A message from Nintendude (apology to the 405th)

[Unity]

Hello everyone

As some of you may know, John Wieger (Nintendude) was banned from the forums. I am good friends with him and he wanted me to post this message as a apology to all of the members here. Thank you for reading-

I've been with the 405th since 2007 helping members, giving away my files, promoting the site through every panel I've done at 8 conventions so far. Going to be running the first 405th table at a convention in September to promote the 405th, and today the day after my birthday I don't just get slapped in the face, I get a full on kick in the nuts when I discover that I've been perm-banned from the site. Why might you ask? Because I used another members photos to try and get commissions on another site. Since then I've made apologies to those people and I've removed my commission ads. I've also contacted the staff of that forum and told them if they want to ban me for my actions then they can.
But to ban me from the 405th after all I've done, after all I've helped over one incident I'm given a perm ban. I don't get to explain myself to any of the 405th mods or admins, I don't get a warning or a temp ban I get a perm ban. Why would I use another member's photos to try and get a commission because I was simply too lazy to go looking for photos of my own. I have photos of props I've made in the past, I've made a ODST pistol for Steven R. On the 405th, I've made multiple other creations. But I was just too lazy and too stupid so I used someone else's photos to do the ad with. The only reason why I did any of that was because I was desperate. I lost my father earlier this month and I ran out of options so the only thing I could do was that to try and make funds to get out for his funeral services which now I'll miss.
If I need to make a apology here then so be it. I apologize to anyone here that I might have hurt with my actions I know it won't make it right if I do give a apology but at least I get a little relief in doing so. I have depression problems, and doing this to me has hurt pretty bad, I consider the 405th to be a second home, one where I can communicate with friends and people I consider family since I don't have much left. By perm-banning me that has been taken away and all it has done is make my depression and sadness worse. Being banned from Cosplay.com I could have taken, but perm-banning me from the 405th is like you're cutting my throat. I'm giving this message to JBetts to post on my behalf.

Thank you -

John (Nintendude)

Thank you for reading everyone. If you wish to contact him, send me a message and ill tell him and/or send you his e-mail address


- Jacob

 

[SchizophrenicMC]

Honor, Armor, Unity, my ass. John's a damn good guy, and to get banned at all is ridiculous. Looks like the 405th just lost its Schizo, as well. This isn't a community, anymore. It's a damned farce, and I refuse to participate in it.

 

[Varsity]

That is just ridiculous, it needs to be changed NOW! who banned him?

 

[momoss]

This doesnt seem right...I met him at Dragoncon last year hes a nice person. Its sad that this has happened to him during a bad time in his life.

 

[koshima07]

And there's no way we can allow him back?

 

[RedJak]

I have been here for a long while and have seen people do alot worse and and not even get a slap on the wrist.

 

[koshima07]

I concur. Nintendude has been very helpful and a great member in the 405th, and I honestly believe he should be allowed a second chance.

If not, then we really will have lost one of our best.

 

[Varsity]

i swear if this thread gets locked...

 

[Unity]

Time for me to state my opinion .

I am disappointed in the way this was handled by the staff. There has been a certain someone screwing people out of money as I understand it and this person hasn't even been addressed . This happens and John is banned no questions asked. I know that the staff here works hard to keep everyone pleased and has a TON of stuff on their plate , but I still think that they could have handled it a bit better . I don't want to diss on the staff, but they need to start running this a bit differently or else people are going to drop like flies. I would hate to see that happen to a community as great as this one was.

- Jacob

 

[koshima07]

Time for me to state my opinion .

I am disappointed in the way this was handled by the staff. There has been a certain someone screwing people out of money as I understand it and this person hasn't even been addressed . This happens and John is banned no questions asked. I know that the staff here works hard to keep everyone pleased and has a TON of stuff on their plate , but I still think that they could have handled it a bit better . I don't want to diss on the staff, but they need to start running this a bit differently or else people are going to drop like flies. I would hate to see that happen to a community as great as this one was.

- Jacob

I must admit, I agree, Jacob.
So the best thing for us to do for now is to keep it clean, then, right?

 

[Unity]

I must admit, I agree, Jacob.
So the best thing for us to do for now is to keep it clean, then, right?

