MyWikiBiz - User contributions [en]

User talk:Thegibbonator

2008-07-20T03:37:48Z

Thegibbonator: /* Grudges with ScoreHero */

{{Greeting}}

== Grudges with ScoreHero ==

Thegibbonator, welcome to MyWikiBiz. Just so you know the back story... I went well out of my way to ask a Wikipedia admin to recover the deleted Wikipedia article about ScoreHero. I then posted it on my site here. When I noted that the ScoreHero forum was talking about retrying Wikipedia with an article, I went on their forum to tell them that their previous article was still available here, and to give a little advice about not trying to "promote" a topic on Wikipedia, since that's the #1 way to get the Wikipediot "locals" in a huff against your topic.

Well, some member (or was he a moderator) on ScoreHero's forum decided to insult me for "promoting" my website on "their" message board. I replied that this was rather ungrateful. And in a few hours, my ScoreHero forum account was "banned" from their site. I cannot even '''read''' the ScoreHero forums any more -- all I see is a message that I am blocked.

My "grudge" here was intended to motivate someone -- anyone -- from the ScoreHero community to take enough interest to work on the article here, otherwise, what's the point in even hosting it on this site, if nobody cares enough to caretake it? That being said, I'm glad my stubborn reaction did in fact motivate you to "fix" the situation. Are you a ScoreHero member or moderator? -- [[User:MyWikiBiz|MyWikiBiz]] 05:34, 19 July 2008 (PDT)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I sent you an email in reply, but I'll paste a copy of it here for records sake.

RE: Grudge on ScoreHero

Unfortunately, it IS a Scorehero rule that advertisment of other websites is forbidden, unless it is done through the use of signatures. I know it seems stupid, but even though your intentions were well-mannered, you were still breaking a rule by posting about the site. I'm not the one who controls the rules, but if I did, trust me, I'd remove that rule. Other than that, I feel Scorehero is run extremely well - the community is a strong one and there's a distinct lack of idiots. When an idiot does crop up (generally in the Software section <_<), they're dealt with smoothly and efficiently.

I saw the post in question, and trust me, rkcr isn't generally an insulting person. He's proven to be of great benefit to the Scorehero community, and feels strongly about holding it together. I think this was why he made the post, although he probably did take it a little too far. The internet is like that - people will always misinterpret actions and arguments crop up much more easily than in the "real world", so to speak. I know you don't like it, but you'll need to just put it behind you - internet arguments are never a good thing. I will take this opportunity to apologise on his behalf - once again, he doesn't generally act that way towards others.

I'm a long-time Scorehero member (since 10th June 07) and I'm an active user, browsing the forums every day and with over 1770 posts to my name at this point in time. I also try to contribute to the community by helping proof the cutoffs for songs, and I plan on donating once I can get a credit card (I'm 16). While I do play Guitar Hero quite a bit, I enjoy the community side of Scorehero more than the actual game.

I'll understand if you no longer want to be a part of Scorehero, but if you'd still like to use the forums, use a proxy to sign up for a new account. Back when I made my original account, I accidentally typo'd a score without realising, putting it several hundred thousand above the true first place score. The account was banned for this, but I wanted to get back into the community and figured a proxy would bypass the IP ban. Once I'd signed up for the new account, I found that I didn't need to use the proxy anymore, it was only needed for signing up.

One word of advice, though - don't advertise the fact that you have an old account, or that you used a proxy in order to sign up for a new one. There have been cases of people making threads asking why their old accounts were banned. >_> [[User:Thegibbonator|Thegibbonator]] 18:08, 19 July 2008 (PDT)

:This is a very nice, thoughtful reply, Gibby. Thanks for making the effort to explain the situation, and I do not and will not hold a grudge against '''rkcr'''. I wasn't kind to call your community "twerps" or whatever I said, either. It's not a problem that I'm banned from ScoreHero -- I have nothing more of value to contribute. At least now you're here, aware of the wiki-style article, and hopefully one day it will migrate to Wikipedia and other reference sites. Welcome! --[[User:MyWikiBiz|MyWikiBiz]] 19:42, 19 July 2008 (PDT)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

No problem, I'm glad we were able to resolve this easily. I'll be sure to check in on here regularly in order to ensure the integrity of the article, and I'll be sure to help out elsewhere if I'm able to. I'm a little doubtful that Wikipedia will accept an article on Scorehero, however - the issues of notability still exist despite the huge member count and fanbase of the games we're based around. Hopefully we'll be able to at some point, but I don't think it's wise to try, since if my memory serves well, Wikipedia can block the creation of certain articles, and repeated creation of a Scorehero article would cause this block to be put into effect. [[User:Thegibbonator|Thegibbonator]] 20:37, 19 July 2008 (PDT)

