# DO NOT SIMPLY COPY AN ENTIRE ARTICLE



## mthrnite (May 9, 2012)

Please summarize in your own words, the essence of the news you are reporting. Please read the stickies in this forum for a guide. Simply copying the entire source article verbatim is lazy, and tantamount to plagiarism.



Another World said:


> I expect users to take a few minutes to write something in their own words. most of the internet is news which has been mirrored from other sources. let us try to act more professional than the next site by writing our own descriptions, and then link back to source posts for "more information."


 


 Proper USN Template


 Discussion on Plagiarism

Thank you Urza for bringing this to my attention.


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## Quietlyawesome94 (May 9, 2012)

I myself have been guilty of this a few times. I'll make sure I don't do it again.


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## notmeanymore (May 9, 2012)

One does not simply copy-paste into Mordor.


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## Foxi4 (May 9, 2012)

Agreed. If I ever want to read an article as it is with no summary at all, I can just click the "Source" button and read it on the Source site.

Excerpts are good. Complete copy-pasta is not.


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## prowler (May 9, 2012)

before the end of september there will be 10 stickys in the usn


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## mthrnite (May 9, 2012)

prowler said:


> before the end of september there will be 10 stickys in the usn



Sure it's redundant, but then again, it's redundant!


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## Rydian (May 9, 2012)

Can we get the template sticky fixed up too?  With the P code fixed (it's using the old codes), and with the template modified to have the download icon/link as well?


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## mthrnite (May 9, 2012)

Rydian said:


> Can we get the template sticky fixed up too?  With the P code fixed (it's using the old codes), and with the template modified to have the download icon/link as well?



Yes we can.


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## Zerosuit connor (May 9, 2012)

I love the word Verbatim


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## Heran Bago (May 9, 2012)

Are we allowed to both summarize and quote the article? I ask because I usually don't care what the user has to say and if they don't quote the article I'll just click/read the soure instead.


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## mthrnite (May 9, 2012)

Heran Bago said:


> Are we allowed to both summarize and quote the article? I ask because I usually don't care what the user has to say and if they don't quote the article I'll just click/read the soure instead.



Absolutely. The problem we're having is that people are quoting the entire article. I think perhaps submitters want to get it up first and thus take no time at all in presentation. In deciding what to prune when faced with duplicate news submissions, I will look for best over first.


Good to see you btw.


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## KingVamp (May 9, 2012)

1) I feel sourcing the article is what keep you from Plagiarism.
2) Do mean do a page copy or a small section when you say didn't copy the entire article?
3) Summarizing in your own words, could lead to people spinning the news to their bias
and not give you the whole information.

Not saying take the lazy and quick route such as making a title and then fixing up the post properly later,but just to keep from messing up the reported
news.

Kinda sleepy, so if that doesn't make sense then...


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## Rydian (May 9, 2012)

There's times when you do need to quote a while paragraph (for example to show specific wording), the main issue is when people copy-paste a 5-paragraph article and nothing else makes it into the post.


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## RupeeClock (May 9, 2012)

If I ever post a news article, I don't paste the ENTIRE article, I take the most relevant section of it and trim the fat, make sure it is quoted, and then provide a source to the full article with my own editorial at the bottom of the post.

But I don't do it all that often either. Part of the problem with asking people to write their own USN articles is that they're going to mis-word things, or lack any proper writing skills to convey the significance of something.

It is NOT plagiarism if you site your source and quote properly. Of course it isn't to Harvard APA Standards but whatever.


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## mthrnite (May 9, 2012)

Thank you [m]Densetsu[/m] for adding the relevant links to the initial post 

@[member='RupeeClock'], the way you describe how you do it sounds good to me.

My issue was merely in the wholesale copy/pasting of the complete source article.
Plagiarism is a very "hot" word, and I'm not inclined to use it, or define it to everyone's satisfaction. Common sense will absolutely do in this case, and I appreciate everyone's effort who actually does make an effort. We're not not looking for perfection, and even in the extreme cases of the articles that were no more than a copy of the original, we appreciate the gathering of the news, just not it's presentation.

We're not setting a very high bar, but we are setting a bar.

To everyone who submits news, thank you for being an asset to our site.


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## RupeeClock (May 9, 2012)

Of course, news posts should be made to some sort of standard that is actually useful to the reader.
Allow them to follow up where the article came from, read the full story, actually understand what the hell is going on.

Copy-pasting the entire article makes you look like a spam-bot with sites that do that just for page-hits.


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## MEGAMANTROTSKY (May 9, 2012)

OP, thank you for the useful guide. Perhaps this too should be stickied...?


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## gloweyjoey (May 9, 2012)

I just generally followed the *template sticky*, which said copy the article into a paragraph tag and then put your source and then whatever you input is was to go under that.

Looking at it now, its been changed.


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## Gahars (May 9, 2012)

I try to follow the guidelines with all the posts I make. If I'm actually disobeying one of the rules or anything, please feel free to let me know.


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## Another World (May 10, 2012)

if anyone has questions about how to post, how to write up the article, bbcode, etc, don't hesitate to ask us. its why we are here!



gloweyjoey said:


> Looking at it now, its been changed.



guess you didn't look for a long time. i made changes and added the "no quote policy" on 1/7/2011.

-another world


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## p1ngpong (May 14, 2012)

People have had several days now to adjust their news posting habits accordingly to comply with this request.

From now on any blatant plagiaristic USN news articles I see will be locked and their OP's trashed.


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## chartube12 (May 24, 2012)

Many forums copy and paste their articles. Long has you post quotes and a link, your not do anything illegal. GBATEMP is already behind with the version of VB they are using. Bet they haven't updated the servers in awhile too and this is a tempt to lower resource usage. Making a new rule of article posting is fine and all, but don't fucking lying about the real reason behind it!


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## Rydian (May 24, 2012)

chartube12 said:


> Many forums copy and paste their articles. Long has you post quotes and a link, your not do anything illegal. GBATEMP is already behind with the version of VB they are using. Bet they haven't updated the servers in awhile too and this is a tempt to lower resource usage. Making a new rule of article posting is fine and all, but don't fucking lying about the real reason behind it!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_foil_hat

So I'm guessing you missed the normal posters who are in agreement?

And this thread?
http://gbatemp.net/topic/326613-plagiarism/

And the mention of other sites that actually WERE getting into legal trouble for copy-pasting articles?

Jesus christ.


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## raulpica (May 24, 2012)

chartube12 said:


> Many forums copy and paste their articles. Long has you post quotes and a link, your not do anything illegal. GBATEMP is already behind with the version of VB they are using. Bet they haven't updated the servers in awhile too and this is a tempt to lower resource usage. Making a new rule of article posting is fine and all, but don't fucking lying about the real reason behind it!


Huh. We're under the latest version of iP.Board, and the servers are in the best shape in YEARS.

