You guys know I prefer my art to be a LITTLE naughty.
<.<
>.>
...At a minimum.
But seriously, that quote was full of troll.
"All nudity is obscene". Riiiiight.
Plus the word "hippies" was used, perjoratively, which leads me to believe that the poster is some uptight ultraconservative who somehow got locked into stasis in the 60's and is just now waking up.
I mean.... hippies???
They're called "alternative lifestyles" now. Get with the times, already.
"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."
naughty...knotty... art?
Okay I can definitely see a Plant Dominator doing that.
Definitely...
oooh just got the knotty pun , booo !
hurls rotten fruit
So after we ban boobs, are we then not allowed to say it? There are rules (don't kill people, don't lie down on the tracks, eat your vegetables) and then there are rules (boobs will shake my faith in reality, enforcing the NSFW edict on a message board will bring my alien forefathers back)...
Whoops did I just flame someone? 
Edit: I may have to City of Nuts this tomorrow...
LJ
:P
pssh im flame retardant , though some folks think im just retardannt :P
Wait! Eat vegetables is YOUR rule, not mine! I"m so offended! All vegetables is obscene and has no place in a forum such at this!
:P
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So after we ban boobs...
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It's really sad to think of boobs as banable. The lives of many, many infants depend on boobs. If it's good enough for babies, it good enough for all, right?
Plus, I'm rather partial to mine (but I'm biased...). 
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Wait! Eat vegetables is YOUR rule, not mine! I"m so offended! All vegetables is obscene and has no place in a forum such at this!
:P
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*wacks Rowr on the nose with some celery*
Eat your vegetables or yer going straighta H-E-double hockey sticks!
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So after we ban boobs...
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It's really sad to think of boobs as banable. The lives of many, many infants depend on boobs. If it's good enough for babies, it good enough for all, right?
Plus, I'm rather partial to mine (but I'm biased...).
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If boobs were banned, there would be a lot fewer people in game.
What....wrong type of boob?
Remember - when boobs are criminalized, only criminals will have boobs.
My Deviant Art page link-link
CoH/V Fan Videos
Exactly, although if you had a chance to jump on Age of Conan to check out the RP-PVP server, it was kinda sad to see most of characters encountered tended to be loin cloth wearing barbarians, or topless women wearing very little else. And yes, they had nipples. Then again that is an 18+ game for adults.... err... yeah.
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Exactly, although if you had a chance to jump on Age of Conan to check out the RP-PVP server, it was kinda sad to see most of characters encountered tended to be loin cloth wearing barbarians, or topless women wearing very little else. And yes, they had nipples. Then again that is an 18+ game for adults.... err... yeah.
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...and thats really NOT the player base that NCSoft wants - they want the broader base of the all-ages range. Its better economically and its safer.
Pushing that "mature theme" boundary is risky, business-wise - conservative groups put pressure on companies, and on stores. (there's the whole bit with Wal-Mart refusing to carry certain things unless they're sanitized - and even though many of us know Wal-Mart is evil - its a HUGE chain with lots of power).
You can debate the philosophical questions of "is it art or is it porn" all you want. It would be nice if we all lived in a nice, happy, well-adjusted world where no one was offended and no one's mommy & daddy sued anybody over little johnny seeing naked breasts on the forum for his favorite game (this is an Official NCSoft forum - not a fan-run homage)... but, you have to realize that we live in THIS world - where there are people who are genuinely offended (regardless of what YOU view as "art") and some of those people WILL sling the law at what they fear. Thats just not a headache that NCSoft is gonna want.
** I'm only saying this because it seems that no one is seeing that side of it - NCSoft does have to protect themselves - and they will, if push comes to shove. You all can keep expecting that your safe because you've been posting your deviantart-links with "NSFW" warnings and 'its not been a problem" (although it was today, and I believe I've seen some mod-smacks in the past, too- honestly).
Just realize there's more to it than just YOU - and that by continuing to "find ways around the rules" that there is some risk involved.
maybe, just maybe, this isn't the place to push that particular boundary until it breaks. because we do all love this game and want it to continue.
