First, imatation is the greatest flattery.
Second, I agree with darth, just like drawing, you start with something you are familiar with, to see if you can do it. Once you have the hang of it, then you decide what twist you want. Then you start developing further and further away from what you were copying.
Third, everything in the world has been done already but maybe at a lesser extent. Their is not one original idea that someone has not thought of. It usually people who come along and re imagines ones ideas and (may or may not) improve on them.
Half-Life = Halo
Hercules = Superman
Jame Bond = Jason Bourne
Romeo & Juliet = West Side Story
James Brown = Micheal Jackson = Usher
Lastly, if in four months more people have not started to branch out to do more of their own stuff, then I will agree with you. Its to early to be critical about originality of user designs.
I'm just saying...
