So, Cryptic's rules state that you cannot create a character whose name and look depict that of any copyrighted charcters. But, if I made a character named "the punisher" or just "punisher" and he was a big brute who was essentially melee class only, is that a violation?

I'm not Cryptic, so don't take my word for it, but X-Men's Kitty Pryde currently uses the name Shadowcat. All likenesses of names aside, it's pretty apparent that I'm not her: she's not feline and hasn't conquered a certain Doctor's scarf, and I can't walk through walls. And so far nobody at Cryptic has not done anything about the name.

Names are pretty safe, as there's shared names all over the place... just don't go making a punisher with a big skull on his shirt and a coat and a lot of guns etc

As long as you avoid the big ones. Also, if they've filtered a name, it's probably a good idea to not use a leet-speak version (ie. B4tman or Sp1d3r-m4n) if you want to be safe.

Also, since you mentioned melee, avoid a robot with a blue-silver top and green legs. Galactus had a "Punisher" robot he sent against the FF a few times.

Punisher robot? Green legs? Wtf Galactus? Think that one up after eating Canabis IV?


Yeah, I'm pretty sure Cryptic is really only concerned if you make someone that looks like the original, with the original's name or a close variation.

And if you want dignity.

Joking aside, If this is read by Daeke,I'd also like to know Cryptic's policy on characters that are homages to heroes and villains in Champions Online.

I have a high-level character named Meta-Destroid, who has powers and costume as close as I can manage to the in-game Annihilator Bots. He is, naturally, re-programmed for good.

I've also been tempted to copy parts or all of the costumes of some of the stylish Supervillains encountered in the Nemesis missions; I'm a big fan of playing 'the atoner'.

Although there are some legal issues surrounding character ownership, I imagine that it should be fine, as all characters we create are Cryptic property anyway.

Can we get some confirmation on this issue?

Technically, yes, if it went to court you MIGHT win if you had a non-punisher-looking character that just happened to have the name "Punisher".

However, it wouldn't be YOU going to court after being sued by Marvel, it would be Cryptic.

Do you honestly think Cryptic is going to risk going to court over it?

Think about it and you will have your answer.



-np

You're fine making clones of Champions characters, since Cryptic bought the entire intellectual property. Cryptic owns the rights to all Champions characters at this point, and they're not likely to be suing themselves for profiting from an IP that they own =P

However, In the EULA it does state that making copies of the in game characters and portraying yourself as being a dev playing the character is definitely against the rules. So, making a Defender copy and then portraying yourself as actually being Defender might fall under this stipulation.

I'd steer clear of the name Punisher anyway. Surely you can think of something more 'original'.

For instance; Just looking up the word punish in a thesaurus yields these results:
abuse, attend to, batter, beat, beat up, blacklist, castigate, chasten, chastise, correct, crack down on, cuff, debar, defrock, discipline, dismiss, do in, execute, exile, expel, fine, flog, give a going over, give the works, harm, hurt, immure, incarcerate, injure, knock about, lash, lecture, maltreat, misuse, oppress, paddle, rap knuckles, reprove, rough up, scourge, sentence, slap wrist, spank, switch, teach a lesson, throw the book at, train, whip

Modify one of those into an original character name instead. That's what I would do.
The Blacklister sounds kool, as does Crack Down. The Dismisser doesn't sound too bad, nor does the Expeller or the Reprover. You see what I mean.