Apology to all

[Coolboyman]

What am I apologizing about? My attitude on this site since the beginning.

I encountered a bad event with an individual about two weeks ago with someone who was very elitist, and it has opened my eyes on my own wrongdoings. I never intended to be elitist, smug or arrogant. I just feel like Pokemon hacking in general has so much untapped potential, that I expressed my emotions in an inappropriate way.

This also applies to the people asking "stupid" questions on my hack threads. Some of my fans are very young, some of my fans may have mental disabilities that they can't help themselves, and many of my fans don't have English as their first language so they might have a tough time understanding my instructions I appreciate ALL of my fans, even though I usually don't reply to people as often as I should.

I do not own Pokemon hacking, then again nobody does. You can make whatever kind of hack you like. Doesn't mean I'll like it, but then again that really shouldn't matter to you. Make the kind of hack YOU want to make. I'm making Prism the way I want it to be made, then will distance myself from Pokemon hacking afterwards to focus solely on game development.

Pokemon hacking is not a waste of time regardless of what people might have told you. Yeah it's a waste of time if all you're going to do is get a program to put a bunch of level 100 legendaries on Route 1 and make the first city sell Masterballs for free, but it just matters how you approach it. Pokemon has taught me so much on how a game is put together. The right ways and the wrong ways. I can apply Gamefreak's game design and programming concepts towards my own game. Without Pokemon, I wouldn't be majoring in Computer Science, have the goal of being a professional game programmer and working on game projects. So yeah, even though Pokemon is stupid kids stuff to many people, it changed my life for the better because I approached it differently than most people.

I'm sorry for the name calling, I'm sorry for the anger, I'm sorry for everything towards almost every person I was a jerk towards. My feelings towards Pokemon hacking in general is the same, but my attitude towards it is no longer elitist. For those I have wronged, I am sorry.

- Koolboyman

 

[Deokishisu]

Well, I for one would be the first to admit that when I did notice you posting many times I shook my head in disbelief and perhaps a touch of anger. But, your apology is indeed sincere. It speaks a lot to your character that you came out and did this when you didn't have to.

I can see your frustrations. When you're good at something, it's sometimes difficult to imagine someone having a hard time with it. Or, when you've worked hard to accomplish something and people "cheat" by taking shortcuts, it seems to diminish your own accomplishment.

But life isn't about one upping people. In reality, elitists, in anything really, aren't respected and venerated. They're hated and alone.

Humility sucks, learning it sucks. Trust me, I'm in the process. But having that demeanor, that aura, is well worth it.

Thank you.

 

[Anselection]

See, if this thread was on Facebook, I'd click the like button. While you've never exactly been rude to me(our limited interaction was actually pleasant), I do admit you were mean in the past. I'm glad you've seen how it is from the other point of view. I'm sure everyone will forgive you as this apology is legit. You do mean it, and it's easy to tell. This was very mature of you, CBM. I'm actually proud of you. :P

 

[RetroPokemon]

It takes a lot of courage to put up a thread like this.

Humility sucks, learning it sucks. But having that demeanor, that aura, is well worth it.

This is what I wanted to say.

 

[kringlur]

I also noticed just by reading threads, before I even made an account here, your attitude. Good thing you realized something for the better, not everyone does! I don't know how to not make this comment sound really lame, so uh, good luck with Uni.

 

[Gamer2020]

It takes a very big person to apologize like that but in my opinion I don't think you have much to apologize for. You have made hacks that should be an inspiration to others so that they can overcome the limits of the ROMs specific engine and instead make the only limit their mind (and the hardware of course).

 

[Ray Maverick]

Meh, it's only natural to get a little mad about newbies. I get that all the time ...
I know people in this forum who have way better reasons to apologize for. Really, don't feel bad.

 

[Coolboyman]

Thanks for understanding all.

