It's gonna be a long year. Maybe.

Worlds.com Files Suit Against NCsoft for Patent Infringement
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/12/worldscom-files-suit-against-ncsoft.html

Text of the article beneath the cut.
( Read more... )

CoH comment link here:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=12864962&an=0&page=0&gonew=1#UNREAD

So, a few days ago, I was generic'd; I think someone without a sense of humour who was obviously looking to be offended reported it, but I can't be sure, of course. (Yeah, I'm still bitter)

Originally, I sent a response to the GM who handled the complaint and asked why, in my direct contact with GMs previously, this was not an issue. Soon after, I went ahead and listed my top three favorite suggestions from those of you who were so helpful in my obnoxious time of need.

This is the response I got, in reference to the GMs not previously having a problem with the name:

Please accept our apologies for any confusion that may have been caused if you had some interaction with a GM in the past and the name was not changed. Our staff that assist with game issues do not generally review names for their appropriateness, particularly if the name may only be a minor violation of the rules. When a potentially inappropriate name comes to the attention of our staff who do review such names, action will be taken at that time, if indeed the name is inappropriate.

I'm not really happy with the response. If it was really an issue, even a minor one, shouldn't they have handled it previously anyway? I mean, I remember chatting through tells (about a mission not finishing according to Kong Bao, despite the fact that it *was finished) directly with a GM. That means said GM knew what the name was and, if it was an issue, shouldn't he have known without having to "review" it? I don't know how the whole GM thing works, so I can't say with 100% certainty what goes on when they send in-game tells to a character, so maybe I'm aggravated over nothing.

I sent a very polite, inquiring PM to Lighthouse that same day, but I don't expect a response for awhile at least. I figure mine can't possibly be the only PM to flood the inbox.

In any case, I got the first name on the list I sent to them.

( I present... )

I went with feralbear's hilarious suggestion because I have a serious love of theme characters. I haven't played her much, because I'm really busy lately, and I can't bring myself to change the icon yet, but at least she's not Generic 000 430 227, anymore.

She's got about 6 bars to go until she's my fifth 50, and hopefully they'll pass speedily when I get a chance to play again!

So I was getting the mail tonight when it hit me clear out of the blue. So I went inside and sat down and did some video research... And I was suddenly transported to my childhood. In a good great way. I didn't stop smiling (or singing to myself) for more than an hour! Then I did it. I made my own SuperGroup. Check 'em out.
(ETA: I just added a sign-up list! First come, first served!)

I've had a character in CoH for a combined 67 levels: Rosey Palms. Before you balk, I made her originally as a Fire/FF but wanted a more interactive secondary, so I rerolled her at level 18 as a Fire/Rad. I've played her to 49 and 2 bubbles this time around.

So far, in the year+ that I've had her, every single person I've come across who's had something to say about her name has mentioned how great her name was, either in team chat or a tell. I don't play her offensively, I don't even have her in a costume that suggests anything. I just thought the name was humorously appropriate for someone who, as her bio states, has red hands from all that fire.

( Cut for occasional swearing )

I'm sure I have a limited time in which they will change her name to something legitimate for free, but I have no idea what to name her. I'm not very clever with names, as you might have guessed, and I'm currently so pissed off I can't think straight.

I'll take any name suggestions for a saucy Fire/Rad who's just looking to make 50 :(

So, I was hanging about Faultline with Old Troll tonight, trying to decide what to do, when I run into a fellow hero. He was a Sonic/Mind blaster (maybe controller, I can't recall, off hand) named 'Black Bolt. And he looked an awful lot like this guy, who's main power is...sonics! So, I threw a petition out after some help from the Vent-heads, but decided to be polite about it and tell him what I was doing. I wound up relaying the entire conversation to Vent as it was happening. I wish I had nabbed a screenshot, but I never thought of it until afterward.

