Hey! The simpsons reference was MY idea!

Send my $30 and I'll copyright it for you Profparm!

[quote]Originally posted by stubarnes
[b]Obv indeed, but we somehow let him get into office. Twice.

It's interesting that a snipe at the president would show up in a thread about originality.

To be fair, in the beginning, Family Guy did copy a lot of stuff from The Simpsons (i.e. the "Remember the time that..." flashback joke, which Family Guy uses extensively).

Also, it's unfair to critique The Simpsons in that way. It's the new, godawful writers, who have destroyed the show's legacy, that copy from the genius that was the first 9-10 seasons of the show.

A short history lesson:

In the early part of the 12th century before global communication, connected societies, and way before the internet there were several examples of simultaneous discovery. Inventions in China showed up in Europe while noone would have had a likely link, shared information, or knowledge of the other culture. Certain tools, paper, and mechanical engineering innovations showed up in multiple cultures that had never shared ideas.

In VS. this is more likely to happen because we are dealing with a finite amount of information (the text on all of the cards printed). It is likely that in the modern age that many individuals show up with similar ideas. True innovation may happen in California, but may match that in Florida.

If you have a game with three pieces and you are allowed to play two, then a lot of people will bring the same two pieces. In the modern age, there is occassionally a like situation in which there are two-three playable decks. When I show up to the big show with your idea, don't call it theft. Call it probability.

I don't recall Simpsons doing that as much as Family Guy...

I think you missed my story.

I didn't make that claim. I saw it on TV, and the line Adult Swim responded with was applicable to what Profparm said.*

Adult Swim was making a joke, that Simpsons has used up every conceivable plot line, and thus reuses plots, and furthermore SELF-REFERENCES the fact that they reuse plots.



I wasn't attacking the Simpsons. I like it more than Family Guy, regardless of season. But that's another topic.

*My remarks in no way infringe on Profparm's original mention of the Simpson. I am humble in the genius of Profparm's decision and original idea to post about the Simpsons. My earlier post, and all subsequent posts, hold no ideas of my own**, but are merely the relection of Profparm's brilliance.

**The preceding statement does not include my original idea that Stu is a dirty hippie, who should get a day job. That idea is mine, and everyone who even thinks about it (including Stu) owes me a nickel. One of those new Jefferson nickels, preferrably.

Wha choo TAWC'n bout Willis??

"Marco Polo (1254-1324), is probably the most famous Westerner traveled on the Silk Road. He excelled all the other travelers in his determination, his writing, and his influence. His journey through Asia lasted 24 years. He reached further than any of his predecessors, beyond Mongolia to China. He became a confidant of Kublai Khan (1214-1294). He traveled the whole of China and returned to tell the tale, which became the greatest travelogue."

Follow this link to the source or be trapped in the Matrix forever!

Now of course he was active in the 13th century, but are you saying just 50-100 years before him there was no traveling or communication at all between different cultures?

I am speaking specifically of like 1218. Marco was only a glimmer in the eye of Mr. Polo. Good try google boy. Come play some cards with a brother and I will school ya to some more knowledge.

I thought I might be able to lure the Torch out of highschool hiding with a little historical temptation.

I doubt that's what he was saying and I can't speak for him, but (having done my BA in Middle Ages history) I can say for myself that:

1. yes there was contact between 'East' and 'West' in the 1200s and probably earlier, but that doesn't change the fact that Polo's information was kept a fairly closely held secret (even back then it was apparent that knowledge was power) and the average serf or peasant would have heard little to nothing about Polo beyond his extreme wealth.

2. Even with that contact and any incidental knowledge spillover, there were still concurrent knowledge developments. China had had the three-field farming rotation for quite a while, but all of our ability in historical research indicates that the concept arose in Europe without influence from China.

3 Ignoring the medieval timeframe, Smoking's point is still solid. Concurrent research breakthroughs do occur. It's why Nobel prizes often are awarded to two or more individuals who do not work together but, utilizing the information available in their fields, arrive at very similar results within very narrow time frames.

I think the ultimate point is that given the way the game is played, given the pro-level environment and the money at stake, and given the wealth of information available to help players grasp the metagame, it is highly likely that individuals that devote a large amount of time to the VS game will often see similar patterns and potential in cards and may come up with astoundingly similar deck designs focusing on certain key cards.

To me, that's a by-product of information wealth, not a sign of intellectual plagiarism.

And that puts me up to a a buck six with my comments and hits my budget for the night!
will check back tw to see what you lot have done to my pearls of wisdom,
later,
dwes

Ah yes. I forgot. Google bad. Alex Trebek type knowledge good. I am ready to play some more cards Mr. Jeopardy. I hope you brought them with you.

Exactly, the Torch has been schooled. :devious:

:rolleyes:

Please try to take some advice from the wise Stubarnes, Mr. All-Knowing-Smoking:

"No one is right or wrong on the internet"

I was merely posting concrete information and asking you to elaborate your point.

Sheesh. You are sooooo competitive these days. Have you been taking your 'pro pills'? :confused:

Wash my eyeballs with bourbon and put the lizard on the grill, that's amazing for a message board. I mean, shouldn't we be paying lawyer's fees for something like that?

I gotta say it was a good day.

Who ever saw the movie Waking Life?

In this movie, a pair of people discuss in one scene a study done where people are given New York Times crossword puzzles, one new and one day-old, and asked to solve them. After a little while, the scientists discovered that people did 20% better on average on the day old crossword puzzles than on the fresh ones. The scientists believed that there is a distinct possibility that people recieve subliminal vibes and messages of the answers from the other people who have already done the puzzle subconsciously, even though there was no way they could possibly meet, or come into contact with each other. It seems as though idea stealing is often done subconsiously, whether we like it or not.

However, you should notice that idea stealing also lies in your conscience, if you wonder whether you are "stealing" this idea or not, you probably are. Personally, I never take exact decks and play them, I always change them around a little. I claim my deck is "inspired by" another person's idea, which is true, just like how the Batman movies are inspired by the comics....same characters, same plot (Batman vs. evildoers), same ending (Batman wins, at least in some way). Just try to generate ideas more often than you steal them. It's fun!

Hell, if we want to get into historical simultaneous discoveries, you can look at calculus (which, for all the Stus out there, is a type of the dreaded MATH). Created by both Newton and some Other Guy independant of each other.

Does anyone ever get sick of quoting other people so much on a message board about originality?