But maybe you're right there's a conspiracy, I fe- OH GAWD, PLEASE DROP THAT GUN COSTY, DON'T HURT ME 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

*bang*


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## chartube12 (May 24, 2012)

I guess I'll find a better forum for my gaming needs. gbatemp has jumped the shark with this new outrageous ruling.


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## prowler (May 24, 2012)

chartube12 said:


> I guess I'll find a better forum for my gaming needs. gbatemp has jumped the shark with this new outrageous ruling.


AND NOTHING OF VALUE WAS LOST.


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## Wizerzak (May 24, 2012)

I think i get it but... what if the article you're sourcing is really short itself? (eg Eurogamer news). Are we then allowed to copy the entire article?


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## Gahars (May 24, 2012)

chartube12 said:


> I guess I'll find a better forum for my gaming needs. gbatemp has jumped the shark with this new outrageous ruling.



If you think this, of all things, is "jumping the shark" then the temp clearly doesn't need you anyway.


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## prowler (May 24, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> I think i get it but... what if the article you're sourcing is really short itself? (eg Eurogamer news). Are we then allowed to copy the entire article?


heres an idea: use your own words


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## Wizerzak (May 24, 2012)

prowler said:


> Wizerzak said:
> 
> 
> > I think i get it but... what if the article you're sourcing is really short itself? (eg Eurogamer news). Are we then allowed to copy the entire article?
> ...


I always put my own thoughts after the article but I feel re-writing an entire article would
1) Waste far too much time seeing as you're simply re-writing what has already been written
2) Create a strong bias in nearly every article posted in USN seeing as most people on the temp have... strong views....


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## prowler (May 24, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> prowler said:
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> > Wizerzak said:
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i did it im sure you could too.


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## p1ngpong (May 24, 2012)

chartube12 said:


> Bet they haven't updated the servers in awhile too and this is a tempt to lower resource usage. Making a new rule of article posting is fine and all, but don't fucking lying about the real reason behind it!



When we updated the forum software recently we also got an extra server along with it to cope with the load. The old server handles 33% of board functions while the new, far more powerful server, handles the remaining 66%.

So yeah, shows how much you know. 

I beg you don't cry.

AHAHAHAHA

;O;


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## Wizerzak (May 24, 2012)

prowler said:


> Wizerzak said:
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> > prowler said:
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Some of us have lives you know?
Isn't the main reason that USN exists to stimulate discussion about news within GBAtemp? In which case why does it matter so much about the OP? It's WHAT they post that matters, not who wrote it.


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## p1ngpong (May 24, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> prowler said:
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> 
> > Wizerzak said:
> ...



Nobody is expecting you to re-write an ENTIRE article, just to not plagiarize the entire thing (which was what a lot of people were doing recently) and write a brief synopsis of a couple of sentences of the essence of the news you are posting. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes of your precious life. 

I also beg you not to cry.

;O;


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## raulpica (May 24, 2012)

chartube12 said:


> I guess I'll find a better forum for my gaming needs. gbatemp has jumped the shark with this new outrageous ruling.


What do you have against humour? You monster


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## jurassicplayer (May 25, 2012)

chartube12 said:


> I guess I'll find a better forum for my gaming needs. gbatemp has jumped the shark with this new outrageous ruling.


I can't help but think that leaving due to your believe that news should be copy/pasted is a really piss poor reason. Yet, at the same time, for coming up with said piss poor reason I would rather not do anything to stop you from leaving.



Wizerzak said:


> Some of us have lives you know?
> Isn't the main reason that USN exists to stimulate discussion about news within GBAtemp? In which case why does it matter so much about the OP? It's WHAT they post that matters, not who wrote it.


I have life. I never read shit about any USN template. I stole my news from DS-Scene and totally didn't source them (I used their source as my source). And you know what? My post STILL follows the template somehow, because the template is fucking generic and easy to do. Are you seriously telling me that you want to just post news to get e-peen, or do you actually want to ADD SOME THOUGHT to your opening post and just start off with your own thoughts first and just have people check the source if they want to know the full details.
To make things shorter. I have been given a great idea...no, a FAAAAAAABULOUS!! idea if I say so myself. With this splendid method, you don't have to type up the article, you don't have to summarize, you don't even have to fucking copy/paste. Just write your opinion, add link to source, discuss. Yes, you have a life. So stop wasting it by copy/pasting and just get to the fucking point.


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## Another World (May 25, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> Some of us have lives you know?



oh yeah, play *THAT* card. it really takes up so much of your free time to type out 5 sentences and link back to a source page for more information. if you can't type out 2-5 news articles in under 20 minutes you are doing something wrong.



> Isn't the main reason that USN exists to stimulate discussion about news within GBAtemp? In which case why does it matter so much about the OP? It's WHAT they post that matters, not who wrote it.



copying from another site is blatantly illegal. not all sites will copyright their content, not all sites will even care... while commonsense is apparently absent for most of the internet, we simply ask that isn't here.

we want original content. we wanted it 2 years ago. its only now that the level of plagiarism reached an all time high and some of the staff decided to start discussing it. the result of said discussions was to enforce the rule... don't copy/pate instead spend a few minutes summarizing your thoughts.

lets face it, it looks really bad when content is copy and pasted. it makes the poster look lazy and it reflects poorly on the quality of the site.

is the issue here that you feel its to much work for users to check a source link for a more in depth version of the story? do you feel that summarizing into your own words doesn't do the story justice?

-another world


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## Rydian (May 25, 2012)

If you don't have enough time to write a few sentences when posting a thread, then do you even have enough time to post a thread?


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## gloweyjoey (May 25, 2012)

I also just wanted to add that when I posted something in USN I was not posting it in hopes to get it put on the front page, and im also positive that others also were not posting articles simply to have them put on the front page. Just saying. From what I gather, we can still copy and paste articles but just not in USN as every thread in the USN is apparently submitted for front page approval( I remember having to click on something for this before).


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## prowler (May 25, 2012)

gloweyjoey said:


> I also just wanted to add that when I posted something in USN I was not posting it in hopes to get it put on the front page, and im also positive that others also were not posting articles simply to have them put on the front page. Just saying. From what I gather, we can still copy and paste articles but just not in USN as every thread in the USN is apparently submitted for front page approval( I remember having to click on something for this before).


no, that option is useless anyway

you cant copy and paste anywhere on the forum.
p1ngpong has been locking threads in general off topic etc


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## gloweyjoey (May 25, 2012)

prowler said:


> gloweyjoey said:
> 
> 
> > I also just wanted to add that when I posted something in USN I was not posting it in hopes to get it put on the front page, and im also positive that others also were not posting articles simply to have them put on the front page. Just saying. From what I gather, we can still copy and paste articles but just not in USN as every thread in the USN is apparently submitted for front page approval( I remember having to click on something for this before).
> ...


