Friday, April 3, 2009

The IOGM Comparison

Before this can begin, time for a backstory.

Yes, I've said it once already and I'll say it again, The Idiots of Garrys Mod by DJY1991 (AKA, Mr. Werg) was my inspiration to start making GMod movies. The original idea was to do an outright fan video, but as I got further into the thought process, I realized that batshit random humor was something I wasn't all that good at and wasn't really my style anyway. From there, I decided to make my own GMod series with written skits and see how it would turn out. First I needed a name and originally I thought of using the name, "GMod TV" but upon researching it, I found it was already taken by DRCAM122. Being still sold on the idea of multiple scripted skits, I came to The GMod Idiot Box. Some skeptics assumed I went with the name so I could piggyback off IOGM's search results and yeah, I'll admit, that probably did help get me noticed starting out, but that's not the reason I came to the name. The term, "Idiot Box" is as most people know, a term for a television set, and since this is going to be a kind of TV show about a sandbox game, I was sold on the double meaning. From there, The GMod Idiot Box was born. The first skit I ever did, "The Most Annoying Sound in the World" was tried with two of my best friends as actors and me filming. The skit was still a great idea, but I came to discover that using actors wasn't quite my style and plus it easily mushroomed into a lot of frustrations, what with server maintinence, time zones and whatnot. That's when I used my skills of manipulating ragdolls entirely by myself for the "I Can Break These Cuffs" skit and was completely sold on the idea, for reasons explained in my "Ragdolls > Actors" post.

So now I can safely say "GIB" has worked out pretty good due to much positive fan feedback. Now is where I can get to the frustration that I've been having lately. Time and time again, I've recieved comments saying this is a ripoff of IOGM, this is better than IOGM, whatever. Yes, this is done with Garry's Mod and yes, I do use the static to transition from one skit to the next, but why can't anyone see the differences in between the two? IOGM uses mostly actors with both playermodels and voice and the humor is completely and totally random. GIB uses 90% ragdolls and each skit is scripted, aside from the occasional 2 second joke (I like turtles!) and no voice acting at all. It's two different demographics when you take the time to think about it. I'm even having people comparing Billy Mays VS Vince to IOGM even though the only thing that resembles IOGM was the fact that it was done in Garry's Mod, which is flat out rediculous. The only conclusion I can draw from this is, if you make something with any similarity to something that's really popular at all, people will always say you're ripping it off. Very well, let's apply this logic to other things ...

All video bloggers and debaters are ripping off The Amazing Atheist, all GTA4 videos are ripping off "GTA 4 - Bloopers, Glitches & Silly Stuff" and all people that make YouTube poops are ripping off Deepercutt. Oh and people who make anime music videos just need to knock that shit off entirely ... just saying.

Yes, the static is a bit on the ripoff side, but let's face it, the static is really the best way to transition between skits in the form of changing the channel. Some have tried to avoid the static entirely in fear of being called ripoffs, but a rediculously loud test pattern in between skits or an obnoxious sound clip from the Simpsons or whatever just feels un-natural and annoying when seen more than once.

Wrapping it up, I do not deny for a second that the Idiots of Garrys Mod did inspire me to make GMod machinima. Hell, it probably inspired GMod machinima entirely and anyone who said it didn't inspire them in some way, they're probably lying. Still, inspiration doesn't always mean a ripoff and hopefully the compare and contrast I've done will help people realize that GIB is different in style.

I know 99% of the viewers won't read this and continue to make comparisons between the two because I've given up on assuming people read into things ... or even THINK anymore. "Music listed in video description" has been in all the credits I've ever done and still people ask again and again about the music. I worked at a motel once and when there were no more rooms available, we would plant three different signs that say "No rooms left" on the night window and people would still lean to look past the signs and into the window and still ask if rooms were available. We're headed into the Idiocracy generation fast and all I can do is applaud the Luke Wilsons who make it through.

Also If you haven't seen Idiocracy, do it. I command you.

20 comments:

  1. Agreed.
    And Idiocracy was awesome!

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  2. "...and all people that make YouTube poops are ripping off Deepercutt"

    It's funny that you say this, because you used this example as a means of showing the bad logic behind accusing GIB of being a IOGM ripoff. Truth is, this actually happens! People out there actually DO accuse YTP artists of ripping off Deepercutt, unless you put sentence splicing in there, which means you're a WalrusGuy hack.