Directory:ScoreHero

2008-07-20T01:22:52Z

Thegibbonator: Wii customs, plus info about methods of using customs

{{Infobox Company
| company_name = ScoreHero
| company_slogan = Graciously Documenting Our Future Arthritis
| owner = Joseph Cirri
| company_logo = [[Image:Sh_black3.png|{{deletable image-caption|1=Monday, 7 January 2008}}]]
| company_type = Gaming Discussion
| foundation = [[January 28th]], [[2006]]
| location_city = [[Baltimore, Maryland]],
| location_country = U.S. {{flagicon|U.S.}}
| key_people = Joseph Cirri (Founder), Matthew Wilson (Administrator)
| homepage = www.scorehero.com [http://www.scorehero.com]
| revenue = donations and merchandise sales
| screenshot =
| caption =
| url = www.scorehero.com [http://www.scorehero.com]
| registration = Optional<br />(required to input scores and access certain areas of the forum)
| launch_date = [[February 4]], [[2006]]
| current_status = Active
| language = [[#Internationalization|multilingual]]
| alexa =
| website_type =
}}

'''ScoreHero.com''' is a video gaming discussion website that specializes in the [[Guitar Hero (series)|Guitar Hero]] and [[Rock Band (game)|Rock Band]] games. The biggest feature of the site is the scoreboard section, where players of the games can submit their personal high scores and have them compared against other players who have submitted scores. The site's structure encourages competitive users to try to get the highest scores possible on all difficulties. ScoreHero also contains forums, where the community of players can talk about the site, share tips on how to hit tricky sections of songs, discuss optimal Star Power and Overdrive usage, praise or criticize game features, and find other players to play with online or at a specified meeting place.

== History ==

ScoreHero was founded in early 2006 by Joseph Cirri (username JCirri). At first, the site only had the ability to input scores and view rankings for the only game in the franchise available at that time, [[Guitar Hero (video game)|Guitar Hero]]. Soon after its foundation, a forum was added to the site, using the popular [[PHPbb]] format.

On May 6th, 2007, Joseph made an announcement asking for the users of ScoreHero to collectively donate $10,000 for an upgraded server. Although it appeared as though the users were going to reach the goal, Alex Rigopulos, President of [[Harmonix Music Systems]], the then developers of the Guitar Hero series, donated $2000 on behalf of the company, not only earning the gratitude of the ScoreHero community but also pushing the total to within $500 of the $10,000 target<ref>[http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=25654126 Harmonix donates to keep fansite running] [[GameSpot]]. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref><ref>[http://kotaku.com/gaming/harmonix/good-pr-harmonix-stump-up-cash-for-fansite-263504.php Good PR: Harmonix Stump Up Cash For Fansite] Kotaku. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. Chris Canfield and Dan Schmidt (a long-time user of ScoreHero), also employees of Harmonix, chipped in with donations as well.

== Score Input System ==

Registered users on ScoreHero can input scores obtained in the Guitar Hero series of games into an online database. Scores of the game Rock Band can also be submitted through a subdomain of the site, rockband.scorehero.com [http://rockband.scorehero.com]. While no proof of achievements is required, users are generally encouraged to provide some sort of proof for scores. Proof can come either as photo proof, video proof, or both. Users that obtain top scores have been highly encouraged to present proof to maintain the integrity of the site.

Players are ranked not only on their scores for a specific song, but also their overall scores for tiers, bonus songs, and the entire setlist. Some other features of the system include the ability to search for a member's full list of scores, score comparisons between two users, an extended star assignment system, and Co-op mode team accounts. On the Rock Band portion of the site, there are separate leaderboards for all 1-person, 2-person, and 3-person instrument combinations, as well as full band leaderboards.

== Custom Songs ==

It was discovered after extensive research of the game engine used for Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II by many knowledgeable forum users that the songs on the game could be replaced with other songs and notecharts. This led to an extensive customizing scene, involving thousands of songs from all types of genres. Replacing a song on the game involves placing a [[MIDI]] file containing the note chart into the space previously occupied by another song and importing an MP3 or OGG file into the corresponding VGS file (VGS is a type of audio compression utilised on the [[Playstation 2]] platform). The release of [[Guitar Hero 3]] provided a challenge to the programmers on the forum, as the charts and audio files were made under different file extensions and were oddly encrypted, but eventually the PS2 [http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42583] and PC [http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45322] versions of the game were cracked and made editable. Effort is also being put into custom songs for the Wii version of Guitar Hero 3, and customs have been sucessfully placed in the game.

