OK, this isn't an angry rant per se, more like a "sigh of relief that there are nice people from the ROM Hack community out there" post. I joined romhacking.net or RHDN two years ago because I was actually interested in Fan translation. I wanted to learn ROM Hacking so I can make fan translations of retro games to my native language, but what did I get out of it!? Oh just the entire RHDN staff & a few of the community members dissing my thread & posting crap on it. Then one of the admins shoved those "vague" & confusing text documents explaining things vaguely about how ROM Hacking came about. One of those even game information on mathematics, the hell!? Seriously, if that's how they treat newbies on their site I'm wondering why their site is still up. Also, I guess I got so used to RomUlation's friendly community that I forgot there were still prick elitists out there Same is true with that guy who leads Aeon Genesis, it's posted on his site that he doesn't take Translation requests & that what he gives out is the only thing you get from him. And he doesn't take criticism at all, constructive or destructive otherwise. So I stopped going on RHDN's forums & just quietly download patches & never say another word, but oh wait... I do comment on translation patches on there too & thankfully those get approved. Now onto my "good thing there are nice ones out there" point. I've been to two other Fan translation site/forums & thankfully the people there are very nice. They are: http://www.dqtranslations.com/ http://www.dynamic-designs.us/ the second in particular was so welcoming & felt kinda like RomUlation They have welcomed & appreciated my input, both on issues I found on their fan translation & in helping the general public out with things like how to hard patch ROMs, where to find utilities.... things I learned from the people here on RomUlation! It really makes me smile knowing that I can help people out just because the community here at RomUlation helped me out when I was still a green horn. So yeah, sucks to you RHDN & those other ROMs site/forums I stumbled upon before I found RomUlation, your un-welcoming attitude is the reason why people never return. And though this may sound like I'm sucking up, but thanks to seph & loony's policy of being welcoming & empowering their members our community has grown bigger & people absolutely love it here
As much as I'd like to follow Natalie's example, I feel a strange sense of justifying stuff. Of course there are douchebags in the ROM hacking community, just like any other community. That said, deciding to do things your own way, in your own time, without taking requests is not being a dick. It's how this person has obviously decided to run his site. More power to him. I also sort of understand why you'd be flamed for wanting to translate stuff into Filipino, but yeah. Every site treats newbies differently. Once upon a time even I was a newbie and went through my share of flaming on G-M. It's how it works on some sites. If you can take the heat and dish it right back, you learn stuff and grow as a user. If you can't, give up and go somewhere happier like RomU where people aren't allowed to say "that's a really fucking retarded idea". The good users, who could contribute a skill to the community (whether it be web design, coding expertise or mad flaming skills), tend to stay. The leeches, the people who give bad advice and the out-and-out idiots disappear for the most part. Smaller community? Yes. More effective community than the one here in terms of average skill per member? By far.
@Suis: What you said does make sense, but as the community becomes smaller, the skills/knowledge the elite members possess don't get passed on to others who can keep the tradition/heritage alive. Let's say, everyone in the ROM Hacking community is now dead, how else can the craft be continued? Well I guess as long as the documents & tools are still floating around on the net somebody will figure it out then re-start the craft eventually, but still being mentored by an expert still kinda feels better.
All that follows means very little to the topic, erm, sorry Cahos (all my love).......(mark for deletion) It is not unusual to find that people who enjoy what they do are nice, unlike the slaves that work for a boss they hate (they can be nice too, but have no real reason to be, given apathy, ignorance and not knowing where the next pay check may come from). most people hate their jobs most employers hate their employees, money is made none-the-less, and the poison goes on. Hackers are probably a little more connected to the real world of not giving a shit and not harming anyone than most people could hope for. They are not heroes but are a great reminder of what it means to be human, it is not about saying fuck you but about saying no. Given a very compliant society any form of rebellion is good, good for society and good for what can be considered a norm. It is not normal to clamp down on those that investigate any given technology. Whether it be housing or heating or band-width, people have been hacking and messing, not for you but for themselves. How may tech solutions are due to hack solutions over programmer solutions is a bit like chicken and eggs; safe to say that the internet is mostly due to fly hacks than intentional design, but that is history. And that is wrong.
Another case of how the internet differs from real life... When learning something in real life, you'd want a friendly mentor/group to educate you, learning from some old dragon with a battle axe will only create another old dragon (if they think said dragon is right) or create someone with the old dragon's skill but with their own caring hand. When me and my mates where treated like idiots with learning stuff, we'd take on the system, if we were treated fairly we'd sit and learn and actually learn stufff (except the no hopers who'd just cause havok without restraint). But back to what's happened...romU is almost too nice a cummunity, it's the odd troll/wisened user that reminds us that the net is a strange and scary place... I have to thank Suis for the quote in my sig, I was getting sick of people wanting me to be mod XD (I got power on other sites anyway-only tiny compared to romU but it's helped me learn what the mods and admins go thru). ...and anyways in closing, there will be a nicer alternative to where you start looking, maybe there is an even softer version of romU out there somewhere XD
@1prinnydood: I'm sorry if the word "Hacker" in this case misled you into thinking of those people who crack internet security either of an individual or business establishment to cause industrial sabotage or theft. But hacker in this sense is a hobbyist, who "modifies" data in a ROM or actual game itself, with the case of PC game modding, to either enhance the game or make something totally new to add game play value to said game. Such skills involved with said hobby shouldn't be hogged, I mean would you not teach a budding cross stitch enthusiast techniques to produce better embroidery work easier? Or, wouldn't you help out a beginner model kit builder how to do things correctly so they too can enjoy the craft? It's not about better work management, it's about starting a hobby. And even in a working environment a new employee is sent to a crash course on how he/she should be going about his/her daily duties.
May I say, great thread. I enjoyed reading everyones post. As for when some ROM hackers decide they don't want to accept any feedback at all, it is understandable to a point. As you really don't want to be told you've done mistakes after the hard work you've put in it. I know after creating Pokemon RocketRed, hearing some negative feedbacks for even the smallest reason would get my slightly furious. But in saying that, hackers have to understand that they're publicly showcasing their hacks and have chosen to do so. So really they should be able to put up with feedback, good or bad. That's what they chose to do when they decided to show off their hack, no one forced them too show it to the world. Personally I've found forums as a whole on the internet as boring and unwelcoming. I've also believed the first step to gaining members is having an Introduction section where the community gladly greets the members. 9/10 if the guest is treated well, they'll hang around and eventually become active in the forums. Back to the topic about there being asshole hackers, it is true, most want all the fame and don't want to help at all. In my time as a hacking noob, I found that asking for help in forums was completely useless and that learning from ready made tutorials or even learning from trial and error was my only option. Thankfully it was enough for me to at least showcase something like Pokemon RocketRed, which I am proud of and happy I gave it a go.
You mistake me. The community does grow, and the new blood picks up the skills. Taking G-M as an example, I learnt a fair amount of sigging (and how to be a sarcastic, awesome asshole) from there. The community may not grow as rapidly as RomU does, but it still grows and develops (not talking G-M here, since it died because of lack of ROMs). And I'm saying that in some places, to be personally mentored by someone you need to "make your bones" and prove that you're not a complete imbecile. Especially in some technical fields. You learn the basics before getting into the fun stuff.
No need to apologise I was not mislead by your original post in any way, I posted my comment without reading your post!! and after review I decided to place a header in order to preclude any confusion and also to allow any moderators to realise my somewhat offtopic post and to remove it if necessary. Sorry for any confusion, as always I wish you well.
