EA "Standing Up for the Industry" by Suing Zynga

[Signa]

I'm sure they'd like us to think so, after all they are in dire need of some good PR right now and what could possibly be a nobler goal than going against Zynga, loathed and hated by developers, gamers and investors alike...

I don't really want to see EA win though.

It might be easy to find oneself rooting for EA on this, but I?d say caution is in order, since if they can manage to get a precedent that says similar game ideas or visuals can?t be copied A LOT of developers are going to be in a world of hurt, especially with IP juggernauts that have existed since the 80s like EA and Activision going around town trying to exercise their ?rights? upon others supposedly "copying" their concepts.
It might lead to some sort of ?patent war? like in the hardware industry between Samsung and Apple.
The sensible thing to do is to root for the lawyers in this one and hope that neither EA or Zynga win, but lose the maximum amount of money in the proceedings.

If you think Zynga copying a few games and monetizing people is bad, just wait till there's a precedent for game design being copyright-able...

Exactly my thoughts. As much as I hate Zynga's business model, EA doesn't own an entire genre. Letting EA win this could be far more disastrous than letting Zynga have their shitty Chinese-like clone.

 

[Jhereg42]

Believe it or not, I actually believe that EA does have some moral credit on this. Why? Because this is the second time they've gone for the throat and spent money to crush the troll when it would have been easier to ignore it and let it slink off.

Case in poimt, EA vs Tim Langdell. Tim has learned his lesson by now and would love nothing more than to have EA stop spending money to make his life a living hell, but EA continues to pay lawyers to persue the death of his trademarks even though he keeps throwing up BS reasons to dodge the loss. (Yes, I know they are protecting Mirror's Edge, but that fight was over long ago. Right now they are just making sure he cannot do this BS again.)

So while I agree that EA makes a lot of stupid choices, and I will never completely forgive them for Origin and Westwood, they have been painting a bulls-eye on people they feel threaten indi devs and actually spending more money than they really have to to make sure abuses go away.

There are a lot of Indi Devs out there, not gamers but Devs, that are thankful to EA recently. Thus, when they say "You have our shield." to somebody right now, they have backed it up enough to prove to me they mean it.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

Disagreements we may have with EA aside, they never gave my phone number to a company that tried to sneakily charge $10 to my bill. Zynga has.

 

[Ympulse]

I don't appreciate you constantly insulting me either or trying to tell me what I can or can not do.

Well then you should probably stop posting insane paranoid dribble. Especially when it doesnt have any basis and history has already proven you wrong.

Oh, don't say that. There is PLENTY of historical proof that legal precedents can be game changers.

Case in point: The 14th amendment and corporations turning into legal people.

While this certainly wouldn't be as earth-moving, the historical proof is in the figurative pudding.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

If you think Zynga copying a few games and monetizing people is bad, just wait till there's a precedent for game design being copyright-able...

Oooooooh, that's a scary thought. Copyright laws are batshit insane enough as it is, we definitely don't need that.

This mindset is a problem.
"Copying other people's work is bad! Don't do that!"
"But oh, copyright laws and protection by law is just as bad! We definitely don't want that."

Seriously. Decide, guys.

Please don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say we shouldn't have copyright laws. I do think some degree of copyright protection by law is necessary. What I oppose is batshit insane copyright laws.

 

[Something Amyss]

It might be easy to find oneself rooting for EA on this, but I?d say caution is in order, since if they can manage to get a precedent that says similar game ideas or visuals can?t be copied A LOT of developers are going to be in a world of hurt, especially with IP juggernauts that have existed since the 80s like EA and Activision going around town trying to exercise their ?rights? upon others supposedly "copying" their concepts.

Except that's been tried, it didn't work, and no precedent on a case this blatant is going to achieve it.

Hmm, not sure if I can back EA when they missed such an easy opportunity to quote LotR in an appropriate situation...

One does not simply walk into Zynga? >.>

Just ignore them both. EA is losing money with this lawsuit and Zynga is losing money by being sued. In the end, they'll both waste one anothers' time and money.

And really, that's the best situation for everybody.

 

[Something Amyss]

Oh, don't say that. There is PLENTY of historical proof that legal precedents can be game changers.

Case in point: The 14th amendment and corporations turning into legal people.

While this certainly wouldn't be as earth-moving, the historical proof is in the figurative pudding.

Of course, you're talking about multiple Supreme Court rulings....Decades, in fact.

So yeah. They can be game changers if they spend nearly a hundred-fifty years before the highest court in the land, the one that can make sweeping changes to federal law based on their interpretation of the Constitution.

