Did Mass Effect Steal It's Story Outright?!

[UberNoodle]

Should George Lucas be sued? The answer is no.

Yes, the answer to that particular question is always yes

So many stories share the same idea that unless you directly copy one story and calls it your own, I don´t think you can call it plagiarism. Everyone borrows ideas from eachother, and the good stories are those which adds something of their own to the story.

Correct. Plagerism is when I write a story about a boy who goes to warlock school, because that is the base rank in MY world of magic. The school is like a typical suburban school in a middleclass area. The boy's father was killed ... blah blah.

The ideas shared by this novel and by Mass Effect are not unique, certainly weren't originated by the novelist in question, and shouldn't be reserved for one work because as plot, they form something quite credible. elements of it are what many scientists speculate about already. It is the STORY and how the characters are developed and live, that makes each work unique.

What the OP is talking about is a plot, and if similarity in plot was the mark of plagerism, we'd have hardly any stories at all.

 

[Ferrious]

Really fond of the Revelation Space universe, but the argument is about as flawed as saying they ripped it off 'cos they're both in space. The science is different, motivations of the Inhibitors/Reapers are different, the universe is VERY different (due to the Inhibitors, there are very few space faring races, and certainly no Citadel).

If you consider Mass Effect to be simply "There's something coming to kill life" then that's similar, but doing so pays a grave disservice to both Mass Effect and Revelation Space.

Also, Ringworld is basically a high-fantasy story set in space (complete with barbarians!). Other than the shape of the Halo (and a small possible plot in the extended Halo-verse over John being "lucky"), there's no similarity there either.

 

[UberNoodle]

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.

Too true. If we're going to call Star Wars, Avatar and Mass effect (as well as Halo) all plagerism. We'd be forced to call Star Ocean, Legend of Dragoon, all 50000000 Final Fantasies there's been so far, Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid, and the rest all copy-pastas as well.

If you just think about it for a bit all of them are "stolen" from something. Hell Star Trek stole from multitudes of storylines and other popular works as did Farscape, Battle Star Galactiga, Star Gate and the rest.

It's the world we live in

The whole 'stolen' idea is something I have noticed more and more now as people have more information at their finger tips but lack the wisdom to use it. Also it reeks of schoolchildren complaining to the teacher - 'Timmy stole my homework!'. It is simplistic and a fundamentally useless way of thinking in the realm of fiction writing and what is essentially MYTH MAKING.

Plagerism is theft, but it is not the use of preexisting conventions, or the reinterpretation of preexisting conventions into new forms. I don't really see how Mass EFfect can be convicted on this flimsy evidence. It is more than circumstantial. The genre itself has set itself up to generate these kinds of stories.

 

[UberNoodle]

AVATAR is a good story and a good movie and I am honestly bothered that you are so quick to pull the rug out from under it just because you notice something that was strikingly the same from something else.

Fix'd that for you.

This might shock you but many people had other reasons to hate Avatar, myself included.
Not everyone who hates it does it because of the "rip-off" factor.

I haven't been shocked for quiet sometime.
So go ahead and say why you hate it for this 'other reason' then.

Alright.
How about "boring characters, no-surprises badly outlined plot, constant couldn't-get-more-obvious references to the Iraq war and the Indians, blatant ecological messages, silly villains, unlikeable main hero"?
Yeah, I think that'll work.

How about,

*interesting characters,
*a well outlined plot (it didn't lack for anything and it made sense all the way through. The PLOT is not the story nor the background and is generally only a few sentences),
*'constant' references to the flaws in the human condition (you know, Iraq and the Indians are near the end of a very long chain of exploitation and greed war),
*a worthy ecological message (and why is having a message a 'bad thing' now? My theory is that people today are so illequipped to deal with multiple opinion that they despise anything that has one different than their own. Or perhaps you're one of those people who have 'heard it all before' or maybe you see it as 'typical leftie propaganda'. Whatever, they are personal hangups),
*archetypal villains (because the most classic of stories have nothing but archetypes, that is not any different than with most stories today) and
*a likeable hero (because I personally enjoyed watching him grow).

