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The war of words between Origin and Paradigm went one step further yesterday when ICE discovered that he had been demoted to Loser access on The Underground.
The Underground is a web based bulletin board system run by Paradigm that holds news-group type discussion. Ice had been using the board to rag on Paradigm and it seems they have demoted him to shut him up.
The cash-strapped Reflux realising they could not cut it in the competitive games scene have killed the group and moved off to ISOs. Well I suppose it is harder to stuff up in the ISO scene then it is in the games scene. This makes Reflux the first group to go completely ISO only.
Origin while not joining the Fuction (or as they call it 'Fucktion') has accepted and will now use their disk limit of 50 * 2.88. Here is what they have to say in their latest NFO, Space Bunnies Must Die (c) Ripcord Games.
Well as you can see this release is well over the SPA disc limit of 75!
We wanted to wait until a proper SPA meeting to propose a NEW disc limit.
But due to the goings on out of our hands and the arrival of this title we
have choosen to release this title as the masses demanded it. In relation
to the SPA, ORIGIN members feel they can no longer remain a part of the
SPA as we no longer conform to the SPA rules. Thus we are leaving the SPA
until further notice. Stay tuned ;).
As for any future raggings that will say we have U-turned and back-tracked
on what we have said, let us make it clear. It was not ORIGIN's policy to
keep the disc limit at 75 discs. In fact it was SKILL of CLASS who
clamoured for this limit to be enforced. Surprising that he went back on it
so if anyone is two-faced it is him. So if we did not campaign for that
then what were we going on about in previous NFOS ??? Well our view was
two groups tried to FORCE their views in a dictatorship type manner on the
rest of the SPA membership, without consulting them. They tried to do this
by releasing games which broke SPA rules, WHILE still remaining members of
the SPA at that time. We at ORIGIN have left SPA so therefore are no longer
obligated to adhere to SPA rules. Unlike other groups we respect SPA and
have no wish to try and FORCE our ideas on the rest of the scene. Thus we
believed it was better to leave the SPA rather than disrespect the scene.
Our intention when we was in the SPA was to obtain rules against RAPES. In
a hope to bring QUALITY and STANDARDS to the scene so, all could benefit.
This PDM and others refused to comment on, they consistently tried to side
step this issue. Which we thought was important as RAPES is what actually
brought the issue of DISC LIMITS up. As PDM was raping all the time before.
Anyway that is history, but let me re-iterate when we slagged groups for
going over the SPA limit. It was becuase at the time they were also members
of SPA. We have gone over SPA limit, but are not members now. Thus we don't
contradict ourselves, such as PDM and RZR did.
So, now you know! Anyway ORIGIN has decieded to follow a disc limit size of
0 x 2.88 megabytes, as is the norm these days on the UTIL scene. People
from the FUCKTION will say this is a victory for them. Which seems most
strange to us, as 1) we where never for or against the DISC LIMIT and 2)
they decieded to leave becuase they claimed people like us were
unreasonble and would never accept the NEW rules that they have proposed.
Basicly they cannot say we would never agree to their rules and then say
they knew we would agree, as it is a contradiction. The fact remains that
the FUCKTION is made up of groups whoose members while c00l, the leaders
are all dictators and do not wish to have democratic representation of all
releasing groups, while they make their BIG PLANS to release cool games,
like this one! The FACTS are they ran out on the SPA, not the other way
round. In short PUSSIES. Its a shame their membership has to put up with
fascism. We feel sorry for them, that is why we wish to talk to the SPA
members to discuss NEW rules which go BEYOND the FUCKTION set. We hope this
happens for the benefit of all within the scene. Lets stop their dictation
now!
CYPHER (THE LORD PROTECTOR)
Fortress Of Solitude (FOS) has been busted for as now, unknown reasons. FOS was Razor 1911 and Radium WHQ, DOD EuroHQ and a RISC affil.
In lieu of recent events contributing to the breakdown of the now defunct S.P.A. (Software Piracy Association), a private meeting between the key contributing and contending groups was held. On October 15th, 1998 an agreement and compromise was reached between the 3 attending parties, CLASS, PARADIGM and RAZOR 1911. Let it be known that this type of compromise could not be achieved under the S.P.A. environment; it took a clean break to accomplish in a day what had previously gone unaccomplished in 2 months.