Well, I do think that its best for people to express the anger instead of covering it up. No sense in covering it up. If we want things to change, we have to speak up. Thanks man. I agree with everything that everyone here has said. I must say that I WILL be angry if this thread gets locked.

 

[Ruze789]

I do not even know what happened here. Makes no sense to ban anyone for something like this that happened on another site...

It was not myself or any of the other currently 'Very Active' Mods or Staff here. I'm going to try to sort this out as best I can with the involved parties and Staff and see what's up. Wasn't brought up for any kind of discussion and is as much a shock to me as it is to you guys.

 

[Unity]

I do not even know what happened here. Makes no sense to ban anyone for something like this that happened on another site...

It was not myself or any of the other currently 'Very Active' Mods or Staff here. I'm going to try to sort this out as best I can with the involved parties and Staff and see what's up. Wasn't brought up for any kind of discussion and is as much a shock to me as it is to you guys.

Thank you for being understanding man.

 

[Jimmy Da Moose]

I normally don't like to get involved in matters like this, but it does seem wrong that he was perma-banned. Its not like he was claiming the work as his own, he was just using it as reference for what he is able to make. Nintendude has been here far too long to have been banned for such a small offence.

Maybe there is more to it, who's to say, we'll just have to let the mods decide.

 

[Trooper114]

Maybe some one hacked into a unactive mod profile?

 

[ForgedReclaimer]

I feel really bad for you Nintendude, i went through the same thing a few years back and it almost killed me and i can tell your probably hurting from this. I get that using other people work to promote yours as being a bit... wrong (little) but that wasn't even on these forums, this should NEVER have happened. And with your quality record, how could this ban just come from nowhere without even being asked about it or talked to first... wtf?

 

[koshima07]

Maybe some one hacked into a unactive mod profile?

That would be cruel in every way, and people out there are capable.
This just plain sucks, man.

 

[Goosebot 5000]

i need to post here because im the member whos work he claimed as his own. you all are just as puzzled as i was when i first found out about the whole deal. ive had nothing but good dealings with him until this incident, which makes the whole thing even more surprising and puzzling. but this didnt start with me. i found out thru Volpin Props. a very well respected prop maker. i dont think hes a member here, but he is on therpf for those of you who are members there. Nintendude did the same thing with pictures of Volpin's portal gun. Volpin was informed by someone and linked the ad where john was using his pictures and posted a public warning of the seller (john / nintendude) on the facebook he has set up for his studio. so this isnt an isolated incident.

there are two things that i have to point out with this incident. the first is that the message he sent thru JBetts97 is NOT the story that he gave me, and still hasnt come clean to me directly. he did apologize, but claimed the whole thing was an accident, and stuck to that story. now ive come here to find that he has come clean to another member and is making excuses as to why he DID do it. so now, not only has he claimed my work as his own, but hes lied to me in order to cover up the truth. Volpin mentioned that john told him that he didnt know they were VOLPINS pictures of VOLPINS portal gun, and apologized for using them. it doesnt matter who owned the pictures, because it wasnt john's work. while i applaud the fact that he apologized, the excuse he gave changed nothing about the fact that what he did was wrong. and trying to steer the situation away from that fact will only do damage.

...which leads me to my second point. regardless of the reason, or excuses, what he has done is wrong. there is no justifying it, just making amends. i wont debate that there could be other punishments. but there still has to be punishment of some sort. he has insulted me professionally by claiming my work as his own, and personally by lying to me about the whole thing and trying to cover his tracks. there is not one person on this board that wouldnt be upset if someone was doing that to them. what if you had tried to buy something from him or request a commission based on the pictures of the work that wasnt his? how would you be reacting to what you got not matching what was pictured? almost everyone has been scammed in a similar way by someone on ebay. did you let that slide? or did you report it?

 

[Varsity]

So, just to clarify even the mods dont know whats going on?

 

[Unity]

So, just to clarify even the mods dont know whats going on?

Thats what i'm understanding . Which leads me to wonder WHO banned him. If I do recall , all of the mods are informed when someone is banned. Makes you wonder what happened here.