Did Mass Effect Steal It's Story Outright?!

[regallmighty]

You could say that mass effect copyed alot of storys, but who cares, this happeneds all the time when a story/game/band gets super popular, people are going to try and bring it down

 

[JohnDoey]

Theres nothing new under the sun stuff like this happens all the time but I really don't care as long as in doesn't just rip the story completely.

 

[theamazingbean]

Am I the only one who wishes that every writer in the world would read "Hero with a Thousand Faces" and then spend the rest of their careers making sure they aren't following the formula laid out by Campbell. There something to be said about an old concept well-executed, but after several thousand years of retelling the same story, isn't it time for something new.

I already saw Mass Effect's plot as having a bit too much in common with Star Wars, so finding it resembles another work even more isn't that big of a surprise. Their tendency to wallow in old story concepts is what's making me steer clear of Bioware these days. That being said, I might be persuaded to come back if they make an Exalted rpg.

 

[Srkkl]

Oh and don't forget the Geth are copy and pasted Cylons from Battlestar. I mean they overthrew the human race [or in this case Quarian] and made them flee into space to roam forever.

/sarcasm.

 

[ultrachicken]

It could have been plagiarism, or it could have been coincidental. Before I had even heard of Mass Effect or Halo I was thinking about making a story involving aliens as old as time, that wipe out all life in our galaxy every once in a while.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Should Kevin Costner sue James Cameron for ripping off Dances with Wolves when he made Avatar? No. People also say that Mass Effect is a rip off of Star Control 2. Some stories are as old as time, they just get retold over and over again.
-Star Wars. Star Wars' story is older than recorded history. Should George Lucas be sued? The answer is no.

For the story thing, the answer is no.

For Medicolorians and Jar Jar, YES.

 

[Goth Skunk]

Hardly anything is original nowadays. We'll never see new stories as grand as the Iliad or as inspiring as Hercules or as monumentous as those of Gilgamesh because every conceivable great tale has already been told. Numerous times.

There is no such thing as better stories. Just better storytellers.

And for the record, I liked Jar Jar. Breaking some sort of cardinal geek rule, I know. But I can think for myself, and I don't always pander to the geek hordes. One the issue of Jar Jar, I think geeks need to come down off their high horses and see him for the amusing nitwit that he was.

 

[newfoundsky]

It's not the story, it's how it's told. An indian adventure in space? Why not, it's more refreshing than an indian adventure on earth, and you get to put in cool guns and what have you.

 

[direkiller]

Hey, Halo took it's entire concept from Ringworld, it happens all the time man.

the flood are the beast from homeworld cataclysm
right down to referring to everything as food but the beast were cooler because they took over technology along when people

minor point, but the Flood got up to that too, lol. A Halo/Homeworld cross-over wouldn't be all that bad, actually...

o hi there prophet of truth here is my buddy his name is sajukk and Im bringing him to bare

yea dont think that would work out too well homeworld just has cooler things in it

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

I know it's been said before, but a lot of people in this thread would greatly benefit from some time on TV Tropes [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage]. You'll learn a lot about storytelling.

 

[Mr Wednesday]

FOR GOD'S SAKE, THOSE ARE SCI-FI TROPES.

Before you accuse a major studio of outright plagiarism, perhaps you should think about it for over three seconds. Do you really think Bioware just decided to rip a novel off? That they sat their and made a conscious decision.

This is moronic. Many stories look similar in their bare-bones. Oh, there was, like, an equalibrium, and then, get this, and inciting event caused a disequalibrium, and to top it all off, the hero brought about a new equalibrium! Call the lawyers!

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Holy. Shit.

I fucking read that book, what are the odds of that.

Didn't even remotely pass my mind while playing Mass Effect or its sequel.

But come on, the story isn't really all that similar, not to mention it ends with some mind-fuckery as far as I remember (something we can all expect won't happen with ME3)

If this is true, then this discussion is completely pointless, and the OP was just looking for a reason to whine about Bioware.

 

[Atmos Duality]

The plot was so generic it might as well had been public domain.
"Nothing original since the Greeks" and all that.

 

[Wicky_42]

Hey, Halo took it's entire concept from Ringworld, it happens all the time man.

the flood are the beast from homeworld cataclysm
right down to referring to everything as food but the beast were cooler because they took over technology along when people

minor point, but the Flood got up to that too, lol. A Halo/Homeworld cross-over wouldn't be all that bad, actually...

o hi there prophet of truth here is my buddy his name is sajukk and Im bringing him to bare

yea dont think that would work out too well homeworld just has cooler things in it

Ah, yeah - Sajukk would kick some serious ass - then again, it IS a one of a kind superweapon and if the Beast or Flood got their gribbly bits on it then everyone would be screwed :S

Think about it for a second though - Halo ships would work awesome in Homeworld, they'd fit in with the HW ships beautifully. Though the Covenant would be imba, heh.

Hell, even the Progenitor tech has comparisons with Forerunner :S

 

[Utarefson]

YES THERE ARE ORIGINAL STORIES.

