Insimenator.org

This is from MTS2.
http://forums.sims-community.com/showthread.php?t=66708&page=1&pp=25

On the BBS threads get locked.
http://bbs.thesims2.ea.com/community/bbs/messages.php?threadID=1b6acae1aabb8867298f020b3e8c5207&directoryID=2&startRow=1&openItemID=item.2,item.43,item.61,item.104,item.41,item.127,item.23

http://bbs.thesims2.ea.com/community/bbs/messages.php?threadID=d03a68d3922b81b8d3030989078edde6&directoryID=2&startRow=1&openItemID=item.2,item.43,item.61,item.104,item.41,item.127,item.23

This is the true face of TSR. They hack into someones account on different sims sites.
And EA supports this website.

EDIT:
Important links
http://tsr.mustbedestroyed.org/

http://phorum.mustnotbenamed.com/index.php/topic,2399.0.html

Heh. This doesn't surprise me one bit...

I want to keep this open for now, but I don't want to see a flamewar break out. Leave that to the S2C and the BBS, mmmk?

Agreed. It's important that people know about this, but the first flame ignited in here will earn a lock being slapped on this thread and perhaps more stern things (like vacations).

The corrupt Maxoids (better call them TSRoids) have completely disregarded everything in those threads, locked them, and deleted them. At least one poster I know of has been banned. And no, no site rules were broken.

Boy, now I'm really never going to TSR's site again. Not like they have anything of quality over there, anyway.  :rolleyes:

Even a thread I made got deleted within minutes.

Same here.  I made 2, and for that I've been banned as it's "off topic".  Since when has it been off topic to reference cc sites?

The whole thing has got my blood boiling! Hopefully the Community reacts!

I've never visited there and far as I'm concerned never will.

Well, it makes me angry that they're doing one thing and saying another, but that's why I don't go there and don't waste my money on pixels. Arrrr!

I'm not regular visitor at the TSR either. I just go to do some fishing in their pond every now then. Though, the more I hear about that site, the more it makes me want to take my fishing pole and head elsewhere. 1escape

It would be wise to distance yourself from people that commit such acts of barbarous vandalism, yes.

The thing that got me is the post made at TSR by Steve B
He made a claim that he does Not share anyones PAYMENT info that all that is secure. Which is true BUT No one ever accused them of sharing PAYMENT info as in credit card and banking details. We accused them of sharing out names and addresses etc.
Still unsure why they require my info when nothing is in fact shipped?? or have they finally stopped that?
The fact he turned off comments for ONLY that post does make him a bit guilty looking and only shows that he is in fact full of it and is not going to be corrected

What really gets me about the BBS They do all that talk about how concerned they are about keeping young people safe and we know the majority of the BBS is in fact Young they run to TSR because it is advertised on the BBS, Yet they know that they are in fact Not keeping this young folks info safe.
 
Wonder what the laws are regarding kids info and privacy?
 I know EA and BBS can not be sued but if TSR was seen as not keeping children safe and then Parents seen that BBS and EA supported them and KNEW this
 well that would not look really good would it for a company that actually sells a game to young people??
 
Just thinking outloud....

After that I have one additional reason to love the Booty and all those people who steal from the thieves.

As for EAxis, they are a bunch of hypocrites, but hey! We already knew that, didn't we? So, boycott is the answer. Enough is enough. I am fed up first with their SuckuRom, and now with their friendship with those despicable low-lives, TSR.

EAxis is not getting any more money from me. Period!

I would recommend that everyone take a close look at your firewall logs. Especially if you have had an account at TSR. Hopefully everyone has a firewall and doesn't just leave it the way it came "out of the box". Why? I have detected TSR doing UDP port scans to my computer as recently as March 7th of this year. They were always after midnight when I was not on the computer.

Before I saw the light about TSR a couple of years ago I did download from them. I still get their cc from time to time at the booty. Sometimes the booty doesn't have an image of the item I'm thinking of down loading so I go to TSR to see what it looks like first. So I keep a non paying account on their site. Most of it is junk but from time to time something decent shows up.

I really see no reason what so ever that they should be doing a UDP port scan to my computer but since I'm behind two firewalls with nothing allowed in except for what I allow I'm not really worried about them. If they should happen to break through the first firewall the network would be shutdown before they got to the second one anyway. My ip is NAT'ed and I don't allow ICMP

I've heard rumors that TSR puts tracking cookies in their content so they can track where you down loaded the content from. I have no proof of this and it is just a rumor, not a fact but them doing port scans on my ip does seem to lend some credence to the rumor.

Naria i respect your opinion and you do make a very valid point  but some of the stuff over there really is'nt that bad actually there's some very talented artists over there like

1.Cashcraft what you see on her mini site is what you see in the game all her creations are georgous i just wish she would join this site so her talent is appreciated.
2.Phoenix Phaerie a another great and talented artist
3.Marko this he/she  makes geogous hair and it's binned and animated to.
4.Cerulean Talon wonderfully talented.

those 4 are my fave creators i really do wish they would join insimenator there to talented for tsr tbh with ya. ;D


actually Zordac your right about most of it being junk

there's one creator over there who's creations i cannot remotely stand and one of them is buntah her stuff makes me wanna puke 1bleh. tbh with ya and some of them make the most god awful gaudy make up i have ever seen i don't think a stripper would even wear some of that clown make up and some of the hairs or clothes and for that matter wear the skimpy most trashiest clothes ever but however there are some who make some pretty decent cc.