My point was that the option is apparently useless..




prowler said:


> you cant copy and paste anywhere on the forum.
> p1ngpong has been locking threads in general off topic etc





Another World said:


> most of the news *flagged for the front page* is simply a quote of the source site. i expect users to take a few minutes to write something in their own words. most of the internet is news which has been mirrored from other sources. let us try to act more professional than the next site by writing our own descriptions, and then link back to source posts for "more information."
> 
> anything which does not follow the formatting in the 1st post* will not be allowed on the front page.*
> anything which is simply a quote of another site will *not be allowed on the front page.*
> ...



This is even quoted in the OP and seems to pertain to USN, So if general off topic is affect aswell, where is the general off topic template or should we just assume its not a USN template and just a template for posting anything anywhere on the forum. Wouldnt this then need to be stickied in all the forums? It seems kind of asinine to lock a thread in one subforum and link to a thread about another subforum as reasoning.

Anyway, I hope this all gets straightened out because its quite helter skelter at the moment.


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## ComeTurismO (May 25, 2012)

I have to agree with you right now, Plagirism is a huge issue in a lot of countries in the South. A lot here in Canada, plagerizing is a very wrong thing, now I have to get my friend to stop.


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## Urza (May 25, 2012)

gloweyjoey said:


> This is even quoted in the OP and seems to pertain to USN, So if general off topic is affect aswell, where is the general off topic template or should we just assume its not a USN template and just a template for posting anything anywhere on the forum. Wouldnt this then need to be stickied in all the forums? It seems kind of asinine to lock a thread in one subforum and link to a thread about another subforum as reasoning.


You're conflating two separate (but tangential) issues:

1. Copyright infringement is not allowed. Whether it's cartridge ROM dumps or another site's articles. This applies to the entire site.

2. Articles on the front page should follow a (relatively) uniform template. It is _suggested _that you use the stickied guide when posting in the USN, but only required if you want that front page option.

The copying clause in the USN template thread is just there as a _reminder_ that copyright infringement is against the rules. It is not specific to this forum, however seeing as most of the infringing threads were here it makes sense to put such a reminder. Conversely, the USN template itself is _optional_ here and anywhere else (except the front page).

On the issue of sources "too short" to quote: it is not a necessity to include anything more than a link. If you're feeling stupendously lazy then that can be the entire body of your post.

Note that I am not a volunteer of the site, and as such you should treat this only as my observation of their rules.


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## Vampire Lied (May 25, 2012)

I have a crazy idea:
1. Instead of copying, post "hey, look what I found." Maybe even make some comment on it and post the source link.
2. If you don't like that idea, don't post at all.
3. How about respecting decisions staff makes weather u like it or not. The rule will be there either way.
Just to let anyone know that doesn't already, most ppl aren't going to believe any "news" without a source linked anyway. Even if it is a copy/paste of the original.
The staff links sources when posting articles, so why shouldn't everyone else have to?
It's useless to argue it when most ppl are gonna say or think "source or stfu" anyway.


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## gloweyjoey (May 25, 2012)

I am not arguing against the rule, I was just pointing out some flaws in how it is being carried out.at this present time. If it indeed encompases the entire site, then maybe the OP should be updated to reflect that, and not a quote from the USN sticky regarding post being *submitted for the front page.*

I'm all for removing plagiarism from the site but at this moment I can understand how people can misinterpret the rule as it is being presented.

Also, for those interested and still a bit confused on the issue, here is a nice article on the topic of news article piracy.


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## Another World (May 25, 2012)

i fail to see how it can be misinterpreted. it says not to do something. doing it violates that ruling. seems pretty straight forward to me.

-another world


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## Wizerzak (May 25, 2012)

ffs i just wrote loads and hit refresh >.<
I'll reply later, no time now.


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## p1ngpong (May 25, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> ffs i just wrote loads and hit refresh >.<
> I'll reply later, no time now.



Please don't write loads and reply later on. You have your *life* to consider! 

So precious! ;O;


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## Wizerzak (May 25, 2012)

p1ngpong said:


> Wizerzak said:
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> > ffs i just wrote loads and hit refresh >.<
> ...


When did I say my life was precious?
I just sometimes simply don't have time to re-write entire articles, whereas 2 minutes ago I did have time to write a few sentences.


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## p1ngpong (May 25, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> p1ngpong said:
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We never said you have to rewrite an entire article. 

And your life is precious, to us all.


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## Rydian (May 25, 2012)

My stance is if you really don't have enough time to write two or three sentences but the news is good, just dump a link and let people talk.


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## prowler (May 25, 2012)

Hey @chartube12 just because you got served in this thread doesn't mean you should go on a hate crime against my news threads.


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## Deleted_171835 (May 25, 2012)

I'm fine with this rule_ provided_ that it only applies to news in the USN section (and even then I don't think there's anything wrong with a small snippet of an article). This shouldn't apply elsewhere in places such as the General Gaming Section, especially with opinion posts.

With this thread that got locked, there is no way to rewrite an opinion article in your own words without losing some of the authors original intent. Consider the fact that it isn't even news but rather a discussion piece.


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## Rydian (May 25, 2012)

The point is not to avoid the discussion, but to avoid copying the content.

If you don't feel that it's something that can be re-written, just put the link and a sentence or two about the subject explaining what the article is.


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## p1ngpong (May 25, 2012)

Plagiarism is plagiarism no matter what section it is in, so no, this rule applies forum wide.

In your case you didn't even bother linking to the article in question, you just copy pasted the entire thing. No shit it got locked, cry more. And as I keep saying you do not need to rewrite the entire thing, just make a brief synopsis of the essence of the article and link to it.

But obviously some of you are too stupid and lazy to get that.


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## loco365 (May 25, 2012)

It's not really hard to state an entire page into a few general words and link to a source. I've only submitted one piece of news ever, but it doesn't bother me that there's now a restriction.


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## RupeeClock (May 25, 2012)

prowler said:


> Hey @chartube12 just because you got served in this thread doesn't mean you should go on a hate crime against my news threads.


Yours news articles aren't good, they aren't informative and they aren't written well in the least.
At the very least they aren't plagiarism.


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## notmeanymore (May 25, 2012)

Rydian said:


> The point is not to avoid the discussion, but to avoid copying the content.
> 
> If you don't feel that it's something that can be re-written, just put the link and a sentence or two about the subject explaining what the article is.


Or you could put almost irrelevant sentences and the link like [member='Gahars']


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## Wizerzak (May 25, 2012)

p1ngpong said:


> Plagiarism is plagiarism no matter what section it is in, so no, this rule applies forum wide.



Surely it's not plagiarism if you put it in a quote / paragraph box and make sure you give a source? If anything that's free advertising for the site you're linking to.


