I think fan games are well-intentioned but often tragic attempts on a person's part to share their experience of something with others. Some are more successful in what they set out to accomplish, and some less.

With the legality issue, I'm a little torn; I think there are some legitimate fan games out there, but I think none have come to the BYOND community yet. Some are honest gestures of love toward the material, whereas others are just stupid rip-offs. I think most DBZ games fall into the latter category; and unfortunately, though I think Dragon Warrior Online has a lot going for it, it's basically a different game using the same name and that ends up putting it in the latter category too. Yet fan games for Star Trek have existed since practically the dawn of mainframe computing; these were good and simple games.

A game based on another game and called by the same name has to go under the rip-off category, even if it's good. DWO would do well to shed the trappings of Dragon Warrior and use a different name. As for games based on a TV show or comic, there's a little more leeway.

To put it in a different perspective, ask yourself this question: Does the storyline of the original material allow for a game in which players can explore the universe freely? DBZ is based on powering up and fighting things; this severely restricts not only the interest of the universe but the potential to which one can explore it, because just about any possible game is going to follow along the same lines.

Lummox JR

Creativity is just the art of hiding your sources, don't you know? The trick is to not make games that are similar to currently-popular ones.

Of course, thne you can do something completely different because no one else bothered to do it, like Ensya, which isn't a board game, and isn't violent, and therefore couldn't be copied by any pre-existing thing in the world so far... I mean, who in their right mind would play a non-violent adventure game? Of course, since they can't acuse me of stealing my game ideas, they accuse me of stealing my graphics... And if they couldn't do that they'd accuse me of stealing smileys, or the concept of gems that do stuff...

Untitled_Boy wrote:

If it is someone's dream to make a game based on their favorite game, or tv show, so be it. Anyone who cries out about the legal or moral issues that this brings up needs to put things in perspective: a couple hundred people playing a fan game won't hurt the feelings of the original developers, nor will it financially impact them.

This is simply not true in all cases, and it's the excuse people use even when they are, say, selling Simpsons t-shirts, which directly impacts the ability for the creators to make money off their own Simpsons t-shirts.

Anyway, as Lexy says, the proof is in the reaction of fan gamers themselves: We have had dozens and dozens of cases of fan gamers coming in screaming about people stealing their ideas/code/icons.

But hey, I thought doing that didn't hurt anyone, eh?

I realize that everyone is entitled to his opinion, and I respect this. I also hope that you will all respect mine as you read this letter. For the sake of review, it will not be easy to pave the way for people of every sex, race, and socioeconomic status to fulfill their own spiritual destiny. Nevertheless, we must attempt to do exactly that, for the overriding reason that SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's effusions all stem from one, simple, faulty premise -- that it is known for its sound judgment, unerring foresight, and sagacious adaptation of means to ends. Strange, isn't it, how ill-bred couch potatoes are always the first to open the gates of hell? SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme will go to almost any extreme to prevent my message of truth from getting out, by which I mean that thanks to SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme, I'm now suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. To cap that off, SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme is not a responsible citizen. Responsible citizens plant markers that define the limits of what is delusional and what is not. Responsible citizens decidedly do not utilize legal, above-ground organizing in combination with illegal, underground tactics to take credit for others' accomplishments.

So, why do SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's shock troops want to ingratiate themselves with SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme? I guess it just boils down to the question: To what degree is SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme going to replace love and understanding with obstructionism and stoicism? Let me give you a hint: It would have you believe that we should all bear the brunt of its actions. Let me recap that for you, because it really is extraordinarily important: Its insufferable ideals are in full flower, and their poisonous petals of fanaticism are blooming all around us. For those of you who don't know, most people want to be nice; they want to be polite; they don't want to give offense. And because of this inherent politeness, they step aside and let SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme hamstring our efforts to denounce those who claim that it is beyond reproach. By this, I mean that it is easy to see faults in others. But it takes perseverance to point out that the emperor has no clothes on.

If anything, SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme is always prating about how mediocrity and normalcy are ideal virtues. (It used to say that it is always being misrepresented and/or persecuted, but the evidence is too contrary, so it's given up on that score.) I don't know if I speak for anybody but myself on this, but SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme likes to compare its comments to those that shaped this nation. The comparison, however, doesn't hold up beyond some uselessly broad, superficial similarities that are so vague and pointless, it's not even worth summarizing them. There are three fairly obvious problems with SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's disquisitions, each of which needs to be addressed by any letter that attempts to take off the kid gloves and vent some real anger at SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme. First, SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme is out of control, like a runaway freight train. Second, SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's consistent lack of regard for others will perpetuate the myth that it has the mandate of Heaven to assuage the hungers of its surrogates with servings of fresh scapegoats in a lustrum or two. And third, ignorance is bliss. This may be why its adherents are generally all smiles. You might think that anyone who doesn't know that SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme is foul-mouthed must be inhabiting a different world. Well, if that's the case, then I'm afraid SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's flunkies must have spent the past month on Mars. SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme is an organization of questionable moral character. Don't make the mistake of thinking otherwise. SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme does, and that's why it wants us to feel sorry for the sappy doofuses who impede the free flow of information. I insist we should instead feel sorry for their victims, all of whom know full well that SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme is almost unique among the most snivelling savages you'll ever see in that it espouses an unctuous view of reality and a defense of inimical terrorism. That concept can be extended, mutatis mutandis, to the way that its conjectures are not our only concern. To state the matter in a few words, it doesn't want us to act honorably. It would rather we settle for the meatless bone of revanchism.

It's not necessarily the case that SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's prevarications serve no purpose other than to pose a threat to personal autonomy and social development. On the contrary, I want to expand people's understanding of SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's anal-retentive machinations. But first, let me pose an abstract question. Why does SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme insist on boring holes in the hull of the boat in which it is also a passenger? You see, SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme is guided by the sick ethos of nativism. To top that off, I have never been in favor of being gratuitously uppity. I have also never been in favor of sticking my head in the sand or of refusing to make plans and carry them out. As I mentioned before, you probably know exactly what I mean. But let me add that its idiotic claim that the only way to expand one's mind is with drugs -- or maybe even chocolate -- is just that, an idiotic claim.

I have no problem with the manifestly obvious statement that I find SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's quips highly insulting. I have no problem with the idea that SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's whitewash of the issue offers no real analysis of the situation that resulted in its rash, short-sighted slogans in the first place. And I have no problem with the special privileges occasionally granted to irresponsible, gutless geeks. What I do have a problem with are SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's parasitic whinges. It is grossly misleading merely to claim that SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's backers all look like SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme, think like SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme, act like SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme, and ruin people's lives, just like SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme does. And all this in the name of -- let me see if I can get their propaganda straight -- brotherhood and service. Ha! For one thing, investigators who have spent many years attempting to penetrate the dark recesses of SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's pestiferous underworld frequently conclude that it would be downright distasteful for SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme to besmirch the memory of some genuine historic figures. But more important, we must fight scurrility and slander. As mentioned above, however, that is not enough. It is necessary to do more. It is necessary to contribute to the intellectual and spiritual health of the body politic. Let me close by reminding you that SaBeRsoft's DungeonMaster X-treme's historical record of moonstruck, unruly zingers is clearer than the muddled pronouncements of its comrades.


Sincerely,
Master Reviewer Aeonn

Damn. When I first started reading this, I thought you had dug out an exceptionally high quality review from somewhere to prove my wrong. :P