Hello, before I get into the main post, I'd like to clear some things up:

• I am aware this post will most likely be seen as a dupe, considering 2 or 3 other people have already made posts about it. However, my post will try to focus on different aspects of the issue.
  
• I'm not exactly sure if this is the right forum page to do it on, however user @colinmacc suggested I post this here after my front-paged project on the issue got marked as NFE (not for everyone).
  
• I do not mean any hate towards the Scratch Team, I still enjoy this website, however I wanted to share my opinion on the issues of the recent updates, and in doing so I may come off as harsh towards the ST.
  

With that being said, I'll just get straight into it;
I am really not liking these new updates to the website. Not just the Turbowarp update, but any of the recent updates, from the Studio Update to the update to the Community Guidelines. I understand that all of these updates were made with children in mind, and that keeping them safe and secure is a large priority of the website, however I strongly disagree how they're going about doing this. Instead of providing more features for older Scratchers, or adding ways to toggle some of this safety features, they're plain out stripping them away, which becomes an issue when it's a feature we use everyday.

Case in point, the Turbowarp Update. As of yesterday, the Scratch Team officially updated their API so that unshared projects cannot be viewed without a special token. Now, while this may help some people keep their projects hidden, it takes away from so many other Scratchers, new and old, who use Turbowarp to beta-test projects, make their projects run faster, share sprites and code, and more. This feels like a final straw to me. Like, the Studio Update and Community Guidelines Update were annoying but easy to get used to, however this feature is used by thousands of Scratchers on a daily basis, and barely hurt anybody. Refer to a few testimonies from people who used Turbowarp:

YlracTheGreat commented:
Listen, I haven't been on Scratch for that long (4 weeks to be exact), and I'm still upset about this whole situation. From what I've heard, Turbowarp helped so many communites on Scratch, from people who make games to voice actors. This isn't fair to any of us.

MarxHaunt commented:
If you're making a large game on scratch, you can't have other people beta test the game now.

Soupeye commented:
So Scratch now wants us to have to manually import games and share them, which rises many problems: first off, how are you going to share it? you cant share it on scratch, so youd have to share it on plugcord or something. that doesnt seem too big of a deal, until you realize that almost half of scratch is like under 13. then, of course, theres storage space. if you have to import too many projects, storage gets taken up and u cant import any more. also file size adds to the problem before…

Those are just a few from the hundreds of messages I got in support of my project on the issue. Speaking of the project, let's talk about it. Overnight, it pretty much blew up with support, and somehow made its way to the front page of the website, where it stayed for a few hours. However, the project was soon after marked for NFE. So the Scratch Team saw the project, and chose not to respond. This kind of hurts, considering the entire point of the project was to get their attention. But I digress, as it makes sense that the Scratch Team wouldn't want a project bashing them on the front page of their website.

However, what I cannot agree with is how they handled the notification of the update. Around a year ago, we were told that at some point in the near future they would cut off the ability to see unshared projects using their website. Then, as of a few days ago, most of us forgot about the notification until suddenly it turned red and was put into place. Even though we were warned about it, the way they handled it made it really feel like it came out of nowhere. Not even to mention the message itself felt passive-aggressive. Refer to this line from the change log:

Don't pretend that no one has had their project stolen because they didn't know unshared projects aren't actually private even though the Scratch website says “only you can see it”.

That's just my take on the situation, and I fully understand if other people disagree. While I would love to see this feature be reversed, it's highly unlikely it will. Still, I would like to spread the word (in a respectful manner) so that maybe we can convince the Scratch Team otherwise.
Thank you for your time.

Well turbowrp kinda helps because if a project has lots of assets, well it kinda helps.

and the studio update, like if you didn't want this stusio anymore but lots of people lioved it you could swith you with a different person who liked that studio

but it dousent really take "responsibilitty' away from older scratchers

Fixing unshared projects was not a “TurboWarp update”; it's a fix the Scratch Team did to the Scratch API (and thus GarboMuffin cannot revert it).

CST1229 wrote:

Fixing unshared projects was not a “TurboWarp update”; it's a fix the Scratch Team did to the Scratch API (and thus GarboMuffin cannot revert it).

