So I am really curious

[joefitts63]

I just installed the game and started playing the tutorial campaign. I am enjoying it fine so far, but I am really curious:

Nearly every single element of this game, from resources to spell types to creatures and their abilities are just renamed MTG mechanics. How do they get away with such a completely blatant copying of MTG without having copyright issues?

[theycallmejokke]

Well, many of the keywords while indeed quite close to there MtG counter parts often have sudtle but important differences, like how Eternal's First Strike (Quick Draw) only works on attack, and how the game's Vigilance also protect your creature from stun effects.
There's a lot of tiny differences that the game is not always super good at explaining, it's still in early access.
The game does have pro MtG players (LSV for one) on it's design team, so you not wrong when noticing certain similar designs.

[Ellye]

Asking just for curiosity: have you ever played HEX TCG?

It's another digital cardgame "heavily inspired" by MtG. So much so that they actually got sued by WotC (and lost).

Compared to HEX, this one here is worlds away from MtG.

[McKwack]

AFAIK, the only MtG's mechanic that is copywrited (is that even a word?) by WotC is their "tap x land to draw x mana to cast x spell(s) or summon x creature(s)", since this is what makes MtG unique. As long as Eternal's mechanic is not using those particular steps (which it's not, by the way) WotC have no ground to sue DWD.

All the other mechanics, like spell types and creatures, are too general and broad terms that (I think) can't be copywrited by a single entity.

Then again, laws isn't particularly my strong suit, so I might be wrong..

Just my 2 shiftstones.

[Unembellished Genius]

You just installed the game but you allready know "every single element of this game, from resources to spell types to creatures and their abilities"

How did you get to know the over 400 cards at such an early stage. Sounds more like a knee jerk post of a misinformed new player.

[aardvarkpepper]

Originally posted by Tank:

You just installed the game but you allready know "every single element of this game, from resources to spell types to creatures and their abilities"

How did you get to know the over 400 cards at such an early stage. Sounds more like a knee jerk post of a misinformed new player.

might be a wee bit of an exaggeration but some people are quick studies

besides stuff like vigilance being like endurance, overwhelm being like trample, torch being like lightning bolt, finest hour being like giant growth, harsh rule being like wrath of god, bla bla . . . there certainly are similarities you know?

then there's similarities like quickdraw is similar to (but not the same as) first strike, ambush being similar to (but not the same as, because of the way Eternal runs legal plays differently) flash, &c &c &c

lotta similarities

so it's kinda a legit question innit

[McKwack]

True..

Torch and Finest Hour are finest examples of MtG cards got Eternaled..

Then again, those're like so common stereotypes of each of their factions/colors power (destruction for Fire, control for Justice) so that you can't really say they're "blatant copies of MtG cards" because, well, they're common stereotypes..

PS: at least the other one-mana-for-three-something cards didn't make it to Eternal..

[Unembellished Genius]

Originally posted by aardvarkpepper:

Originally posted by Tank:

You just installed the game but you allready know "every single element of this game, from resources to spell types to creatures and their abilities"

How did you get to know the over 400 cards at such an early stage. Sounds more like a knee jerk post of a misinformed new player.

might be a wee bit of an exaggeration but some people are quick studies

besides stuff like vigilance being like endurance, overwhelm being like trample, torch being like lightning bolt, finest hour being like giant growth, harsh rule being like wrath of god, bla bla . . . there certainly are similarities you know?

then there's similarities like quickdraw is similar to (but not the same as) first strike, ambush being similar to (but not the same as, because of the way Eternal runs legal plays differently) flash, &c &c &c

lotta similarities

so it's kinda a legit question innit

He didn't experience all those cards in the 1.5 hours he played. He also never mentioned a single card. No, I believe its just another knee jerk reaction from someone who barely touched the game.

[Unicarn]

Originally posted by Tank:

Originally posted by aardvarkpepper:

might be a wee bit of an exaggeration but some people are quick studies

besides stuff like vigilance being like endurance, overwhelm being like trample, torch being like lightning bolt, finest hour being like giant growth, harsh rule being like wrath of god, bla bla . . . there certainly are similarities you know?

then there's similarities like quickdraw is similar to (but not the same as) first strike, ambush being similar to (but not the same as, because of the way Eternal runs legal plays differently) flash, &c &c &c

lotta similarities

so it's kinda a legit question innit

He didn't experience all those cards in the 1.5 hours he played. He also never mentioned a single card. No, I believe its just another knee jerk reaction from someone who barely touched the game.

He didn't even mention the unique mechanics in the game, like Fate, Destiny, Echo, and Warcry.

[Megatherius]

Originally posted by Unicarn:

Originally posted by Tank:

He didn't experience all those cards in the 1.5 hours he played. He also never mentioned a single card. No, I believe its just another knee jerk reaction from someone who barely touched the game.

He didn't even mention the unique mechanics in the game, like Fate, Destiny, Echo, and Warcry.

Those mechanics only work for digital formats, which is why they are different from MtG. But just having some unique things does not make it immune to lawsuits, if WotC deem the similar mechanics to be too similar.

And coming from playing Magic, I can see what the op is getting at. I too see lots of similarities between mechanics in Eternal and Magic. But like the saying goes, there's nothing new under the sun. I think there are enough differences in the similar mechanics to avoid a lawsuit from WotC. The devs did a good job and most likely put a lot of effort into making sure their similar but differently named mechanics did not copy MtG one for one.

I see this game as a good mix between the feel of MtG with the pace of Hearthstone. The game seems to draw inspiration from both, but has made it uniquely its own.

