Scratch

BoltBait wrote:

Here is another type of remixing:

Localization - Where one remixes a project to change it into their native language.

Example:

Original project: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/lizzy_1_year/695954

Localized project: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/cnd/717277

I didn't think of that one! That's certainly important.

Thanks so much Lucario!

eventexception wrote:

My first remix here, see

"Clutter Description
At first there was a balancing pole project by user doglover63. I guessed how to remix this into a game. I checked other games..."

Click image to go to clutter  http://scratch.mit.edu/static/projects/ … 026_sm.png...

I wish there is an option to remove cloned or ripped remixes,
at least a button DO NOT SHOW ME minor remixes...

Sometimes there is a good project with 70+ or more remixes,
i would like to see a creative remix or a changed project
and i suffer from the vast amount of clueless remixes.

It takes to much time to click all of them and the remix browser can not handle a large amount of remixes proper.

Project notes dont show up in the remix browser!
It would be helpful to show project notes
to scan for clueless remixes prior clicking.

Or a hint how many costumes and blocks and sprites have changed?
A percent indicator of change?

There is a project comparer: http://stats.scratch.mit.edu/diff/remixcomparator.html

sci_test wrote:

andresmh wrote:

...

Self Remixing

A lot of us have done this. We share a project on the website and then we create a new version of it. This often says something like “Shared by X. Based on X.” 

Examples:
- Remixing from a test account.
- Versioning (I still wonder why people create multiple projects for each version rather than just upload with the same name)

Clones

Some would argue that cloning or copying a project without making any changes is not really a remix, in fact, some people think this is inappropriate. In general I would agree that it does not add much but I could imagine some cases where this could be valid remix. For example:

- To learn or test the upload process. I often see newcomers that remix projects that come with Scratch without changing anything. This sometimes seems to be part of the learning process.
- As a way to preserve someone else’s project.
- To spread an idea or intersting project. We see this often in YouTube where people want to share segments of movies or TV shows. Could the same happen on Scratch?
- To annoy others? :-)

Note: The last two categories (self remixing and cloning) are not necessarily forms of remixing, but I decided to include them because they often carry the “Based on” statement and because I thought it is possible there could be generate some interesting examples that I have not thought about.

....

TL;DR: Please post examples of remixes you like. We could even make illustrate it if it's a compelling story, like the one above.

Well, remixing from a test account to the main account is often for previews.
And if you release a different project in each version, I see multiple advantages:
  Your friends see it on the row on the Front Page.
  It has a new chance to get on the Top Loved/Viewed spot. 

What is "TLDR"?

Oops, I meant to comment on the clone section too. Now I have to do it in a new post...

Those are certainly reasons to upload an exact copy.  It's not nice to annoy others though.  If there is no explanation given, I would assume it's to annoy them and flag it.

At least 180 seconds have to pass between posts. Please wait a little while and try posting again.

Can I be a Scratcher? Please?

scimonster wrote:

There is a project comparer: http://stats.scratch.mit.edu/diff/remixcomparator.html

Interesting, but this does not help to weed out
the 67 clones of 70 remixes of one project.

It only compares one remix 

I am looking for a REMIX SPAM FILTER

Ongoing remixing without adding or changing is somehow spamming.

I have seen a Mario remix clone with no changes getting 70+ views    in one day. 

ScratchDixie wrote:

I don't get what we are trying to do. Will someone please explain it to me? 

Ultimately, I am trying to check how common is each type of remix. Also, I want to see if this categories are useful.

Why are you using j.mp links? I have a tendency to distrust link shorteners sometimes... 

scimonster wrote:

Why are you using j.mp links? I have a tendency to distrust link shorteners sometimes... 

I am using it to see which countries people are clicking from and when. You can see it too by going to http://j.mp/qGUKzL+

BoltBait wrote:

andresmh wrote:

Do you have examples of any of the these categories?

Here is an example of cloning:

http://scratch.mit.edu/users/worldhistory

Why would someone do this?  I have no idea.

From the comments this account has posted (mostly inflammatory), this seems a case of trolling actually. We'll take the appropriate actions.

I know users from 2007 who still just clone.

EmperorEvil wrote:

I know users from 2007 who still just clone.

hmm, interesting, can you post a link to the project? As stated before, cloning is not bad per se.

illusionist wrote:

andresmh wrote:

http://i.imgur.com/Zc5iX.jpg

Oh! I've seen ALL of those projects!

I remember when I discovered that the walk the line project came from the Whiz's, and that came from Mayhem's remix... but I never knew the projects were     related     to Gobo and the Flood!    I think this is one of the best examples of remixing on the site, and I hope to see more of these in the future. 

I think the remix visualization should be more like this. I think it would also be interesting if it worked more like a "Project Family Tree".

Glad you like it. If you see another complex and interesting story like this one, do let us know 

BoltBait wrote:

Here is a straight rip of my latest game.

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/isaiahellis/1912523

Notice how my name was erased from the title page and no other changes made.

This is a very interesting case. It made me reflect about some of  the issues around cloning that come up very often.

I ran the comparator and it reported a bunch of  differences, which was surprising.  First, it reports a difference in the image size for "TitlePage" due to the edit you mentioned.  It also reports differences in the code, I think mainly because of changes in the values of the variables (I assume the person played the project and saved it with different values). Finally, it reports differences in the sounds despite being the same. These differences are likely caused by the compression algorithm. So automatically comparing it, does not help as much in understanding how similar this project is from the original. One might need some changes in the way Scratch works to do this more accurately.

Then, I tracked down the sequence of saves (to hard drive) and shares (to the website). This also followed a slightly unusual pattern for this type of remixing. It seems that the person downloaded the project and  saved it multiple times over the course of a full day or so, and then re-shared it. Saving multiple times to the disk is often correlated to making changes.  In other cases of cloning I've seen, especially when there's ill-intent, the re-sharing happens within minutes of the download.

Guessing by some of the projects and comments the author has posted, it seems like s/he is quite young and it's definitely just getting started with Scratch.

So all this makes wonder what to do, if anything, about cases like this. I remember when I was little I used to copy the drawings of my favorite cartoons and show it to my friends. I used to do this on paper but this type of Scratch cloning seems like a similar case.

It's hard to know the reasoning behind this author's actions, but I wonder if something like this should be censored.  I've seen similar cases with sad outcomes. For example, sometimes the community gangs up on the remixer,  escalating into more serious flaming and tension that ends up banning the accounts of all the people involved.  Other times, it leads to self-exile by the newcomer who has transgressed the implicit norms of the community by remixing and claiming authorship. This is also a sad outcome, especially when it comes to a young newcomer who was startign to explore Scratch and perhaps even starting to understand the web.

I wonder what are better ways to react to this type of cloning so that a) the newcomer better understands the norms and, most importantly, help him/her explore Scratch in a way s/he is able to create more generative work; and b)  people whose work is being remixed stays content and does not feel like they are being "ripped off".

I feel like it's a learning process on all the parts involved that does not have an easy technical solution and requires more of a social infrastructure.

Thoughts?