Well, I was about to get back into modding. With a full race, and a few other bits left to finish and release. I definitely won't be bothering any more. In fact I shall just bin the lot, rather than let some scumbag make money from my hard work. Makes me **** angry
One of the things MSFC was founded for was because some people got a raw deal and had their mods stolen. Worse, Staff and Admin at other sites seemed not to care and in effect shrugged their shoulders about it. People stop making new things for a game when their old things get stolen and they are treated disrespectfully. SJ placed something of mine into KA2 without asking me first and then tried to cover it up by lying to nearly everyone in the Community. I believe this is how I met you, Starfox. As I recall, you were really upset at the time he would do such a thing. I normally care little about credit being given to me for things I've done. But in this case he was so snotty to everyone about everything, I decided, "Enough! This time I am going to play the permissions game the way everyone else does." SJ probably still hates the thought of me. Good.
The first time I met Majestic was when he was upset about people on the other A2 site giving the SOD Importer/Exporter out willy nilly. He was concerned people would not get credit for things they had done. I had the importer and I had just begun looking at how other people made their models to see what I needed to learn how to do. I was upset someone I did not know would casually lump me in with the liars and thieves. The only thing which kept me from clicking into Loose Cannon Mode was he had a legitimate point. People were stealing mods or parts of them and the originators were not being credited for their work.
How is putting some sort of system in place to delay/prevent people from doing what Dr. Dirtbag did on eBay a bad thing? Further, how will this discourage people from joining or cause established members to leave? How does something simple like has been suggested compare to what airport security does? We're not speaking of keeping the crazies off the jetliners here, just trying to keep people from performing a repeat of what has already been done far too many times. How many people have left, never to return because of people like the guy on eBay? I can put enough 'What ifs?' on this to make it come out any way anyone wants it to.
Yeah, yeah. I know if someone wants something badly enough they'll find a way to get it. No matter what safeguards are in place and for how long. But why make it easy for them? Seems to me the people who come here for the right reasons will be willing to go along with the protocols. This is not about making it too difficult for regular folks to get to the Downloads Section. It is about protecting the rights of artists, such as yourself Starfox. I would be very dismayed to find your
A2 Super Star Destroyer available anywhere else unknown to you and without you being credited for the work. You spent a great deal of time on that mod and you deserve the accolades and praise others have given you for it. Anything else would be very disrespectful towards you as a person.
And isn't this what we are
really talking about here? Respect towards one another? I have no problem with something be placed as a firebreak between the new people and the Downloads. The reasons for this are it will adapt and evolve as needs be because the people whom are members here will make sure of this. It encourages new people to get to know one another a little better and reinforces a sense of belonging to a Community rather than just another mod site. Finally who says the new people will stay on the other side of the firebreak forever?