Game
Shiro Ninja Mayhem
4 years ago

A story of ninjas, YouTube, and sock puppets


I know I'm taking a risk here, but I have been bothered by a certain user on YouTube who I don't think I need to name. I don't want to harass them, but they don't stop.

Well, years ago, back around 2012, I made this game, Shiro Ninja Mayhem. I don't need to say it has its fans. Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing about this. Personally, I'm done with this game.

Anyway, I think the problem started when I started uploading playthroughs from my older games, approximately seven months ago. To me, it was just advertising my games. I did A Terry Video Game first, just to see if it had any merit. Also, to test out video recording. Then I did Shiro Ninja Mayhem, this game.

Surely, you've all heard of the concept of Death of the Author, right? That means when examining a piece of media, they come up with their own interpretation, not giving a hoot what the creator intended. I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm perfectly fine with people getting a different interpretation of a story. I do it all the time. I mean, I recently saw Playmobil: The Movie, which isn't exactly high art, but if you tweaked it just right, you could make a story based on that show and call it My Little Brother's an Isekai Protagonist, and I Don't Like It.

Anyway, this is when I got comments. I can understand that one guy who wanted to see XSF Force and Pirate Jack, but there was one particular user who I have reason to believe has made multiple sock puppet accounts. They might be for RPing, but in this case, they're pretty much sock puppets. I'm not going to name names.

Here are a list of questions that have popped up:

  • Soundtrack plz? (Well, I could, but YouTube has processes and rules, and I don't exactly have the best video-editing software. Also, I make games first.)

  • Post other Shiro Ninja videos (Done.)

  • Who is (insert character here) from Shiro Ninja Mayhem? (*cough* DeathOfTheAuthor *cough*)

  • What is the biology of (insert character here) from Shiro Ninja Mayhem? (Either poor choice of words, or Dude, TMI.)

  • What's the information of (insert character here) in your Shiro Ninja games? (Nice try, kid. *cough* DeathOfTheAuthor *cough*)

  • Can you make Shiro Ninja cinematic cut scenes plz? (Dude, the game's been done for almost a decade.)

As you can expect, a lot of this does lead to some genuine answers. The problem is where they're putting these comments. That is to say, on non-ninja-related videos. I'm sure other non-professional game designers get bothered like this on other videos all the time, but not with sock puppets.

Now, I don't want to get into specifics, but I can tell the accounts are sock puppets. They follow an exact writing style. Their profile description follow a near-exact format. They mostly post memes when they post videos.

In fact, the only reason my trailer for Rock Beyond Time has too many comments is because this guy won't leave me alone. Also, the more comments on non-ninja-related videos they post, the more likely anyone won't understand the stuff going on in the comments.

However, while I'm willing to share things like videos, images, and source code, I have to draw a line somewhere.

Can you make all the fan arts of all Shiro Ninja Mayhem characters on Deviantart plz? Hate being ignored!

They've been using the "hate being ignored" catchphrase for obvious reasons. First off, I told them that I draw the line at making original art for fans. (It's not like they made a good impression, either.) Secondly, I did say "Also, you've got to be careful with wording that, otherwise you'd get Sanic instead of Sonic."

...because, you know, telling the original creator to make "fan art" of their own work is a license to draw your own characters badly. Probably not the best thing I've mentioned.

...and later on, in the same day, with a different account...

Can you make all of your original arts of your Shiro Ninja series plz?

It's arguable to say if they're the same person, but it's pretty plain as day to me.

Now, I know you people are good, but I think I need to regulate my comments section on YouTube. It's nothing personal. It's just annoying beyond reason.

Anyway, I hope you all understand. I don't want to ruin the poor little guy, but I have my limits. I don't want to post a video just to get irrelevant comments.

You wouldn't go to a Comic-Con without Scott McNeil just to ask questions about nothing but Scott McNeil, would you?

This is NukeOTron, signing off.

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Shocking.

Positively shocking.

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Why? So YOU can use it and modify it, and so you won't get sued by Monotype for using Arial in a commercial project.

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For games, I shrink the HD version for the game's window.

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Trust me, this is part of the process of making cinematics.

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It doesn't help that the small-sprite BAC-PAC doesn't exactly pop from this kind of background.

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