How do I protect my idea?
by Donald "Yadot" Harris · in General Discussion · 11/08/2005 (8:35 pm) · 23 replies
I have a game idea. I want to include people to work on it. But I want to make sure the core idea is protected. How can I a broke dreamer with an idea protect my idea and make sure someone does not take it?
#2
11/08/2005 (8:42 pm)
You got 295 I can borrow? THanks I will really look into this. Is this the way you went? 
#3
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article2187.asp
11/08/2005 (8:58 pm)
This article might be useful to you.http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article2187.asp
#4
11/08/2005 (9:04 pm)
No, it was not the way I went. My game is not under NDA.
#5
11/08/2005 (9:04 pm)
Don't you worry about your team members running off and taking your idea? 
#6
Chance of someone making a game they don't dream of making: 0.0000000001%.
Your time is better spent working on your .exe icon.
Ian
11/08/2005 (9:09 pm)
Chance of you making the game you dream of making: 0.01%.Chance of someone making a game they don't dream of making: 0.0000000001%.
Your time is better spent working on your .exe icon.
Ian
#7
11/08/2005 (9:10 pm)
Ouch... I think with that I will hit the bed. 
#8
11/08/2005 (9:14 pm)
The only what i know to protect your idea...... don't tell anyone. 
#9
* The trouble isn't someone stealing your idea. In all likelihood, you'll have to cram it down people's throats before they'll even accept it.
* Ideas are worth approximately $0.08 (That's $0.10 per dozen). It's the EXECUTION that matters. Sure, the high concept matters ... but face it, the "high concept" for LOTS of the top games (Pac-Man, the Sims, Myst, Mario Cart, Tetris, etc) sound pretty dang stupid to the point of uselessness. But the games succeeded because of the execution.
* If you were some BIG TIME PUBLISHER who was going to put TONS and TONS of marketing budget into your game, then yes... protecting your ideas would be important, because competitors would be trying to ride your marketing coattails and create cheap rip-offs of your title. They aren't stealing your idea, they are stealing your marketing. (My team, working for a very major publisher, was once told by one of the marketing executives that the key to selling lots of games was just to copy whatever Microsoft titles were currently on the shelves, put them in a similar box, and watch the money roll in).
* A game consists of THOUSANDS of ideas - not just "a" game idea. Check "the "Day Seven" entry in Cliffski's Mumblings for an example of all the decisions and ideas that have to go into a game design (and, in many cases, get rejected).
* And finally, the big one: Let's say you told us your idea, in a big 30-page design document. And somehow a hundred of us actually decided to steal the idea and make our own game because of the brilliance of the design. Considering the usual odds of indie developers, I'd say it'd be wildly optimistic to pretend that ten of us actually FINISH our projects and get them to market. I'm going to bet that NONE of the ten really resemble your game, or each other. There's just so little the page can communicate, and there's so much evolution that takes place during the design process. Unless, of course, your game is just a blatent rip-off of another game out there that people can already see and play. But then what's the problem?
* There's also a good chance that your stunningly original idea has probably been considered by a dozen different people this year alone - or at least concepts closely resembling it.
* Everyone else around here is so busy with their own killer ideas that they are so protective of that they wouldn't really want to bother with anyone else's.
I know that every new idea I come up with - before I go through the process of heavy evaluation of it - I tend to treat like they are engraved on stone tablets coming down from Mt. Sanai too. And you know, maybe some day I'm gonna get an idea ripped off and better executed by someone else, and I'll be eating my words. But really, even with a fully fleshed out game design, you have only taken your first step on the journey of a hundred miles. Don't worry so much about someone else getting that one step for free.
11/08/2005 (9:24 pm)
Donald:* The trouble isn't someone stealing your idea. In all likelihood, you'll have to cram it down people's throats before they'll even accept it.
* Ideas are worth approximately $0.08 (That's $0.10 per dozen). It's the EXECUTION that matters. Sure, the high concept matters ... but face it, the "high concept" for LOTS of the top games (Pac-Man, the Sims, Myst, Mario Cart, Tetris, etc) sound pretty dang stupid to the point of uselessness. But the games succeeded because of the execution.