The end result being a new council whose sole purpose is to set standards for the game-releasing subsector of the scene, to be adhered to by all admitted parties. Represented members of this new council named THE FACTION, have pledged to abide by the following set of rules created a) to ensure a quality minded end result and b) to encourage fair play and a productive competitive environment for involved groups.
The Faction 10 Point Program:
1. The disk limit is as of now 50 x 2.88 megabytes or 2,915,328 bytes.
This equates to a total of 144 megabytes of compressed data or
145,766,400 bytes. Using 2.88 megabyte archives enables us to keep the
standard 8 character filename with a 3 character extension. This will
also help contribute to the elimination of the 'missing disk'
phenomenon, plaguing end-users worldwide. Acceptable compression
formats at this time are ACE or RAR, followed by the traditional
PKZIPing.
2. Every release under this limit will be a functionally and playably complete game. This means that included will be every component necessary for the successful completion of the game (every level, track, course and other NECESSARY component).
3. Sound effects WILL and MUST be included.
4. Intros, Outros and Cut-Scenes should be removed if the size of the
release is 40 x 2.88 disks or more with them included. Intros should
NOT be iuncluded in a Movie Add-On, only Cut-Scenes and Outro (aka
End-Scene) should be included. Animation files, such as .SMKs, should
be 'framed' and not blacked out. Re-indexing of large files, should
consist of an actual re-index instead of just creating a file full of
0's, (which doesn't change the actual file size, but allows it to
compress to virtually nothing), thus promoting more quality minded rips
and cracks.
5. Only 2 Add-Ons should be released per game. Each Add-On should be no
more than 25 x 2.88 megabyte archives.
6. A brief outline of what has been stripped from the game should be
clearly stated in the game-release .NFO, as well as information as to
whether or not Add-Ons can be expected.
7. Children's games (aka Kiddie games) and Edutainment software do not
qualify under THE FACTION's guidelines for acceptable releases.
8. In regard to games distributed in the United States that are LATER
distributed in Europe or vice versa under the same or different name /
publisher. These games if released AFTER another group's release are
counted as DUPES unless it can be proven that there is a clearly
noticeable PLAYABLE difference in the latter release (eg. new levels,
enhanced graphics, or other new features).
9. Fully cracked Update Patches and Trainers are highly regarded, though
they are not the responsibility of any group (including that of which
released the original game.) If 2 trainers from the same or different
groups are released for 1 game, this does NOT qualify as a dupe unless
the latter trainer provides no new features over the prior trainer.
10. Admittance to THE FACTION is done on an invite / vote-in basis. The
group invitation must be proposed before ALL current FACTION member-
group representatives, and the corresponding vote must be undertaken by
ALL FACTION member-group representatives. This council operates in a
purely democratic manner and all parties therein have upon joining,
agreed to follow all stated guidelines of this Declaration of Scene
Independence. Today is not only a new dawn in the games scene, but our
Independence Day where differences are at least temporarily put aside
and our unity re-consolidated.
This document was signed & approved on October 17th, 1998 by the
following
individuals, representing their respective groups:
Mr.Skill - [CLASS] - ZEUS [PARADIGM] - The Punisher [RAZOR 1911]
Apparently a couple of days ago the new SPA rules where set. 50 disks * 2.88megs is the new limit while the game must include sfx and music. Videos are required if it is possible to include them. I'm just wondering if Class, Razor and siteops are going to ignore this?
The Punisher, current leader of Razor 1911 has announced that they will no longer be a member of the SPA. This comes after the uproar Paradigm caused by announcing that they where going to change the SPA limit to 90 disks.
It seems Game-over.net has removed all NFO references yet again, maybe they are trying to go professional via a back door?
After Paradigm's insulting NFO Cypher representing Origin has something to say ..
People lets be clear on one thing, SPA membership is comprised of the following groups:
CLASS, RAZOR, PARADIGM, ORIGIN, REFLUX, DIVINE, HYBRID
All of these groups are FULL members of the SPA and have EQUAL vote.
