First a few announcements:
1) Go vote on 8-Bit Waterslide on YouTube so they can win the Barclaycard competition!
Also vote on The Ad Agency to score FlynnFeatures a win in the Doritos contest.
2) Visit your account options page to see if you're on the monthly voting panel for Best of March!
3) Don't forget that April 30th is Pico Day! People are making Flash about Pico and other popular NG characters such as Tank Men and Dad 'n Me.
As many of you noticed, yesterday we tried to change Newgrounds to comply with Chinese regulations and get unblocked in China. While we felt the end result did a decent job at filtering the site, the Chinese government ultimately decided that NG was still a platform for too many ideas. To continue being unblocked, we would have to have shut down blogs, as well as close the Flash and Audio Portals. While this was tempting, we decided it would be too drastic of a change, so we have decided to go back to the old NG and continue being blocked in China.
I received hundreds of concerned PMs from users who did not approve of the changes. We are each entitled to our own opinion and I have decided to share some quotes from the messages I received:
"Way to go NG Sell out your American viewers since you can't make buck here. After all, only thing that matters is cash right? Fuck you guys, seriously. If you wan't to apeal to Chinese citizens that's great but drop this moronic "Theme" you have here and stop shoving it in our faces because your cash crop is deminishing because of economy. Aren't you an American? Keep it that way. Who fucking cares about China being able to view your site besides well....YOU AND YOUR POCKETS?"
"I feel srry for the chinese, and I wish they could see freedom of speech at its best, and yes at it's worst. You use to be able to see that on this site. Any fuckin weirdo could put any type of music, movie, or game on here and have it rated by anyone on the web. No matter how creepy, disgusitng, or wrong it may have been. Dont' get me wrong tom, I've seen some really cool stuff on here, some of which touched me. Yet at the same time the disgusting stuff is what made the site unique, it gave a message of hey it's ok to be fucked up, put ur thoughts on here no matter what they may be. I belive i've seen videos on here of a man humping an animal on a play ground while childern watched, what happen to that tom. You even got rid of pico, dude wtf, you even let them cenosor something you made. You censored the most popular game to ever come on this site, you censored the most popular video too. Are stupid or something. Your gonna lose all your great artist from this shit dude, no one will post here if your just gonna block there shit. What you've done has made me sick as fuck dude, it's really disgusting. Tom you should move to china and just be a fuckin communist, because in America we beilive in the freedom of speech, in all its forms."
"I just posted a review and it was altered. what do you wanna bet that it's gonna be deleted just coz they don't like it!
This is sickening!
If you refuse to remedy these despicable changes please instruct me on how I can delete my account, for I shall not be a part of this DOGSHIT website if it will remain dogshit and silence the opinions of anyone that doesn't agree with them.
I thought Newgrounds was about expressing yourself through flash and game and to be able to honestly review these games and flashes fairly, with our own expressed opinions.
We can no longer do that!!!!!!!!!!!!!! even my personal details have been changed, and so, no longer reflects me and my personality!!! and why has it been changed?!
well here's an answer for you: it's is because you are pandering to a bunch of ignorant one sided Government bastards who want to isolate themselves from the outside world and it's opinions and teach there people to conform to an anti-Tibetan, anti-foreign, anti-Everything that doesn't agree with them military based society that has no way of knowing about anything other than their own governments brain washing propaganda! and you're doing all of this just to fetch a few extra bucks!"
"Let me make a fact clear i am an american and just an average person. what im trying to get is although china will increase newgrounds revenue it has compromised newgrounds very way you can nolonger view anything by anyone. i am not outraged just concerned that you will lose allought of your none chiniesse users to the changes to newgrounds for th pleasment of chinas government officials. at first i thought it was a great ideal till i read the fine print on many of the submissions. The only way i can see a comprimise between all newgrounders is ethier giving china the boot or mabye creating a seperate server to all the old newgrounders who are not willing to put up with this uneaded nonsense of government approved submissions"
"I wrote the review I was reading it and noticed that the word "game" was replaced with physical exercise and "movie" was replaced with mental exercise. I hope that won't happen during this message.
What's the deal? It makes me look like an idiot! It's especially annoying when the title of the movie has the word game in it. "Citizen physical exercise." Who would want to see a movie like that?"
"I, as registered member of Communist Party of Canada and youth organizer in Young Communist League of Canada would like to formalize complaint due to new policy between Government of Peoples Republic of China and Newgrounds. I can not stand new cencorship that China has put on table. What ever happened to free speech? You plaster site with reds and golds to honour this "momentous" occaision between Newgrounds has basiaclly turned their backs on their old values and has only lobbied Chinese Government to allow access to 280 something million potential viewers simply for profit."
"Is there a English room on the newgrounds chat room. Because when i tried it about 10 min. ago all the rooms where china chat or china people, also it wouldnt let me send messages into the chat, and it signed me off the chat after i tried submiting a IM. is there anything you can do or tell me to do?"
"I cant make any BBS posts anymore due to me and my "associates'" actions being "investigated"???? I never got a ban notice in my inbox..."
"I am not happy that I can't watch one of the best Flash cartoons here and that is the Neurotically Yours series with Germaine and Foamy. Why can't you have a different server for China? The rest of the world should not have to suffer just because yall want to make more money!"
"im not quite sure why i have to be "cleared" to comment on communication pages. i love NG and all you have done is awesome here, but im just a tad bit confused. i really don't understand what that means and just want to know why. and i know you probably get millions of pms and am not expecting to be heard : ( but if you could reply and help me to understand i would appreciate it."
"Are you using new grounds to support the one-china policy? (forced unification of China-Taiwan-Tibet) any response will be appreciated, as I find this very important, and it hinges upon my visiting of New Grounds ever again."
"NG is suposse to be a site where you can watch movies and stuff about random things with violence and everything...is it loosing its escence?"
"you will lose alot of members by fucking everyone over like this for china"
"I want to play Thing-Thing Arena 3 Dammit >:D"
"I HEREBY EXPLICITLY DECLINE THE SITE'S TERMS OF SERVICE
YOU MUST NOW REMOVE MY ACCOUNT AND DELETE MY INFO"
This one is especially ironic because Australia is experimenting with it's own government-run web filter:
"I can't even leave a comment on my own page without it being horribly altered please do something because before you know it everyone from Australia, America and everywhere else that doesn't agree with this tampering of opinion is gonna leave Newgrounds and Verbally demolish it (call it a pile of festering horse dung and tell people not to go on it!!!)"
Ok that's all I can fit in this post.
