WHAT EXACTLY IS AND ISN'T ALLOWED ON THIS SITE WHEN IT COMES TO RIPS IN OUR GAMES?

So, I know that this site allows rips to be used in your games. Aka images, battlers, music, etc. And when I mean rips, I mean copyrighted material from another game to be used in your own. Unlike other forums like RPG Maker Web that don't allow any sort of pirated content/rip whatsoever including rips, since this website (RMN) was formed on the backs on hobbyists using a pirated illegal version of RM2K from back in the day due to their being no other option, this site allows rips to be used in games. I used to think this rule was unlimited, however one time while posting a game a while back (I think it was the OG Meteo Chronicles) I used sprites from the indie game Slime Rancher that got be a warning and my game being denied. Apparently, you aren't allowed to use rips from "indie games" with the explanation that it's "exploiting fellow hobbyists just like you." What I'm not getting is what exactly is considered an "indie game," as there are a lot of definitions. Apparently Slime Rancher is included as an "indie game" and thus using assets/rips from it are banned. But what other games are included? Undertale is technically an indie game, and it has sold millions of copies and became a worldwide phenomenon. Is using assets (mainly music) from Undertale against the rules? What about Minecraft? That game started out as an indie game and it's literally the best selling game of all time. Minecraft also allows anyone to create, publish, and sell unofficial Minecraft fanfiction in stores and monetize fan-made servers, (as long as it isn't pay-to-win or uses crypto) so copyright obviously isn't an issue for that game's devs. Another thing I would like to point out is one of my early games, Dragon Ascension, heavily used assets from the game Terraria, another indie game, albeit one that is currently the 11th bestselling game of all time. Assets from Terraria were even used for the screenshots, yet the game was never taken down. So is terraria not considered an indie game? What is the threshold for games allowed to be ripped and games now allowed? Is Tetris CDI an indie game? What about mods like Terraria Calamity? What about indie YouTube channels making remixes to songs from AAA and indie games alike? What exactly is and isn't allowed in the unwritten "no rips from indie games" rule? I would like some clarification, as this has bugged me for years and I'm afraid that I'll randomly break the rule without noticing and get banned. Thank you for your time.

author=pianotm
Notice there are still engine selections on the gamepage for the pirated RPG Maker engines, identified as RPG Tsukuru in the system.

Rip content from corporate studio games at your own peril, but don't dare rip it from fellow indie devs.

White Screw
First Seed Materials
Milano Cat
Kevin MacLeod at Incompetech
and a lot others provide a wealth of free materials that you can use. More than you could ever need to make a game. Granny's List compiles free materials from all over the internet. There's even a ton of free stuff here.

Why do people even think they need to rip?

People use rips because not everyone can compose, sprite, and do everything else needed for gamedev as one person. For me it took me years to get to an even slightly competent level when it comes to spiriting, and it's so much work so often times I don't bother with making my own custom sprites unless I have to or really have the ambition to. The one thing my games rip for is music, especially ever since I got the graphics all figured out through a combonation of RTP, Aekaschics' patreon, and my own art talent. Music is the thing I struggle with the most.

Often times I find this absolutely incredible song that would fit perfectly in my game, sometimes even better than what was originally intended in it's home game. The only way to accomplish that without ripping is to compose a sound-alike, which countless games have done before. Ace Attorney ripped off the Cheetamen theme, and Dragonspiral Tower from Pokemon Black and White ripped off Secret of the Forest from Chrono Trigger, Chrono Trigger ripped off the RickRoll, and countless others. But that's besides the point. To compose good songs that fit your game, you'll need to know how to make music. So, you either learn yourself (which takes a good 5 years to do) or commission someone thousands to make songs for you. And even then, for some people it's literally impossible to learn how to compose due to the way their brain is structured making it impossible for them to comprehend written music even if they have a perfect sense of rhythm and flow. (aka me)

I know there are a lot of free and even some good and cheap paid assets out there, but most of the time those assets cannot cover what the developer is trying to do so they are forced to use rips to cover those bases. Not everyone is a Toby Fox or Concerned Ape that can do everything themselves. You either need to suck it up and learn like 8 different skills to be able to make something actually good or pay multiple artists thousands for commissions.

