I find it a bit suspicious...

[Eric Morton]

I'm going to give everyone here the benefit of the doubt. This is probably all just a giant coincidence. I'm just imagining things because I'm in a sour mood, and since this issue likely exists only in my head, this post is in no way meant to attack or diminish the contest or the exemplary work of this year's contestants.

Furthermore, I understand that an idea cannot be copyrighted. If someone publicly states an idea for a wondrous item, or a particular background for a wondrous item from which the specific powers of that item flow logically, that idea is fair game for anyone to use. A specific expression of a general idea is entirely original content.

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That being said, I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth when I see a Top 32 item with parallels to something discussed in an "almost ran" thread from a previous year, a thread containing at least one post from the finalist who submitted that item.

Because this is all probably a meaningless a coincidence, I won't go into detail. Suffice it to say, my interpretation of the thread in question is heavily biased, as I participated in that discussion, but not in any meaningful way that would explain the thought process behind my words. It is unlikely that anyone existing outside my head would see why I think this year's item is related to the previous year's thread. And no one without access to my hard drive would know why this coincidence bothers me as much as it does.

So, as I said, this all just amounts to me imagining things.

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Then again, if I do notice a pattern of finalists merely adapting or re-skinning material I've seen before (be it in 3.5 products, 4e products, 3pp products, forum posts, or elsewhere), I have every intention of calling them out for it.

Hopefully, none of the above applies to anyone.

[GreatArcantos]

You opened a thread only to say that you are thinking something, but not what you are thinking.
And to clarify that you havent found any violations, but if they existed you would denounce them...

8 minutes later, doesn't that strike you as pointless?

[LazarX]

It looks like he's hinting that one of the winners stole one of his items that did not make the cut previously.

[Matthias_DM]

Well, changes in judges may also lead to changes in taste.
Personally, I didn't care for some of the items, but others I found really cool.

I thought that the Alchemist's Snake looked like some sort of potion injector from years past... but I think it's different enough. If not just the imagery (snake bite vs needle in arm). Perhaps whatever small changes were made to the item you are thinking about were enough in the judges eyes.

You can't be totally original all the time. :-)

[Swamp Druid]

I don't know about the situation you're talking about.

It's not unusual for people to come up with ideas that are similar or almost the exact same. It happens quite often.

[Dire Mongoose]

I do think it's often very possible to nearly duplicate someone else's item without having ever heard of it, however suspicious it could seem to someone who is aware of both items.

Without knowing more about this specific case that's as much as I should say.

[Elora]

You know, Eric, I think even in the worst-case version of the scenario you (vaguely) describe, it's not really worth making a fuss over. If a contestant rode into the top 32 off someone else's design talent, their own lack of talent is going to show up in subsequent rounds. Who's to say that one of the top 32 items wasn't designed by someone's buddy in a home game? It'll all fall out right in the end -- as they say, cheaters never win.

[Abraham spalding]

Elora wrote:

You know, Eric, I think even in the worst-case version of the scenario you (vaguely) describe, it's not really worth making a fuss over. If a contestant rode into the top 32 off someone else's design talent, their own lack of talent is going to show up in subsequent rounds. Who's to say that one of the top 32 items wasn't designed by someone's buddy in a home game? It'll all fall out right in the end -- as they say, cheaters never win.

In the end my only point of differing with you is the fact that they got to later rounds -- it means someone else got cheated out of their chance.

But I don't really want to say more than that as this sort of thing can quickly become ugly and I have no clue what is what here.

[Swamp Druid]

Elora wrote:

You know, Eric, I think even in the worst-case version of the scenario you (vaguely) describe, it's not really worth making a fuss over. If a contestant rode into the top 32 off someone else's design talent, their own lack of talent is going to show up in subsequent rounds. Who's to say that one of the top 32 items wasn't designed by someone's buddy in a home game? It'll all fall out right in the end -- as they say, cheaters never win.

Yes, cheaters do win sometimes. Only in a perfect world would cheaters never win.

In this case they would have cheated someone out of a spot. (Abraham Spalding beat me to this)

[James Martin]

Is there a specific item or a situation that's being referred to? If so, please say so. I'm sure if the situation exists, it's probably a situation of parallel development over intellectual dishonesty, but it's important to get it out in the open. If I did create an object that is similiar to something presented in a thread on these boards, I'd like to know so I can apologize to the person who created the item. I know if I did such a thing it would have been unintentional, but if I did do such a thing, I would resign my position and allow an alternate to step up in my place.

Edit: Allow me to clarify. I don't think that I did something like this, but I read a lot of these forums, and it's entirely possible that I read something, it lodged in my head and I created an item that is eerily similiar because of it. If I did, then the person who originally had the idea deserves to be acknowledged and I should at least acknowledge them. I'm only speaking for myself here; I have enough problems of my own without prescribing a course of action for anyone else.

[Elora]

Swamp Druid and Abraham Spalding: Yes, that's true, and as someone who worked hard on designing an item for submission and hoped beyond hope to be in the top 32, the possibility of being cheated out of a spot clearly bothers me. But there is no way a cheater is going to win the Big Prize, or even come close to the top 4. And that reassures me. Complaining about one person being cheated out of one spot in the top 32 just isn't a worthy investment of time, in my opinion.

I'll leave cosmic discussions of cheaters and imperfect worlds for another time, and another thread. :)

[Paul Brown]

One of the comments (from the public, not the judges) in my item's thread (Alchemist's Viper) is about its similarity to the monster Iron Cobra. After re-reading the monster, I don't see it. It is similar in the vaguest sense ("animated snake that holds a reservoir of something"), but the specifics are not similar at all.

Could be a case of that.

[Mark Moreland]

While the OP (or anyone who shares his suspicion) may feel this topic warrants public discussion, doing so is not in the spirit of the competition. While you may say that raising these concerns isn't meant to diminish the accomplishments of the Top 32, the simple fact is that it does just that. If someone feels that a competitor has violated the rules or otherwise cheated, you may email myself, Sean, or Vic and we'll look into the issue. The boards are not the place for it.

This thread is now locked.