Seeing all this chaos, I can't just ignore and say that everything is fine. It breaks my heart to see people "killing" each other because they took pyro's opinion too seriously and went full rampage. At same time, I think we some glaring issues about how pyro's judging was done . I'm not here to pick sides, but I understand why people were so mad about that. But before going to the 72hoKaizo, there's something that's been bothering for a while.
Like mentioned by The Morganah, Morsel made a commentary about Sammuuu copying someone's else work. Here's the comment that he made in the CLDC:
Originally posted by MorselIt's another one of those vine races, copied from the ROM hack 'Something else' by yogui; this was not the most inspired twist on the concept, as it is merely used as a timer (in gnarly or kaizo 3 or hyper 6 (the holy trinity) you have to clear the way).
Sammuuu even said that he didn't play yogui's hack, so what is the point of this commentary? As reminder, this isn't the first time that Morsel accuses someone of plagiarizing stuff. We saw something similar with Sariel and Wakana's level at CLDC. This is not a posture that I expect from a judge.
Next time, show proofs of said accusations before pointing fingers to people. I would be very displeased if that accusation was torwards a level I'm making. The community doesn't need more drama and by accusing people without proofs, you'll end upsetting people for no good reason.
Now, the second point I want to make. I'm mostly fine about bringing different judges and having different perspectives put together in a contest. I like and I'll always embrace this idea, but there's a point about level design contests: I expect that judges analyze the levels with a critical mindset. No harsh language, no acid humor, no saltiness. You may ask "why do you demand so much of the judges?"
By making harsh commentaries for people YOU DON'T KNOW, you may make people get away from the community. More important than constructive criticism is the language that you use to communicate your thoughts and ideias. So, if pyro was harsh and gave tons of zero, you shouldn't expect the kaizo community to be happy about that. After all, people only had 72 hours to make levels. How many of you can make a fantastic level in that short period of time? I, for example, take a week to make a good level or more. This why I'm happy to see Atari and Sariel's judging. They knew that people had short time to make stuff, so they didn't went harsh in to them. This is what I expect from a judge. It's being professional, giving constructive feedback and if possible, always encourage people to get better at this hobby.
If you judge a level and say things "this isn't a level", "please stop making levels", don't expect people to open a smile in the face and say "thank you". No, in fact, if a judge made that kind of commentary to a level of mine, I would look at him with scorn.
So, to be clear, I will not tolerate this kind of nasty commentary coming from any judge here. You can be from any important team, I don't care, if you're nasty to someone, I don't see you as human being. Pyro made some very rude commentaries and I don't think that "but she has her opinions" is a valid response.
I get salty a lot playing some hacks. And yet, every time I gave feedback to any hack that I was testing, I thought: "I may be angry, but I need to give constructive criticism to the person and be careful to not sound rude". As Morganah said, we need some sensibility before judging others' people stuff.
Being unnecessary harsh and making comments like "Please don't make a level" will only enrage people even more and I can't believe I saw some of you defending Pyro just because things got out of proportion. Of course it got out of proportion! She said things in that mean tone and was expecting people to be "oh, pyro was harsh, but okay, thanks for judging my level."? Is that what you expected to happen?
For future contests, I would like that judges take in account some things:
- If's a timed contest like a 72 hours level design level, the judgement shouldn't be too harsh.
- Accusing someone of plagiarism or copy is not a thing that should be taken lighty. The accuser must have proofs, otherwise these accusations are like empty words with no value and that will only ends causing more trouble than necessary.
- No rude or unnecessary acid language. While different judges have different opinions, focusing on diminishing levels instead of giving constructive critics will only end causing more problems, so please, avoid that in future contests. The community does not need any more drama. That's not why we do SMW Hacking.
We should be examples and motivate people to continue making levels. Not bashing them and being rude to them. I want the best for this community. That's why I've come back, that's why I helped many people. The SMW Hacking Scene is my second home, it's a hobby that I'm passionate and nothing upsets me more than seeing people making this kind of unnecessary harsh commentary about other levels. I really love this community, that's why I can't be quiet anymore. Judges aren't exempt from any rule, they should try to motivate people or at least, be fair at their criticisms.
And while my words may sound a bit severe, I have to be clear: I have nothing against pyro as a person. I just don't think that her judging was any beneficial to the community. i didn't liked what I read and I think that a lot of her commentaries could be made in ways that didn't sound salty.
Even if it's a friend of mine, I won't tolerate harsh language like that. It's even worse taking account that I don't know how pyro is as person, so for a outsider, she may sound like a hostile person. That's why we should be careful about the tone we use to express our thoughts.
Sorry if I sound harsh, but I'm very sad with all this situation. While their backlash was extreme and unnecessarily aggressive, I don't think pyro was innocent either. Both sides for me are equally wrong in this case. And it saddens me to see people trying to justifing such harsh commentaries as "hey, it's only a contest. life is harsh" .
Anyway, these are my thoughts.
