To any indie devs hit by this: send me an e-mail (address should be in my profile), maybe I can do something about it.

Dragon's Chronicles developer Takashi Mochibe received a demand for $200 in Steam items within 24 hours to prevent an alleged AI-made SRPG clone from launching first on Steam. He suspected the email was bulk spam; similar demands targeted developers of Iron Pilgrim and Circusar, and no payments were reported.

It seems like it would be easy to play along and set up a sting. Get the info for the mule account, send the items, report the mule account to steam, and steam can nab everyone based on where the mule transfers items to.

A trades group should be formed for Indie Devs to join that provides pooled funding for litigation. I have Nintendo's methods, but slop makers might hold back if there were potential consequences where infringement occurs.

This assumes of course we eventually get some kind of real AI regulation.

What an awful time to be alive.

Who would have thought that the same, morally bankrupt, unintelligent, Dunning-Kruger addled, narcissistic and sociopathic people who suddenly see a chance to "play with the big boys" just without knowing anything or putting effort into it would resort to something like this?

Their failure is never their own fault, or their lack of work they put into learning things, always -others- holding them and their -amazing- (read: shitty/crap) ideas back.

I hate this timeline with a passion. Social media gave all the trolls and village idiots a platform, and now "AI" -seemingly- allows the eternally inept to feel like a programmer or designer or artist, w/o the effort and the results of course.

Their clueless reactions to the backlash to their slop is evidence enough that the light may be on, but absolutely nobody is home