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## smealum (May 25, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> p1ngpong said:
> 
> 
> > Plagiarism is plagiarism no matter what section it is in, so no, this rule applies forum wide.
> ...


Except that then there's a good chance readers won't actually click the link, and therefore they'll benefit from the content without the provider getting anything out of it (like any kind of ad revenue).
So from the content provider's point of view it *is* theft/plagiarism, and since that's apparently also what it is from the law's point of view, there shouldn't be much of a debate on whether it's acceptable here.


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## Wizerzak (May 25, 2012)

smealum said:


> Wizerzak said:
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> 
> > p1ngpong said:
> ...


OK I see your point now. (Thank you for actually talking civilly, people posting crap back doesn't solve anything). So, would it be OK if we poasted the beginning of an article, cut it off quarter / half way through then linked to the full article if people want to read more? That way the site would be getting advertising (if their article is any good and people are intrigued to carry on reading, if not they need to improve their articles) plus the news posted on GBAtemp would still be 'readable' and not biased.

Just an idea.


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## Guild McCommunist (May 25, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> OK I see your point now. (Thank you for actually talking civilly, people posting crap back doesn't solve anything). So, would it be OK if we poasted the beginning of an article, cut it off quarter / half way through then linked to the full article if people want to read more? That way the site would be getting advertising (if their article is any good and people are intrigued to carry on reading, if not they need to improve their articles) plus the news posted on GBAtemp would still be 'readable' and not biased.
> 
> Just an idea.



Well think of it like an essay in school. You're fine quoting a sentence or a point from an article but you can't just quote the entire article and hand it in as your essay so long as you have a citation.

Also we don't really post news articles to "advertise" other sites, we post them so people get the news. Here's a good example of "quoted" news. Basically most of the content is original but there's a few sentences from the article to give you a basic idea on the game.


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## Gahars (May 25, 2012)

TehSkull said:


> Rydian said:
> 
> 
> > The point is not to avoid the discussion, but to avoid copying the content.
> ...



I'm just giving the people their recommended dosage of puns, wisecracks, and general tomfoolery.


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## Feels Good Man (May 26, 2012)

So... I don't understand this rule


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## Nathan Drake (May 26, 2012)

To put it simply: people have been copying and pasting entire articles, which ultimately diverts traffic away from their source. GBAtemp is not exclusively a news site, and as such, shouldn't be stealing traffic. To fix this problem, those who post news should either paraphrase with snippets of the article, referring to the actual article for the main news, or not post news at all. Any USN posts that post the entire article, or even huge chunks of the article, are being locked.

If you want to deliver news to the other people, fine, but just give the bare bones details. If we want the nitty gritty, we can click on the article, give the news site traffic, and not steal their work. It's a win/win/win.


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## Feels Good Man (May 26, 2012)

Would you consider this plagiarising:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=38108816&postcount=1
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=38184825&postcount=1
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=37853572&postcount=1

Trying to get an idea of what's what.


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## Rydian (May 26, 2012)

Feels Good Man said:


> So... I don't understand this rule





THE BAD THING PEOPLE DO
A site posted some article in latin with some info on love and such.


> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam id enim et augue dignissim pretium quis eget ipsum. Nam nisl nunc, dignissim nec sodales a, feugiat id libero. Phasellus pellentesque tincidunt augue, in aliquet ligula semper ut. Nunc in malesuada nulla. Vestibulum sit amet sem ipsum. Duis adipiscing mi viverra mi ultricies vehicula. Fusce aliquam aliquam dui quis condimentum. Phasellus suscipit turpis in metus suscipit blandit.
> 
> In nunc ante, feugiat sed dapibus fringilla, cursus tincidunt lorem. Vivamus tempor commodo erat, ut dignissim est commodo tempor. Praesent mattis convallis mi, non pulvinar ligula euismod vel. Aliquam non elit felis, ac aliquet ipsum. In porttitor pharetra diam, in pulvinar neque fringilla vitae. Quisque tortor quam, aliquet quis eleifend nec, vulputate eget tortor. Donec at quam felis, ac interdum odio. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Mauris consectetur, lorem vitae hendrerit egestas, diam erat rutrum ante, nec interdum massa elit vel augue. Nam malesuada ante ac eros suscipit in malesuada mauris egestas. Nulla pharetra felis eget nisl pretium tincidunt. Ut velit turpis, luctus eget viverra eget, fermentum a massa. Phasellus commodo nibh in justo lacinia sagittis. Aliquam vel leo eu lacus luctus placerat ac et diam.
> 
> ...


There's the whole article for you.

source



THE GOOD THING THEY SHOULD BE DOING
A site posted some article in latin with some info on love and such.


> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.  Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit...


There's a small cutout of the article showing what I feel to be the important point, which is a line about pain and why people may appear to seek it.  The line points out that people often don't seek pain itself, but either something that happens to cause pain as a side-effect that they simply put up with, or as some sort of mental diversionary tactic.  If you want to see the whole damn thing, you can click the link.

source


----------



## Feels Good Man (May 26, 2012)

Also, while I understand Urza's point, I don't really get this:


> PS: If you want to see what happens when rampant plagiarism goes unchecked, just peek at the wraggster-run ghost town of DCEmu. Once a thriving community and respected name in the homebrew scene, now whored out to hit as many ad impressions as he possibly can against other people's content. Absolutely disgusting.



NeoGAF has been up and running for a very long time now as a message board and has many of those examples I stated above. They've been very successful on what they do and many industry people go there once in a while to discuss their games such as Dylan Cuthbert (Miyamoto's now son in law and President & Founder of Q-Games (did Starfox 64 3D)) and on top of that is very reputable as a news site/ video game discussion board. Hell, that site gets way more traffic and even goes down around E3 time because of how much people are trying to load the pages at the same time.

The only time I see a site flops (like what Urza is saying) is if they properly don't source their news as say it as their own which I don't really see many people here do (since I'm pretty sure is against the rules).

But yeah, I guess both sites are different but eh.


----------



## Wizerzak (May 26, 2012)

Feels Good Man said:


> Also, while I understand Urza's point, I don't really get this:
> 
> 
> > PS: If you want to see what happens when rampant plagiarism goes unchecked, just peek at the wraggster-run ghost town of DCEmu. Once a thriving community and respected name in the homebrew scene, now whored out to hit as many ad impressions as he possibly can against other people's content. Absolutely disgusting.
> ...


This is exactly what I think, IMO as long as you give a source it should be OK. If it weren't for people posting the article on the temp, the websites posting the news wouldn't get this precious 'traffic' you talk about anyway. At least by posting the article on the temp some people are likely to click the link to read in full. (In fact, that's what I usually do anyway, regardless of whether it's cut down on not).


