Got modded on Gfaqs for liking emulators.

[AkiraCast]

Topic was about whether people liked VC or not and I laid out that I have some disdain for it, I think it's overpriced so I mentioned that emulators just plain provide better options (didn't even bring up roms at all by the way) and that I kinda preferred them, got modded, got accused of piracy, explained more details and now the mod is telling me there's no legal way for me to play games on an emulator and that backups are only used for 'archival' purposes. Uhh, hello? LP's on youtube and speedruns on Twitch both use emulators (not everyone of course), I also brought up GGPO which even tells you to use legal roms. Sorry, I just wanted to vent my frustration, I feel I can't even be myself at Gfaqs. Thanks for reading.
/rant

 

[Thirty3Three]

Well, you know. GameFaqs. Terrible. Don't mind them. The moderators and the users are ridiculous there.

 

[Foxi4]

Apparently when you're five and a moderator on GameFAQ's, you don't know of the existence of dumpers. If you really don't want to enter the "grey zone" and want to do everything prim and proper, you absolutely can - schematics for cartridge dumpers for most cartridge-based systems as well as the necessary software are freely available online and discs are usually easy-peasy to rip. You absolutely can legally use emulators and your very own ROM's and ISO's if you feel like going the extra mile not to download any pirated software. That being said, matters like this are up to territorial law, so it's best to check what's your country's take on backups in general.

 

[AkiraCast]

Yeah this is the third time I've been modded, the first I forget why, the second I forget too but I remember it was for something the 'rules' are so incredibly vague about you'd have to be the creator of the rules yourself to know about it. I don't really want to give up on Gfaqs though cause I happen to like the communities for niche Japanese games on there. Still, I'm taking my stance on this emulation thing, I can't just let that one go. This mod is basically saying those all those LPers, GGPO players and speedrunners are all pirates, and if I get banned for using logic then so be it.

Apparently when you're five and a moderator on GameFAQ's, you don't know of the existence of dumpers. If you really don't want to enter the "grey zone" and want to do everything prim and proper, you absolutely can - schematics for cartridge dumpers for most cartridge-based systems as well as the necessary software are freely available online and discs are usually easy-peasy to rip. You absolutely can legally use emulators and your very own ROM's and ISO's if you feel like going the extra mile not to download any pirated software. That being said, matters like this are up to territorial law, so it's best to check what's your country's take on backups in general.

Oh yeah USA here, I linked that mod to an article on wikipedia that says "According to all legal precedents, emulation is legal within the United States", I predict he'll dance around it and lay an ad hominem attack on wikipedia.

 

[Clydefrosch]

they just dont want you to talk about roms and emulators. just dont and get on with life

 

[Snailface]

The Virtual Console service uses emulators and roms as well so I guess Gfaqs has a lot more warns to hand out.

 

[Foxi4]

they just dont want you to talk about roms and emulators. just dont and get on with life

I disagree and think that this is a problem people need to be vocal about. Nobody's screaming bloody murder when you take an Audio CD and rip it to an iPod, in fact, the functionality is built into iTunes as far as I know - why can't the same thing apply to video games? I don't understand what makes the big difference - you can just as easily rip a DS game with just your DS and a flash cart and put it on your mobile phone for emulation purposes, but that raises piracy red flags. There's absolutely nothing that intrinsically connects software to the medium it's stored on - software is intangible and should be transferrable however the user deems fit. If I feel like playing Pokemon on a TI calculator for whatever reason, I should be able to if I own the original game.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

>Gamefaqs
lel.

The community there, including the mods, is absolutely terrible. If you're really getting upset because some 10 year old modded some post on the internet, you should probably shift your priorities a bit.

 

[Clydefrosch]

I disagree and think that this is a problem people need to be vocal about. Nobody's screaming bloody murder when you take an Audio CD and rip it to an iPod, in fact, the functionality is built into iTunes as far as I know - why can't the same thing apply to video games? I don't understand what makes the big difference - you can just as easily rip a DS game with just your DS and a flash cart and put it on your mobile phone for emulation purposes, but that raises piracy red flags. There's absolutely nothing that intrinsicly connects software to the medium it's stored on - software is intangible and should be transferrable however the user deems fit. If I feel like playing Pokemon on a TI calculator for whatever reason, I should be able to if I own the original game.

thats all fine and dandy, but if they have a community rule that says: no talking about roms and emulation (because in 99+% of the cases it implies some kind of illegal activity), then you have to abide by that rule.
and life is too short to spend 10 minutes rambling about it someplace else, knowing that you wont change their mind anyway.
it doesnt even matter if it makes any sense or not. even if they forbid the use of the letter a, they make the rules in their little part of the internet and you have to deal with it

and what connects software to the very specific storage medium is usually some type of licensing. because you dont buy the software and own it, its still owned by the companies that sell it to you. what you own is usually a license to play the software according to the rules of the software owners, which usually includes it being tied to a certain hardware and medium.