Anyone who shares personal information without permission is treacherous and not worth the CC no matter how good it is.  As my daddy used to say: If you lay down with dogs expect fleas.  That's just mho of course.

that is so true DaSpecial1. :D

Agreed. Even if they do have good stuff over there (I would never spend so much time wading through the crap and ad's to get to it even if it DID exist) it's not worth it. Even if it's free. Why support anything TSR? Surely there's something just as good or better on a free site somewhere that isn't involved in hacking peoples accounts and stealing personal information.

You wanna talk about bulls***? WOW!!! I didn't think it was capable for someone to so brazenly violate another person's privacy on a message board. This is much more serious then I think some people can understand. This isn't an isolated incident, people...this is a CRIME. They call it Identity Theft, and it's felony. If it were anything that happened in real time (away from the net), this guy could be brought up on charges. Think about it, if they are willing to stoop to this kind of low to keep their stolen pay content, what's to stop them from going lower? Whats to stop them from divulging a person's credit data? This isn't a wrong doing by the TSR community, it's by the people running it. That's what's most disturbing IMO. When the people up top running a pay or subscription website resort to underhanded tricks to get their way and potentially increase their profit, there is a problem. And the bigger problem is that EA supports them. This puts a bad taste in my mouth. From stories I had heard in the past, I opted not to give TSR my business, and this? This is the deal sealer. TS3 is a dead issue to me unless EA severs all ties to TSR, which in most likelihood will not happen. So on my own personal note, that's one less EA purchase I'll be making this year.

The community really does need to rally and get something done here. If there are any links to any sites/forums where people are planning to take action on this, please PM them to me, because I'd like my voice heard in the matter. This act of shameless piracy and privacy violation needs to be met with a reckoning befitting of it's severity, not just a slap on the wrist.

well i just spoke my opinion that's all i did'nt mean to offend anyone but i stand by my opinion and i respect everyone's opinion sooner or later tsr will get caught or if they ever will. :-\ :(

Feisty, I'm not offended at all. You have every right to think some people at TSR are talented. Perhaps they are. I'm just saying that I personally haven't found anything worth downloading over there. If there are good creators over there, I certainly hope they decide to jump ship and join a free site somewhere and then we can enjoy their creations from a website that isn't as scummy as TSR.

Feisty,

Don't take it personally. It all melts down to a matter of personal taste. Besides, no one at TSR would ever figure out how to make a FFXII outfit for Naria's game. :D

True that. Unless someone at TSR comes up with awesome Final Fantasy outfits, I don't care for them.  ;)

Oh, and I do love everything Aikea Guinea makes. She was at TSR first. I downloaded all the stuff once she made it free and available on Club Crimsyn, though. So you are right, there are some people on TSR who aren't bad creators.

I agree. No offense is taken, Feisty. The TSR community isn't at fault here, as I said in my previous post. It's the people running it. Corrupt admins who see nothing wrong with undermining the very basis of which a message board's structure is built upon, and blatantly violating their own terms of usage and privacy policies to "save face" instead of owning up to the fact they pretty much committed a crime.

OK, I AM gonna set the record straight on a few things, so get some popcorn and listen to the facts.

The Booty is fully bought and paid for, so please don't call us thieves. We decide to share pay files so other people can save their money and find out for themselves that a lot of what gets charged for isn't worth the money. Again, we don't steal ANYthing.

Yes, TSR puts nice little tracking software into the files you download in order to try to make sure that you cannot share the files that you have paid for with anyone other than yourself. Those files are cleaned by the staff that does the up keep on the Booty, so you don't have to worry about their little malware. Yes, it has been known to break your game, which is why I always tell people that if they want the stuff, they would be better off getting it from a safe source.

They have shared the information of about eleven people that were accused of sharing files with PMBD. They sent it to other pay site owners, such as Rose and Peggy and that lot. How do I know this? Easy. I'm a pirate, if y'all didn't know. There are places you can read about the goings on that are happening, if you want to know, send me a PM and I'll tell you where some of the discussion is taking place. A lot of people are angry and outraged, and they've a right to be.

Also, phoenix phaerie uploads to MTS 2 as well as TSR, so you can avoid going to them for her stuff. I know where I go to get it! :D

Did someone call the people who run the booty thieves?  :confused: (Here, I mean. I've seen some paysite trolls crawl out of the woodwork to call you guys the bad ones over on PMBD, but not here?) Heck, I don't know what I'd do without the booty ...

Yep in this very thread, but I think the poster just mis-spoke.

@Paden:
Even if you were, just remember: Robin Hood and Iljimae were thieves to the rich and benefactors to the poor. No, no, no. No one really calls you thieves. :)

Thanks for the facts. There is also word that Rose shares personal information, but that's another story, another thread, if ever.

