What constitutes "piracy talk" (all users read)

[Shane R. Monroe]

I wanted to lay out some guidelines on what exactly constitutes piracy talk so that people are not "shocked" when they get infractions and/or bans for discussing piracy. For those that won't read:

1) Discussing "rom files" and "specific dumps".
2) Discussing games that have not yet hit street date.
3) Discussion that APPEARS TO and SMELLS LIKE piracy.

Now, for those that read

First, the "why" - why we enforce this rule and why YOU PERSONALLY should care.

As with any powerful tool, the CycloDS Evo card can be used for "good" and "evil" purposes. Most people will argue that flash carts are for "pirating games" and that trying to justify it as a legal tool is simply a waste of time and energy ... aka "what do you mean you don't intend us to pirate games with it??!!!"

Whether this is true or not, it is NOT in the best interest of the product or the development team for the OUTWARD PERCEPTION of this tool to be used to pirate games. Nintendo AGGRESSIVELY trolls the internet and forums specifically to find information on flash carts, who is using/selling and will certainly take that information to heart when looking on who to attack in the anti-piracy wars. Look at Nintendo's SPECIFIC targetting of the R4 cartridge. We do NOT want CycloDS Evo or Team Cyclops to be Nintendo's next "big target".

Blatent piracy talk is EXACTLY how we, as users, can make that happen. As a "stockholder" in TC (I own several of their flash carts), I do NOT want TC going away - because if they do, this forum dies and the product's updates die. We all take for granted that TC will be here forever - but we users can help stop this by NOT talking about pirating games before they even street.

So, what exactly do we consider "piracy talk"?

1) Discussing "rom files" and "specific dumps". "Roms" (while technically correct) has a nasty connectation to it. When you say "I'm trying to get Pokemon Platinum roms to work" that has a much different implied meaning than "I dumped my Pokemon Platinum cart using NDS Backup and I can't get it to save properly". The former says "I used Google to find an illegal rom image of the game and I can't get it to work" .. the latter says "I'm using CycloDS in a legal manner to run my own backups". When you say "I'm using the (E) dump" (or even spelling it out completely) that says "I'm not using my own dump" - which again, implies piracy. Have you noticed that flash cart developers never refer to games by their names? Always by "scene release" number? There is a reason. Referring to a game as "3142" is a lot better than referencing the full name.

2) Discussing games that have not yet hit street date. GTA and Pokemon Platinum are examples of games that "leaked" before street date. And the former had issues with all flash carts. This lead to "massive" piracy talk on the TC forums which surely attracted the attention of Rockstar AND Nintendo. Saying you can't get "Game X" to run - and the game isn't even out yet - is akin to putting on a pirate hat, a peg leg AND hoisting a jolly roger flag into the air. There is NO OTHER WAY to take this discussion other than BLATENT PIRACY. The GTA "discussion" took it further; people pointed to cracks, patched roms and even BLATENT posts on how to crack certain copies of the game. 100% intolerable. Several bans were issued, several infractions were issued and threads were locked and/or deleted.

3) Discussion that APPEARS TO and SMELLS LIKE piracy. Yes, this is a very GRAY area and as such, we mods tend to take a more gentle hand than with people posting links to roms, etc. Let me give you an example.

"i just downloaded gta from a good site and it doesnt work"

Ok, that might be a little blatent - but you get the idea. This is better:

"Game 3123 gives two black screens when hitting AUTOSAVE"

See how there is NO reference to downloading, piracy sites there? As a bonus, the name isn't revealed (trust me, the TC team knows what you mean) AND you actually gave some USEFUL information about what doesn't work. Finally, what *I* would like to see:

"I dumped my copy of game 3123 using NDS Backup Wifi, it's untrimmed - and using the latest beta firmware v1.54b4, it two black screens after the autosave".

The team (and those here that want to help you) now have all the information. We know the dump is "legit", we know it's not tainted by "hackz0rs", we know HOW you got it, what beta build you're using AND exactly what happens - and when. We also know that if you dumped it yourself that you aren't using some sort of "beta" or "alpha" that some disgrunted ex-employee of Rockstar stole and released as a retalitory strike.

Now -- all of this sounds great, but I guarentee that 5 minutes after I post this, each and every rule here will be broken. Myself, as a mod, am going to get MUCH MORE involved with moderation here, and I'm going to do my best to enforce these concepts (unless of course, TC tells me different - but I suspect they won't). There are far too many "useless" posts with regards to compatibility issues - and many of the "useless" posts are filled with piracy references. My guess is - if we fix the piracy posts, that "useless" postings will go down too.

All this being said, I'm going to post some useful links that HOPEFULLY will head off some issues in advance.

1) Search this forum.
2) Search my own FAQ (if you are a faq/wiki maintainer, PM me and I'll add your link).
3) How to dump your own games via wifi | EZ 3 in 1 Expansion Cart

[blueknight1st]

Thanks for the helpful info Shane.

[SoraK05]

I agree.. I can see that the users of the forum were trying to help out with the 'GTA Crisis', but at the same time, as much as this is a forum for the CycloDS Evolution, it is not a forum to openly discuss piracy
The CycloDS Evolution isn't intended for piracy, and is intended as a means of making your DS more capable, including the ability to carry many of your own games on the same cartridge (as well as run homebrew like Media Players and so forth), with continued support to make sure these games will work properly..

I hope and ask that this doesn't get abused

[amak1131]

2) Discussing games that have not yet hit street date.

That could be an tough one. Some stores may have actually broken street date, so the game could be for sale and legit.

[skywalker1080p]

Originally Posted by amak1131

2) Discussing games that have not yet hit street date.

That could be an tough one. Some stores may have actually broken street date, so the game could be for sale and legit.

If this is the case say where and when you got the legit game from then.

[amak1131]

Originally Posted by skywalker1080p

If this is the case say where and when you got the legit game from then.

That could possibly work.

[fallenleader]

or dont mention it, might get the store in trouble

[Shane R. Monroe]

Breaking street date HAS happened so I don't mind if that situation arises.

[Ebanu]

Originally Posted by Shane R. Monroe

Breaking street date HAS happened so I don't mind if that situation arises.

A gaming store near me sells games whenever they get them, no matter what the official street date is. As the owner has said to me before on the subject "I get stock to sell it, I don't get it to hide it out back."

[vergessen]

Originally Posted by Ebanu

A gaming store near me sells games whenever they get them, no matter what the official street date is. As the owner has said to me before on the subject "I get stock to sell it, I don't get it to hide it out back."

offtopic but anyway it is funny you say that Ebanu. I have a local gamestore that does the same thing. it is nice for those of who know because we can get the games be it ps3, nds, xbox or wii early. it only becomes a problem for the store owner if someone tells. then he doesn't get the game in advance(or at all) and so on.