## Friday, May 1, 2009

### Introducing "LOBSMAARP"

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you probably realize that not everything I write would necessarily be, shall we say, pleasing to the fine and long-suffering folks at Blizzard. I can only envision a scenario in which, each day, the manager of their marketing team looks at the latest CWS post and his heart withers a little more, the latest of many steps in its long slow progression toward utter blackness. (Not unlike my own tempestuous youth!)
Frankly, it's a wonder they haven't taken legal action already.
I am, of course, quite immune to the machinations of the judicial apparatus. (A jury of my peers? Bitch, please. I'm chaotic evil.) Nonetheless I have a certain intellectual fascination with these matters, and I like to keep an eye on just how close I am to the edge.
With that in mind, I present LOBSMAARP: "Likelihood Of Blizzard Suing Me As A Result of this Post."
LOBSMAARP may be expressed as a percentage, with 0% representing a post about the soft fluffiness of kittens and 100% representing...um...well, let's just say it would be bad.
So, for example, a post delineating the properties of various villains is pretty harmless, and would garner a LOBSMAARP of, say, 5%. Meanwhile a post in which I tell Blizzard where to stick it regarding the pronunciation of one of their own characters' names might rate a 50% or so. And of course some posts are just asking for it.
Not every post will have a LOBSMAARP rating (owing to how I'm not yet completely OCD) but you'll see it here and there. Just my little way of keeping you in the loop.
Have a good weekend, everybody!

#### 18 comments:

Anthony Clarke said...

  FIRST!
  Love it. But i thought the blizzard rep had taken legal action already? :P

  May 1, 2009 at 1:19 AM
Alkaliho said...

  Them little guys in black suits and bad hair where not free snacks from Blizzard!!! Bad big fiery iron hulking flamin titan!

  May 1, 2009 at 3:57 AM
Anonymous said...

  hrm. Never underestimate the power of attorneys, I suppose, when even a supposed destroyer-of-worlds is wary of them.

  May 1, 2009 at 4:40 AM
Sargeras said...

  @ tom: Nah, they just sent a few cease & desist letters. They're just trying to scare me, is all.
  @ Alkaliho: If they weren't supposed to be snacks then they shouldn't have been SO DELICIOUS

  May 1, 2009 at 6:03 AM
Phylumist said...

  Wait, what?
  I'm disappointed, Chaotic Evil? Everyone knows Neutral Evil is where it's at. If you ever do get round to squishing Earth on your oh-so-busy schedule (read: playing Universe of PlanetaryAnnihilationCraft and watching NASCAR) my screams will only be in agony, not in awe or terror.
  Christ, you might as well be chitinous.

  May 1, 2009 at 7:17 AM
K said...

  Can't you just say you're ... writing fan fiction? And thus, covered under the usual disclaimers that say you don't own said character, blah blah blah, but are ... sort of ... roleplaying?
  (hides)

  May 1, 2009 at 7:47 AM
Anonymous said...

  /beatdown ?

  May 1, 2009 at 8:29 AM
Sargeras said...

  @ K: Well, the LOBSMAARP thing is a joke, of course...in actuality I've done a fair amount of research into the legality of all this and I'm not very worried. Parody is pretty definitely allowed under copyright law. See Fair Use for more information.
  "Fan fiction," by the way, is not protected by law; it is allowed only when the owners of the intellectual property tolerate it (which is most of the time). A disclaimer that you don't own the characters does not protect you any more than announcing "It's cool, I'm just robbing the place" before stealing money from a cash register.

  May 1, 2009 at 8:41 AM
Eyra said...

  Well Sargeras...the only thing I can imagine them trying to take legal action against is your store. While I'm not 100% sure if they can, the idea of selling ideas they have copywritten seems like they'd get mad (based on them not allowing addon makers to charge or ask for donations).
  However, that might be a long shot, and I may be overthinking. Especially if you've done all the research
  <3

  May 1, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Red said...

  "A disclaimer that you don't own the characters does not protect you any more than announcing "It's cool, I'm just robbing the place" before stealing money from a cash register."
  /QFT
  This is my new forum sigline AND my new quote for beating really bad fanfic writers about the head. Thank you, oh towering fiery caffeinated lord!

  May 1, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Eyra said...

  Yeah Red..I totally put that in my favourite quote list too =)

  May 1, 2009 at 12:16 PM
Anonymous said...

  I'm quite sure that being a hulking flaming dark titan, you're not covered under our copyright laws. As we'd be hard pressed to actually carry our any fines imposed on you.
  Brian on the other hand... poor him...

  May 1, 2009 at 12:33 PM
Sargeras said...

  @ Eyra: I agree that selling merchandise with their copyrighted material, if it is not clearly a parody, is a bad idea. I think Spider Pride and Wyrms Before Worms are safe because Blizzard has no claim to copyright on those terms. The "Sargeras" one might be borderline, and if they sent me a C&D letter about that I would remove it from the store.

  May 1, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Alozare :D said...

  i better not be held liable because ive sent you mail, and posted comments, and that one time that we... well, thats best kept for private... but still.

  May 1, 2009 at 5:39 PM
A zombie with knives said...

  "Bitch, please. I'm chaotic evil."
  Make that a t shirt NOW
  - a zombie with knives

  May 2, 2009 at 1:31 PM
Anonymous said...

  Chaotic Evil?
  I was thinking more along the lines of Lawful Evil. You know, the whole planning, strategizing, etc.
  Meh, just nice to see the old alignments used =D

  May 2, 2009 at 11:11 PM
Anonymous said...

  "LOBSMAARP" makes me think of "MMMBop"

  May 3, 2009 at 3:32 AM
K said...

  @Sargeras: Oh damn, you mean I shouldn't be going around robbing places?
  *sigh*
  All these laws. So tough to follow. Am I still allowed to maim people for fun and profit? Please say yes. :(

  May 4, 2009 at 8:19 AM

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