What didn't happen with Multiverse

Prior to the up and coming game convention 2008 in Singapore the NiHao Studios team went back to the table to talk again with the Multiverse team about probable partnership agreements.

And as always Multiverse were all ears; send us your presentation, show us your plan, describe in detail your proposals, and we did.

One cant complain about that, as it is the typical request made prior to a big meeting of this nature.

Then as seems typical of Multiverse, all of our ideas were received then the communication stopped.

We are getting used to this sort of treatment actually.

Yesterday one of my team at NiHao Studios sent me a link pointing to a latest news article published in an online magazine sepeaking of Multiverse and its future plans.

http://www.massively.com/2008/09/03/virtual-worlds-conference-talk-to-unveil-buffy-the-vampire-slaye/

So I go and have a read of it.

Yeap....everything I sent them has now become their idea.

All my "you should do this, and I think this should be changed to...." now has become "Multiverse announces changes to this..... and are going to do that..."

blah, blah, blah....

At first I smiled a wry smile of contempt as I read the article.
Then I felt nauseous with the feeling of being used.

At the least they could have said thank you for the ideas.

Raped?
Yeah pretty much....

....but these ideas are not copyrighted, they're not new ideas, and I could never say I created these ideas from scratch; they were simply ideas pointing to mistakes that my team had found while dealing with the Multiverse software. And some simple amendments that would have improved their systems.

But such is the nature of business, and even more so when it is over the Internet medium.

Over a time of communicating with people over the Internet with a goal of future business plans, I have found that it is all too easy to be scammed, all too easy to have your ideas taken off you, and all too easy to lose what was initially yours.

I remember what they said about Internet communicating years ago; "its fun, you can be whoever you want to be and feel free in that experience. No one can see you at your computer, your just a name and a number, so enjoy that freedom."

Then the sharks of business entered the Internet realm, and the same rules applied to them, except because of the Internet now they can hurt more, steal more, and gain more, for who's going to stop them?

So yet another mindless encounter with the children at Multiverse passes and we bid them farewell. We will not indulge in communications with them again as it is fruitless to think it worth the effort.

But we will see them at the game convention and certainly give them a handshake.
For as one underdog to another, only one can win, and usually the winner is the one with the most credibility.

Thankyou Multiverse for the added bonus of credibility.

It will prove to be useful in future meetings I am sure :)