Totally understand the whole "buy artwork that's done already so it can go straight to the card". That makes sense, that's good business. However, I find it hard to believe that the Design Team wouldn't instantly recognize it as the monk. Even if none of them played the game (big IF), the Diablo designs have been all over the internet for quite a while now. Now let's say it's actually true, it didn't get caught right away because no one recognized it. I think one of the reasons I had an issue with this from the beginning is that, as an artist and designer myself, I would never sell artwork depicting copyrighted properties from one company to another. See even if no one at Wulven knew it was the Diablo Monk, THE ARTIST WHO PAINTED IT knew it was. And that's just bad business.
You don't have to be a lawyer to know that it's illegal to profit from an existing property that someone else created and owns. If I went around selling original prints of
Aeon,
Jasmine,
Amber, and
Majiya, that I painted myself, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be long before I received a legal notice from Wulven to cut the crap.
Like I said before though, I love the game, love the art, have supported it for a couple of years now, and as a consumer I just want to keep getting the best product. An original product. A product from a company that will continue to have integrity, never cutting corners if it means a lesser product to the players that support them. There are enough B.S. companies out there making B.S. products. I haven't considered Wulven to be one of those companies and I hope I never do. That's all I'm saying.
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