The Software forum section provides all the tools needed to start customizing, and experienced customizers provide help to people new to customizing. Although the process of customizing could be controversial with respect to its legality, the site does not endorse any illegal activities i.e. the illegal downloading of the actual music files (MP3s, OGGs, etc.) needed and help with the process of modding one's game system to play burned DVDs. Only MIDI files and licensed music files are available. Also, the distribution of songs which are already in either Guitar Hero or Rock Band, or have been announced for either, is strictly forbidden. Despite this, both [[Harmonix]] and [[Neversoft]] (the creators of the games in the Guitar Hero sides) fully support the field of custom songs, to such an extent that Neversoft hired at least one of the Scorehero charters to work on their Guitar Hero games.

Anybody who wishes to use custom songs in their copy of Guitar Hero should take note that it requires a method of booting non-official media, since the custom version of the game will be burned to a blank DVD-R disk (DVD+R can also be used, but DVD-R appears to be more stable). For the Playstation 2 version of the games, this means either a [[mod chip]] or a copy of [[Swap Magic]] must be used.

== ScoreHero in the Media ==

ScoreHero has gained quite a lot of attention in recent months, most of it coming with the release of [[Guitar Hero 3]] and Rock Band. Two users of the site, ChrisVance and orange22, were hired at [[Neversoft]] as chart creators for Guitar Hero 3 after getting their start creating custom note charts for previous Guitar Hero titles. A third member, Thrice, was employed as a game tester. Neversoft invited select ScoreHero staff members to their South California headquarters to get a first-hand look at the full game in July, and also gave them clearance to announce the inclusion of [[Through the Fire and Flames]], [[Suck My Kiss]], [[La Grange (song)|La Grange]], and [[The Number of the Beast (song)|The Number of the Beast]] and tell about their general experiences with the game<ref>[http://kotaku.com/gaming/scorehero Four New Guitar Hero III Tracks Shown Off To Fans] [[Kotaku]]. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. They were flown to Harmonix's studios for a similar experience with Rock Band, though it was mostly intended to get the staff familiarized with the Rock Band scoring system. The site has also gained attention for its Software forum section that provides support for modded versions of the Guitar Hero games<ref>[http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/23/play-custom-songs-on-hacked-guitar-hero-ii/ Play custom Songs on hacked Guitar Hero II] [[Joystiq]]. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>.

Due to its high level and intenseness of competition, some users of ScoreHero have been in the spotlight for their exceptionally good skills. In particular, user beberle2 is a very popular player, in part because he is only 9 years old. beberle2 was invited to play some songs for the GameTrailers show GameOne, and was interviewed afterwards<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCrnZZzGGB8 beberle2 - Gametrailers Gameone Interview - Movie 2 - March 2007] [[YouTube]]. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. His Psychobilly Freakout Expert 5-star video at 8 years old and Through the Fire and Flames Expert 754k video at 9 years old have both received over 1 million views on [[YouTube]]<ref>http://youtube.com/watch?v=3yEjyuw42YY</ref><ref>http://youtube.com/watch?v=KUzNcheoY6U</ref>. Two other high ranking ScoreHero users, HellAshes (Garry Bathrick) and dantheman2515 (Daniel Juarez), were finalists in an [[Attack of the Show]] Guitar Hero 3 tournament, and at the finale, played Pride and Joy (Stevie Ray Vaughan) on the Expert level live<ref>[http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/blog/post/681429/Guitar_Hero_3_Finals.html 'Guitar Hero 3' Finals] [[G4TV]].com. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. HellAshes ended up defeating dantheman, and walked home with a brand new 2008 [[Pontiac G5]], only having his learner's permit at the time. User wuLFe was also highlighted in a Game Informer column for his top scores on the Xbox 360 version of GH2; another user Smokyprogg was interviewed in the Times Online<ref>[http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article3006593.ece The guitar hero] Times Online. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. Also of note is that the professional gaming organization [[TeamPandemic]]'s Guitar Hero II team is made entirely of ScoreHero members.

