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Would you admit to stealing?
I know if I was creating a mmo I would admit to it. I would tell everyone that im taking DaoC pvp, Diplomacy concept from Vanguard, etc..etc... and will create a mmo that the majority of people would enjoy playing. There would be no shame in my game.
Comments
No shame, and of course no game because all of the other games would be suing you since you openly admitted to stealing their copyrighted content
No sure I would steal any content...just the concept of certain aspects of the game.
Giving them credit for their ideas also means asking for their permission to use them. They don;t want credit they want royalties lol
The only game I wouldn't steal at all from is Darkfall. You can't steal air vapors.
Don't be terrorized! You're more likely to die of a car accident, drowning, fire, or murder! More people die every year from prescription drugs than terrorism LOL!
Using ideas isn't stealing.
Otherwise we could say that every MMO stole from pong, and every movie stole from Beowulf? That type of thinking isn't really logical.
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Giving them credit for their ideas also means asking for their permission to use them. They don;t want credit they want royalties lol
You only have to pay them if they have patented, trademarked or copyrighted the content in question. Outside of IP materials (lore and history type stuff), it's not really an issue.
Ohs nos you didn't!! It isn't vaporware!! It's umm...
in development! Yeah... beta is TBD!
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Darkfall: December or vaporware!
No one has had any problems using EQ (SOE) raid mechanic... much to our dismay.
Stealing is what you assume most about any new MMO announced. The developers just call it "evolution" though.
Doing the contrary, "revolution", is actually looked down upon for financial reasons. It's considered a gamble.
So you know, the higher the price tag, the more incentive to steal what's already worked.
Question... How is taking an idea (which everyone may have similar ones) and implement it stealing if the idea isn't patented?
Did you USE the exact code and mechanics? Did you USE the exact same IP and lore? Did you USE the exact same content (not the FORM, such as PvE, PvP, but actual content)?
If you answer no for all of the questions above, I seriously doubt you are "stealing" anything. But acknowledge where someone else's ideas inspire you to create your own idea is a good thing.
Current MMO: FFXIV:ARR
Past MMO: Way too many (P2P and F2P)
Technically, if it was someone else's idea and i use it without getting permission from them first..its stealing the idea regardless of whether its protected under any type of law. Now, I think you are missing my point, I would be all for taking pieces of ideas from every mmo and using them. If anyone complained, I wouldnt deny it, I would be more than happy to say that it has always been done and always will be. My goal would be to make a great game.
Technically, it is whatever the legal system defines as stealing.
You are not 'stealing' or breaking copyright so long as you contribute your own work and 'evolve' the idea and put in your own work.
This is actually very easy to do with most ideas. So you sue happy crowd can just calm down.
OP, I understand your question. Would I acknowledge my sources and ideas that inspired me? Yes.
I would also say why I liked their idea... where I thought they got it wrong... how I improved on it (and why).
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Isn't the word you are looking for 'Inspired'?
Well, you do know that you may come up with an idea that is similar to someone else's idea without ever knowing it right? (Like, I can write a simple program that does something, and someone else across the nation, or even in another country might write the exact same program with exact same coding structure. Now did he steal it from me? or did I steal it from him?)
You have to realize that similar ideas are permitted, and you CAN be inspired by other people's work (such as the idea for certain mechanic in a game, etc...) So it wouldn't constitute as "stealing" as you are not using the EXACT same mechanic and EXACT same code.
Just to make sure you understand the difference here. You may "acknowledge" whatever that inspired you to design something certain way, but that's not stealing.
Current MMO: FFXIV:ARR
Past MMO: Way too many (P2P and F2P)
Is it theft if I make a car with circular wheels...
I think players would prefer to know what its going to be like. I agree, they should tell people what they are going to take from other games. I would.
if it was really stealing there would only be a very few mmo's ever made.
"The great thing about human language is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand."
- Lewis Thomas
Admitting you're taking peoples ideas from other games would be dumb
When you're making something new you don't set out to lift other people's ideas; you add what original ideas you have provided they are actually improvements or at least have value as novelties.
If you can't improve on someone else's idea, it's probably correct to think of changing it as "reinventing the wheel" and just go with what people are used to. There's enough to learn when starting a new MMO without worrying about details of the interface, what the healing class is called, or some special requirement to use fast travel options.
There's clearly an understanding among developers that stealing each other's ideas is just fine and dandy, and it make sense because they've all taken so much from EverQuest, and EverQuest owes to much to fanatasy lore & gaming that came before it.
In short, everyone's hands are bloody - but don't let that fool you into thinking it's why new MMOs often lack new ideas. The reality is that the industry's most creative people have been gobbled up by a handful of companies, nearly all of them are assigned to modeling & level design, and the pressures of development act as a bottleneck preventing many of their gameplay innovations from getting implemented.
einexile the meek
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