There aren't. You are wrong. As RedMenace pointed out, if you believe that a story is "original", you haven't looked hard enough.

so...the romans had stories with the internet in it?
Original stories still exist, however they come up everytime technology makes a major changes; which takes at least a decade.

 

[Blindswordmaster]

Should Kevin Costner sue James Cameron for ripping off Dances with Wolves when he made Avatar? No. People also say that Mass Effect is a rip off of Star Control 2. Some stories are as old as time, they just get retold over and over again.
-Star Wars. Star Wars' story is older than recorded history. Should George Lucas be sued? The answer is no.

It depend how much is plagiarism. If they took the whole series and turn it into a video game... Yes! James Cameron did it. It's the writer that should sue, not Costner. You legaly own the story that you produce and therefore, you should make money if someone use it.

Star Wars is nothing more than the Black knight story in space, it didn't rip enough of the story to really be in trouble, Bioware Fanboy! How much copying a source does it take to become plagiarism? When the plot, setting and character are the same. In this case, it his.

Also, Fanboy, Don't defend Bioware.... Like Yahtzee said, they are big boy that doesn't need defending

I was just making a joke with the Kevin Costner thing. Also, most Disney movies share very similar plot threads. I was just trying to say that some plot threads run throughout human fiction. I really liked the expansion of fictional archetypes in Lady in the Water(though it sucked).
-And you did not just call me a fanboy!

 

[Blindswordmaster]

Should Kevin Costner sue James Cameron for ripping off Dances with Wolves when he made Avatar? No. People also say that Mass Effect is a rip off of Star Control 2. Some stories are as old as time, they just get retold over and over again.
-Star Wars. Star Wars' story is older than recorded history. Should George Lucas be sued? The answer is no.

For the story thing, the answer is no.

For Medicolorians and Jar Jar, YES.

God damn. I actually created a thread to try to understand why everyone hates the three new Star Wars movies and I still don't fucking get it! Is it just the acting?! The original films didn't have great acting and we still love them! "Aren't you a little short to be a storm trooper?-I'm Luke, I'm here to rescue you!" Shakespearean that is not. Is it Jar Jar? Yes I want to beat him to death, but I don't ***** about it! And about the Midiclorians! Evidence does not negate faith! It doesn't fucking matter! I didn't even notice it, and when I did I didn't care about it! *End rant* Everyone, I'm sorry for derailing the thread.
-You know what? Mass Effect should should be sued. They can't have their main character killed off, just to resurrect him. Jesus obviously owns the patent on that.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Should Kevin Costner sue James Cameron for ripping off Dances with Wolves when he made Avatar? No. People also say that Mass Effect is a rip off of Star Control 2. Some stories are as old as time, they just get retold over and over again.
-Star Wars. Star Wars' story is older than recorded history. Should George Lucas be sued? The answer is no.

For the story thing, the answer is no.

For Medicolorians and Jar Jar, YES.

God damn. I actually created a thread to try to understand why everyone hates the three new Star Wars movies and I still don't fucking get it! Is it just the acting?! The original films didn't have great acting and we still love them! "Aren't you a little short to be a storm trooper?-I'm Luke, I'm here to rescue you!" Shakespearean that is not. Is it Jar Jar? Yes I want to beat him to death, but I don't ***** about it! And about the Midiclorians! Evidence does not negate faith! It doesn't fucking matter! I didn't even notice it, and when I did I didn't care about it! *End rant* Everyone, I'm sorry for derailing the thread.
-You know what? Mass Effect should should be sued. They can't have their main character killed off, just to resurrect him. Jesus obviously owns the patent on that.

Myths had people waking up from the dead long before the idea of one god even came up. Indeed, didn't Jesus bring somebody else back to life before his turn?

 

[Blindswordmaster]

Should Kevin Costner sue James Cameron for ripping off Dances with Wolves when he made Avatar? No. People also say that Mass Effect is a rip off of Star Control 2. Some stories are as old as time, they just get retold over and over again.
-Star Wars. Star Wars' story is older than recorded history. Should George Lucas be sued? The answer is no.

For the story thing, the answer is no.

For Medicolorians and Jar Jar, YES.

God damn. I actually created a thread to try to understand why everyone hates the three new Star Wars movies and I still don't fucking get it! Is it just the acting?! The original films didn't have great acting and we still love them! "Aren't you a little short to be a storm trooper?-I'm Luke, I'm here to rescue you!" Shakespearean that is not. Is it Jar Jar? Yes I want to beat him to death, but I don't ***** about it! And about the Midiclorians! Evidence does not negate faith! It doesn't fucking matter! I didn't even notice it, and when I did I didn't care about it! *End rant* Everyone, I'm sorry for derailing the thread.
-You know what? Mass Effect should should be sued. They can't have their main character killed off, just to resurrect him. Jesus obviously owns the patent on that.

Myths had people waking up from the dead long before the idea of one god even came up. Indeed, didn't Jesus bring somebody else back to life before his turn?

Et tu Not G. Ivingname? Even my friends can't tell when I'm joking? Now, I'm depressed.