When ideas are stolen

J

John Reynolds

Ecce homo
Veteran
While discussing MEO (Middle-earth Online) in '04 on another message board, I made the suggestion that instead of the developers locking themselves into a limited timeframe (if the game is a reasonable successs, people will physically put in more/longer hours than the War of the Ring itself) and too-well-known story (current plans for the MMORPG was to follow the books and movies, cha-ching) Turbine would be better off using the franchise's lore in other ways, such as setting the game against the backdrop of the wars of the First Age, or earlier in the Third Age with the Witch-King of Angmar as the main threat. This latter suggestion would allow for the Wizards to make an occasional appearance, Eriador to be explored, Rivendell to be visited, blah blah. Well, a Turbine employee was a regular poster on this board and got fairly insulting toward me, calling me a Tolkien fanb0y who obviously knew more about MEO than its developers.

Sooo, I get the latest issue of CGM today and notice that the game is now subtitled Shadows of Angmar. Yea, I'm feeling a little peeved when all their E3 and press junkets hyped how the game was going to be set during the War of the Ring, but something has obviously changed with that title. I feel like going all Derek Smart and threatening to bust out the lawyers, a fake PhD, and a world of hurt on someone's ass right about now. Coincidence? John's ego yet again out of control? Or blatant theft of my glorious idea, fresh sprung from the brow of Zeus?
 
I guess it depends if they did a good job or not. Why take credit for crap?? :cool: Once the dough starts rolling in ...... thats a whole other matter. Time to bust out the lawyers.

epic
ps IANAL
 
John, I'd just like to point out that the ideas you put forth on that forum may well have been discussed internally long before you thought of them, abandoned, only to be taken up again later...
 
london-boy said:
Guden, you should be banned for implying such heresy!!!
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I concur. :p

On a serious note, you would've had to have seen the employee's reactions to my Angmar suggestion back then. I resurrected that thread and board members were like, "you called it."

Edit: Oh, and for those who don't know me this entire thread was intended to be rather tongue-in-cheek.
 
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ideas are for the rich. we just remind them of their ideas. i know, i've been sued by the rich for inventing their ideas.

this is reality.
 
There is no question.

It's time to open a can of Derek Smartesque retribution on them.

(ever notice that DS never loses these fights? He is the only developer on the planet that has successfully whipped up on multiple publishers. I guess he either really does have a PHD, or maybe two ;) )
 
John Reynolds said:
I concur. :p
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Hah, wouldn't help. I have dynamic IP at my ISP! :D

On a serious note, you would've had to have seen the employee's reactions to my Angmar suggestion back then.
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Do you have a link? Now that you've piqued my interest you need to let me sate my curiosity on this subject...
 
Guden Oden said:
Do you have a link? Now that you've piqued my interest you need to let me sate my curiosity on this subject...
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At the risk of sounding like a jerk, I don't reference this board anywhere. People linked to it at GoneGold and it got flooded with a Usenet-like invasion of fuckwit posters. Not that there are any such posters here at B3D. :p
 
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