It seems that the term 'naeronambul'—a uniquely Korean portmanteau for 'if I do it, it's romance; if others do it, it's an affair'—is being bandied about more than ever. It perfectly captures that cheeky, self-serving hypocrisy we love to hate. Lately, this sentiment has found its way into a rather thorny situation: NCSoft's unauthorized use of imagery from 'For Honor', which has sparked quite the backlash.

In the creative trenches, 'quality control' is supposed to be the bare minimum. Sure, developers often look at other titles for inspiration, but there should be a rigorous vetting process to ensure nothing proprietary leaks into a commercial product. It is the bedrock of corporate credibility and legal safety. When you take someone else's work, tweak it, and pass it off as your own, the fallout is inevitable. Back in June, Bungie's 'Marathon' project faced similar accusations regarding visual concept plagiarism, leading the team to publicly commit to revisions and delay their launch.

Now, to be fair to NCSoft, they didn't stuff these assets directly into the game's engine; they used them in an official broadcast to market their upcoming wares. But let’s be real—marketing is commercial activity. The fact that NCSoft has maintained a deafening silence while this storm brews is, frankly, baffling. Especially when you consider that NCSoft has historically been quite litigious regarding their own intellectual property, filing lawsuits to protect their turf. When a company that prides itself on being the guardian of copyright suddenly goes mute when the shoe is on the other foot, the criticism is bound to intensify.

If you’ve secured the rights, you credit the original creator. If it was a genuine blunder, you apologize and fix the video. Instead, even as this controversy spills over from domestic forums onto Reddit and the wider international community, NCSoft has remained motionless. With the launch of Aion 2 looming on the horizon, one wonders how long they think they can keep this up.