These posts on were recently pointed out on a friend’s LiveJournal:
There were other posts I saw at rdi.dragonsmark.com that have since been deleted and/or moved to various holding tanks. I don’t know anyone involved, so I’m not going to question the banning issue, not without more information. However, from the messages I saw, the parties who may or may not have been banned were at the very least posting multiple off-topic threads instead of taking up the issue via PM or email - and the folder owner rightfully took exception to their disruption. It’s a dirty, ugly mess for the Admins to deal with.
I thought about the whole sordid situation at length, and it just leaves me with a stunned sort of “Bwahhhh?” feeling. Even taking the explanations at face value, it doesn’t make sense. I feel bad for everyone involved, but let me just say that I can’t even pretend to understand the motivations of paying for (or ripping off) someone else’s creative writing to use in a RP forum. I’m sure there’s a good reason. There would have to be.
It is interesting that such an uproar arises over the specter of plagiarism. If all that had happened was that someone had photoshopped someone else’s image and posted it as his own (or without attribution), no one would have batted an eye! I think the mindset is the same, and the concept is very similar. Except — I don’t know, maybe the written word is generally considered more valuable.
But there’s another level to this, aside from the accusations of plagiarism. The original posts (the ones subsequently posted at RDI/DM as ‘ghost written’) were fan fiction written about Pirates of the Caribbean characters. Even though most copyright holders choose not to prosecute, fan fiction is in itself generally considered copyright infringement and an unauthorized deriviative work.
In Fan Fiction Plagiarism at Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey astutely noted:
“With fan fiction, the author doesn’t actually hold the copyright to the work they create, in fact, the work itself is technically a violation of copyright law. Since copyright law grants the copyright holder the exclusive right to create derivative works based on an original one, which is precisely what a fan fiction is, the original copyright holder, whoever owns the rights to the original work(s) owns the fan fiction regardless of who wrote it.
With that in mind, one doesn’t have a valid claim of copyright infringement when their fan fiction work is plagiarized.”
See also The Legality of Fan Fiction on the Net and FAQ about Fan Fiction.
It is ironic that someone who doesn’t respect the intellectual property rights of others is demanding his/her own intellectual property rights be acknowledged. Maybe people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
Don’t get me wrong. This is a horrible situation all around. I find the idea of ripping off someone else’s words or art disgusting. The practice is even worse.
I’m afraid I’m in the minority, though.
It was kind of a bad idea. Or at least, it was not a good idea, since I was groggy and dragging my feet all day Monday. And I definitely should have known better.
I stayed up too late Sunday night playing Everquest. But after almost a decade (including a five year hiatus from EQ), I finally have a 50th level druid. It took a half hour on drachnids in Dreadlands, then three hours in Karnor’s to fill up the last corner of my experience bar. It was fun, but I now realize I’m too old to be spending that long grinding anymore.
Since the level cap was raised, 50th isn’t that grand of an achievement anymore. But it’s still a milestone.
BTW. Mine is the wood elf druid. Not the troll.
And yes, Everquest is where Rhilshen’s Evara Skye and Khaz Bloodguard originated.
Imladris Moonrise, Lord of the Rings Online
How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!
Here we will sit and let the sounds of music
Creep in our ears: soft stillness and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.
-The Merchant of Venice. Act. v. Sc. 1, William Shakespeare
If you’ve roleplayed for any length of time, at some point, no matter how perfect you are, you’re going to make an IC reference to something which your character has no way of knowing. It could be something you read in a forum post. It could be something you observed in live RP while playing another character. It could be something sent to a public chat room in a whisper which your character wasn’t really close enough to hear. It could even be a deliberate reference made in an attempt to start a new story.
This is metagaming. And knowing that it is inevitable, I don’t mind if someone metagames using something I’ve written – with certain caveats:
- Get it right. No matter how detailed, chat logs, profiles, wiki entries and posts do not tell you everything there is to know about a situation. If you’re not sure you understand what you’ve read, ask before you screw things up by acting on an incorrect assumption.
- Have a reasonable explanation. At the time you put your metagamed information into play, show how your character came by that information – and understand that I get to decide if your explanation is reasonable or not.
- Respect my character. Don’t attempt to use metagamed information to force some non-consensual adverse roleplay on me. If you’re attempting to use that information to threaten, control, incapacitate, imprison, or kill off my character, I’m not likely to go along with it.
I’ve been burned on all three of those. Allowing deliberately metagamed information into play did further some scenes and character development, but ultimately I ended up making compromises I wasn’t happy about. It was a learning experience.
I find that the longer I’ve been roleplaying with the same people in the same environment, the harder it is for me to keep from metagaming.
