They have a solid case. While the Hulk and things like it are up in the air, the Wolverine type claws are a lock.

Yeah, because we all know that there are no other claw-like weapons in comics or the real world. And, of course, if you make a Claws Scrapper then you have absolutely no choice but to make it look like Wolverine.

Please.

Not that CoH would be real competition for it anyway.

And you've yet to explain why you've got such a burr up your ass over CoH. Despite the fact that it's proven very popular, that it had nearly no launch issues (unlike any other MMORPG to date), and that it's given away a considerable amount of additional content for absolutely no addition fee (which you keep asking for -- validly).

The claws in claws in CoH don't retract like wolverines. (Do they?)

Yep.

When you're running around, you're claws retract. When you attack, you first go into a cool pose and the blades come out. The pose actually looks like a common scene in the X-Men cartoon.

Making Wolverine is easy. A character with claws and regeneration is actually a somewhat popular character. They even have the "beard" that he had in the comics as a facial option.

But the Hulk is just a laugh.
- Huge body ... check
- Green ... check
- Black hair ... check





"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you."
-Fry, Futurmama
This comment was edited on Nov 12, 14:22.

Wolverine type claws? Wolverine is a very well known character but that doesn't mean that anything with 3 claws on their hands in a wolverine copy. If I want to make a character with 3 claws on his hands that shouldn't infringe on their copyright. The claws in claws in CoH don't retract like wolverines. (Do they?)

See Knuckles in "Sonic and Knuckles"...

http://www.placeboworld.co.uk

While the Hulk and things like it are up in the air, the Wolverine type claws are a lock.

Wolverine type claws? Wolverine is a very well known character but that doesn't mean that anything with 3 claws on their hands in a wolverine copy. If I want to make a character with 3 claws on his hands that shouldn't infringe on their copyright. The claws in claws in CoH don't retract like wolverines. (Do they?)

Hey, stop knocking lawyers! Parasites have to make a living too, you know.

This comment was edited on Nov 12, 13:55.

CoH is one of the top rated and most played MMORPG's right now. Marvel is just pissed that they didn't think of it first and that their MMORPG probably won't be as good.

But yea this case is weak. Beyond the claws which are identical to W's, they really have no case IMHO. It's just some trial lawyers trying to get rich off of Cryptics expense.

So, tell me, what constitues ripping off say, Iron Man, who's had multiple numbers of look and feels over his history. Would a gray armored hero be a rip off? What if I called him Ferro Lad? Seems to me that DC and Marvel rip each other off (either intentionally or coincidentally) all the time.

I'm surprised Marvel didn't try and sue Pixar over The Incredibles.

Elastigirl = Reed Richards

Frozone = Iceman

Invisible Girl = Sue Richards (I believe? Didn't read much FF.)

Gaserbeam = Cyclops





http://www.placeboworld.co.uk

They have a solid case. While the Hulk and things like it are up in the air, the Wolverine type claws are a lock.

I guess this means that Marvel's MMORPG is progressing well and they want to rid themselves of the competition. Not that CoH would be real competition for it anyway.


"Now, my Woody Allen impression: I'm a neurotic nerd who likes to sleep with little girls."
- Rainer Wolfcastle

They may as well go after Freedom Force as well because the main character in that game is a hell of a lot like Captain America.

"For Justice!!"

ZigZang

They did. Or at least they went after the mod community by having all the Marvel characters removed. Fortunately, I had my The Thing mod before then Clobberin' Time.

So, tell me, what constitues ripping off say, Iron Man, who's had multiple numbers of look and feels over his history. Would a gray armored hero be a rip off? What if I called him Ferro Lad? Seems to me that DC and Marvel rip each other off (either intentionally or coincidentally) all the time.

And what about the reverse: I happen to have a character named Galatea (on both EQ and CoH, anong others) that predates the Cartoon Network's JLU Supergirl clone named Galatea. What if DC decides to put their Galatea in a costume similar to my character's?

And with superheroes changing look, powers, race, etc rather regularly, how am I to know that Marvel won't change Wolverine into an Asian girl? Does that mean my Asian girl hero with claws named "The China Wolf" would be at risk?

And what about Marvel's own MMORPG they are planning? After it launches, will DC sue Marvel for the exact same things Marvel is suing NCSoft over?

My mind boggles. I think the game runners have done a lot of legwork in getting rid of the clones as much as they can. But I knew this was coming.

They may as well go after Freedom Force as well because the main character in that game is a hell of a lot like Captain America.

"For Justice!!"

like 7 people said "maybe you should sue paper and pencil companies too."

You guys ever read these things before you post?

------
“The closer you get to being a pro, the closer you can get to the client. The knife, for example, is the last thing you learn. Ok?"

When I played I sent reports to the CSRs regarding such players and they were never dealt with

They have supposedly gotten better about it, though it might take more than 1 person to report it.

On the CoH forums, there are a lot of people annoyed about getting their character name reset. I remember one saying he had the word "Hulk" in his name, but he was a short leather-jacket wearing, gun wielding blaster. Someone reported him, and he got his name reset.

The problem is, the SHEER number of people out there that keep creating unoriginal characters. There are always so many out there, and the number keeps growing, that it's impossible to keep track of them all.

I think they're doing as well of a job as they can. Before the game came out, they blacklisted the names of comic heroes and some alternates to make sure that names like "Spider-Man" or "Superman" weren't used. Unfortunately, that makes it hard to stop "Superman G" or "Sypder Man".




"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you."
-Fry, Futurmama

...game's character creation engine easily allows players to design characters that are virtual copies of its own superheros, including "The Incredible Hulk"

You've got to be kidding? You're mad because they made a program that makes virtual superheroes? Grow up. And exactly how does that infringe on your copyright? Mabye you should go after the pencil and paper industry too, they give people the tools to easily draw your precious heroes.

If they have a case vs anyone it's the individual users who are copying their precious characters. But I can't see how that infringes on their copyright...

I don't understand why CoH doesn't take more aggressive actions against people who are obviously making clones of characters. Parody is one thing but Wulverine that looks exactly like the real thing (or as close an approximation as you can get in CoH) really ought to go. When I played I sent reports to the CSRs regarding such players and they were never dealt with. They were always there, day after day like they were some sort of original character.

in addition, one of the chestpiece options is a ring-like device that looks a LOT like Iron Man's uni-beam chest weapon.

also, the claws power pool is pretty indistinguishable from wolverine's claws.

so in retrospect, I don't think the lawsuit is completely without merit.

to be fair though, I play COH and I do see marvel characters abused quite a bit.

a few months back, I encountered a character named "The Effeminate Hulk" and it was a perfect likeness of the Hulk, with the exception of a large pink tank top with a heart on it.

but yeah, why not sue the player, not the company. surely other MMOs with lots of avatar customization options have had players that have done the same thing,

as if copying someone elses work is a new thing.

They already went after people who were making Marvel skins for Freedom Force.

Just wait for the lawsuit against underpants that can be worn on the outside.

IIRC, this isn't the first time Marvel has done this. They might was well sue 3DSMax makers since people can make Hulk and Wolverine characters there as well. Hell might as well sue the paper and pencil companies since people can draw their own Hulk and Wolverine comics, too.

They asked Polycount last year I believe to remove all Marvel Comic based models from the site.

So now they are just going after actual games. They may as well go after Freedom Force as well because the main character in that game is a hell of a lot like Captain America.