Excraft

I don't at all disagree. Personally, I believe companies like Disney take the same attitude toward things like this game and others like it out there. They don't care. All the pseudo care concern and hysteria some folk here have about people making homages isn't something to be worried about or make a big deal over in my opinion. It's more about using the rule as a bludgeon to inflict their will on others to conform to their personal ideas of creativity.

IP infringement is IP infringement. I'd say it's probably a good idea to address these and all of these groups should be renamed or removed. Can't be too careful and better to be safe than sorry. Rules are rules and need to be applied fairly to everyone.

I'm not suggesting anyone should or shouldn't care. That's entirely up to them. I'm just offering my 2 inf. Obviously you care because you're making such a big fuss over the topic. I'm no lawyer and don't know the specific legal precedents either. I'm just going with what I see with my own 2 eyes. I'll reiterate again, I don't mind the rules on this topic here. I just find it hysterical and to be honest hypocritical how these "rules" are applied differently based on the individual(s) they're applied to. When word of the server first leaked, people were asking if it was legal. There were a lot of people who said that since NCSoft didn't immediately shut it down, that was "tacit permission" (exact words) and that made it perfectly legal. There's a lot of folks here complaining about "copyright infringement" and worrying about even the mere hint of a lawsuit in fear of the game getting shut down because Homecoming "doesn't have lawyers to fight it", yet there are definitely groups and individuals on here being allowed to use names, likenesses/costumes, biographies and group names of trademarked and copyrighted materials. I'll go out on a limb and say I don't think anyone has the permission to use some of these group names. Here are a few examples https://ibb.co/VWFdTpx https://ibb.co/3B60Yfb https://ibb.co/pXpdvPR https://ibb.co/Sw12fZQ https://ibb.co/Wc57GGG https://ibb.co/DD3vRyb https://ibb.co/S0s1J39 https://ibb.co/BsXQyw0 https://ibb.co/mNJmrys To be fair, some of these may be legacy before the rules were put in place. I do know for a fact there are 2 in that list on Everlasting that are very active and run costume contests and such. When questioned why they were allowed to use a copyrighted name, we were given the excuse of "it predates the Marvel film". How that can be proven is suspicious, but even if it could, isn't it better to follow the "rather safe then sorry" rule here? Again, rules are different depending on who you are here. That to me isn't fair. I wanted to say again, I completely respect your opinion. I just disagree with it.

So dressing up as Superman and going to a comic con to run around and pretend to be Superman is ok because it isn't commercial. Drawing a picture of Batman and posting it on your art site for free to share your artistic talent with others is ok because it isn't commercial. Creating an homage in a defunct video game on a pirate server where there's no money being taken for profit and isn't being used for commercial purposes isn't ok? Give me a break. Isn't someone making a character here for "personal rather can commercial" purposes? If you're cosplaying as Iron Man at a comic con or cosplaying as Iron Man here in game, what's the real difference? Why would Disney ignore one non-commercial thing and not another? It would simply do them more harm than good for them to sue its own fans. That's why they don't do it. Absolutely without question Disney or Marvel or DC can hand out cease and desist letters to every cosplayer out there entering a con or posting photos of themselves online. It may or may not be fair use, but that doesn't mean Disney can't sue people and take them to court for it. Sure, there are licensed skins in all kinds of video games. There's also a literal crap ton of them out there that are unlicensed. I completely get it that it's better to be safe than sorry and I keep repeating that I don't object to their being rules here for it. I'm just finding most of the excuses being given for why it's necessary very, very thin at best and the application of those rules absolutely ludicrously biased. That's nice. Is the Shadow of the Vampire version you're using as an avatar expired too? Or do you have permission to use it from the owner/actor/producer/studio?

I guess you missed this

I completely respect your opinion. However, like I keep suggesting, the house of mouse could have their "tons of lawyers" standing at the front door of every comic con in the world handing out cease and desists to every single cosplayer walking through the door, especially to those making zombie or overtly sexualized versions of their intellectual property. Those are easy targets, yet they don't do it. They could shut down every website that hosts a piece of art drawn by a fan being shared for free, but they don't. They could go on an a rampage to shut down every site offering a free skin of Disney/DC/Marvel characters for Minecraft or Roblox or the Sims or whatever else. But they don't. Absolutely they can do all these things. I think it safe to say it's just not worth their time or effort, much like going after a rogue server running a stolen copy of a 20 year old game generating zero profit would be because someone made a Captain America or Iron Man clone. Never once suggested that I should be able to. You'll note I said I've no issue with there being rules about this. I do find it kinda funny that you're harping about others "infringing" on property rights when you're using an avatar of a person and character you certainly don't have any property rights to. Was it a parody character? Far as I remember, those are absolutely allowed. If not, then go ahead and report it if it will make you feel better.

This is great. When will it be applied the same for everyone? You may recall, we've been in threads where there seemed to be "exceptions" to this rule which don't get applied to everyone.

