A Very Interesting Discovery...

[Bella the Paysite Slayer]

I was Googling around one day, and I Googled "buffy sims," just to see what would come up.  One of my top results was this:

http://forums.thesimsresource.com/showthread.php?t=242313

Apparently, this one person at T$R, a teenager, I assume, was looking for Buffy and Charmed Sim skins, and the stupid retards over at T$R gave her/him millions of links to paysites.  The poor kid complained and wanted to get like skins for free, and those bitches whined that it was "illegal" and that those skins were "copyrighted."  Soon enough, the KGB moderators were viciously mauling this young Simmer and they black listed her/him (ie: put her/him on probation).  Typical T$R totalitarianism?  Yes, except look at the date of this thread.  It predates TS2 and of course, PMBD.   Apparently, the Great Paysite Debate has been going on at T$R for longer than one may think.  I mean, look at his kid fighting the T$R Communists.  She/he almost seems to be a proto-Pirate.  Wonder if she/he eventually found the Site That Must Not Be Named?  

I thought this T$R thread was interesting.  What do you think, Pirates?

[Kragey]

Wait. It's illegal for them to download a free skin of a copyrighted character, even though the money a paysite would take wouldn't go the copyright holders? Good God, that's dumb.

[calalily]

Filesharing sites have been around before PMBD - PMBD is the first site to do it in such a brazen manner.  SimsFileVault was around for ages, and Pescado got some of his start up booty there. 

And it should all be noted that some of the people on this site have been around for ages, just PMBD is the first place to express what they're thinking behind the privacy of their computer screens, and where they wouldn't get banned.  People coincidentally find PMBD because they are willing to look, and then join the forum because they agree with their goals - so it's not such a surprise. 

[dietofworms]

There were heated debates about paysites going on at TSR during Sims 1 times.  TSR was completely different then, before Steve got dollar signs in his eyes and Thomas became involved.  Debates were rarely censored.  As I recall, the mods only intervened in the case of outrageous racial or sexual insults, and then only if the offended person complained.  They didn't troll the boards the way they do now hunting with a microscope for any comment that didn't serve TSR's interests.

So yeah, the paysite debate has been going on forever, and filesharing sites were fairly public knowledge, although Cala is right in saying that they weren't as visible as they are now.

[Bella the Paysite Slayer]

Wait. It's illegal for them to download a free skin of a copyrighted character, even though the money a paysite would take wouldn't go the copyright holders? Good God, that's dumb.

 ???Kragey, what I meant was that the kid pretty much wanted the paysite skins free.  In short, they wanted to do filesharing, which is a no-no in T$R's Paysite Fantasyland.  The T$R moderators were whining that those skins were the copyrighted property of their creators, and therefore, cannot be shared.  What those assholes didn't realize is that those skins are technically Maxis' property, and therefore, nobody should be copyrighting them in the first place.  Also, your comment brought up another paysite wrong.  When a paysite charges for "Buffy" and "Charmed" skins (Remember Buffy Sims?), not only is the paysite owner illegally making $$$ off a copyrighted game (TS1/TS2), but she/he is also illegally making $$$ off copyrighted characters (Buffy Summers, Phoebe Halliwell, etc.) .  That's a HUGE no-no in the real world but not T$R's empire.

There were heated debates about paysites going on at TSR during Sims 1 times.  TSR was completely different then, before Steve got dollar signs in his eyes and Thomas became involved.  Debates were rarely censored.  As I recall, the mods only intervened in the case of outrageous racial or sexual insults, and then only if the offended person complained.  They didn't troll the boards the way they do now hunting with a microscope for any comment that didn't serve TSR's interests.

That's what surprises me here.  The mods ARE viciously attacking and censoring this kid.  Did you click the link and read the thread?  It's rather disturbing in the way they are just beating on some poor kid that only wanted skins of their favorite TV characters.

[Kragey]

^ I was complaining about what the paysite mongers said in response, not the kid.

[dietofworms]

I guess I'm not clear on your point, Bella.  The thread is from 2004-5, before the new Thomas norm of "fuck em all" took over.  At that point, the general norm on TSR was to defend everyone's so-called copyright, not just TSR's.  Filesharing  WAS going on, but it was kept quiet.  Nevertheless, people at TSR were discussing the copyright issue and the legitimacy of paysites pretty early on. I remember the extremely tortured logic through which we defended paysites (I hadn't yet seen the light ).

But, in partial defense of our stupidity, paysites were different in the early days.  They rarely charged more than a little bit for membership.  The abusive fees began when someone who ran SimInternational Imports  or something like that began charging by the set.  I believe her fee was $5 per set, which caused incredible outrage.  Then Banana Republic Revolution came into being and also charged $5 per set.  That seemed to change the rules of the game, and now those kinds of "donations" are more widespread and seen as "acceptable."

(I've got to add that I'm not referring to Kiri or Cindy, both of whom were involved with SimInternational Imports in the early days.  They split off from the site either when, or before, the woman who ran it (come to think of it, I believe her name was Ran, lol), started charging money.)

[glasscigarette]

I have to agree with DoW. Sadly, I don't find the OP even slightly surprising, because the anti-paysite camp wasn't particularly visible or vocal at the time of these posts.

Still an interesting and rather sad read, though. I hope that kid stuck around in the community long enough to find PMBD, but if the way people treated her/him is any indication, she might have just run back home with her tail between her legs. 

[Plum]

People have thought paysites sucked since they were created?  Super surprising!

[calalily]

People have thought paysites sucked since they were created?  Super surprising!

*shuffles feet* Nice to see you back Plum. Your avi is gone, and your sig is missing a [, torque is back - and idtaminger.  Hey. 

[Renegade]

Thanks, Calalalalalala

[calalily]

I didn't see you yet - be fair! Plus - I am meshing and watching Dr. Who.  Your avi is missing, and I'm glad you're back. Your sig is fine. 

But:

[SnarkyShark]

Is frisbud the Scourge of Buffydom still an entity at TSR?  Gotta admit though, I loved this line from her -

Skinners are real people too with real lives to deal with. Creating for the Sims is not a job, it is a hobby.

- bet she's changed her tune since then.

Edited to edit the thing that needed editing.

[Feverish]

 Bitch, please. For the creators of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it IS a job, for which I'm sure they'd want their cut of the money.

[Bella the Paysite Slayer]

Is frisbud the Scourge of Buffydom still an entity at TSR? Sheesh control?. Gotta admit though, I loved this line from her -

Quote from: frisbud

Skinners are real people too with real lives to deal with. Creating for the Sims is not a job, it is a hobby.

- OK, then.

You betcha'!   Frisbitch still finds all sorts of ways to boss people around and crush all dissent in the TS1 forums.  She currently has a monopoly in the TS1 skins section.  And, I find that quote from her particularly funny, since she kisses the ass of just about every paysite owner you can imagine.  Typical KGB hypocrite.  She was very instrumental in the torturing of that poor kid I mentioned earlier.  But, hey, I say she had it coming.  It's not the kid's fault frisbitch gave her/him a bunch of paysite links, not even realizing that the young Simmer just might be under 18, and therefore, unable to subscribe to any paysites.  The kid even asked her to stop giving her/him paysite links, and that asshole ignored her/him and just continued to beat the kid down.  Geez! Nice way to moderate a forum, ain't it?