if a user is encountering issues with an outdated tool, it then becomes someone's prerogative to push them to the right tools because the old ones are dated.
Well, then it would just all boil down to
personal choice, right? If said user is encountering issues with an outdated tool (albeit, that would still work for their application) and is being pushed to the "right tools," wouldn't it make as much sense for the user to be pushed maybe too far into the complete opposite end of the spectrum and continue to use a tool, that although may give them problems, ultimately help them create the product they are trying to create? Sure, say what you want about the objective quality of the work that will be created, but if the creator is fine with doing stuff their way even after being told of "better alternatives" (putting that in quotes because I believe that binary and decomps both have merits and shortcomings, like with any other tool or resource) , shouldn't
their personal choice be respected?
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In my opinion, like every similar discussion or rant in the past ("Romhackers should learn ASM in order to be legit in the community,""High quality hacks need to have custom routines with all of these features,""Romhackers do not need ASM or custom coding in their hacks for ____ reason(s)," etc.), the crux of all of the arguments and vitriol surrounding these debates
comes down to stubbornness as opposed to acceptance. To put it crudely, even though I can see the pushback that may come my way,
it's all a giant measuring contest. "My way is better than yours," so to speak.
When Pokemon Discovery was a thing, Le Pug and I had all these grand ideas and complex systems to make a romhack that used Pokemon as a base and literally nothing else (no gym badges and the like) that definitely would've been executed better with custom routines and coding that was way out of our comfort zones. In fact, ASM was so out of our comfort zones (a nicer way of saying we didn't want to or have the time to learn it lol), others were compensated to make routines for us (I think only one routine though, iirc) when necessary, and we just made prior existing features bend to our visions.
I'll say it again, people were commissioned to create code for our free to play rom hack because we did not have the time or were not willing to dive into coding to achieve our project visions. And no, before anyone asks, the project did not get completed because of limited resources/tools or lack of determination (as far as learning coding or utilizing routines and the like), but rather lack of project dedication (at least, for my part) as both our computers died in very close time proximity taking all the files with them, and we were getting preoccupied with our own lives.
Granted, this was slightly before decomps really started to become a thing (at least in the gen 3 scene, even though there were some very slight rumblings) so I cannot honestly say for certain if things would have turned out differently or not. However, at least for where I was at the time, I think that I'd still be binary hacking for the most part, especially since I wasn't bothered to learn ASM to begin with let alone wrap my head around using a decomp. And again, that would have been
my choice, for better or worse.
Why I shared this story here as it pertains to this discussion surrounding decomps and binary hacking, is that it was
our choice as to whether or not we were going to use alternative tools to elevate our project. Much like
it is a romhacker's choice to use decomps or to focus on binary romhacking. It can also be argued that
it is one's choice to excercise and share their beliefs as to how they manage and create their projects. That's genuinely great! It is a natural part of a community or subculture's ecosystem to share and express different points of view or expertise, especially when it comes to a creative medium.
It crosses the line (and has always crossed the line, as far as my part within the community) when people, intentionally or otherwise,
disrespect the choices of others, even if it is disguised under the veil of "guidance." This community has always had a problem with this, and even just lurking and seeing this now, a near-decade later, confirms to me that this is still a problem. It's why people come across as elitist even when they don't see themselves as elitist (I've had my fair share of incidents where I carried myself with this tone), because they are so genuine in their beliefs that their way is the right way of creating things, that they feel the need to make others see their points of view and have them contort to their beliefs, no matter how right they think they are.
There is no regard to choice. It is their way, or that's it. Or maybe they don't feel like dedicating time to learn processess for a passion project that might give them some coding and slight game-dev experience, but nothing actually motivating or monetary, and don't see why others would even bother trying to elevate a 20+ year old game. From the outside looking in,
no one seems to respect personal choice, and that's a giant problem, and that's why this debate happens again and again. I'd like to think that it is more of a vocal minority of people in each camp to cause these debates, but honestly, from what I've seen, and I hope I'm wrong nowadays with so many different ways for inclusivity and to get people involved in this community, I really think that there is a big division in peoples minds in regards to if they are "legit, veteran, romhackers" or "newbie hackers/non-hackers." and the more that mentality keeps setting in, the harder it will be for the community move forward.
Stubbornness and ignorance is holding back the community, not binary romhacking.
Hot take: Very ballsy thread title and opening! Creative way to get a dialogue going, one way or another.
