Thread Background
Late last night I was thumbing through some of the downloadable content on Xbox Live and I found it quite amusing that there are at least 6 different Minecraft clones available (although a couple were sequels to others so maybe they're expansions or something). No, this isn't a ***** thread about clones and how Minecraft is teh best and Notch should sue them all... no that's too easy. Instead I'd like to discuss originality and the fine line that defines it.
Thread Topic
Many people agree that there is no original thought these days, that anything you can think of has already been thought in some form or another. Do you agree with that sentiment or do you have a less strict definition of originality?
Before anyone gets the bright idea to quote the dictionary I'll do it for you: freshness or novelty, as of an idea, method, or performance. That is still a fairly vague concept. Let's look for another source, how about wikipedia:
Originality is the aspect of created or invented works by as being new or novel, and thus can be distinguished from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or derivative works. An original work is one not received from others nor one copied based on the work of others. It is a work created with a unique style and substance. The term "originality" is often applied as a compliment to the creativity of artists, writers, and thinkers. The idea of originality as we know it was invented by Romanticism, with a notion that is often called romantic originality.
The concept of originality is culturally contingent. It became an ideal in Western culture starting from the 18th century. In contrast, at the time of Shakespeare it was common to appreciate more the similarity with an admired classical work, and Shakespeare himself avoided "unnecessary invention".
Thread Experiment
Write a short outline of a story and try to make it as original as possible. Don't take too much time, we're not going to read long entries, a skeleton plot consisting of a couple sentences is good enough. Now review it for yourself (or submit it in a post for peer review), can you compare it to any movie or book you've seen or read before? How closely does your work resemble the work of someone else? If you google certain elements of it, what comes up? Did you unintentionally plagiarize another work of fiction? If so, does that make your work any less original than the original?
Thread Conclusion
A lot of people like to talk about the importance of originality in the entertainment industry (whether it be books, movies, tv shows, video games, etc) but often times the classics, the standards we judge new works by, weren't original themselves; the plays of William Shakespeare being the obvious examples of unoriginality being hailed as original. So clearly there must be some degree of originality which can be used as a threshold to determine whether something can be considered original or not. This concept has been applied to copyright law but I don't think it is completely adequate; threshold of originality.
This thread is unoriginal.
Thread Commercial
This thread was brought to you by the great taste of Werther's Originals. Werther's Originals now that's original.
My opinion: originality in an idea doesn't matter; what matters is the originality of the execution of that idea.
I suppose that's true. But what if it's a scenario where the immitator is better than the originator... isn't the originator due some sort of footnote in history? What about songs that are remakes but the remake ends up better than the original? Does the original writer become pointless?
Since William Shatner graced us all with that cover song, the best song in the world I'm sure you agree, does the existence of the original become moot?
A game can be a clone of another game but I believe success comes from how well it deviates from its clone (along with many other factors such as craftsmanship and depth). For example, Minecraft has had many clones (like you mentioned). Manic digger was one of them but it will never lift ground because it borrows almost every concept from Minecraft. On the other hand, there is Terraria, which could be considered a Minecraft clone. However, it deviates a great deal from Minecraft in the fact that it has 2D gameplay, different textures and a multitude of concepts and objects that do not exist in Minecraft.
Eventually, other clones and games that borrow heavily from other games will naturally tire because lack of originality with boredom. Success depends on how fresh your ideas are.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The iteration of these lines brings gold;
The framing of this circle on the ground
Brings whirlwinds, tempests, thunder and lightning.
I don't think I'm gonna write a paragraph, haha. But my opinion on originality is this:
I think "originality" in the purest sense is just about dead. There's just about no completely "original" concepts. However, I do think that originality can be awarded when you change around something that has already been done, as well. As long as it's done right, that is.
Like if someone were to make a new version of Romeo and Juliet and had a twist ending where the two zombie lovers get re awoken get married at the end or something. While the concept behind it isn't necessarily original, the way it's done could be original. Hell, Blair Witch Project could be considered original because of the "realistic" camera work that made everyone think it actually happened.
I think complete originality is gone, but in some aspects, things can be original because there are so many different combinations of things that could make something different, at least a little bit.
There has never in history been a completely original idea held by any human. All we can do is accept input and give output based on what we take in. Attainable originality lies in combining ideas that haven't yet been combined. But when something new is largely based on something else, I think some credit is due to whoever inspired the new thing.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
This enlightening post brought to you courtesy of a serious overabundance of free time.
Late last night I was thumbing through some of the downloadable content on Xbox Live and I found it quite amusing that there are at least 6 different Minecraft clones available (although a couple were sequels to others so maybe they're expansions or something). No, this isn't a ***** thread about clones and how Minecraft is teh best and Notch should sue them all... no that's too easy. Instead I'd like to discuss originality and the fine line that defines it.
Thread Topic
Many people agree that there is no original thought these days, that anything you can think of has already been thought in some form or another. Do you agree with that sentiment or do you have a less strict definition of originality?
Before anyone gets the bright idea to quote the dictionary I'll do it for you: freshness or novelty, as of an idea, method, or performance. That is still a fairly vague concept. Let's look for another source, how about wikipedia:
Thread Experiment
Write a short outline of a story and try to make it as original as possible. Don't take too much time, we're not going to read long entries, a skeleton plot consisting of a couple sentences is good enough. Now review it for yourself (or submit it in a post for peer review), can you compare it to any movie or book you've seen or read before? How closely does your work resemble the work of someone else? If you google certain elements of it, what comes up? Did you unintentionally plagiarize another work of fiction? If so, does that make your work any less original than the original?
Thread Conclusion
A lot of people like to talk about the importance of originality in the entertainment industry (whether it be books, movies, tv shows, video games, etc) but often times the classics, the standards we judge new works by, weren't original themselves; the plays of William Shakespeare being the obvious examples of unoriginality being hailed as original. So clearly there must be some degree of originality which can be used as a threshold to determine whether something can be considered original or not. This concept has been applied to copyright law but I don't think it is completely adequate; threshold of originality.
This thread is unoriginal.
Thread Commercial
This thread was brought to you by the great taste of Werther's Originals. Werther's Originals now that's original.
I did gradient wallpaper just after it got mainstream.
I suppose that's true. But what if it's a scenario where the immitator is better than the originator... isn't the originator due some sort of footnote in history? What about songs that are remakes but the remake ends up better than the original? Does the original writer become pointless?
Since William Shatner graced us all with that cover song, the best song in the world I'm sure you agree, does the existence of the original become moot?
Eventually, other clones and games that borrow heavily from other games will naturally tire because lack of originality with boredom. Success depends on how fresh your ideas are.
The framing of this circle on the ground
Brings whirlwinds, tempests, thunder and lightning.
I think "originality" in the purest sense is just about dead. There's just about no completely "original" concepts. However, I do think that originality can be awarded when you change around something that has already been done, as well. As long as it's done right, that is.
Like if someone were to make a new version of Romeo and Juliet and had a twist ending where the two zombie lovers get re awoken get married at the end or something. While the concept behind it isn't necessarily original, the way it's done could be original. Hell, Blair Witch Project could be considered original because of the "realistic" camera work that made everyone think it actually happened.
I think complete originality is gone, but in some aspects, things can be original because there are so many different combinations of things that could make something different, at least a little bit.