It seems that the biggest alergy that critics have against Avatar is that it was successful yet well made (because nothing stirs the hornets' nest more than that); and that it had a message (because people today love to give opinions but hate being 'subjected' to them. And of course, ones from certain countries love to politicise the opinions as well, further taking them from their often human roots.

 

[PasDeChat]

There are no original ideas. There are only original people.
Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

I honestly don't believe that mass effect's main story was plagiarized, there is way too much content between the two games about the history and culture of the original races that effect the personal interactions between the player and NPC's (the real heart of the game). While i can believe that the spine of the story is similar or even identical to another work of science fiction, the thing that makes mass effect is not the main story its the characters.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

*a worthy ecological message (and why is having a message a 'bad thing' now? My theory is that people today are so illequipped to deal with multiple opinion that they despise anything that has one different than their own. Or perhaps you're one of those people who have 'heard it all before' or maybe you see it as 'typical leftie propaganda'. Whatever, they are personal hangups),

It seems that the biggest alergy that critics have against Avatar is that it was successful yet well made (because nothing stirs the hornets' nest more than that); and that it had a message (because people today love to give opinions but hate being 'subjected' to them. And of course, ones from certain countries love to politicise the opinions as well, further taking them from their often human roots.

You do realise it was partly funded by McDonalds, right? The big film with the oh-so worthy ecological message was being paid for by the corporation that makes Skeletor look like a nice guy.

Not that I really anything in particular about the film. It was nice, it was exciting, it was pretty, but ultimately there wasn't anything particularly special about it that couldn't be attributed to the incredible budget of the film. And of course the reason critics hated it was because it was successful and deserved it. It's a fucking conspiracy of critics, to not only hate popular things but to hate popular things which are obiously so well made.

 

[Souplex]

Space wizards also rips off the C'thulhu mythos and star wars. It's just something you live with cause it's good.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

snip

Well, how about people, you know, having different opinions and stuff?
Also, allergic of Avatar? Yes, I'm really saddened by the fact that this pile of waste got nominated for "Best Picture" during the Academy Awards but, hell, even if it wasn't, it's still not very good.
The only thing that movie had going for it is the special effects and those aren't enough. If you're willing to enjoy pretty pictures for two and a half hours (or however long that movie was), good for you, it's just that it's not the "revolution in sci-fi" I've been told about.
Again, I have nothing against ecological messages and messages about the Iraq war but only when they're not insulting my intelligence and this was the case with Avatar - I haven't seen a case of such obvious propaganda in a long long time.
This is a highly-political movie that's trying to be smart and entertaining at the same time. For me, it failed at both. It was boring and it sure as shit wasn't smart.
If this is a script Cameron was holding onto for fifteen years, well... it shucks.

 

[The Aimless One]

This is uncanny!
I was in a bookstore last week and decided I'd go for some Sci-Fi this time around instead of the fantasy stuff I usually read.

So while perusing the selection I picked up a book and when I read the back-cover the setting kind of reminded me of (my beloved) Mass Effect.....So I bought to find out just how much.

You've guessed it: Revelation Space.

Only read the first few chapters yet and yes, it certainly seems that the general plot is going to evolve similarly......But...

I Havent run into a Commander sheppard type character yet nor would he fit in story.
Also in the first four chapters no mention of any non-extinct alien species forming a galaxywide council.
No live aliens at all in fact and it doesn't seem like there are going to be any.
So also no struggle for human acceptance into said council...no spectres and so forth.
Also the genral tone of the story is quite different.

So....Inspiration? Quite possibly.
Plagiarism?......Not so much.

 

[UberNoodle]

*a worthy ecological message (and why is having a message a 'bad thing' now? My theory is that people today are so illequipped to deal with multiple opinion that they despise anything that has one different than their own. Or perhaps you're one of those people who have 'heard it all before' or maybe you see it as 'typical leftie propaganda'. Whatever, they are personal hangups),

It seems that the biggest alergy that critics have against Avatar is that it was successful yet well made (because nothing stirs the hornets' nest more than that); and that it had a message (because people today love to give opinions but hate being 'subjected' to them. And of course, ones from certain countries love to politicise the opinions as well, further taking them from their often human roots.

