Let me clarify one point: I have no objection to Ad.fly. That doesn't bother me at all (If my original post made it seem so, then it was misunderstood). The adfly issue is only an annoyance, but at least its not something like Rapidshare where you sit there for 5 minutes waiting, and only have a 1 minute window before you have to restart the process. And one more thing about adfly: I prefer direct linking because it makes it easier for me to finish the downloading process. I use Mediafire, so I know my way around it and have no objection to it, but its just an extra inconvenience, nothing more.
About the work they go through: I work in Computer Security, trust me, I know the effort they go through to make these. I'm not saying they shouldn't get something out of it, just don't force it. You want a donation? Fine, if I think your work deserves a couple bucks, I'll donate, but don't try and force people to donate by using tactics such as "If you don't donate, I won't maintain the mod" or "Donate to me if you want me to answer your questions" which I have seen people do. Here and elsewhere. That is completely inappropriate.
As for those of you saying I don't know copyright, I have read the entire legislation on Copyright here in the United States, and parts of the legislation in the EU (Since I live in USA, I didn't read much into the EU law, just the most important parts). The legislation here in the US is flawed and has so many gaps and unclarified statements, you can twist it any way you want it in order to give you complete total control of anything. This is my problem with the copyright of mods, and the idea of "Intellectual Property". It does not exist. Having IP is like owning an idea; like putting a copyright on democracy or communism and saying if anyone else gets that idea, they can be sued and go to jail. That is what IP is, and even though my training in Comp. Sec. stresses enforcing IP legislation, I ignore it. If a client tries to get me involved in an IP case, I transfer the case to another investigator. (Yes, that is possible. I'm a freelancer.) I do not enforce IP or copyright, I do not investigate IP theft, and until the laws are changed and fixed, I will continue to do so.
And don't call me ignorant. I am young, yes, but I have had enough experience in the tech world and on the streets to fill at least two biographies. I have seen things, done things, and learned things most people didn't even know possible. I spent 3 years studying US copyright legislation (not university study, personal study) and another 3 years debating it. And I speak with that experience. And don't insult me either. There is no need to use that language. And if you must, at least come up with something more creative than "**** off you bitchy ****." That sounds like what my ex girlfriend said to me when I broke up with her (psycho). Please, PLEASE, use an insult that will make me read it over twice then enjoy having been called that.
Finally, to Temerer. I am a pirate. I am not ashamed of it. And let me make a case for pirating: When you see something you want, but don't have the money for it, or don't know if its worth that price, will you buy it anyway? What if its not good, what if its not what you expected? You can't go get your money back. You might be able to sell it at a lower price, or for store credit, but you lose that money. Now what if you could try it for free, and then decide if its worth it? That is pirating. And if you like it, you buy it. Just like if you like a mod, you donate to the modder. Also, many times, pirating is the only way to get to use it how you want. (This next part is a story that may be tl;dr, so feel free to skim over it) Take the Grand Theft Auto IV game. I pirated it and bought a copy, and this was my experience: With pirating, I wait a week, install it, crack it, then play it. No problems, it played fine, and it only caused an issue once in awhile, but that was my computer more than the game. So I said, "I like this, let me go buy it:" and went to Gamestop and spent $50 on it. I uninstalled my pirated copy, cleaned the registry, and double checked to make sure everything was erased. Once that was done, I installed the legitimate version. The installation took two hours longer (not kidding, I watched the clock while I waited) than the pirated one, and then it installed the Rockstar Social Club, which I did not ask for, and did not want, because I didn't want to play it online. I didn't have a choice, I either installed RSC or didn't play the game. That install was relatively quick. Now, let's finally play the game! NOT! It had to update RSC.. Twice. And that took an hour and a half, taking up my bandwidth, so I couldn't surf the web while I waited. Done? Good, now let me play... Or not. Update the game! Another hour and a half (this time I could surf the web), then I could finally play... After I registered for RSC, and had to verify my account, and verify my purchase. And that took more time. So I finally got to play, got through the first ten minutes fine, but then the game crashed. Memory overflow. Why did the legit version overflow ten minutes or so into the game? Because it was trying to do something with Windows Live while I was playing, and I only have a 1GB RAM. Got back in the game, after restarting RSC and logging in (which took a few minutes), but when I loaded the game up the second time, I had a texture issue. As in, the textures were gone. I could not find out why. Turns out, the game crashing corrupted the texture data file somehow. Now what? After all that, I returned the game, used the store credit to buy something else, then reinstalled my pirated copy. And the pirated copy still worked fine!