 

[Bloodstain]

If you think Zynga copying a few games and monetizing people is bad, just wait till there's a precedent for game design being copyright-able...

Oooooooh, that's a scary thought. Copyright laws are batshit insane enough as it is, we definitely don't need that.

This mindset is a problem.
"Copying other people's work is bad! Don't do that!"
"But oh, copyright laws and protection by law is just as bad! We definitely don't want that."

Seriously. Decide, guys.

Please don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say we shouldn't have copyright laws. I do think some degree of copyright protection by law is necessary. What I oppose is batshit insane copyright laws.

I didn't mean to put words in your mouth specifically, I was rather trying to portray that mindset as a whole -- and to extrapolate it a bit to underline its conflict. If you follow me. I know that what you said is much less extreme than what I said. If you felt I was putting words in your mouth to attack you, I apologise. That wasn't my aim.

 

[cgmetallica1981]

"The roots of what we do as an industry is creative, from the minds of people who sit there and build storylines and characters and mesh it all together ... You take years to do that. And when you see somebody ... take months replicating what you've done, you're upset."
This whole thing is just hilarious

 

[Zipa]

Jim Sterling summed it up best on his twitter awhile ago.

https://twitter.com/JimSterling/statuses/231445613957488641

 

[zachusaman]

oh god this is just so god damn hilarious, like watching one hobo beat up another hobo over a piece of cheese screaming "I AM THE DEFENDER OF JUSTICE I AM THE SHIELD OF SOCIETY"

 

[The White Hunter]

This seems less "Luke fighting Vadar for the good of us all" and more "Count Dooku being killed by Palatine to further his plans." Not all actions have a good and evil side, and not all fights have someone who is worth rooting for.

I personally like to think of EA as Dr. Robotnik. The Dr. Robotnik from TAOSTH.

But more malevolent. Still, I'm not gone join the crowd bashing EA, EA do a lot of bullshit but I do like and play a fair few of their games. Though Battlefield is dead to me and Dead Space 2 for free didn't sell me on their vain attempt at horror.

At least MoH 2010 kicked ass.

 

[McMarbles]

God, it's like Burger King suig McDonalds to promote healthy eating.

 

[Mumorpuger]

EA has reached a point where it can never do anything to satisfy the legions of angry nerds. Ever.

Also:

 

[VoidWanderer]

Very deep sigh.

I want to say they have lost the plot, but that would imply that they had it in the first place.

 

[Nachtmahr]

Believe it or not, I actually believe that EA does have some moral credit on this. Why? Because this is the second time they've gone for the throat and spent money to crush the troll when it would have been easier to ignore it and let it slink off.

Case in poimt, EA vs Tim Langdell. Tim has learned his lesson by now and would love nothing more than to have EA stop spending money to make his life a living hell, but EA continues to pay lawyers to persue the death of his trademarks even though he keeps throwing up BS reasons to dodge the loss. (Yes, I know they are protecting Mirror's Edge, but that fight was over long ago. Right now they are just making sure he cannot do this BS again.)

So while I agree that EA makes a lot of stupid choices, and I will never completely forgive them for Origin and Westwood, they have been painting a bulls-eye on people they feel threaten indi devs and actually spending more money than they really have to to make sure abuses go away.

There are a lot of Indi Devs out there, not gamers but Devs, that are thankful to EA recently. Thus, when they say "You have our shield." to somebody right now, they have backed it up enough to prove to me they mean it.

It's a pity everyone ignored this excellent post.

I too believe that EA is not full of shit in their claims to defend the industry with this.

 

[ThriKreen]

I addressed this on another thread but I'll just repeat it here, with people being paranoid it would set a legal precedence for copying or inspiring game types and genres. Have you seen EA go after Anno, CitiesXL or the other SimCity like clones? I haven't.

And EA knows this, which is why they're focusing on actual direct copying of The Sims to TheVille, which has more weight to it than vague "it's similar". Case in point, that the skin options in TheVille are direct copies from The Sims - not 'close' RGB values, but 'direct as if they used the eye dropper tool in Photoshop'. Same goes for the personality/behaviour options.

Take your tin-foil hats off please.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Interesting. Yes, EA is just protecting their revenue streams and IPs, but if there's one thing we can trust the corporate giant to do, it's protect the flow of money into their pockets. Zynga might have a stronger punch than a lot of the smaller companies they've blatantly ripped off, but EA is a different beast, one with the money, grievance, and grudge to end these shenanigans.

I guess it's a case of the evil you know.