[S] Cosplay Question - We Want Your Thoughts!

[Roarie Desu]

ATh e a r t

Roarie Desu

Even if I block said person and tell everyone they are mean, that seed of doubt is still planted. I will probably play that character less and might even stop playing them all together.

Tell me if I'm wrong, but isn't Soq suppose to be about creativity and relationships? Hate and bitterness is definitely the opposite of those things. Relaxing the restrictions would solve all of that. Instead of 'My cosplay! Mine' it would be 'My character, mine!'. It seems like a small difference, but it's not.

Off topic, but if a person really is doing that, that would be something that should be reported to management. Because people will do that either way, but it doesn't mean the shop itself holds those standards.

People are the bane of hatred, not the shop ;3

On a related note, what about opening up customs to one M/F + Full Sized/Mini of cosplays? I honestly think that's awesome, but then again, that could be just me XD;

(I'm still very for the ask the original owner first though).

Happened to me before Heart. Repeatedly. Not here, but it has happened. Good to know that the staff would deal with it. I've never felt it an issue staff would handle if I asked.  

[AislingJuno]

Personally I feel that if a cosplay is already taken that the original owner should be asked if a new alt version can be created. Some of the really old cosplays might have inactive owners but I don't think an alt version should be made if their inactive and cannot be reached to give their permission. The only cosplays that i could see not having to be asked are Pokemon or something similar. Where a cosplay is based on the breed not on one specific character. ex person A customs a Squirtle. Person B could later custom a different Squirtle since throughout the series their is more than one Squirtle it's a particular breed of Pokemon not a specific character. Unlike if a person was going to custom Dr. Who. Their are different versions of the Dr. but in the end they are the same character. In this case I think the person you currently has the cosplay should be pm to ask if the could have permission to quest in alt version.  

[Nyhility]

I apologize in advance if any of my opinions/statements sound harsh, since that is not my intention at all.

I am on the fence with this option, simply for the fact that this shop has such a huge RP community. And for me, a cosplay entails more than just the design and/or clothing of that character. If physical appeal was the only reason to pursue a cosplay, then colorists would have no problem tinkering with various designs as inspiration of the original. This method would easily avoid the mess of being declared a cosplay, since the inspiration could take on a whole new personality, and more importantly, a new name.

However, there are the individuals that hope to own a cosplay because they are enamored with that specific character. There is an odd joy to thinking 'Yes! I managed to get a B/C of this cosplay and I have a chance to rp as him/her/it'. Sure it can be said that owners will portray the same character in different ways, and I do believe that to be true. Variations are to be expected, but let's face it....I wouldn't get a Spongebob cosplay and flippantly rp him as a poetic goth. I imagine owners would try to stick true to the original cosplay's mindset and personality type, even with the necessary adaptations to fit in the Soquili universe.

It was mentioned how cosplays here could be related to cosplays at RL conventions. I feel many duplicates and variations of the same character could easily be accepted there, because it is in essence an 'act'. A momentary dress up of a character, in which other people could easily avoid or walk around that person. That would be easy enough if all the Soquili here were nothing more than sig candy. But when we have a community that involves herd interactions, and characters that can breed...I don't know how that will work out. As much as you might avoid a duplicate cosplay, how can you say the same for any offspring interactions. And for that matter, would duplicate cosplays count as twins? Would those bloodlines be restricted from crossing, because in some pseudo sense those duplicates still represent the same entity source?

It's just a lot to consider.
I'm not saying no, but I'm not saying yes either because I fear an influx of 20+ Narutos running around. x'D  

[Nayci]

The major issue I have with anyone asking permission to get a cosplay is the fact that people can be all: "oh, I don't like this person, so the answer is definitely no." Or something along those lines. Not only is that ridiculous but also very juvenile. Quite frankly, many of us here are young adults and It should act like it. That said, it should either be all or nothing. Not this whole: "oh I have to ask permission for this." It's a cosplay, not a breeding or mockbreeding, or asking permission to reference for a different custom. Having that in place could breed favoritism by the original person who got the cosplay, create more irritation, and generally more unneeded stress/upset feelings among shop goers.

Also along those lines, I'm tired of having to hide my cosplay forms in customs. It's paranoia at it's best because I don't want someone to take the idea simply because I told them no to something else and they just want to get back at me for it.  

[stella cinere]

DISCLAIMER: This is just my opinion not staff opinion also this is about cosplays not people who own cosplays (I am not on a witch hunt or anything I even own cosplays) but just the thought of cosplays and the idea of disbanding the rule of just one.

I thought about it all day and while at work and I think I am going to vote yes on this.

