That's exactly what I meant. 

Neriana, you have a pm.

Moune, it's great to see you again.

I'm not inclined to go digging through hundreds of threads to present you with evidence when it's all around you.  Like in the thread below this one.

Also, every time I bring this up, I get responses that completely misstate my point.  I'm not saying that we can't disagree with one another.  I'm not saying that we need fucking unicorns and faeries. I am saying that we don't always present ourselves in a manner that deserves being taken seriously.

Yeah, of course the secret could be TSR baiting us.  But it could also be a genuine response, and my guess is the latter.  I've spent time in other forums where people talk about how nasty it is here.  To be sure, compared to MATY, it's Disneyland. But I think we can be a little more sensitive about how we talk, especially to one another.

OK, I'll bite.

I've raised this issue many times before now.  The way some members treat other people who are actually on our side is BOUND to turn some people off.  Same deal only more so with respect to the treatment of people who are only tentatively or not at all on our side.  Disapproval or disagreement too often ends up as character assassination.  The invective is disproportionate and ugly. Not everyone here does that, of course, but a few do it to extremes. I'm expecting responses that shrug and say, "Why should I care?" Fine, don't care, but don't expect to win friends and influence people.

I've noticed that some of the strongest advocates against TSR have left the forum--or at least they're not posting anymore. That's a loss, and probably could have been prevented with a little tact.

ETA:  for the record, neither the secret nor any of the comments is mine.

Sorry, I don't usually critique other people's English, but this is too funny.

I know what you meant, but actually this is pretty accurate.

I never worked for TSR.  But I was an active member there for quite awhile.  And I think I can explain some of its appeal.  It was a supportive group.  If someone posted about a bad experience or an illness, there would soon be 10 replies.  There's an ongoing thread--it's been there forever--about members with disabilities.  It's a place where they can discuss issues that are serious to them without being put down. Some kid once directed a vicious ethnic slur at me. The admins pm'ed me to see if I was ok.  Things changed once Thomas came on the scene, of course.  But some of the feeling of community remains.  For you tough PMBD and MATY guys, I'm sure this sounds laughable.  But I can see why members--including SA's and FA's--were attracted to the place and why some stay there. (Money issues aside).

A union!  That's what they need, like the Industrial Workers of the World!   Nothing to lose but their chains, and all that.

I want to clarify what I said about Inge.  I can understand the curiosity and the drive to solve problems that would drive a skilled modder to work on TS3 with TSR.  The work itself isn't political, it's an opportunity to work collaboratively with other bright people, which is both a challenge and a pleasure.  But what concerns me is that Inge has been coy about her participation and her relationship to TSR.  If things were done in the spirit of "free scientific inquiry", then why not just say that?  Why hint around the issue for weeks?  months?  I think she only clarified her position when she was "outed."

 

Well, yeah, it's pretty late in the game to trust TSR, whether they make "free" tools or not. (In quotes because there WILL be some sort of price. ) Personally I'm not in play because I'm not getting Sims 3--I have no interest in goal-oriented games. But I still would like to see the end to TSR's current regime.

BTW, what happened with Zoo Tycoon?

However, Inge has always played both sides.  She can't decide where her loyalties lie, and changes her mind due to fluctuations in barometric pressure or something.  I'm grateful to her for the mods she's created, but I don't trust her at all.

What surprises me is that they haven't yet blamed (choose one or more)  [Pescado, coconut, Paleo, Darqstar, Gayle] for messing with their server. 

I was joking. Nothing has run smoothly there since the day Thomas appeared on the scene.

Anita must have a monumental pile of dirt on Thomas to get his attention focused on her like this.  The site is almost totally dysfunctional.  There might be three FA "creations" per day, and the quality hasn't improved any. And apparently it's almost impossible for non FA's to upload stuff.  The forums are amusing. People are skirting the edges of complaint without trying to seem hostile, so they put grinning smilies in every post. And everyone knows that v. 7 sucks.

Maybe Thomas really does need Anita to keep things going. He's sure doing it wrong on his own.

Beautiful work, Moune!  I've got to get my dratted game fixed....

Sorry, Darq, I didn't know you did BB's. Anyway, what I meant by borrowing here is that the MTS ones were released, and then a few days later, the TSR ones came out.  There's probably no connection, it's just that the MTS ones are so much better.

Another "borrowed" idea, but with the usual mediocre execution:




The free version (by Simgaroop, MTS):