Dude, he wasn't sucked into some Pyramid scheme, he was trying to get some help from a voice actor for one of his favorite games. Not really the OP's fault considering VAs aren't really known for scamming people. Who would have anticipated the guy being a complete dick?
PaRappa the Rapper told me to drop dead.
- Thread starter Camjo-Z
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Dude, he wasn't sucked into some Pyramid scheme, he was trying to get some help from a voice actor for one of his favorite games. Not really the OP's fault considering VAs aren't really known for scamming people. Who would have anticipated the guy being a complete dick?
Messofanego
Banned
Reading all of this made me sad, hope justice is served. I have never played any of these PaRappa games, but it doesn't matter because this voice actor has said and done some horrible things and it's sad to see his some of his community is quite cult-like. Has a games website made news of this yet?
There will always be a small group of folks who come in and defend someone or something when they're clearly wrong. They'll attempt to deflect the blame on the victim, in this example, for gullibility, conveniently not mentioning that Dred is a shady businessman for not giving money back for not performing the services he was paid to do.
CaptainSlow
Member
This whole thing just SCREAMS Judge Judy to me. I could see her being "Mr. Foxx, I don't know what crap you're speaking, but in MY COUTROOM, we speak English, because I know that's not what garbage you were just feeding me."
Please be sarcasm.
OJdaKiller
Member
That really needs to be the next step...
Give me $100.
Frankly I don't even think this really happened. Why would PaRappa scam $100? That literally is shit in this day and age.
staticneuron
Member
Because of the nature of working for freelance or as an individual, there are many times when you are going to ask for partial ( more reputable people can ask for full) payment upfront before any services are rendered.
It is a hard lesson to learn for a freelancer but once you provide a service or piece of artwork and not get paid (or have to fight for payment) then you learn to get a partial that is enough to keep your head above water first.
Except that blaming the victim is not the same as "defending" Dred. That is a spurious point of contention.
If anyone falls for the Nigerian Bank (419) scam, pointing out how gullible the victims were doesn't absolve or make the perpetrators seem like saints. You can make a commentary about the behavior or reasoning of the victim without making a comment on the perpetrator.
EDIT: To be clear I am making an example and not talking about OP's issue directly.
I believe the actual total sent was $90, but due to his refusal to use PayPal (which he later blatantly admitted he had an account for) the extra fees ended up being a little over $10 so we called it square.
ScaryMovies
Member
Having read through that whole thing, I think the only thing I can say is.. wow.
I'm dumbfounded not only by his own replies (which makes no sense), but by the support he's getting from his fans.They have the evidence right in front of them. Why one earth would they defend him?
The lack of logic that's being displayed is astounding.
I'm dumbfounded not only by his own replies (which makes no sense), but by the support he's getting from his fans.They have the evidence right in front of them. Why one earth would they defend him?
The lack of logic that's being displayed is astounding.
But why would OP write up a huge blog and photoshop a bunch of Facebook messages? Who would do that in their spare time if it didn't even happen.
I still can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.
I would be interested in this as well. Maybe a screenshot from his Moneygram account's recent activity or something like that.
I believe everything the OP is saying, but I just think it would make his case even stronger.
We ended up not using Moneygram because it wanted proof of my identity and kept asking "do you know this other guy??" and giving me random people I've never even heard of.
I also just checked the Western Union account I used to send the money and weirdly enough I can't find any evidence of the transaction on there anymore, even when I use the tracking numbers I gave Dred. They seem to have changed their website since I last used it, so that probably has something to do with it. I still have Dred Foxx (aka John Simpson) as my last contact, for what that's worth.
True. Whenever a deal isn't in writing, you're giving the benefit of the doubt on the service provider. It's a blind act of trust.
We ended up not using Moneygram because it wanted proof of my identity and kept asking "do you know this other guy??" and giving me random people I've never even heard of.
