Bleak_Wanderer

Below, please find my exchange with NCSoft on this matter.

All I've changed in the following is 1) My real name to my boards screen name for continuity's sake and 2) I've added indicators so that it's easier to tell who is writing what:

Bleak_Wanderer: I'm building some canon related content in Architect edition. The story contact is Lord Recluse and one of the groups is Freedom Corps (they are needed as in the timeline of the story, Longbow didn't exist yet). I'm getting a copyright text error, and I suspect it will probably preclude me from publishing the story. This is new, as I published a similar story not long ago. Is this a bug, or is it NCSoft's position that we can't make stories with their characters and groups?

GM Grackle:

Bleak_Wanderer,

This isn't the result of a bug. From what you described, it sounds like the names you're attempting to use are triggering the copyright filter in the game. If that's the case, this should be a fairly simple matter to resolve. In order to do that, though, I'll need you to please provide the ArcID for the specific AE content that you're referring to.

Also, has this been published yet or are you running into this error prior to publication?

That information will help in my research to get this cleared up.

Regards,
GM Grackle

Bleak_Wanderer:

GM Grackle,
>

Thanks for your response.

1. There is no Arc ID I'm aware of, as the arc has not been published yet.
I suspect the warnings will prevent the arc from being published.

2. I'm running into the error prior to publications.

Thanks.

GM LLoyd:

Hello Bleak_Wanderer,

You should click into each text field in the unpublished mission, one field at a time. This should cause useful error messages to appear. You should then be able to make any necessary changes to the text.

You can find more information on this topic on the City of Heroes message boards. You can reach the message board at https://boards.cityofheroes.com. Please contact us if you have any further questions or concerns.

Take care,
GM Lloyd
City of Heroes Support Team

Bleak_Wanderer:

GM Lloyd,

I am not interested in making changes to the text.

I am interested in using Lord Recluse in my arc. His name is Lord Recluse,
so I do not see why I should not be able to utilize him with that name. In
fact, I think I paid tickets to be able to use him, if I'm not mistaken. If
not him, then other NCSoft properties were paid for with tickets, for sure.

The Freedom Corps is called the Freedom Corps.

Arachnos is called Arachnos.

And on it goes.

I checked the boards per your instruction and found a thread full of
disgruntled players in the same boat I'm in:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...=259226&page=7

Are you telling me that it is NCSoft's policy to bar players who wish to use
the Architect edition from using NCSoft properties in their custom arcs?
Please provide this to me in writing - I'd love to have a quote from a GM
telling me that canonical character names are forbidden in Architect arcs so
that I can share it on the boards. The player base needs to know the
policy.

To be clear, my beef isn't with you personally and I mean you no disrespect.
This is an issue with NCSoft's treatment of custom content.

What channels do I need to go through to lodge a formal complaint? (Not
against you - your service has been good - rather, to the devs.)

Thanks,

BW

GM Lloyd: Hello Bleak_Wanderer,

Currently, your options are:

1. Change the text in the Architect mission.
2. Post to the forum thread you've found, and tell the Development Team what you think directly.
3. Wait for any changes to be made by the Development Team.

Any updates will be announced on the official site and/or forums, so you seem to have full command of official information streams already.

If you have other questions for us in Game Support, please let us know.

Best,
GM Lloyd
City of Heroes Support Team


Dear Development Team,

As an NCSoft customer, I am highly displeased with this development and your handling of it thus far.

This is a very simple matter that should be a straightforward fix - your response to it communicates volumes about how you view your player base.

I will be monitoring the situation to determine how to spend my funds in the future, and will be communicating openly with other players about my point of view.

Regards,

Bleak Wanderer

Some constructive criticsm
An open letter to the devs

The point of the Mission Architect system is to foster creativity on the part of the player base.

Implemented properly, it's a no-cost goldmine of limitless content - something you would otherwise have to pay employees to generate. It's a brilliant idea - let the players pay YOU to build your game for you - and it could work if you rewarded architects for generating quality content and players for playing it.

Dedicated mission architect players spend countless hours building their arcs and going over them with fine-tooth combs.

Not only have you not nurtured and utilized this potential tremendous advantage (free content!), you've allowed choices that are obviously poorly thought through.

If you were to ask any member of the boards - any player - any at all - you would be told very quickly that implementing a copyright filter in the mission architect makes absolutely no sense.

There is simply too broad a range of possibilities - putting a "one size fits all" filter on the game to regulate the content players can generate doesn't just limit creativity, it annihilates it.

There is already a reporting system in place through which players (or representatives of copyrighted entities) could complain.

I am not going to sit here and try to guess what content I generate is going to get caught by the filter, and I am not going to sit here and try to generate lame workarounds for copyrighted names. It simply isn't a practical approach to the creative process.

I have a friend who built a chess arc that is very obviously a chess related arc. All of the mobs are chess pieces - pawns, bishops, rooks. The final four bosses are "Black King" "Black Queen" "White King" and...... "White Empress", now that "White Queen" is on the copyright list. Contacting the NCSoft authorities led to no productive solution - the "White Queen" name cannot be used in the arc.

Thousands of other incidents like this, involving commonly used terms, will make endless existing arcs worthless and will make new arcs worthless to create. I'm not going to bother building a chess arc if I know I can't use the "White Queen" name. Going one further, I'm not going to bother building any arc if I have to worry about a minefield that might at any point destroy hours of my creative efforts.

NCSoft, I urge you to consider applying your draconian copyright filter to your own content. You'll find it nearly impossible to tell a good story.

By the way, off the top of my head (without mining through your content)...

"Positron" is a marvel villain.
"Synapse" is also a marvel villain - a member of Emissaries of Evil.
"Bobcat" is a criminal in the marvel universe.
"Mynx" is a marvel comics character who first appeared in "Thanos #8".
"Tyrant" is a cosmic being in the Marvel universe. He hangs out with Galactus.
"Citadel" is an empire in the DC universe.
"Prometheus" is a character in the DC comics universe.


I'd appreciate you taking a look at your own content and applying the standard you're asking players to abide by in generating their content. I'll even given you the NCSoft copyrighted names to work with, as long as they aren't also being used by Marvel or DC.

If you're going to destroy my arc for using "Lord Recluse" or my buddy's arc for having a "White Queen" chess piece, I'd like to see how your stuff would fare. I'll look forward to fighting "Positivetron" next time I play the LRSF, or "Catpersonlady" next time I play a Tin Mage TF. Maybe if I work hard enough, I can save Primal Earth from "Despot".

New and improved: Rebuilt from the ground up as of 5/23/2011:

Arc Name: Nothing to Worry About [SFMA][HLMA][CFMA][HGMA]
Arc ID: 500325
Faction: Custom
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Apolinus
Difficulty Level: Moderate to high. Soloable.
Synopsis:
The Freedom Phalanx needs your help investigating a meteor strike in Atlas Park. Your investigation turns up a lot more than anyone bargained for, and soon the entire dimension of primal earth is at stake.
Estimated Time to Play: <1 hour (4 missions)