Did Mass Effect Steal It's Story Outright?!

[UberNoodle]

The story of Mass Effect and that novel are not unique because it is exactly what scientists predict will happen. Look up what they have to say about levels of civilisation. 2001 and the Odyssey series is about the exact same thing as well. It is a concept not invented by one person but a theory formulated by scientists and futurists the world over.

SF as a genre is most often predictive and shaped by scientific, social, cultural and philosophical understanding of our present and most importantly our future. Mass Effect didn't STEAL anything from this novel. Both are manifestations of the same furturist concepts.

Hang on, scientists predict the whole ancient alien race extermination and sentient machine race attacking our civilization? Scientists do more drugs than I was previously aware of.

No, but they predeict that we will come across a race of the highest level (look up that scale! We humans aren't even on it yet) and they will guide us. The race in 2001 is one such race. Other scientists admit the risk of meeting alien ccivilisations.

Again, concept in these stories - not new. Simple extrapolations of science and futurist theories with what already happens in the world around us. And teh machines? This is SF, and when we want cold, merciless destruction, robots are the easy means to get that. If it were mutant space gerbils instead, then definately it would be too much of a coincidence for Mass Effect.

 

[thiosk]

I've got revelation space on the shelf, but i've been too god damned busy snarfing down everything dan abnett ever wrote to read it.

I am a sucker for books about space war.

 

[Tallim]

The story of Mass Effect and that novel are not unique because it is exactly what scientists predict will happen. Look up what they have to say about levels of civilisation. 2001 and the Odyssey series is about the exact same thing as well. It is a concept not invented by one person but a theory formulated by scientists and futurists the world over.

SF as a genre is most often predictive and shaped by scientific, social, cultural and philosophical understanding of our present and most importantly our future. Mass Effect didn't STEAL anything from this novel. Both are manifestations of the same furturist concepts.

Hang on, scientists predict the whole ancient alien race extermination and sentient machine race attacking our civilization? Scientists do more drugs than I was previously aware of.

No, but they predeict that we will come across a race of the highest level (look up that scale! We humans aren't even on it yet) and they will guide us. The race in 2001 is one such race. Other scientists admit the risk of meeting alien ccivilisations.

Again, concept in these stories - not new. Simple extrapolations of science and futurist theories with what already happens in the world around us. And teh machines? This SF, and when we want cold, merciless destruction, robots are the easy means to get that. If it were mutant space gerbils instead, then definately it would be too much of a coincidence for Mass Effect.

Only makes sense, Alastair Reynolds was a scientist before he started writing full time. Almost all SciFi is extrapolation from current theories anyway.

There is also a theory that although there should logically be life elsewhere in the universe, it is also entirely possible that humans are the most advanced. Not likely but possible.

 

[TheTygerfire]

As long as it's a good story and it's told well with good characters, why should we care?

 

[Naheal]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage

Have fun

 

[Tdc2182]

"No idea is an original idea" - Quentin Tarantino

While I'm at it, "When life gives you lemons, throw them at people with expensive cars"- A 1995 Honda owner.

 

[Tony2077]

in this day and age what isn't but its not outright plagiarism so i don't think we need to worry about that

 

[ReckzB]

Mass Effect seems to be pretty popular with plagiarism accusers. Not surprisingly, Babylon 5 is also an 'inspiration' for the universe that revolves around the almighty Commander Shepard and their cohorts.

Damn fine games though.

 

[Blindswordmaster]

Just to address the whole "Ancient advanced civilization" thing, hasn't that been done so many times that no one can fin the original? Halo had it, Stargate had it, Star Wars had it, Star Trek had it, and Mass Effect has it. Honestly, the idea of older advanced civilizations is central to the human experience, and at times completely true. Remember the Dark Ages? The Roman Empire had far advanced technology. Christ, we had to re-learn how to make concrete!
-This is all the idea of the copy with no original. Everyone uses it, but no one can pinpoint the place of origin.

 

[Ian Caronia]

As long as it's a good story and it's told well with good characters, why should we care?

I just wanted to relay the info I found out. Whether you care or not is up to you.

However I will point out that by not caring you're endorsing this and saying it's okay if it happens again. But many have invested too much into ME now to just give it up, and I understand that, too.

 

[Blindswordmaster]

The story of Mass Effect and that novel are not unique because it is exactly what scientists predict will happen. Look up what they have to say about levels of civilisation. 2001 and the Odyssey series is about the exact same thing as well. It is a concept not invented by one person but a theory formulated by scientists and futurists the world over.

