[Freeciv] Re: copyright infringement

[Reinier Post <rp@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, Jul 19, 2000 at 01:51:58PM -0700, Brandon Van Every wrote:

[among other things]
 
> [...]  Since your entire intent was to
> directly clone Civ II,

This is patently false.  Freeciv was started as an attempt to improve
on Civ I, specifically in the multiplayer area, and today it's an
improvement on both Civ I and Civ II.  It is a much better implementation
of Civ II than Civ II itself, with extensions.  At the same time, full
Civ II compatibility is a stated goal.

> my layman's guess is there isn't any level of abstraction
> of functionality whatsoever, you guys are simply ripping Civ II off and are
> therefore liable.

Ripping it off: yes; simply: no.  Freeciv is more than Civ II.

> Anyways, I've brought this all to your attention because (1) having done the
> freeware project thing before, I respect that you guys believe in freeware and
> so forth, (2) being a game developer, I think you need to stop biting off 
> other
> people's stuff and quit being so cheap that you can't cough up $10..$20 for 
> the
> legitimate work of other game developers.

What do you mean?

> Sheesh, I bought Civ II: TOT for $20
> at full retail!

You don't expect me to play that game, do you?  It doesn't even run on the
computers I have available.

> If you're going to flatter by imitation, you should at least
> have the integrity to diverge.  *Improve* the Civ genre, don't sit around just
> cloning.

Please try Freeciv before you judge.

-- 
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