Scratch

The Closure of The Scratch Times

Only eight days after WingsGames opened up The Scratch Chatter on the 8th of August, 2012, Agg725 opened up the paper's first competition, The Scratch Times, on the 16th of August, 2012. This would be the second of several papers to be opened, but it is now the first to have closed it's doors on the 17th of September, 2012.

Before it was closed down, The Scratch Times was posted every tuesday for three weeks, it's last issue released on the 4th of September. Agg725 worked on the first issue by herself, letting the workers begin after it was released on the 21st of August, 2012. For the interview section of the paper, she interviewed stevetheipad, boosting popularity a bit. The first issue scored 42 views, and earned a few nice and constructive comments. Through the efforts of chongyian, taylorswift1321, and Agg725, the next issue was posted on schedule, on the 28th of August, 2012. This issue did not do as well, getting only 28 views, but it still received several nice comments, and less criticism this time around. The third issue came out on time, on the 4th of September, 2012. During the composition of this particular project, Agg725 expressed the need for reporters many times, but this call was not answered.The third did as well as the first, despite having less input from other members, with 42 views.

The problems started when workers missed a deadline for release, and one week later, the issue was still unfinished. Because of this, Agg725 made this statement; "This is getting to be too much for me. I'm closing this topic until I can get my head on straight and my life together. If you want to continue in the news biz, just go to the scratch chatter. it's a great collab, and much more successful than this will ever be.  I may reopen this topic, but until then, The Scratch Times will be taking a break from scratch. Thank you. I'll see you guys later (maybe I'll write for the chatter)."

After saying that, she also added this; "Besides, with all my homework, I wasn't getting anything done, either. I just figured my paper was a lost cause." She also made it known that she figured if hardly anyone saw it, and the workers weren't participating, no one would miss The Scratch Times. Zangooser, an artist for The Scratch Chatter and viewer of the Times, made this statement. "Shame, really - I thought that collab was pretty cool. Would've joined if I wasn't already a member of the Chatter."

In conclusion, inactivity is what ruins even the best collaborations on Scratch, and companies in real life. If no one gets anything done, the team fails. If all parts don't function, the whole can't function. Before joining a collaboration of any sort, make sure you can fulfill you duties, and do it on time. Warn the leader of your collaboration if you won't be able to complete a task as far in advance as possible. If the members of The Scratch Times had been able to complete their tasks on time, it may still be running today. As it is now, The Scraatch Times is just another inactive collaboration, drifting to the back of the forums, to live with the inactive collabs of years past for the rest of this forum's life. Think carefully, before you join, about what would happen if you fail.

Last edited by sonicfan12p (2012-09-21 15:20:44)

Yeah, I'll bump it again.

hey, outposted! And there was no need for the last bump. I already added it into the template. Ill try to finish issue 3 by today. And the TST article up there is awesome!

sonicfan12p wrote:

soupoftomato wrote:

In light of your second issue, the "Bromance Controversy" article is highly biased. You present several cases of people who support gay rights being mean, but none for the other side. This is likely because most such opinions were deleted, but it still happens and is offensive to many members of our community. You also imply that the project isn't entirely appropriate for Scratch, but that opinion automatically sides you with the homophobic commenters. Please remember reporting should be an unbiased job.

Correct, it is to be unbiased. It is also to be truthful. No, there are no hateful comments for the other side, because they were deleted. And, Lightnin himself said it wasn't entirely appropriate for Scratch, so we were presenting truth, not bias.

But you didn't provide proper context.

You repeatedly give nasty comments from random people in support of gay rights, while giving no mention to the fact that there WERE nasty homophobic comments at one point.

You also go on this tangent about the controversy being homosexuality, then say that "Please keep projects appropriate thing" While Lightnin did say to do that, he meant to keep them appropriate in light of the fact that it contained kissing (minor sexual content), not the genders of the people kissing. You never elaborate or mention Lightnin's exact quote, but make it sound like "homosexuality is bad, don't put it in your projects!" instead.

thanks!

Zangooser wrote:

soupoftomato wrote:

But you didn't provide proper context.

You repeatedly give nasty comments from random people in support of gay rights, while giving no mention to the fact that there WERE nasty homophobic comments at one point.

You also go on this tangent about the controversy being homosexuality, then say that "Please keep projects appropriate thing" While Lightnin did say to do that, he meant to keep them appropriate in light of the fact that it contained kissing (minor sexual content), not the genders of the people kissing. You never elaborate or mention Lightnin's exact quote, but make it sound like "homosexuality is bad, don't put it in your projects!" instead.

In a nutshell, it's a very delicate subject. Use one wrong word and a reader could misinterpret it, and then make a big fuss and get others to join in. I think that the best way to go would to not get involved in it. Yes, I know the Chatter is about current events, but we have to remember that there is a fair number of smaller children on the site that don't understand and might even be scared by negative or harsh comments regarding homosexuality. Pretty much all schools, companies, and websites have rules - whether written or not - about discriminating or pointing out another's sexual orientation. And they're pretty much all the same thing: It's none of our business, so don't ask about it.

I agree with most of your post, Scratch is no place for the religious and political and everything else mess that homosexuality is.