Pirating is the new way of marketing and is a sensible way for the consumer to make good decisions about how he spends his money. If you are opposed to pirating, then you are opposed to innovation and the new way of business. As for how that relates to Minecraft, well, I pirated Minecraft too, and liked it so much I spread the word. After three months, I bought it, and I had two family members, and three friends who bought it. Now if I hadn't pirated it, then none of those people would have even known about it, much less bought it. And that is $120 for Mojang right there. Not much, not even a noticeable dent, but still. My pirating the game was worth over $100 in profit to its creator. Innovation at its finest.
IF THE ABOVE WAS TL;DR:
In closing; what I have said and what I mean is this: Copyright is broken. Intellectual Property does not exist. Pirating is innovative. And it is time to change the way we do things. To the modders in this community: asking for donations is fine. Adfly is not a problem to me. But forcing people to donate by refusing to maintain your mod or help others is wrong, and so is giving them no choice but to spend money (adfly is not counted here; the people don't spend money on that). Stop trying to make a profit from your mods. Modding is not about profit, it is about innovation and improvement. That is where you people are misguided. I have always told people that to do something with the intent of gaining fame and money, is setting yourself up to fail. To do something to innovate, to make greater, to improve; that is not only preparing to succeed, but it is a success in itself. I am a realist, I know what human nature is and what to expect from people. But I know from experience and research that overcoming this primal nature is possible. It just takes a little effort. Those who show no effort, are nothing more than dogs who need to be put down. (That includes trolls, and people who make an argument with no basis or solution.)
I just have to say something about the whole modders causing problems over "profit". There are so many mod managers like this one that get cut off because the mods they allow you to install are "copyrighted" and the developer of the mod manager didn't get "permission" to distribute it. I find it so pathetic that modders in this community are so focused on making money off their mods that they have complete disregard for the actual users. MODDING IS NOT FOR PROFIT!!! Minecraft is the only game I know of where the people in the modding community focus more on making money than making mods. This really infuriates me. The purpose of modding is to improve a game you like, and share that improvement with others. Do Deus Ex modders, or Diablo modders, or Sims modders go the lengths the people here go to in order to get money? No! I haven't seen a single modder of any other game try and shut down a website or kill another mod in order to keep up their profits. You people are so damn selfish, you've lost focus on what your original intention was. To make Minecraft better. Pricks..
If you don't believe that the modding community here is f'ed up, take a look at this: The MMM, a great utility for installing mods, which had so much potential, and made installing mods a breeze, was killed off and locked down. Why? Because the person who made it "violated copyright" by allowing users to install a certain mod on it without paying the mod creator. What right does the creator have to shut down something just because it allows users a more convenient access to his mod? And another example: there was one mod I wanted, which changed some world generation, but it was shut down and its creator banned from the forum, because another modder said it was a copy of his work. What right does HE have to say another person cannot make something similar to his? And the catch: the mod that was banned was better than the original. (Don't ask me for names because I can't remember them)
And one last thing: This isn't violating any rules or breaking any laws. Say whatever you want about me and my ideas, but nobody has the right to change or remove this, or punish me. I'm not "violating" anybody's "copyright" or "infringing" on their "property". Copyright as it is believed to be according to American law is a lie, its a tool to allow one person to profit at the cost of everyone around him. I am shocked that the developers of Minecraft are using this system, instead of the European system, which is actually sane and proper. And that infection is spreading to the modders. I am very saddened I wasted my money on something that is all about making money, instead of spending my money on another indie game with a proper vision. And I am definitely not going to donate anything to these modders who think they are entitled to a profit.
