Celebrity Hero Lookalike Screenies
By
CentralNexus,
Posted on: 2008-01-01 15:23 in Multi-Media Fan Creations
I have seen some REALLY good ones of these, many of characters owned by ppl that I know got in big trouble for playing the toon. I could do my best to recreate the image from what I remember (it was 3 years ago since they had the looks)
if you want to guarantee the mods give you a go-ahead or confirm a no, make sure to send Ex or LH a pm with a link to the thread explaining you want to be within the confines of the EULA. of course, if you've already done that then ignore that comment. best of luck and I'd participate if its ok.
Summer Heat
Ok I did 2 the first one is the character I call Not the Hulk really here he here he is He is a INV/SS tank, as is the only possibility for him
I also made a Mind Control/Sonic controller named Oprah Winfrey. I think it is quite obvious why I made her a mind control alt
You added horns...
That was...
That was mean!
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You added horns...
That was...
That was mean!
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In a way she added them herself
The only one I ever made really was the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee, for a costume contest one time. I deleted him long ago, and I don't think I ever got screenies, which was stupid of me. It was pretty cute.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
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well again, the idea here is NOT to create ripoff characters that we acutally use (or show ripped-off characters that we DID use) but rather to use the CoH character generator to celebrate our favorite heros that came before CoH... so make something up in the character generator, take a screenie, and post it...
...once the Devs have given us their blessings to move forward with this thread.
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...once the Devs have given us their blessings to move forward with this thread.
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That I can almost guarantee won't happen 
First they don't post a lot, they're on vacation, and it's purely against the EULA Doesn't really stop threads from being posted, though. We all know how fun it is to *look* but not touch these things. Sadly, lawyers don't tend to think so.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
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I hope to watch this thread burn like the Hindenburg
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...once the Devs have given us their blessings to move forward with this thread.
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That I can almost guarantee won't happen First they don't post a lot, they're on vacation, and it's purely against the EULA Doesn't really stop threads from being posted, though. We all know how fun it is to *look* but not touch these things. Sadly, lawyers don't tend to think so.
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Yep, making characters that are basically copies of existing characters is a bad thing.
Making homage characters, however, is different. You can make a character thats a homage to another as long as its not copying everything from that original character.
Take for example my DB/DA Scrapper. His first costume is a bit of a homage to Deadpool.
I made enough changes to the way he looks that hes not a clone, but you can kind of still see that I got the inspiration from Deadpool(at least I'm hoping you can).
"Through Avarice evil smiles; through insanity it sings"
Forum Troll Rule #1: Anyone who disagrees with my point of view is either a fanboy or an idiot.
I'm a proud carebear.
See that's not bad right there, and great screenie.
Of course if it's a Deadpool-like dood, I hope you talk *constantly*.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
not a ba char design but it doesn't make me think Deadpool and I am a deadpool fanatic.... then again that is a good thing.
The closest I ever came was a thug mastermind modeled after "La Femme Nikita".
"City of Heroes. April 27, 2004 - August 31, 2012. Obliterated not with a weapon of mass destruction, not by an all-powerful supervillain... but by a cold-hearted and cowardly corporate suck-up."
removed
Come on someone else post on this thread. I think it is fun as long as you don't play them in game or tell anyone that you are playing them in game
will totally post, but I t hink it would be in everyone's interest if the devs give this thread their endorsement first.
I sent Ex a PM calling her attention to the thread. I know I dont' want to get Cryptic into hot water by doing something stupid. So I'll wait to post until one of the mucky-mucks tells us it's OK.
Sounds like a fun idea, but we've been around the legal court before and don't wish to return the EULA is in place to protect us and you as users.
Sorry but no likeness or homage characters are allowed that are the intellectual property of someone else by name or physical likeness.
Our character creator tool is amazing, so there should be no shortage of heroic or villainous concepts that we can create without copying someone else's protected content.
If you have any questions let me know.
Regards,
Ex Libris
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Sorry but no likeness or homage characters are allowed that are the intellectual property of someone else by name or physical likeness.
