The Biggest Rip Off of 40k

[Grenadier]

Just a few minutes ago I decided to give yet another game app on Facebook a try. The app is called "Social Wars." It's your typical psuedo-RTS build a base and army type of game.

Only it's also blatantly ripped off Warhammer 40,000.

As the app loaded for the first time I'm given a chance to watch a little movie about the game. And lo and behold there are Warhammer 40,000 Orks!

One looked just like Ghazkull. A blantant warboss in the trademark armor. But there was also one which looked a lot like an Ork with a flamethrower. And there was more!

The rip offs don't end with the Orks either. One of the images of units I can build looked just like a Shadowsword superheavy tank.

I've seen 40k ripped off elsewhere over the years. And the intellectual property rights issue is murky. But nonetheless the images presented in this game are clearly from 40k. The artwork itself isn't but the likenesses are.

[Drunkencorgimaster]

Meh. Probabloy true but 40k Sentinels are rip-offs of Star Wars walkers. Star War droids are rip-offs from Silent Running. Everything is ultimately a rip-off from the Epic of Gilgamesh.

[Grenadier]

Perhaps so. Originality no longer exists.

After playing it for a while I noticed many more similarities. Virtually every kind of Orc warrior in the game was lifted directly from 40k. Down to minute details in most cases. In addition, the buildings and vehicles in Orc bases look pretty much just like the ones in Dawn of War.

I also noticed there's a special kind of tank I can unlock which looks just like a Leman Russ minus the sponson weapons. It has the same exact track, turret, and hull design. Only the hull weapon is mounted in the opposite position.

The game itself isn't bad. It's made by the same people who made Social Empires. But like all such games it gets bogged down in long waits and repetitive things. Still, I may continue playing it as it's basically Warhammer 40,000 on Facebook. Or at least until Games Workshop catches wind of it and sues the crap out of the developers. Hey GW, if you do you should reward me with some models!

[Drunkencorgimaster]

It actually sounds kind of fun the way you describe it.

[Houghten]

Probabloy true but 40k Sentinels are rip-offs of Star Wars walkers.

I will never understand why people keep saying that - they look nothing alike. Is it just the first "walking vehicle" that comes to mind or something? I'm not sure it's possible to rip the idea of "walking vehicle" off from anything, it's too deeply ingrained, like dreams of flying.

[Drunkencorgimaster]

I will never understand why people keep saying that - they look nothing alike.

Our starting points are way too far away on this one to come to any concurrence.

[Kawauso]

Perhaps so. Originality no longer exists.



This argument/point of view crops up every once in a while and it's...pretty inaccurate.

Originality - if by which you mean a totally, 100% new idea - is something that has pretty much never existed for thousands upon thousands of years. Possibly since the very first tools were crafted by humans, or the first oral stories told around a fire at night (even then - our first tools were probably crafted to do a particular activity 'better' than the alternatives available to us).

Every idea someone comes up with uses their past experiences as some point of reference, and they build upon them from there. That's just how the human brain works. It's how progress is made, and how science has gotten us to where we are - it allows us to stand on the shoulders of giants, rather than throw everything out and start from scratch every time. Virtually every thought, concept or invention is something that was reached from taking an existing example any trying to find a way to improve it or show it in a different light.

True originality isn't coming up with an idea no one's ever heard of before. It's finding a way to present your ideas in a unique and interesting way. It's combining ideas from a number of sources in a unique and interesting way. This is what makes the 40k universe so appealing to many. I don't think there's any one concept in it that hasn't existed somewhere else before 40k came along and picked it up. But the different concepts and the way they're presented in 40k creates a truly unique and compelling universe.

On the flip side, the game you've described does, by your descriptions, sound like a rip-off. ;)
It's the difference between taking those concepts and leaving them as-is versus, say, StarCraft, which borrows very heavily from 40k, but does enough to what it takes from that source material to craft something unique out of it. StarCraft is not, however, an -amazing- example of originality in that regard.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

I will never understand why people keep saying that - they look nothing alike. Is it just the first "walking vehicle" that comes to mind or something? I'm not sure it's possible to rip the idea of "walking vehicle" off from anything, it's too deeply ingrained, like dreams of flying.
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20071022025721/starwars/images/thumb/e/e9/At-st_large_pic.jpg/250px-At-st_large_pic.jpghttp://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/c/c8/ArmageddonSentinel.gif
"nothing alike" might be a bit of a stretch.

[bfmusashi]

Hold on, I'm about to dive into geekery.
Sentinels are single man bipedal walkers with chicken legs.
The AT-ST (Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi) is a two man bipedal walker with chicken legs.
The AT-PT is a single man bipedal walker with chicken legs that didn't show up until the Heir of the Empire books.
I don't know when the current sentinel design started but their original design didn't look much like the AT series walkers and in the original fluff I think were based on encounters with Eldar War Walkers (which also don't look like classic Star Wars). Currently Sentinels don't have chin mounted weapons, or a flat front armor face, or tower over the worthless enemies of His Divine Majesty. The current sentinel is currently just the right height to kick monstrous creatures in the junk, and that's what it's all about.

