Lost Fragment
Obsessed with 4chan
Too many people in here who don't understand the difference between games that are inspired by other games, and games that are complete clones of other games.
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EA/Maxis Sue Zynga for Copyright Infringement
- Thread starter NateDrake
- Start date
The young impassioned developers who were recruited and given an opportunity to display their skills and be compensated for it when they otherwise wouldn't I would be sympathetic towards.
The people who willingly left already lucrative and stable positions to chase the social bubble gravy train I couldn't care less about.
djplaeskool
Member
So true...
Zomba13
Member
I dunno about the Zynga game (I don't play them) but to me, from what I've played, Sim City Social looks like what you'd get if you put Sim City on facebook and mixed it with the quest and beg for help stuff from The Sims on facebook.
And yeah, I feel sorry for the Zynga employees, the ones that got stock and couldn't sell until it's worth shit.
Agent Unknown
Member
EA = Vorlons sending out a Planet Killer to clean house on a Shadow colony.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
That was a collabo with Firaxis though, they'd need to be brought onboard first.
Gentleman Jack
Member
This has been part of working for a startup since the last century. It should be no surprise for folks who accept stock (some in lieu of pay lol) only to watch it drop in value after an IPO. If I feel sorry for Zynga employees, it's that they're likely to lose their jobs, not because they assumed an incredibly common risk (stocks) and lost.
Dear Nimblebit,
Honest question: Do you play both of these games?
lol perfect response.
EA = Vorlons sending out a Planet Killer to clean house on a Shadow colony.
In Valens name!
I'll never understand why people willingly accept stock options in lieu of pay. That is not a risk you should be willing to take if you're just trying to make a living.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
So true...
Oh Shit! :lol
Gentleman Jack
Member
And it's hilarious Zynga has a nerve to say SimCity Social ripped off CityVille, when CityVille is just terribly dumbed down SImCity clone.
I have yet to see Zynga art that isn't a shoddy ripoff of another's work, or traced from celebrity photos/iconic motion picture freeze frames/stock photography/google image search.
Fusion Pizza
Member
So true...
Hit the nail on the head.
AndyMoogle
Member
That's hilarious.
CityVille totally doesn't look like the old SimCity games. I haven't played CityVille, though, so perhaps it plays completely different? Yeah, right...
Omegasquash
Member
If you're single and have money in the bank, I guess I can see there being a little more incentive to take the risk, but otherwise? Not a chance.
Agent Unknown
Member
This nicely illustrates how calculated the rip-off job was. The handles on appliances are just a little bit different. The phone's a tiny bit larger. The floor's a slightly different color. It's all changed just enough to not be an exact copy, on purpose, so as to make a copyright suit difficult to win.
That's why I'm pessimistic about EA's chances, even as I applaud their effort.
Saint Gregory
Member
So true...
One of the best analogies ever.
phosphor112
Banned
Why would they buy someone with ZERO original talent?
So true...
Bahahahaha
thehillissilent
Member
Yeah, Zygna knew what they were doing and just tweaked it enought to make the lawsuit difficult. I remember there was a gamasutra article on the same issue concerning clones and ways to avoid getting sued.
A good comparison between both games.
Jesus.
AndyMoogle
Member
Not really. I want to stay and watch Zynga get eaten.
Perfect.
So true...
So true...
LOL that's a brilliant comparison! XD
Wiktor
Member
Sorry, but EA's got the copyright to godhood when they bought Bullfrog
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Sim Tower (The Tower) is one of my top five games of all time. I own and have played it on PC, GBA, DS, and iOS.
Tiny Tower made my top ten last year.
The Tower and Tiny Tower have absolutely no presentational or mechanical similarities and are not really even the same genre of game. The theme of building a tower is the same and both feature elevators, although the type of tower, the nature of the elevators, the way you build, the skill elements involved, and everything else are completely different.
Dream Heights is a carbon copy clone of Tiny Tower. This is both true in the finished product and based on exhaustive research of the game's internal files, which use different and even more infringing terms to refer to gameplay mechanics and concepts.
The idea that Tiny Tower copies from The Tower is simply not true if you've played five minutes of either. The idea that Dream Heights is merely similar thematically and NOT a ripoff is similarly a joke if you've played five minutes of both.
I understand the temptation to be skeptical of claims of 1:1 theft, but you look foolish when you protest such a slam dunk.
I would be happy to go point for point on this with anyone who disagrees and cares to actually articulate it.
.
This sums up my feelings expressed earlier in the thread, and frankly I agree with Zynga's response: copyright infringement is the copying of an expression of an idea, and not the idea itself. The latter is the realm of patent law, not copyright law. Naturally, without actually seeing the pleadings, it's hard to say if EA is alleging a specific instance of copying of a piece of art in the game (or section of code), but it's hard to imagine a company as large as Zynga (with so much on the line) actually copying an expression of EA's work.
Saint Gregory
Member
Zero-Crescent
Member
So true...
That's a bingo.
Indeed, it's more like Zynga finally made the mistake of messing with the wrong company. Small indie devs? They can't afford to sue. Big corporations? They got a legal team on-hand and the motivation to see it to the end, until either they win or they stretch it out long enough to bleed Zynga dry.
I would laugh if Zynga gets delisted before THQ.
FlutterPuffs
Member
It's alright, EA doesn't need to play to win.
They just need to play until Zynga loses shitload of money. That's how this usually works.
Some of the screenshots in the complaint are pretty crazy.
Check the picture about 'personalities' in page 16
Check the picture about 'personalities' in page 16
bumpkin
Member
It's ironic that they would be trying to say that Sims Social copied features of Cityville when, as you pointed out, Cityville is very similar to Sim City. They're claiming that EA ripped off their ripoff to defend the ripoff that they're being sued over.
Plagiarism inception.
Zynga games create serious market confusion damaging the game that they are copying. EA games are mostly complementary, they aren't trying to completely replace other games.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Also, can't EA use the "well we have the stuff used in The Ville in our older games for years" argument?
Smashing Drive
Banned
Too bad the Zynga one looks a little better
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
I dunno, the generic "cutesy" look reeks of shovelware art.
Dear Nimblebit,
tiny tower obviously gets some inspiration from sim tower, but the gameplay is very very different. the zynga game is pretty much a 1:1 clone
Ardenyal
Member
Also lol at the bit about skin tones. They just used a color dropper to get exact same RGB values for skin tones.