Well, I for one would be the first to admit that when I did notice you posting many times I shook my head in disbelief and perhaps a touch of anger. But, your apology is indeed sincere. It speaks a lot to your character that you came out and did this when you didn't have to.

I can see your frustrations. When you're good at something, it's sometimes difficult to imagine someone having a hard time with it. Or, when you've worked hard to accomplish something and people "cheat" by taking shortcuts, it seems to diminish your own accomplishment.

But life isn't about one upping people. In reality, elitists, in anything really, aren't respected and venerated. They're hated and alone.

Humility sucks, learning it sucks. Trust me, I'm in the process. But having that demeanor, that aura, is well worth it.

Thank you.

Well from my experience on the web, the elitist "bad ass" attitude was adored by many people. I guess it made me think that that kind of behavior was acceptable. In reality, it was based on the positions that they held. If they didn't have that position, nobody would like them at all. It's just people sucking up to other people with more power because they want some of that power to rub off of them and make themselves feel more important.

See, if this thread was on Facebook, I'd click the like button. While you've never exactly been rude to me(our limited interaction was actually pleasant), I do admit you were mean in the past. I'm glad you've seen how it is from the other point of view. I'm sure everyone will forgive you as this apology is legit. You do mean it, and it's easy to tell. This was very mature of you, CBM. I'm actually proud of you. :P

I feel kind of bad that it took this long... that it took for a really bad experience for me to understand. I thought he was my friend and that he trusted me. But he goes crazy when I disagree with him on something, automatically accused me of working against him and he's still going crazy with power at everyone else who disagrees with him, which is many people. I may go into more detail and write a blog about this whole situation because it's very complicated, and I'm still trying to convince myself after two weeks that this actually happened. But at the same time I want to forget. Sure I picked up on another programming gig rather quickly after our relationship was severed, but I still feel betrayed.

It takes a lot of courage to put up a thread like this.


This is what I wanted to say.

Thanks, I was worried that people might think I'm trying to boost what little popularity I have (since I was obsessed with popularity a few years back), but I really don't care about that now. Popularity is worthless especially if you look at what's "popular" in America these days. Popularity does not mean good. I'm just going to do what I do and if people want to they can join along for the ride.

I also noticed just by reading threads, before I even made an account here, your attitude. Good thing you realized something for the better, not everyone does! I don't know how to not make this comment sound really lame, so uh, good luck with Uni.

Thanks, I'm always trying to become a better person.

It takes a very big person to apologize like that but in my opinion I don't think you have much to apologize for. You have made hacks that should be an inspiration to others so that they can overcome the limits of the ROMs specific engine and instead make the only limit their mind (and the hardware of course).

Just because I make good ROM Hacks doesn't allow me to be a jerk to people. I'm a human just like everyone else here and everyone deserves to be treated with respect regardless if they're as experienced as me or not.

Meh, it's only natural to get a little mad about newbies. I get that all the time ...
I know people in this forum who have way better reasons to apologize for. Really, don't feel bad.

Well from now on if I get stupid newbies and questions I will just ignore them instead of raging against them. Sure other people should apologize for what they done, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't.

 

[Darthatron]

Honestly, I never really viewed you as an elitist. There are many other hackers (with less reason) being much worse. But go you for being the bigger man and apologizing. :)

Though I tend to respect people a lot more if they are cruel. I'm strange like that, I guess.

 

[U.Flame]

That's really admirable Coolboyman. I thought your attitude was justified by your amazing skill but now clearly even experts don't have the right to be smug and/or cruel. I hope other people I ran into on this site that treated me like I was inferior can admit it like you.

BTW: I'm interested in learning about your games. Do you have a website?

