TSR Sharing your infomation!

[siberiansunset]

Ye-har! Welcome aboard Sabian! Your children are very wise! Glad they were enlightened (as were you too!) So glad they learned that paycrap is wrong! ETA: Very Good dad!  (I'm sorry to hear about that  )
Man I would throw that damned lamp at dot's ass if it was turning off Maxis lights! It doesn't surprise me to hear that she could mess up soo bad. lol
I think they tell their fa's to say everything is mostly base game compatible so they can fool people into subscribing/downloading it. Remember, they don't tell subs about their trojans in the packages either-so you know they love false advertisement! PS: I like your pirate cat lol oh yeah here's some rum! Enjoy!

Note for minionsRmine: That's very commendable that you and your fam work so diligently and smart on such little (for a fam your size)!  At least you are not selling illegal pixels though~! These Fa's should take a lesson from you if they are in similar situations.   But definitely budgeting is key to making it! Me and my husband have a monthly allowance set up for the various responsibilities we have-and at the end of the month we are good to go bc we stick to our budget. Work smarter not harder huh?

[calalily]

I demand someone shoot me if I become "giggly".

If you want to read about TSR generally - we have an informant - http://tsr.mustbedestroyed.org/

Stuff about the fucked up game files - http://tsr.mustbedestroyed.org/?p=273

[rum nate]

Yes they were putting trojans in their files so that they could track the files. They thought they would put them in the files, the people who do the booty here would not catch them, and the TSR spies could come download files and they could use the trojan to see who downloaded that file, and ban them, keep their money, and post their private information. Have you seen coconut's blog?

Cala basically said it for me, so check the links she gave.

[rum nate]

Sabian don't worry about being embarrassed. We all make mistakes when we first come on here, you'll get used learn what not to say real quick. But yeah, this stuff is real deep, and we have a great informant to let us know of all of the going ons at TSR, who is luckily enough hosted by the guy who runs this site, so Coconut can't be shut down now.

[Darqstar]

 I too remember downloading some of DOT's lamps. I'd turn one of them on, the rest of the Maxis lights would go out. Turn it off, the Maxis lights would come back on again!

Ugly and ineffective.  Way to go, Dot! 

It annoyed me too that they say most of it is for base game only. What a load of bloody crap. I lost count of how any times I reported that this was wrong. On my daughters computer, she only has the base game installed. Yep, you guessed it, most of the 'base game only' stuff didn't bloody show. That started the rot with me de-subscribing from there.

Of course not!  TSR has it all figured out, if a file doesn't work, it's not their fault!  What it really means is that evil old YOU downloaded it from the booty (Despite not even knowing the booty existed when you downloaded it. Don't look for logic, it's TSR)  and the evil  Pirates messed it up.   Clever of them, isn't it?

Either way, welcome.  Now you can get FA items for free, but if you do some poking, you'll probably find most of the items you'd want have free and better made counterparts. 


EDIT:  1: Bad HTML
          2 Redundant information

[aeris]

I do wonder if AngelamvEliza will stay designer at RSF. I don't think they are pro-pay, but i'm not sure. As far as I know, Thomass usually announces the FA nomination by sending a PM to the artist at least 2 weeks before making it official. So i guess she's been spying for him long before the RSF drama.

Dot's lamps are ugly. Don't download them. Period.

[rum nate]

This is going to show how much of a history nerd I am, but this got me thinking. What we are going through right now is like what happened when Millard Filmore was president. EA would be Millard Filmore, changing the wording of the EULA (In Filmore's time it was the compromise of 1850), we the pirates would be the abolitionists, trying to stop something that we see as wrong and corrupt. And paysites, the main issue would be like the slavery. Ea thought they changing the wording to the EULA would put a rest to the issue, the same way Filmore though with the Compromise of 1850. What they didn't think about was the moral issues. The paysite owners blame the us the pirates, like the plantation owners blamed the abolitionists for making paysites in out case, slavery in their case, an issue. History channel is having a thing on the presidents today because today is president's day, and I just happened to walk downstairs where it is on right when they were talking about this.

[ValancySterling]

I would never sit here on my ass and pass out hobby crap for money!

I've come out of lurkdom to make a point and hopeful keep the pmbd arguments on track.  There is nothing wrong with making money off of a hobby.  I do miniature houses as a hobby (big surprise why I like The Sims).  In the past, I've made money off my hobby by making hand inked and illustrated books.  And it was perfectly legal to do so because they were my own orginal creations.  Had I copied off of real life books that were currently covered under copyright, then no, it wouldn't be legal.

I have a friend in my stay-at-home mom group who is an excellent seamstress and makes money on the side doing costume comissions.  What's she's doing is legal because she does her own designs and drafts her own patterns.  If she used commerical patterns, then she'd be doing something illegal because you cannot create those outfits for sale.

So I just wanted to remind everyone, don't hate the FA's because they're stay-at-home moms trying to make money off a hobby.  Hate them because they make their money illegally by violating the EULA and copyright law.

[kenmtl]

blablabla....Dots an idiot......blablabla.......Dots an idiot....blablabla

but but but but

Dot's lamp, it haz a shape. Gawd you people are annoyingly greedy, give the poor woman a break. You expect her to get the whole on/off thing too. She's special specializing.

edited: cause I can

[SoggyFox]

To my knowledge, EA never changed the EULA, as much as TSR was claiming it.

