(no subject)
Player A was in a canon game and had a handful of canon characters. She added an OC to her lineup, which was just fine and shiny, and shortly the OC became more important to the game's plot than most of her canons. (Also fine and shiny. Needs of the plot and all that.)
Then Player A left, for perfectly legit reasons. We wished her fair-thee-well and her characters were taken up by those of us that were left, so that we could continue the line. All her characters. Including the uber-important OC, without whom the line would have collapsed.
She came back 'just to look' at one point and threw a fit. We got to watch her conversation with the mod, which went something like this:
A: Why did you give away [OC]?
Mod: Because we needed someone to take him.
A: But it's my character!
Mod: ...But you were gone and we needed him for the line.
A: That's plagiarism!
Mod: ...But Player B isn't claiming that [OC] is her character. We all know you made him. She just took him up after you left.
A: You're stealing my character!
Mod: ...I guess so. We're also stealing all the canon characters we're playing, if you're going to define it like that.
A: You can't do that!
Mod: ...? But...we need him for the line?
(continue ad infinity, because neither of them wanted to do more than repeat their arguments, but that's a different rant)
So what do you think, BRPS? Is it 'stealing' only when you claim credit for the creation or when you use a character at all? Is there any difference between playing a canon character and playing a character from something unpublished (like what we did)? If there is, why is one okay and the other so wrong?
Then Player A left, for perfectly legit reasons. We wished her fair-thee-well and her characters were taken up by those of us that were left, so that we could continue the line. All her characters. Including the uber-important OC, without whom the line would have collapsed.
She came back 'just to look' at one point and threw a fit. We got to watch her conversation with the mod, which went something like this:
A: Why did you give away [OC]?
Mod: Because we needed someone to take him.
A: But it's my character!
Mod: ...But you were gone and we needed him for the line.
A: That's plagiarism!
Mod: ...But Player B isn't claiming that [OC] is her character. We all know you made him. She just took him up after you left.
A: You're stealing my character!
Mod: ...I guess so. We're also stealing all the canon characters we're playing, if you're going to define it like that.
A: You can't do that!
Mod: ...? But...we need him for the line?
(continue ad infinity, because neither of them wanted to do more than repeat their arguments, but that's a different rant)
So what do you think, BRPS? Is it 'stealing' only when you claim credit for the creation or when you use a character at all? Is there any difference between playing a canon character and playing a character from something unpublished (like what we did)? If there is, why is one okay and the other so wrong?