Some of these groups are new groups that comprise OLD SCHOOL members like
Origin for example. Where CYPHER and RAKIM have been around since BEFORE
the Amiga days. Where as other groups like PARADIGM seem old but comprise
newbies like ZEUS who has only ever been on PC.
For the lamers out there the SPA has not, I repeat NOT had a FINAL vote
on the DISC limit, thus the limit is still 75 and no greater. For those
people who think different or wish to try and force a higher limit upon
SPA members, guess what? No chance FUCKERS! Some people say who is SPA
to say what the limits are? Why do we need order ??? Why do need limits ??
90 is needed ???
Well SPA is made of the groups whos games you download time and time again.
Game like this MAJOR title. If we have decided to set up a commmitie to
discuss scene matters when we the groups make up the majority of pirate
GAME releases, where that majority is +90% then you should at least
repect our wishes as a UNITED SPA on these issues. We need order/rules
of some kind in the scene to stop lameness. Lameness such as BETAS, RAPES,
UNCRACKED games, BREAKS, DUPES, KIDDIEWARE and basiclly SHIT. Its about
bringing quality to our scene so, that its worth while. After all why
bother with pirate warez if its not worth it. Thus some sort of standards
has been developed to avoid the CRAP.
Disc limits are needed for various reasons. One of the biggest reasons is
the fact that not everyone has fast lines. And people do not want to leech
hundreds of megs to find out its a load of crap. Others would argue that
if they do not have fast lines then they are lamers. Well there are two
points that provbe this wrong. One is that if you have a fast link then
you can leech the ISO anyway and warez should mean jack all to you anyway.
The second is many elite people who contribute to the scene are still on
28.8k and have done more for the scene than your lamo site or trader group.
But by far the biggest reason and never answered reason is how does one
tell the difference between ISO and WAREZ? Where is the line drawn?. The
answer is with a DISC limit. And to keep that limit as small as possible
in order to greater distinguish the differences between WAREZ and ISO.
The surggested 90 limit also seems to be another bone of contention. For
the record the limit is still 75 DISCS of 1.44 MEG size and no larger.
Should this be increased? Well this is still be discussed by the SPA. But
the whole reason this came up was not actually becuase its XMAS and loads
of sizable games are comming, but becuase of another issue.
This issue was RAPES. A RAPE is where a game has been stripped down from
the CD but yet not all of the game is their within the release to make it
playable. For example a game with no sound or the game is missing the 3DFX
or normal GFX files. One group was doing this and refused to believe its
releases were RAPES. Even though they had more addons than a Lego set.
Thus the discussion on the disc limit was raised and still argued about.
Origin have yet to vote on the DISC limit as we would like a VOTE on RAPES
with surggested all group agreement on what is a RAPE so, they can be
banned and NUKED. Needless to say the group who started this all suddenly
refused to accept thispoint of view and then tried to move onto DISC
raising to escape the flak they received over RAPES. We don't mind this
except that we kind of get the idea that this group would eventually
start RAPING again even when the limit is 90. You see when you take away
their RAPES, DUPES, UN-CRACKED, BETAS and BREAKS. This group does not have
many good release like this one. The group that has caused all this shit
is PARADIGM. I know that you maybe think that PDM stand for quality and in
the past they used too. But they have let it slip and its slipped badly.
The Rise and Fall of PARADIGM:
PDM was started by newbies like Zeus, who before this group had never
started or ran his own group, unless you count group ZEUS. But enough said
about that lameness the better. PDM when they started, were out to be the
most quality group on the scene. They even laid down some GREAT standards
for others to follow. As we shall see they themselevs have failed to follow
those same high standards.At the start PDM laid out 5 goals that they would
archive and contine to follow. Whilst they did indeed archive these most
noble standards as will be seen they failed to live upto them all the time.
These texts are taken from an NFO on the PDM website:
PDM GOALS:
To help illustrate this point, here are the goals we intend to
fulfill in our release process:
1.) No CD-RAPES
~~~~~~~~~~~
Some games are best left unripped and we don't intend on
raping games just for the sake of a release. We feel that
if a game can't be stripped down to an enjoyable version,
its not worth releasing.
NOTE: PDM's original primary goal is what they seem to break the most.