And you are right - I see nothing wrong with my selling knit patterns that are original, or even an knit object that was worked from an existing pattern I bought, but I'd never sell my sims creations.  The difference is, as pointed out by Valancy, is a legal thing.  But there is also a moral thing.  If I make the pattern, there is an infinite number of copies I can sell, however, if someone buys one of my patterns than shares it, than that's legal too and no one would question it.  For some reason, with sims things its different - perhaps if payobjects were firleshare friendly, gave actual real support, and worried about giving fair value for a buck, then so many people might not be ready to rip apart paysites now.

I hope that made sense.

[Paden]

I'll give her a break. Like a working ceramic lamp right over the head. I'm a stay at home mother, but you won't see me ripping a game company off to gain extra income. What you and your friend make are tangible, physical items and are worth the money spent upon them. What the pixel pushers sell don't come on a physical disk, can cause problems with people's game, and terms are dictated by the company that they buy the games from that you may not make a profit with the items that they make. I hate the illegality of the pay sites...

[Alexia]

Just adding to what Paden mentioned. Selling craftables is acceptable because you the manufacturer have alreaby bought the raw material, have spent your own time and have fashioned the item to your own ideas. Comparing this procedure to creating for the sims :
Obtaining raw materials: One would have to receive a licence from E.A. clearly stating that any creations using their packaging format and developed through their game engine would belong to said creators and they would have the right to dispose of them as they see fit.
Spending personal time: I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that at least some of them take time to "create", but most of the TSR staffers are blatant texture and mesh thiefs.
Personal Ideas: Please... Note the PrincessPadre's "distressed" creations? ZOMG, everyone on GOS has gone "goffic"! Let us now on squeeky preppy TSR try to emulate the style to lure the "edgy" kids.
It all boils down to this. It's fine to sell things you've actually got permission to sell and till E.A. decides to jump off the fence and gives us a clear cut answer, pay shits will be destroyed 
Rant over!
(Ps to rederail about infectious diseases. Being awesome and all that, I'm immune to most types of the pox, measles, the plague and cholera. Guess it's kind of cool to be descended from people who lived on an island and were the only survivors of countless plagues  )

[siberiansunset]

I would never sit here on my ass and pass out hobby crap for money!

So I just wanted to remind everyone, don't hate the FA's because they're stay-at-home moms trying to make money off a hobby.  Hate them because they make their money illegally by violating the EULA and copyright law.

That was the point I was trying to make-I should have added the illegal part so it didn't get misunderstood! Of course there is NO problem with making money off a hobby that is NOT trademarked by someone else (as well as based off other people's work). I am a cellist and I play for fun and I can also play for an event and get paid for it. It really is a hobby for me though-so yeah no issues there! But when you are a violator of the EULA that's when there's an issue with making money off a hobby. Because let's face it we play the sims for fun as a hobby.  Thanks for pointing this out so my post could be clearer!

[Darqstar]

I've come out of lurkdom to make a point and hopeful keep the pmbd arguments on track.  There is nothing wrong with making money off of a hobby.  I do miniature houses as a hobby (big surprise why I like The Sims).  In the past, I've made money off my hobby by making hand inked and illustrated books.  And it was perfectly legal to do so because they were my own orginal creations.  Had I copied off of real life books that were currently covered under copyright, then no, it wouldn't be legal.

I have a friend in my stay-at-home mom group who is an excellent seamstress and makes money on the side doing costume comissions.  What's she's doing is legal because she does her own designs and drafts her own patterns.  If she used commerical patterns, then she'd be doing something illegal because you cannot create those outfits for sale.

So I just wanted to remind everyone, don't hate the FA's because they're stay-at-home moms trying to make money off a hobby.  Hate them because they make their money illegally by violating the EULA and copyright law.

I think we're all pretty aware of that.   Also, I've always felt that when you get so good at a hobby, that people pay for it, you're entering the realm of semiprofessional.  But, I look at making Sims things as I looked at doing 'zines way back.  Making a zine is fine.  Charging enough to cover the printing and the posting is fine, But once you start making a profit of any significance, then it becomes an issue, because you're messing with someone elses characters. And honestly, most of us doing zines knew about lending libraries and even supported them, so folks who couldn't afford to buy zines, could borrow them and read them.   That's why we were all pretty happy to switch to the 'net when it became popular, because then our costs went down to merely the cost of having an ISP and possibly needing to buy webspace.  

If an FA turned to making meshes to sell on sites like TurboSquid and the like, and were earning big bucks doing it, I would wish them nothing but the best, because that is perfectly legal.  It's once it becomes a package, made to work in TS2, that the line has been crossed.

I don't know much about professional meshes, but I have heard that most people making stuff for TS2 aren't good enough to be professional.  

[neriana]

Once someone starts making a profit from a "hobby", it is no longer a "hobby", it is a profession, no matter how little profit is made. It's perfectly acceptable to have a side profession that makes you money and that you enjoy.

FAs claim not to be professionals (this is a lie); they claim they don't have to stick to standards (this is stupid and rude, as well as unprofessional); they claim they share out of the goodness of their hearts (this is a lie); and they assiduously avoid calling the people who pay for their crap "customers" (evasion to avoid responsibility). I have no problems with paying for pixels, I do it every time I buy a computer or video game. I can see myself paying for digital art as well. My problems with TSR and with people charging for Sims 2 fan-made content rest neither on the fact that they charge for pixels nor that they're making a bit of extra cash. It's that they're con artists making money illegally using false pretenses, and lying every step of the way to do so. Further, I hate the idea of mods for computer games being pay on principle, so even if suddenly somehow TSR et al became legal, I would still oppose them.