#boycott netease

[corviscor]

Time Raiders Cosplayer Plagiarized by IDV

The screenshots with English text are machine translated by my pc.

For those who don't keep track of Rednote and Weibo, though it's now gaining traction on NAEU Twitter thanks to implumon_UwU, a cosplayer who goes by the username 一条北方的咸鱼王 on Rednote spoke out on his outfit for the Time Raiders character Fatty Wang being plagiarized by the upcoming crossover.

The belief it was touched up or filtered using some form of Gen AI rather than plagiarism alone is due to the lack of zipper on the opposite side of the jacket and uneven number of shoelace holes on the boots. Due to the likelihood an actual artist worked on it on some form (and possibly plagiarized), I will leave it as a possible Gen AI touchup. It is undoubtably plagiarism.

Currently, demands for justice for 一条北方的咸鱼王 are exploding on Rednote, and are slowly gaining traction in Weibo, due to the stricter nature of IDV Weibo's community. It has also gained support from Asia and NAEU boycotters on Twitter. Due to all three communities participating and the potential legal matter, it may be responded to soon, but Joker Studios nor NetEase have made a comment as of this post.

I decided to make this post separate from my record regarding Gen AI usage in IDV materials due to the direct plagiarism circumstances. Right now, this means I suspect two images from the livestream were touched up with Gen AI, which is an improvement from the last few streams.

While this is a step backward due to a major plagiarism controversy having been more akin to IDV's early years (the Yidhra controversy for example), and now the possibility of Gen AI touch-up souring it, the passionate rallying of the there communities towards the affected cosplayer brings hope there will be a response. Combined with legal rulings making it more difficult to terminate employees solely for Gen AI in China, the soft thank you and apology of the most recent livestream, the exhibited blowback towards suspected plagiarism or Gen AI such as here and Ivory Tower in April, and I will not be surprised if NE gives up soon.

So don't give up hope. Remember these boycotts take months and progress isn't as simple as getting a statement.

[corviscor]

For a quick notice: Starting the 12th I'm going to be very busy until the start of July. Given IDV's lack of birthdays in June, it won't be much of a concern to this blog.

I will be lower activity, though. I'll probably document Valentina's birthday and Cryptic Notes later this month, since everyone on the test server has only been delivered the first part and nothing's been particularly revelatory, in spite my delivery service's screenshot aid. Main archiving concern there is the Bringer of Doom snippets per level. I might queue the impromptus for some previous bdays like Charles and Alva or small reactions. The Detective/Charm analysis will not be finished this month.

So some quick-fire thoughts before I dim the lights.

The Plagiarism: I'll be updating if more info comes out, but as I last checked there has been silence on Weibo and Rednote from Joker Studios or Netease's side. There may have been deleting of comments but I am uncertain, so do not take that as truth. There have been suggestions towards the cosplayer to take legal action, so we'll see if either the studio or publisher reacts before that.

There has been no reply from tips and pitches from any gaming-related journalists, but given this has all occurred in the span of a weekend on the NAEU side, this unsurprising. I will also explore whether or not Chinese news sources have discussed the controversy and will also consider approaching some gacha game-related news sources, since IDV has enough gacha elements they may consider it a subject that can be discussed. I will update if there is any change.

This could go in a couple different directions, depending on how it plays out. Given the undeniable plagiarism seen through the bracelet, I will be curious to see how it plays out. There may be a conflict of different copyright laws if the cosplayer goes to court. But given that relies on the cosplayer going to court, which NetEase will likely try to avoid, I can only speculate. It may accelerate NE abandoning Gen AI for IDV either way. The hassle is not worth the effort.

Unmasked Miss Nightingale: Wow and I thought Hydemare's modeling was bad. From glancing at it, I thought it was a fan-model given how haphazard it is. It's not a good sign it's real.

I hope upcoming models are better. Otherwise, after Queen Bee, I have opinions regarding the art direction of IDV's female characters. One that previously existed but is strengthened.

I will say from a writer's perspective I'm disappointed. It's superfluous given the existence of a certain ID swap and what Miss Nightingale has previously been. I do not think it fits the unmasked character.

I have a mixed stance on how IDV writes its women. This only sours it. But, it is what it is.

I'm curious whether there's different Miss Nightingales or what the Detective one is, whether the difference is retconned or diegetic given the mirror birds, and what this says about Orpheus' perception, due to the framing of Bringer of Doom being a novel written by him, filtered through Alice reading it. Given Nightmare's death wish, I wonder if this is setting up Nightmare's behavior in the Final Game. I'm also curious how Memory relates to it. We shall see.