do sht but play for hours on end, in your cave, and talk to no one. Got it!

I think I can do this!

Makes you wonder if there's some kind of new mechanic or somehing similar that Beth don't any other companies to get whiff about until the release, considering these pretty strict rules. I'm probably just in conspiracy mode, but who knows?

(January 23rd 2013, 10:35 AM)Meridus Wrote: Makes you wonder if there's some kind of new mechanic or somehing similar that Beth don't any other companies to get whiff about until the release, considering these pretty strict rules. I'm probably just in conspiracy mode, but who knows?

This may potentially be it, but I think it's just to make sure that people don't start passing out information that will later be changed. If the media is able to get hold of someone who has been in the Beta, who knows what type of information they could get?