I've noticed in the Sporepedia there's a lot of theft going on. People will take someone else's creation, move it slightly or tweak the color, and upload it as their own. Some of it is probably unintentional (people customizing things they like and not realizing it's automatically uploaded) but I'm sure some of it is people actively trying to take credit for someone else's work.

It'd be nice if creations were given a permanent creator stamp so people could see who made the original no matter how many times it had been edited or changed hands. Maybe even a change-log of some sort, noting when parts are added or removed (maybe listed as positive and negative Sporebucks) or coloration is changed. If you want to get really technical you could even hotlink the originals in the log so people could trace the item back and look at all the different variations people have made.

I'm guessing that would increase the file size, though.

The history is not so much needed as is a simple tag that would indicate the original creator. Upon building a new creation it would receive a tag with the name of the person that made it and then when somebody would change it that bit would still be there. It could show up in Sporepedia in a new field.

I'm 100% for this idea.

i think this is an idea good enough to include in my patch-worhty changes list.... i´m gonna go with a tag marking the original author

I like the change log idea. In one case, there was a building that I really liked, but I hated the color. So I changed the color. Unfortunately, Spore promptly uploaded it.

There was no good way for me to credit the author in that. Any of these ideas would have helped, but I think the change log would be best. It would be a way to look at the 'history' of the ideas.

That said, a creator watermark is probably easier to implement and more reasonable to expect.

Agree 100%. Put some type of comment, tag, watermark, stamp, whatever to indicate who the original creator is. For example, something as simple as putting "Orignal Creator: Sporeguy" (with the screenname linked) on the page or in the title of the creation would be sufficient.

I like the version history idea as well, and had thought about this very thing a few days ago. But I think a full change history would add a lot more data to what I'm finding is an overloaded server already (at least for me, anyway; takes forever for pages to load despite having cable modem).

Besides, I think what we're really after is crediting the original creator. I can't speak for anyone else, but I probably would never even bother looking at anyone else's mods of the original creation and so a change history would just be one more thing to have to wait to load that would be of little value to me.

As far as how to credit using the current system we have, I suggest putting it in the comments or description of the creation. I saw someone else do this for a creation they didn't make and thought that was a good idea and demonstrated integrity on their part.

While I could only hope that people were coming here and stealing my designs, it's pretty bad that anyone can rip anything off and take credit for it.

The only things that I change of people's are the models without textures, but I try not to upload them (never know what is getting uploaded and what isn't).

I don't want anything that would prevent people from picking apart, modifying, or just blatantly taking my work.

First and foremost: I put it on Sporepedia and if I didn't want it shared, I would have found another way to give it to my friends.

Secondly: Having more copies of my creations around- even if they are not in my name- increases the chances of them being seen.

Finally: I don't actually own anything I create. Maxis does, they made the parts, the paint, the program, and the platform on which to host the creations on. All I own are my own ideas and creativity.

pcguy89 wrote:I don't want anything that would prevent people from picking apart, modifying, or just blatantly taking my work.

First and foremost: I put it on Sporepedia and if I didn't want it shared, I would have found another way to give it to my friends.

Secondly: Having more copies of my creations around- even if they are not in my name- increases the chances of them being seen.

Finally: I don't actually own anything I create. Maxis does, they made the parts, the paint, the program, and the platform on which to host the creations on. All I own are my own ideas and creativity.

I have to say I feel pretty much have the same view as pcguy89. I have found original and modified instances of my work that have been uploaded in others profiles, though in the cases I saw, it didn't seem to be intentional plagiarism, as the original description and tags were not changed. A lot of young kids are playing Spore, they're just playing, and don't have a clue were the material comes from or if it should get credited. Even if I saw someone directly and obviously taking credit for my work, it doesn't bother me that much. It's not like I'm losing royalties or something tangible.

I would not be apposed to some sort of creator stamp, but I wouldn't want it to have a significant impact on the web site or game application performance.

This is a great poll, considering like 5 people copied my Astro Urtle!

Actually, I think the automatic sharing is a Big Mistake! Sharing/uploading creations shouldn't happen by default! It should only happen if the player presses a button that says so for that specific creation. And on top of that, any mechanism that prevents theft would be fine with me.

Well i am sort of for this idea. i think the watermark would be best because you can see how it evolved and look at it as a fun way to see creativity flow.

But!:If you look at my creation the lava dragon. I saw the bulldog(featured) and thought i could make a dragon. I promptly downloaded it and edited it so that only a small portion of the original was in use. I Credited the original and was proud of my creation.

That creation will be watermarked. Was it an original? Yes. Was it helped with a little extra creativity from others? Yes. So i will never be able to get my credit unless i make it with a new helmet which doesnt come out as good.

Gotta admit, the first time I saw my creation on someone else's page that was just tweaked ever so slightly, I wasn't sure how I felt... then I was like, hey, you know what, that's not a bad version of it, I'll just put his version on my page. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced it's just fine the way it is. You just gotta let go of a little ego. Yes, it hurts.

and besides, there is NO WAY to right protect your creature. We all use exactly the same tools and parts. So if I saw your creature and wanted to copy it, it could easily be done, it's just a matter of putting them together like you did. But wait you say! The game could compare one PNG to another PNG and if the data is the same, then it must be a copy. But wait I say! What if I copy your creation exactly, only I add a part that you can't see, or move something ever so slightly? Now, the PNG is different, but the two look exactly the same.. what then? Permanently watermark a creature? Won't matter because if I build mine to look like yours from scratch, I'll get my own watermark on it. It can't be done, and I rather the devs focus on "other" things that need fixing first.