- September 22nd, 2012, 11:07 am#413768I wasn't going to do this, but since my name is now being publicly brought into it. I shall do so...
Gary and I had some issues about a year ago over a costume contest here. I made a mistake and said some things I shouldn't have said on Facebook, that caused alarm over here. The leader of our "group" Chace contacted me and I told him I'd come here and publically apologize to everyone despite whether I really felt it was needed or not. I talked to Gary at length about the whole thing, and me and him (as far as I know) have been fine since then. After the contest ended I wound up buying two traps when they went on sale, so everyone won in the end. Gary's costume (as I have told him myself) was supremely bad ass, and I made a mistake.. one that I hoped that I'd have to stop paying for after a year.... However, when I made my apology to AJ and the site, I was met with more harassment from several members here including Adam. As Gary has stated, he's on post approval for a reason.
I have not posted here in a year because of that incident. I hold no hard feelings towards Gary, AJ or anyone else at this site. I apologized for my actions and hoped that would have been the end of it. Outside of Chace, and a few others most of our "Group" never posts here. We simply lurk, because there is a wealth of information and prop making awesomeness to be had here. The only problem is, if you participate your going to have to deal with the Adam's and the other's who want to give everybody a hard time, for whatever reason they want to do it over.
I came back looking to rebuild my proton pack (mine was a junk pack, look for me under "azmyth" and you'll find it). I saw Adam's thread about a pep pack. I was currently making a green ranger helmet the same way, and light bulb went off. I had previously done some searching and several others have tried to create plans like this, but none to the level of detail Adam had. I read the entire thread and then went to his dl link (Had it still been active, we would not even be talking right now). I saw the message he posted above, and said to myself.. well knowing how he is, he's never going to give me the files because I'm sure he still remembers that nonsense, even though it was a year ago. So I figured If I created a new account (which was my fault for not reading the TOS and realizing it was breaking the rules here to do so) and I could start over. Noone would know who I was, and I wouldn't have to deal with anymore harassment and sort of start from scratch. It worked, initially. I politely asked him for the files, and told him how great of a job he did on them (which is the truth), He didn't ask any questions, and sent the files directly to me. I started work on my pack and started a build thread. I blurred his name out of the picture because I had also posted them in an album on my facebook, and as a courtesy to Adam (since I wouldn't want some stranger blasting my name across the interweb) blurred his name out. He replied to my thread and told me I didn't have to do that, and I wasn't planning on blurring any future build photos out at his request.
A day or so ago, I was met with a message from Chace asking me why I had done this, because somehow he had found out about it. I explained the situation, and told him that I did not know about the rule against two accounts and said one of them could be deleted or what not and I would have no problems with this.
Later on in the day, I tried to send Adam a friend request on FB hoping to sort this thing out like adults.. only to find that he was trashing me publically on his own wall. Although he could not bother to talk to me directly, he did have time to comment on my photo and question another member of our group about receiving his plans from me. The other member and I had planned to build packs side by side so we could keep up with each others progress. He had already emailed Adam asking about the plans, but since he never posts here (much like over half our group) he was also on post approval as a new member. I told him that Adam was basically sending the files to whoever asks, and while he did ask us not to distribute them I didn't see the harm in sending them to him early (he was going to get them anyway from Adam as soon as he was off post approval). Neither of us had or have any plans to do anything other than build a proton pack with the plans. I've been a musician for over 10 years, and now a film maker with several feature films under my belt. I understand better than most the issues with piracy and file sharing. However, if your putting your stuff out there "for free" you might as well be prepared for it. Huge companies can't stop people from doing it, so I doubt one guy in an apartment can. Luckily, we had no plans of doing such, and respected and appreciated Adam's work, in which we both told him this.
The issue here, is that because he didn't know I was "the costume guy" he would have never given me the plans in the first place had he known who I was. So now I'm being accused of "steaing" something he was offering for free to anybody and everybody that asked, because of some silly event he wasn't even part of almost a year ago. I have held no hard feelings against anybody over that stuff, and never planned to. If Adam feels that event should disquality me from having the plans I will find a different method to build a pack with. I do not have time nor the stress level to worry about or deal with pettyness from a hobby that's supposed to be about fun and charity. I still think Adam did an amazing job with those plans and I know he put in a ton of hours on them, so no.. I wouldn't have just sent them to "anybody"...
and if you do a google search, you'll find several groups who have already been distributing the files to their whole team. You should also be talking with them on this subject as well, unless they previously had your permission to do so..
I won't name those names either, but you can find them if you do a google search for "pepakura proton pack plans".
When Adam posted on my photo, I commented back and told him politely that if he wanted to discuss it, he could send me a direct message and I'd be glad to talk to him. I have yet to get any response from him directly. Up until today, I have not made any of this public as I felt it wasn't needed.
Last night myself and the other member were both met with messages from Chace saying that 5 members from the GA group from across the state would be chosen and would get to hear both sides, and then they would take a vote on how to proceed, with Chace's vote being the tie breaker. I politely responded back and told him that they were free to do whatever they wanted, however silly it may sound. I don't really have a "statement" as what I did is clear, and anyone who wants to know can ask me directly and I will be glad to tell them. It's really hard for me to grasp this concept when we go around dressed ups as fictional characters from a movie. I've had fun at the few events I've gone to with this group, and Chace and the otherrs have always been nice to me. I feel like I've always returned that to them as well. I'm friends with just about everybody from our area who is in our group, and it sort of saddens me that something on an internet forum would become more important than that, but what can you do? I still hold Chace and all of the guys in the GA ghostbusters in the highest regard and don't and will not hold any aggression or personal attacks against them, not now or in the future. I'm the least aggressive person you'll ever meet, and honestly Adam, and anyone else who wishes to act the same way. If you actually took the time to get to know me, you might find I'm a fairly nice guy. Looking over your facebook, we share a lot of the same interests. It's sad that we have to fight over something that happened a year ago.
The Georgia Ghostbusters may wind up losing members over this, which I apologize to Chace for, and hope that there will be no hard feelings between us regardless of the outcome. I would have handled things differently, if I were in your shoes, but its your group to handle. I did not want to make a huge deal about this, but it seems its too late for that.
Unless some sort of agreement is reached between myself and Adam I plan to abandon the plans and use a different method to build my pack. I encourange anyone who has a chance to use them to do so, as they are a great tool and he did an amazing job on them. I would hope Adam, you'd just talk to me and we could work this out between ourselves. I hope that you wouldn't punish the rest of the community over something that can be solved between us.
I hope everyone has a great day, and please don't let any of this hinder your enjoyment of the hobby. I was dressing up as a ghostbuster before GBfans or any of this wealth of information and I will still be doing so, regardless of the outcome. This site is a great resource and I wish more people were able to openly participate without being met with harshness from some of its members. AJ has done a great job in managing it the best he can. Thanks for your time.