I also just checked the Western Union account I used to send the money and weirdly enough I can't find any evidence of the transaction on there anymore, even when I use the tracking numbers I gave Dred. They seem to have changed their website since I last used it, so that probably has something to do with it. I still have Dred Foxx (aka John Simpson) as my last contact, for what that's worth.
Hm, that sucks.
I really do believe your story. All I'm saying is use any evidence available against this guy. Anything to prove that this guy actually took money. I don't want to see him get away with this shit.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
Agreed. This is some Judge Judy shit. OP, you know what to do.
Zalusithix
Member
We ended up not using Moneygram because it wanted proof of my identity and kept asking "do you know this other guy??" and giving me random people I've never even heard of.
I also just checked the Western Union account I used to send the money and weirdly enough I can't find any evidence of the transaction on there anymore, even when I use the tracking numbers I gave Dred. They seem to have changed their website since I last used it, so that probably has something to do with it. I still have Dred Foxx (aka John Simpson) as my last contact, for what that's worth.
Given that Western Union doesn't require its agents to keep a copy of a transaction for more than something like 6 months, I doubt the online version does either. Granted keeping a physical copy isn't quite the same thing as keeping an electronic record, but it wouldn't surprise me at all. The history of who a person has sent to lasts a lot longer, perhaps indefinitely... I've seen people with multiple entries in the system (address changes and FLAs screwing up allowing duplicate entries of the same person), and the old entries are still there along with their destinations despite not being used for well over a year.
The only stories I have about Mario's voice actor is when I met him he was super nice and even gave my brother a phone call as the Mario voice.
When my friend met him, he was drunk and tried to see how many people he could fit in a bathroom.
Seems like a fun guy.
Mario's voice actor is well known as a nice guy.
All of the Sonic voice actors are also very nice people who actually do stuff for fans without needing pay.
VibratingDonkey
Member
Camjo acknowledged that he was naive and conducted some sloppy business, before this thread went up. Suggesting or acknowledging this doesn't remove any of the blame from the offender. Camjo made a mistake, it happens, but Dred's obviously the only one who is morally and legally in the wrong here.
Zephyrus isn't wrong in pointing out that Camjo made a mistake. It's just that with Camjo's acknowledgment, it's not necessary, and his insistence on harping on about it makes him come across as antagonistic and has led to people talking about McDonalds.
DaBlackNerd is somewhat abrasively passing on some knowledge he's presumably acquired through experience, and offering nuance to the discussion. I think with the job stuff he was aiming for it to be more general advice applicable for potential future situations? At least that's how I chose to interpret it. Because I doubt this little snafu would have much of an impact on anything.
Regarding the public shaming stuff; I don't know in what state or situation Dred is in, financially or any other kind. But stealing and deceiving is fundamentally wrong. In edge cases it might be justifiable, but Dred was soliciting donations to buy an iPad. He's had over a year to set things right but hasn't. Definitely think his behavior deserves getting called out. If publicly exposing it doesn't help Dred have an epiphany, maybe it'll prevent someone else from getting defrauded by him. If there is any harm in it, I can't see it.
No one's really defending him as far as I can tell. Everyone seems to agree that Dred's being a pecker.
Zephyrus isn't wrong in pointing out that Camjo made a mistake. It's just that with Camjo's acknowledgment, it's not necessary, and his insistence on harping on about it makes him come across as antagonistic and has led to people talking about McDonalds.
DaBlackNerd is somewhat abrasively passing on some knowledge he's presumably acquired through experience, and offering nuance to the discussion. I think with the job stuff he was aiming for it to be more general advice applicable for potential future situations? At least that's how I chose to interpret it. Because I doubt this little snafu would have much of an impact on anything.
Regarding the public shaming stuff; I don't know in what state or situation Dred is in, financially or any other kind. But stealing and deceiving is fundamentally wrong. In edge cases it might be justifiable, but Dred was soliciting donations to buy an iPad. He's had over a year to set things right but hasn't. Definitely think his behavior deserves getting called out. If publicly exposing it doesn't help Dred have an epiphany, maybe it'll prevent someone else from getting defrauded by him. If there is any harm in it, I can't see it.