Way off. Not even remotely close to anything I said in my post. Nice try though. Never once did I say that I don't believe in intellectual property rights or that they don't exist. My opinion (which I'm allowed to have) is that it's such a minor chance of it becoming an issue here that would lead to an actual lawsuit is so remote, it's basically a non-issue and not worth worrying about it. It's just not worth fussing over. A giant asteroid could strike the earth tomorrow and wipe out every living thing on the planet. Can it happen? Sure. Is it likely? Highly unlikely. Is it worth cowering in a corner in fear over? Nope. Do you have a chance of getting struck by a random bolt of lightning? Sure. It's not worth living in fear over though. Same with getting sued by Disney or DC because someone made Superguy or XW0lv3r1n3X. Like I said, they've got bigger fish to deal with and if they really wanted to, they'd hand out lawsuits to every single cosplayer at a comic con. They don't do it because it doesn't hurt them and it keeps the interest in their property. IMO the emphasized part of your post is the real issue here. This has less to do with protecting intellectual property and "saving the game" and everything about appeasing the select few anal retentive hypocrites who want to dictate to others what is or isn't original enough of a character, costume and bio. It's perfectly fine to have the rules here on HC to cover IP rights and copyright notifications. I've no objection to that and more power to them. What I do object to is from what I've seen here over the last couple of years, those rules aren't applied evenly or fairly. Not even close. It's ok for friends of the inner circle to get away with it while everyone else is held to a different standard. That's hypocritical and doesn't send the right message. P.S. Hubris is thinking this game is so important that its worth Disney and Marvel and DC worrying about. It isn't.

And I don't care how tightly you clench your sphincter, it's still a non-issue. Disney/Marvel/DC/WB/HBO or any other IP holder for that matter can come after this or any other game at any time for all sorts of things, yet they don't. If they all cared so much and wanted to so "vigorously defend their property", they'd all have legions of lawyers handing out cease and desist letters to every cosplayer walking into a con somewhere and handing out lawsuits like candy to every single game offering a free skin of Batman or Superman or Spider-Man or whomever. They don't do it. They've got better things to do with their time than to worry about a dinky rouge server running a stolen copy of a 20 year old game. If you want to worry yourself over it, more power to you. Feel free. If you're one of the aholes standing in Atlas reporting new characters as they zone in because you don't find them "original enough" for your liking, go for it. Hope you enjoy driving more people away.

Just report it and take comfort in knowing you probably saved legions of anal retentive types cowering in fear from having a coronary.

Instead of apologizing for profiling someone, you double down on it. Nice.

Couldn't agree more. Sadly, the game is full of elitists who are doing more harm than good and driving more and more people away with their intolerant attitudes and their flagrant bullying. As to the topic, I also don't see how bases are less relevant than before. Removing prestige from the whole thing was a great change in my humble opinion. They're a creative outlet for some. I wouldn't say that makes them irrelevant.

No, the most toxic thing in the community is intolerance toward others and how they choose to spend their free time and bullying them to play your way.

Nope. Statesman had a cape and could've worn it, he just chose not to out of respect for Hero One. Nice try though.

Please do. Would love to see your list of "countless" numbers of heroes. Like it or not, most if not all heroes (and villains) have had their finished, polished look from the start. I don't think anyone should have their creativity limited when creating a new character.

This doesn't make any sense. Quite a lot of the badges/accolades in the game are already earned by playing "dev" content. As for your suggestion, no thank you. Hard pass.

For the idea, no thank you. Bad ideas are bad. As for the rest, which heroes didn't have their complete look from the beginning? Most all of them had complete outfits from the get go. Superman had a cape from the beginning So did Batman. Had his utility belt too. Thor always had his hammer from the start

Instant 50s are available to everyone, so friends/family/whole SGs can play there together, yet people choose not to. I'd think it would be obvious that server wipes are a non-issue since any character can be re-created from scratch with all the bells and whistles within a few minutes. Bases are a fair point. I can't really say how big a selling point bases are to most people though. Wasn't really suggesting anyone just play on Brainstorm. Point was more that the tools to roll up an instant 50 already exist and hardly anyone uses it. I don't think it would destroy the universe to have that functionality on the live server.

Tools to create a fully decked out 50 with all the bells and whistles already exist on the test server and hardly anyone uses them. That whole argument by the cheerleading squad falls kinda flat.

This isn't even close to being true. I've been in heated debates where I admittedly got carried away and was put on time out, rightfully so. Others who were posted things much worse were allowed to go right on posting. They just so happened to be among the usual cheerleading squad, so no, rules aren't applied evenly or fairly all the time. They should be, but they aren't. These are their forums so of course they can do whatever they want, but claiming everyone is treated the same isn't true.

That's what's coming. Can't say I'm surprised either.

This is what happens when you make changes that drive away farmers.

Which was most likely being done by less than a handful of people if that. I couldn't have intentionally left this out because I never mentioned it to begin with, but nice try though. Adding reward merits to iTrials is great if that's what you're interested in doing. Solo players who were earning merits through story arcs got some nice bonus merits by converting these EMPs from the vet rewards. Those players have lost that extra bonus now and yeah, adding merits to iTrials is herding people into "correct/approved" content. Right so you still lose out. Yeah he's like a lost puppy dog following me around. Just ignore him and he'll go away eventually.

Shot down how? The titles I linked to are legit Marvel titles using the name "The Marvels". There's also the Marvel film called "The Marvels" in production now, so it's legit proof the title owned by Marvel. I don't see any exceptions in the CoC for "predating" or anything like that. I can't provide a link to hidden posts, but don't have to believe me, @Troo can verify the content. That's why we were discussing copyrights in that thread in the first place. You can believe whatever you like, I don't have any axes to grind. Yeah, I disagreed with the whole copyright rule thing when it was implemented, but I've accepted it and agreed to abide by it like everyone else. It's an official rule now and everyone has to abide by it.

If there's nothing to hide, why take it down? Not accusing anyone one of anything nefarious.