 

[Winter Wonderland]

Well, I wasn't exactly around for the whole thing about you being rude, but, from what people have said, I'm guessing it was pretty bad. I just wanna say that it's very grown-up of you to have apologized for your actions. From one stranger to another, I have respect for you now. :) I'm glad you've made something from something you really enjoyed doing and I can only hope to play the games you develop. If you ever decide to start your own company, name it Coolboyman inc. 'Cause then I'll be able to spot it easily. From what I can tell, the games you've made (prism + brown) were made from scratch and you've made the games do things they weren't originally designed to do. You've turned it from a ROM hack to your own game and you left your mark on the ROM hacking community. I know I'm new to the scene, but I do my research. Hex editing isn't a simple thing, but for you to make everything from it, even do things once thought impossible, that's an achievement worth bragging about. Just know I'm keeping an eye out for you. If I spy something even remotely close to being from you, it better be something great. I know it's rude to tell you what to do when I don't know you, but I have REALLY high expectations from you. You're mature, you're brilliant, and you've got creativity flowing from every atom in your body. I'm sorry for what happened between you and your elitist friend(I don't know what happened, I just know you feel betrayed). Just know that he's a stepping stone to your future greatness. You've got killer potential. From the neck up, you're worth millions. From the neck down, you're worth about $350 a week. Don't let your mind go to waste. Use it for good. Impress me. ;)

Tons of respect and admiration,
Winter Sophia Kelly

 

[Ninja Caterpie]

Ah, I do remember getting a little mad at you at some points due to your attitude, but most of us ignored it because of all the awesome good stuff you did. I get where you come from with it, and if you're quite good at something, you can get pretty annoyed at noobs who aren't and they do feel kinda stupid. It's part of growing as a person to be able to tolerate it and just let them be. It's very good of you to apologise for it though; that takes some level of guts.

 

[Platinum Lucario]

It's alright, I could totally understand how you felt when someone asked questions that were basic ones that would normally be asked in the Simple Questions Thread. I could understand that many that came to start ROM hacking and didn't know much about the forum or even ROM hacking itself, and it is true that some of them had problems and couldn't understand things... which usually can happen in mentally disabled, have certain disabilities (like me) or don't know English very well... I could understand how they must've been, which I would never lash out at anyone (unlike way back a few years ago), I learned that lashing out only caused alot more problems.

I could understand how you really wanted to help the whole community try and become expert ROM hackers, there are some people like me... that really learn slowly in ROM hacking (I wish I could learn faster). And you've done such amazing jobs with editing the coding in the Monochrome GameBoy games of Pokémon Red/Blue and the GameBoy Color games of Pokémon Gold/Silver. What I realized... is that the GameBoy and GameBoy Color have little differences (like the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi), which the GameBoy was a 4 palette type, the GameBoy Color was an 8 palette type. There is one thing that you've almost completely conquered in ROM hacking... is none other than the GameBoy and GameBoy Color and it's functions. I think if you can do it, so can many others. I think we all can completely conquer the Nintendo DS generation, it may appear hard, but it only just takes time. I'm pretty sure people created tools and released them to make it easier for themselves and others so that they can progress with their ROM hack. And of course... I surely would like to create tools for the Nintendo DS ROMs, especially a 3D Map editor, so it can make everyone's hex editing experience... quite easier.

You will always be known as a great GameBoy and GameBoy Color ROM hacker, CBM.

And of course, we all learn from our mistakes that we do in life. And always the key to getting along with everyone... is to help them in a way, never lash out at them and be really kind about it. There was one time when I remember when Jake had in his usertitle "think possitive", which is very true... and always helps us all progress with everything.

What I've known about ROM hacking... is it helps anyone learn how to become a game developer and add in an entirely new storyline with a whole team and all that. And also what I've learned about release dates on games... is that the developers only announce a release date once they come to a point where they have finished, not when they're still developing it, because it's very likely to end up becoming inaccurate.

And I really do accept your appology, CBM. And I'm so glad that you've actually realized and managed to explain all about your attitude on the forums and what you've done wrong. ^^

Game Development, eh? Hopefully one day you'll achieve the goal in being a great game developer with many fantastic ideas. ^^

 

[adamant57]

I'm sure what I'm about to say is already said by above posts but here goes anyway.