You do realise it was partly funded by McDonalds, right? The big film with the oh-so worthy ecological message was being paid for by the corporation that makes Skeletor look like a nice guy.

Not that I really anything in particular about the film. It was nice, it was exciting, it was pretty, but ultimately there wasn't anything particularly special about it that couldn't be attributed to the incredible budget of the film. And of course the reason critics hated it was because it was successful and deserved it. It's a fucking conspiracy of critics, to not only hate popular things but to hate popular things which are obiously so well made.

Now, I took what you said to be sarcasm directed at me. Perhaps it was the italics. I shall reply accordingly.

Well, I didn't mean 'critics' as in 'professionals', so therefore I would not have asserted any form of conspiracy. I was talking to a forum poster, so I was talking about forum posters. Also I didn't use the word 'deserved' at all, so please don't insinuate that that is what I meant.

Avatar was also a very well crafted film, and that can't be denied. It was also hugely successful. I sure hope that you aren't trying to say that tall poppy syndrome isn't one of the most prolific problems affecting media consumers today. The forums are full of examples of it. It's rampant.

"What's so great about ...", "[Acclaimed thing] is utter crap!", "[acclaimed thing] is so overrated", "let's argue about how overrated things are!".

Pure egoposting there.

And I didn't say that THE reason for anybody hating it was its success and message, however, when that is essentially the gist of almost every rant against it, what else am I supposed to believe. When having a message is counted as a flaw, then I really have to question the motivations of the person saying so.

As for the money put in my Maccas, I wasn't aware of that, but I wasn't surprised either. The film itself relied on things otherwise harmful to the environment - I guess all films do. And even the most earnest of films are guilty of at least tonnes of wasted paper for advertising and non-biodegradable inks used on that paper. Oh dear.

Oh and Skeletor is a fictional character, usually topless and in hotpants. It is pretty hard to get worse than 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...

 

[Mr.Squishy]

"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.

The truth, it is spoken
Besides, mass effect does a lot to stand out. I have a hard time seeing them as the kind to rip off someone that blatantly.

 

[UberNoodle]

snip

Well, how about people, you know, having different opinions and stuff?
Also, allergic of Avatar? Yes, I'm really saddened by the fact that this pile of waste got nominated for "Best Picture" during the Academy Awards but, hell, even if it wasn't, it's still not very good.
The only thing that movie had going for it is the special effects and those aren't enough. If you're willing to enjoy pretty pictures for two and a half hours (or however long that movie was), good for you, it's just that it's not the "revolution in sci-fi" I've been told about.
Again, I have nothing against ecological messages and messages about the Iraq war but only when they're not insulting my intelligence and this was the case with Avatar - I haven't seen a case of such obvious propaganda in a long long time.
This is a highly-political movie that's trying to be smart and entertaining at the same time. For me, it failed at both. It was boring and it sure as shit wasn't smart.
If this is a script Cameron was holding onto for fifteen years, well... it shucks.

Yes, how about that! And those were mine.

Anyway, I am willing to enjoy a film just for the ride that it presents. However, upon seeing the film twice, I have found a lot to like about it, mostly for its zoological and anthro(xeno?)pological depth. That seems to be one of biggest reasons the film exists in the first place.

I don't think it was EVER touted as a revolution in Sci Fi. In fact, I am pretty certain it wasn't. Cameron said it would be a revolution in production techniques and presentation, and it was. Of course, poeple who say it WAS a revolution in the genre also 'have opinions and stuff', but I wouldn't base your own opinion on how much you reject theirs. That sounds pointless - to dislike something more because other people disagree with you.

As for obvious 'propaganda' - do you know what that word means. What exactly makes it 'propaganda'. Use of that word takes your sentence into obvious hyperbole. The film had an obvious message, sure, but today it seems that 'propaganda' is just a word used to denote a 'message' that the speaker doesn't agree with. It SHOULD relate to engineered misinformation used with an aim to control the minds of the populace. What exactly was 'false' about Avatar's invasion of Pandora by a mining corporation and its private army?

And what exactly made the message so exclusive to Iraq? Perhaps it seemed that way to you, but I barely saw it. What I saw was a SF interpretation of what Western civilisation, and all other 'empires' have been doing since they began - find wealth, dehumanise inhabitants, move in, exploit, destroy native culture, move on, repeat. Why waste time politicising things that clearly have much more universal worth?