@Naria:
No, no one called them thieves. I think it was a misunderstanding of my phrase, "to love the Booty and all those people who steal from the thieves", where I forgot to put steal within inverted commas to show how they call them.

Oh, see, I could tell Nalia didn't mean to call PMBD thieves so I had no idea what Paden was referring to.

One more time:

Phrase                          Meaning

those people who "steal"   => the booty
the thieves                     =>  paysites.

@Naria:
Thank you! :D

but paden i've only read one side of the story here i'm gonna read tsr's side of the story i can't help it i guess i'm just to skeptical  and stubborn which is one of the many flaws i do not like about myself everyone has made some good valid points in this debate and i respect each and every one of yours opinions. ;D 


i'm think i'm just not gonna post comments in this one thread not the board but the thread lord knows i could never leave this board cause i love talking to all you awesome simmers and i tend to not wanna be in confrontations with my fellow simmers like i said i really do enjoy talking to each and everyone of you this to touchy of a subject i just don't really like confrontations and i like to try and avoid them as much as possible. ;D

It's cool, I just wanted to knock that label out once and for all. There's a lot of mis-information about how the files are obtained, though, and it was an opportunity to set the record straight, is all.

I'm banned from the BBS for 3 days. 1rock
Yah! I'm a fan since 2004 been to the official website since 2004.
And this is my first ban. Talking about TSR.
1party

Yeah, they're having rather a slash and burn on that topic. A good many PMBD members have also gotten banned for talking about it. Gaah. To butcher a line from Star Wars, the more they tighten their grip, the more people will slip through their grasp.

Congratulations, X-Phile!  3thumb

I wanted to go over there and be "off topic" about TSR, but I couldn't for the life of me remember my username, password, or the email I used when I registered a very long time ago.  :rolleyes:

EDIT:  :'( butchering lines from Star Wars...

At least I didn't tell anyone to get a walking carpet out of my way... :D

"TSR? I'd rather kiss a wookiee!"  ;)

EDIT: Oy, it's about time to head to bed. I'm butchering Star Wars quotes myself. That should read, "TSR? I'd just as soon kiss a wookiee!"

This about sums up my opinion on TSR and its latest asshattery:
(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n283/comicalmuse/mystuff/006b9e3e.jpg)

What I've wanted to say has been said, and what I could add isn't suitable for a PG-13 site. So I'll stick with the above for now.

Okay, guys. I have written down my pass and username so I could give BBS a try. I'm taking orders. What do you want me to tell them? Personally I'd love to say MaxoidDrea to stick ... err, right.

If they banned X-phile after all those years, they will surely banned me forever: I have posted only once there. LOL

I had a few choice words for MaxoidDrea. None of them I can write on this forum.  :p

But from my understanding, they are only banning people for a few days. Perhaps if you curse at them you'll get banned forever. I was going to.  ;)

Oh trust me, Jenna. I could come up with some rather "animated" things to say about TSR as a whole. And Nalia, I'd take you up on your "taking orders" post, but I'd rather not. The heat of what I have to say would burn your eyes out of your skull and melt your monitor, and it WOULD get you banned lifetime. I've been tame here, but I'm well known for having "colorful" language on message boards. Especially on subjects that piss me off. "Fail" is to nice a term to use for those asshats.

EDITED for being slow and part drunk.

First I'm not Jenna. Second, I don't have an account at TSR, I was talking about BBS the official The Sims 2 site. :p

@Naria: I can attack MaxoidDrea all right. Fear not. Writing down exactly my thoughts about her would suffice. Perm ban. lol

*Cheers Nalia on.*  1cheer

I'm starting to smell a little smoke here, folks. Like I said, save the venom for elsewhere.

Edited my post. But the fact that they're playing Gestapo on the BBS forums instead off owning up to the fact that an extreme wrong doing was perpetrated only leads me to further question the moral standards of those behind the scenes on the EA Sims team, and those who run the main site. What, do they think if they just keep censoring and deleting what people have to say that it'll magical go away? They're just adding more fodder by doing it. Damn shame someone there isn't smart enough to figure that out.


But then again, it's because of general stupidity that this whole situation came to pass in the 1st place.

*Tosses water on the fire.* Sorry Jenna.

I just looked at the Sims 2 official website.

It has moved from general discussion  to Sims 3.
http://bbs.thesims2.ea.com/community/bbs/start.php?openItemID=item.225,item.43,item.61,item.104,item.41,item.127,item.23

Yes, I would agree that Cashcraft does make some very nice cc but you have to be careful with how much of it you have in a lot because her items can be memory hogs.

I've thought Phoenix Phaerie was very talented since she came out with the Tuscan Kitchen a few years ago. That is one of my favorite kitchen sets.

Over all though TSR has a larger base of craptastic items than quality items but even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

I really like Cyclonesue's industrial buildings. I hope she finds a nother site for herself. I was just wondering about that tracking software... is it limited only to the pay items or is included to the free items as well? I have never bought anything from TSR and never will. :-\

Both pay and free have tracking software. I read that somewhere.

