a multiplayer game of parenting and civilization building
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I'm an aspiring game designer and long-time fan of Jason's work. I was incredibly excited about OHOL and played it at launch. I wanted to get back into it eventually so I kept up with the update emails, which is how I learned about the mobile game drama. I haven't seen any of the articles and didn't know there was a mobile version. The only way I learned about this was reading Jason's own account, and later the developer's response. I just add that for context to make it clear I have no stake in this argument beyond my reaction to reading about it today. That, combined with a desire to make it clear that I'm not looking for a debate, and Jason's apparent fondness for transparency is why I'm posting this here instead of emailing him.
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As I said, I'm an aspiring game designer and Jason has been the most consistently inspiring designer I've seen. OHOL was the first time I actually looked at a game's code to try and learn how it works, I saw the public domain dedication and was even more impressed. I'm also the type of person who sees someone playing 2048 and tells them that it's a ripoff of a better game, because I care about attribution and crediting good work. In other words, I'm the type of person who cares about designer's "legacies" even if I don't play their games.
That's where I was when I started reading these threads. Now, I'm heartbroken and feeling like I lost someone important to me.
Again, this is a temporary account because I'm sure someone will reply with some little detail that I intentionally omitted and ignore the point. This isn't about what email was sent on what date, or what font size was used for which disclaimer. It's about seeing someone I respected for their principles fall apart when those principles were actually tested.
I read these threads and saw a casual agreement gone wrong after an unexpected success. Hardly surprising, which is why lawyers exist. I saw the mobile developer make efforts to fix their mistakes. I saw Jason repeatedly assert that he waived his rights to things while making quasi-legal threats based on rights he doesn't have, due to a change of heart he had after agreeing to certain terms. They asked his permission to make the game, and he gave it. They offered a cut of the revenue, and he turned it down. Admirable. They did something he didn't like based on the terms of that agreement and then he started making demands as if he had legal rights. They tried to make it right where they could, and gave very reasonable explanations why they couldn't make other specific changes. He accused them of fraud even as they continued to try and remedy the situation.
There are hundreds of companies out there that make shameless clones, unofficial ports, and outright pirated games every day. Some of them make millions of dollars a month and have (actual) lawyers on staff. And all this is ripping off games that have retained their copyright. There are plenty of cases of actual patents being duplicated by multi-national corporations. Just recently the Supreme Court weakened copyright protection by ruling that you can't sue for copyright infringement until your application has been approved, where you could previously sue just after making the application (based on the de facto copyright assumed by publication or whatever). I've also been involved in filing for a trademark and it is not an easy, cheap, and certainly not automatic process. So Jason's constant accusations of legal infringement based on a work that he explicitly waived copyright on has done nothing but make this entire conversation sound hostile and made the mobile developers look level-headed.
Before this, I had thought about adapting or building on one of Jason's works. Now, I'm sure I legally could, but I have no desire to be associated with him or risk some kind of unforseen disagreement.
As far as this is concerned, looking at mobile stores these days, the mobile dev's point about having "unofficial" in the title opening up room for malicious cloners to pose as the official mobile game is really underappreciated. While I'm not hoping for it, I think it would fascinating to see this saga revive if another clone/port comes out with the same or a similar-enough name that it takes the place of the current mobile version. How would everyone react if after doing all this work to negotiate with the well-meaning mobile developer, they're suddenly faced with a company that won't come to Jason's forums to hash it out and won't reply to anything short of a court order?
My big takeaway from all this: If you're going to treat the law as an abstract thought experiment, don't base your business or your legacy on everyone agreeing with your hypothesis. If you're going to make a legal threat, then actually file with a court and take the chance of being wrong. Don't try and have it both ways.
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Again, I absolutely don't care about armchair lawyers talking about the outcome of their fantasy lawsuits that they win on a technicality. I care about the reputation of someone I really admired and how they handled something very publicly. Jason says he cares about his legacy. As one of the people who will be around to remember that legacy, I wanted to let him know what it looks like right now.
Remember kids, never meet your heroes. Save yourself time and don't have any.
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