What you are missing, if we're following the arguments of the initial article, is, why there's 1024, 2048, etc, at all. If "free" is the better distribution model, and that's it, will there be any more 1024, 2048, etc?
(Also, I was just pointing out that the apparent quote didn't match with the intentions of the authors' blog-post.)
I don't mean to be flippant, but so what, if 1024, 2048, etc... were inspired on Threes?
None of those games are exact copies, and even the Three's designers admit these others are "inferior" versions. Are they arguing that you can't make derivative works? If they are, then like I said, I don't support that argument because I do believe that derivative works provide value and should be protected.
But to be honest, I don't think that's the main gist. When reading the article the main point that came across was one of annoyance that the original work was not receiving as much attention as the derivative works. As if the world cared who came first, or that coming first actually provided some intrinsic benefit (as opposed to a situational or contextual benefit).
(Also, I was just pointing out that the apparent quote didn't match with the intentions of the authors' blog-post.)