Just go to the Booty. Those items are save, because those talented people removed the spyware/malware from the items.

If linking to the site is also forbidden on this site I'll edit this message. ;)

I have been a looonnngg time lurker at both modthesims2 and here (well sorta here if you know what I mean. I am still shocked at what happened to the other site that is not there anymore) My name was skaven510 but I could not register that.

I just want to say that I can not believe what is going on or that TSR was actually tweaking their downloads to mess with your game and spy on you. Now their hacking into other sites. This is beyond insane...it is like entering the twilight zone.

Anyways I thought I would add my 2 cents worth and say that I agree with you guys 110%.

I have a couple of questions if you do not mind answering that is related to TSR. Is it true that they are getting the tools to mod TS3 and no one else?

This one is a bit off topic but what is up with the STORE at The Sims 2 site? Is this a preview of things to come? The only way to get custom content is either through their Pogo like store or TSR?

I'm pretty sure the booty only has content that is pay content from other sites so creators like Phoenix Phaerie at TSR isn't there because you can download her content for free from TSR and other free sites, which means you still get the tracking software. Also linking to the booty is not allowed. I've been gigged on that one myself.  :rolleyes:

Zordac, linking to the booty isn't expressly forbidden, but we ask that it be kept to WCIF posts or uploads that have a shopping list, and only if the original pay creator is linked to as well :)


Actually, Feisty, wanting to get both sides of the story isn't a character flaw; to me it just means you want to be well informed on a subject before making an opinion. That's never a bad thing.

freakin scum.

I am so changing all my passwords now.

why oh why did i sign up at that devilish site?!

BTW, THEY'RE KICKING ASS OVER HERE:

http://phorum.mustnotbenamed.com/index.php/topic,2399.120.html

a creator w/ the nick Manga is being bashed for being a high-end jerk.

I just got done changing everything. Man there are a lot of sites that I go to with the same name and password. Gotta change the way I do that.

Thanks a bunch TSR...

Well, it's never a good idea to use the same password for every site you log into just on general principle. If someone figures out one, they pretty much have access to everything. Even before this happened, it wasn't considered a good idea, and this is just one reason why.

same here, i feel like bitching... i have a pretty weak memory, so now i have stickynotes everywhere just to remember all my passwords.

Yea I knew that. I was just too stupid to think that something like this could happen or that I was too low off the radar for anyone to care about. Anyways...thanks for giving me a swift kick in the butt to stop being so naive  ;)

I just finished reading the BBS rules at the "official BBS site" and I'm wondering now if the real reason that EAxis is locking and deleting so many threads is because of this one rule.

"Posting etiquette and rules that are most frequently broken or misunderstood on the Forum (BBS):

Illegal Activities:

- The discussion of illegal activities is not permitted. This includes software piracy, game "cracks," among other things."

TSR did engage in illegal activities.

Maybe they aren't so much defending TSR?
Maybe they are gathering evidence against TSR for their legal department.

If that is the case then remaining silent on this would be the prudent thing for a corporation to do.

I'm sure EAxis has some sort of legal contract with TSR and those are not easy to break. You also can set yourself up for a law suit (again) if they do have a contract and allow this type of bashing then they could be held liable by TSR.

Just thinking out loud. Not defending the evil empire at all.

I see your point. maybe they are gathering info and keeping quiet for the time being. but what do we know right? what we have are hunches, we'll see what happens in two or three days. one side will definitely cave.

That's an interesting take on the EAxis end of this mess, Zordac. It'll be interesting to see if that might be in fact the course being taken. But of course only time will tell. Thomas has pretty much been busted red handed, or people close to him over on TSR, however it goes. There's no doubt about that. Where my doubt lies is if EA is actually protecting someone who they are affiliated with that blatantly pirated someone else's person info for their own (In this case, TSR) gain.

Not so sure about the caving part. They could deny it forever saying some mystical hacker did it. But like Delphy said that leaves the topic of the stolen content and how it magically appeared on their site.

This incident goes far beyond the pay vs. free debate.
No matter on which side you are, no matter if TSR's claim that they were hacked is true or not (I doubt that they're telling the truth btw), you have to deal with one major issue if you are registered there:
Either way you look at it, your personal data is NOT SAFE at TSR.

Thomas can deny all he wants but computer forensics will find the culprit if it comes to that. I'm pretty sure the MTS2 servers are located in the United States so then it could be the F.B.I. up TSR's arse with a microscope even though TSR isn't in the U.S.

I just hope Delphy reported it.

Ok I just have to say OMG!!!

I started a thread over there at BBS asking about What is off Topic

It had like 10 posts in it. All of them civil and about getting information on what was going on and now I went to reply again and this is what I got- http://bbs.thesims2.ea.com/community/bbs/messages.php?&openItemID=item.2,item.43,item.61,item.104,item.41,item.127,item.23&threadID=0ea6ad0e2f27e770347a3734bca405d2&directoryID=2&startRow=1

I took screenshots and will post them tomorrow to show how civil this discussion was but right now I am beat. It is almost 2 am here and I have to work tomorrow.

