TSR IS A SUCK-ASS SUCKY WEBSITE

[Feverish]

Because of the SecuRom chaos, I probably won't be buying any more Sims 2 expansion. If EA plans to join with TSR in any way, I won't be buying sims 3 either. They just keep sucking the fun out of it.

[thecheese]

*reads Feverish's post* Amen to that! I can't believed them, actually I can, the whole 'put out as many expansions while planning a game that will have most of our buyers stop playing the expansions were selling now' thing. That just disgusts me. Make a game, a single game that's the whole package!

[calalily]

Yeah, I'm done with the frustration that is EA.  They can stick their SecuRom and their shopstuff packs, and keep TSR.  They can clusterfuck their way to paysite heaven.

Not to mention that if TSR is going to be the standard of fansites? Yuck.

[Sherry]

Meh I can't read it.  I haven't been to MATY in ages and I don't remember my password, or username, or email I signed up with, and I am too lazy to reregister.

From the bit that some posted on SFV all I can say is This just in: Water is wet!  EA and TSR are obviously in bed together, some Shakeshafting may be involved, I don't know and frankly I don't care.  Unless EA hands me a new EULA and tells me to stop sharing who cares what they are doing with TSR and more importantly what TSR has to say about it?

Would I be surprised if EA is trying to make more money by partnering with TSR?  Only slightly (only slightly).  EA try to milk more money out of fans with their bullshit?  Nooo[sarcastictone]ooo!

EA Guy #1: If only we could think of away to get creators to make us CC, give them a small cut of the profit and while we pretty much sit on our asses and make a crapload of money off of it!
EA Guy #2: That sounds deliciously evil, and familiar..... wait I think something like this already exists!
EA Guy #3: Yes, it's TSR.  It's our #1 Fan site, ranked by you know all the fans *ahem* who love paying for content and not um, getting it free from um another more popular fan site who was largely, um responsible for CC availability in the first place.
EA Guy #1: Egads Men!  We need to figure out a way to hop on the TSR trolley.
EA Guy #3: No problem.  Well I'm off to meet Satan and Sony for lunch to discuss Securom.

End Scene

[Saraswati]

I don't actually think they'd join with TSR.. I mean, even they're not that stupid. The place is a colossal mess, think about the months of work they'd have to go through to clean out the REAL copyright violations (you know, all those Disney ripoffs etc)

And after watching Maxoid Sam bleat about some very gentle criticism from you guys for an entirely valid reason, I really don't think they're fit for it.. I think this idea just got out 'cos Thomas probably trying to big note himself. again.

[neriana]

This is the reason my opinion on paysites is only slightly based on their (il)legality. I do not trust EA to do what's best for the game or the game's fans one bit.

[Paleoanth]

Somehow I doubt EA is going to restructure their sims 2 sites this late in the game.  There is only one SecuROM laden EP left.  If they were going to cohabit with TSR on this, I would think they would have done it from the beginning.  After all, TSR was huge in Sims 1 days too.  Maybe Sims 3, but I also cannot see EA relinquishing control over the franchise to Thomas, even on a CC basis and I also cannot see Thomas relinquishing control of TSR to EA.  I don't know.  Perhaps a completely separate joint entity for Sims 3 while also having TSR and the Exchange.

[Sherry]

.. I mean, even they're not that stupid.

I wouldn't underestimate their stupidity.  

That said EA is all over TSR's shit already.  It's happened, it continued with Maxis from TS1 and years ago now I remember reading on TSR about how they were working with EA on releasing a "spore" related site for CC.  They are the "biggest" fansite, they get invited to all Sims related crap when clearly their are bigger fansites.  I know people who tell us things before they happen, not always filesharing info, but TSR and EA are tight.  

TSR and EA are clearly in a you rub my back, I'll rub yours situation.  I think the reason they have not further involved themselves has more to do with legalities and less to do with pissing off the customer.   When a company releases a pretty pricey product (alliteration rocks), full of bugs and with securom they are not exactly asking themselves how they can win over fans.  

I do question now how much longer I will want to be apart of the sims.  It's unfortunate too many people are willing to settle for the crap hand EA is dealing them.

[SnarkyShark]

I do question now how much longer I will want to be apart of the sims.  It's unfortunate too many people are willing to settle for the crap hand EA is dealing them.

I'm past that point.  I no longer worry whether or not EA is a big soulless, out-of-control corporation. For me, the securom scandal confirmed that they are. So if they want to get in bed with another soulless entity, TSR, I wouldn’t be surprised. Fuck 'em both and pass the rum.

[SparklePlenty]

Personally, I am just about done with The Sims 2. I might play it on occasion, and I do love to build houses and recolor objects, but even that is getting a little old. I have a feeling that EA getting in bed with TSR will sound the death knell for the whole fansite genre. Soon only the quaint old-fashioned holdouts will be left online. The rest of us will have grown up and moved on. They said they wanted the Sims to last forever, but they are doing their level best to kill it off.

[Petunia]

Personally, I am just about done with The Sims 2. I might play it on occasion, and I do love to build houses and recolor objects, but even that is getting a little old. I have a feeling that EA getting in bed with TSR will sound the death knell for the whole fansite genre. Soon only the quaint old-fashioned holdouts will be left online. The rest of us will have grown up and moved on. They said they wanted the Sims to last forever, but they are doing their level best to kill it off.