F15 had no sound, MotorCross needed a level RAPED out as an addon
by them. Ultimate Race Pro had how many addons ??? Might & Magic 6
another blatent RAPE. And the list goes on. RAPING is what PDM
do best and it also happens to be against their own original
number 1 standard.
2.) No KIDDY games
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At Paradigm, we feel kiddy games should be best left to
groups that specialize in those games, since they typically
do not appeal to any real fans of the game scene.
NOTE: To be fair to PDM I have not seen a kiddie game from them.
3.) No BUDGET titles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may be asking yourself why certain game release groups
must resort to releasing below-standard, and sometimes
just plain cheezy games. Many of these games can be found
in the $10 game basket at your local CompUSA or OfficeDepot.
We feel this problem stems from a serious lack of
professionalism, and Paradigm will refrain from releasing
those types of titles, and instead leave them for lesser
groups to gobble up.
NOTE: hmmm never seen a budget ware from PDM as well.
4.) No RE-releases
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If a game has been put out and its v1.0 or newer, that's
a good indication that it's a final and working version.
As we have stated before, we are not desperate for
releases. We will always release final versions of games
we get, and don't intend to "finalize" any release just
because we are angry that we lost on the original release.
NOTE: Just when you thought PDM were only breaking one of their own rule
They ignore another. Two DUPES they have released that I know of
are the infamous MACHINE HUNTER and PROJECT AIROS. Zeus claimed
MACHINE HUNTER wasn't final in the NFO. Well it was, just badly
cracked. He then claimed later that it was final but not cracked
properly. Well then they should have done it as a fix and not a
release. Also even if that was true, if you read above closely
PDM state they will not finalise any other groups release anyway.
So, you see Zeus is talking shit on that release anyway. PROJECT
AIROS was of course proven to be another game and that was just
its euro name. Mistakes happen they would say. But what about
when you dupe on purpose becuase you feel like it? They would say
they never do that. But they did! Ultra Violent Worlds was a DUPE
of the DIVINE release. They even say so in the NFO:
"While i was working DVN beat us but i still put it out - maybe you
like it more on 2 disks instead of 18 :) - its the same game. "
While 2 discs is nice, as the NFO says "its the same game." clearly
breaking PDM's own standards.
5.) No NON-WORKING releases
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unworking releases are the single most irritating thing
people in the scene have to deal with. Allowing this to
happen at a constant rate is a disgrace to the scene, and
should not be tolerated by any major game release group
out there. Many of the bad rips and botched cracks by the
groups in the early days of the CD scene could at least be
attributed to not having prior experience with this new
media. But seeing this still happen on a regular basis by
today's CD release groups can only be the product of sheer
laziness and just not caring enough about the quality of
a release. Paradigm intends to break this trend, and by
doing so, guarantee a level of integrity to all of our
releases, so that people out there don't have to be afraid
of grabbing the latest and greatest release for fear that
it won't work.
NOTE: PDM used to be quite good at this in the past. Unfortnatly its
all gone to shit recently. V2000 SAVE fix, many fixes for Might
& Magic. The list goes on. Their Monaco release will also only
work on some peoples machines as its badly cracked.
CONCLUSION:
Its not very impressive when you set out 5 clear goals and then fail
to keep to these standards with success being only obtained with 2 out
the 5. Before you start a slagging match with anyone from ORIGIN.
Remember these are PDM's standards not anyone elses. This is what PDM
belives to be elite! Yet they fail to meet these so called great goals
of theirs. Therefore by their own definition they are LAME! They used to
have a good repuatation, but now its all gone down the shitter.The cracks
are more like the old fuck ups FFC used to do. Some poeple have even said
FFC cracks for PDM as the amount of fixes are about the same level! But
we belive this to be false, as not even FFC needed as many fixes as PDM
PDM claim no one is running the group and its open. Yet we all know ZEUS
is a stalinist dictator and runs the group with a kulak style operation.
Hes even black mailed people from other groups into rejoining PDM after
they have left or he would NARC them. And has stolen money from poor
Russians who need software to sell for bread. Yes ZEUS sells! Its all
one big corprate biz from ZEUS INC. That one good HARDWARE supplier he
keeps advertising for is actually number 3-4 now. And the selling of
DAT tapes must bring in a few thousand dollors! Thats why ZEUS needs to
raise the limit, to keep the releases going now that they have lost the
quality. So, the business can keep selling. And he can rake the profits
in. Yes not only are PDM lame, but they are moeny lamers as well.And they
do it at the expense of the good scene people. BAN PDM WAREZ now!