----------



## prowler (May 26, 2012)

RupeeClock said:


> Yours news articles aren't good, they aren't informative and they aren't written well in the least.
> At the very least they aren't plagiarism.


Excuse you.

Jet Set Radio thread: All it was, was an announcement of the game going to the Vita, there wasn't any more info to put there.
Because We May Sale thread: What do you expect me to put down? Every single game up for sale? I said it's for PC/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android and that's all that was needed.

I'm not trying to sell you the games.


----------



## jurassicplayer (May 26, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> This is exactly what I think, IMO as long as you give a source it should be OK.


Please do attempt using said quoting method in a school paper and submitting it. It's easier to just have a teacher judge it. Of course, by the quoting method in question, I mean copy/paste not just a sentence, not just a couple of sentences, but quote maybe two successive paragraphs or more if you want, otherwise I just can't see how you could possibly think that it's not plagiarism.


----------



## Wizerzak (May 26, 2012)

jurassicplayer said:


> Wizerzak said:
> 
> 
> > This is exactly what I think, IMO as long as you give a source it should be OK.
> ...


I don't have a clue what you meant by that post but why do people keep comparing it to essays? It's nothing to do with an essay. In an essay you quote in order to back up a previous point you have made. You don't write essays in order to inform people about a new game that has been released.


----------



## emigre (May 26, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> I don't have a clue what you meant by that post but why do people keep comparing it to essays? It's nothing to do with an essay. In an essay you quote in order to back up a previous point you have made. You don't write essays in order to inform people about a new game that has been released.



Because in essays (or at least academic essays), sourcing properly and avoiding plagiarism is important. And this approach is being taking when reporting news. And the guidelines in writing an essay can be broadly applied to posting a news article.


----------



## Guild McCommunist (May 26, 2012)

If people spent as much time arguing their position here as they did on writing original news article then this issue would be completely nonexistent.

I hate to be a hard ass here but you just can't copy and paste an entire article, throw in a source, and say you're done for the day. My example from before still stands. When you write an essay for school with proper scholarly sources cited, you don't copy their entire article and paste it as your essay, then expect to be exempt from being given a zero for plagiarism if you say "All this cited from X". You instead provide your own content, opinions, and views, then use the sources as the backbone and support of your essay.

It does compare to a news article. You can't just submit an article quoted from elsewhere and expect to be void from plagiarism because you put the source. You instead should write something original and use the source as evidence that what you said is correct.

I really don't know why so many people are fighting for the right to, well, be lazy and not write something original. It doesn't have to be long paragraphs. Just maybe a line or two from the main source and a few sentences of your own elaboration. If people want more info they can go to the source, but if you're doing it right, they shouldn't have to.


----------



## RupeeClock (May 27, 2012)

prowler said:


> RupeeClock said:
> 
> 
> > Yours news articles aren't good, they aren't informative and they aren't written well in the least.
> ...



Even with so little to report on, you could've put an effort into the article.

Not everyone knows what the game is, why it's significant that the title is coming to the PS Vita, you could added imagery to support the article.
You didn't alude to the updated visuals, the use of touch-screen for graffiti spraying, that MORE details will be coming at E3 because it will be playable at the event...

In fact all you did was write posts in all caps and say O M F G. You obviously do care very much about the game, I didn't say you were trying to sell it to me but you could've made an effort to explain why it excites you ever so much.

It may not be plagiarism but User Submitted News posts are supposed to be of a certain quality, I sure as hell wouldn't read any gaming journalism site like Joystiq if all their articles had the same amount of effort or care as yours. Point is USN isn't just for quick sharing of news or can be treated like general forum posts.
I can see you can use punctuation when you care to, please do it on future USN articles.


----------



## prowler (May 27, 2012)

RupeeClock said:


> Point is USN isn't just for quick sharing of news


yes it isthats the whole point of usn





RupeeClock said:


> I can see you can use punctuation when you care to, please do it on future USN articles.


n0


----------



## prowler (May 27, 2012)

this is just getting stupid now
stop shitting threads up and acting like mods just because it doesnt suit YOUR needs.

here's how usn threads should go
general information on what the info in the source will be about > click link to source
DONE

not rewording the WHOLE source just so you can feel good about yourself because in fact youve done nothing


----------



## Fudge (May 27, 2012)

prowler said:


> this is just getting stupid now
> stop shitting threads up and acting like mods just because it doesnt suit YOUR needs.
> 
> here's how usn threads should go
> ...


I don't think you should be the one bitching, considering you're threads all look like they were posted by spambots


----------



## Rydian (May 27, 2012)

If prowler wants to be lazy and just drop a link and some words, I'm okay with that.

But bitching at other people when he's putting forth _less_ effort is not cool.


----------



## Hyro-Sama (May 27, 2012)

If it's going to start petty flame wars then maybe only the staff should be allowed to post news.


----------



## Vampire Lied (May 27, 2012)

I Second that. ^^^ Or maybe all usn stuff should get reviewed by staff before it's an officially posted/viewable thread. Probably would give them too much extra work though.


----------



## Rydian (May 27, 2012)

The point of USN is to share and discuss news.  The problem is copy-pasting entire articles.

Share news, but don't copy-paste the whole article.  _Preferably_ write a few sentences about it yourself.

Simple shit.  If you don't want to post stuff in USN, don't post in it.

EDIT: Not directly aimed at Vampire. XD


----------



## Tom Bombadildo (May 29, 2012)

Hyro-Sama said:


> If it's going to start petty flame wars then maybe only the staff should be allowed to post news.


Hyro-Sama for president! 

C'mon guys, is it really that hard to summarize a few paragraphs into a few sentences? It's not rocket science.


----------



## Gahars (May 30, 2012)

Suprgamr232 said:


> C'mon guys, is it really that hard to summarize a few paragraphs into a few sentences? It's not rocket science.



Unless you're trying to summarize rocket science, of course.


----------



## Tom Bombadildo (May 30, 2012)

Gahars said:


> Suprgamr232 said:
> 
> 
> > C'mon guys, is it really that hard to summarize a few paragraphs into a few sentences? It's not rocket science.
> ...


Well...you got me there. I demand an exception be made for rocket science!


----------



## Urza (May 31, 2012)

Has there been any discussion backstage concerning this issue?

Any time I happen to come across such an infringing article, I'll send a report. It seems less often than so that there is any action, which is stark contrast to when a post containing infringing software is reported and usually removed in short order.

There is also the issue of repercussions. If a user continually makes infringing threads despite warnings from site volunteers, at what point are additional steps against the user taken? One or two users in particular continue to produce such threads and a few that have been reported weeks ago still remain. Granted, since it seems there has been little staff action against these violations it is completely possible that users such as they still have no idea, though one would think that the sticky makes the rule quite visible.

Three possibilities I figure:

1) Most moderators aren't aware of this newly enforced rule. They see the reports and mark them as resolved since they aren't even aware of the issue.

