"Inspired" and "knock-off" characters... Am I wrong, here?

All right. I was enjoying some double XP action and doing my RP thing, going from one team to the next.

Then I get to the last team of the night, and lo and behold, I recognize a character who frequents Pocket D. I was excited, thinking, "Oh boy, a fellow RPer. This should be fun."

She basically spent half the mission bugging me on why based my villain on a cartoon character. I asked her not to start that squabbling nonsense, but she retorts that she'll start it every time she sees a "knock off character". She demands to know why I'd knock off a character rather than creating a wholesomely original idea. I replied, that this was my "fun" character. She asks, "why can't you do both?" [have fun and do an original character]. I ended the conversation by saying, "This is how I define my own fun."

Now, my personal feeling on this... I've played nearly fifteen different characters throughout my playtime in CoX. And of that fifteen, I'd say that three of them were blatant knockoffs whom I just wanted to have fun with. As of now, I really only play four of those characters with any regularity. Two of them are wholly original characters whom I cultivated quite thoroughly. And of the other two, one is "inspired" by a cartoon character, and the other is just a blatant rip off a video game character. A note on that last character, I have more fun getting recognized by players than actually doing any real role playing with him.

Now, I pay my $15 dues every month just like everyone else. I'd say that I have every right to play the game how I wish (without negatively impacting the play of others) without warranting others to tell me how I should play. If that means one day, I'll play an original creation, or another day, I'll play the character inspired from one of my favorite cartoons, it's my $15. And if it really bothers you that much, then I believe the best thing you can do is to not interact with me, rather than actively trying to ruin my good time.

Now please educate me here... Am I wrong for thinking this?

It may be your $15, but it's someone elses copyrighted material. The more blatant the throwback is, the more likely it is that people will heckle you - and the more likely it is that NCSoft will end up genericing your character. Without seeing the name/bio/etc of characters in question, I couldn't tell you if you're safe or not, but in general, if someone could look at your character and say "Wow, that's [insert copyrighted character here]" rather than "Wow, that's sort of like [insert copyrighted character here", then sadly, according to the EULA, you're wrong on the matter. That's not me being condescending, mind you - that's just the way the agreement's written.

Well I appreciate your response and input.

The name is completely different and unique, the bio is completely my own, and the character's only real resemblance is the hair, face, and vest [kind of]. He's not even colored the same. Honestly, if I just changed the hair into something else, no one would probably even tell. But I don't want to do that, simply because I'm satisfied with the way he looks as is.

I've seen other players get away with far more blatant copies of other truly iconic characters; right down to the nomenclature. And I've seen far more eerie rip-off characters created between different video game and animation companies...

But you know, where do you really draw the line? I see a lot of characters heavily influenced by established IPs, and characters with bios that originate in already-established universes. I mean technically, aren't they all in violation and warrant their characters genericized and bios wiped?

Honestly, I think from now on, I'm just going to feign dumb....

I just feel that the need to heckle is incredibly petty. I see my own share of what I consider to be dumb character concepts, very lame attempts at RP, or very bad team management. But I don't reach out and try to put the other person down in any way. It's a game, and we're all in it to have fun. If I see something I don't agree with, I just shake my head and move on.

Well, for the first, it's wrong to harass someone in game about anything. And by harass I don't mean just pointing something out (oh, that's a copyright character), but spending half a mission bugging someone about anything is harassment, especially if you ask them to stop and they continue.

A lot of people seem to forget they're players here, not employees, not policy enforcers, just players like everyone else in game. It is not their responsibility to act on behalf of NCsoft or anyone else. If you see something in game you feel like violates some rule (copyright characters/names, botting, hacking whatever) then you have the ability to report it, which you should do and then move on. It is not a player's responsibility to 'fix' the issue, that's what a GM is paid for. They will see the report, review it and take appropriate action. Whether or not a player agrees with said action is another story and frankly, not important. They don't work for the company, it's not their place to set policy or enforce rules.

For the second, yes copyrighted characters are copyrighted for a reason, and get genericed for a reason. Making a copyrighted character in game unless you are the owner of said character or have written specific permission, and are willing to provide such evidence in response to your eventual and probably frequent genericing, is completely forbidden by the rules. That also includes 'near misses' like The Incredible Bulk or Iron Dude.

