What are the boundaries of fandom?
On the well-known mobile game platform taptap, a game called "Hidden Fox Detective's Water Monkey Murder Incident" (hereinafter referred to as "Hidden Fox Detective") has recently been deeply involved in the storm of player criticism.
Seeing that it is a mobile game, coupled with the collapse of the reputation of the game among players, it is easy to think of whether the "Hidden Fox Detective" is not the kind of inferior mobile game that "skin-changing kryptonite" and uses gimmicks to fool players. However, this is not the case. There is no kryptonite project in "Detective Hidden Fox", and the creator uploaded it in taptap is only a free demo version. If krypton gold is not involved, then the reason for this bad review of the game is probably attributed to the gameplay. However, from the feedback of some players, the detective puzzle gameplay in the game, although not much excellent, is still above the passing line; the lower difficulty, although it will reduce the playability, but with the "visual novel" as the standard, it is also passable.
Since the "Tibetan Fox Detective" has not "committed a serious illness" in terms of fees and gameplay, then the problem can only lie in the subject matter - in fact, most of the players in the comment area oppose the point, that is, the Tibetan fox image used in the "Tibetan Fox Detective" and the stems of various water monkeys, which are suspected of infringement. The object of infringement is the "infinitesimal light" that has been on the Internet for a long time and has been jokingly called "Tibetan Fox" and "Fox Director" by netizens.
As can be seen from the Weibo homepage of "Infinite Small Brightness", he is a popular science blogger. Although there are many popular science bloggers on the Internet, the gold content of "infinitesimal brightness" is real. "Infinitesimal Liang", whose real name is Zhang Chenliang, is the planning director and deputy editor-in-chief of The Museum magazine, the director of the China National Geographic Fusion Media Center, and a nationally certified biological industry tycoon. His daily job is to make online popular science videos and compile magazines. He also certified the official account "Infinite Small bright science popularization daily" and the signature program "LiangJi Biological Identification" on the B station, which was well received by the audience and gained a large number of fans, and the praise was overwhelming.
In his popular science program, Zhang Chenliang himself showed his face not less often, and even some "excessive" sexual actions were interspersed in the video. Because Zhang Chenliang is very similar to the Tibetan fox that appeared in a program, Zhang Chenliang has the nickname of "Tibetan Fox".
Some of the "excessive" behaviors that Zhang Chenliang appeared in the video were also jokingly called "Tibetan fox beating people" by netizens. Of course, what should be stated here is that Zhang Chenliang's move is not aimed at the audience, but symbolically expresses dissatisfaction with the marketing numbers on the Internet that have carried out wrong science popularization and even rumors.
Who knows, when Zhang Chenliang and The Tibetan Fox were tied together, they actually set off a new round of meme fever on the Internet. Zhang Chenliang's various memes began to become popular on the Internet, and Zhang Chenliang also broke the circle and turned from a popular science blogger to a traffic celebrity.
These memes also quickly spread in front of Zhang Chenliang. For these memes, it is estimated that Zhang Chenliang was also "the second monk who was confused" at the beginning, and he did not know how he suddenly became angry because of this matter.
Then again, thanks to this wave of fire by Zhang Chenliang and The Hidden Fox, the science popularization workers who originally lived behind the scenes and worked silently got a chance to go out of the background. Netizens can also better understand these hard-working science workers, which is a good thing for improving the national cultural level. After Zhang Chenliang was on fire, he still maintained his original working attitude, seriously produced popular science videos, and from time to time brought the top big guys in the domestic biological industry to appear in a wave.
Source: b station @ infinitesimal light science daily
As for the connection between Zhang Chenliang and the "Water Monkey", there is more that can be said. In many issues of "Identifying Popular Creatures on the Internet", Zhang Chenliang has a fixed "water monkey" time to analyze various "water monkey" videos transmitted on the Internet. Of course, the "water monkeys" that appear in these videos are all fake without exception. With this unique insight into the "water monkey", Zhang Chenliang was also called "water monkey national special scholar" by netizens.
The reason why Zhang Chenliang is so persistent about uncovering the truth of the "water monkey" is largely due to the fact that the two sides are "old enemies". The water monkey, also known as the "water ghost", is a legendary monster that lives near the water and can harm people. This legend was very popular in the fifties and sixties, and it was a "good means" for the elders to scare children. But even now, there are still some water monkey messages on the Internet from time to time, and some people have always paid attention to whether this thing exists or not. Zhang Chenliang, who is committed to the work of science popularization, naturally inevitably falls on the bar with the water monkey.
In this constant rumor and rumor rebuttal, the water monkey, like the Tibetan fox, has become another symbol of Zhang Chenliang.
