Mclaren for drag racing

[ML2166]

Trouble is the exact same thing goes for the original modders does it not?

They too have their own lives, and give their spare time and mods to the community.

So then when something like this occurs (which is becoming ever more frequent) they are then expected to take time out of their lives to having to prove it is infact work they have done, by downloading the file, comparing it to their own work, then having to upload images to an external image hosting site so it can be verified (all of which takes time) as you are fully aware.

But in most cases I for one would trust the word of older or well established members over the word of someone less so.

Perhaps the onus should fall on those that have re-uploaded someone elses work to prove that it is all there own work, by providing the above files for comaparison instead of the other way around.

 

[MARSALA]

It's really too bad that I can not insult this thief

 

[Graham Laing]

ML2166 Yes modders do have their own real lives, and dedicate time and energy into what they do. I am sure that is genuinely appreciated by the majority of users of RD. However you do choose to do it, I would presume because you get something out of it yourself, whether it's just enjoyment, you like the challenge, or the respect of your peers.

You deserve credit for what you do, I don't think anyone disputes that.

Personally, the modding 'elite', for want of a better way of describing them, can come across as pretty aggressive, and protectionist, jumping on people like ton of bricks sometimes, when really a gentle reminder or prod in the right direction would be enough to persuade the 'offender' to change his ways, and give the correct people credit. Hell, I have even seen noobies to skinning release their first effort, and they almost get destroyed in the forum for not coming up to the 'accepted' standard, but that's leading us off the topic .....

When you say :

Perhaps the onus should fall on those that have re-uploaded someone else's work to prove that it is all there own work, by providing the above files for comparison instead of the other way around.

Provide them to whom? Who's the arbiter?

Many mods, skins, helmets et al are uploaded to rapidshare, zippyshare, mediafire, and other such places by modders, but there is no expectation or onus on those sites to prove where those files came from, and who they belong to. Why should RD be any different?

Cheers

 

[Matthew327]

Guys, please.

Neither am I a talented modder, nor am I a moderator, but I am a member of RD just as well as all of you are, and I have enjoyed the atmosphere here at RD ever since I joined. There are modders we could call professionals, or, as Graham Laing called it, modding 'elite', who give this forum the professional touch. You guys surely deserve the credit for creating exceptional work, and I doubt that RD would be half as lively as it is if it weren't for you (incredible artists like ML, Rian, Timothy Decrans, pmgl, pebz etc.).

On the other hand, there's newbies who don't know or understand the term 'Copyright Infringement' - for whatever reason, be it that they are too young or simply not in a state of mind to understand the gravity of their actions.

What we can say is that by copying another artist's work, we do not only insult them in a very personal manner (which makes their reactions pretty understandable, at least in my humble opinion), but also do they take credit for work they have simply not created themselves.

It would probably help if any member joining RD would receive a short, personal message telling them in short and understandable words that stealing another artists work is not acceptable and will have consequences - installing such a function would, of course, take another act of work from the moderators, who (in my opinion) are doing an excellent job in terms of cleaning up the forums and keeping them clean.

And to all the other members (especially the top artists whose works are stolen repeatedly): It doesn't really help insulting the thieves, since it doesn't do any good for the atmosphere among the community; it only tempts other members to join in the hating and the insulting.
I'd like to politely urge all of you (and yes, I even dare to speak up to the highest heights of the modding olympus) not to insult those who are simply unaware of what they are doing; we can't prove their bad intention, and as long as this is the case, we must presume they are not aware of the illegality of their actions.

In a condensed form:
To the moderators: Maybe you can install a function to make new members receive a short information about the terms 'original work', 'copyright infringement' and a general warning about the consequences of a breach of these rules.
To the community: Your anger is well-understood, but it doesn't make things any better. Refrain from insulting each other, rather try to sort things out calmly (and thereby show your superiority) and, if you really can't help it, send them a PM and invite them to a personal bout to clear things up ;-)

Keep racing.

P.S.: Sorry if I've made a lot of mistakes, English isn't my first language. I hope I've made myself clear.

 

[camopi]

True words !!!

 

[ML2166]

Which leads me to my next point.

You say that you wouldn't hold or wish to hold master/original copies of files.

If the files are loaded onto the site using the correct download section.....where do they go?

Are they not loaded onto some form of RD server? Therefore do you not have originals held?

I understand that files uploaded outside of the correct download section will have no form of moderation from this site...and neither should it, but what about the files that are hosted on the servers?

I also understand that not allowing external links to uploaded content would alienate a few people, but isn't it about time that this was implemented?

Reasons being that content could then be moderated correctly, links would 99% of the time work.......and would make use of the download section (which I imagine does cost plenty to host). It is just as easy to upload a file here as it is to any other site to a degree, so there really isn't any point in doing so somewhere else. Or what would be the point of of actually creating the room and expense of the download section in the first place.

At least if all files were loaded to the site, a dispute of any kind would be a case of simply pointing the moderator to the source file in question.

I understand that sometimes it isn't possible to load onto the site, but this is rare, and you could always wait the small amount of time to load when it is possible, or then just load onto an external site as a temporary measure.

I know that there are file size limits in place....but files can always be broken down into parts.

By the way

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ not dock worker at all.

 

[Graham Laing]

I have got to disappear in a few minutes .... so this will have to be brief.

I have no special access to downloads at the server level, few people do. So I can't really comment about the 'system' as such.

What I meant is that I would have to personally download all skins myself for all cars. Off the top of my head, I can't tell you how many McLaren skins there are in the download section at the moment, just to name one car.

Even if I said there were 8 of them, I have now got to compare all files in the freshly uploaded McLaren (to avoid disputes), to all of the other 8 cars. How many files that involves, I couldn't tell you ..... but it also assumes that I know what i am looking for, I guess different modders watermark something somewhere, and also different modders may do it in different places/files, I don't know. It also assumes that I have the correct software to be to do this.

Now multiply that up by how many cars there really are ..... and I don't fancy it, speaking on a personal level here ....

Anyway.... must dash now

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Of course all files can be manually checked on each report but lets stay reasonable. As long as we have hardworking moderators volunteering their free time for the fun of others that is not going to happen.

The community it self has an important role in educating eachother what is done and what is not done. Swearing / Banning and what more is not going to reach that goal for sure.

But my humble question is still not answered. How many modders have asked Codemasters for official permission to modify their car models? How many have actually contacted sponsors who's logo's you are using on the cars? How come they aren't credited in any of the mods posted?

For me its all a matter of courtesy and if proper credits are given it should be okay as long as the files itself don't contain original content from other games and is compliant to our TOS. If there are modders out there that refuse permission to let other modders use their work even with crediting should ask themselves maybe for which goal they are modding: serve the community or just for personal fame and glory.

Bottomline just like in real life: ask, credit, thank and be happy as everybody is here to enjoy themselves with F1 2012 The Game - The Extended Community Version .