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Are you defining "homage" in this instance as an exact copy of their costume? Because if not, a great deal of people are in trouble here. I have some homage characters myself (along the lines of how Rorschach is a Question homage, not "Super-duper man, Van-L from the planet Pypton").
To be specific, if Deadpool didn't currently exist in Marvel comics, would he not be allowed in CoH due to the fact that he's an incredibly obvious Deathstroke homage? Same with Hyperion with respect to Superman?
One might liken the Council to Cobra, and create a character similar to Duke, named something like Baron, dressing slightly differently, and naming the Council as his primary foe. Would this not be allowed, despite the obvious Council/Cobra comparison? If it would be allowed, would it cross the line if he were teamed with the characters Blockade, Lady Kay, and Saffron in an SG named Army Jack?
Or are we just talking about Sup3rman in an obvious copy of his costume?
I have homage characters that vary in similarity to their inspirations (some a little, some a lot), and I'd appreciate knowing where the line is. One of them sits at level 1, because I'm not sure if it crosses the line or not, but I really like the character.
Thanks!
Please try my custom mission arcs!
Legacy of a Rogue (ID 459586, Entry for Dr. Aeon's Third Challenge)
Death for Dollars! (ID 1050)
Dr. Duplicate's Dastardly Dare (ID 1218)
Win the Past, Own the Future (ID 1429)
Show us, if you're doubtful than it's likely genericable. That's been a pretty good rule of thumb in here: if you have to ask, it's already pretty clear what the answer will be.
However, the character if it's not in an American product may not even be *recognized* by most folks. I don't get that impression from your post though.
Homages = good, because they play upon but don't actually EVOKE the character in question. Then again, this argument's been beaten many many times as a zombie horse might attest: what some people consider Homage, others might consider Ripoff, and still others might not even know what they're talking about.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
Of course, your question can't really be answered.
Once a line is defined, any number of people will walk right up to it. The REAL line is wherever the lawyers say it is, which works out to roughly:
If someone can look at the character, name, and bio and say "Oh, that's a clone of <whoever>", then they can report you. At that point, it's up to the GM sent to investigate the report. That GM has probably been told to err on the side of caution.
Story Arcs I created:
Every Rose: (#17702) Villainous vs Legacy Chain. Forget Arachnos, join the CoT!
Cosplay Madness!: (#3643) Neutral vs Custom Foes. Heroes at a pop culture convention!
Kiss Hello Goodbye: (#156389) Heroic vs Custom Foes. Film Noir/Hardboiled detective adventure!
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Show us, if you're doubtful than it's likely genericable. That's been a pretty good rule of thumb in here: if you have to ask, it's already pretty clear what the answer will be.
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Sorry, but I prefer not to connect my characters with my forum account. Besides, I know where my homage characters fall along the line between homage and ripoff, but what I don't know is where NCSoft will see it as a problem. I appreciate the offer, though.
Also, I'm asking Ex Libris for everyone's sake-- it would be nice to have some kind of guideline from them.
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Homages = good, because they play upon but don't actually EVOKE the character in question.
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I don't think I agree with that. If it doesn't evoke that character, I don't really see how it's an homage. That's the point of an homage-- it's a tribute to the character, it makes you think of them without being a complete ripoff.
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Then again, this argument's been beaten many many times as a zombie horse might attest: what some people consider Homage, others might consider Ripoff, and still others might not even know what they're talking about.
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Yeah, that's why I'm asking her what they consider to be not-okay. I'm honestly a little surprised that holding a contest for a temporary look-alike costume is something that would be an issue.
Please try my custom mission arcs!
Legacy of a Rogue (ID 459586, Entry for Dr. Aeon's Third Challenge)
Death for Dollars! (ID 1050)
Dr. Duplicate's Dastardly Dare (ID 1218)
Win the Past, Own the Future (ID 1429)
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Of course, your question can't really be answered.
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It can, but I think I muddied the waters with the all the hypotheticals, and the request about where the line was at the end. I know there is no rock-solid line, I'd just like some clarification because it sounded to me like she was adding a classification (homages) that would make 25% or so of the existing hero population against the EULA.
