# Remove (Anti-)Piracy Discussion from the ROM Hacking Forum?



## Poryhack (Mar 25, 2010)

As a user that frequents the NDS ROM Hacking forum, I find myself constantly sifting through topics on anti-anti-piracy measures to get to topics that I consider real ROM hacking. Technically, yes, circumventing anti-piracy measures in ROMs is ROM hacking. But I'd be willing to bet that the people who visit the NDS ROM Hacking forum more than just every time a game they want to play comes out are not doing so for the patches, firmware updates, and whatever else goes with being able to play games on a flashcard. Mods, translations; that is what I want to see in a ROM hacking forum. I hope that those that aren't interested in the aforementioned can at least see the massive semantic difference between hacking just so you can go play the latest Pokemon on your flashcard and hacking so that you can create your own Pokemon and put them into the games.

Pokemon brings up my next point, which is that I'm quite aware that the amount of anti-anti-piracy topics is not always or usually even close to what it has been recently. This doesn't change the fact that people who want to play a game on their flashcard and people who want to find modded games or mod games are seeking very different things. So why are they all being funneled to the same forum?

Is anybody else with me on this? Is the administration with me on this?

Try not to get hung up on what is technically "rom hacking" and focus on what people are doing with it; that's what really matters. I'm sure there are enough words in the English language to separate these two things and title them without confusion.


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## bnwchbammer (Mar 25, 2010)

They really did a good job of cleaning up the Pokemon threads, so yeah, I don't mind AP threads as long as there's only one per game.


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## granville (Mar 25, 2010)

Not that it would stop people from posting in the wrong place, but perhaps a new sub-category for anti piracy in the DS section would be a good idea? I don't know how hard that would be or if everyone else would like the idea (especially the staff who would have to make it of course). But it might keep stuff clean, or at least have it separate from the rest of the rom hacking stuff.


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## Hadrian (Mar 25, 2010)

This stuff brings in the members though.

I don't see how AP is allowed and yet keygens and serial numbers aren't but then I don't understand the legality of all of them.


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## elixirdream (Mar 25, 2010)

hopfully i won't get flamed for saying this Anti Piracy generates traffic for GBATemp



			
				granville said:
			
		

> Not that it would stop people from posting in the wrong place, but perhaps a new sub-category for anti piracy in the DS section would be a good idea? I don't know how hard that would be or if everyone else would like the idea (especially the staff who would have to make it of course). But it might keep stuff clean, or at least have it separate from the rest of the rom hacking stuff.



i agree with that 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			




a subforum or section for all these AP talk might clear the piracy discussion from rom hacking forum
however, that might also increase some work load for the mods such as moving topics to the appropriate forum..


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## Poryhack (Mar 25, 2010)

Well yeah, I'm not proposing that it gets removed altogether, just separated from the other aspects of ROM hacking I mentioned. I understand anti-anti-piracy is a necessity for anyone who chooses to use a flashcard and GBAtemp is pretty much the de facto place for flashcard users. These topics have to go somewhere; it's just that I think "somewhere else" would be better.


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## Overlord Nadrian (Mar 27, 2010)

granville said:
			
		

> Not that it would stop people from posting in the wrong place, but perhaps a new sub-category for anti piracy in the DS section would be a good idea? I don't know how hard that would be or if everyone else would like the idea (especially the staff who would have to make it of course). But it might keep stuff clean, or at least have it separate from the rest of the rom hacking stuff.
> This.
> 
> QUOTE(Hadriano @ Mar 25 2010, 11:40 AM) This stuff brings in the members though.
> ...


And this.

It's a good idea, but needs some more thought.


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## Davess (Mar 27, 2010)

Look at it this way, It makes Gbatemp Loads of cash from visitors.


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## Hadrian (Mar 28, 2010)

Davess said:
			
		

> Look at it this way, It makes Gbatemp Loads of cash from visitors.


The fuck it does.


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## Kwartel (Mar 28, 2010)

Hadriano said:
			
		

> Davess said:
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Costello: "Yaeh, Pokémon HGSS has AP, Noobflood here I come..."


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## Overlord Nadrian (Mar 28, 2010)

Davess said:
			
		

> Look at it this way, It makes Gbatemp Loads of cash from visitors.


wat

How do we earn money from visitors?