[Tell] Old Troll:  I hate to do this, man, but I'm going to have to report you.
[Tell] 'Black Bolt:  why
[Tell] Old Troll:  Copyrighted character.
[Tell] 'Black Bolt:  you do know that Marvel owns 25% of this game right
[Tell] Old Troll:  And that's why they canceled Marvel Online?
[Tell] Old Troll:  There was a big lawsuit about the whole thing. Copyrighted characters are not allowed.
[[Tell] 'Black Bolt:  You are so wrong
[Tell] Old Troll:  About what part? Have you ever read the Terms when you log into the game? It's stated right there.
[Tell] Old Troll:  And you are SO generic'd.
[Tell] 'Black Bolt:  dude, I worked for Marvel 
[Tell] Old Troll:  Oh, then you would know about the agreement and the lawsuit.
[Tell] 'Black Bolt:  do you get a fucking thrill out of fucking with people
[Tell] Old Troll:  You would've been generic'd eventually, anyway.
[Tell] Old Troll:  I'm just speeding up the process and doing you a favor.
[Tell] 'Black Bolt:  unn, dude, I have spoken to the DEVs
[Tell] Old Troll:  That's what "petition" is, which I just did.
[Tell] Old Troll:  What did the DEVs say?
[Tell] 'Black Bolt:  That as long as the likeness was not the same I could creat it. The name can't be copyrighted because it is an atmospheric anomaly
[Tell] Old Troll:  Your name is Black Bolt, a sonic character dressed exactly like the Marvel character and you say it's NOT the same likeness?
[Tell] 'Black Bolt:  dude you really need to look at this toon again
[Tell] 'Black Bolt:  I have spiders on, did you not see?????
[Tell] Old Troll:  I did. I saw your powers were Sonic. You're dressed as the Inhuman Black Bolt and your NAME is Black Bolt.
[Tell] 'Black Bolt:  there is a difference between homage and copyright infringement
[Tell] Old Troll:  Homage would be calling your character Silent Screamer and dressing him up SIMILAR to Black Bolt. This is a direct rip off.
[Tell] 'Black Bolt:  do you even play this game or do you just get a kick harassing people
[Tell] Old Troll:  Waiting for my team to start a mission.
[Tell] Old Troll:  And having a good laugh about this with my friends on Vent.

This is sort of off topic, but it's important and, with all the artists and writers around here, I felt I needed to share.

http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=3605&page=1

There is legislation before congress that would force everyone to pay to register EVERY piece of art, every story, every photo or risk having it be used without your permission or compensation LEGALLY by someone else.

EDIT: This has been flagged as dubious. Further discussion and research to be found in the comments.

Is it forbidden to discuss PIGG diving here as it is in the official forums?

So, after Captain Albion was rendered generic, I submitted my alternative names and waited for them to decide what was appropriate. They claim that they'll use the first appropriate name on your list if it's free. I had previously checked, and my first choice - Agent Albion - was indeed free. Several hours later, I got an email saying that my character name had been changed to the first appropriate choice that was free on the sever, and that my character was now called... Captain Lionheart. My third choice (you know, the one you add when you've given your best with your first two shots and are really scraping the bottom of the barrel).

I've been trying to puzzle this one out, and the only conclusion I can reach is that whoever processed the change doesn't know that "Albion" is the old name for England, and that banning it is like banning all the characters with the word "America" in their names. Either that or they were trying to be kind and decided that maybe the rank was the bit that was important. But if that was the case, I'd have put Captain Lionheart at the top of the list. So, go figure.

So I bit the bullet and bought a name-change token. Captain Albion is now Agent Albion (a better name anyway if I'm being honest), and I've restored his costume, which looked nothing like either Captain Britain, Captain Albion, or any other patriotic UK hero.

Also, many thanks to fechtbuch for suggesting "Pax Britannica". The name was rolling around my head all evening, so eventually I gave in and built him as a broadsword/regen scrapper :-) My altitis is now officially your fault, fechtbuch!

Just got generic'd for the first time. It kind of annoys me that they don't take the appearence or gender of your toon into account when deciding wether or not your characters is a rip-off of a pre-existing one. My character, Captain Albion, apparently violates Marvel's copyright on a character with the same name who appeared in one issue of Captain Britain Monthly 25 years ago. Marvel's character was apparently female and wore red and white, mine is male and wears red, white and blue. Both have entirely different origins and, aside from their name and nationality, couldn't be more different. Still, it was enough for some busybody to decide that I was being a copy-cat. Grrr.

I wasn't much impressed with NCSoft's method of dealing with this either. There's no way to appeal, and their mechanism gives you three shots to rename, a very imited time to respond, and if your three alternate names are already taken, they'll slap you with a number to "make it unique". Oh, really. Very superheroic. Moreover, they tell you that they won't accept derivatives of the original name. So, Commander Albion or other variants are right out then.

Bah. I suppose they have a point on the name (though I suspect that if every single obscure Marvel and DC character name was removed from the game, we'd have a LOT more "Generic 000 XXX YYY" heroes running around, and far more "I Eat Cats" type idiots).

New Hairstyles for i11.

(and before anyone asks - this is not violating the NDA because it's freely visible to all in the test character creator, which does not require beta access. It's public knowledge. Plus Jay himself was first to reply to the thread)

Um, I'm not on the closed-beta, so I have no idea what all is involved in the NDA.  But I'm almost done making a teaser trailer just off footage I got from I-10, plus the spiffy wallpaper of the Oroborous logo on the COH site.  If I use JUST this stuff, am I violating the NDA?