 

[Foxi4]

thats all fine and dandy, but if they have a community rule that says: no talking about roms and emulation (because in 99+% of the cases it implies some kind of illegal activity), then you have to abide by that rule.
and life is too short to spend 10 minutes rambling about it someplace else, knowing that you wont change their mind anyway.
it doesnt even matter if it makes any sense or not. even if they forbid the use of the letter a, they make the rules in their little part of the internet and you have to deal with it

and what connects software to the very specific storage medium is usually some type of licensing. because you dont buy the software and own it, its still owned by the companies that sell it to you. what you own is usually a license to play the software according to the rules of the software owners, which usually includes it being tied to a certain hardware and medium.

Except I don't remember GameFAQ's ever having that kind of a rule. They might have some about piracy, but I've never heard of a rules board prohibiting discussing emulation in my life - this was just the moderator's fancy.

 

[Armadillo]

There's never been a rule of "no emulator talk". The closest you get to that is talking about emulators on a closed system (as that violates the homebrew/breaking protection rule).

The mods are just inconsistent and terrible, that's all. You can be modded for anything and they will just twist the rules to make it fit (usually the illegal activities rule).

You even have a topic on the unofficial ask mods board with a moderator saying "We do allow discussion of Dolphin though.
I don't get it either."

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/573081-hellhole/60804336

The rules are enforced as and when the mods like, depending on if it's:

Marked
Which mod looks at it
Do they like you

Site is well known for terrible mods.

 

[Celice]

I remember years ago playing Phantom Hourglass in Japanese, and asking why drawing the number 7 wasn't working for me... realized it was because I draw my 7 from a different starting point than what the game expected, but a moderator modded me for talking about a game not released yet...

 

[the_randomizer]

I wonder why people join such a seemingly draconian forum like GameFAQs if all the mods are douchebags over there.

 

[Hyro-Sama]

Breaking News: GameFAQs Staff are incompetent as fuck.

It has been known for awhile that the Mods there are extremely ignorant and stupid. You're best off not going back to avoid being constantly infuriated by the staff's shortcomings. There are better gaming communities out there. Hell, even 4chan is a better option than GameFAQs.

 

[the_randomizer]

There's never been a rule of "no emulator talk". The closest you get to that is talking about emulators on a closed system (as that violates the homebrew/breaking protection rule).

The mods are just inconsistent and terrible, that's all. You can be modded for anything and they will just twist the rules to make it fit (usually the illegal activities rule).

You even have a topic on the unofficial ask mods board with a moderator saying "We do allow discussion of Dolphin though.
I don't get it either."

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/573081-hellhole/60804336

The rules are enforced as and when the mods like, depending on if it's:

Marked
Which mod looks at it
Do they like you

Site is well known for terrible mods.

Plain and simple, the mods on there are all immature ten year-old punks who have no lives. That place is a hellhole.

 

[AkiraCast]

Thank you very much everyone for your posts, I totally acknowledge that Gfaqs' community is pretty shitty, I also do go on 4chans /v/ and lurk Neogaf (Sonygaf haha) on occasion. I mostly care about my Gfaqs account for the backlog feature to be totally honest, I know that's kinda lame and that there's again, better options for backlog stuff xD But yeah those mods are super damn terrible, I remember my second mod now, it was for contributing to that Cory In The House board raid but seriously it got to the point where people had to beg to not be modded if they wanted to actually talk about the game it was ridiculous >.> At which point the board for it shouldn't even exist. I mean damn seriously? do those mods just not like fun? Also jesus fucking christ on the phantom hourglass thing, guess they've never heard of fucking importing.

 

[Sicklyboy]

USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS THREAD

jk jk. Gamefaqs community is absolute shit. I got out of there while I was still ahead... and like 14.

Talk about emulators all you want here. No big deal. Just don't say/ask where to find roms

 

[the_randomizer]

USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS THREAD

jk jk. Gamefaqs community is absolute shit. I got out of there while I was still ahead... and like 14.

Talk about emulators all you want here. No big deal. Just don't say/ask where to find roms

For what I've gathered, it seems like people would get verbally eviscerated for using the e-word

 

[PolloDiablo]

Just don't say/ask where to find roms

ask Google instead

 

[AkiraCast]

USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS THREAD

jk jk. Gamefaqs community is absolute shit. I got out of there while I was still ahead... and like 14.

Talk about emulators all you want here. No big deal. Just don't say/ask where to find roms

No problem! I'm 20, it's that youthful naivety of mine that made me want to keep my Gfaqs account I guess haha, but at this point fuck it I don't care anymore.