Just consider it.
carry on.
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** I'm only saying this because it seems that no one is seeing that side of it - NCSoft does have to protect themselves - and they will, if push comes to shove. You all can keep expecting that your safe because you've been posting your deviantart-links with "NSFW" warnings and 'its not been a problem" (although it was today, and I believe I've seen some mod-smacks in the past, too- honestly).
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I really don't think anyone is refusing (or not getting) NCSoft's angle on the issue. Although there seems to be some sort of unspoken understanding between the community development folks and the art community (i.e. keep it tasteful and so long as there are no complaints, it's kosher), everyone that I've seen in this forum thus far (I've been a lurker for quite awhile) acknowledge and understand NCSoft's position. These folks who post that kind of stuff seem to understand that that their post runs the risk of being moded should someone complain.
You say that NCSoft needs to protect themselves "if push comes to shove." No one is arguing that NCSoft needs to protect themselves. The argument is that the "shove" is coming from people who (from judging from their posting histories) don't seem to be regular members of this community. They seemed to appear out of nowhere to create controversy in an already established community that has been around for years (so folks know the rules of this particular forum...written and unwritten).
The initial "shove" was not initiated by NCSoft and quite frankly, it just reeks of bullying, spite and/or trolling.
Yeah. "Technically" we're not supposed to be getting fan art of our in-game characters AT ALL. Period. If NC wanted they could totally slap all of us with C&D's (cease and desist) and takedown orders and they'd be completely within their rights to do so.
However, that would generate an incredible amount of negative publicity and drive lots of people away, so of course they aren't going to do that, and instead 'allow' (quotes) us to get fan art done, so long as we don't try to make any money off of it. "technically" when we get commissions we are not buying the art we are buying the 'time' of the artist. Yes wonky workaround but it works and keeps everyone happy. But that's also another reason why when artists are offering commissions they aren't allowed to mention actual prices just link to their DA site or whatever.
So yeah. Let the mods do their jobs. They -will- and -have- removed links they consider inappropriate, and will review anything sent their way via the 'report to mod' button. Simple as that.
Again this above post is not directed at ANYONE in particular just a general musing of a non-coffee-laden-early-morning-kitty and probably doesn't make a lot of sense!
Nod.
In my personal opinion, the Comic Book Super Hero genre lends itself really well to Fan Art, even moreso than your traditional Fantasy themed Role Playing Games.
One of the things that initially sold me on City of Heroes all those years ago wasn't just the promise of playing the hero or heroine, but the great costume/character generator that the game had built into it.
I already had the genesis of most of my heroes and heroines created previously many years ago when I was a teenager and into the original Classic Marvel RPG by TSR. City of Heroes gave me a chance to put those original creations into action!
Commissioning Fan Art is an extension of that creative inspiration that City of Heroes gave me when I finished spending hours (sadly I did) in the costume creator trying to work out that distinctive outfit and then cut and paste that labor of love called a Character Background that I spent even more hours on!
I can't see NC stomping down on Fan Art or Fan Fiction for the simple reason that both creative outlets are generally positive and promotes City of Heroes/City of Villains for free. And good publicity can't be beat.
I've been asked periodically over the past couple of years when I'd get around to paying someone to do a Comrade Hero comic, but I'm more content at this point in time to get the odd commission and work him ever so slowly into the Creative Writing Diploma I'm doing this year.
And yes, oddly enough for a mutant Communist with glowing red eyes, who was bombarded with cosmic energies, survived a free fall through Earth's atmosphere from the edge of space, crash landed in the Arctic and walked away without a scratch, Comrade Hero does have nipples.
And no, they're not star shaped or crimson red despite the persistent rumors circulated by Morally Subversive Capitalist Money Grubbing Tabloid Journalist Deviants!
I remember watching the superbowl with a few friends when Janet Jackson was performing at the halftime show. For a split second, her breast was exposed on television and the cameras cut away. It happened so fast that no one knew what they had seen. We all ignored it and continued to watch the game. The next day, all hell broke loose. It was all over the news. "MY GAH! JANET JACKSON'S BOOB! HERES A DETAILED CLOSE UP PICTURE OF IT! SEE IT? ISN'T IT HORRIFYING! MY EYES!"