Speaking of this, the reasons why netizens think that the "Tibetan fox detective" infringed on Zhang Chenliang are also clear. Because, the Tibetan fox and water monkey elements in the game are difficult to cut with Zhang Chenliang. This is not to say that games about Tibetan foxes and water monkeys will be contaminated with such a troublesome thing as infringement, but the "Hidden Fox Detective" is too obvious, and players can see at a glance that it is rubbing Zhang Chenliang's heat.
The "Hidden Fox Detective" uses elements related to Zhang Chenliang so boldly, if it is approved by Zhang Chenliang himself, there is still room for discussion, and the players' arguments may also stop. But Zhang Chenliang did not know about this game, nor did he authorize his own image, so "Hidden Fox Detective" has undoubtedly become an infringing game of "touching porcelain".
Image source: Weibo @ Infinitesimal Liang Weibo
It is not difficult to understand that when the player learns of the infringement of the "Hidden Fox Detective", he will change the previous praise and hit the game hard.
Under pressure, the producers of "Hidden Fox Detective" also admitted that their game was not authorized by anyone involved. But he also said he made the game out of interest and love — in other words, he positioned the "Hidden Fox Detective" as a "fan game."
However, this statement was not recognized by the player. For the producer's "unprofitable" statement, players also question the existence of a large number of advertisements in the game. At present, the "Hidden Fox Detective" still exists on taptap, and there is no sign of removal.
In fact, there is a very interesting thing involved in this, that is, the positioning of the "Tibetan Fox Detective" for his own "fan game". Whether fandom is infringement or not has always been a difficult thing to define in the game circle. Whether it is infringed or not, in the final analysis, depends on the attitude of the copyright owner. Perhaps, some copyright holders will crack down to the end, and some will turn a blind eye.
Taking the "Oriental Project" series of "Three Wonders of the World" as an example, its producer Zun, the attitude towards fanworks, can be said to be quite tolerant, which also creates a situation in which the "Oriental Project" series of fanworks blooms. Animation, manga, novels, handwritten writing, music, etc., together create this "fan miracle". And the fandom game also occupies an important position in the many fan works of the "Oriental Project". There are a lot of fan games, loved by "Oriental Project" fans, and even zun is full of praise.
Contrary to the relaxed and inclusive fandom environment of "Oriental Project", Nintendo, which has the "strongest legal department" in the game industry, has no tolerance and no mercy towards fandom games. In 2015, the fan-made HD version of Super Mario 64 was removed from the shelves because of Nintendo's request; in 2016, Pokemon: Green Uranium and Project A2Mr, which were nominated for "Best Fan Game", were suspected of being removed due to pressure from Nintendo; in 2018, a game-making tool called "pokemon essentials" was forcibly removed due to Nintendo's mandatory removal, because the tool collected the music of the vast majority of the "Pokémon" series. Graphic backgrounds, maps, sprites and other materials, and imitate the traditional combat mechanics of the original Pokémon game.
Even in early 2021, Nintendo's crackdown on fandom has not diminished. Game Jolt, a well-known foreign independent game website, announced that at the request of Nintendo, 379 Nintendo IP fandoms on the website were deleted.
The copyright owner's attitude towards fandom is important, but the fandom itself also has a bottom line - restrictions on profitability and commercialization. In fandom, fandom games can be shared and cannot be sold as general knowledge. If you want to sell it as a commodity, you must have the authorization of the copyright owner, if not, it is no different from piracy. However, it is not easy to get the authorization, after all, this is the real "final interpretation right belongs to the copyright owner".
Again, in the case of the "Oriental Project" series, Zun's attitude toward fanworks is to allow one-time buyouts. At some anime exhibitions, zun himself will visit the fan works area of "Oriental Project", and "Oriental Project" also has many well-known fandoms. But for fan works that violate their own requirements for profit, zun will no longer be tolerant. For example, the "Oriental Dream Rune Festival", which was once popular on the dota2 veranda, had to be removed because of in-app purchases.
The conversation returns to "Detective Hidden Fox". Even if the producer really just wants to make a fan game to "pay tribute" to Zhang Chenliang, using an image similar to others without saying a word, it is indeed a little disrespectful. Moreover, is it difficult to say that the author hung the game on taptap as soon as he came up, and it is difficult to say that there is no idea of commercialization. Although the game is still free, the "Hidden Fox Detective" has indeed eaten the traffic dividend.
Just because you say that you are a fan game, you can't put aside responsibility in a grand manner by "generating electricity with love". The relationship between fandom and copyright holders is inherently ambiguous, and fandom circles have their own rules and gameplay. The practice of the "Hidden Fox Detective" does not seem to follow the rules of the "fandom circle".
After all, "generating electricity with love" is not an excuse for illegal infringement.