Yes, we all like super heroes. We likely wouldn't be here otherwise. We like the idea or being our favorite heroes. And the people who own the rights to the image and name of those heroes really like making their living off them. They have the right and duty to protect those legal interests in court, and will do so. Since NCsoft doesn't want to deal with another legal case (expensive and time consuming), they can and will shut down any character 'to close' to a copyrighted hero. And rightfully so. So making copies of other people's characters is wrong in all ways. If you want to play a favorite character, just pick some of the things you like most about them and work from that, rather than trying to make as close as possible without getting genericed. As often said, if you have to question whether or not a character is to close, then it is. Someone will have a more picky viewpoint than you and will report your 'Azure Lamp' character, even if you thought it was far enough away.

Until the Powers-What-Be tell you your character is too much like a copyrighted character, enjoy playing the heck out of them!

As to the original heckler, nothing says you can't /gignore someone in your own team. :P

Screenshot + Bio + Character Name

Otherwise I automagically assume that you aren't supplying them because it's a blatant knock-off rather than being "inspired by" this cartoon character.

That doesn't excuse someone bugging you for an extended period, however. They should either ignore you and leave the team or shut up and move on after the initial comment.

I have a few "fun" characters that are based on pre-existing, non-comicbook characters, and usually they just elicit a chuckle or a complimentary comment from teammates or folks I pass on the street - one has even won a few costume contests.

That said, I would advise you to keep in mind what I keep in mind every time I play one of these toons - there are people out there who will petition your toon either out of spite, or more likely because they feel like it's the right thing to do to protect the game and Paragon Studios. So don't be surprised if some day you log in and your character Bark Simpton, or whatever is suddenly generic_hero 1278923412.

Is it right to use copy righted material? No. But that is no excuse for someone to bother you endlessly. People that do that are searching for a sense of authority and power they cannot get in real life. It's pathetic, just put them on ignore and don't waste time with them.

Lots of stones being thrown in the house of glass. Enjoy your homage as long as you aren't A 160 year old claw/regen scrapper named Logan who fought in the civil war(2 if you count last years), traveled though the far east, was captured in Canada, and had adamant infused into your skeletal structure you're probably ok.

Don't let the subset of folks who are wound too tight get to you, they tend to forget that even the most original characters/stories are inspired from earlier works. Plus maybe the copyright expired already and it's public domain

I swear though if I see you say "His power level reads 9000" I'm gonna Jack-O-Vision <tm> you. Seriously

I think it all depends on how much is homage vs how much is blatant rip-off. My axe-weilding Brute, Cleave Edge, for example, was a direct tweak on the super-strong heroines and villainesses of comics. Plenty of innuendo, from a mythical island populated only by women, wore a bustier, skirt and metallic gauntlets. But, she was, in the end, her own character. No one could really point at her and go, "why, that's character X". It's a really fine line, and, from your replies to others, it sounds like you're on the right side of it. I mean, really, aren't all characters, in the end, derivatives of mythic characters in some way, anyway? There should be no reason not to accept a bit of overlap and creative inspiration from established characters.

That's why I don't play cookie-cutter characters. And I'll be honest, if it's a blatant rip-off, it deserves what happens to it.

Either the player in question had sufficient justification to report your character for copyright violation, or they didn't. After handing the matter over to the GMs to determine (again, if there was actually sufficient cause), that should have been the end of it. If they found your character too offensive to endure, they should have just left the team. Harassing people in chat accomplishes little, except possibly earning one's own private discussion with customer support.

I have characters based on all sorts of things. A MM based on "Much Ado About Nothing" (Beatrice), Goldilochs, characters that bare some resemblance to Mulan (a Chinese woman trying to regain family honor) and Poison Ivy (plant control.), more Shakespeare... my main is Rapunzel, for goodness sake!

Having inspiration is part of creativity, every idea comes from something else, no one lives in a vacuum. Wicked, for instance, is a creative musical, based on a creative book, based on a creative story, that was based on basic fairy tale structure.

global ignore is a good solution.