I just wanted to say I am glad this happened in a way. It gave me a chance to come out of my lurker shell and really say hi to all of you.

Anyways thanks again for keeping this site up and for keeping us *hopefully* former lurkers informed.

Edit- They have a new warning. I hope it was not because of me because that would seriously be lame. There was not one thing wrong with those posts. Everything was civil. But if they want to turn people away from buying their new game...Then fine by me.
http://bbs.thesims2.ea.com/community/bbs/messages.php?threadID=4e8943877f9f5548baa14f1faaaa8d98&directoryID=2&startRow=1&openItemID=item.2,item.43,item.61,item.104,item.41,item.127,item.23

Oh, I'm sure he's already collecting the evidence that TSR left scattered all over the Sims community! ;D

Kudos to him for keeping cool and staying fair, even though the nastiness of this attack is plain to see for everyone!


That goes for me too :)

lilithlee over at GOS said that there was an official announcement regarding TSR & MTS, threads bout it will be DELETED and there will be BANNING.

http://www.digitalperversion.net/gardenofshadows/index.php?topic=11172.120

If my head wasn't spinning from a massive headache and continuing to stare at this computer screen, I would reregister with EA to tell them exactly what I think of their censorship of all these discussions. But as it is, I shall have to do so later or I risk passing out.

It makes me glad to know that there's no way the BBS is truly going to be able to stop people talking about this.

EA is perfectly within their rights to censor/delete/edit any and all BBS content. It's a private site, and they're the ones in charge of it.
But that does not mean the discussion isn't going to go on without them. They're pefectly aware of what is going on, and they're up to their necks in stupidity in aligning with TSR for the Sims 3.
Before this, everyone was willing to grant them the benefit of a doubt with such a dumb move-now all doubt has been removed, and people are truly looking at the marriage of greed and bad taste with second thoughts.
It will impact the sales of Sims 3 if EA continues to be associated so closely with TSR, to the point where nobody with any sense will even touch the game.
Not everyone wants to have their private info possibly used against them in any way whatsoever.
Let the discussion continue and spread. The more people know what happened, the better. Someone will pay for this huge hacking, although right now it is not evident who will pay the biggest price-EA or TSR. Probably both in customers, accounts and money.
Serves them both right!

well, I'm really not surprised at this development

I would advise everyone to change your passwords here, just in case

Zordac - what was that about UDP searches - what the heck does that mean and how do I check for it?? *is very paranoid*!

Ali,

UDP port scans are one of the ways to find out if there are open ports on your system. There are a multitude of utilities out there in the clouds to use for this. There are also lots of utilities you can use to test your own system and close those ports. The best way to find the utilities would be to just do a google search for UDP port scanners or UDP port scanning utilities. If an open port is found then that is a back door so to speak into your system.

After the door is open anything is possible. Anything.

As far as how to check for it. That depends on how your firewall logs inbound traffic. You just have to look through the inbound logs. Mine logs them by ip address and web site name and the type of attempt. Like UDP or ICMP etc.  so it's pretty cut and dried as to what or who is doing the scan.

Nothing is fool proof but double layering your security, Nating your ip address and turning off ICMP requests is a good start.

There are to many fish in the sea for a hacker to waste time trying to break into something that doesn't seem to be there in the first place.

ok i'm really getting annoyed here if tsr is so bad why has'nt somebody reported it yet? untill  then of somebody can give me hardcore and solid evidence of this thing with tsr maybe then i will believe and don't give me links to read about tsr i want evidence some evidence that will prove this about tsr.


i have never downloaded from the booty and i never will end of story. :-\ :mad:

Feisty - have you read Delphy's posts where he shows the IP addresses that relate to the usage of buggy's account and the one that it Thomas's account?

TSR certainly aren't going to come right out and say it was them. Delphy is being very diplomatic in reporting back what TSR said about a security breach.

And if that IS correct about the breach then it's going to be pretty certain that your data isn't safe anyway

it's certainly your prerogative not to download from the booty, no-one is going to argue with you about that

It's going to be really hard to give you any solid evidence with out sending a link. The news about TSR and MTS2 is all over the internet. Not just this site.

I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt at this point because I don't judge anything based on what I read some where. I do have personal experience with them trying to hack my system though.

The only reason any one would do a UDP port scan on someones system is so they can gain unauthorized access to it.

I have their ip address the scan was performed from and the name of the domain that it came from. The time it happened. In my case the domain name is thesimsresource.com (yes this is a fully qualified domain name). I am not going to send any of my firewall logs to anyone or post them anywhere though. Sorry. That in it's self would be a foolish thing to do.

It's not about pay versus free this time, because even if you were a TSR supporter, you should be alarmed about the personal data leak there!
Change your password at TSR and any other Sims-related forum, for the sake of your very own internet security.
Nobody will force you to download from the booty or to stay away from TSR, but don't be surprised if someone takes your TSR data and messes up your other accounts.
I'm glad that I never registered at any paysite, that spared me a lot of trouble apparently.