I really just want to know how she is defining the word "homage" here, because while this thread is about making exact copies of copyrighted or trademarked characters, she responded saying that homages were not allowed. The EULA does not say anything about homages, as I know the word to be defined, being disallowed. It just talks about violating trademark or copyright, which homages as I know them do not.
I'm used to the word representing characters like Statesman, who, while he shares many of Superman's most identifiable powers, some of his ideals, and is the "flagship" hero of this world, does not infringe upon that copyright (anymore than the ridiculous assertion Marvel made that he infringed upon Captain America's).
I just want to know if she was only talking about exactly what this thread was asking for, or if she was also making a new statement about non-infringing homage characters, which have never been an issue (some have even made it into the official comic book!). It's an online game, and I've seen companies change their EULA years into the game's lifespan, so I wanted to ask, and then went off on where the line was (which I shouldn't have) for infringement.
I should have just left it with the first paragraph.
Please try my custom mission arcs!
Legacy of a Rogue (ID 459586, Entry for Dr. Aeon's Third Challenge)
Death for Dollars! (ID 1050)
Dr. Duplicate's Dastardly Dare (ID 1218)
Win the Past, Own the Future (ID 1429)
Just pm ex libris with it then if you don't "trust" your fellow players and forum goers to whatever mystery things we might do if we knew you play (or created) whatever toon... o.0
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
As I already said, I'm asking for clarification on her use of the word "homage". That one character is not really that big of a deal, and isn't why I posted or I would have PMed her. I posted because if they have added non-infringing homages to the list of disallowed creations, I think people should know about it.
As for why I don't like connecting my characters with my forum account, I'm a private person. Please don't take it personally.
Please try my custom mission arcs!
Legacy of a Rogue (ID 459586, Entry for Dr. Aeon's Third Challenge)
Death for Dollars! (ID 1050)
Dr. Duplicate's Dastardly Dare (ID 1218)
Win the Past, Own the Future (ID 1429)
Homage *is* a pretty broad term.
Would a gadget using, and otherwise unsuperpowered, richboy who lost his parents at a young age be considered an homage?
For the record: I've never made a character as an homage to an existing hero - for one I don't really read comics.
I did find out that one of my main characters shares a name and powers* with an obscure marvel character. But his background and appearance are nothing like the character in question.
*any character in the game that takes the stone armor set is infringing on the character's power.
As I'm new to the CoH community I certainly hope this idea hasn't run its course elsewhere in another thread. If so, smack me around a bit, post the link below and I'll go away. If not, let's see if we can't have a little fun with it.
This thread is intended to work completely within the spirit of the user's agreement of CoH. We can all appreciate the need to maintain the sanctity of intillectual property, as well as protect the CoH Devs' ability to protect their own product.
That said, the CoH character creation engine is arguably one of the best in the entire MMO universe. We've all seen some celebrity-hero look-alikes out there, and we've all known someone who's had a toon or two nerfed because it came too close to someone else's copywrighted material.
I'd like to see in this thread a string of screenshots, taken from the character creation menu, of toons/heros that we may all know from other sources. If we have absolutely NO intention to play these toons, state so explicitly, and name exactly what hero we're trying to recreate, we shouldn't be in violation of any copywright laws (at least the way my febile mind wraps itself around the issue). All we're doing is showcasing the amazing versatility of CoH's character creation engine, in combination with the creativity of CoH's subscribers. So bring out your best Incredible Hulk's or Captain America's, and let's see what you can do with CoH's character creation engine. Again, just be sure to state specifically what character it is you're trying to recreate, and above all, do NOT play that toon ingame.
I'll kick it off with the first screenie, but not before giving the devs/mods a few days to chime in on whether or not we should run a thread like this, and if so what the best way to handle it is so as not to upset anyone who owns the rights to any of the characters we use CoH's engine to recreate.
In the interest of fun, but also of keeping all the lawyers happy,
-ClarkKentDDS