Outtrigger888
Member
I never played one of these games are they available on psn?
PaRappa PSP and UmJammer Lammy are both on PSN. I definitely recommend getting them, although the timing for Lammy is really off when played on an HDTV. Works great on Vita tho.
highoffcoffee496
Member
I'm slightly ashamed of my avatar now 
This has kinda ruined the image of the game for me :/ Sorry this happened to you OP
This has kinda ruined the image of the game for me :/ Sorry this happened to you OP
I'm slightly ashamed of my avatar now
This has kinda ruined the image of the game for me :/ Sorry this happened to you OP
No need to feel that way. At the end of the day, Dred Foxx is just one person out of the entire crew that created the games. Guys like Masaya Matsuura, Rodney Greenblat, and Ryu Watabe deserve to have their work appreciated despite this!
Me too
But, I am sure after some time passes I'll not care and continue to think highly of the games. I know it's not the game makers' fault.miDnIghtEr20C
Banned
lmao..
This guy is a voice over actor asking for money from fans. This is crazy. I work with the girl who was inside Alpha-5 from the power rangers back in the day. I should tell her how to scam like this! This is crazy. I know it's "only" 100 bucks but that's still a lot of money.
This is what happens when keeping it real goes wrong.
Mr Fahrenheit
Member
I don't get all of the people saying OP was so in the wrong. Sure he gave money to someone he didn't know, but it's not like it was to an anonymous Nigerian prince who needed the money to gain access to his fortune, it was a public figure (to use the term loosely), a professional (again, using the term loosely) who gave them a quote for services to be rendered, albeit through Facebook, and he didn't deliver. Then Dred basically gloats about how he isn't paying them back and he didn't do what he was payed to, the dude deserves to be shot down. The amount of money doesn't matter either, whether it's a hundred dollars or ten thousand, it's about the principle of it.
Also, about BlackNerd's diatribe about getting dirty yourself when trying to drag another through the mud:
1) Dred doesn't seem to be so big that he's on all these lists and he'll always get work no matter what people say about him, the guy is begging for money to buy an iPad, as far as anyone can tell the only people that have ever hired him for anything is Sony. That's his one claim to "fame" and he should be more wary about messing it up.
2) I don't think Camjo thinks of himself as some big shot with a reputation to lose here, I doubt he has to worry about getting laughed out of every thread because PaRappa stole money from him and he made a thread about it. And if there was company that dug so deep as to find this little ordeal, they wouldn't be say "Hmm, when he was nineteen a small potatoes rapper stole a hundred dollars from him and he was upset... NEXT!"
Also, about BlackNerd's diatribe about getting dirty yourself when trying to drag another through the mud:
1) Dred doesn't seem to be so big that he's on all these lists and he'll always get work no matter what people say about him, the guy is begging for money to buy an iPad, as far as anyone can tell the only people that have ever hired him for anything is Sony. That's his one claim to "fame" and he should be more wary about messing it up.
2) I don't think Camjo thinks of himself as some big shot with a reputation to lose here, I doubt he has to worry about getting laughed out of every thread because PaRappa stole money from him and he made a thread about it. And if there was company that dug so deep as to find this little ordeal, they wouldn't be say "Hmm, when he was nineteen a small potatoes rapper stole a hundred dollars from him and he was upset... NEXT!"
highoffcoffee496
Member
True
It'll just be hard to not think of the negative for a while every time I hear Parappa's voice...I just hope he apologizes and attempts to make it right.
I'm not sure how he's going to benefit from those 15 minutes of fame. Internet negativity has actually ruined careers in the past. The classic example is Adam Orth. I do agree that it's not worth taking this to court, though.
In all honestly, I'd pay $100 to not have to go to court. I think bringing it out publicly is all that can be done unfortunately.
