# Wild Horses **URL:** \ **Category:** Official News\ **Created:** [November 3, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968 "2019-11-03T23:01:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ashasekayi](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/ashasekayi/32/61090_2.png) [@Ashasekayi](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Ashasekayi)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/22 "2019-11-04T15:50:50Z")
I’m not going to jump on the plagiarism bandwagon with this one. That eye is a simplistic glowing orb that anyone that is even a little proficient with Photoshop can do easily. It isn’t in the least bit a unique design element. (The old Shentang background was an obvious example of plagiarism.) But anyway, the devs have stated in the past that they contract out a good portion of the art work. It pretty much explains the inconsistency in art quality and the inconsistency in art styles through the years. So, that does leave them vulnerable to one of those contractors taking shortcuts. It’s a bit like playing Russian roulette. ---
**Author:** ![Grundulum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/82dd89/32.png) [@Grundulum](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Grundulum)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/23 "2019-11-04T16:07:28Z")
Look at the four “veins” of light around Vel’Koz’s iris. I can clearly see three of them in the GoW image, and in the same positions—the fourth is likely there, but is partially obscured by an additional effect. I don’t know where the line is drawn for plagiarism (for example, Arctic Fox was not an issue, though like you said the original Shentang artwork was), but it sure seems that this new weapon was at least very heavily inspired by the LoL artwork. ---
**Author:** ![Ashasekayi](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/ashasekayi/32/61090_2.png) [@Ashasekayi](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Ashasekayi)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/24 "2019-11-04T16:56:12Z")
> [@Grundulum](#): > > Look at the four “veins” of light around Vel’Koz’s iris. Since I was on break and curious, I took a point by point look in Photoshop. I’ll give you that it looks suspicious on closer examination. If you do a Difference filter inspection of the central iris, the wave perturbance lines up. So, that could only happen if the artists used the same pre-packaged filter to make the effect or if this is a straight up copy/pasta job. 🤷‍♀️ Hopefully, the devs will look into it to find out which is the case. ![doomed_inspect_7659](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/gemsofwar/original/3X/5/a/5ae68372483fc983f6ad660f1b513bbf73864a22.png) ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/jonathan/32/66724_2.png) [@Jonathan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Jonathan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/25 "2020-02-12T21:04:00Z")
Just bumping this since I don’t think the possible plagiarism has been looked into. > [@AMT](#): > > > I hope he won’t be angry this time. > > Would you happen to have a link so the newest among us can see what transpired the last time? @AMT here’s the instance that I recall: > [@Can we talk about the art for Mervorax?](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/can-we-talk-about-the-art-for-mervorax/53907/4): > > That is EXTREMELY disappointing. > We have been using one of the most reputable art houses in the industry, that works with Blizzard, Riot, Epic, Supercell, etc… > > Their work goes through a number of levels of QA to try and catch this stuff. The 2 other times this has happened, the artist has been removed from the company immediately. > > I will be taking this up with them today. We are all incredibly upset about this! ![Screenshot_2020-02-13-08-00-18-753_com.sec.android.app.sbrowser](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/gemsofwar/original/3X/c/c/ccd17b5cabef375dae0139270db581a466d8b06f.jpeg) > [@Can we talk about the art for Mervorax?](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/can-we-talk-about-the-art-for-mervorax/53907/7): > > Thank YOU for bringing it to our attention, Mero. > > It is SO hard to police this stuff today - that’s why we try and work with well-known studios - but unfortunately I suspect it happens more than anyone realizes. > The CEO of this studio was absolutely livid last time we brought one of these to his attention, as it muddies both of our reputations. > > We will replace that piece of art in the next available update. ---
**Author:** ![Shimrra](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/shimrra/32/87_2.png) [@Shimrra](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Shimrra)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 12:16am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/26 "2020-02-13T00:16:12Z")
More bump… ---
**Author:** ![Shimrra](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/shimrra/32/87_2.png) [@Shimrra](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Shimrra)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/27 "2020-02-16T15:43:27Z")
Seriously no dev response on this art theft … I thought given the response to Mervorax that we would have something other than me quietly being told that they “thought” it was just more referencing the Eye of Sauron, which we can clearly see is not really the whole story. Its the same art. I could reproduce this in less time than it takes to load my graphics software. It probably wouldn’t look very good but that isn’t the point. ---