I know a lot of people are on the fence and there is worry and etc, and I own cosplays myself and I have also lost chances in getting cosplays I would have loved to have gotten. In all honesty tho I love shops that don’t have cosplays in general, they just don’t allow it. Its not stopping anyone from getting something themed like your favorite game or character, for example you might like Assassin’s Creed you can make a character that has the hood and hidden blade and tada you have something you wanted without it being that character. Imagination. Amazing. Besides cosplays aren’t your characters to start with, they were created by someone else, created in someone else’s mind/imagination/dreams w/e and then made into games, books movies, its some character you may like, design or personality wise but its not yours and not your own original idea. It makes little sense to say that so and so bought the rights to this character on pony lines when they were never your original idea to start with.

Don’t get me wrong yea I know the feeling the thought of “Oh what happens if this passes and someone gets Toothless.” Honestly it would feel weird, weird that there is someone with the same name but at this point there are some soquilis that do have the same name already as some of my soquili and as much as it weird to hear someone with the same name I do in person it happens w/e. But do I really care if someone gets a nightfury with the same lucky go attitude? No. I really don’t care and there is no reason I should be selfish about it or feel like I should have the rights to some sort of character I didn’t even create (and I don’t mean create as in the thought of well I thought of how to make that cosplay, ie markings vs pants w/e but the breed, personality, and so forth). There are cosplays that exist now that do things that their character in the books/movies/etc. would never do or isn’t like their personality to start with, some ship some fantasy that someone has of them, etc. etc. etc. Whatever it what they wanted about that character, its their interpretation and their fandom but IMO its unfair to say you own the rights over that character on pony lines when you really didn’t make it up yourself (its almost like saying you own the rights of the characters from a movie/book/etc. that you wrote in a fanfic and no one else can use them but that’s not true anyone can use those characters, put it any au, make them date whoever, and etc).

What does suck is seeing people fight over cosplays and people hiding forms, hoarding, and so on and feeling that they have to have some special snowflake and be like HEY GUESS WHAT ITS ALL MINE LOSERS (ok not everyone thinks that way but you catch my drift). Honestly IDK how much this will change either, I know we just allowed JR to do customs as well but with the amount of people in the community how often will two or more cosplays exist? Honestly I would much rather not worry about people snatching up the cosplay I want, and if they did I can still get my own of it/whatever version/whatever fantasy I have/whatever realm of fun I want to put them in.  

[Pollack]

Honestly I am all for this idea. I can't tell you the amount of drama I've seen caused by cosplay. People winning cosplays and then told it's already taken, one person getting lucky before another person who has been questing longer for the same cosplay, someone who doesn't roleplay winning a cosplay, someone saying that the owner of a cosplay isn't roleplaying the character in question correctly to them, cosplays that are in limbo due to owners leaving...

You see where I'm getting at?

Sadly I think this shop is far too large to have this strict of a cosplay system. I don't even know how it works in SOA, but I'm also have not looked into much how they handle it there and what goes on behind the scenes. It's just a cause of a huge unnecessary headache at this point.

I know I personally am terrified to get a cosplay because of the reasons I listed above. I really don't even want to try and have someone either be angry that I won it over them or be angry that I'm not roleplaying them enough or hell even roleplaying them wrong. I know others who feel the same way as me also. And if people are at the point where they are scared to even try. Hell people who are going for cosplays are scared to show their forms incase someone "steals" their idea. Something clearly flawed with the system in place glad to see it's being addressed. I personally am really sick of this whole mentally of, "AHAHA I WON FIRST! MINE NOW! NO COSPLAY FOR YOU." It just seems...childish? Aren't we adults here?

Another point that others agree or disagree with are bringing up that I agree with is that no one person is going to roleplay that one character the same, even if they take inspiration from their personality/backstory from it's main source. Everyone has a different way of roleplaying and writing or perhaps just have different feelings or think that the character in question simply has a different mindset. I've seen it in a lot of places (Lookin at you tumblr) that host a slew of people roleplaying the same character and it works just fine. Some refuse to roleplay with others, some welcome it!

Also I can recall a event a couple years back regarding at the time a really hot and popular character being customed in, however the person who did win him cosplayed the character in question in a more joking manner. It really made people upset since now even though the character wasn't being roleplayed in a serious manner they could no longer try for the same character to cosplay.

All of these issues would be taken care of with a simple change of the rules. So yes, I am 100% behind this idea. And a big thank you to the staff for at least bringing up and asking us what we thought of a rule change.

 

[Malomy]

You know I just thought of something while reading Kitsune's post... Since the cosplay list is so woefully out of date, and is at the point where it would take multiple staffers days just to go through all the things they'd need to look at so that it would be up to date, it'd probably be far less of a hassle just to get rid of the rule altogether, just so we don't need the list. I think that we can all agree that if we are to have the restriction, that list is something that is needed.

