Penguin Magic's Attempt at The Wire

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Dec 5, 2009
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Pretty lame, looks like a cheap imitation of The Wire. Probably because it is.
 
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Joey144

Elite Member
Oct 14, 2007
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I had to laugh when I saw that they give you 70% :D
The sales tracking feature is cool though
would love if t11 would incorporate something like that in the wire aswell
 

RickEverhart

forum moderator / t11
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Sep 14, 2008
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JB and the team are aware and are communicating with Penguin right now as I type this. We will see what happens. Unreal.
 
To be honest something as complex as this would take months to create (or "years" in the case of The Wire) so it is hardly as if Penguin has copied theory11. I guess both companies just had similar ideas and the release of The Wire prompted Penguin to release their version at this time.
 
Aug 23, 2008
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To be honest something as complex as this would take months to create (or "years" in the case of The Wire) so it is hardly as if Penguin has copied theory11. I guess both companies just had similar ideas and the release of The Wire prompted Penguin to release their version at this time.

Tom, they posted a Google Doc submission form. Notice the "Powered by Google Docs" tag at the bottom of the page. If they spent more than 20 minutes working on this, they need more help than a little inspiration from theory11 can provide. It's a knock-off, clear and simple. I respect theory11 for having an original idea, keeping it a secret, working on it diligently behind the scenes, and doing things right.

This is imitation, and it's not even flattering. It's just sad.
 
Tom, they posted a Google Doc submission form. Notice the "Powered by Google Docs" tag at the bottom of the page. If they spent more than 20 minutes working on this, they need more help than a little inspiration from theory11 can provide. It's a knock-off, clear and simple. I respect theory11 for having an original idea, keeping it a secret, working on it diligently behind the scenes, and doing things right.

This is imitation, and it's not even flattering. It's just sad.

Well in that case I'm pretty disappointed at Penguin Magic for bringing out a shoddy imitation of The Wire. I just wanted to remind everyone not to point fingers until we knew the truth.
 
Sep 7, 2008
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I think it's a different approach. It lets people be featured on their main website, and not a category such as The Wire. Plus, you can submit gimmicks. It seems more like a submission that you'd find on any publisher's site.

And it's funnier, too:

scaled.php


AND, you get a cool "magitar"!

<--That's me!
 
Aug 23, 2008
30
0
Honestly, I like it better than The Wire.

How can you possibly make that statement? It doesn't even exist yet, RK. It's a Google Doc form for submissions - a hastily made rip-off of a beautiful, original, well executed idea by theory11. Take a step back for a moment and respect creativity, respect originality, and most of all, respect theory11. If you thought of something new and worked on it for years to polish and execute the idea, how would you like to see it copied and butchered a week later?
 

CaseyRudd

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Jun 5, 2009
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The "magitar" feature is cute. I'm a bit disgusted to see Penguin attempt to directly copy what we've worked on, developed, and refined for years. Just isn't right, isn't ethical. I don't speak on behalf of theory11, but I think I can conclusively say that we aren't flattered.
 
Sep 7, 2008
608
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While The Wire is a neat idea, I wouldn't call it new and revolutionary. All publishers' websites allow submissions, and The Wire does the same - except with a lower standard. The advantages The Wire advertises deal with the fact you're able to control everything yourself: you do the filming and you write the description. It's also disadvantageous, as your work is not going to be professionally filmed and produced.

I wonder if it devalues the idea of publishing magic. Now - literally - anyone can do it.
 
Feb 7, 2011
362
1
Penguin is acting up. Someone turn on the bat-light!
In all seriousness, it's like plagiarism. It'll be hilarious if they claim this is their own creation. Aside from calling them out on it, im not sure how much theory11 can do. Id hate to see legal arguments. I dont know if there is grounds for legal action if it came to that. Guy Hollingworth would know.
 
Jul 13, 2010
526
34
I think it's a different approach. It lets people be featured on their main website, and not a category such as The Wire. Plus, you can submit gimmicks. It seems more like a submission that you'd find on any publisher's site.

And it's funnier, too:

scaled.php
Mahahaha, "I´m Jay Sankey".
As much as I dislike Penguin, this was really funny ;)

I wonder if it devalues the idea of publishing magic. Now - literally - anyone can do it.
And quality (I´m certain not all of the upcoming copycats will have a quality control such as Theory11) will suffer from this.
More youtube-exposure, nothing is kept secret and once it is spread throughout the web, everyone and his dog will have access to it.
E-commerce and making money seems to be what all these e-commerce platforms are centered about. What about the old-school magic, keeping secrets secret and only available to those who are really interested in the art of magic ?
What about sharing ideas with other magicians in old-school sessions without thinking whether an effect is commercial or not? I guess a magician (now the amateurs, too) would think twice about sharing an idea with others now.

Theory11 got the ball running and I hope they have considered how this could influence others, including the copycats who just want to make a fast buck, regardless of the consequences.
 
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formula

Elite Member
Jan 8, 2010
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5
Well in that case I'm pretty disappointed at Penguin Magic for bringing out a shoddy imitation of The Wire.
The magic market is full of cheap imitations, why should this be any different? Welcome to the world of competitive business.
 

CaseyRudd

Director of Operations
Team member
Jun 5, 2009
3,393
3,801
Charleston, SC
www.instagram.com
While The Wire is a neat idea, I wouldn't call it new and revolutionary. All publishers' websites allow submissions, and The Wire does the same - except with a lower standard. The advantages The Wire advertises deal with the fact you're able to control everything yourself: you do the filming and you write the description. It's also disadvantageous, as your work is not going to be professionally filmed and produced.

I wonder if it devalues the idea of publishing magic. Now - literally - anyone can do it.

Jeff,

I'm not quite sure of what Lower Standard you're referring to, as ours are higher than anywhere - both for theory11 productions and on The Wire. If it's an original effect, idea, flourish, etc, we allow it to be published on The Wire. If it isn't original whatsoever, we reject it. We've rejected countless effects already that looked great, but were not original enough to warrant a new release. All effects are properly vetted for crediting and originality by our team (including Jason England and Dan White) prior to publication.

Regarding the "anyone can do it" phrase - I found that phrase a bit ironic coming from someone, like me, who is a teen with multiple published effects. Anyone can do anything. Age means nothing. The Wire allows for anyone with an original idea and enough creativity to make a name for themselves based only on the merit of their idea. It's revolutionary because of that. And it's "new" because before September 2nd, it never existed. Things that didn't exist before and now exist is a pretty solid definition of "new."

The point of the matter is this: I don't speak on behalf of our team, but I can validate that countless hours of time, energy, focus, and dedication went into creation of The Wire over the past several years. To see it directly ripped off, quite obviously, two weeks later is more than unethical - it's just wrong.
 
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