I disagree with the last point, not mentioning it is an attempt to make it "go away" by ignoring it which is really stupid.

Anyway, the article should just not have been included or written.

humhumgames wrote:

Can someone describe more of what art I should make for the hardships of a curator? What should I do, exactly?

Just be creative. There is nothing specifically i need. just do your best, or else i have to make one myse.lf

sonicfan12p wrote:

sonicfan12p wrote:

Okay, reviewed Generations. It is an awesome game, great soundtrack, fitting graphics, near flawless programming, along with many other great features. The sound patch is a not often though of idea, so good job with that. Most would have simply left te soundtrack as is. Optional objectives are a nice feature, and have great potential! I hope to see you continue to build on that, for those interested in more complicated goals. I would certainly rate it in the 90's range on my rating scale, found in my review thread, it would achieve a 96, an almost impossible to achieve rating! Borrego is truly a talented scratcher, especially in the variables and lists department. I can't wait to see his upcoming hospital game!

Edit: I already have an account, but everytime I tried to log in, it logged me back out.

This is my review, here you go! Article coming soon. In my next post hopefully.

OMG i have to do it??? Noooooooo..........Im so busy!

Everyone to answer this vvv
1). What blocks do you have to identify a clone (ex. (clone #), ect...)?
2). If I create a block in Sprite 1 called "fish", will I be able to use it in Sprite 2 without copying any code?
3). I heard that there will be a video block in Scratch. What if the scratcher's computer doesn't have a camera? What will happen if a project tries to access the camera?
4). Will there be transparent pixels (or whatever you call them) in the vector graphics editor?
5). Will there be an option to delete clones in-game?
6). Which category (motion, variables, ect...) are the clone blocks in?
7). What additional tools will we have for collabs when Scratch 2.0 comes out?
8). The ST recently created a code to prevent spam. How does this code prevent spam and what does it do?




Or improve on this vvv

1). What blocks do you have to identify a clone (ex. (clone #), ect...)? Not sure, ask on scimonsters thread.
2). If I create a block in Sprite 1 called "fish", will I be able to use it in Sprite 2 without copying any code? Certainly, yes.
3). I heard that there will be a video block in Scratch. What if the scratcher's computer doesn't have a camera? What will happen if a project tries to access the camera? I assume the project will fail. Epicly. Anyone planning to use that block in a project should put a warning in saying it needs a camera.
4). Will there be transparent pixels (or whatever you call them) in the vector graphics editor? There are no pixels, but transparency will be an option I believe.
5). Will there be an option to delete clones in-game? I'm pretty sure there will be, yes.
6). Which category (motion, variables, ect...) are the clone blocks in? Good question, but I'm not sure. Ask on sci's thread.
7). What additional tools will we have for collabs when Scratch 2.0 comes out? It should be easier, since collab members can just access the collab account and work on projects, since it's all in the cloud.
8). The ST recently created a code to prevent spam. How does this code prevent spam and what does it do? Not sure about that one.

Last edited by chongyian (2012-09-23 03:00:05)

chongyian wrote:

Welcome back to this week's Project Review! This week, our featured project is...
Generations by Borrego6165!

According to sonicfan12p, it is an awesome game, matched with great soundtracks, and awesomely fitting graphics. It also has near flawless programming, along with many other great features! The sound patch is a not often thought of idea, so again, great job with that! Most Scratchers would have simply left the soundtrack as it is. Optional objectives are a nice feature, and have great potential!

Sonicfan12p comments, " I hope to see Borrego continue building up on that, as many game players are interested in more complicated and difficult goals." He also added that he would certainly rate it above the 90's range on his rating scale, found in his review thread.

And the score? 96! An almost impossible to achieve rating!

Borrego is truly a talented Scratcher, and is especially great in the variables and lists department.

And all of us, are looking forward to see his upcoming hospital game!

That is quite short, so can everyone give a good sentence or two to make it slightly longer?

woo! btw it's Generation: 4001 (or Generation: 4001 Gold if you can fit the full thing) and I can help you out with some things to save you having to play it a million times:
+Advisor
+Over 11000 tiles
+Over 50 buildings
+A music playlist (you can select which songs play and which are skipped automatically)
+Day/Night transitions (with a smooth fader)
+Save option (with four save slots)
+A cheat to have an evil 'vampire' advisor

of course I have put no opinions into this only facts as that's for you to put

Ask Scratchy

Q) What is the maximum number of clones you can have in Scratch 2.0?
A) jontmy00 used a variable and got 1000+

Q) I heard that Scratch 2.0 will be flash-based. Will there be a turbo mode in the offline player?
A) Yes, in the online, not sure for the offline.

Q) Will the text bug be fixed in Scratch 2.0?
A) Yes, it will be in Flash, not Squeak.

Q) Who is the Scratcher with the most posts in the forums?
A) veggieman001.

Q) If I create a block in Sprite 1 called “fish”, will I be able to use it in Sprite 2 without copying any code?
A) Yes.

Q) Will there be transparent pixels (or whatever you call them) in the vector graphics editor?
A) Vector graphics don’t use pixels at all! They operate on paths. This means you have a shape with a transparent background and anti-aliasing.

Bump.

Okay! So, anything you want me to do for issue 4?