* If you were some BIG TIME PUBLISHER who was going to put TONS and TONS of marketing budget into your game, then yes... protecting your ideas would be important, because competitors would be trying to ride your marketing coattails and create cheap rip-offs of your title. They aren't stealing your idea, they are stealing your marketing. (My team, working for a very major publisher, was once told by one of the marketing executives that the key to selling lots of games was just to copy whatever Microsoft titles were currently on the shelves, put them in a similar box, and watch the money roll in).
* A game consists of THOUSANDS of ideas - not just "a" game idea. Check "the "Day Seven" entry in Cliffski's Mumblings for an example of all the decisions and ideas that have to go into a game design (and, in many cases, get rejected).
* And finally, the big one: Let's say you told us your idea, in a big 30-page design document. And somehow a hundred of us actually decided to steal the idea and make our own game because of the brilliance of the design. Considering the usual odds of indie developers, I'd say it'd be wildly optimistic to pretend that ten of us actually FINISH our projects and get them to market. I'm going to bet that NONE of the ten really resemble your game, or each other. There's just so little the page can communicate, and there's so much evolution that takes place during the design process. Unless, of course, your game is just a blatent rip-off of another game out there that people can already see and play. But then what's the problem?
* There's also a good chance that your stunningly original idea has probably been considered by a dozen different people this year alone - or at least concepts closely resembling it.
* Everyone else around here is so busy with their own killer ideas that they are so protective of that they wouldn't really want to bother with anyone else's.
I know that every new idea I come up with - before I go through the process of heavy evaluation of it - I tend to treat like they are engraved on stone tablets coming down from Mt. Sanai too. And you know, maybe some day I'm gonna get an idea ripped off and better executed by someone else, and I'll be eating my words. But really, even with a fully fleshed out game design, you have only taken your first step on the journey of a hundred miles. Don't worry so much about someone else getting that one step for free.
#10
if it's your art work, you still probably shouldnt care.
if it's your source-code, well then maybe maybe you should care.. but still probably not needed.
11/08/2005 (9:25 pm)
If it's your idea you are worrying about, dont.if it's your art work, you still probably shouldnt care.
if it's your source-code, well then maybe maybe you should care.. but still probably not needed.
#11
The best thing you can do is come up with the game and do it well, that way you may get credited with coming up with the idea, assuming it is worth noting. The hardest part is always going to be making the game itself. Most of us can come up with dozens of cool game ideas a day if we wish. The hard part is evaluating them, and the skillset of your team, and coming up with something that is possible to complete. It also has to be good enough that people will want to play it.
Thats a lot of things that have to be done, and none of them are easy. There are thousands of indie games in development, but very few ever get finished. If you get that far you already beat 98% of the people here.
11/08/2005 (9:43 pm)
I agree with a couple of the other comments. Make the game and finish it, otherwise your idea is worth absolutely nothing. I'm sure most people remotely intersted in games have had many ideas that someone eventualy came up with and successfuly completed. The best thing you can do is come up with the game and do it well, that way you may get credited with coming up with the idea, assuming it is worth noting. The hardest part is always going to be making the game itself. Most of us can come up with dozens of cool game ideas a day if we wish. The hard part is evaluating them, and the skillset of your team, and coming up with something that is possible to complete. It also has to be good enough that people will want to play it.
Thats a lot of things that have to be done, and none of them are easy. There are thousands of indie games in development, but very few ever get finished. If you get that far you already beat 98% of the people here.
#13
hahaha... the made my day
11/08/2005 (10:50 pm)
Quote:Your time is better spent working on your .exe icon
hahaha... the made my day
#14
now go pick on someone else!
11/09/2005 (5:09 am)
Man if I don't feel like I am inch high right about now. Well atleast you have save me 250 bucks from getting the dev kit. With this info I guess I should just move forward create my .plan file and get on with the gettin' on! Thanks for all the advice.now go pick on someone else!
#15
Doesn't mean all is bad. There will be pains in your development, but you have to be inf or the long haul, which could be 6 months or 3 years.
11/09/2005 (5:41 am)
I'm sure your idea is good Donald, but like they said, most won't find it to interesting until they see some screenshots or play it.Doesn't mean all is bad. There will be pains in your development, but you have to be inf or the long haul, which could be 6 months or 3 years.
#16
even if everybody decides to copy your idea, nobody can do it the same as YOU! And because YOU had the idea to begin with, you have the most passion for it, and more likely to succeed anyway!