I'm aware of McLeaod and his library of royalty free music, but honestly his songs are a complete joke. They're good quality, but they've been so overused across so many shitposts and video essays on the internet that they are instantly recognizable and would turn any normally serious game into a living joke. Using McLeaod as your OST is a terrible idea, (no hate) as his music are all living memes and are used everywhere, especially in the early 2010s when I grew up. It's a similar case to the VX Ace RTP music being downright incredible, but being so overused in so many bad games that it became unfortunately associated with bad RPG Maker games, though this sentiment had died down with the rise of MV as the go-to engine for noobs instead of VX Ace.

But arguing for or against rips is not what this post is about. It's about in the site's rules what qualifies as an indie game. There are indie games far more popular and successful than most AAA titles like Minecraft, Terraria, PUBG, Human Fall Flat, and various others. Heck, minecraft is literally the best selling video game of all time. Is Undertale an indie game? So therefore it's against the rules to use Undertale music in your games? What if it's an undertale fan game? It sold over 3.5 million copies, and that's only from the PC version. What about Terraria? I blatantly had Skeletron (a popular boss form Terraria) in Dragon Ascension and no one made a peep. Chronicles: The Lost Page used a song from the visual novel "Sorcery Joker" which I'm not sure is considered an indie game or not. Is it even a game? It's literally just an anime+novel with no gameplay. Liberty herself played the game (Chronicles the Lost Page) on stream and had no issue with it, even after I mentioned what game the battle theme was from. I just don't get what the rules are.

Heck, I didn't even know about this rule until I used slime rancher sprites for Meteo Chronicles initially and the game got denied. How come that game got denied initially, but Dragon Ascension and Chronicles the Lost Page isn't? Why is it not stated clearly in the rules page about what assets are and are not allowed to be used in your game? What about remixes? Fan man music? Mods and asset packs? There is no definite ruling on what assets are and are not allowed to be in your game. RPG Maker Web makes it clear that no rips are allowed whatsoever in any form, but here it's sort of a given with anything posted on here. If all rips were banned, like 75% of all games on here would be delisted including countless classics.

No hate or anger towards anyone in particular, I'm just confused on what the rules are.

author=Marrend
What about the image text? Did it say "Slime sprites taken/ripped from Slime Rancher", or like detail? If it was still on the queue, you wouldn't have comments, and pull something like this, where it's noted in the comments where the rip(s) are from.

No, don't say it should be obvious where it is from. I don't care, and maybe whoever it was that was on queue duty that day (Liberty?) didn't either.
Say where/who your stuff is from if it's not yours!

*Edit: Sorry, proper accreditation is a pet-peeve of mine. I'd rather not another "Holy Plains" incident.

I usually credit everything I included in the game's actual credits, but recently I usually include a documentation on my gamepage that lists the credits for everything. I should probably do better with that sort of thing in the future, like listing rips used in screenshots like you suggested.

author=Strak
I could be wrong here, but I think most people are willing to forgive overused resources for a free RPG Maker game. If you have the same free music as 101 other games but you have a unique story to tell or unique gameplay, most people won't care. Yeah, a lot of crap games used the same resources, but if yours has the effort put in, most people will re-contextualize that resource with a decent game as opposed to the atrocities out there. And the ones that don't probably aren't your target audience anyway, since they'll judge EVERYTHING about your game, not just the resources, so ignore them. Now, if your game is commercial, different story. Pay for resources in that case. It's the right and ethical thing to do. And if you can't afford to, don't go commercial. Period. You can't afford to. But if it's a free game, don't worry about what other people are using. Find something free and rewrite the brand for that resource.

Yeah, I totally get using the RTP in free games, especially when the RTP slapped every time until MZ came out. VX Ace has a god-like OST, and MV has an even better one, especially when you count all the major first party DLC. (Expanded, FES, DS, DS+, and Unite) MV might just have the best OST of all time, no joke. But there is a difference between using the epic VXA/MV RTP music and using something like McLeod with all it's meme tracks. One is one of the best and most well composed OSTs in all of gaming, the other is a database of meme worthy songs that rarely if even fit into a video-game format. They're mainly meant for YouTube video background music, not for a game's OST.