Heey, Avicus player here,
Experience:
I don't know how to start.
Well, the first time I played the gamemode I was really disappointed.
Especially of the maps. They are really small and it's hard to get to the "Core".
Also the ingame messages are not really appealing (eg. the spam of "There is an enemy near your core"-thing).
The Creation:
None the less I kinda have to agree with the OP.
The Overcast Network (OCN) and The Avicus Network (AVN) once had an argument, that AVN copied the gamemode from OCN.
In the end both Owners (funkystudios & MonsieurApple) confirmed that they use completely different systems.
I don't know who created Project Ares, but ParaPenguin created Nebula.
The System:
Overall there are quite some differenzes between Project Ares (OCN) and Nebula (AVN).
Project Ares uses XML files to store the loadout (spawnkit) and Nebula uses YML files.
Maps:
Since I only play Avicus and just sometimes Overcast, I know that bigger maps would contribute to the gameplay alot. Especially maps are not only 2 layers of blocks, with one of them being bedrock. It's very limited gameplay.
The Players have to Skybridge to get to the other side.
On Avicus you can tunnel, under-bridge and skybridge. And it's kind of essential to place boats if you are at the height-limit.
Overall the maps are way too small. You can't even get on the other side without being noticed. Like Seriously there are maps that are for 20 players that are like 20 x 20 blocks.
Now the Arguments:
Ist dann auch Skywars,Bedwars,SG geklaut?
Technically yes, but the inventors didn't claim any copyright yet. They still could claim it and sue all servers that use it without permissions, but they have to prove that they copied the code.
Auch wenn es kopiert sein sollte.
Es ist immerhin noch selbst programmiert...
Well, there are some scrimmage plugins out there that are based on these gamemodes (SporkPGM/CardinalPGM).
It's possible that some of the code got copied. (Just an assumption).
It's hard to determinate if it's copied because we don't know what system to store the loadout is used.
Just two that I picked out.
The Situation:
The Overcast Network and the Avicus Network are both informed about the new gamemode on this server. I know for sure that the Staff team on the Avicus Network are already discussing the if it's copied or not. Not sure about Overcast...
Now I don't know what drives this team to completely ignore these threads. There are already some posts/threads regarding the copying of the gamemode, but there is still no statement yet.