I feel the same way.  That stupid securom totally borked my antivirus and quite a few other things on my system. And trying to get help from them was useless.

I know it was the securom that borked my antivirus because my hubby's compter had the same version, and he tried to install a stupid game that also had securom on it and it did the same thing to his.  

I fixed mine but left hubby's alone just so I can prove it when they get sued.

[Sherry]

Personally, I am just about done with The Sims 2. I might play it on occasion, and I do love to build houses and recolor objects, but even that is getting a little old. I have a feeling that EA getting in bed with TSR will sound the death knell for the whole fansite genre. Soon only the quaint old-fashioned holdouts will be left online. The rest of us will have grown up and moved on. They said they wanted the Sims to last forever, but they are doing their level best to kill it off.

Ditto this.  The love I had for the game is almost gone.  The love I have left is for the parts and people of the community I admire and share a friendship with.  I do like making objects, but the joy I get from creating that has little to do with the sims (which is why I think I haven't actually put half of them into the game yet) and more to do with the fact I like artsy hobbies.  The rest is just because I do like making other people happy.

[calalily]

I just felt awful about the whole SecuRom thing that for a whole two weeks, I didn't have anything to do with the game - aside from forums, which aren't really gamecentric for me anyway.  But I only picked it up again because it's therapeutic for me to research in one window, recolour in the other.  I can mull things over in the back of my brain while doing that.  

I agree with tomato and Angha Tyl - I don't think that either EA or TSR would be interested in an amalgamation.  But maybe some deal to handle the forum side of the whole thing - they step on things pretty quickly there in the forums - and are careful to discuss EA in a positive light.  Sort of like in exchange for paysite approval, you handle the securom shit.  When it comes to PC customers - Playstation sales are way up and PC sales are well below that - so who cares about us, right?  (Forgetting of course that this PC owner has spent roughly $5,000 on Playstation gear BEFORE Sony and EA pissed her off - and my kids aren't even teenagers yet).

It's immaterial to me - I was dodgy on Sims 3 before - and now I'm flat out not getting it - and am glad I've hoarded my way to 22gb of content - I will be playing for years.  TSR and SuckuRom? Pass!

[Micavaga]

I've been playing some sort of Sims since SimCity2000 and TS1.  I've been skeptical of TS3, but I've been really looking forward to SimCity Societies.  But, I seriously doubt I'll be getting it since it is likely FuckuRom will be on it (unless I wait 24 hours after release and figure out how to do the torrent thing).

EA would be completely stupid to get in bed with TSR.  The only way I see that happening is if EA gets into a financial agreement with TSR to be the sole distributor of CC for TS3 (hence making other fansites illegal), paying TSR to maintain the site.  Do I see that happening?  No, based solely on the fact that it would cost EA to do that and we all know that EA hates to spend any money they don't have to spend.

22gb, calalily?  I've got some serious catching up to do!  

[JFederated]

I put big money into my current comp 4 years ago; I was in school using Photoshop/Illustrator/Dreamweaver/Quark (gah), big graphical stuff...but I also wanted TS1 to go zooom!  And get a good return in years on my investment, which I have.  Nothing wrong w/this comp at all today, have yet to replace a part or even upgrade.  I don't even remember how TS1 ran, TS2 came out, ran great, still does tho the vid card faints here and there w/snowfall.

Now I'm looking to put big money into a snarling beast of a laptop, but simming won't be entering the equation like it did before, except for up to Seasons, mayhap.  I'll likely do the NoCD thing for my purchased copy of BV so I can continue to get my money's worth, thanks not so much EA, but I sure as shit won't inflict something like Securom on a spanking new comp if I can help it.

I've been feeling the same as Cala.  EA's put a taint on its own product for me.  This invasive idea of DRM in general seems like a big ugly deal to me, and when I see others just fluff it off it makes me wonder if I'm overreacting - I'm not terribly savvy about any of it - but there's a gut reaction of 'HELL NO' that I can't seem to ignore.

I see some people on the BBS being happy and satisfied that Sony sent them a new .exe so they can run their games...can someone explain why I'm feeling that is extremely not cool?  Not the happy part - tho for godsakes, they broke your comp, don't get happy so fast!  It's the personalized .exe part...we're guinea pigs for Sony?  Pacification turning into complacency?  Invasion of privacy?  Encrypted analysis files?  Ugh, it smells so bad!

And I don't even pirate anything!  I'm too damn lazy!  I buy it, pop it in the drive and play it, I'm glad to do it.  But it still freaks me out, the fingers wiggling into my comp, touching stuff they have no business or right to be touching.  Ew.

The TSR thing...who knows what the hell Thomas is talking about; he likes to be cryptic and imply things that lend that site a shred of legitimacy.  What alarms me is that Pescado declared it LIES AND PROPAGANDA! and such declarations seem to later become UGLY TRUTH AND BORKINATION!   :lol:

TS2 always had serious legs.  We can play it long time.  Done with EA tho.  No way in hell will I give them any further opportunity to fuck with thousands of dollars worth of my personal property.  I hope Securom gives them many nights of flopsweat.  Asshats.