Well, the easiest and still ethical thing to do is for anyone here with computer security skills to try to compromise isotropic to get a copy of the server binary (or, better, source). This is ethical because everyone who matters gets what they want: Donald X and the "good guys" at RGG still get paid by Goko (I imagine, since I doubt there is a clause in the contract that says "if another free version shows up, you have to pay us $$$"). The operator of iso could even leak the source under pretense of a server compromise; so long as he has plausible deniability ("it was those skript kiddies, I swear! I'm sending two Estates back to the supply, you can even have one!"), the only person who loses out in such a scenario is Goko, and frankly who cares about their interests? (Yes, I'm using Lannister ethics here, in which it's only a sin to lie/cheat/steal/etc from your friends, but a bunch of IRL hard knocks lately have convinced me that, sadly, if you don't act like that you'll be overtaken by those who do.)
Isotropic probably will return, IMO, but in a different incarnation.
I imagine an app, that is an engine to play a game of your own creation, with mechanics that can be adjusted (to play like Dominion or otherwise) would be sellable. The parameters for any game you create could be stored and shared by way of say, a torrent.
Would there be a leader board? Maybe.
Would it be something that works over the net? Yes.
Could it be used locally, between friends? I sure hope so - that would be my own implementation.
Everything has its purpose. Isotropic shows us, as a community, how card games can be played.
This is a good idea since it's more lawyerproof. Some of the more difficult coding (the generic gameplay utility) can be done out on the open, on github or similar, without provoking lawyer attack. Game-specific rulesets, containing everything specific to Dominion or Race for the Galaxy or whatever, would perhaps have to be developed underground and distributed
via back channels, but that is a smaller thing to protect from lawyers.
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