2) They just don't care. Moderators selectively ignoring rules is a management issue which should be looked into.

3) There is some backstage discussion fleshing the boundaries out which we aren't seeing, and moderators are waiting until consensus is reached before taking such action. This seems the most unlikely as a handful of moderators _have_ been enforcing this rule.

Again, I have no view of what goes on backstage so possibly this has already been addressed. I suppose my point is just to make sure everyone is on the same page and the site volunteers are all notified when rules "changes" such as this come into play.


----------



## Hadrian (May 31, 2012)

First I heard about this rule today, I've always tried to do more than just drop a quote of an article.


----------



## KingVamp (Jul 8, 2012)

Kind of scaring away people from posting News. I feel like people are being gagged and toss into the abyss for trying to get news
across.

http://gbatemp.net/t...wii-u-the-most/
I mean he may have done it wrong by not cutting down enough. How much do you clip from the article
while keeping understanding or turning it to a misunderstanding? I mean he could have put in his input,but
that really wouldn't make any difference.

While I understand and appreciated what you trying to do,all people didn't have the best of writing skills or try to keep unbiased and clear information from the
article. In any case, it isn't necessarily going to increase,decrease or even maintain traffic flow ,by posting only one/two sentences News, to the other website (which
they may have just clip themselves)because people usually just jump in to post and leave without looking at the link.


----------



## Tom Bombadildo (Jul 8, 2012)

KingVamp said:


> Kind of scaring away people from posting News. I feel like people are being gagged and toss into the abyss for trying to get news
> across.
> 
> http://gbatemp.net/t...wii-u-the-most/
> ...


You're supposed to summarize the article in your own words, not cut and paste. If someone can't do that then they shouldn't post news. Simple.


----------



## Guild McCommunist (Jul 8, 2012)

KingVamp said:


> Kind of scaring away people from posting News. I feel like people are being gagged and toss into the abyss for trying to get news
> across.
> 
> http://gbatemp.net/t...wii-u-the-most/
> ...



At this point in time, if you're still posting news articles that are copied and pasted after two threads dedicated to the discussion of this (one I believe by Urza and this one) and numerous thread closings because of it, then you deserve to get your article locked. I have really no tolerance for plagiarism at this point.

You'll get "gagged and toss (sic) into the abyss" for plagiarizing, not posting news. If you're too much of a lazy ass or too stupid to read the rules at this point in time then you shouldn't be posting news. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Yeah, not everyone has the best writing skills, but if you realize this, either A) don't post the news, B) send it to someone who will write something for it, or C) write a sentence or two about it and have them read more at the source. It's not hard. If you miss a piece of news there's plenty of others to pick it up.

For the example at hand, he clipped a single paragraph (which, as Midna pointed out, helped introduce the article) and copy-pasted the rest. That's clear and obvious plagiarism.

I'm not gonna go retype an entire summary because someone forgot to do their homework. That's his job. If he can't do it, his article gets locked, no matter how many pages of comments it has. End of discussion.


----------



## p1ngpong (Jul 8, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> KingVamp said:
> 
> 
> > Kind of scaring away people from posting News. I feel like people are being gagged and toss into the abyss for trying to get news
> ...



I would like to point out that soulx is just being an idiot. I have closed his threads multiple times for being plagiaristic, he knows perfectly well that posting in this way is not acceptable and he is more than capable of summarising an article in a few sentences if he wants to. Quite frankly he deserves to be gagged and tossed into the abyss at this point.


----------



## Deleted_171835 (Jul 10, 2012)

p1ngpong said:


> I would like to point out that soulx is just being an idiot. I have closed his threads multiple times for being plagiaristic, he knows perfectly well that posting in this way is not acceptable and he is more than capable of summarising an article in a few sentences if he wants to. Quite frankly he deserves to be gagged and tossed into the abyss at this point.


Because keeping the relevant bits of an article speaks of complete and total idiocy, right?








@Guild McCommunist:

http://gbatemp.net/t...-and-cbs-films/


Guild McCommunist said:


> EDIT: BUT OH YEAH YOU PLAGIARIZED THIS ONE AGAIN.



_Really?_

A couple relevant quotes is _totally_ plagiarizing.


----------



## Guild McCommunist (Jul 11, 2012)

soulx said:


> *snip*



The whole point of posting news here is to write something original, not just paste excerpts from other articles. You fail to do that over and over again.

Either write something original or stop posting news. I just closed another one of your articles. You're consistently failing to realize what you're doing is wrong so I suggest you stop even trying.


----------



## Deleted_171835 (Jul 11, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> soulx said:
> 
> 
> > *snip*
> ...


Excerpts of an article is not plagiarism. You don't seem to comprehend that.


In the past couple of weeks, that was always allowed. You just got your jimmies rustled and decided to lock every damn thread.

*My thread:*


Spoiler










Falcom may be expanding its Legend of Heroes series to non PlayStation platforms shortly. A seasonal company report on Falcom at Toyo Keizai's investor resources page says "The Kiseki series has been limited to PSP, but starting next term it will be offered on 3DS and a variety of other targets." ("Kiseki" is the Japanese name for the line of Legend of Heroes games that includes Trails in the Sky).

http://andriasang.co...gend_of_heroes/



That ain't fucking plagiarism. Good job on killing legitimate news threads, Mr. Mag Staff.


----------



## Guild McCommunist (Jul 11, 2012)

soulx said:


> *snip*





mthrnite said:


> *Please summarize in your own words, the essence of the news you are reporting.* Please read the stickies in this forum for a guide. Simply copying the entire source article verbatim is lazy, and tantamount to plagiarism.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That means not just copying a part of a source and pasting it. Which is what you have done.

EDIT: If it makes you feel better I put a post in the staff forum regarding the issue and if they disagree with me I'll open it easily.

EDIT 2: If you want an example of correctly taking excerpts from articles, here's an example from my good man Gahars. It includes a snippet from the main article but contains his own personal writing as well.


----------



## pokefloote (Jul 11, 2012)

Each person may have their own views on what is plagiarism or what is not, but if you are using a forum, you must follow the rules of that forum.
I would just shut up and follow them if I was a USN poster.


----------



## Hyro-Sama (Jul 11, 2012)

pokefloote said:


> Each person may have their own views on what is plagiarism or what is not, but if you are using a forum, you must follow the rules of that forum.
> I would just shut up and follow them if I was a USN poster.



Ummm.... There is no alternate definition of plagiarism.


----------



## Wizerzak (Jul 11, 2012)

I miss the good old days when you could just post a news article from somewhere else in order to start a conversation about it, rather than having to re-write what has already been written or risk facing the wrath of an over-eager-"look-at-me-I-have-a-rank" reporter.