==References==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>

Directory:ScoreHero

2008-07-20T01:17:29Z

Thegibbonator: Adding in a small part about Harmonix and Neversoft supporting custom songs

{{Infobox Company
| company_name = ScoreHero
| company_slogan = Graciously Documenting Our Future Arthritis
| owner = Joseph Cirri
| company_logo = [[Image:Sh_black3.png|{{deletable image-caption|1=Monday, 7 January 2008}}]]
| company_type = Gaming Discussion
| foundation = [[January 28th]], [[2006]]
| location_city = [[Baltimore, Maryland]],
| location_country = U.S. {{flagicon|U.S.}}
| key_people = Joseph Cirri (Founder), Matthew Wilson (Administrator)
| homepage = www.scorehero.com [http://www.scorehero.com]
| revenue = donations and merchandise sales
| screenshot =
| caption =
| url = www.scorehero.com [http://www.scorehero.com]
| registration = Optional<br />(required to input scores and access certain areas of the forum)
| launch_date = [[February 4]], [[2006]]
| current_status = Active
| language = [[#Internationalization|multilingual]]
| alexa =
| website_type =
}}

'''ScoreHero.com''' is a video gaming discussion website that specializes in the [[Guitar Hero (series)|Guitar Hero]] and [[Rock Band (game)|Rock Band]] games. The biggest feature of the site is the scoreboard section, where players of the games can submit their personal high scores and have them compared against other players who have submitted scores. The site's structure encourages competitive users to try to get the highest scores possible on all difficulties. ScoreHero also contains forums, where the community of players can talk about the site, share tips on how to hit tricky sections of songs, discuss optimal Star Power and Overdrive usage, praise or criticize game features, and find other players to play with online or at a specified meeting place.

== History ==

ScoreHero was founded in early 2006 by Joseph Cirri (username JCirri). At first, the site only had the ability to input scores and view rankings for the only game in the franchise available at that time, [[Guitar Hero (video game)|Guitar Hero]]. Soon after its foundation, a forum was added to the site, using the popular [[PHPbb]] format.

On May 6th, 2007, Joseph made an announcement asking for the users of ScoreHero to collectively donate $10,000 for an upgraded server. Although it appeared as though the users were going to reach the goal, Alex Rigopulos, President of [[Harmonix Music Systems]], the then developers of the Guitar Hero series, donated $2000 on behalf of the company, not only earning the gratitude of the ScoreHero community but also pushing the total to within $500 of the $10,000 target<ref>[http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=25654126 Harmonix donates to keep fansite running] [[GameSpot]]. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref><ref>[http://kotaku.com/gaming/harmonix/good-pr-harmonix-stump-up-cash-for-fansite-263504.php Good PR: Harmonix Stump Up Cash For Fansite] Kotaku. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. Chris Canfield and Dan Schmidt (a long-time user of ScoreHero), also employees of Harmonix, chipped in with donations as well.

== Score Input System ==

Registered users on ScoreHero can input scores obtained in the Guitar Hero series of games into an online database. Scores of the game Rock Band can also be submitted through a subdomain of the site, rockband.scorehero.com [http://rockband.scorehero.com]. While no proof of achievements is required, users are generally encouraged to provide some sort of proof for scores. Proof can come either as photo proof, video proof, or both. Users that obtain top scores have been highly encouraged to present proof to maintain the integrity of the site.

Players are ranked not only on their scores for a specific song, but also their overall scores for tiers, bonus songs, and the entire setlist. Some other features of the system include the ability to search for a member's full list of scores, score comparisons between two users, an extended star assignment system, and Co-op mode team accounts. On the Rock Band portion of the site, there are separate leaderboards for all 1-person, 2-person, and 3-person instrument combinations, as well as full band leaderboards.

== Custom Songs ==

It was discovered after extensive research of the game engine used for Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II by many knowledgeable forum users that the songs on the game could be replaced with other songs and notecharts. This led to an extensive customizing scene, involving thousands of songs from all types of genres. Replacing a song on the game involves placing a [[MIDI]] file containing the note chart into the space previously occupied by another song and importing an MP3 or OGG file into the corresponding VGS file (VGS is a type of audio compression utilised on the [[Playstation 2]] platform). The release of [[Guitar Hero 3]] provided a challenge to the programmers on the forum, as the charts and audio files were made under different file extensions and were oddly encrypted, but eventually the PS2 [http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42583] and PC [http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45322] versions of the game were cracked and made editable.

The Software forum section provides all the tools needed to start customizing, and experienced customizers provide help to people new to customizing. Although the process of customizing could be controversial with respect to its legality, the site does not endorse any illegal activities i.e. the illegal downloading of the actual music files (MP3s, OGGs, etc.) needed and help with the process of modding one's game system to play burned DVDs. Only MIDI files and licensed music files are available. Also, the distribution of songs which are already in either Guitar Hero or Rock Band, or have been announced for either, is strictly forbidden. Despite this, both [[Harmonix]] and [[Neversoft]] (the creators of the games in the Guitar Hero sides) fully support the field of custom songs, to such an extent that Neversoft hired at least one of the Scorehero charters to work on their Guitar Hero games.