Don't pursue it, just make sure everyone knows the guy is a shit head. If he wants to pay up, consider taking the blog down.
We agree that the money is lost, we disagree on whether leaving up a blog is "a lot of effort" or not.
I see, anyway, it appears people like what you are doing, so keep it up as long is it doesn't affect you negatively.
I SUBMIT!
WordAssassin
Member
Touching on something brought up earlier about not being able to do the character's voice in other projects - not the case. People do their character's voices all the time in other projects, even ones that are for profit. Look at Robot Chicken, they lampoon everyone and constantly get the actual voice actors to voice the characters they're making fun of. But in the case of doing a voice for a student's fan film, nobody cares. If he started generating money on it and claiming rights to the IPs, that would be a problem.
As for payments and contracts: If you do voice acting as a freelance project, you can charge whatever you like. Some people do it for free. If you work on a SAG project, you get $450 an hour, minimum. Dred is, or at one point was, SAG, but for personal projects you don't always need to get SAG involved.
So all this "there was no contract" talk is bullshit. If I agree over an email exchange to do work for you, and you agree in that email exchange to pay me for it, that's a legally binding agreement right there. It doesn't matter a hill of beans if the emails took place on Facebook or Gmail or any of that shit. Yes at some point if it's a big project you should get it in writing, but not all jobs are like that. I do plenty of freelance work that I never sign contracts for.
So never before, in your life, have you ordered something off the internet? EVER? You've never downloaded a game on your console of choice or PC?
As for payments and contracts: If you do voice acting as a freelance project, you can charge whatever you like. Some people do it for free. If you work on a SAG project, you get $450 an hour, minimum. Dred is, or at one point was, SAG, but for personal projects you don't always need to get SAG involved.
So all this "there was no contract" talk is bullshit. If I agree over an email exchange to do work for you, and you agree in that email exchange to pay me for it, that's a legally binding agreement right there. It doesn't matter a hill of beans if the emails took place on Facebook or Gmail or any of that shit. Yes at some point if it's a big project you should get it in writing, but not all jobs are like that. I do plenty of freelance work that I never sign contracts for.
So never before, in your life, have you ordered something off the internet? EVER? You've never downloaded a game on your console of choice or PC?
jadedm17
Member
That was interesting. Sorry to hear OP.
Also, who brings a [brand new] iPad to a concert? lol
"Ill send $25-30 by this weekend"
Guy sounds like a loser druggy second cousin, not a professional voice actor.
I'm trying to do a mental count of the amount of time spent talking to him and how much money thats worth.
I'm owed a few hundred by old friends its just really not worth the time to try and collect, lesson learned and such.
Also, who brings a [brand new] iPad to a concert? lol
"Ill send $25-30 by this weekend"
Guy sounds like a loser druggy second cousin, not a professional voice actor.
I'm trying to do a mental count of the amount of time spent talking to him and how much money thats worth.
I'm owed a few hundred by old friends its just really not worth the time to try and collect, lesson learned and such.
I say you should blow it up and send it to any news site that will listen. I say this because his employers may not care if damage to his credibility is kept to a minimum. I mean, you've already made a blog and a thread of neogaf (plus where ever else you might have). You've gone this far, op. Go all the way. Don't let him forget your name.
Just don't take it to legal grounds because he is right. There was no contract involved so he doesn't legally have to pay you back.
Just don't take it to legal grounds because he is right. There was no contract involved so he doesn't legally have to pay you back.
I have. But only if I can pay after having the product in my hand. Don't know the correct expression for it, but in portuguese it's "à cobrança".
Byronic Hero
Member
Wow, as someone who was recently almost scammed out of around the same amount, I can sympathize. With any luck, he won't be voicing Parappa anymore if a 3rd game were to ever come out. That's just not cool.
Well, at least you can vent some frustration by beating the heck out of Parappa in Playstation All Stars xD
Well, at least you can vent some frustration by beating the heck out of Parappa in Playstation All Stars xD
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