The point is that no one cared and it wasn't obscene. What was obscene is how people started making a big deal out of it. (Yet its ok to show dead bodies on the news still)
Characters:
General Flag - Hero - Tank
Spy Smasher - Hero - Scrap
King Chrono - Villain - Brute
Witch Hazel - Villain - Dom
Server: Victory
Supergroup: Legion of Valor
SG website: [url="http://legionofvalor.guildportal.com"]legionofvalor.guildportal.com[/url]
Deviant page: [url="http://kingchrono.deviantart.com/"]http://kingchrono.deviantart.com/[/url]
DELETE!!!
Sorry for the double posts these forums are annoying the fur out of me!!!
Yeah I don't even remember it happening, I just remember whathisname going for a grab and was like, wow that's brave! Then moved on because that was a really lame halftime show anyway!
If you find a user that dosn't regularly post and wanders in just to try to stir things up , just make use of the ignore faeture as opposed to trying to debate them :P
you'd be surprised how stress free it tends to make things 
But I'm from Justice, home of The Legendary Living Hellfire! We Justicites live for debate! It's in our blood! Suggesting that a Justicite not debate is like asking a thirsty man not to drink water!
I think it's a side-effect of the pills we all need to take for the crazy!
Boy, I'm such a rabble-rouser... 
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that's why I just don't post any NSFW piccys. Those are reserved for my private friends who I -know- can handle such pics.
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<quick reply to the entire thread>
Gee, get sick for a few days, ignore some sections of the forums for a bit and wow.
While I applaud people pushing boundaries through art, isn't this all (and the other thread with the "maybe found somewhere... at your own risk" images) just a tad bit of an over-reaction? Yes, I dug around and found the picture that started the current upset and it went past what the Mods felt the forum boundaries were.
Because of dealing with the community reps and having to pull pictures/content from the Scoop at the last moment (more than once), I know what it is like to have a work censored. One fan submitted puzzle that I worked on for a few hours reminded one rep of a bad symbol, and no amount of reason could get the entire scoop published that week with it in it. I had to change the puzzle at the last minute, and took blows from a user for how "rushed" the puzzle was that week.
People are understandably proud of the effort they put into a piece of art. On the other hand there is nothing wrong with NCsoft having limits on what gets posted to [u]their[u] forums.
There is nothing preventing anyone from making and displaying images elsewhere. So why the furor?
Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
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People are understandably proud of the effort they put into a piece of art. On the other hand there is nothing wrong with NCsoft having limits on what gets posted to [u]their[u] forums.
There is nothing preventing anyone from making and displaying images elsewhere. So why the furor?
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I'm pretty sure it's two things, related to what you've said here:
1) People feel like it's not just their forums but also our forums.
2) Things that weren't an issue before now becoming one will always make people react in some way.
For folks that are interested, I've been trying to get the Creative Works forum over on the ol' Comics Haven boards a little more active, but I'm only one (amazing) man and need more posters to help out!
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I'm pretty sure it's two things, related to what you've said here:
1) People feel like it's not just their forums but also our forums.
2) Things that weren't an issue before now becoming one will always make people react in some way.
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Ok, I get that.
However, it does seem to be a bit self-serving to object to the moderator action on a public, teen-rated game forum. Part of using these forums is agreeing to follow the forum rules/guidelines, yet now people are upset/shocked that the rules are enforced?
How about people post constructively (and only seen one post so far that did this) on how to continue to let people know about their artwork while keeping in the forum guidelines. The other thread seems filled with a bit too much sarcasm to take as a constructive suggestion.
I know the community reps and mods are looking into the guidelines, but until the self-righteous anger gives way I doubt anything would convince them that there might have been another way to deal with similar posts.
Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
As of I12 I too will have a plant-themed character :P
Also a fire-themed character, and possibly POSSIBLY... a redside Rowr! *gasp* :P
It'll be interesting!