The Problem

There are a lot of threads around at the moment which deal with copyright infringement, where people apparently are enjoying pretending to be fascist super-police, but that isn't going to help Cryptic, so I'm hoping you'll hear me out and what I have to say.

The thing is is that a lot of new players are going to have two problems, they're either going to find the character creator too intimidating, complicated, and confusing, or they're not going to have enough confidence to be original. They're also not going to understand that it's wrong to actually put together a hero that belongs to another company.

Let's say that the player is in their teens, having their costume randomly randomised is going to do nothing more than alienate them and push them away from the game. It's going to feel to them like someone is screwing with them. And even if an adult doesn't check their mail, they might just assume that it was a bug and restore their original costume.

The problem, in this case, is that the hardcore and hostile veterans we have around the community don't understand this and think that reporting all and sundry is the best approach, they're trying to spread their more angry and improper solutions to problems to other people, and I don't think that helps. I care about this community, I care about this community, so I had to put together my own thread.

The Correct Approach

The first thing you need to do when you see a clone is actually make sure it's a clone. But what are the criteria for a clone to the point where it would be a clone and not a homage? Here's a good example: Let's say that someone has a character named Dead Poole, and they've managed to replicate the character Deadpool almost exactly. Then you have a clone. But what if the character's name is Captain Avenger, and the costume is suitably different enough from Captain America's to not be a clone? There you have a homage. It's important to tell the difference.

Once you're sure you have a clone on your hands there, don't jump on them with a GM report! I know that this is what other threads recommend, but read the above section and think about this, do you really think that's all that helpful? A report should be your last recourse, not your first. Your first recourse should be communication. This is an MMORPG after all, so you're used to socialising, and it shouldn't be hard to say hi to a stranger.

Politely inquire as to whether they're aware that using an exact clone of a character owned by someone else could get the makers of the game they're playing in legal and financial trouble. Many won't realise the wrong they do, and if you handle things right then you'll get a positive response, but it doesn't have to stop there! From there, tell them that there are places where they could go to find people who'll help them with the character creator, and how to make this character theirs - a homage, rather than a clone.

I'll provide some links below that you can share with them to point them in the right direction. If they ignore you and you can't get their attention, or they're hostile toward you, then it's time to consider reporting. But at least try to communicate with people first. It can't hurt, can it? And if you're successful then they take away a positive outlook on our community, and that can only help Cryptic at the end of the day.

Some Useful Resources

***************biSmCZ - The costume exchange as an is.gd URL.
***************jUsqpd - This thread as an is.gd URL.
***************D3WvDw - The F2P forums as an is.gd URL.

Find out whether they're gold or silver and link accordingly.

Why?

Because I care? There's a person at the other end of that character, and every time you report someone without at least bothering to talk to them, you could be making their day a little darker. There's no need to do this unless you're some kind of raging nutter. It doesn't hurt to be kind to people. It doesn't hurt to reach out and try to help. It doesn't hurt to extend an olive branch now and then.

I'd love to see some dev/GM support for this approach too, because I don't think that we need to be reporting people right off the bat. What good does that do? None, it just drives people away from this game that we've learned to love. Let's not do that, yeah? Let's be civil. And more importantly, let's be awesome.

Im not sure that you are the correct arbiter for what the, "proper," and, "correct," approach is here sir. Cryptic, through its representatives, has asked that players report IP violations.

I find it interesting that your first point in this thread was not about being helpful to new players who might have made a mistake, but to call other forum goers fascists. It really does call into question the real motivation for this thread.

All the effort spent talking to the player who has a copyright clone character and having to deal with the potential negative responses and the effort spent reporting them can be minimized with Cryptic making a simple, direct ingame notice each time a player logs into the game.

From my anecdotal experiences trying to point out ToS and regarding making copyrighted clones, I've gotten all sorts of personal attacks in response so really I've had enough going through that. There are people who think the rules don't apply to them and there's not much you can do to break their self-entitlement attitudes.

After a player has spent enough time with a character, clone or not, they will have a sense of attachment to it. Honestly, do you expect a player to willingly and easily oblige to retconning their level 20+ Deadpool and buying a rename token just to rectify the violation, after all the effort and time they've put in? If purchasing a rename token or retconning is considered too expensive then they'd be expected to do a reroll and start from scratch, which is even more unlikely.