== ScoreHero in the Media ==

ScoreHero has gained quite a lot of attention in recent months, most of it coming with the release of [[Guitar Hero 3]] and Rock Band. Two users of the site, ChrisVance and orange22, were hired at [[Neversoft]] as chart creators for Guitar Hero 3 after getting their start creating custom note charts for previous Guitar Hero titles. A third member, Thrice, was employed as a game tester. Neversoft invited select ScoreHero staff members to their South California headquarters to get a first-hand look at the full game in July, and also gave them clearance to announce the inclusion of [[Through the Fire and Flames]], [[Suck My Kiss]], [[La Grange (song)|La Grange]], and [[The Number of the Beast (song)|The Number of the Beast]] and tell about their general experiences with the game<ref>[http://kotaku.com/gaming/scorehero Four New Guitar Hero III Tracks Shown Off To Fans] [[Kotaku]]. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. They were flown to Harmonix's studios for a similar experience with Rock Band, though it was mostly intended to get the staff familiarized with the Rock Band scoring system. The site has also gained attention for its Software forum section that provides support for modded versions of the Guitar Hero games<ref>[http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/23/play-custom-songs-on-hacked-guitar-hero-ii/ Play custom Songs on hacked Guitar Hero II] [[Joystiq]]. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>.

Due to its high level and intenseness of competition, some users of ScoreHero have been in the spotlight for their exceptionally good skills. In particular, user beberle2 is a very popular player, in part because he is only 9 years old. beberle2 was invited to play some songs for the GameTrailers show GameOne, and was interviewed afterwards<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCrnZZzGGB8 beberle2 - Gametrailers Gameone Interview - Movie 2 - March 2007] [[YouTube]]. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. His Psychobilly Freakout Expert 5-star video at 8 years old and Through the Fire and Flames Expert 754k video at 9 years old have both received over 1 million views on [[YouTube]]<ref>http://youtube.com/watch?v=3yEjyuw42YY</ref><ref>http://youtube.com/watch?v=KUzNcheoY6U</ref>. Two other high ranking ScoreHero users, HellAshes (Garry Bathrick) and dantheman2515 (Daniel Juarez), were finalists in an [[Attack of the Show]] Guitar Hero 3 tournament, and at the finale, played Pride and Joy (Stevie Ray Vaughan) on the Expert level live<ref>[http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/blog/post/681429/Guitar_Hero_3_Finals.html 'Guitar Hero 3' Finals] [[G4TV]].com. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. HellAshes ended up defeating dantheman, and walked home with a brand new 2008 [[Pontiac G5]], only having his learner's permit at the time. User wuLFe was also highlighted in a Game Informer column for his top scores on the Xbox 360 version of GH2; another user Smokyprogg was interviewed in the Times Online<ref>[http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article3006593.ece The guitar hero] Times Online. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. Also of note is that the professional gaming organization [[TeamPandemic]]'s Guitar Hero II team is made entirely of ScoreHero members.

==References==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>

User talk:Thegibbonator

2008-07-20T01:08:51Z

Thegibbonator: /* Grudges with ScoreHero */

{{Greeting}}

== Grudges with ScoreHero ==

Thegibbonator, welcome to MyWikiBiz. Just so you know the back story... I went well out of my way to ask a Wikipedia admin to recover the deleted Wikipedia article about ScoreHero. I then posted it on my site here. When I noted that the ScoreHero forum was talking about retrying Wikipedia with an article, I went on their forum to tell them that their previous article was still available here, and to give a little advice about not trying to "promote" a topic on Wikipedia, since that's the #1 way to get the Wikipediot "locals" in a huff against your topic.

Well, some member (or was he a moderator) on ScoreHero's forum decided to insult me for "promoting" my website on "their" message board. I replied that this was rather ungrateful. And in a few hours, my ScoreHero forum account was "banned" from their site. I cannot even '''read''' the ScoreHero forums any more -- all I see is a message that I am blocked.

My "grudge" here was intended to motivate someone -- anyone -- from the ScoreHero community to take enough interest to work on the article here, otherwise, what's the point in even hosting it on this site, if nobody cares enough to caretake it? That being said, I'm glad my stubborn reaction did in fact motivate you to "fix" the situation. Are you a ScoreHero member or moderator? -- [[User:MyWikiBiz|MyWikiBiz]] 05:34, 19 July 2008 (PDT)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I sent you an email in reply, but I'll paste a copy of it here for records sake.