*pulls out fire extinguisher*

Let's keep that debate out of this please. No one told you to download from the booty, did they? No. They didn't. That's not what this thread is about, so end the pay/free stuff. No more from anyone. Period. Keep the topic on track and the fires out of here.

Exactly 1praise Joy 1praise

Hmm. That's the second warning we've had to give to keep the flames from rising. One more and I close this thread. Mmmk? Mmmk!

ETA:
Discuss and debate all you want, but keep the one-sided remarks to yourselves. Trolls and pyromaniacs are executed on the spot around these parts.

You have to make the choice to read and believe the evidence provided based on your own research and intiution.  Asking to have someone else prove what TSR or EA does is not enough.  I think people here are just trying to keep all of us informed about potential risks from dealing with untrustworthy sites.  Site that have been known to do unsavory deeds in the Sims' community.  Exactly how do you prove it if people won't believe factual evidence provided?

Take what happened here at insim in November for example.  Those who were members here, regular users or even newfound site lovers--experienced the treachery and then the Walt invasion & know what really happened.  We can go and read the massive fail threads & know it was true because we lived it.  Now try explaining that to someone who says it was all a hoax.  See what I mean?

It's all about reality and what you choose to believe.  Sometimes it's wise to err on the side of caution. All insult aside folks:  Inevitably it's your information.  Who or what you choose to believe, expose yourself & your private information to is up to you.   

I'm getting annoyed too. For one, Delphy seems to be a person who tries to keep a balance in the Sims 2 community, and as such he would never pull stuff out of his [insert bad word here]; much more he would never ever go as far as to post about it. If, I say IF, you had taken the time to go through his post over at MTS2 and read --actually read, not just scrolling down-- what he says and look at the evidence he gives you wouldn't say all that.

Links are there for a purpose: to inform you and let you decide for yourself. If you expect we post "solid evidence" to your home address that will never happen. Just follow the links, read what people argue about and form an opinion of your own as to what is going on.

Hmmmkay. Just for the records, who told you or even *suggest* you to do so? And what this has to do with the current issue?

Anyway, Feisty. I believe you're kinda pro-TSR for some reason (maybe you think all this bashing is unfair and you feel obliged to support the other side just out of sentimentality or something). That's fine with me, and I believe with the rest of the community here. But, please, refrain from derailing the discussion which can result in a locked thread. Personally I'd hate that.

You can do a quick check  here (https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2).

Delphy is getting all of the evidence he can, which is a good thing. Each and every one of us has a mind all their own and what they believe is up to them, not going to try to brow beat anyone into seeing things the same way I do.

Fiesty, two years or so ago I would have been feeling exactly like you do now if something like this were to happen. I would have been in total shock and disbelief and defended TSR also.

If I've said anything to offend you I do appologize. There is no personal animosity towards anyone or by anyone going on here.

Their are some interesting twists to this also with TSR saying that they had a security breach three months or so ago and that breach could be the reason for what happened. I'm willing to take their word on that point but if you want real proof, ask TSR to show their log books for that breach. I would know the exact date of that breach. Not just a general time frame.

Ask Shakeshaft why "her" UV mapping is a carbon copy of the stolen items.

There are still facts to come out about this I'm sure so I'm just sitting back and digesting all of the information before I come to a verdict.

I'm willing to take any alibis from Thomas or anyone in top brass at TSR at face value, and face value alone. Maybe it did have something to do with that security breach they had. But on the same token, doesn't that sound like a rather convenient excuse for them to pull out of their asses? "Someone pirated our logs, and attained the info needed to alter Buggy's account on MTS2." If that were true, here's an interesting concept. Why just Buggy's info? Why not snatch up as much data as you can grab before the cyber cops find out what you're doing? Pirating security logs for just one batch of user info from a hacker's standpoint isn't just a generally stupid idea, but not worth the risk either. It obviously had to be someone with sole intent on attaining Buggy's info, and Buggy's info only. Which would mean the culprit is either one of two people, someone who had it out for Buggy, or someone on the inside of TSR administrative infrastructure. And Delphy's info isn't just hard proof, it's factual. He showed the IPs AND ports of both Buggy AND the account pirate. And while TSR did divulge the info of their security breach 3 months ago, that still doesn't explain why the Pirate's IP and Ports match to the number with Thomas' last known MTS2 IP/Port numbers. Either someone is really stupid, or someone went through some real pain staking steps to not only snake a single person's log info, but also has access to an IP mask program that can mask their IP to pretty much be whatever values they want, and conveniently opted to use the values of Thomas' IP.

Being a tech savy person, as well as a reformed Hacker, (Reformed in that I haven't done it since 2004 because my own IP is flagged by the FCC...long story) that's way to much coincidence to take anything anyone in the hub of Admins of TSR has to say seriously. It just doesn't add up, no matter how you play the scenario out. Of course I'm speaking from a technical stance. If I were going to pirate the logs of a site, I'd get the WHOLE THING in one shot and burn the place to the ground, especially if it's a site not regulated or a has it's info on a private server, because there's less people monitoring it, and less risk of getting caught. Hence TSR had this breach and barely knew of it...IF it was actually a security breach. I've read up on the state of affairs and events leading to the act in detail since yesterday, and it's not syncing up. Someone along the lines is construing some portion of the evidence, and it damn sure ain't Delphy.