You people need to change your focus. Remember what happens when greed overshadows talent. It all comes crashing down on top of you. Watch your step, you selfish b**tards, for you're walking on the edge, And it is a very long fall to the bottom.
I don't have the exact error report on hand, but I know how to read them, due to my experience with tech support and code, and I understand what the Buffer Overflow error means, but the problem is this: I have a decent (not good, just decent) computer, I am not running a server, and Minecraft is my only running application (other than the basic Windows apps). Until the 1.7.3 patch, Minecraft worked perfectly, and I could add mods and texture packs with only the occasional data value-related error, but now I get the BO error every time I log in, before the Mojang logo. Let me repeat that last part: it happens before the Mojang logo, so no main menu, no options menu, no logo, nothing past being able to log in. This frustrates me because there is no reason for this, and until the latest update it was working fine. I don't have any backed up jars, because the backup folder was deleted (my mistake, and it cost me dearly). Any solution?
1
About the work they go through: I work in Computer Security, trust me, I know the effort they go through to make these. I'm not saying they shouldn't get something out of it, just don't force it. You want a donation? Fine, if I think your work deserves a couple bucks, I'll donate, but don't try and force people to donate by using tactics such as "If you don't donate, I won't maintain the mod" or "Donate to me if you want me to answer your questions" which I have seen people do. Here and elsewhere. That is completely inappropriate.
As for those of you saying I don't know copyright, I have read the entire legislation on Copyright here in the United States, and parts of the legislation in the EU (Since I live in USA, I didn't read much into the EU law, just the most important parts). The legislation here in the US is flawed and has so many gaps and unclarified statements, you can twist it any way you want it in order to give you complete total control of anything. This is my problem with the copyright of mods, and the idea of "Intellectual Property". It does not exist. Having IP is like owning an idea; like putting a copyright on democracy or communism and saying if anyone else gets that idea, they can be sued and go to jail. That is what IP is, and even though my training in Comp. Sec. stresses enforcing IP legislation, I ignore it. If a client tries to get me involved in an IP case, I transfer the case to another investigator. (Yes, that is possible. I'm a freelancer.) I do not enforce IP or copyright, I do not investigate IP theft, and until the laws are changed and fixed, I will continue to do so.
And don't call me ignorant. I am young, yes, but I have had enough experience in the tech world and on the streets to fill at least two biographies. I have seen things, done things, and learned things most people didn't even know possible. I spent 3 years studying US copyright legislation (not university study, personal study) and another 3 years debating it. And I speak with that experience. And don't insult me either. There is no need to use that language. And if you must, at least come up with something more creative than "**** off you bitchy ****." That sounds like what my ex girlfriend said to me when I broke up with her (psycho). Please, PLEASE, use an insult that will make me read it over twice then enjoy having been called that.
Finally, to Temerer. I am a pirate. I am not ashamed of it. And let me make a case for pirating: When you see something you want, but don't have the money for it, or don't know if its worth that price, will you buy it anyway? What if its not good, what if its not what you expected? You can't go get your money back. You might be able to sell it at a lower price, or for store credit, but you lose that money. Now what if you could try it for free, and then decide if its worth it? That is pirating. And if you like it, you buy it. Just like if you like a mod, you donate to the modder. Also, many times, pirating is the only way to get to use it how you want. (This next part is a story that may be tl;dr, so feel free to skim over it) Take the Grand Theft Auto IV game. I pirated it and bought a copy, and this was my experience: With pirating, I wait a week, install it, crack it, then play it. No problems, it played fine, and it only caused an issue once in awhile, but that was my computer more than the game. So I said, "I like this, let me go buy it:" and went to Gamestop and spent $50 on it. I uninstalled my pirated copy, cleaned the registry, and double checked to make sure everything was erased. Once that was done, I installed the legitimate version. The installation took two hours longer (not kidding, I watched the clock while I waited) than the pirated one, and then it installed the Rockstar Social Club, which I did not ask for, and did not want, because I didn't want to play it online. I didn't have a choice, I either installed RSC or didn't play the game. That install was relatively quick. Now, let's finally play the game! NOT! It had to update RSC.. Twice. And that took an hour and a half, taking up my bandwidth, so I couldn't surf the web while I waited. Done? Good, now let me play... Or not. Update the game! Another hour and a half (this time I could surf the web), then I could finally play... After I registered for RSC, and had to verify my account, and verify my purchase. And that took more time. So I finally got to play, got through the first ten minutes fine, but then the game crashed. Memory overflow. Why did the legit version overflow ten minutes or so into the game? Because it was trying to do something with Windows Live while I was playing, and I only have a 1GB RAM. Got back in the game, after restarting RSC and logging in (which took a few minutes), but when I loaded the game up the second time, I had a texture issue. As in, the textures were gone. I could not find out why. Turns out, the game crashing corrupted the texture data file somehow. Now what? After all that, I returned the game, used the store credit to buy something else, then reinstalled my pirated copy. And the pirated copy still worked fine!