RE: Grudge on ScoreHero

Unfortunately, it IS a Scorehero rule that advertisment of other websites is forbidden, unless it is done through the use of signatures. I know it seems stupid, but even though your intentions were well-mannered, you were still breaking a rule by posting about the site. I'm not the one who controls the rules, but if I did, trust me, I'd remove that rule. Other than that, I feel Scorehero is run extremely well - the community is a strong one and there's a distinct lack of idiots. When an idiot does crop up (generally in the Software section <_<), they're dealt with smoothly and efficiently.

I saw the post in question, and trust me, rkcr isn't generally an insulting person. He's proven to be of great benefit to the Scorehero community, and feels strongly about holding it together. I think this was why he made the post, although he probably did take it a little too far. The internet is like that - people will always misinterpret actions and arguments crop up much more easily than in the "real world", so to speak. I know you don't like it, but you'll need to just put it behind you - internet arguments are never a good thing. I will take this opportunity to apologise on his behalf - once again, he doesn't generally act that way towards others.

I'm a long-time Scorehero member (since 10th June 07) and I'm an active user, browsing the forums every day and with over 1770 posts to my name. I also try to contribute to the community by helping proof the cutoffs for songs, and I plan on donating once I can get a credit card (I'm 16). While I do play Guitar Hero quite a bit, I enjoy the community side of Scorehero more than the actual game.

I'll understand if you no longer want to be a part of Scorehero, but if you'd still like to use the forums, use a proxy to sign up for a new account. Back when I made my original account, I accidentally typo'd a score without realising, putting it several hundred thousand above the true first place score. The account was banned for this, but I wanted to get back into the community and figured a proxy would bypass the IP ban. Once I'd signed up for the new account, I found that I didn't need to use the proxy anymore, it was only needed for signing up.

One word of advice, though - don't advertise the fact that you have an old account, or that you used a proxy in order to sign up for a new one. There have been cases of people making threads asking why their old accounts were banned. >_> [[User:Thegibbonator|Thegibbonator]] 18:08, 19 July 2008 (PDT)

User talk:Thegibbonator

2008-07-20T01:02:26Z

Thegibbonator:

{{Greeting}}

== Grudges with ScoreHero ==

Thegibbonator, welcome to MyWikiBiz. Just so you know the back story... I went well out of my way to ask a Wikipedia admin to recover the deleted Wikipedia article about ScoreHero. I then posted it on my site here. When I noted that the ScoreHero forum was talking about retrying Wikipedia with an article, I went on their forum to tell them that their previous article was still available here, and to give a little advice about not trying to "promote" a topic on Wikipedia, since that's the #1 way to get the Wikipediot "locals" in a huff against your topic.

Well, some member (or was he a moderator) on ScoreHero's forum decided to insult me for "promoting" my website on "their" message board. I replied that this was rather ungrateful. And in a few hours, my ScoreHero forum account was "banned" from their site. I cannot even '''read''' the ScoreHero forums any more -- all I see is a message that I am blocked.

My "grudge" here was intended to motivate someone -- anyone -- from the ScoreHero community to take enough interest to work on the article here, otherwise, what's the point in even hosting it on this site, if nobody cares enough to caretake it? That being said, I'm glad my stubborn reaction did in fact motivate you to "fix" the situation. Are you a ScoreHero member or moderator? -- [[User:MyWikiBiz|MyWikiBiz]] 05:34, 19 July 2008 (PDT)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I sent you an email in reply, but I'll paste a copy of it here for records sake.

RE: Grudge on ScoreHero

Unfortunately, it IS a Scorehero rule that advertisment of other websites is forbidden, unless it is done through the use of signatures. I know it seems stupid, but even though your intentions were well-mannered, you were still breaking a rule by posting about the site. I'm not the one who controls the rules, but if I did, trust me, I'd remove that rule. Other than that, I feel Scorehero is run extremely well - the community is a strong one and there's a distinct lack of idiots. When an idiot does crop up (generally in the Software section <_<), they're dealt with smoothly and efficiently.

I saw the post in question, and trust me, rkcr isn't generally an insulting person. He's proven to be of great benefit to the Scorehero community, and feels strongly about holding it together. I think this was why he made the post, although he probably did take it a little too far. The internet is like that - people will always misinterpret actions and arguments crop up much more easily than in the "real world", so to speak. I know you don't like it, but you'll need to just put it behind you - internet arguments are never a good thing. I will take this opportunity to apologise on his behalf - once again, he doesn't generally act that way towards others.

