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A Game Developer's Bill of Rights

Posted by Zonk on from the monday-wackiness dept.

Gamasutra has another piece from the always interesting Eric Zimmerman, where he offers up A Game Developer's Bill of Rights. From the article: "A Game Developers' Bill of Rights is part of this ongoing discussion, a provocation that draws attention to a set of important issues and challenges facing our industry. It highlights some of the problems that developers face as they try to create games and grow our industry, both creatively and commercially ... A Game Developers' Bill of Rights is not meant to be a strictly practical document. I did not write it as a guide for contract negotiation, nor as a set of legal standards for developer/publisher agreements. But I do believe that the positions represented by the articles in the Bill of Rights are absolutely the correct and proper ethical positions to take."

4 of 46 comments (clear)

  1. Creative Crisis... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Does this "Bill of Rights" compels developers to do new and exciting games? Or will we get more exciting rehash of last year's games?

  2. you forgot... by Rs_Conqueror · · Score: 4, Insightful

    #14. The right to overtime pay #15. the right to take days off to get married/attend funurals. #16. the right to sleep.

    --
    Behold, another webcomic!
  3. Bill of Player's Rights by Digital+Vomit · · Score: 4, Insightful
    While this bill is a nice idea, it probably stands about as much chance of being honored as the Bill of Player's Rights (pdf link).

    That aside I fully agree with putting more control in the hands of content creators. It just doesn't seem right that the middle-man -- the publisher -- has almost all the control (in games, music, etc.). The creators are far more important than the distributors, and should be respected as such.

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    Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
  4. Unions by bill_kress · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's funny how most engineers seem to lean to the right when it comes to corporations and free market.

    I think this comes from a complete lack of ability to empathize with or understand situations that are removed from their own.

    Currently you find significant resistance to words like "Union" because it clashes with their free-market faith, but as the market shifts and starts crushing engineers, you'll see them clamoring for restrictions on business and union-style solutions.

    This is already starting to become evident--in these days of Indian labor and off-site contracts I'm starting to hear less from the free-marketeers and more from people seeing the problems that always come when you get close to a true free-market (Such as this article).

    keep your eyes open, you'll see more soon.