Kaoz, I agree 100 percent.

I'm not seeing the logic in the security breach either unless it was to discredit Thomas and TSR. That sounds more like a personnel vendetta to me. It just wouldn't make sense. To do that just for the sole reason of discrediting someone would be risking the hackers lively hood at the very least. They could have done more discredit to TSR by stealing member information.

Oh man, you guys. I haven't read it yet, but: http://www.thesimsresource.com/articles/myths

Oh wow...what's actually proven with this?
But this might have a side-effect TSR does not want: If there have been people who weren't aware of what's going on (new to the whole Sims 2 community and so on), now they'll know about it!

I'm just afraid people will actually believe them ...

Sigh.

I'm afraid you're right, and they're trying to make Delphy look like a computer noob:
"Oh look, the biggest Sims 2 freesite is run by a clueless person that doesn't know how proxies work!"
:mad:

Sounds to me like they are circling the wagons over there. This could get a whole lot uglier very soon.

I agree. That writing had a smell of open hostility all over it, no matter how full of *** is was. It's just shame if things turn really ugly, because it could cause a lot of damage in the Sims 2 communities. :-\

Don't worry, the balloon of propaganda will pop soon and it won't be a positive experience for the ones in the wrong.

You wanna know what I read in that entire entry folks? Excuses. If they are as innocent as they say, why go through the motions of a 10 part passage basically saying "It wasn't me"? All they did was essentially blow off the incident as being "something that happens, oh well". Damn the fact that a member's info was raided. Damn the fact that this all stems from a TSR member stealing an MTS2 member's content, altering it, and claiming it as their own. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that against the rules? How come we haven't heard anything about action being taken against this person, hmm? The more and more I read, the more I sorely begin to not only distrust anything TSR brass has to say, but how they handle situations of adversity. The passage as a whole had a very "Grade School" feel to it. It was insincere and had as Sierra said just a hint of hostility, with a whole "holier then thou" bravado to it.. Like I said in my last post, I take what they say for face value. They didn't at all sound like they wanted to find a solution, they just wanted to point out their potential innocence, and fire back at those firing at them. Animosity breeds Animosity, and in the end the community as a whole is going to suffer because some people can't get their egos in check.

And as far as the IP masking, I figured that out days ago. No smart hacker is going to do their "Work" on their actual IP. But here's one for you...if they new of this infamous IP that was used months ahead of time, why didn't they flag it? Isn't it kinda strange so many users using the same IP? Who's to say the culprit hasn't been accessing other people's accounts as well? The more and more I hear, the more it makes absolutely no damn sense. Someone is lieing, or leaving out a very key piece of the puzzle. And that's either for two reasons...

A. Know one knows how the hell it happens, which proves their ineptitude running a forum/site in NOT knowing who's accessing your site.

B. Someone DOES know, and is doing everything in their power to protect the person at fault for the pirating of Bummy's account info.

And that's from thinking of the situation with "two brains". It all sounds good what was said in the TSR response, but it only raises more questions as oppose to answering the ones previously made.

well, they'll have upped traffic to coconut's blog tenfold ... kind of smacks of shooting themselves in the foot  :rolleyes:

Hey everybody, I just found a press release video showing TSR and MTS2 reactions to what happened. The TSR rep is on the left in the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ireDyVuIAFA&feature=related

I thought that it smacked more of shooting themselves in the butt, myself.

i read what tsr said and i believe them and if tsr by some chance gets taken down i will never ever come on this board or any other sims 2 boards ever again i am sick and tired of the lies,slander,and all other bs that is being thrown at tsr i am siding with tsr and unless there is sufficient evidence of these accusations maybe then i'll believe until i believe tsr is telling the truth. :mad:


and i do not think for one minute that coconut is telling the truth in fact i do not believe that story at all sorry folks that's my opinion. :-\

Feisty, you are certainly entitled to your opinion and I respect you for it. Just don't let what is going on sour you against the forums or any site for that matter. This isn't a one sided debate by any means. We want to hear what you have to say about it also. I for one would not want to see you go.

Well, gee, Feisty, dunno what to say. I have been in this for oh, what, a bit over two years now and know pretty much all of what's gone on. You believe what you wish, but I will trust to the facts told to me by the people involved and my own first hand experiences. What they've done in the past to their users and subscribers is wrong and illegal. They had a legal obligation to tell people of a security breach and they failed. If, indeed, there was one. We will just agree to disagree, shall we?

Yeah, they even went so far as to suggest that all of this started because of a photo shopped copy of an internal document that Coconut made. Well... I work for a large computer company as an Administrator so I know this next part to be true. Why do companies have "internal" documents? Because they don't want their clients seeing them. That's what TSR is really p o'd about. Their secret got out.

Hello. Damage control Dept., spin control section. Operator in training number 48. How may I help you today?