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## Arkansaw (Mar 28, 2010)

Overlord Nadrian said:
			
		

> Davess said:
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invisible ads floating around? I must have hit one as I'm posting this...


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## raulpica (Mar 28, 2010)

Overlord Nadrian said:
			
		

> Davess said:
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Try to log out from GBAtemp and surf it as a guest... and magic! Ads everywhere


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## Overlord Nadrian (Mar 28, 2010)

raulpica said:
			
		

> Overlord Nadrian said:
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Oh, of course! I totally forgot about that! I never see them because I never log out


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## Aeladya (Mar 28, 2010)

Hadriano said:
			
		

> This stuff brings in the members though.
> 
> I don't see how AP is allowed and yet keygens and serial numbers aren't but then I don't understand the legality of all of them.





Yeah I don't either, but then again, despite my many years of watching SVU I am not a lawyer...


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## FAST6191 (Mar 28, 2010)

First I agree with the OP- a section with minimal AP workaround topics leaving space to focus on the discussion of tools, methods, formats, translations, improvements and the like would be awesome however:

Trying not to bring everyone down but there are perhaps 50 people who can hack AP out of games on the 'temp (less who can tangle with the truly difficult/time consuming stuff that we are increasingly seeing these days) and from what I have seen most of that discussion happens in PM, IRC or some other more out of the way place-> the signal to noise ratio for such a forum would probably be worse than it is now every time someone has a "theory". (see more than a few mods/really active/capable members generally not venturing into the wii hacking section all that often for similar reasons or even the actual rom hacking section where the nth post today is asking about tables or undubbing and it gets skipped over).

That is not to say it could not work but it would perhaps require some serious groundwork to be put in (guides, pictures, tool lists, theory, a bunch of examples) and maybe some fairly harsh "posts to make new topic" limits and equally "harsh" modding.

On the other hand when the homebrew section was split from the rom hacking section it worked well enough, not sure if I would call it a suitable analogy but one worth at least considering.


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## Poryhack (Apr 3, 2010)

So what does it take for something like this to actually happen?


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## Panzer Tacticer (Apr 8, 2010)

Poryhack said:
			
		

> As a user that frequents the NDS ROM Hacking forum, I find myself constantly sifting through topics on anti-anti-piracy measures to get to topics that I consider real ROM hacking. Technically, yes, circumventing anti-piracy measures in ROMs is ROM hacking. But I'd be willing to bet that the people who visit the NDS ROM Hacking forum more than just every time a game they want to play comes out are not doing so for the patches, firmware updates, and whatever else goes with being able to play games on a flashcard. Mods, translations; that is what I want to see in a ROM hacking forum. I hope that those that aren't interested in the aforementioned can at least see the massive semantic difference between hacking just so you can go play the latest Pokemon on your flashcard and hacking so that you can create your own Pokemon and put them into the games.
> 
> Pokemon brings up my next point, which is that I'm quite aware that the amount of anti-anti-piracy topics is not always or usually even close to what it has been recently. This doesn't change the fact that people who want to play a game on their flashcard and people who want to find modded games or mod games are seeking very different things. So why are they all being funneled to the same forum?
> 
> ...



I submit you request the forum's name be altered to better reflect the objective.

A hack to circumvent protection is as you say hardly the same as a mod to a language limitation.
I suggest you focus your efforts to derive a name better suited.
And then not allow anti piracy threads in the section.


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## Panzer Tacticer (Apr 8, 2010)

Personally I find the stance here at GBATemp with regards to the in your face flagrant assist on all things anti anti piracy is hilarious to the extreme.

That the site so openly allows brazen explanations of how to do what is inescapably illegal is just so completely at odds with their defiant assertion that they do not permit downloading and will do nothing to aid and or assist in the doing there of, yet they are more than willing to show you how to use any of those files, so long as you just don't say where you got them 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




This manner of behaviour would get you immediately banned on any real game forum, all the faster on a company run forum.

Oh and no, I don't plan to buy anything from GBATemp, largely for the above mentioned reasons. I like it here ok and all, but this site is so far from a proper commercially run site that I can't seriously expect my transactions to be on par from a real gaming site.

I doubt though GBATemp would last out the week if suddenly flagrant discussion of piracy and how to employ the files was turfed.

It's not like I have been unable to discuss anti piracy issues elsewhere though. But it tends to revolve around 'stop treating the paying customer like a thief and pick another method' type discussions.

Just some thoughts.


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