I found myself with the same problem recently in regards to blindscape, but it seems now the idea is out, it's great.. people give you feedback, and GIVE YOU ideas!
--- edit.. i posted this without reading anyone elses posts.. i believe what i have just said has been said before!
11/09/2005 (5:47 am)
You gotta realise that it's not the idea, but how you do it that counts..even if everybody decides to copy your idea, nobody can do it the same as YOU! And because YOU had the idea to begin with, you have the most passion for it, and more likely to succeed anyway!
I found myself with the same problem recently in regards to blindscape, but it seems now the idea is out, it's great.. people give you feedback, and GIVE YOU ideas!
--- edit.. i posted this without reading anyone elses posts.. i believe what i have just said has been said before!
#17
11/09/2005 (8:46 am)
Don't feel picked-on. It's not that your ideas aren't worth diddley-squat. EVERYONE'S ideas are worth diddley-squat. Unless your last name is Wright, Miyamoto, Meier, or something like that... THEN you've got some people willing to put money behind your idea because you have a proven track record.
#18
The working "finished" prototype is important for a number of reason, among them: it creates a situation that it's easier for publishers/investors/other developers to buy into your idea than to replicate it-- given that it is indeed a good idea. I think surrounding yourself with people you trust, getting NDA's and a FULL plan before you start are key to taking an idea through. To put it simply, think of the bad stuff that could happen and get as much in writing as possible early on that addresses it.
Given you have skills or manage to access people with them, you need to close your eyes for a moment and stop thinking of your game as your passion and instead think of your game as a widget that will be expensive (in more ways than money) to produce. That helps when you go to bat with people whose primary interest is making money.
I disagree about the cynical attitudes posted previously-- about dire percentages. I think that attitudes about the value of ones ideas vary depending on the culture. I think people from more socialist or class-based cultures have a more self-defeating attitude about individual ambition and humble their own and their peer's ideas. Their indie ideas/games may be great, but they are not going to fly if they think of themselves and others as one of the impotent serfs in the cosmos of kingly developers.
11/09/2005 (9:10 pm)
I disagree, the first step in getting ripped off is believing that your idea is not important and can be made public early on. Having said that, sure most game ideas and projects I've come across around here won't float, especially if the person/group with the idea has no skills to speak of and no resources to hire skilled people-- a ubiquitous problem at gg-- not a complaint just a fact by design. At any rate, I think any feasible idea worth doing is going to be worth keeping silent to those outside the team in the early stages. A truly fresh and feasible game idea is like a new improved mouse trap. In the development stage the primary value of that widget is the idea itself-- then after that some working very well polished prototype or finished game. The working "finished" prototype is important for a number of reason, among them: it creates a situation that it's easier for publishers/investors/other developers to buy into your idea than to replicate it-- given that it is indeed a good idea. I think surrounding yourself with people you trust, getting NDA's and a FULL plan before you start are key to taking an idea through. To put it simply, think of the bad stuff that could happen and get as much in writing as possible early on that addresses it.
Given you have skills or manage to access people with them, you need to close your eyes for a moment and stop thinking of your game as your passion and instead think of your game as a widget that will be expensive (in more ways than money) to produce. That helps when you go to bat with people whose primary interest is making money.
I disagree about the cynical attitudes posted previously-- about dire percentages. I think that attitudes about the value of ones ideas vary depending on the culture. I think people from more socialist or class-based cultures have a more self-defeating attitude about individual ambition and humble their own and their peer's ideas. Their indie ideas/games may be great, but they are not going to fly if they think of themselves and others as one of the impotent serfs in the cosmos of kingly developers.
#19
The biggest concern about broadcasting your ideas is that you might be embarassed if you have to shelve it later, like Sid Meier did with his design diary for the dinosaur game.
11/09/2005 (9:58 pm)
It's not being cynical, it's just the voice of hard-earned experience.The biggest concern about broadcasting your ideas is that you might be embarassed if you have to shelve it later, like Sid Meier did with his design diary for the dinosaur game.
#20
11/09/2005 (10:37 pm)
No I am not worried about putting my idea on a shelf. I am only worried about someone with deeper pockets and resources to take my idea and run with it. 
Torque Owner Robert Stewart