I don't really mind if people copy my ideas, but I don't want anyone thinking that I am copying theirs.

With all the posting of ideas/pics/previews I am bound to stumble upon somthing that will be "out there' before I had the chance to put it out there, even though I may have thought of it first or at least independently.

If I continue to conceive of and develop games for RPGMs but not post my ideas/pics/previews, will people take my word when I assert their originality?

No.

Nothing is original anymore.

It's all derivative, so just have fun with it and Poop on anyone who takes issue with it's "originality" rather than judge it on it's own merits (or lack thereof).

First come, first serve. You're not filing for a patent here. If it ends up
looking like you copied off of someone else, them's the breaks. Also, you
said you wouldn't mind if someone copied off of you. I wouldn't mind if
someone copied off of me. I've talked to others who wouldn't mind as
well.

I'd say it's time for an ego check. I can't speak for you, but I am never
going to see one penny from "Raiders Of Lekunder". The thing is public
domain. It's not like I've written a novel and have published it with a
copyright. If it turns out that one of my ideas was also independently
done by someone else... well... s'cool. If someone can take an idea and
do it better, it's my humble opinion that he should be allowed to, even
regardless of copyright.

On the other hand, if it looks like I ripped off an idea from someone
else... Well, let me think about that for a moment. Hmm... Well, who
cares? I'm just here to have fun. It's not like we're here to invent the
light bulb and then receive accolades for having invented the coolest thing
since sliced bread.

If you've invented some totally rad special effect or some sort of cool
thing, and you really are worried about being properly credited for its
existence, go over to Pagerron's "Tricks to spice up your game" thread at
the Pavilion and post your trick/idea. Then it will at least have a post date
that you can point to. If you're worried about everyone over there
pouncing on this uber-cool idea and using it before your project is even
finished... well, tough bones! You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Check the ego at the door, please.

But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

Hey, who wants pie?

Afterthought: By not contributing to the community, you're maintaining
your exclusivity at a cost to everyone else. Maybe you have a great
technique for event coding or a really nice graphical effect you stumbled
upon. You're hanging onto it with the hopes that you'll eventually receive
accolades for it when it could possibly benefit the community as a whole.

Reality Check: As depressing as this sounds, we're all game programmer
wannabes here. An "RPG Maker" is for kids and those who are too lazy or
not gifted enough to take up real programming. If we were talking about
real game programming here, I could perhaps understand the reluctance
to share specific ideas that would end up being completely unique. As it
stands, you're using a "game maker" with premade graphical templates
and music tracks. In many ways, your pet project is going to end up
looking and sounding like anyone else's.

Bottom line: We're very low on the totem pole of game programming
here.

To each his/her own, I guess. Me, if someone came along claiming that I copied someone else, I'd defend myself. Maybe not very hard, as there wouldn't be any way to prove I didn't copy, but I wouldn't just ignore the person. Likewise, while I wouldn't mind people creating games based off my ideas, I at least want to finish my game, first.

@crythania

Are you saying that I should have an ego check, that the person that think's I copied should have an ego check, or both?

Like I said, I don't care if anyone copies my ideas. I might even put all my creations (games/music/drawings) in the public domain at or near completion because that is how egoless I am about owning artistic creations.

The concern that I have is the idea that I have an idea that I come up with. I want to surprise everyone to keep it fresh, I don't 'reserve' the idea with pics/storyline/characters and preview games, and then someone does 'reserve' the idea or completes the game. I don't care that they originated the ideas/expression independedntly, I just want to have every right to finish the idea that I originated.

It is much less about credit and much more about being precluded from acting on an idea that I myself orginated (even if I am not the only one to have orginated it independently).

In other words, I don't care what anyone else does so long as I can always work on completing ideas that I myself am not copying.

Anonymous Bo,

I apologize. Your first post sounded like "I thought of it first. I'm afraid
someone else is gonna get the jump on me and independently (although
not intentionally) steal my thunder before I can get my awesome work out
on the market. And I care about my thunder. I want it understood that I
came up with this idea before anyone else did." That sounded like an ego
trip to me, something that is done to satisfy the author's ego rather than
to make a cool game. I misunderstood your concerns.

Personally, I don't see posting about game ideas/pics and stuff
as "reserving" the thing with a placeholder or something. That thought
never entered my mind until I saw your post. To me, it's about sharing
with the community, but it's mostly about letting the community know that
I am indeed active and working. In my opinion, sharing ideas and even
screen shots doesn't qualify as a placeholder. It usually means that I've
already done some work on the project or are planning on working on it in
the future. But there's a chance I might not be able to finish it. It's
not "set in stone" until a full game is released (and even then, it's in the
public domain). Perhaps I'm misunderstanding this whole dynamic, what
posting ideas/pics really means.

My personal motivations for making a game are not to be seen as being
on the cutting edge of innovation. I make games for the sake of having
cool games to play. But I do understand the desire to be innovative.

I think that even if someone else does something similar to what you're
doing, you should still have the right to see your project through, even if it
looks like you copied from someone who was faster. The folks around
here tend to be very upstanding. Everyone will understand.

I apologize for jumping to conclusions.

@Crythania

It's all good.