**Author:** ![Slypenslyde](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/slypenslyde/32/30373_2.png) [@Slypenslyde](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Slypenslyde)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/28 "2020-02-16T17:37:05Z")
“Having shame” is 2018 GoW. Boat left long ago. Alternate explanation: when you start a new fire every week, it gets hard to keep track of the fires you promised to put out. What will get posted: “It’s a long pipeline, we’re trying to get replacement art but it’s going to be a while.” ---
**Author:** ![Saltypatra](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/saltypatra/32/59750_2.png) [@Saltypatra](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Saltypatra)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/29 "2020-02-17T22:36:26Z")
Letting you know that we are looking into this, and are hoping to replace this art in the future. It’s likely that this is a stock image created and used by the company that makes our art, and therfore it is a grey area, but we will do what we can. I can’t say anything else yet, but I wanted to let you know that we are aware. ---
**Author:** ![awryan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/awryan/32/74650_2.png) [@awryan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/awryan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/30 "2020-02-17T23:27:02Z")
> [@Saltypatra](#): > > Letting you know that we are looking into this, and are hoping to replace this art in the future. It’s likely that this is a stock image created and used by the company that makes our art, and therfore it is a grey area, but we will do what we can. > > I can’t say anything else yet, but I wanted to let you know that we are aware. It’s not copyright infringement if the individual (or company) who owns the right authorized the use of it. ---
**Author:** ![Magnusimus](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/magnusimus/32/50652_2.png) [@Magnusimus](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Magnusimus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:37am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/31 "2020-02-18T02:37:08Z")
Still, self-plagiarism _is_ a thing. Not illegal, generally, or even frowned upon by all, but many would agree passing off old work as “new” without acknowledgement that it is, in fact, “old” is less than ideal. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/jonathan/32/66724_2.png) [@Jonathan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Jonathan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 8:50am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/32 "2020-03-23T08:50:53Z")
It looks like the artwork for the Doomed Chronicle has been updated! Would love to hear an update from @Saltypatra on this, too. ---
**Author:** ![Shimrra](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/shimrra/32/87_2.png) [@Shimrra](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Shimrra)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 9:04am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/33 "2020-03-23T09:04:46Z")
Hm. It still looks Vel’Koz-inspired but I can’t say its a clone anymore. For what its worth, I doubt I would make the connection now if I hadn’t already in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Magnusimus](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/magnusimus/32/50652_2.png) [@Magnusimus](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Magnusimus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/34 "2020-03-23T18:10:27Z")
If the official stance was that this was a piece that was not an issue due to copyright/plagiarism, because a studio is allowed to reuse its own assets, then _why_ was it changed after all? Seems shady. I’m happy it was changed, because I don’t like plagiarism, but to be told “this isn’t a problem” and then see ninja actions taken to the contrary doesn’t sit right. ---
**Author:** ![awryan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/awryan/32/74650_2.png) [@awryan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/awryan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/35 "2020-03-23T18:14:23Z")
> [@Saltypatra](#): > > Letting you know that we are looking into this, and are hoping to replace this art in the future. @Magnusimus … > [@Magnusimus](#): > > If the official stance was that this was a piece that was not an issue due to copyright/plagiarism, because a studio is allowed to reuse its own assets, then _why_ was it changed after all? Seems shady. > > I’m happy it was changed, because I don’t like plagiarism, but to be told “this isn’t a problem” and then see ninja actions taken to the contrary doesn’t sit right. They literally said they hope to replace the art in the future. It’s not illegal to resell an image. But it is illegal to sell it as if it’s the only copy available. As shocking as it is to say… The devs did nothing wrong here. ---
**Author:** ![Magnusimus](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/magnusimus/32/50652_2.png) [@Magnusimus](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Magnusimus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968/36 "2020-03-23T19:13:42Z")
I missed where they said they’d be replacing it, my bad. I just remembered the “grey area” part [Previous page](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/wild-horses/58968.md?page=1)