Bethesda Table Top Adventure Game Pulled Following Plagiarism Complaint - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 09 May 2019 / 1,716 Views
Bethesda has been caught out by a plagiarism compliant with regards to its pen and paper adventure title Elsweyr, which is incredibly similar to Wizards of the Coast's D&D adventure The Black Road.
The texts aren't exactly the same, but they're certainly very similar. For example, here's the introduction to The Black Road:
There's nothing like the desert to make people feel small and insignificant. In every direction, huge dunes roll across the landscape, and an even bigger sky looms above. The oasis of Vuerthyl is a motley collection of sun-bleached tents in the vast Anauroch desert.
Through various means, it has been arranged that you would meet Azam the caravaneer in the large, Calimshan-styled tent that passes for a tavern here. A pair of tieflings, who seem to be unaffected by the heat, eye approaching visitors warily. The dim interior of the tent is a relief from the bright light and wind, though it’s as hot here as anywhere else. The gentle sounds of a stringed instrument fill the air, and the people inside are hunched over food, drink, and conversation. A dragonborn with rust-colored scales greets you, and guides you to a private table. There are a few other adventurers here.
And here is Elsweyr's introduction:
Nothing beats the desert to make people feel small and unimportant. In every direction enormous dunes roll across the landscape, and an even larger empty air skies above it [sic]. The oasis on the border between Cyrodiil and Elsweyr is a colorful collection of sun-drenched tents in the vast desert of Elsweyr.
In various ways it is arranged that a group of adventurers would get acquainted with the caravan leader named Kar'reem. His big tent is filled with several Khajiit, which seem unaffected by the heat, they stare at you cautiously. The dim interior of the tent is a relief compared to the bright sunlight from outside, even though it is still as hot inside as out there. The soft sounds of stringed instrument [sic] fill the air, and the people are busy over eating, drinking, and conversation [sic]. An Argonian servant escorts you to an empty table.
A number of other similarities have been identified as well. Speaking to ARS Technica, a Bethesda spokesperson said:
"We’re digging in deeper to figure out what happened, but in the meantime, we’ve pulled the adventure based on what has been brought to light."
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If you're gonna copy that blatantly, you have to bury it deep inside of the game. You damn sure can't have it in the intro, where every person that even thinks about playing the game is going to read it.
I wonder if it was one person responsible or if others at the Netherlands studio knew. Either way, I can't imagine the guilty party or parties not being fired, but I do hope they don't bring everyone else down with them. This is going to cost millions of dollars and someone is going to get roasted.
This is clearly plagiarism. It is just the changed in the same way as someone trying to cheat on an essay or similiar by changing the word in another essay and then hand in as your own. This can't be a coincidence.
WTF, there's no question about it. Pulling the project, though? There should be a punishment for this.
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