I don't know and/or not so sure about what happened in the past but I'm guessing it must've been pretty bad for you to make a thread like this. And for making this thread, I respect you a lot more. Humility is hard, I know, but what's important is admitting to your past mistakes which many of us still find hard to do. That itself takes a lot of guts

Having been someone who played your hacks, I have to say you did a great job. I could've mistaken it for a legit Nintendo released game. It's that good. You have potential... A LOT... and I look forward to Prism's completion and any future works you have in mind.

All in all, when all is said and done, move forward towards the future

-by a fan

 

[Darthatron]

I see where you come from, because I have seen many rom hacking boards that have n00bs that ask the most simple questions, and how many others literally bash back at them because they say "This is so basic, you should just 'know' how to do it." I understand how if we see that we know more, we tend to.. It's hard to put this into words, but, we tend to not see why others do not get it. And, it's just our capabilities that can limit us (and our imaginations) and they all affect us in one way or another.

I think that, some times, those people do need to be flamed. They are asking the same questions over and over again and just add "sorry if this haz been asked b4 but i didnt wanna look threw 500 pagez lol" and think it's okay.

Sorry but that is annoying.

 

[miksy91]

Though I tend to respect people a lot more if they are cruel. I'm strange like that, I guess.

This is what leading is sometimes about...

Anyways, I'm no elitist either but used to behave like that before. When I started to learn more and more about rom hacking, I began to act like I'm one of the people who know this stuff, others are just n00bs. I too have to apologize for this.

Since then, I've learned even more about rom hacking but what's more, my behaviour has also changed (thanks to army mostly) :)

 

[Coolboyman]

This is what leading is sometimes about...

Anyways, I'm no elitist either but used to behave like that before. When I started to learn more and more about rom hacking, I began to act like I'm one of the people who know this stuff, others are just n00bs. I too have to apologize for this.

Since then, I've learned even more about rom hacking but what's more, my behaviour has also changed (thanks to army mostly) :)

Good to hear other people are wising up too!

I think that, some times, those people do need to be flamed. They are asking the same questions over and over again and just add "sorry if this haz been asked b4 but i didnt wanna look threw 500 pagez lol" and think it's okay.

Sorry but that is annoying.

Just reply to them telling to use the search function in threads and to not do it again.

I'm sure what I'm about to say is already said by above posts but here goes anyway.

I don't know and/or not so sure about what happened in the past but I'm guessing it must've been pretty bad for you to make a thread like this. And for making this thread, I respect you a lot more. Humility is hard, I know, but what's important is admitting to your past mistakes which many of us still find hard to do. That itself takes a lot of guts

Having been someone who played your hacks, I have to say you did a great job. I could've mistaken it for a legit Nintendo released game. It's that good. You have potential... A LOT... and I look forward to Prism's completion and any future works you have in mind.

All in all, when all is said and done, move forward towards the future

-by a fan

Thanks, I hope you will enjoy some of the games I have in development. Development's been shaky due to lack of organization which is partially my fault, but I seriously think that you'll see this huge game I'm working on before the end of the year.

It's alright, I could totally understand how you felt when someone asked questions that were basic ones that would normally be asked in the Simple Questions Thread. I could understand that many that came to start ROM hacking and didn't know much about the forum or even ROM hacking itself, and it is true that some of them had problems and couldn't understand things... which usually can happen in mentally disabled, have certain disabilities (like me) or don't know English very well... I could understand how they must've been, which I would never lash out at anyone (unlike way back a few years ago), I learned that lashing out only caused alot more problems.