Pirating is the new way of marketing and is a sensible way for the consumer to make good decisions about how he spends his money. If you are opposed to pirating, then you are opposed to innovation and the new way of business. As for how that relates to Minecraft, well, I pirated Minecraft too, and liked it so much I spread the word. After three months, I bought it, and I had two family members, and three friends who bought it. Now if I hadn't pirated it, then none of those people would have even known about it, much less bought it. And that is $120 for Mojang right there. Not much, not even a noticeable dent, but still. My pirating the game was worth over $100 in profit to its creator. Innovation at its finest.
IF THE ABOVE WAS TL;DR:
In closing; what I have said and what I mean is this: Copyright is broken. Intellectual Property does not exist. Pirating is innovative. And it is time to change the way we do things. To the modders in this community: asking for donations is fine. Adfly is not a problem to me. But forcing people to donate by refusing to maintain your mod or help others is wrong, and so is giving them no choice but to spend money (adfly is not counted here; the people don't spend money on that). Stop trying to make a profit from your mods. Modding is not about profit, it is about innovation and improvement. That is where you people are misguided. I have always told people that to do something with the intent of gaining fame and money, is setting yourself up to fail. To do something to innovate, to make greater, to improve; that is not only preparing to succeed, but it is a success in itself. I am a realist, I know what human nature is and what to expect from people. But I know from experience and research that overcoming this primal nature is possible. It just takes a little effort. Those who show no effort, are nothing more than dogs who need to be put down. (That includes trolls, and people who make an argument with no basis or solution.)
~~Turmoil
Life. Love. Honor. This is my creed.
5
If you don't believe that the modding community here is f'ed up, take a look at this: The MMM, a great utility for installing mods, which had so much potential, and made installing mods a breeze, was killed off and locked down. Why? Because the person who made it "violated copyright" by allowing users to install a certain mod on it without paying the mod creator. What right does the creator have to shut down something just because it allows users a more convenient access to his mod? And another example: there was one mod I wanted, which changed some world generation, but it was shut down and its creator banned from the forum, because another modder said it was a copy of his work. What right does HE have to say another person cannot make something similar to his? And the catch: the mod that was banned was better than the original. (Don't ask me for names because I can't remember them)
And one last thing: This isn't violating any rules or breaking any laws. Say whatever you want about me and my ideas, but nobody has the right to change or remove this, or punish me. I'm not "violating" anybody's "copyright" or "infringing" on their "property". Copyright as it is believed to be according to American law is a lie, its a tool to allow one person to profit at the cost of everyone around him. I am shocked that the developers of Minecraft are using this system, instead of the European system, which is actually sane and proper. And that infection is spreading to the modders. I am very saddened I wasted my money on something that is all about making money, instead of spending my money on another indie game with a proper vision. And I am definitely not going to donate anything to these modders who think they are entitled to a profit.
You people need to change your focus. Remember what happens when greed overshadows talent. It all comes crashing down on top of you. Watch your step, you selfish b**tards, for you're walking on the edge, And it is a very long fall to the bottom.
1