What Cryptic can do is to give the violator a free rename and retcon token after he or she has had their character genericized. I think that's fair. If the said violator wants to throw a hissy fit and refuse to understand that what he or she did was against ToS then he or she is a lost cause.

Did you really have to start with a personal attack against the pro-reporting masses like that? That's what got the previous thread locked in the first place.

Here's a novel idea. How about everyone just plays the game to enjoy it and not worry so much about what other/how other people choose to make their characters look like or what they choose to name their toons. As long as a players character name / image is not offensive / perverted / racist, etc. then make your character the way u want and let others make theirs the way they want. Everyone is entitled to play a game how they find it to be fun. It aggravates me more to see a player running around in-game that made their toon look like a monkey and named themselves spank (obviously a clear example of an inappropriate toon and only one example), then it does to see someone who made a miserable attempt at creating a "clone".

Please do a web search on Marvel VS Cryptic lawsuit and you'll understand why we worry.

Here's one example: http://asia.gamespot.com/news/2004/1...s&subj=6113055

*** I don't need to do a web search on this as i am a former long time player of City of Heroes/City of Villains and have followed the whole thing from the very start. Thanks 4 the suggestion though.*** (What some may find interesting is at one point Marvel asked Cryptic to help them develope their own MMO super hero game. This was after the lawsuit btw. Obviously this never came about. Prob would of been a failure like DCUO is looking to be so far in my opinion.)

I fail to see the value in the OP's suggestions. While contacting players about their clones might result in positive contact with some. It will in all likelihood turn negative with others. Others will simply tell you to mind your own business (possibly in less eloquent terms). This reminds me of the reaction the earliest American football coaches had to the concept of the forward pass, "There are three possible outcomes, and two of them are bad."

If a player reports another, and the character in question is not in violation, then the reported player will never know it happened. If it is in violation, then the issue will be dealt with by staff. This is where the function belongs. If Cryptic wants to soften the blow, then they need to devise a means for their GM's to do so.

When I make an effort to give someone a positive welcome to the community, it won't be by contacting them about their IP violation. I'd rather offer answers to questions, advice in response to requests for same, or compliments on a name or costume (and I couldn't honestly provide the latter to the big green guy in torn purple pants named Hulkk).

If the OP doesn't want to report violations, then don't do so. Becoming an IP violation social worker is not imo a good idea.

Yet another thread about this?

Even I am getting tired of it and I am the one who has pointed out that it is a duty of the involved customer to report.

I think this thread is a necessary antidote to the righteous zeal that some players wrongly apply to reporting costume violations. I've been trying to say the same thing, although I've not been as diplomatic or comprehensive as the OP.

When I see a clone, I compliment their costume if they did a good job, and politely let them know that they'll most likely get reported if they don't change it. The responses I get are always civil (maybe because I start off in a polite and friendly manor befitting of a game), and 90% of the time the player of the clone just didn't know what the rules / boundaries were.

Ask yourself, Is reporting clone characters just a task that needs to be done, or does it give you a sense of righteous pleasure to "help" Cryptic and see that the offending player is punished ? If it's the former, then cool, thanks for helping out. But if it's the latter, try to keep things in perspective and deflate your sense of self-importance, for the community's sake.

If anything, this thread proves that some people report for the wrong reasons. I could name names, but I'm not that petty. The thing is is that if you're doing this for Cryptic, then it can't possibly hurt to try to engage in communication with the person in question first. If you're doing this just to get your kicks, then I can see reporting happening first.

As isometry said, if you're polite then people will be nice to you, and usually if you're getting a negative response from the vast majority, then you're not being too friendly. And then spamming reports for all the wrong reasons because of that is going to make you seem less friendly. I honestly think that there needs to be some code of conduct for this, and I really do believe that it shouldn't start with 'report first and ask questions later.'

I think that the best of us will try to talk to people. And the worst of us will just get their kicks out of reporting without even bothering to try. There's really not a lot I can do about that. But this thread exists in the hopes that I'll be able to reach some people. If even one person thinks that it might be a good idea to try talking to someone before reporting immediately, right off the bat, then this thread is a success.