I could understand how you really wanted to help the whole community try and become expert ROM hackers, there are some people like me... that really learn slowly in ROM hacking (I wish I could learn faster). And you've done such amazing jobs with editing the coding in the Monochrome GameBoy games of Pokémon Red/Blue and the GameBoy Color games of Pokémon Gold/Silver. What I realized... is that the GameBoy and GameBoy Color have little differences (like the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi), which the GameBoy was a 4 palette type, the GameBoy Color was an 8 palette type. There is one thing that you've almost completely conquered in ROM hacking... is none other than the GameBoy and GameBoy Color and it's functions. I think if you can do it, so can many others. I think we all can completely conquer the Nintendo DS generation, it may appear hard, but it only just takes time. I'm pretty sure people created tools and released them to make it easier for themselves and others so that they can progress with their ROM hack. And of course... I surely would like to create tools for the Nintendo DS ROMs, especially a 3D Map editor, so it can make everyone's hex editing experience... quite easier.

You will always be known as a great GameBoy and GameBoy Color ROM hacker, CBM.

And of course, we all learn from our mistakes that we do in life. And always the key to getting along with everyone... is to help them in a way, never lash out at them and be really kind about it. There was one time when I remember when Jake had in his usertitle "think possitive", which is very true... and always helps us all progress with everything.

What I've known about ROM hacking... is it helps anyone learn how to become a game developer and add in an entirely new storyline with a whole team and all that. And also what I've learned about release dates on games... is that the developers only announce a release date once they come to a point where they have finished, not when they're still developing it, because it's very likely to end up becoming inaccurate.

And I really do accept your appology, CBM. And I'm so glad that you've actually realized and managed to explain all about your attitude on the forums and what you've done wrong. ^^

Game Development, eh? Hopefully one day you'll achieve the goal in being a great game developer with many fantastic ideas. ^^

Thanks! You'll like it, though it's nothing like my past work. I tend to think it's the stepping stone that lies beyond Prism. I'll do my best not to disappoint.

Ah, I do remember getting a little mad at you at some points due to your attitude, but most of us ignored it because of all the awesome good stuff you did. I get where you come from with it, and if you're quite good at something, you can get pretty annoyed at noobs who aren't and they do feel kinda stupid. It's part of growing as a person to be able to tolerate it and just let them be. It's very good of you to apologise for it though; that takes some level of guts.

Well like I said, just because I make good ROM hacks doesn't mean I can be a jerk to people like some other ROM Hackers are (I won't name names, but they know who they are).

Well, I wasn't exactly around for the whole thing about you being rude, but, from what people have said, I'm guessing it was pretty bad. I just wanna say that it's very grown-up of you to have apologized for your actions. From one stranger to another, I have respect for you now. :) I'm glad you've made something from something you really enjoyed doing and I can only hope to play the games you develop. If you ever decide to start your own company, name it Coolboyman inc. 'Cause then I'll be able to spot it easily. From what I can tell, the games you've made (prism + brown) were made from scratch and you've made the games do things they weren't originally designed to do. You've turned it from a ROM hack to your own game and you left your mark on the ROM hacking community. I know I'm new to the scene, but I do my research. Hex editing isn't a simple thing, but for you to make everything from it, even do things once thought impossible, that's an achievement worth bragging about. Just know I'm keeping an eye out for you. If I spy something even remotely close to being from you, it better be something great. I know it's rude to tell you what to do when I don't know you, but I have REALLY high expectations from you. You're mature, you're brilliant, and you've got creativity flowing from every atom in your body. I'm sorry for what happened between you and your elitist friend(I don't know what happened, I just know you feel betrayed). Just know that he's a stepping stone to your future greatness. You've got killer potential. From the neck up, you're worth millions. From the neck down, you're worth about $350 a week. Don't let your mind go to waste. Use it for good. Impress me. ;)

Tons of respect and admiration,
Winter Sophia Kelly

Those are some very kind words, thank you. I actually got a very threatening email from him yesterday where he said he was going to ruin my reputation, but as far as I'm concerned, he's a nobody who's desperate and wont leave me alone. So I'm not going to waste my time with him anymore.

