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This might explain some things

Started by ShyYoshiGuy, January 15, 2020, 07:05:24 PM

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ShyYoshiGuy

Hello guys. This might be my last forum post ever because I'm finally admitting... My first sheet, Manhole, was plagiarized from a different person's MIDI file. And by this point, I could have totally been off the hook—I mean it's not even on the site anymore—but I don't want it on my conscience any longer, so here we go. Guys, I've got a lot to spill:

On May 31, 2018, I made my first sheet. Just, y'know, googled "Game & Watch Gallery MIDI" and picked the first result and adapted it into a sheet. I didn't realize that those MIDI's actually took people time to make, I thought they were just ripped straight from the game. Looking back, that was a dumb thing to assume, but eh, hindsight's 2018, yeah? (Whoever even still has the archives from the Updater server, you can see in the first file I submitted for Olimar to edit has the same staff names as the MIDI file from that website.) So then, y'know, that sheet gets accepted, and that was a pretty happy day. Over the next month and change, I continued to do that exact thing for Octopus and Fire and Parachute, but luckily I wasn't able to get much progress with those before:

On July 23, 2018, in the Discord server (in #submissions), Olimar, Levi, Maelstrom, Brassman, etc. had a conversation about MIDI's and plagiarism and all that. Boy, that was a scary day because then I discovered everything I did was wrong. Instead of confessing right then, I did what I could to hide it. I deleted the files on my computer, I deleted the Octopus submission that had been sitting there without feedback for a time, I edited incriminating forum posts (these two were the only ones I can remember, but there must have been more). And then I decided I'd develop my ear training enough so that I could just redo Manhole but for real and replace the old one. So that's when:

On July 30, 2018, I decided what I had done to try and develop my musical skills wasn't working, so I created my most infamous forum topic of whole time, lol. My new idea. For those unaware, I became a little hostile asking people to suggest me songs to arrange. This isn't an excuse for being inconsiderate of others, but this will at least explain why. Everyone was asking questions about how I arranged my first sheet and I felt like I was being attacked. That topic lasted literally only four days before I edited every post in it to the same thing and Bree locked it. Altissimo, if you're somehow reading this, I'm really sorry for how I treated you.

On June 1, 2019, after realizing that sheet had been up for an entire year, I finally took initiative to take it down. Well, more like, I sent a confusing forum PM to Latios, not wanting to share the details of my fraudulent sheet, and then like... after two days and getting THC involved, Latios finally removed it. To both of you, that might explain why I was so incredibly nervous to say anything, and uh yeah.

Look, I've spent my fair share of time feeling really bad about this and stressing over it, and I'm just done. If you want to punish me, punish me. If you want to remove the Game Select sheet as well (even though that one was not plagiarized), go ahead. I honestly don't know what "accordingly" and "depending on the circumstances" entail in this case, and if you think I haven't obsessed over the exact wording of the forum rules, well think again. I'm sorry for all this, and I wish I had the courage to speak up in a matter of days instead of years after learning of my wrong-doings. I recommend you make it more clear in the rules or somewhere the exact nature of plagiarism, so that if there is another person in my situation, they'll know exactly what is acceptable and the consequences of doing such. Finding NSM and playing its sheets is an integral part of me finding Discord and my dearest friends, and I wish the history of me appearing there was a little more pure, heh, but... it's too late to fix that. I apologize to and appreciate all who had to deal with me in my transition period to who I am now. Thank you for reading all this. Hopefully I'll be able to see you guys around. Guguuh!
"Don't be nervous, be of service."
   - Jacob Howard
On-site arrangements

Guguuh!

Latios212

It's fine. Obviously it's not okay to plagiarize, but what's important now is you being upfront about this, which I very much appreciate. What's happened has happened, the plagiarized sheet has been taken down from the site, and you have no bad intentions - there would be no point in punishing you now.

On a related note, I've been wanting to overhaul the rules around here for some time now specifically to avoid situations like this where people view the staff as far too overbearing (we're not! :P). More on that soon!

As always, if you feel uncomfortable for some reason, just reach out. I hope you continue to find the community a welcoming place to stay. :)
My arrangements and YouTube channel!

Quote from: Dudeman on February 22, 2016, 10:16:37 AM
who needs education when you can have WAIFUS!!!!!

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turtle

mikey

plenty people here are washed up hacks who have no ability to write music
as long as you don't do it again, don't sweat it
instead become a TWG player for life
unmotivated

Jamaha

Quote from: mikey on January 15, 2020, 09:51:26 PMplenty people here are washed up hacks who have no ability to write music
as long as you don't do it again, don't sweat it
instead become a TWG player for life

Alternatively, just become the admin of the entire website. I know a guy who did that for like a decade, despite only producing a couple of terrible sheets directly from MIDIs.

mikey

Quote from: Jamaha on March 22, 2020, 04:02:14 PMAlternatively, just become the admin of the entire website. I know a guy who did that for like a decade, despite only producing a couple of terrible sheets directly from MIDIs.
I knew a guy who literally didn't produce a single sheet on his own- someone had to modify every single one to various degrees
unmotivated

AmpharosAndy

Quote from: ShyYoshiGuy on January 15, 2020, 07:05:24 PMafter two days and getting THC involved
oh dear lord - i live in fear

edit: also whoops, it's okay innit :) nobody minds:: we're all bananas in our own way
innit

Latios212

Quote from: AmpharosAndy on March 23, 2020, 01:59:16 AMwe're all bananas in our own way
I read that as we are all "physically" bananas and wow that's deep
My arrangements and YouTube channel!

Quote from: Dudeman on February 22, 2016, 10:16:37 AM
who needs education when you can have WAIFUS!!!!!

Spoiler
[close]
turtle

SlowPokemon

I literally read that as "we all spell bananas in our own way"
Quote from: Tobbeh99 on April 21, 2016, 02:56:11 PM
Fuck logic, that shit is boring, lame and does not always support my opinions.