The creator of YIIK: A Postmodern RPG has yet again been accused of plagiarism, this time from the definition of metaphysics.
On May 20th we reported on accusations that YIIK: A Postmodern RPG had been accused of plagiarizing from the works of Haruki Murakami. The game’s creator Andrew Allanson responded to us explaining the matter.
In short, Proto Woman (an interdimentional being) was using main character Alex’s subconscious to communicate. In this case, with a quote from a book he read.
This new accusation came from games journalist Ryan Brown. On Twitter he noted that more examples of plagiarism had been found, accompanied with the following image:
During our own investigation we attempted to recreate all of the above searches. Sure enough, each one lead to a website that was using explaining the definition of something – usually citing a dictionary.
The first is Proto Woman discussing the Eye of Providence. The enclosed reference appears to be from Urban Dictionary. While not properly cited, we also found the same entry on The Free Dictionary.
Despite stating the article was copied from a Wikipedia article of the same name, the introduction is slightly different (with greater reference to its origins in Christian iconography).
Both instances of dialogue from Vella (regarding metaphysics and epistemology) reference Quizlet (a quiz flash-card website). It seems both of those are using the dictionary term from the 2010 edition of Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary. Both of which you can discover via The Free Dictionary’s articles on the subjects.
In short, it appears Allanson or others on the development team searched for the dictionary definition of those terms and used them almost directly.
While Proto Woman referencing something Alex may have read yet again, it becomes a little muddier with the very human Vella. As noted in our review, characters will sometimes dump a lot of information about something they know about.
Whether it was unnatural for individual characters to have encyclopedic knowledge on a subject varies on a case by case basis. For example the traumatized Rory would probably become obsessive about subjects related to his sister’s disappearance. That being said, copying the exact dictionary definitions word for word may be too much for some.
What do you think? Sound off in the comments below!
YIIK: A Postmodern RPG is out now on Windows PC and Mac (via Steam), as well as PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Switch. In case you missed it, you can also find our review here.