Also, another thing... with this restriction in place and the list being out of date, what would happen if something did fall through the cracks? Like say someone won a slot for Kagura from Inuyasha today, and it got all the way finished... Only to find that someone else had gotten the cosplay years ago, and no one knew until the current one was already made, certed, and given to the customer who paid for her. What would happen then? That would be a hassle no matter how you look at it.  

[Lady Argentum Draconis]

I've really thought about this since this morning, and I can't support this at all in any way.

Yes in some cases it would be good for people to be able to get cosplays that have been lost to the ages due to inactivity or what have you, but by opening the pandora's box of allowing basically everyone to get the same character, you're taking away the thrill of owning a cosplay and being able to say "Yes, I own that character!"

There is the fact that different people will play the character differently than anyone else, but in the end, and maybe I'm just weird, I have no interest in what two versions of the same person would interact like when RP'd by two different people.

I know there's the whole fact that it SUCKS when people steal cosplays from each other, or won't give permission for an alt version of a character due to whatever, and I've had this happen a number of times or seen it happen to other people and was I annoyed, upset, and hurt? Yeah, but I got over it and moved on.

Honestly if I see there's already a cosplay of something I wanted or someone gets it, I'm just gonna drop it and find something else to quest. Everyone no matter who, deserves to have the thrill of owning something that is supposed to be one of a kind. Do I have to like the way they designed them? RP? Obtained them? No of course not, but it's not worth dwelling on endlessly.

No shop is ever to big to have rules about this sort of thing. Honestly I feel that if this rule gets repealed, then what's to say that the one about RL people shouldn't get repealed too? People cosplay famous individuals from time to time, so what's the difference? Why shouldn't there be 20 Johnny Depp Soq running around to go with all the Jack Sparrows?

EDIT: Also in regard to people having the hassle of having to update an severely outdated cosplay list, in the shop I work for, we make people claim their cosplays. You get it, you have to post it. Does a staffer still have to go through and update? Yes, but least they only have to wade through one thread for that very specific purpose. I understand that with the list being so out of date, missing owners, etc, you're still going to be spending ages in the PB looking for things, but A knows that B owned character X, then hey that's one less pony you have to find.

Same with our God/dess domains. Domains have to be claimed to prevent overlap, repeats.

Like all projects it would involve some work to start with, but once implimented it would be easy to maintain a list like that here where you don't have to rely solely on staff to find things.  

[Wasteland Wyvern]

I'm for this 100%. After reading through each post in the current 5 pages and seeing what everyone else thought I still want this change.

Yes I have cosplay ideas in the works that I would feel a little weird about if someone got it first or got it after me, but I wouldn't avoid the person who has another form of my cosplay. To me that just seems childish.

Maybe that is just me, considering I am rather laid back and never really mind such things. My major reason for avoiding cosplays in this shop is because I am deadly afraid someone will see which one I want and steal it away before I have a chance at it at all!

I've very recently had this happen and I actually contemplated quitting gaia over it. I was admittedly over dramatic about it at the time but I did feel like gaia was pointless after it happened. The way it happened for me was the cosplay I wanted badly was bought with SC and given to someone. So yeah that hurt but after some time I got over it and tried to move on. Its been a nightmare for me to continue and it has basically scared me away from ever trying for a cosplay until this suggestion thread. If this comes to be I might actually try for a cosplay from time to time instead of avoiding them completely.  

[Ryuukishin]

Whenever I start a new book, show, game, or anything, one of my absolute favorite aspects is being able to meet other fans. I try to share it with others – my friends, family, even strangers, just to be able to talk to someone and gush about it, and I sincerely hope that they will come to enjoy it as much as I do. When it comes to cosplays, I don’t want to find that people who like the same character I do are suddenly considered “competition.” I would like for us all to be able to strive for the character that we all enjoy without fostering bitter feelings in the process.

As it is right now, I’m seeing certain parallels with how the gaming community is like. Many hardcore gamers that happen to be guys suddenly seem reluctant to share that love when it comes to the female population. They honestly love the game and want to support it, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re seriously making it harder for everyone to enjoy.

To clarify, I’m not saying that people are being selfish/forming cliques/etc. – I know that the one-cosplay rule is standard in pretty much all shops that allow cosplays, that it’s an accepted norm, and that it can feel like people are losing out when they worked hard to get something that was restricted and that restriction is suddenly lifted. In one of my MMORPGs, I spent millions on a retired item, only to have that item (same aesthetics, better stats, different name) released for a very low price only a week after – and this has happened numerous times, in many places. I can definitely empathize with the frustrations of sweating blood for something you want, only to have that same thing be accessible to so many others for a lot less work. But if I had a choice between keeping a cosplay (or any other thing I liked) 100% unique or allowing others to experience the same joy that I do in owning that cosplay, then I would go for the latter.