I see where you come from, because I have seen many rom hacking boards that have n00bs that ask the most simple questions, and how many others literally bash back at them because they say "This is so basic, you should just 'know' how to do it." I understand how if we see that we know more, we tend to.. It's hard to put this into words, but, we tend to not see why others do not get it. And, it's just our capabilities that can limit us (and our imaginations) and they all affect us in one way or another.

So, to sum it all up, Apology accepted.

Now to file some bug reports for Prism. Via email, like the readme said. When I get time.

Edit:

Cool, I keep meaning to fix some glitches but I'm easily "distracted" by school and the other games I'm working on.

Honestly, I never really viewed you as an elitist. There are many other hackers (with less reason) being much worse. But go you for being the bigger man and apologizing. :)

Though I tend to respect people a lot more if they are cruel. I'm strange like that, I guess.

I'll still say it like it is, I just won't be a total douche about it.

 

[NurseBarbra]

Well IMO, You don't need to apoligise, I understand that people on the forum are sometimes young but it honestly wouldn't kill them to take an educated guess and ask INTELLIGENT questions instead of posting a million and one unrelated things. And to be brash, part of the rom-hacking threads have gone to the depths of the earth, the others full of so much impecible... Garbage, to use a light term, that it makes it depressing.

I've fully supported you all the way and when I see your replies in some threads I just think: "He does have a point, if they download a tool they should at least read how to use it or mess about till it works." But alas, the world doesn't work like that... unfortunatally.

 

[SerenadeDS]

I haven't used this account in at least a year, but I saw this thread and immediately felt like it's something worth my time to comment on.
(That, and we use to talk a bit on MSN, but I doubt you remember. What's it been, a couple years at least?)

Actually, the arrogance and smug attitude is what attracted me to you. I mean, you had the right to be. You seemed to be the only one on PC out of a few that actually exercised skills that the ROM Hacking community was built around. It may have stabbed your ego a bit because you decided to hack a game in a community based on people that just used AdvanceMap to get what they want. I started to feel the same elitism after I left hacking PKMN and moved on to other games/consoles. I started hanging out with phenomenal hackers. interdpth, Sliver-X, kuja_killer, Gideon Zhi, etcetera. Right before the transition though, I remember I had vented to HackMew about "people are all noobs with tools". He preached something along the lines of "People are only human, we needs tools to help lessen the blows of mistakes". I realized right then that I was only being selfish.

I am glad I eventually came over it, and realized that the wealth should just be shared and spread around. Especially after I just stopped hacking. It felt like a waste of time. I had all this data mapped out from various games, but no one was looking at it except me. Lurking around here recently again had me noticing the "Research & Development", and I am very glad to see this. Two years later and we are moving forward as a team instead of trying to one-up each other and keep secrets.

I am sorry to hear about the loss of a friendship. I commemorate you on posting this, it does take courage, and it looks like you've come to terms with what was in your head all these years. It is inspirational to me, because even I still forget quite often that besides the spiders and bots, there are humans on the internet. Can't be a dick all the time.. and life offers many open doors to those that are nice.

Keep up the good work man. I never did get to play that final dungeon in Brown, time to fire it up.

PS: I think you should still exercise a little bit of an elitist. You've earned it. Oh, and sorry if this post is jumbled. Running off two days with no sleep. :P

 

[Superjub]

Good to know. ^^ I have noticed that you are sometimes quite bitter- I should know, I've experienced it once- but I understand why. It much be frustrating getting asked obvious questions, people asking the same question etc. I can't remember what I said to annoy you, but I'm fairly sure it was something stupid so I apologise, and I wasn't too offended either. Nevertheless, it's nice that you apologised to everyone you might have offended and I'm glad you're going to be more tolerant when people ask "simple and repetitive questions". You're one of my favourite ROM hackers (Brown and Prism are amazing, in my opinion), and honestly, you're an inspiration.

Now, finish Prism and apology accepted. Just joking. :P I can wait, and you should just finish it at your own pace. ;)