Crooks on gamdev?

i dont think a design doc posted on gdnet would ever be good enough to be published...

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I''d say being worried about your ideas being stolen is pretty rediculous. At this point you should be flattered if someone stole your ideas.

It''s more important to exchange your ideas to have them critiqued so you get better. You can worry about stolen ideas when you work for a real company.

Ben


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If I saw a good idea for a game on gamedev, I''d much rather collaborate with the guy who had the idea rather than steal it and do it myself. It takes a lot of time making a game yourself.

Design Documents would fall under copyright protection. So they might ''borrow'' your idea, but they couldn''t outright copy it.

-Ryan "Run_The_Shadows"
-Run_The_Shadows@excite.com
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Original post by Run_The_Shadows
Design Documents would fall under copyright protection. So they might ''borrow'' your idea, but they couldn''t outright copy it.

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How is it copyrighted if the person didn''t copyright it?

It''s called an intellectual copyright.

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Original post by Warsong
How is it copyrighted if the person didn''t copyright it?

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It''s getting "copyrighted" the moment it is created.

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Beware of the dog with the shifty eyes *shift''s eyes*

¬_¬

Here''s something you might want to check out as far as copyrights are concerned:

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

The document itself is copyrighted. The ideas in it are not.
That''s the justification for the existence of Non-Disclosure
Agreements. Posting in an open forum leaves you very little
recourse. Especially when using a semi-anonymous online handle.

On the other hand, the value of an unimplemented design is low.
There is no sure-fire way of knowing whether it will work out
or not before trying it out - why do you think you see complaints
about the lack of creativity of games, movies, series ?
Producers stay with the known profitable genres and franchises.

All in all, you''re more likely to benefit from having your
design analysed than to lose by having it stolen. Amateurs
tend to think their own ideas are better anyway, professionals
are likely to twist it so that you probably won''t recognize it
(note that your have copyright on your back story, graphics...)

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Original post by KalvinB
I''d say being worried about your ideas being stolen is pretty rediculous. At this point you should be flattered if someone stole your ideas.

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I´d never thought it would come to this, I agree 100% with KalvinB.

1) Companies don´t steal ideas, they have plenty of their own. And usually in better states of development than yours.

2) The same goes for any self-respecting indie developer.

3) All you have to worry about are the kiddies, and they don´t really make games anyway.


So you can pretty much post whatever you want here, if you think it´s THE hot shit, then just don´t post it. You can´t copyright ideas, end of story.

It''s funny the lack of logic of some of the people who feel ''threatened'' that some people are going to steal their idea..

I think some people are under the impression that there is some secret band of highly talented and funded development teams sitting around waiting to work on a project, but not one of them has any idea what to do... And those people are going to read a 1/4 written design doc written from a freeware word template, and go YES! This is it! this is our game, we''re going to make millions of this kid''s idea!

Damn near every game developer has a stack of ideas for games filed away in the back of their heads, and neither the time nor the resources to ever make 99% of them a reality. And they feel just as strongly that their idea is the next great thing as you feel about your idea.

to sum this rant up... quit freakin'' worrying! the only people who would ever have the gumption to steal your idea, are the ones who aren''t going to have the resources to do much more with it then you have.

And to continue on that thought.. don''t feel bad or foolish because you think your idea might get stolen... i think all of us here has thought that way at one time or another... we''ve all thought we had THE IDEA, but as you get older and start talking to more people, you''ll find out:

A. That idea isn''t nearly as good as you thought it was.
B. A bunch of people already have thought it up, you just realized it later.
C. That idea just isn''t do-able at this point in time.
D. That idea is just too difficult to implement when compared to the possible returns.

quote:

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Original post by aegrimonia
And to continue on that thought.. don''t feel bad or foolish because you think your idea might get stolen... i think all of us here has thought that way at one time or another... we''ve all thought we had THE IDEA, but as you get older and start talking to more people, you''ll find out:

A. That idea isn''t nearly as good as you thought it was.
B. A bunch of people already have thought it up, you just realized it later.
C. That idea just isn''t do-able at this point in time.
D. That idea is just too difficult to implement when compared to the possible returns.

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LOL I get you all. I am not talking about an entire game but bits and peaces of the game which make the game up. Game companies do steal ideas and claim as their own look at Tetris. I am not saying my idea is great I am asking a question about people taking bits of ideas.

And I asked if it’s good to be taken since it might help someone else since they might have 1/2 and idea and need another 1/2. Should this be what we should do?

Plenty of companies don’t have good ideas and you can see it with the garbage they put out and the contests they make to get ideas.

I also hear other says people here steal ideas from one another and take it as their own as if they are smart enough to come up with ideas.
One site has a lot of game designs and a lot of them are good which a lot of ideas are original and good. I’ll post the link later in a new post in the design forum.

I also posted a idea online and experienced designer said he doesn’t make games that are posted on the net even though the game look good and original. And as for my game ideas I like to hear complaints but no one does since they seem to like what I design. But I don’t mind posting it to everyone sometimes.
I prefer criticism on my designs than compliments so I can make it better.

Well, Warsong, if you have idea, then make a game design document. If it is good enough, then I''m sure you will be able to find some people that would be interested in making it. Just make sure that the people will be able to make what you design. Keep it at the skill level of the people you can find to do it for free. That skill level would be beginner/intermediate.