    And the best bit? Both Deepercutt and WalrusGuy are both accused on their own pages of being SuperYoshi bastardisers.

    As long as people have things of even slightly similar roots or ideas to your own work, they'll come. Left 4 Dead is a 28 Days Later ripoff. Team Fortress 2 Arena is just a carbon copy of Counter Strike. Any MMO anywhere ever concieved after the release of World of Warcraft has obviously lifted each and every single aspect of their game from Blizzard.

    It's sad that people are so eager to compare similar (which in most cases, is an overstatement in its own right) pieces of art or media, and accuse plagiarisms, instead of appreciating both. But i guess you really can't make any piece of media without attracting SOME people like this!

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  3. So right. There can never be two same ideas, or else you're a dirty rip-off.

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  4. Just saying, but why can't you just ignore that? I don't think i've seen any of those comments before, but they are obviously bothering you. Why do you say it as if it's a competition? I mean, if i were to make a machinima while trying to use your style and everyone started to say that I was copying, I would leave them alone. Because in MY mind, and I'm sure in yours too, we both know that they're COMPLETELY different styles. I'm just saying this. About the idiocracy thing, I'm sure some people make mistakes, and insulting them won't benefit you any.

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  5. Typical reaction from the internet types. I'd tell you just to ignore it, but I myself can't accomplish that, so it'd be hipocracy.
    And we all know hypocrites are bad.

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  6. The static is used in Robot Chicken, AMVHELL, etc.

    Who cares? It's STATIC. Totally different concepts between IOGM and GIB.

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  7. I thought you got the name from a spongebob episode, oops.

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  8. "Music listed in video description has been in all the credits I've ever done and still people ask again and again about the music."

    Argh, I know how you feel. I play on this one server, where all the custom LS stuff is clearly displayed in the MOTD. However, we constantly have people yelling "WTF! FUSIOSN WONT WERK!! THS SRVR BLOS!!!1".

    That aside, people have and always will blame other people for copying or stealing other people's work. The only way to win, is to make a machinima in a game JUST released, which would probably be shitty anyways, and defeat the whole purpose of machinima.

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  9. Hey, i was wondering if i can use your ideas (Specfically, Dr. Haax) in my own kind of Gmod robot chicken type of thing. Though, I am afraid of stealing other people's ideas so is it okay for your fans (and others) to use some basic concepts in your Movies?

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  10. there will always be "rippoffs" here is a good example: warcraft 1 & 2 --> starcraft,

    warcraft 2 --> WoW

    F.E.A.R. --> nightmare house 2 mod

    so, nobody can really blame you, it is just the sircle of gaming (lol)

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  11. woops! BIG mistake warcraft 3* --> WoW

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  12. Maybe the people who ask for the music are just pulling your leg. Tell them to f*** off. In a nice way, though.

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  13. ...The Amazing Atheist? Not a great example, mate. There are plenty of early video bloggers you can use that aren't, you know, retards.

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  14. Even if it was a rip off, who cares? It's funny as hell! I have the perfect example of something like this:

    Has anyone played Saints Row 2? Plenty people say it's a GTA4 clone, yes, yes it is but without shame.

    GTA4 was so realistic at certain parts I found it somewhat boring.

    In GTA4 you run over a bloke and he goes over your car and sits there in a broken pile of pain.

    In Saints Row 2 you run over a bloke and he rockets into the air Team Rocket style.

    Realism is a good sacrifice if it means I could have fun people. I don't care if it's a rip off, I love it.

    I never got into IOGM that much, but I went into TGMIB immediately. So fuck any that use the term "Rip-Off" so frequently.

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  15. The first recorded case of an actor performing took place in 534 BC (though the changes in calendar over the years make it hard to determine exactly) when the Greek performer Thespis stepped on to the stage at the Theatre Dionysus and became the first known person to speak words as a character in a play or story. Prior to Thespis' act, stories were only known to be told in song and dance and in third person narrative. In honour of Thespis, actors are commonly called Thespians. Theatrical legend to this day maintains that Thespis exists as a mischievous spirit, and disasters in the theatre are sometimes blamed on his ghostly intervention.

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