Hello,

I just finished my first map and uploaded it on mania-exchange. However I found out that you can validate your map on your official maniaplanet-account "Player Page" for 500 planets. The question is: What for?

They write: "ManiaPlanet allows you to register your maps in order to make them usable by competitions. Moreover you will get statistics of what competitions are using your maps."

I get the bit about the statistics but what does it mean "make them usable in competitions"?
Does this mean they cannot be used in official tournaments or does this apply to my own (upcoming) server as well?
Can I not play this map for fun when it isn't validated?

HELP!! (And thank you for your answers)

I interpret it like this....

There can be potential issues of legality and ownership of property when organisers of commercial competition (such as e-sports) want to use community created maps. By submitting your maps into this area, you are giving organisers of competition the right to use your maps in their events.

Its not like anyone was ever going to actually 'pay' you for your maps, so you don't really lose anything, but submitting them to this area will mean there can be no argument about it afterwards. You get nothing and they get use of the maps.

Thats just my interpretation.

*Edit: Its nothing to do with your own server, and as most e-sport events release the maps for training, it shouldn't matter if the map is also used for fun.

As a related story, we (TMX) had contact with a magazine back in the days of Trackmania Original (maybe in 2004), and for them we made a pack of 100 maps from the site, which many of our users voted for on the forum. But the magazine in question wanted us (TMX) to grant them permission to publish the pack on their cover CD/webpage.

We said we couldn't grant them that permission becuase in our eyes the maps belong to the people who uploaded them, however, as they have uploaded them onto a free and public website, the maps could be probably considered to be in the public domain.

In the end, they did not publish the files. Its unlikely anyone would have challenged them about it, but commercial operations face these kind of questions as to what than can and can't use, or do.