[Mega Man X5 'Golden Sun']

Brass instruments are not clean by nature, thus I like the imperfect samples, makes it sound more authentic, in my opinion. Drums need to be brought out a tad, especially the lower drums. Ending needs a little work, as well. Seems kind of anti-climatic compared to the rest of the arrangement.

[What happened to Unmod?]

Let me try to provide that for you.

David Lloyd created the UnMod forum several years ago. A couple days ago he deleted it, citing the headache it was causing both him and the mod team. Can we both agree that a percentage of UnMod was making life difficult, or at least inconvenient for both him the mod team? Okay then.

To cite two recent examples, the flame wars over the sidebar, the pixietricks threads, photos@magfest, etc, were primarily between members of the UnMod community and the site staff. I'm not stating this as the gospel truth, this is just my interpretation of what happened (so correct me if I'm wrong).

This does not mean that many UnModders weren't/aren't decent, intelligent people. It does not mean that either djp or the moderators are/are not idiotic, cruel, unreasonable people. It means that were was drama between two groups of people...one that ran a website, and another other that was using a forum attached to it.

IN LIGHT OF THIS, Dave no longer felt that it was worth it to him (the one who foots the bill for this entire website) to continue accomodating a community that has very little to do with remixing video game music.

The WHY behind this conflict is irrelevant. It doesn't matter who held the moral high ground. Somewhere in Virginia a guy got tired of letting strangers post whatever they wanted in a forum he hosted. END OF STORY.

If you think djp doesn't "get" UnMod, then go ahead and think that. If you think the mods and the judges are a bunch of petty douches who hate to see smart, cool, people get a chance to interact with each other, then go ahead and think that. But this "lies" and "forgotten truth" bullshit has got to go. Do you think that anything truly important is at stake here?

Am I sad that UnMod's gone? Yes, I am. Sure, I made fun of it publicly and trolled there on occasion, but I was fond of it. Kind of the way you'd be fond of that cousin of yours who's crazy, brilliant, funny, talented, easy to talk to, but is also self-destructive, rebellious, and addicted to hard-core pornography. Unmod was all of these things to me and more, and I wasn't even around it much.

It was a good time, but now its over. Maybe the off-topic forum will be just as fun. Maybe unmod.org will fully realize the former glory of its namesake. Maybe there will be something else on the internet or (God forbid) the real world to fill your empty spaces.

Regardless, I hope that all UnModders find what they're looking for. And with that, my bloated, pretentious, monstrosity of a post comes to a close. Good night.

If you had really read previous posts, DJP has mostly disappeared from blame for this whole thing and the backlash is pretty much gone to the staff that advised him to delete. As he stated, he trusted their opinions. Many other courses of action could have been suggested, but they all agreed to delete. DJP wrote honestly, yet objectively, admitting the good (ex. community) and the bad (ex. massive use of bandwidth) of Unmod, showing us sincerity and empathy, reenforcing that he does indeed care about those on his site. All the rage is being fueled by a feeling of disregard offered by several of the staff members.

[What happened to Unmod?]

The point is, there was abuse, and that abuse is what eventually made OffTopic our best possible compromise.

Compromise assumes that 2 separate parties were involved. Where in the 9 Hells were we in this decision for the deletion of Unmod and the creation of OT?!? The Coop must have missed those negotiations (as he is probably the most respected Unmodder, and thus best representative).

You, pixietricks, are an elitist. You are coming off as pompous, egotistic, and self righteous. As thus, most of us Unmodders have ZERO respect for you as you pretend to be an expert on all things Unmod. The mature thing to do is to admit you didn't think of all the issues as you seem only to talk of the evils that happen to have been in Unmod (which, in all reality, weren't in the volume in which you imply).

Frankly, I feel you are behaving quite immaturely as you continually make excuses filled with HEAVY prejudices. Maybe it is time you admit you didn't really understand anything about the culture of Unmod, because it is obvious to many of us that you don't.

At this point, I don't care if I get banned. If the staff can't even PRETEND to have an iota of understanding, posting here is worthless knowing that some staff members really don't seem to give a shit about the members of OCR if they have different beliefs and values than they. OCR has been a diverse society where staff members were active in wider aspects of the site. With the staff's approval of the deletion of Unmod, much of this diversity is now dead as we no longer feel important here.

[What happened to Unmod?]

Looking at the past 2 pages, I've noticed something else... Fear. This fear is less from being banned now to OT being deleted if it is seen as "worthless" to the staff as well. All that OCR once had is now gone. There is no respect anymore. Retro banning, the pictures, lack of user input, and deleting while several staff members were away all point to a general lack of respect, which is a pillar in many communities. If we lack respect, how can OT be successful?

[What happened to Unmod?]

I'd like to point something out that probly won't be responded to, but I feel the need to point it out nonetheless.