----------



## Guild McCommunist (Jul 11, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> I miss the good old days when you could just post a news article from somewhere else in order to start a conversation about it, rather than having to re-write what has already been written or risk facing the wrath of an over-eager-"look-at-me-I-have-a-rank" reporter.



This isn't reddit.


----------



## pokefloote (Jul 11, 2012)

Hyro-Sama said:


> pokefloote said:
> 
> 
> > Each person may have their own views on what is plagiarism or what is not, but if you are using a forum, you must follow the rules of that forum.
> ...


I know, but some seem to think there is.


----------



## Wizerzak (Jul 11, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Wizerzak said:
> 
> 
> > I miss the good old days when you could just post a news article from somewhere else in order to start a conversation about it, rather than having to re-write what has already been written or risk facing the wrath of an over-eager-"look-at-me-I-have-a-rank" reporter.
> ...


You're not God.


----------



## Hyro-Sama (Jul 11, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> Guild McCommunist said:
> 
> 
> > Wizerzak said:
> ...



He's not asking you to kill your firstborn. Chill out.


----------



## Guild McCommunist (Jul 11, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> You're not God.



And you're not the staff. Don't tell me how to do my job, I made a thread in the news staff forum so they can.


----------



## Deleted_171835 (Jul 11, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> mthrnite said:
> 
> 
> > *Please summarize in your own words, the essence of the news you are reporting.* Please read the stickies in this forum for a guide. Simply copying the entire source article verbatim is lazy, and tantamount to plagiarism.
> ...





Rydian said:


> The entire point of the new rule is to encourage small excerpts, opposed to large chunks or the entire article.
> 
> Three sentences out of 5 paragraphs is a small excerpt.
> Four paragraphs out of 4.5 paragraphs is not a small excerpt.
> ...



That was a small excerpt. Rewriting what Andriasang said would have been completely pointless as they already said it in a concise matter.

All you're doing is preventing legitimate discussion. If I had copied and pasted the whole article, then sure lock it. There are so many differing opinions. In fact after speaking with Urza (the one who created the rule) in the shoutbox, he seems to be under the impression that this only applies to full copy-pastes of the article. Excerpts are fine.


Oh and Guild, your vendetta against me is just childish (all because I posted a thread criticizing Sony's decisions, http://gbatemp.net/t...d-fall-of-sony/). 

I'm sure you haven't noticed this thread which was completely copy-pasted.
http://gbatemp.net/t...-nexus-devices/

But I don't even think that should be locked. It has garnered a lot of posts and locking that just prevents discussion.


----------



## Hyro-Sama (Jul 11, 2012)

Definition of fucking plagiarism.


----------



## Wizerzak (Jul 11, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Wizerzak said:
> 
> 
> > You're not God.
> ...


Well, as far as I can see, ever since you were 'promoted' to reporter about 100% more threads are being locked than were being before, and for some reason what we are allowed to post is becoming more and more restricted.

I'm telling you guys, this guy's name fits what the USN forum is turning into perfectly.


----------



## Guild McCommunist (Jul 11, 2012)

soulx said:


> I'm sure you haven't noticed this thread which was completely copy-pasted.
> http://gbatemp.net/t...-nexus-devices/



That's a statement directly from Google, not an article elsewhere.

Much like why you're Playstation All-Stars thread wasn't locked for plagiarism, it was a direct statement from SuperBot.

If I'm wrong regarding that article then someone please point it out and I'll lock it.


----------



## Deleted_171835 (Jul 11, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> soulx said:
> 
> 
> > I'm sure you haven't noticed this thread which was completely copy-pasted.
> ...


That was a statement directly from Andriasang hor hor without another source.


Good job on ignoring the rest of my post, Top Staff.


----------



## Gahars (Jul 11, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> Guild McCommunist said:
> 
> 
> > Wizerzak said:
> ...



Because GBAtemp is clearly submitting to the authoritarian will of Big Brother. Of course.


----------



## KingVamp (Jul 11, 2012)

I pretty sure the word plagiarism is set in stone specially in this changing times. That fact that we are even discussing (not just here,but in rl) adds to that fact. This place isn't an academic paper, it just a random site to discuss gaming stuff and little other bits.We can't get a discussion going because threads close too fast.

I seen other threads do the same, snip just part of the article, but I just haven't said anything.
I'm trying to change my ways, but doesn't mean I agree. I didn't know how posting a snip of the article,but giving your thoughts
out or changing the words afterwords changes the fact that he snip part of the article. I also didn't understand why just snipping
important part of the article, forcing people to click the link for more details isn't acceptable.


Soulx just post "plagiarized" material in this thread, let's shut this thread down.


Link
This is ok since he gave his input afterwards? It not in his own words.


----------



## Wizerzak (Jul 11, 2012)

This is what I don't understand about this new rule:

You could just write a load of crap and link to the article. People would ignore what you have written and go direct to the source to read it there (I do this anyway, even with copied posts).
What's the difference with this to just copying and pasting the article in the first place?


----------



## pokefloote (Jul 11, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> This is what I don't understand about this new rule:
> 
> You could just write a load of crap and link to the article. People would ignore what you have written and go direct to the source to read it there (I do this anyway, even with copied posts).
> What's the difference with this to just copying and pasting the article in the first place?


If you do that anyway, then why are you fighting this so much?


----------



## Guild McCommunist (Jul 11, 2012)

Two points.

This doesn't concern any of you. How I do my job is up to me and the rest of the staff. I've stated multiple times that I've submitted this issue to the staff so they can find a solution. I'm not being authoritarian. I'm not being Big Brother. I'm not abusing my power. I simply am doing what I believe my job entitles and I have taken the time and effort to see if I'm doing it right.
I find it funny that in the time and effort it took to argue this point that anyone opposing my point could have taken the same news article and rewritten it appropriately to guidelines. I post a fair amount of news. It takes me a couple of minutes to do. It's not that hard. You're obviously well spoken people, you're not illiterate baboons who have issues reading a keyboard, any one of you could have taken that article, did as I said, and I would have been giving you a thumbs up or a Top Gun high five for it. I just find it funny that people here are fighting for their right to be lazy in their news submissions. Don't want to be lazy? Don't submit news. I have 10 RSS feeds that grab most news. If you miss something important, I (or someone who does post news correctly) will pick it up.



Wizerzak said:


> Well, as far as I can see, ever since you were 'promoted' to reporter about 100% more threads are being locked than were being before, and for some reason what we are allowed to post is becoming more and more restricted.
> 
> I'm telling you guys, this guy's name fits what the USN forum is turning into perfectly.



I close four threads for plagiarism across two pages of news and that's 100%? I think you need to redo your calculations.


----------



## KingVamp (Jul 11, 2012)

*snip
Also, the person who rewrote it can rather unintentionally or intentionally bring their bias and/or misunderstanding about the source.

edit: Misread his post.