If you’re someone who is very conscientious about avoiding metagaming, what are your tips for keeping what you’ve read separate and distinct from your character?
Detailed roleplaying character profiles are often required in tabletop RPGs, online play-by-post RPGs, and even in most MMORPGs — but not in pure free form RPGs.
In Am I the Only One? at the FFRP venue Dragon’s Mark, there’s a discussion about whether or not it is appropriate for one player to expect others to give full accounts of their character’s abilities in their profiles.
Most people responded that this is an unreasonable expectation. They pointed out that detailed character profiles lead to metagaming, where other players may inadvertently (or deliberately) take what they read from a character profile and use it IC. The original poster pointed out that she was generally forgiving of newer players who might not know that this blending is bad, or the older players who have difficulty keeping track of which characters are privy to what information.
I do expect a character profile with some level of information. Particularly with new faces. Why?
- If I don’t know anything about your character to start with, I am going to have a hard time finding reasons for my character to try interact with yours.
- I want some idea of what I can expect from roleplay with you. If your character profile is filled with sexual references, obscenities, misspellings, or typos, your writing will probably be the same.
- If you don’t have a profile at all, I’m going to think that yours is a “throwaway” character. I don’t the time or inclination to deal with that.
- I like having a static reference for what a character looks like and what his/her name may be (when different from screen name). Really. My memory isn’t good enough. What you sent to the screen a half hour ago is gone.
However, freeform roleplayers should definitely not have to make an exhaustive shopping list of every skill, ability, and power their characters might possibly use in order to avoid “instant soup power” accusations of god-moding. What some might think is “instant soup” could just as easily be legitimate improvisation. That’s part of the fun of free form RP.
If you’re claiming someone else in a free form roleplaying game is god-moding because they just displayed a power not listed in their profile, you’re metagaming — and you’re essentially telling someone else how to play their character. That’s not free form.
I’ll talk more about metagaming (again) tomorrow.
"Now to deal with you, Ranger!"
There’s yet another free content update in Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, as Book 14: The Ring-forges of Eregion has finally moved over to the live servers. The release notes are always good for a chuckle. Here’s a sample:
- Goblin-town: The sleeping goblin who was using a burning pot for a pillow has been given mercy. He will no longer hold the pot while sleeping.
- Angmarim snipers have given in to peer pressure and have stopped wearing their Forochel jammies.
- The Oleif twins have resolved their dual identity crisis by having their leatherworking member take on a new name, “Fielo.” Now when one gets in trouble, the other feels pain! (points for spotting the reference) (extra points for a youtube sample)
- In the interest of peace and mammoth-hood, all mammoths will cast aside their anti-social ways and unite under a banner of fur and friendship. The Straight Dope: Mammoths will now respond to calls for help from fellow mammoths.
(I’m a little worried about the mammoths, by the way.)
Book 14 has much to offer aside from giggleworthy release notes. Loot has been upgraded, crafting experience and costs have been adjusted, and various scroll drops have been increased. There’s just generally a bunch of new goodies: epic quests, instance zones, animations, dyes, crafting recipes, music, deeds, and outfits.
While the majority of the game’s subscribers seem to appreciate the plethora of new content (almost all of it player-requested!), the very vocal minority has predictably started screeching about the changes being forced upon them. What are they complaining about?
- An instance that puts the gamer in the position of Laerdan, an elf: “For the first, and last, time I played a elf today, and if further instances require me to do so, that will be the end of my involvement in the Epic Storyline.”
- New visual sparklies: “I hate, HaTe, HATE the new glowy circle that appears around you now when eating food? What a waste of Dev’s time for a visual effect that nobody could ever really care about.”
- No new zone included: “Can this really be classed as a free Content update ? Evendim was & Forochel was both added a new zone , But I see no new zone added this time ? Maybe I am lost and cant find it lol.”
- The serverwide Ring Lore event: “This tactic makes you guys look like you took the easy way out on stoping/ or slowing the completion of your new content rather than coming up with puzzles, and something grand you crapped out on us! Im sure many aggree! And if you dont i dont care i seen this **** in several other MMO’s and its not popular and un wanted!”
If you could see me right now, you’d see me rolling my eyes. The whinging is so ridiculous that Bogo the Hobbit started the The Unofficially Official Thread to Complain About the Officially Unofficial Bk 14! on the Turbine Forums, which just radiates dry humor. Players like those quoted above will probably take it seriously, though.
I found a couple of WordPress themes that I really like, so don’t be surprised if you see the maintenance splash screen intermittently over the next few days.
I’d finish tweaking them tonight, only I think I’m coming down with a cold. So I’m going to sleep early.