[madlampy]

Originally posted by McKwack:

copywrited (is that even a word?)

It is, and the correct spelling is 'copyrighted'... as in registered the copyright to it.

Also you're right in that the "tap" mechanic is copyrighted, the other ideas as too general to be able to be copyrighted and this is how folk avoid the lawsuits.

Hex went just too far as did Cryptazoic a few times, everything else is free game.

If it wasn't then more than Eternal would be looking at lawsuits :D

[raythr]

they copyrighted the NAMES but cant the MECHANICS themselves

as i heard it, hex basically copied the names of units and spells 1:1
but since they changed that, they got off the hook

as you may noticed, they have exactly the same mechanics(which cant be copyrighted) but different names

if that wasnt the case, none else could ever make another games that has jumping around or shooting a gun xD

tapping is called exhausting,
mana is called power
lands are called sigils
creatures are called units

and so on

as long as you used different art and names, you could copy mtg as much as you want

[READ PALE]

Eh, it's not that much of a ripoff. There can only be so many games before some of them start looking like others. Eternal has enough unique mechanics to be a game on its own, and the mechanics it does copy are slightly different usually. The mana/power system doesn't work quite like MTG, for example.

[Unicarn]

Originally posted by raythr:

they copyrighted the NAMES but cant the MECHANICS themselves

as i heard it, hex basically copied the names of units and spells 1:1
but since they changed that, they got off the hook

as you may noticed, they have exactly the same mechanics(which cant be copyrighted) but different names

if that wasnt the case, none else could ever make another games that has jumping around or shooting a gun xD

tapping is called exhausting,
mana is called power
lands are called sigils
creatures are called units

and so on

as long as you used different art and names, you could copy mtg as much as you want

Mana, land, and creatures are not copyrighted.

"Mana" is spiritual energy you derive from the environment and is in MANY games as a generic resource.
"Land" is... well, you're on a land right now.
"Creatures" are animals. You're a creature.

[raythr]

Originally posted by Unicarn:

Originally posted by raythr:

they copyrighted the NAMES but cant the MECHANICS themselves

as i heard it, hex basically copied the names of units and spells 1:1
but since they changed that, they got off the hook

as you may noticed, they have exactly the same mechanics(which cant be copyrighted) but different names

if that wasnt the case, none else could ever make another games that has jumping around or shooting a gun xD

tapping is called exhausting,
mana is called power
lands are called sigils
creatures are called units

and so on

as long as you used different art and names, you could copy mtg as much as you want

Mana, land, and creatures are not copyrighted.

"Mana" is spiritual energy you derive from the environment and is in MANY games as a generic resource.
"Land" is... well, you're on a land right now.
"Creatures" are animals. You're a creature.

i guess its calling them that way in a card game

as i said, hex named stuff exactly the same, and apparently it was enough for the lawsuit
also look carefully how eternal made sure not to name any mechanic similar
to avoid that from the start

and again, companies are trademark trolls
the bigger, the less they care about starting a war, but the one whos on the receiving end do

i read alot about video game names that had to be changed simply because a bunch of strong arms showed up at their doors

games that would have NEVER been confused with the original demanding a change
its simply to troll and maybe get some money out of it

the MMO rift callled one of its expansion starfall prophecy, some obsure "starfall" foundation, noone ever heard of, shows up and rams their fist up trions ass whose forced to change

by your definition star fall is a star falling down and regular astral occurence that cant be copyrighted... appearently it can be

also google all those "saga" and "edge" cases
which are the most normal names in the world for something game related

oh yeah, and no mans sky ?
was sued for using the word "sky" in their name

tbh in that case it would a have been actually good if murray had been sued his pants off and would had to stop developing his game

hindsight

[Unicarn]

Originally posted by raythr:

Originally posted by Unicarn:

Mana, land, and creatures are not copyrighted.

"Mana" is spiritual energy you derive from the environment and is in MANY games as a generic resource.
"Land" is... well, you're on a land right now.
"Creatures" are animals. You're a creature.

i guess its calling them that way in a card game

as i said, hex named stuff exactly the same, and apparently it was enough for the lawsuit
also look carefully how eternal made sure not to name any mechanic similar
to avoid that from the start

and again, companies are trademark trolls
the bigger, the less they care about starting a war, but the one whos on the receiving end do

i read alot about video game names that had to be changed simply because a bunch of strong arms showed up at their doors

games that would have NEVER been confused with the original demanding a change
its simply to troll and maybe get some money out of it

the MMO rift callled one of its expansion starfall prophecy, some obsure "starfall" foundation, noone ever heard of, shows up and rams their fist up trions ass whose forced to change

by your definition star fall is a star falling down and regular astral occurence that cant be copyrighted... appearently it can be

also google all those "saga" and "edge" cases
which are the most normal names in the world for something game related

WotC lost that lawsuit.

We all know mana isn't copyrighted because Hearthstone has it, and 99% of RPG's have it. There's even a game called "Secret of Mana"

Land isn't copyrighted because lots of other games use the word "land" and Landmark exists... well, existed before it was shut down for not selling well.

Creature isn't copyrighted because it's used it lots of games and there are multiple games with "creature" in its name.

Also, the developers Candy Crush Saga lost that lawsuit.

The owner of "Edge Games" has actually been charged with breach of contract and breach of copyright because of all the BS he was doing.

They changed the name of Starfall because they felt it would be the right thing to do since the Starfall Foundation is a charity. Do your research.