The teaser doesn't go into anything that hasn't been discussed by the devs at large already (ie, that time travel is involved), but I don't want to get shafted because I haven't actually seen the legalese fine print.

And it really did come out well, and I really do want to post it - but I am a HUGE believer in the CYA factor.

Michelle
aka
Samurai_ko 

Does anyone know if there's a way for me to get in on this?  Is it too late?  Has it not even started?  

I've now had several people sending me PMs and emails since the word was released about I11 that I should get involved and start shooting footage for it.  But no one will tell me HOW!  (I've got a couple of decently-high level characters - no 50s or anything, though - that I'd love to see in this from the get-go.)

However, I proudly wave the n00b flag and admit that I'm not up on how all this is done.   (And yes, I'm well aware of the fact that I wouldn't be allowed to post the thing until the NDA is released.)

Anyone?

Michelle
aka
Samurai_ko

In the light of this story...
would it infringe copyright etc if I created "Jackstraw" as a vigilante Scrapper? Or maybe he could be "Justice Secretary"? I could use; "Tough on crime! Tough on the causes of crime!" as a battlecry...

Just for discussion:

What would you do if NCSoft unveiled a new policy that required everyone who wants to continue playing CoH/CoV to use the services of a third-party provider to have their real life identity verified? This would consist of providing your name, address, date of birth, gender, and a social security, passport or driver's license number, which the third party would compare against public records and other data they may already hold about you. The stated reason for implementing this new policy would be "to foster trust within the community" and to ensure that those not of the proper age to be playing the game, as per the TOS, aren't exposed to age-inappropriate content. In addition, with the arrival of "identity verification," every player would be given the option to disclose their real life name, age, gender, and location to the rest of the online world via their profile. When asked whether, in the future, disclosure of real life info will become mandatory, the powers that be give no clear answer.

No, neither NCSoft (or Blizzard) are planning to do this... but yesterday another online multiplayer world, Second Life, announced just such a new policy. I already know what most of my friends over there think about this, but I'm curious what opinions the members of this community would have.

Subject
Angel X, a 50 lvl player

Discussion Thread
Response (GM Critters) 08/24/2007 01:21 PM
Hello,

Thank you again for reporting this incident to the PlayNC Support team. We have reviewed the game logs of this incident and taken the appropriate action based on the information from the logs. As previously indicated, we will not be able to provide any additional information regarding any action that may have been taken or if an actual violation was confirmed; however, rest assured that the PlayNC Support team takes User Agreement violations seriously and is dedicated to maintaining an enjoyable playing environment. Because this incident has been handled by the PlayNC Support team, we are now setting this incident to a “Closed” status. Thanks again for submitting this report.

Regards,
GM Critters

--------------------------------------------------------------------

The above is a response regarding a petition I made abt Angel X - a lvl 50 toon who followed my lvl 3 team in the Atlas pk Sewers and proceeded to kill ALL our mobs. We then announced we would be going in a spearate direction so as to avoid problems and were FOLLOWED by said player and same kill stealing was done. A flame fest followed and the toon said he was doing it for the badges. Also said he and a friend bet on who would receive most petitions.

So. What do you think above response means?

Mostly I'm posting here because there's no general NCsoft community.

Are there CoH/CoV folks playing the Tabula Rasa beta, or planning to pick up the game when it comes out?

Is there interest in a Tabula Rasa LJ community?
I know a lot of CoX folks prefer to team with fellow LJ members, and a comm is good for planning events and discussing aspects of the game without running into the chaos of the forums.

I don't wanna say nothin' incriminatin', but a little bird told me that the i10 CLOSED beta's up on test.

This isn't a bad bio, per se, but I got amusement out of it. I hope you do, too.




I passed him a level 38 SO and told him in local to sell it to help with his lawsuit.

For those looking to connect to the Training Room Test Server, you should be aware that the server is currently being used for a closed beta test of Issue 9: Breakthrough!

While anyone can connect and patch to the server, when you go to select a character, if you are not part of the closed beta, you will not be able to actually log that character into the server.

The closed testing is not expected to be long; perhaps lasting into mid-March. The actual duration of closed beta will depend on how testing proceeds. Once closed beta ends, Issue 9 will be on the Training Room for anyone who wants to check it out and provide feedback for several weeks of additional testing and tuning.

So...anyone get a beta invite?

How many times can you install City on different computers and be legal? I have a couple different scenarios in mind.

1. My gaming PC died, so I reinstalled on my laptop. I'm pretty sure this isn't in violation of anything.

2. What if I wanted to go install it on my parents' computer, so I can play when I'm over there? Is that okay? I'm still paying my monthly fee. So does it matter that I'm installing the game on someone else's computer?

Just curious.