VPU ? VPF Issues

[LynnInDenver]

So I did poke over there when I heard last weekend there were to be announcements made.

 

https://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=49086

 

This part is important:
 

Quote

 

TABLES UPLOADED ON AND AFTER April 1st, 2022, we're implementing a new policy ... Call them the 'JPSalas rules'. All tables, regardless of where they are uploaded, shared, or hidden behind unscrupulous paywalls, are free to MOD. Originals still require explicit permission! As of APR 1, tables are to be treated as open source freeware, just like the core software, VPX. Same license, same terms. Free to MOD. NOT INTENDED FOR COMMERCIAL USE. It's FREE! ALL of it! None of us own this stuff, and our goal is to preserve pinball history, not get all dramatic and pissy about who used what from where. We're all in this together.

 

Please be kind and still contact the author(s)! It's polite and the right thing to do. Please do not MOD any table that has not been published for at least 60 days. Give the authors some time to get feedback, fix bugs, enjoy the accolades, and be proud of their work!

 

Please Note: If you feel so strongly that you own your recreation, built on the backs of hundreds of folks that came before you, simply don't share it anywhere. We don't want it. Our aim here is to change the current, toxic environment to one of sharing, as it's always been intended.

 

We also don't need 50 versions of the same table! To be approved, there must be MAJOR changes made from the original. This can only be determined if the original author has shared their work here. If the original isn't shared here, there's no way for me to know what's been changed, and it will be approved. I'm not going on a hunt to find the original, and I'm certainly not visiting unethical sites just for that purpose. Credit to all previous authors is always required.

 

 

Here's my takeaway: He's basically saying, "you NEED to upload your tables to VPF, because I will not otherwise take responsibility for people modding your table posted to sites I think should never have opened and posting it here with your name stripped off it and insufficiently modded otherwise," which basically means he's going to let Bigus1 do what he wants with tables that are uploaded exclusively to VPU. I can imagine "upload it here then" will be his automatic defense going forward when people complain about "modder didn't give me credit on this mod". He's trying to couch the idea on avoiding drama by forcing everyone onto the same "free to do anything" model, but it's clear he just wants to wash his hands of responsibility for authors who don't want to pay fealty to him.

 

Edited to add: I will expect he will extend that idea, despite the comment about "originals still require explicit permission," to original creations not uploaded to VPF.

Edited April 1, 2022 by LynnInDenver

[Dazz]

40 minutes ago, LynnInDenver said:

which basically means he's going to let Bigus1 do what he wants with tables that are uploaded exclusively to VPU.

This is the only way that VPF will get any of the major newer releases... Most authors sure aren't uploading to VPF anymore. VPF only has a hand full of people uploading to the site, mostly modders,  with Bigus1 still being his primary.  So, if Bigus1 mods a game and uploads it to VPF; that table is now on VPF.  This is VPF's way of saying... VPF doesn't care about the authors (if they don't support VPF) who created, just change the authors name on it, and upload it.  Change, manupulate, and create the rules just to get the content uploaded to that site.  VPF has embraced the thinkinking of VPD.

I really wish JPS would open his eyes and see what's really been going on over at VPF for many many years.

I encourage any authors that has files on that site; to update their creations with blank zips.  VPF will NOT remove files; blank files are the only way to control what you have on that site.

[Itchigo]

[LynnInDenver]

10 hours ago, Dazz said:

I really wish JPS would open his eyes and see what's really been going on over at VPF for many many years.

 

I would just assume at this point that he's aligned with Noah. This doesn't necessarily mean he's not blind to what's going on, but it's not worth trying to show him the extent of the problems and what the root cause is in either case. He may eventually figure it out. He may not. The changes Noah's making don't impact him in any way.

 

I'm definitely annoyed at Noah's unilateral decision that "it's all going to be free to mod and you're gonna like it, and the only say you have is whether or not you're the one who uploads it here first." I'll be curious as to how long the "original table" carve out will last.

[LynnInDenver]

13 hours ago, Dazz said:

I encourage any authors that has files on that site; to update their creations with blank zips.  VPF will NOT remove files; blank files are the only way to control what you have on that site.

 

I wouldn't... it just adds fuel for Noah's grudge to continue.