When I'm referring to the “Turbowarp Update,” I mean the fix to the Scratch API, which was made to fix Turbowarp. As well, I considered it to be more of a feature than a glitch, considering it was around for over 3 years without being addressed.

Recently I feel that featured projects have been losing quality and being not a interesting.

if <[location] = [scratchteam]> then
say [Please do something about this]
if <[answer] = [OK!]> then 
set [Have things changed?] to [YES!]
  


end

uhm amongus

Turbowarp Docs wrote:

source Securing unshared projects is a decade overdue.

I might agree (never developed something so good it needs more than 1 dev) but it is a security issue if someone were to use a keycrack (a big guessing machine)

I'm glad that you're trying to get your point across about how the Scratch Team is destroying their own site.

After seeing these issues being addressed in your project, I have to say that I agree. I'm also not really liking the way they're doing things, and I also hope that they fix it. Also, I know these updates aren't the only things irritating Scratchers.

There's a user (which I know most of you probably know about), EnderGamer7777 who has been on the site for 6 years and has had issues with the ST where they marked one of his projects as NFE because it was a FNAF fangame, yet they allow thousands of them to stay on the site.

I can see how this is annoying, and it makes you feel targeted when your project that is like many others is taken down and everyone else's version stays up.

Anyways, I wish you the best of luck, and I hope the Scratch Team sees this.

among_us1w2 wrote:

Turbowarp Docs wrote:

source Securing unshared projects is a decade overdue.

I might agree (never developed something so good it needs more than 1 dev) but it is a security issue if someone were to use a keycrack (a big guessing machine)

I agree

Also, it's not just TurboWarp that was affected.

GarboMuffin wrote:

Unshared projects can no longer be opened on TurboWarp, forkphorus …

And it's not just GarboMuffin's sites either.

GarboMuffin wrote:

… and other third-party sites due to changes to the Scratch API.

This page will be updated a lot over the next few days.

Maybe this won't be a permanent issue though…

NamelessCat wrote:

Hello, before I get into the main post, I'd like to clear some things up:

• I am aware this post will most likely be seen as a dupe, considering 2 or 3 other people have already made posts about it. However, my post will try to focus on different aspects of the issue.
  
• I'm not exactly sure if this is the right forum page to do it on, however user @colinmacc suggested I post this here after my front-paged project on the issue got marked as NFE (not for everyone).
  
• I do not mean any hate towards the Scratch Team, I still enjoy this website, however I wanted to share my opinion on the issues of the recent updates, and in doing so I may come off as harsh towards the ST.
  

I am acknowledging that I have overlooked these at-least twice and understand.

With that being said, I'll just get straight into it;
I am really not liking these new updates to the website. Not just the Turbowarp update, but any of the recent updates, from the Studio Update to the update to the Community Guidelines.

A few things; the updates are really not for enjoyment. They are more for security, which takes priority over enjoyment. Also, the CG hasn't been updated since 2016, please do research.

I understand that all of these updates were made with children in mind, and that keeping them safe and secure is a large priority of the website, however I strongly disagree how they're going about doing this. Instead of providing more features for older Scratchers, or adding ways to toggle some of this safety features, they're plain out stripping them away, which becomes an issue when it's a feature we use everyday.

The Scratch Team is not going to change this. There are other methods of collaboration, while there are not many other methods for fixing the problem of unshared projects. The unshared projects thing was not a feature, it was a glitch. It was heavily unintended, and the only reason it stayed for this long is that the ST had no way to fix it. They only just recently got the means of doing this. So no, they aren't stripping features away. They are fixing bugs that have been exploited to points beyond.

Case in point, the Turbowarp Update. As of yesterday, the Scratch Team officially updated their API so that unshared projects cannot be viewed without a special token. Now, while this may help some people keep their projects hidden, it takes away from so many other Scratchers, new and old, who use Turbowarp to beta-test projects, make their projects run faster, share sprites and code, and more.

That isn't how things work, I'm afraid. See, there are other ways to do everything you're describing. But unshared projects being allowed is a big no-no. First of all, if somebody was able to make something like ocular, they could find unshared projects without anyone giving them the link. This is an evident problem, and we're lucky nobody has done this. Also, it makes it easier to find private information. Trust me, people do have private information on Scratch, but it's private. Imagine somebody was able to see an unshared project. Imagine the damage they could do. I understand your point but it feels very selfish to talk about how this would affect collaborations rather than how it would affect the people who want their projects to stay safe.