After all, its over the limit and a load of uncracked raped duped shit
anyway. And when it isn't, its BETA!
Do not put up with newbie ZEUS lameness anymore, BAN PDM warez NOW!
Class recently included the following notice in their NFO files ..
In light of recent events perpetrated by our so-called competition, we at CLASS PC would like to make a few things clear to you the end-user: Over the past 2 days we have witnessed new heights of lameness - as 2 groups who are self-proclaimed abiders of the S.P.A. regulations chose to break those very agreed upon guidelines while attempting to cover it up through false claims that a supposed final S.P.A. vote had taken place as well as an agreement to usher in a new disk limit of 90 x 1.44MB disks. This is completely and blatantly false. Yes the groups who comprise the S.P.A. committee have been and still are discussing the possibility of raising the disk limit. Coincidentally this is an ammendment that we at CLASS PC do NOT and we cannot possibly stress how stern we are in our convictions that we do NOT want the limit raised above 75 x 1.44MB disks. The 2 above mentioned groups would have you believe that CLASS voted YES in the supposed final vote that never took place, but this is FALSE. In the preliminary votes, we voted NO and in the final vote we will vote NO to the further degredation of the games scene. The entire purpose of the CD-RIP games scene is, was and always will be to deliver an end product that is of a size that can be easily downloaded and played by those who do NOT have high-speed modem connections - while at the same time delivering a product that has complete functionality and playability. As the current limit stands at 75 disks, we and every other group with any miniscule amount of stripping/cracking knowledge can achieve this ideal product. There are roughly 5-10% of games put on the market that cannot be released below this limit with an appropriate music addon if so requested. Those 5-10% of games are games that should either a) be bought, thus supporting the software developers we so often neglect or b) be downloaded in the fast growing, largely available ISO format. It is in the best interest of the end-users, siteops and active groups to quash this proposition now, before we all suffer blows in the categories of quality rips and quality of software released. We can safely say that very few if any are interested in 90 disk non-standalone addons, or in a worst case scenario, 90 disk multimedia Mah-Jong or edutainment software. We're sorry to have drawn this out so long, but there is so much to be said as far as this issue goes. In conclusion, we do NOT condone a 90 disk limit on game rips released. We did NOT vote yes in the S.P.A. tallies. We will ALWAYS continue to try our hardest to bring you small game rips, with functionality and playability intact - along with appropriate addons. We understand that the vast majority of you are on 56k or slower modem connections, and you deserve to be able to download the software you want in a reasonable amount of time. Those of you who can afford faster links should look to the future, to ISOs for those 5-10% of games that go unreleased because they cannot fit in 75 x 1.44MB archives. Take time to reflect on the above presented issue, and make it known to all your favorite game release groups that you are all-for the preservation of the games scene, hence you are against raising the disk limit at this time.
Following Class's actions, Paradigm now includes a counter statement in their NFOs ..
It's funny how class reacts (they did this last time when the limit changed to 75) when a clear vote has been approved by the SPA for the new 90 disk limit.
Is this what Paradigm has to do to show people they believe they are right, insult the socalled 'little' groups left, right and center? Well I wouldn't exactly call Hybrid a big group these days either.
What will happen from now is that Class will continue to support the old SPA standard while obviously all the other groups will support the newer standard. The funny thing though is that Class during some months release more titles then all the other groups put together. The question is how far will Class go in ignoring the new 90 disk limit? Will these 76+ disk titles be nuked on Class affiliated sites? Will Class re-release 76+ disk titles under the old 75 disk system (if the option is available)? Well the answer is really up to the all the site-ops on which standard they wish to choose. If most of the sites nuke 76+ disk titles then the new SPA believers are not going to bother. Just remember as a true conservative would say, change isn't always a good thing.
Well after a damn fine two weeks holiday in a western island of Indonesia called Bintan I can now say with regret that the Scene News has reopened :)
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