Feral Heart

When recruiting, most people tend to make a new character within the group that holds all the information necessary for jumping aboard (their requirements, mapped/unmapped, their plot etc). There's considerably more room in the character biography; it's a really clever way of working around the limit!

For example, I use a character named OCAC GROUP INFO to introduce people to our concept and show them the ropes/rules before they dive in. Similarly, other groups have characters in their roster called "RANK INFO", "GROUP RULES" etc. for folk inside the group to refer to on-the-go.  Their biographies are always accessible to groupies no matter whether they're online or offline.



Even peeping at Stone Bridge, there's a dozen characters called 'Recruiters' holding biographies for all their group's information. If you haven't already, try that when you're next looking for members! You possibly already know, but it's the only way to work around that tiny biography limit.

I HAVEN'T CHECKED THIS THREAD IN SO LONG WHOA. THANKS FOR ALL THE KIND WORDS. Too kind, TOO KIND. ;_; To answer the questions, I only do preset requests for friends (or for contest awards in my rp group)-- and the texture I like to use is one of ToXiC's (who's since deactivated her dA). But aghfgfg thank you so much. Will quickly throw another one up here:

 

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I made another one after a small eternity. My wolf Drek (known as Drek Avanji on other sites) was the latest victim. He's in Flourite a lot-- feel free to say hi! It's a bit of a mess, but-....![/color]

I generally stick to the good ol' default. Most textures, although stunning, are fairly cluttered and tend to obscure the colours and markings a little too much for my personal tastes. I find character creation's a little more difficult when you can barely see anything beneath the fur!

Otherwise, I always use one of Toxic's textures for presets; there's one with a swooshy, flowing pelt that's so simple to edit.

I've encountered it quite a depressing number of times. It's generally easy to tell the differences between coincidences, inspiration and blatant copying; one shouldn't immediately jump to conclusions-- especially regarding common character designs and names. There's only so many ways in which you can make a 0-0-0 black wolf; it's arguably the most frequently seen design in all of FeralHeart.

If your character name's a noun, adjective or a common IRL/RP name, it's pretty much guaranteed there's been no copying. For example: Drake, Carnage, Jack, Katie, Ravage, Samson etc. I've logged in to see characters with names identical to my own many-a-time! Heck, I once saw someone running around with my deviantART handle, Skreel. For names entirely plucked from the depths of your own imagination, it's a little more muddy.

Similarly, common designs are nothing to fret about. Black pelts, white pelts, red scars, funky siamese tails-- these are all extremely common. There's even stark similarities between brown and grey characters! Of course, if the pelt/mane/eyes/nose/underbelly were all identical, there'd be a bit of accusatory squinting, but similar-ish colours happen all the time through mere coincidences. I've made friends with my coincidental twins in Bonfire; it's best to laugh it off.

Regarding inspiration, I really work to make unique-looking hyenas. Their designs, somehow, often inspire other people-- especially within tumblr's FeralHeart community; some of the hyenas posted there look disconcertingly similar to my own. While this personally makes me uncomfortable at times for reasons beyond my understanding, there's generally nothing wrong with it providing the character's clearly different. Sometimes others' characters give you a nudge to try out something new and shiny! I've definitely done it myself. However, I'd recommend asking the player you're inspired by if the similarities are worryingly close.

Otherwise, blatant copying is as obvious as daylight itself. A character runs up to yours. Stares a bit. Logs out. A few minutes later, bam, your character now has a twin. Congratulations. It happens practically every time I log on-- and I absolutely loathe it. Of course, everything needs to be taken into perspective; it's just a game, and the offending player's likely a young teen or child that loved the look of your character! However, like art theft, it's best to give them a polite message-- let them know it's wrong without insults or shame.  Stay civil, ask them to change, let them know it bothers and upsets you. Generally, most cooperate and change their characters. For those that don't, it's best just to block them-- and report if they break the rules. It's infuriating at times, but it shouldn't hamper your enjoyment of the game.

I really need to take screenshots each time it happens, but the only good example was this. My gryphon's fairly unique, her name's entirely of my own creation and the species itself is relatively rare in the land of wolves and lions. When this dropped by a few minutes later, it's very clear it's a copy:


TL;DR: In general, copying does happen-- and it sucks-- but most incidents are simple coincidences, especially when it's regarding a common design and name. If you're certain it's a copy (unique design, unique name, they changed their character after seeing yours etc.) and it bothers you to the point of upset, politely whisper them and hope for the best. Never harass, never insult-- remain respectful even if they don't co-operate. The block tool, and the option to report, is always there if things head south.

Sneakily watches people. My dA account is Skreel because I, stupidly, stole Crookfish for an alt account before the ability to change names came into play.

FOREVER KICKING MYSELF.