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Reminder:
Do NOT send ideas for games, features, characters, stories, or anything else to game developers.
We can't look at them because we don't want to get sued for accidental infringement of YOUR intellectual property.
Do NOT send ideas for games, features, characters, stories, or anything else to game developers.
We can't look at them because we don't want to get sued for accidental infringement of YOUR intellectual property.
I know this is confusing, so here's how it works:
Game developer is working on a project. It has certain themes and ideas which are expressed in various ways, like game mechanics, art, writing, and even programming/technology.
1/x
Game developer is working on a project. It has certain themes and ideas which are expressed in various ways, like game mechanics, art, writing, and even programming/technology.
1/x
You send them an idea for anything. It could be a character, a shader, a storyline, a quest, whatever. Doesn't really matter what it is.
Now, coincidentally, they happened to be working on something similar because the gamedev and you both know the game's themes.
2/x
Now, coincidentally, they happened to be working on something similar because the gamedev and you both know the game's themes.
2/x
The game ships.
It's a huge success.
Or it flops. Regardless, it doesn't matter.
The game makes some amount of money, and it shipped with a thing that bears a striking resemblance to the thing you sent to the gamedev.
You see that thing. You're not credited. WTF?!
3/x
It's a huge success.
Or it flops. Regardless, it doesn't matter.
The game makes some amount of money, and it shipped with a thing that bears a striking resemblance to the thing you sent to the gamedev.
You see that thing. You're not credited. WTF?!
3/x
It was your idea, right? They used it and didn't even have the common courtesy to credit you, let alone give you royalties.
So you decide to take legal action, which is not entirely unreasonable. It was, after all, an idea you came up with, and they used, right?
4/x
So you decide to take legal action, which is not entirely unreasonable. It was, after all, an idea you came up with, and they used, right?
4/x
You and your lawyer tell this to a judge, and the judge orders the gamedev to produce proof that they didn't steal your shit. Which, again, is entirely reasonable.
The gamedev now has to produce proof that they came up with that thing independently of what you sent.
5/x
The gamedev now has to produce proof that they came up with that thing independently of what you sent.
5/x
Now the gamedev has to spend days, weeks, MONTHS of development time digging up receipts to show that it was a coincidence, and they're burning though money on lawyer fees.
Regardless of the outcome, they've taken a huge financial hit.
6/x
Regardless of the outcome, they've taken a huge financial hit.
6/x
So what gamedevs do is delete incoming emails, DMs, etc., and they send any physical mail to their lawyers. Or they just throw that shit into a sealed file in case they need it for legal defense later.
So please... don't send us ideas. We already have too many to implement.
7/7
So please... don't send us ideas. We already have too many to implement.
7/7
