Yangfan, I see what you mean. I'm not saying that there needs to be a removal of every character that disappears, but that doesn't mean that an abandoned character must be used. Going back to the example I made using Acara, he isn't removed from the history. He just quietly faded from the storyline. His player left, and the character is no longer active. Simple as that. All I'm asking for is a lock on anyone taking over abandoned characters and other abandoned content. I'll even give up the work I've been doing on the Melumsi since that was Jenn's race to begin with (I would also like to say that I have written permission from her to create their technology, but not their culture). This lock would not affect my Melumsi characters, since those were mine to begin with (derivative content).
Hmm. There's a good example. The lock, if applied to a race, would prevent anyone adding to the race and their culture beyond what is already present at the time of abandonment. For example, I could not create a device, like a weapon or something that would be in widespread use among a race, and claim it was a piece of common Melumsi tech. I suppose the rule could be like this: "A character cannot be created from an abandoned race. Only characters approved by the creator of the abandoned race may continue play after the creator has left the roleplay. No new technology or culture notes may be added without permission of the creator or after a race has been abandoned."
Of course, stuff directly related to the Star Army (such as the work Thomas has put into the Elysians, or ships and technology that are deeply integrated into the plot/story universe) that is a variation of Wes' original content is of course his, under the category of derivative content, but James' Kohanians and other original races could easily be quietly locked with no harm done if he suddenly decided to leave. I'm not asking for _complete removal_ of abandoned material. There could be references to them, but no one would be allowed to play them.
Doshii, yes, two characters would form. But, say you wanted to make some money off of one of your characters, a non-neko, all-original that you played on the Star Army. At the same time, or before or after, Wes decides to write a book with that same character as a main or significant part of the story. Who owns the copyright? If Wes wanted to sue you for sole use of the name and likeness of that character, he could. And, under the terms of the policy (both the old one and the new revised one) he would win, effectively preventing you from using the name and likeness of that character for monetary gain. This is why copyrights were invented, so a copyright holder could maintain control of their content. The issue here is who holds that copyright.
I'll just say this:
Star Army is merely licensing the creator of posted material the ability to use their own stuff the way they want. Wes still owns all posted content, and the Star Army (Wes) has the final say in all usage of that content. He's just being nice about what he lets you do with it, but he still gets to do whatever he wants, no ifs, ands, or buts.
Everyone, nothing has changed. As far as I can see, this is the same policy with an addendum to let the creator use their own stuff outside of the SARP. While this is a step in the right direction, I see where James is coming from in his concern regarding Wes & Star Army's extensive power over the creations of its members. You can't do a thing (legally) to stop him. However he wants to make the puppets dance, it'll all go down as cannon. Everything you make is no more than fan-fiction, even if you use the character outside of the Star Army.