 

[gigastrike]

People need to realize that set pieces aren't story. I'm sick and tired of people saying "this person is a lot like this person and they face similar threats!" What they never consider is that the journey between set pieces (which is what story is) is very different.

 

[craddoke]

I'm fine with ME lifting its plot from a novel - the only thing I would have liked to see is a short acknowledgement (it's just good manners AND it will let fans of the game know where to look for similar content). Really, the modern concept of authorship and originality are anomalous compared with ideas about creativity throughout the bulk of human history. Did Sir Thomas Malory rip off the anonymous authors of the French Vulgate Arthurian stories? Hell yes. Did Shakespeare rip off Chaucer for his Troilus play? Hell yes. Did Chaucer rip off Boccaccio left and right? Hell yes. Did Virgil rip off Homer? Hell yes.

Did anyone really care before the advent of copyright law, commercial publishers, and large media companies? Hell no.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

You do realise it was partly funded by McDonalds, right? The big film with the oh-so worthy ecological message was being paid for by the corporation that makes Skeletor look like a nice guy.

Not that I really anything in particular about the film. It was nice, it was exciting, it was pretty, but ultimately there wasn't anything particularly special about it that couldn't be attributed to the incredible budget of the film. And of course the reason critics hated it was because it was successful and deserved it. It's a fucking conspiracy of critics, to not only hate popular things but to hate popular things which are obiously so well made.

Now, I took what you said to be sarcasm directed at me. Perhaps it was the italics. I shall reply accordingly.

Well, I didn't mean 'critics' as in 'professionals', so therefore I would not have asserted any form of conspiracy. I was talking to a forum poster, so I was talking about forum posters. Also I didn't use the word 'deserved' at all, so please don't insinuate that that is what I meant.

Avatar was also a very well crafted film, and that can't be denied. It was also hugely successful. I sure hope that you aren't trying to say that tall poppy syndrome isn't one of the most prolific problems affecting media consumers today. The forums are full of examples of it. It's rampant.

"What's so great about ...", "[Acclaimed thing] is utter crap!", "[acclaimed thing] is so overrated", "let's argue about how overrated things are!".

Pure egoposting there.

And I didn't say that THE reason for anybody hating it was its success and message, however, when that is essentially the gist of almost every rant against it, what else am I supposed to believe. When having a message is counted as a flaw, then I really have to question the motivations of the person saying so.

As for the money put in my Maccas, I wasn't aware of that, but I wasn't surprised either. The film itself relied on things otherwise harmful to the environment - I guess all films do. And even the most earnest of films are guilty of at least tonnes of wasted paper for advertising and non-biodegradable inks used on that paper. Oh dear.

Oh and Skeletor is a fictional character, usually topless and in hotpants. It is pretty hard to get worse than that.

Yeah, my bad. You make a pretty reasonable point actually, I just overreacted as I didn't realise you weren't talking about professional reviews. So I'm going to have to scoop up my nerd rage and shuffle off now.

But I know all about the way forum goers complain about successful things just for something to do. I am a Halo fanboy after all .

 

[Crunchy English]

That's not really fair at all. Learning from an ancient species and unknowable unstoppable superaliens aren't plot points, they're genre tropes. I personally feel that unique characters, details and politics give ME a unique tone and voice.

 

[UberNoodle]

People need to realize that set pieces aren't story. I'm sick and tired of people saying "this person is a lot like this person and they face similar threats!" What they never consider is that the journey between set pieces (which is what story is) is very different.

^^^ Exactly!

Otherwise Zelda, LOTR, Top Gun and Dangerous Minds have the same story because the plots have essentially the same beats.

 

[matt87_50]

lol: "thats no moon; its a beacon"

everything cool in scifi has been thought of and done before. and I could only WISH that MORE awesome scifi novels would be ripped off in games! I don't read, but my dad tells me of awesome novels he reads and how he wishes a movie would be done about them.

think about it: which would you prefer: a good story stolen from some little known source? or a terrible / non existent story, which sadly is the more popular option in games (and even movies) of late?

I know which I would prefer.