This feels like a final straw to me. Like, the Studio Update and Community Guidelines Update were annoying but easy to get used to, however, this feature is used by thousands of Scratchers on a daily basis, and barely hurt anybody.

See above.

Refer to a few testimonies from people who used Turbowarp:

YlracTheGreat commented:
Listen, I haven't been on Scratch for that long (4 weeks to be exact), and I'm still upset about this whole situation. From what I've heard, Turbowarp helped so many communites on Scratch, from people who make games to voice actors. This isn't fair to any of us.

Biased source.

MarxHaunt commented:
If you're making a large game on scratch, you can't have other people beta test the game now.

Doesn't matter. It's a massive flaw in the system.

Soupeye commented:
So Scratch now wants us to have to manually import games and share them, which rises many problems: first off, how are you going to share it? you cant share it on scratch, so youd have to share it on plugcord or something. that doesnt seem too big of a deal, until you realize that almost half of scratch is like under 13. then, of course, theres storage space. if you have to import too many projects, storage gets taken up and u cant import any more. also file size adds to the problem before…

One way I'd recommend is sharing them on secret accounts. I'm in a few collaborations and this is what they are doing.

Those are just a few from the hundreds of messages I got in support of my project on the issue. Speaking of the project, let's talk about it. Overnight, it pretty much blew up with support, and somehow made its way to the front page of the website, where it stayed for a few hours. However, the project was soon after marked for NFE. So the Scratch Team saw the project, and chose not to respond. This kind of hurts, considering the entire point of the project was to get their attention. But I digress, as it makes sense that the Scratch Team wouldn't want a project bashing them on the front page of their website.

The project was probably considered to be spreading drama. If you truly want to get their attention, do it on the Suggestions forum. (Don't do it for the Turbowarp issue though, as that's a rejected suggestion.)

However, what I cannot agree with is how they handled the notification of the update. Around a year ago, we were told that at some point in the near future they would cut off the ability to see unshared projects using their website. Then, as of a few days ago, most of us forgot about the notification until suddenly it turned red and was put into place. Even though we were warned about it, the way they handled it made it really feel like it came out of nowhere.

You had time to change your workloads. The fact that you didn't was on you.

Not even to mention the message itself felt passive-aggressive. Refer to this line from the change log:

Don't pretend that no one has had their project stolen because they didn't know unshared projects aren't actually private even though the Scratch website says “only you can see it”.

I don't understand what you're saying. This literally contradicts everything you say. It doesn't matter if it's passive-aggressive, it's the truth, and it's constructive criticism.

That's just my take on the situation, and I fully understand if other people disagree. While I would love to see this feature be reversed, it's highly unlikely it will. Still, I would like to spread the word (in a respectful manner) so that maybe we can convince the Scratch Team otherwise.
Thank you for your time.

You're welcome. There is a small chance this will be reversed and I hope it doesn't, as it's a good change, no matter how many people care more about their collaborations than peoples personal safety.

This is a good change. Unshared projects should NOT be visible to anyone except the owner, and it's surprising that they only fixed this bug after 15 YEARS of Scratch existing.

Is this a question?

Adzboy wrote:

Is this a question?

Is what a question?

ItzRedwing wrote:

Adzboy wrote:

Is this a question?

Is what a question?

Original post

This is Questions about Scratch after all

Adzboy wrote:

Is this a question?

refer to this:

I'm not exactly sure if this is the right forum page to do it on, however user @colinmacc suggested I post this here after my front-paged project on the issue got marked as NFE (not for everyone).

NamelessCat wrote:

Adzboy wrote:

Is this a question?

refer to this:

I'm not exactly sure if this is the right forum page to do it on, however user @colinmacc suggested I post this here after my front-paged project on the issue got marked as NFE (not for everyone).

So no then?

Edit: Thanks P2C

This looks like it's more in the form of a suggestion, rather than a question. I'll move this over to the Suggestions area - however, you should think about what it is you are actually asking for. I think it is highly unlikely that the recent change will be rolled-back - but if you have other ideas how Scratch could address some of the issues you raise that don't open the possibility of private messaging or viewing content that is not shared, please put them forth.