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2 years ago ::
Sep 28, 2011 - 7:15AM
#11
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Date Joined:
Jan 15, 2009
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copyright isnt as useful as some people think... its part of the reason there are patents and trademarks.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 28, 2011 - 7:21AM
#12
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Date Joined:
Sep 28, 2010
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Although it's important to note that game patents are nigh-useless, and trademarks require a high maintenance cost to defend.
And yes, he can copyright it, and yes, WotC has full rights to use his work posted on their site verbatim, as noted by the terms of use. Again, copyright still applies only to specific wording published in whatever form, not the thoughts or ideas behind it. The only way to really prevent the use of an idea in game design is to not share it and make sure no one else has it again ever... somehow.
Jackonomicon™ It's not always safe for work, but it's great for play. It's my blog, yo.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 28, 2011 - 7:25AM
#13
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Date Joined:
Jan 15, 2009
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Although it's important to note that game patents are nigh-useless, and trademarks require a high maintenance cost to defend.
Yup which is indeed why making new games with functionally identical underlying combinations of methodology (mechanics) ... is entirely legal.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 28, 2011 - 7:28AM
#14
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Date Joined:
Sep 28, 2010
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It's sortof dirty pool, however, and most consumers really wouldn't buy into it without some exceedingly good reason.
On the other hand, creating a game based on certain principles already out there, but introducing "improvements" in some fashion is a slightly different animal, and market reactions may vary. (See Pathfinder)
Jackonomicon™ It's not always safe for work, but it's great for play. It's my blog, yo.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 28, 2011 - 7:30AM
#15
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Date Joined:
May 13, 2009
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It's both a blessing and a curse. On the positive side, a game like Command and Conquer can't prevent a game like Starcraft from hitting the market.
On the negative side, it allowed Zynga to copy games almost literally from small gaming studios and then competing the small studios out of the market by throwing around millions in marketing to make sure nobody sees the original game and everyone plays theirs.
Epic Dungeon Master Want to give your players a kingdom of their own? I made a 4e rule system to make it happen! Your Kingdom awaits!Update 5th Sep 2011: Added a sample kingdom, as well as sample of play.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 28, 2011 - 7:35AM
#16
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Date Joined:
Sep 28, 2010
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Exactly.
As an additional blessing, it does help bring diversity and quality to the marketplace for the consumer/end user. In theory, any large company can be put under the table by some kid in a garage with a much higher quality product. Social networks and other non-traditional forms of media distribution and information dissemination have actually made this easier to accomplish more recently, although incidents like Zynga still occur.
Jackonomicon™ It's not always safe for work, but it's great for play. It's my blog, yo.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 28, 2011 - 7:39AM
#17
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Date Joined:
Jan 15, 2009
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It's sortof dirty pool, however, and most consumers really wouldn't buy into it without some exceedingly good reason.
On the other hand, creating a game based on certain principles already out there, but introducing "improvements" in some fashion is a slightly different animal, and market reactions may vary. (See Pathfinder)
Agreed I value creativity at a fundamental level making even a functional clone of a game I like - much less appealing
Hell all the D&D near clones out way back when with there house rules embeded were tacky not interesting... because of there similarity to D&D. RuneQuest inspite of similarities was vastlly different under the hood and didnt feel at all like an attempt to start with D&D and fix it - made it more appealing because of that creativity. Plus RQ took target with there design and actually aimed kind of like 4e does.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 28, 2011 - 7:40AM
#18
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Date Joined:
May 11, 2004
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I see this particular objection to the DMCs (and to posting one's homebrewed material on the forums in general) ocasionally, and it has always baffled me. For one thing, even if I were an unscrupulous game designerr looking save myself some work trawling the forums hoping to get a bite of what I am looking for seems like the hard way for minimal return. Theres a lot of forum to look through and finding what one would be looking for ('I need one more Ring for my article STAT!') seems like more work than just making something up.
Secondly, there is just the plain fact that I have never seen it happen. Never once seen anybody say "Hey, I posted my Magic Ring of Awesomeness a couple of months ago and here it is in this book!" This tells me that this isn't something they engage in.
Thus it seems far more logical that the offending passage is pretty much what some other posters claim it is, a means for WOTC to protect itself from claims of copyright infringement when they happen to publish something vaguely similar to someone elses idea.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 28, 2011 - 7:46AM
#19
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Date Joined:
Jan 15, 2009
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Would I buy it if a game showed up on the shelves with all the classes and powers, feats and features all flavored as ancient celtic ones and with game world setting merged in including appropriate gods with the attached divine and primal sources ... maybe but I can see making such a thing a lot of work even if modelled with 4e design guiding it.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 28, 2011 - 7:49AM
#20
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Date Joined:
Jan 15, 2009
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I have posted concepts and seen them mirrored in product... I actually like it and if my ideas influenced product thats rather good business as I am likely to buy.
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