I'm a long-time Scorehero member (since 10th June 07) and I'm an active user, browsing the forums every day and with over 1770 posts to my name. I also try to contribute to the community by helping proof the cutoffs for songs, and I plan on donating once I can get a credit card (I'm 16). While I do play Guitar Hero quite a bit, I enjoy the community side of Scorehero more than the actual game.

I'll understand if you no longer want to be a part of Scorehero, but if you'd still like to use the forums, use a proxy to sign up for a new account. Back when I made my original account, I accidentally typo'd a score without realising, putting it several hundred thousand above the true first place score. The account was banned for this, but I wanted to get back into the community and figured a proxy would bypass the IP ban. Once I'd signed up for the new account, I found that I didn't need to use the proxy anymore, it was only needed for signing up.

One word of advice, though - don't advertise the fact that you have an old account, or that you used a proxy in order to sign up for a new one. There have been cases of people making threads asking why their old accounts were banned. >_>

Directory:ScoreHero

2008-07-19T00:22:23Z

Thegibbonator: Grudges are pointless. I came across this and thought it was a little odd that the admin of a site was allowing vandalism to a page. Isn't MyWikiBiz meant to be unbiased?

{{Infobox Company
| company_name = ScoreHero
| company_slogan = Graciously Documenting Our Future Arthritis
| owner = Joseph Cirri
| company_logo = [[Image:Sh_black3.png|{{deletable image-caption|1=Monday, 7 January 2008}}]]
| company_type = Gaming Discussion
| foundation = [[January 28th]], [[2006]]
| location_city = [[Baltimore, Maryland]],
| location_country = U.S. {{flagicon|U.S.}}
| key_people = Joseph Cirri (Founder), Matthew Wilson (Administrator)
| homepage = www.scorehero.com [http://www.scorehero.com]
| revenue = donations and merchandise sales
| screenshot =
| caption =
| url = www.scorehero.com [http://www.scorehero.com]
| registration = Optional<br />(required to input scores and access certain areas of the forum)
| launch_date = [[February 4]], [[2006]]
| current_status = Active
| language = [[#Internationalization|multilingual]]
| alexa =
| website_type =
}}

'''ScoreHero.com''' is a video gaming discussion website that specializes in the [[Guitar Hero (series)|Guitar Hero]] and [[Rock Band (game)|Rock Band]] games. The biggest feature of the site is the scoreboard section, where players of the games can submit their personal high scores and have them compared against other players who have submitted scores. The site's structure encourages competitive users to try to get the highest scores possible on all difficulties. ScoreHero also contains forums, where the community of players can talk about the site, share tips on how to hit tricky sections of songs, discuss optimal Star Power and Overdrive usage, praise or criticize game features, and find other players to play with online or at a specified meeting place.

== History ==

ScoreHero was founded in early 2006 by Joseph Cirri (username JCirri). At first, the site only had the ability to input scores and view rankings for the only game in the franchise available at that time, [[Guitar Hero (video game)|Guitar Hero]]. Soon after its foundation, a forum was added to the site, using the popular [[PHPbb]] format.

On May 6th, 2007, Joseph made an announcement asking for the users of ScoreHero to collectively donate $10,000 for an upgraded server. Although it appeared as though the users were going to reach the goal, Alex Rigopulos, President of [[Harmonix Music Systems]], the then developers of the Guitar Hero series, donated $2000 on behalf of the company, not only earning the gratitude of the ScoreHero community but also pushing the total to within $500 of the $10,000 target<ref>[http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=25654126 Harmonix donates to keep fansite running] [[GameSpot]]. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref><ref>[http://kotaku.com/gaming/harmonix/good-pr-harmonix-stump-up-cash-for-fansite-263504.php Good PR: Harmonix Stump Up Cash For Fansite] Kotaku. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. Chris Canfield and Dan Schmidt (a long-time user of ScoreHero), also employees of Harmonix, chipped in with donations as well.

== Score Input System ==

Registered users on ScoreHero can input scores obtained in the Guitar Hero series of games into an online database. Scores of the game Rock Band can also be submitted through a subdomain of the site, rockband.scorehero.com [http://rockband.scorehero.com]. While no proof of achievements is required, users are generally encouraged to provide some sort of proof for scores. Proof can come either as photo proof, video proof, or both. Users that obtain top scores have been highly encouraged to present proof to maintain the integrity of the site.

