Ways to show off your idea/IP without anyone stealing it?

[Liquidus_Hime]

The Title ^^^

Yeah, so I have extensive amazing ideas for gaming (in my own opinion) and I want to get people opinions on my ideas (good and bad) I'm currently 1-2 semesters away from and associates in Game Design and I'm hoping to get even a masters in something related to gaming (Producer/Designer/Developer) One thing holding me back from posting up my ideas is the fact that I've read so much about courts cases over stolen IP and ideas, and I live in fear of something gangking my ideas to make millions that are mine (Yes, I dream big)

Now don't get me wrong, I know that game take work and years to develop, and many ideas I probably are farfetched; I'm not saying my ideas are the best and everyone wants to steal them, I have some really well thought out and diverse ideas that I have worked on for years. I'm talking the genre, art style, gameplay, mechanics, game system, online play, co-op play, level design and even some terribly drawn characters. I don't want that taken from me, and even if the idea turns out to be shitty, I still don't want pieces of it stolen.

What is the best way to get my ideas out there without fear of thievery?

 

[Liquidus_Hime]

I hate programming >_< It the weakest of my abilities. Heck, I don't like modeling and I'll take that over programming. Our course I'll learn some programming overtime, but to strictly go into it? I wouldn't waste the time, considering I have serious problems with math (which I'm striving to fix.) As for a team, I don't have those kind of resources yet o.o I know people that can do things, but were all still learning for the most part. Now in 2-5 years, I may be ready to jump into the gaming world head on with my awesomeness, but not I want to get my ideas into the world and see how people react,

Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity-Henry Hartman

 

[More Fun To Compute]

As far as I can tell with gameplay and mechanics you are screwed because nobody respects them enough to take them seriously enough to defend. Things like art style as well people can copy and you might be in for a hard ride unless you have actual finished assets and people just outright copy them. Maybe if you have a script you can consult a lawyer and leave a copy with them so they can prove you thought of it first. I don't know exactly how it works. Best to find someone with the actual hard facts, I think, which is why lawyers get paid so much.

About the only thing that the industry seems to respects though is a properly registered trademark that can be proven to sell games or a fully finished game. Other than that you probably have to just hope that people like you and your idea just enough to see you finish it but not enough to steal it and do it themselves. I think that this normally works because they are so proud of their own ideas and think that they have too many good ones to make already (they don't). Good luck.

 

[gabe12301]

I would seriously recommend programming even if you don't like it. I'm 14 and I can do it.Your concept would have to be original to stand out and has to be makeable by one person though.

Good luck with whatever your idea is.

 

[Asehujiko]

Learn to program and make the game yourself.

Everybody has ideas to what would be the best game ever in their own opinion and groups of programmers sitting on their ass waiting for somebody to tell them what to make don't exist because they all have their own ideas to follow so don't worry about anybody "stealing" your idea either because everybody has a different vision on what is awesome and probably think your's sucks.

 

[WarKirby]

Learn how to program.

Once you're an accomplished programmer, see if you can knock together a team & a publisher to fund you.

I have to strongly recommend this. Programming is the hardest part. You'd have a far easier time getting your idea made if you can do that. If all you bring to a team is your ideas, it gives the impression you're not taking things seriously and expecting others to do the work.

 

[Liquidus_Hime]

The Title ^^^

Yeah, so I have extensive amazing ideas for gaming (in my own opinion) and I want to get people opinions on my ideas (good and bad) I'm currently 1-2 semesters away from and associates in Game Design and I'm hoping to get even a masters in something related to gaming (Producer/Designer/Developer) One thing holding me back from posting up my ideas is the fact that I've read so much about courts cases over stolen IP and ideas, and I live in fear of something gangking my ideas to make millions that are mine (Yes, I dream big)

Now don't get me wrong, I know that game take work and years to develop, and many ideas I probably are farfetched; I'm not saying my ideas are the best and everyone wants to steal them, I have some really well thought out and diverse ideas that I have worked on for years. I'm talking the genre, art style, gameplay, mechanics, game system, online play, co-op play, level design and even some terribly drawn characters. I don't want that taken from me, and even if the idea turns out to be shitty, I still don't want pieces of it stolen.

What is the best way to get my ideas out there without fear of thievery?

Nobody wants your ideas.

Let me be clear about this, I'm not saying your ideas are bad or worthless, I'm saying that the gaming industry pays guys like Shigeru Miyamoto or Jenova Chen to come up with stuff. Even if your ideas are extraordinary, amazing and incredibly fun, chances are that every gaming company out there has half a dozen guys that are still better than you already working there.

So you should be making exactly the opposite question: How do I get them to take my ideas? Because, let's be honest, here, who would risk opening up a manila envelope with a game prototype from a student that is clearly more interested in suing than playing ball? As in the film and TV industry, the hard part is to get people to open your submission instead of doing the safe, sensible thing and throwing it in the trash straight away, still certifiably sealed.

I mean, imagine somebody has been working for years on a FPS played entirely upside down. It's their pet project, still unannounced, midway through prototyping. And then some idiot sends them a working mod for Call of Duty played entirely upside down. Now they're screwed.

Now, if you make the games and put them out there as freeware or indie products or whatever, that's a different story. Then you can just send people a CV saying "Hey, I'm the single programmer and designer of "Upside Down Shooter Thingy". I just sold half a million copies on Steam single handedly. Wanna deal?" In the meantime, I'd feel honored to get a recruiter to look at your stuff. If they think it's good they are much more likely to hire you than to steal your concept and then risk you executing on it faster or selling it to somebody else. Why would they do that? Entry level designers work for peanuts and live in cardboard boxes, anyway.

But hey, better safe than sorry. As with any creative product, you can (and should) copyright your script or design document before you show it to anybody. In fact, some people will require you to do so before they look at it. It's a fairly straightforward process, I'm told.

I'm not gonna knock you, I completely agree and I'm been researching so I can set up the right way. There's people way better than I am, but the only difference is the fact that my skills at the moment are below amateur at best. IF I had the experience, I'd already have a working "Demo" of my game so to speak. I know that my idea may be shoddy right now, but I'm happy to at least have some sort of broad direction.

So someone can out skill me, hopefully if I stay on the track I am now, I'll have my idea made in the next 10 years, and be living out my dream, I'm trying as hard as I can, it's gotta account for something. And I don't have anything solid as of now, besides the typed up "Details" and evolving ideas that surround the idea. Now, I can try to form something formal out of the ideas, but who knows what it'll take to make what I want?

As bluntly as you put it, I just need to learn harder and get lucky or make something complete and force it down someones throat gently.

 

[Trolldor]

The Title ^^^

Yeah, so I have extensive amazing ideas for gaming (in my own opinion) and I want to get people opinions on my ideas (good and bad) I'm currently 1-2 semesters away from and associates in Game Design and I'm hoping to get even a masters in something related to gaming (Producer/Designer/Developer) One thing holding me back from posting up my ideas is the fact that I've read so much about courts cases over stolen IP and ideas, and I live in fear of something gangking my ideas to make millions that are mine (Yes, I dream big)

Now don't get me wrong, I know that game take work and years to develop, and many ideas I probably are farfetched; I'm not saying my ideas are the best and everyone wants to steal them, I have some really well thought out and diverse ideas that I have worked on for years. I'm talking the genre, art style, gameplay, mechanics, game system, online play, co-op play, level design and even some terribly drawn characters. I don't want that taken from me, and even if the idea turns out to be shitty, I still don't want pieces of it stolen.

What is the best way to get my ideas out there without fear of thievery?

Get a patent, or a copyright, out on it.