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« on: March 07, 2015, 02:52:35 am »
Depends. Having the exact name and design is edging over the "not actually stealing" line. It's hard for it to be a coincidence if both characters have the same name and design. Especially if this character is complex. Even then the name can kinda break it.
For example, I have a character named Thirty-Six. He is an Artificial Intelligence, but resides in a robotic body like Ultron. While I am vague on the fact he is an AI in his bio, someone did create a "Thirty Six Robot". In those exact words. It's not very common that I see people writing numbers out anymore so I knew something was up. Robot kinda gave it away, too. While I have not seen them since, I think they created a "troll character," or made him "because they thought it was cool." I dunno, that just seemed a bit too much to be coincidence. It could have been coincidence, but...ehhhh. Not really buying it. I mean, I probably was a marshmallow to them so that explains with they had the character white, but eh.
It's worse if the characters have similar bios (though Thirty's backstory is not in his bio because it won't ever fit, so he's safe for that), which means the person took the time to be just like you.
But, when people go nuts because another character has the same name as theirs? Bogus. Or those all pitch black wolves fighting because their characters look the same. Also, bogus. The line is fine, but it is there. Unless you get permit to make a clone for a reason (multi-headed animal, random clone party, etc.) then you shouldn't create copies of other peoples characters. It's rude, and people don't generally act nice about it. Most people, not excluding me, would flip and attack in all sorts of ways. Maybe even edge on harassment for the thievery. Some may even steal that persons character at a later time (taste of their own medicine), but that is a bit rude. It could be a kid who doesn't know better, or it could be an internet troll. It's hard to tell on these kinds of games.