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<H1>[Nel] Something I don't understand about the license agreement.</H1>
<B>Dave Turner</B>
<A HREF="mailto:novalis%40novalis.org"
TITLE="[Nel] Something I don't understand about the license agreement.">novalis@novalis.org</A><BR>
<I>Tue, 20 Feb 2001 13:23:47 -0500</I>
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<PRE>EagleEye wrote:
><i>
</I>><i> > Nope. But be aware that the basic principles of your game design are
</I>><i> > automatically open, regardless of whether you use NeL or develop your
</I>><i> > own from scratch. What is proprietary to you is the 1000-rows database
</I>><i> > that describes your items, the recipes your artisans use to make items,
</I>><i> > the names and settings of the world, the artwork used to decorate the
</I>><i> > flag flying at the top of the keep.
</I>><i> >
</I>><i> > But not the "there are three realms that are mortal ennemies of each
</I>><i> > other" part. That, anyone can copy. Even if you were developping a
</I>><i> > game for a big company under death-before-you-speak agreements.
</I>><i>
</I>><i> This basically answers my question. You see, I realize that people can copy
</I>><i> my ideas, but I'll be damned if they're gonna copy the work that I put into
</I>><i> it to accomplish what I (will have) accomplished. If they want to copy my
</I>><i> idea, they'll have to implement it themselves, not grab all of my WORK
</I>><i> (because it's open source) and just "compile and run" my entire world. I
</I>><i> don't care about the technology stuff, like those special gloves, or 3D
</I>><i> goggle implementation... I just want it so that if someone wants to copy
</I>><i> that skill tree of mine, they have to copy it from the ground up. Not just
</I>><i> grab my source and say "Okay, it's mine now." I'm not talking about
</I>><i> copyrights...
</I>><i>
</I>><i> Look at it this way... I am copying some of the concepts from any number of
</I>><i> other MUDs, MMOLRPGs, and such... the concept of player housing is in Ultima
</I>><i> Online... I'm copying that, and making it better... What I'm not doing is
</I>><i> taking their source code for how they implemented it, and using it for my
</I>><i> own game... that stuff I have to do myself. I don't care if people copy my
</I>><i> ideas, but I want to release them first, and I want them to have to put in
</I>><i> some of their own effort to make their "copy of my ideas" a reality.
</I>><i>
</I>><i> > > *scratches head*
</I>><i> >
</I>><i> > /em massages Jared's shoulders.
</I>><i>
</I>><i> Hehe, thanks. :)
</I>
If someone is going to implement the same ideas, why should they waste
their time implementing them from scratch if your code is already
there? Remember that any improvements they make will go back to you
(excluding the ASP loophole, but we're ignoring that). Also, they will
have to give you credit (you have the copyright on your parts). So, why
make them repeat the work? Isn't that just a waste of their time?
Also, if they have to redo it, they won't have to release their stuff,
so you won't get the benefit of their code. Also, they could well end
up being less inventive, because they have to spend time just catching
up, rather than really innovating.
I understand that you want your world to be unique - one way you can do
this is by having a less free license on media. This is what Nevrax is
doing. Another way is to not release your plots - after all, plot is
what makes a game (or ought to). Remember, nobody will play a game that
is just like yours, but without your creativity.
You can make money on free software, even sticking with the GPL. RMS
did it for years, RedHat does it, Cygnus did it (now, RH owns them). I
suggest that you seriously consider the benefits of free software from a
totally open mind - trying to think of it from a different point of view
- not "How can I lock world up?", but "How can I make my players
happier?"
I think you'll find that even among proprietary games, the most open
games had the best results - look at how customizable the Quake series
is.
Just my 2 cents.
--
-Dave Turner Stalk me: (215)-545-2859
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"It is said that it is the curse of the neophobe to always see the
symptoms as the disease, and to always make half measures" - Pug
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