[GoodIntentions]

>Everyone did. Developers he stole from stole it from someone else

Except perhaps the dev with the initial idea? Stealing someone else's idea might be widespread, but it doesn't make it right.

[paulhauggis]

I suppose this goes against the common idea here on HN that the idea doesn't matter and you should share it with everyone, even during the early stages of a startup.

Zynga shows me exactly why I don't share my ideas early on: A company with more money and more resources can bring the idea to market much faster than a 1 or 2 person shop.

I think the people that keep spreading this idea have the resources and money to 1) create their own ideas quickly and 2) take someone else's idea.

[amirmc]

They were not ideas. They were working versions.

At some point you have to put your ideas/implementation/whatever out into the open (you might even have to advertise its existence). At that point, anyone better resourced than you can probably just mimic your work.

What alternative does anyone really have?

[golergka]

That's the point: every game idea was a clone of a clone of a clone, and on each copying something changed, but not significantly enough to call it a new one. However, the emd results differed from the originals drastically.