There are so many white tiger characters in existence, but that doesn’t make any one of them any less unique and special (at the very least, I have never heard of anyone complain that they thought a tiger/leopard/jaguar/etc. was so common that they were uninterested in them. On the contrary, they seem to retain their popularity, and if I was a fan of a certain character, I personally would love to see everyone’s interpretations of it and interact with them if I could. It is such a joy for me to go on tumblr and read everyone's theories and headcanons, and I would love it even more if they were characters I could follow in the B/C environment). I realize cosplays have more similarities due to most owners preferring to use the same starting point when it comes to personality and backstory, but as many others have already mentioned, people have their own interpretations and styles of roleplay that I doubt any two characters will be exactly the same.

People would be able to choose the aspects of a character they like, and change the ones that don’t. They don’t have to feel pressured to stick to the character’s canon personality and backstory, because if other people are unhappy with it, they can simply get their own or find another owner with the same cosplay that’s being played more to their liking. If there are multiple cosplays being played very close to the source material, then it could be an interesting plot to have them meet, and see what they make of each other – or not; whatever the owner prefers. In short, I see this potential change as beneficial in the long run, and very freeing. My vote on the matter is a definite yes.  

[Kaitaia]

AislingJuno

Unlike if a person was going to custom Dr. Who. Their are different versions of the Dr. but in the end they are the same character.

I just need to point out here that while technically yes, all 12 regenerations of the Doctor are the same physical being, all 12 regenerations have wildly different personalities and react very differently to situations. The Ninth Doctor is not the Tenth or Eleventh Doctors. Someone portraying one regeneration isn't going to have even remotely the same interpretation as someone playing a different regeneration. When the Doctor regenerates, it is basically the current incarnation dying and a new one being born. That's why the Tenth Doctor is so upset when he realizes he'll be regenerating. I think it's entirely feasible to have a version of all 12 regenerations, even with the current cosplay rules.  

[Revel1984]

Just a little something i was thinking about last night while trying to get to sleep

IF the rule is changed ... obviously you can't have carbon copies of a cosplay.. so, once you get, two, three or four (and more) versions of a said cosplay, the more you get of a cosplay, the more changes are needed to avoid it being 'the same' as someone else's Cosplay ... so then where does Cosplay end and OC begin in this case. I know it's probably not going to be an issue for a LONG time but when you've got multiple versions, and you're having to make sure the design isn't the same as someone else's ... eventually said cosplay is surely going to end up becoming more of an OC than an actual cosplay of said character?  

[Kaitaia]

Revel1984

Just a little something i was thinking about last night while trying to get to sleep

IF the rule is changed ... obviously you can't have carbon copies of a cosplay.. so, once you get, two, three or four (and more) versions of a said cosplay, the more you get of a cosplay, the more changes are needed to avoid it being 'the same' as someone else's Cosplay ... so then where does Cosplay end and OC begin in this case. I know it's probably not going to be an issue for a LONG time but when you've got multiple versions, and you're having to make sure the design isn't the same as someone else's ... eventually said cosplay is surely going to end up becoming more of an OC than an actual cosplay of said character?

I see where you're coming from. What I've noticed though is that most people interpret a character's designs differently. I wanted Margaery Tyrell, but someone else got her before I did. She came out very lovely, but it's not even remotely how I would have gotten her. Same thing with Robb Stark, there are different things I would've asked for as opposed to what the owner asked for. I guess eventually it would be hard to come up with something different, but I think as long as the design is still true to the character, it'd be fine? That's just my opinion though, of course.  

[Revel1984]

Kaitaia

I see where you're coming from. What I've noticed though is that most people interpret a character's designs differently. I wanted Margaery Tyrell, but someone else got her before I did. She came out very lovely, but it's not even remotely how I would have gotten her. Same thing with Robb Stark, there are different things I would've asked for as opposed to what the owner asked for. I guess eventually it would be hard to come up with something different, but I think as long as the design is still true to the character, it'd be fine? That's just my opinion though, of course.

*nods* it was more a random thought/query really, once you've got a few running around it's going to be hard to keep them as a cosplay while keeping it different from the other cosplays around ... depending on the character of course.

For example, a character that has several different outfits, those could be done easily, but once you've got those versions in circulation, it's going to be hard to get further versions of said cosplay without possibly infringing on someone else's design ... if i'm making sense? Then you would be looking at changing it too much and creating an OC instead of a cosplay.