----------



## Guild McCommunist (Jul 11, 2012)

KingVamp said:


> Also, the person who rewrote it can rather unintentionally or intentionally bring there bias and/or misunderstanding about the source.



One of the first rules of journalism is to keep your bias out of it. I try to do that on all my news posts, with some exceptions when its comical or a widely held belief.


----------



## emigre (Jul 11, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> Well, as far as I can see, ever since you were 'promoted' to reporter about 100% more threads are being locked than were being before, and for some reason what we are allowed to post is becoming more and more restricted.
> 
> I'm telling you guys, this guy's name fits what the USN forum is turning into perfectly.



USN is becoming a classless, social order based on the principle of common ownership of the means of production?


----------



## Midna (Jul 11, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Two points.
> 
> This doesn't concern any of you. How I do my job is up to me and the rest of the staff. I've stated multiple times that I've submitted this issue to the staff so they can find a solution. I'm not being authoritarian. I'm not being Big Brother. I'm not abusing my power. I simply am doing what I believe my job entitles and I have taken the time and effort to see if I'm doing it right.
> I find it funny that in the time and effort it took to argue this point that anyone opposing my point could have taken the same news article and rewritten it appropriately to guidelines. I post a fair amount of news. It takes me a couple of minutes to do. It's not that hard. You're obviously well spoken people, you're not illiterate baboons who have issues reading a keyboard, any one of you could have taken that article, did as I said, and I would have been giving you a thumbs up or a Top Gun high five for it. I just find it funny that people here are fighting for their right to be lazy in their news submissions. Don't want to be lazy? Don't submit news. I have 10 RSS feeds that grab most news. If you miss something important, I (or someone who does post news correctly) will pick it up.
> ...


Remember that last thread you closed about Metroid and Starfox? Your clever little rules prompted the OP to cut out the introductory paragraph of the article, reducing the coherency of the article. Interestingly enough, that cut off quality discussion and the news was never reposted. So worth it, right. I've also seen people "rewrite" articles but go on to include details that were not in the original article. These rules are causing potential discussion to be silenced and article quality to be reduced.

Has GBAtemp been contacted by IGN or some such for sourcing them inappropriately? Why the sudden change in policies?


Spoiler



Also this is a christian website and we don't support copyright infringement at all no plagarism or warez mmkay?


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## thegame07 (Jul 11, 2012)

I'm kind of sick of hearing about this tbh, As people have said before it's not classed as plagiarism if you mention the author of the quote and don't make a profit off it. It seems to me like there is bullying going on towards certain members and the people that are doing it are getting away with it, I've seen people who are supposed to be staff ripping into "kids" and swearing at them because they have a problem with their newspost, Is this what this site is turning into? Maybe if people spoke to everyone nicely it would get things done in a quicker and more civilised way.

I just have one thing to ask has this site went 100% fully legit or not? Because It seems to me that people have double standards on here these days.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Jul 11, 2012)

thegame07 said:


> Maybe if people spoke to everyone nicely it would get things done in a quicker and more civilised way.
> 
> I just have one thing to ask has this site went 100% fully legit or not? Because It seems to me that people have double standards on here these days.


Maybe if people were nice to each other we wouldn't have war. 

What do you mean by 100% fully legit? Ever since GBATemp stopped hosting illegal files it's been "legit".


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## p1ngpong (Jul 11, 2012)

Pretty much since we have introduced this new rule everyone has been co-operative. It took a while for some people to get it, but slowly the standards in USN have risen significantly which has made USN a better place.

There is only one person who has been a complete dick about this rule, and that is soulx.

He has repeatedly chosen to ignore the plagiarism rule, has continued to post USN threads with a substantial amount of copied content from the source and not a single original word posted from himself.

He has had about a dozen threads locked up to this point, and I am tired of locking them. And if I ever have to lock another you will be gone from here for a good while.

Anyway I am going to close this thread for now, because this matter is not up for debate and no further discussion is needed. This is as straightforward a rule as you could possibly have and easy to comply with. If you don't like this rule and cannot adhere to it then don't post news, it's as simple as that.

And also I don't know why you are all focusing on Guild, this was a rule introduced by mthrnite and largely enforced by me. If you have an issue with Guild PM him about it, any more public bitching directed at him will be dealt with by me personally. 

And that's that.


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## Rydian (Jul 12, 2012)

Having been mag staff during some of the news system changes (and being the no-lifer that sees a lot of the public shit in these forums on top of that), I have to say some people could _really_ use a memory refresher.

_GBAtemp's focus on general gaming news is a recent development_, the news was primarily hack and homebrew-based before the decision to include non-homebrew gaming news as a major point as well.  The reason is because the hacking/homebrew scene is dying down in most cases, there's not nearly as much new homebrew to write about as there was before.

*User-submitted news used to be a resource from which articles from the front page would be pulled.*  Whenever you posted a thread in USN there was a "submit for the front page" checkbox, which would make the article go into a queue for mag staff and mods to look at.  If the article was approved, it would be pulled into a Tempbot post (to prevent the OP from editing the article after it was on the front page for vandalism) and pushed to the front page.
(Here's some info from back then.)
http://ask.gbatemp.net/123/tempbot-run

Here's some examples of things pulled into tempbot for the front page.
http://gbatemp.net/topic/264872-dios-mios-released/
http://gbatemp.net/topic/117331-supercard-slot-1-and-slot-2-update/
http://gbatemp.net/topic/273579-super-mario-64-ds-editor-v101-released/

It's not just small news that made it to the wrong page.  Writeups and explanations were commonly pushed to the front page too.
http://gbatemp.net/t272700-ps3-psp-private-keys-released

The focus on user-created things (tools, writeups, etc.) is also a way to showcase GBAtemp's creations.  Sometimes staff would pick out things from the forums themselves (instead of waiting for a submission) and do a small writeup on it, pushing or featuring user-created content to the front page without it even needing to be submitted.
http://gbatemp.net/topic/263081-scds2-sfc-emu-cht-format/
http://gbatemp.net/topic/264078-scds2-sfc-emu-cheat-codes-v11/
http://gbatemp.net/topic/254578-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-ps3-jailbreak/
http://gbatemp.net/topic/278168-beginners-guide-to-dsdsi-hacking/

Notice the key linking all these different ways that news was posted?
The explanations and blurbs were written by people on this forum.

Why am I showing you all this?

So you all can see what the USN/forum USED to produce, then maybe look at your own submissions and realize why people are saying they need to be improved.  The idea behind user-submitted news hasn't changed, *the submissions have just dropped so far in quality that enforcement is needed*.

This doesn't apply to everybody, there's still users that put some effort into their posts and try to encourage actual discussion (Gahars, etc.), I just wanted to clear up _the misconception that this expectation of A LITTLE FUCKING EFFORT is new_.


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