Players are ranked not only on their scores for a specific song, but also their overall scores for tiers, bonus songs, and the entire setlist. Some other features of the system include the ability to search for a member's full list of scores, score comparisons between two users, an extended star assignment system, and Co-op mode team accounts. On the Rock Band portion of the site, there are separate leaderboards for all 1-person, 2-person, and 3-person instrument combinations, as well as full band leaderboards.

== Custom Songs ==

It was discovered after extensive research of the game engine used for Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II by many knowledgeable forum users that the songs on the game could be replaced with other songs and notecharts. This led to an extensive customizing scene, involving thousands of songs from all types of genres. Replacing a song on the game involves placing a [[MIDI]] file containing the note chart into the space previously occupied by another song and importing an MP3 or OGG file into the corresponding VGS file (VGS is a type of audio compression utilised on the [[Playstation 2]] platform). The release of [[Guitar Hero 3]] provided a challenge to the programmers on the forum, as the charts and audio files were made under different file extensions and were oddly encrypted, but eventually the PS2 [http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42583] and PC [http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45322] versions of the game were cracked and made editable.

The Software forum section provides all the tools needed to start customizing, and experienced customizers provide help to people new to customizing. Although the process of customizing could be controversial with respect to its legality, the site does not endorse any illegal activities i.e. the illegal downloading of the actual music files (MP3s, OGGs, etc.) needed and help with the process of modding one's game system to play burned DVDs. Only MIDI files and licensed music files are available. Also, the distribution of songs which are already in either Guitar Hero or Rock Band, or have been announced for either, is strictly forbidden.

== ScoreHero in the Media ==

ScoreHero has gained quite a lot of attention in recent months, most of it coming with the release of [[Guitar Hero 3]] and Rock Band. Two users of the site, ChrisVance and orange22, were hired at [[Neversoft]] as chart creators for Guitar Hero 3 after getting their start creating custom note charts for previous Guitar Hero titles. A third member, Thrice, was employed as a game tester. Neversoft invited select ScoreHero staff members to their South California headquarters to get a first-hand look at the full game in July, and also gave them clearance to announce the inclusion of [[Through the Fire and Flames]], [[Suck My Kiss]], [[La Grange (song)|La Grange]], and [[The Number of the Beast (song)|The Number of the Beast]] and tell about their general experiences with the game<ref>[http://kotaku.com/gaming/scorehero Four New Guitar Hero III Tracks Shown Off To Fans] [[Kotaku]]. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. They were flown to Harmonix's studios for a similar experience with Rock Band, though it was mostly intended to get the staff familiarized with the Rock Band scoring system. The site has also gained attention for its Software forum section that provides support for modded versions of the Guitar Hero games<ref>[http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/23/play-custom-songs-on-hacked-guitar-hero-ii/ Play custom Songs on hacked Guitar Hero II] [[Joystiq]]. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>.

Due to its high level and intenseness of competition, some users of ScoreHero have been in the spotlight for their exceptionally good skills. In particular, user beberle2 is a very popular player, in part because he is only 9 years old. beberle2 was invited to play some songs for the GameTrailers show GameOne, and was interviewed afterwards<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCrnZZzGGB8 beberle2 - Gametrailers Gameone Interview - Movie 2 - March 2007] [[YouTube]]. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. His Psychobilly Freakout Expert 5-star video at 8 years old and Through the Fire and Flames Expert 754k video at 9 years old have both received over 1 million views on [[YouTube]]<ref>http://youtube.com/watch?v=3yEjyuw42YY</ref><ref>http://youtube.com/watch?v=KUzNcheoY6U</ref>. Two other high ranking ScoreHero users, HellAshes (Garry Bathrick) and dantheman2515 (Daniel Juarez), were finalists in an [[Attack of the Show]] Guitar Hero 3 tournament, and at the finale, played Pride and Joy (Stevie Ray Vaughan) on the Expert level live<ref>[http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/blog/post/681429/Guitar_Hero_3_Finals.html 'Guitar Hero 3' Finals] [[G4TV]].com. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. HellAshes ended up defeating dantheman, and walked home with a brand new 2008 [[Pontiac G5]], only having his learner's permit at the time. User wuLFe was also highlighted in a Game Informer column for his top scores on the Xbox 360 version of GH2; another user Smokyprogg was interviewed in the Times Online<ref>[http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article3006593.ece The guitar hero] Times Online. Retrieved 12-28-07.</ref>. Also of note is that the professional gaming organization [[TeamPandemic]]'s Guitar Hero II team is made entirely of ScoreHero members.

==References==
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