The problem with this is, while they all agreed with each other than UnMod had to go, it's because none of them are UnModders. Had you on your staff any UnModder [though to be fair, virtually none would be suitable, but The Coop comes to mind], then I'm quite sure there would've been a vocal and concise set counterpoints presented (Liontamer and Darkesword were the closest things the community had to "UnModders" as far as mods go, and obviously neither was one at heart). While I understand that UnMod would, despite being "unmoderated", create more work for mods, I find it hard to believe that it was substantial, based on how little of what was posted was actually illegal and/or in direct violation of UnMod's rules and as such not necessary work for a moderator [and, once again to be fair, we did have a LOT of shit to sort through to find the good stuff, but we did so individually, not with the help of moderation].

I suppose the main point here is, of course they all wanted it deleted, as none of them made their homes there (or even visited those disfunctional relatives who had).

However, I still find it considerate of you to take the time to explain your decision in more detail than the other staff had so far been willing or able to do. So thanks for that, at least.

I agree. I have been a lurker for a while, occasionally making posts. I found a home on Unmod and visited frequently. People complained about the fad threads, but those were half the fun. Last week, I logged on and noticed many of the popular posters getting banned. There was no warnings of a crack down, no satisfying explanations, and it seemed... cold. My question here is, do the other staff members have a heart? Did they feel any sympathy at all? Have they no shame? I've read this and not seen any real sense of caring from anyone other than DJP. I've lost much of the respect I used to have from the apparent callousness of much of the staff as they do not explain why they advised DJP to delete the forums.

There also seemed to be a lack of empathy. How would Gen Discers feel if tomorrow, without warning, THEIR home is deleted? In my opinion, OCRemix FAILED as a community. to quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community ...

"Social capital

Main article: Social capital

If the sense of community exists, both freedom and security exist as well. The community then takes on a life of its own, as people become free enough to share and secure enough to get along. The sense of connectedness and formation of social networks comprise what has become known as social capital.[3]

Social capital is defined by Robert D. Putnam as "the collective value of all social networks (who people know) and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other (norms of reciprocity)." Social capital in action can be seen in groups of varying formality, including neighbors keeping an eye on each others' homes. However, as Putnam notes in Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000), social capital has been falling in the United States. Putnam found that over the past 25 years, attendance at club meetings has fallen 58 percent, family dinners are down 33 percent, and having friends visit has fallen 45 percent.[4]

Western cultures are thus said to be losing the spirit of community that once were found in institutions including churches and community centers. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg states in The Great Good Place that people need three places: 1) The home, 2) the workplace, and, 3) the community hangout or gathering place.[5]

With this philosophy in mind, many grassroots efforts such as The Project for Public Spaces are being started to create this "Third Place" in communities. They are taking form in independent bookstores, coffeehouses, local pubs and through many innovative means to create the social capital needed to foster the sense and spirit of community.[6]"

We felt secure in our Unmod, with our friends and enemies alike. There were good times and bad times, but that is what makes things great. This was our place to meet. We knew each other, mocked each other, and supported each other. To those that have the "good riddance" mentality, is our community REALLY that different than Gen Disc? There are minor differences, but that is bound to happen. Gen Disc and Unmod are places for us to BS. Unmod is simply a NC-17 version of Gen Disc.

To those that believe OT will fix things, you are sadly mistaken. The bans have created much bitterness in the Unmod community, leaving us feeling ostricized and oppressed. The freedom we enjoyed so much is now at an end as many will be paranoid of future bans, taking away that final thing that we dedicated our community to: Freedom.

As for the pics, they were in VERY bad taste, regardless of intent. I'm on that complains about people being to easily offended, too. It takes a LOT to find something offensive. I don't know about the rest of my fellow Unmoders, but I would like following:

1) Reason the pics were allowed to be taken.

2) Reason why the pics were posted.

3) Reason why there is no public apology for the pictures.

I see a severe lack of accountability on this issue. All that contributed to the pics ended up pouring salt in a deep wound, creating a bigger gap than the society on this site has ever known. It is time for them to stop making excuses and just admit it was not in good taste and act like a mature adult about it.

I'm ashamed at ALL sides in this issue in the fact that the staff refused a compromise on the matter to save the society of OCRemix, to the Gen Discers that are pouring salt on the wounds, and the Unmodders that fueled the justification of the deletion of Unmod.

[Megaman X2 Zero's Theme Remix]

The lead seems... hollow. It would sound sweet, but it is drowned by the beat and I have to strain a bit to hear it. Bring the lead out more and it should sound intense. Need to work on the end, it's kind of anti-climatic. You have a cool intro, good main theme, but a weak ending.

[Sonic 3 - Ice Cap Zone]

Sounds 80-ish enough, but I thing you need to do a little more yet to make it stand apart from the rest. Still seems kind of generic, but you DID know you were going cliche from the get go...

Style is pretty right on, though. Keep going!