SF as a genre is most often predictive and shaped by scientific, social, cultural and philosophical understanding of our present and most importantly our future. Mass Effect didn't STEAL anything from this novel. Both are manifestations of the same furturist concepts.

Hang on, scientists predict the whole ancient alien race extermination and sentient machine race attacking our civilization? Scientists do more drugs than I was previously aware of.

Have you ever seen that Discovery Channel special, The Future is Wild? Squid shall inherit the Earth?! I don't know what these guys are on, but it's probably illegal for a good reason.

 

[Ian Caronia]

Just to address the whole "Ancient advanced civilization" thing, hasn't that been done so many times that no one can fin the original? Halo had it, Stargate had it, Star Wars had it, Star Trek had it, and Mass Effect has it. Honestly, the idea of older advanced civilizations is central to the human experience, and at times completely true. Remember the Dark Ages? The Roman Empire had far advanced technology. Christ, we had to re-learn how to make concrete!
-This is all the idea of the copy with no original. Everyone uses it, but no one can pinpoint the place of origin.

Like I stated earlier, I let that slide for obvious reasons. It was only when I came to the massive planet that was actually a relay (citadel) and the sentient machines known as the Inhibitors (the Reapers) that my ears perked up.

 

[QuickDEMOL1SHER]

EVERYTHING in today's entertainment industry is a ripoff. Being good is simply getting the right combination of ripped off things.

 

[Volafortis]

Ancient technology from an extinct race is NOT original, from Mass Effect or from the other book. It's been around as long as sci-fi has been. And if you think it's extremely difficult for 2 completely independent people with that archetype in mind to come up with a scenario where said technology is what made said race extinct, you've got another thing coming.

Simply put: It isn't original, but it isn't ripped off. It's a common derivation from an archetype.

 

[Fearzone]

Sounds like an interesting book. I stuck it in my Amazon cart. One thought from reading a synopsis: "Khouri" is the name of an assassin character, though, in Persian, khouri means "healer." At least that's what I heard from someone with that name.

 

[Ian Caronia]

Ancient technology from an extinct race is NOT original, from Mass Effect or from the other book. It's been around as long as sci-fi has been. And if you think it's extremely difficult for 2 completely independent people with that archetype in mind to come up with a scenario where said technology is what made said race extinct, you've got another thing coming.

Simply put: It isn't original, but it isn't ripped off. It's a common derivation from an archetype.

Mate, it's the PLOT, not the ancient race and yaddah yaddah! How many times do I have to keep clarifying this?! Illos is Cerberus, and the Reapers are the Inhibitors! Is anyone reading the quote I made in the original post? It's like everybody keeps clutching that one thing and saying it's okay that everything else is plagiarized because "THAT thing is common in SciFi".

 

[Waaghpowa]

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.

George Lucas was actually inspired by Japanese samurai films from the 60's by Akira Kurasawa when making Star Wars; look up the plot summary for "Hidden Fortress", you'll swear it's Star Wars: New Hope. That being said, nearly nothing is truly original.

 

[DoW Lowen]

Lion King outright stole their story from a Japanese animated movie(who stole their story from Macbeth)

Spoiler: evidence

The original story was Kimba the White Lion. Should Disney be sued?....yes actually, but they weren't! (Simba's early depictions were even of him being white)

Lion King is actually inspired greatly by Hamlet.

OT: It's not about how original the story is, but how original it is told.

 

[Casual Shinji]

When it comes to Mass Effect, everyone thinks it has a pretty original story. Either that, or that its plot is a hodgepodge of human vs robot storylines. No one seems to know (I sure as hell didn't) that this game's whole premise and plot (2&3 included obviously) is WAY too fucking close to a novel written 7 YEARS before it's release. I liked ME. I love Wrex, Tali, and Garrus to death! I let the similar names and themes slide even up to the whole "ancient advanced race wiped out in a single blow" thing BECAUSE of my skepticism and love for the ME characters. But this...this is too much.

You should try to not make to big of a deal about it. Mass Effect is a space story and how original can you get with a space story in the end? There's always going to be warpdrives, machine lifeforms, evil beings from the deepest reaches of space and hot alien chicks.

What you need to figure out is does Mass Effect make the story it's own. Look at The Matrix, that movie took a LOT of visual cues from Ghost in The Shell and the "machines vs. man" future can be traced back to Terminator or maybe even an earlier story I haven't heard of yet. But it made the story it's own and brought some new and interesting things to the table aswell.

Aslong as a story has it's own identity it does't matter to much how much of it is original and how much isn't.