Posts
Jack "guns don't kill people, video games kill people" Thompson is on trial. Apparently this has been going on for a while but today's the first I've heard of it. And the charges are....wait for it...ethics violations. This is the man who accused the Sims 2 (possibly the least offensive/violent teen-rated video game ever) of being porn, giving pedophiles "practice," and being "worse than Hot Coffee." Bwah hah hah! Apparently his baseless accusations and outright lies aren't confined to video games and music lyrics; he's made some pretty slanderous statements about all sorts of folks. Ironic how he so loudly asserts his Christian beliefs yet manages to be such a scumbag. Now, I'm a little rusty on my Ten Commandments and all, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the Bible that advocates lying your ass off with malicious intent.
Although I like to build my own lots, I like downloading others' lots too. I find I tend to do certain things a lot and it's cool to find a lot that has things I would never have thought to do (and then I can steal them bwahahah ;)) And even though I have a fairly decent computer, I am trying to keep my CC level steady and I am getting increasingly annoyed with the huge amount of CC that creators put in their lots.
Besides the issue of CC creator policies on distribution, frankly I don't want that much crap in my game. I don't want something I'll only use for that one lot. I don't want crappy walls or floors or tons of terrain paints clogging my download folder. I pretty much uncheck most or all CC in the Clean Installer in the lots I download before I install them, but then I end up with houses missing walls and floors and have to redecorate as soon as I move someone in. I flatly refuse to download anything that has a huge list of CC that's included in the lot. I don't care how pretty the house is, I can recreate that if I want. I'm not downloading a huge lot file with tons of stuff I don't want. I have come across so much stuff in the game that I am sure I didn't download...I'm sure lots of it came packaged with a house or something that I downloaded.
When I built for TSR, I was one of the first members of TSRAA (a group of creators allowing others to distribute their CC in lots uploaded to TSR). I was so excited to be able to use CC in lots I uploaded and filled up my building account's downloads folder. This was back around University/NL, so we didn't have a lot to work with then.
Now however, I've done a full 180. Anything I upload from now on will contain Maxis content only. If the downloader wants to use heaps of CC in their lot, they can add and replace to their hearts content. But I'm not going to weigh down their downloads folder. Plus, the smaller file size is friendlier to folks on slower computers and connections. Seriously, how painful must it be for someone on dial up to download a 7000 KB lot! Frankly, the quality of EAxis stuff has been pretty good in the last few EPs and stuff packs, and with all of those add-ons there is so much variety now I really don't feel I need CC to decorate a nice lot. The graphic artists they have are amazing, the graphics just blow me away sometimes. And it's a fun sort of challenge to try to stick to just what ships with the game :)
Recently jfade aka DJSims released a new tool, The Compressorizer, that compresses package files. I was quite shocked to see how much smaller some files were after being ensquishinated by this tool. I've been delighted to see more and more creators jumping on the hair binning bandwagon and binning their hairs before releasing them for public consumption. We expect the lots that we download to have been cleaned of any hacks or unneeded custom content before we get them. I wonder, now, will there be a community movement at some point towards creators being expected to ensquish their creations before releasing them? I have already come across one file (I don't remember now who did it or what it was) that appeared to have been put through the Compressorizer already. Is there a point where we can draw a line and say the creator does not have the obligation to do certain "maintenance" or optimization type things, and anything beyond that the downloader should do if they want it? Alkaloid "bins" eyes so that they are available for townies and NPCs when they are generated; so should all eye creators then do this as well? At what point does it become unfair to creators?
Personally, I think there is only so much we can rightfully expect from creators. Hair binning, I feel, is within that range. It's ridiculously easy to do, only takes a few seconds per file, and is a huge help for the downloader. Some creators (I can think of one in particular, but I will not name him here) refuses to do this because he "doesn't know how." Using this tool is well documented at this point and any creator able to make a mesh should be able to figure it out pretty easily. Likewise, cleaning out a lot file (or building in a clean Windows account) is easy enough to do. And as is often pointed out, including hacks in a lot file can cause serious confusion and/or problems for the downloader, if they are not aware of what they've installed along with their lot. The Compressorizer also is extremely easy to do and doesn't take very long either, but I'm undecided if this is something we should demand of creators. I think it's important to remember that no one does this for a living (if they are, they're a pay site and thus should be destroyed) and many creators have full time jobs or school and limited free time. While a certain amount of consideration for downloaders should be expected, I think it's unreasonable to demand too much from people who share freely of their talents and work.