[frommage]

Or at least until Games Workshop catches wind of it and sues the crap out of the developers. Hey GW, if you do you should reward me with some models!

GW would probably sue you for using the word WARHAMMER 40k and GAMES WORKSHOP without their concent:D

[Grenadier]

Upon playing this game app further I've come to enjoy it a lot. It's like Warhammer 40k finally entered the world of life consuming Facebook apps.

So far the player units mostly don't look like 40k things except for a Leman Russ, Shadowsword, and Chimera knockoff. Players get a "Mega Bot" which you can upgrade. One of the later upgrades makes it look 100 percent identical to a Furioso Dreadnought. Only it's painted white and has what appears to be a Dark Angels style ornament on top of it. In game terms your Megabot is like a Reaver Titan: huge, hard hitting, and massive hitpoints. The Ork things all look just like 40k Orks in virtually every aspect.

We also get aircraft in this game though the only one I have I got for completing a collection. Each collection gives you unique rewards. Often these will be special units or structures. Some of the rewards look like the Terminator, Rambo, and I swear Tango and Cash are in there!

In terms of game play it has several modes:

There's a mission which occurs every so many hours. It gives you a task you must perform on your mask. Often rewarding you with free units. In this mode you'll also be tending to your resources, making units, building your base.

Another mode is the world map. It has two aspects: the first one is to challenge other players on a map. You can relocate to another map if you like. But the objective is for you to gain total control over your map. The other map mode involves a series of missions against the Orks.

The best part of this is every time you leave your map and return various Ork units respawn on it. And you can forth and kill them gaining gold, experience, and loot for your collections. Also on your map are numerous resources which regenerate after a period of time. These include wood, oil, steel, and gold. You also get to build resource producing structures as well.

On your regular map showing your base I find the combat to be fairly easy. The Orks come on in a large horde of various units including several warrior types, boar riders, and vehicles. I find luring them within range of my turret weapons to be an effective way to deal with them.

However, my biggest complaint involves attacking another player:

Your army is virtually uncontrollable! If you have recon center, which you need two allies to man, you can spy on the enemy base before attacking so you can see what they have and what angle to come from.

But as soon as one unit attacks you lose control of your army!!! The game is in beta so I figure this is an issue they must address. When I attack my army will move towards the selected target. Some units go right for it and others just meander off in random directions. Then when the defending units respond I try to order my guys to kill them. And they just wander about. I am unable to effectively concentrate fire on any single target as a result. This ends up with my army becoming dispersed, disorganized, and not responding to my commands. And they get picked off. Another pesky aspect is what I call "wall magnet." Your units automatically fire at something near them until the lack of control kicks in. Often this will be an enemy wall. And assuming no defender is messing with them they'll just go along the entire length of the wall shooting it until its gone.

The good news is after attacking players a good percentage of your lost units are resurrected so it's not that big of an issue to lose an attack. But then, not winning because of the lack of control sucks! Luckily this issue doesn't occur when facing off against the Orks in the other modes.

Lastly, players can create an Alliance. In the mode in which you attack other players there appears to be a means to call allies to help you as well. Another issue I have with the game involves allies. Some structures require you to staff it with a FB friend. Or you can take your reward points and hire one. I've sent many requests but thus far no responses.

But if you're on Facebook, like games, and love 40k you might want to try this one out.

[AnEnemy]

Sort of related, sort of not related, but has anyone else tried Templar Assault on Android devices?

It's pretty much Space Hulk. Actually, pretty fun.

[Kataklysm]

GW would probably sue you for using the word WARHAMMER 40k and GAMES WORKSHOP without their concent:D

*consent


Anyway I'm really interested in this facebook game. Copyright infringement be damned. Whats the name of it?

[Xenith]

Sort of related, sort of not related, but has anyone else tried Templar Assault on Android devices?

It's pretty much Space Hulk. Actually, pretty fun.

Templar Assault is great, I love being able to upgrade your characters.

[Grenadier]

This is one of two things: blatant 40k rip off or Games Workshop has a secret Facebook game app project.

Probably the former.

The game in question apparently had another name and theme. Men vs. Women. But now its redone and in beta.

In addition to the numerous 40k units I described previously there's more:

One mission I'm currently doing has me defeating the "Crusaders." Who are in fact Ultamarines. There's assault marines, dreadnoughts, landspeeders, marine bikes, vindicators, tactical marines, characters and chaplains! All in Ultra Marine blue. The rip offs paid such attention to detail that you'll notice 40k insignias and decorative bits.

There is also an alien faction which is made up of xenomorphs from Aliens and several Tyrannid creatures. One appears to be a Carnifex.

We also get Mr. T, Rambo, the Terminator, and a guy who looks like a famous video game character.

The player vs. player combat is still messed up. But otherwise this game is pretty fun. Especially if you don't get to play the tabletop!

[newtoncain]

Just say "No" to facebook.

[Cuddy]

You can't really rip off 40k. Its already a pastiche of pop culture and fiction references, ideas and designs. Anything that seems like its ripping off 40k is just as likely to be based off whatever 40k was ripping off twenty years ago.