Re: Dungeon Copyrights (was Digest V3 323)

From Al Macintyre

Thanks for your perspective & you raise interesting points which have some 
further relevance.

Game design has a lot in common with programming ... we create a "world" in 
which there are rules for the users & we expect the world to work right & 
consistently & fairly & accurately, but no one is ever really satisfied with 
a "finished" product, so we are forever adding improvements (game variants & 
program modifications) to enhance our "world."

> From: jlangston@conexfreight.com (Jim Langston)
>  
>  Gary Gygax wrote D&D (Dungeons and Dragons). 

Actually Dave Arneson wrote it & Gary took the credit, and when Dave's case 
finally made it into copyright court, Gary's company lost millions of 
dollars, which may be one of the reasons Gary isn't running the company any 
more.

> Other companies came out and created similar types of games (Gurps,
>  Villians and Vigilanties, Champions, etc...) yet, they were not in 
violation 
> of copywrite law.
>  They learned from the copywritten work, and used the knowledge to make 
their 
> own unique games, which, admittedly, they probably would of not been able 
to do 
> if Gary hadn't shown the way.

Well actually Gary's contribution to the hobby of simulation games was to 
popularize Role Playing Games.  I know that many were out long before D&D, 
such as Western Gunfight, but they never enjoyed large scale popularity until 
after D&D. 

Al Macintyre  ©¿©
http://www.cen-elec.com MIS Manager Programmer & Computer Janitor ... also 
amateur game designer ... creator of some "time travel simulations" for 
example
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