"This is Thomas, I need you to come up with some really killer spin on the stolen content scandal."

Yes Sir! We'll get right on it! Now where did I put that MTS2 login information.....

Since they are not disputing that Coconut has shown their internal documents, then I am curious about the conversations of laughing at the members when they (was admitted) input "trackers" on their custom content? Not only that, they laugh when they do publish members personal info and make jokes about prank calls. All of this was published in screenshots of the internal conversations.  That's what peeves me.  I don't like feeling like a joke or test subject when I registered to the site.

Then theres the personal conversation of deriding and racial slurs, I can't be bothered with such a site that wants my money, then make fun of people. My thought is, if you can be anal and asinine in little, then I wouldn't put it past them to be sneaky and vigilant in much.

I am sick of the debate. I will not give money to any site for pay items, cause I don't want to get in my game then delete it cause it photoshopped well, but looks like sh** in my game. I will donate to sites that I find appropriate and talented and needs the support. As I have exercised in life, if I don't like it, I do not support it. Same with T$R.  :cool:

I recall the problem we all had when this first came out. To decide whether or not it was legal to make EA items a free, or a pay. At the time EA never put themselves in the middle of it. It was all up to us to decide if we would be illegal by making our own content.

Now it seems EA finally stepped out to tell us==or at least their maxoids did==that it's ok-just ignore the EULA!  They need to make up their minds.

The BBS has always been a den for disquiet. Especially when the securom problem came out. The area delegated to us was deleted one day because it was getting too much information in it that we could 'compare notes' in.  This is the same thing. If they would only let folks 'vent' it would be tamed down in the bbs, and freedom of speech would be thriving....

We are not 'allowed' to discuss any of the info we have on BBS, so that makes it harder to compare notes there (without being banned). We travel to all the other sites so we can compare those notes. I like this. I don't like how folks think they can lie and get away with it all, though. It will all catch up with them however.

A long winded way of saying 'the pen (computer) is mightier than the sword'  They'll trip themselves up, get caught, and the only thing they will be able to do in the long run will be to change their names and move on to the next chapter LOL

I just updated my first message to include 2 links:

http://tsr.mustbedestroyed.org/

http://phorum.mustnotbenamed.com/index.php/topic,2399.0.html

That's were the info about TRS and the current situation are being held. ;)

Even if I hadn't been aware of what's going on until now and the only site I've ever visited was TSR, now would be the time for me to look up all the google keywords that TSR article provided: 'MTS2', 'free downloads for Sims2', 'pirates + Sims 2', and last but not least 'Coconut + Sims 2'.
It would have made me really curious, and I hope that quite a few members at TSR dare to step outside and look what's actually going on in the Sims 2 community.

I have been collecting all the information, copied and pasted it all in one area of my site, just so I could look at all of it at one place. I don't have all of it yet, but am still researching.  This is all anyone can do.

Reputations are one thing that stand out for me. This Thomas fellow I have not heard one good thing about-it has mostly been about his ego, his bad dealings, etc....now Delphy is another story. There is a reason he is so looked up to as he is. He and Pescado are the ones who have helped so many, yet are not the ones with the great big sign with the arrow pointing at them that says 'look at me!' all the time. They let their actions show all they are!

I think it's a shame that you can't trust someone. It makes a bad showing for those of us who have worked soooo hard to make people happy with their works.
And pirates. In some cases people are just accused of being pirates just for not agreeing with others.  A real shame that it's easier to be nasty than civil.

I'm sorry, fiesty32, but the only reason we even HAVE Insim now, to read and post at, is because Pescado saved it for us... and not for money, but for the community.

That should indicate what he and his site is all about, his site that TSR hates so much.  They sling mud at the pirates, but TSR has not come forward to help anyone! (other than themselves).

Too true, Skye and well said. There are a few people who could take a lesson from those words.

This thread was never about the right or wrong of pay sites, and I've seen it being led down that path. This thread is about a comprimised account and who did it. Whether or not TSR or people from TSR are responsible, it's still not right, and people have the right to research, inform themselves and come to their own conclusions. Having a different opinion doesn't make someone wrong or a 'pirate', it just means someone has a different opinion than you.

Totally agreed!  :cool:

And it wasn't about personal attacks at all.
If someone has a negative opinion about TSR, it doesn't mean that this someone has a negative opinion about you, if you are on TSR's side.
This thread is about password safety, isn't it?

Oh I should think so. This illustrates what can happen if you naively use the same password on every site you visit and if, after reading everything here, you're not prompted to make sure your passwords are safe and secure, then you're just looking for trouble.

This is ironic

WTF? Find the booty contest? I think this is a back handed slap.

http://www.thesimsresource.com/articles/competition

Advertising ploy? Repairing their reputation attempt? However you look at it, sad it seems.

This is what caught my eye.

Can anyone say possiable Intrapment?

That last bit with IP adress makes me shudder.


Ugg TSR.

"We at TSR just had a sudden urge to celebrate all things Pirate and figured it's time for a good old fashioned treasure hunt around TSR Version 7!"

Uh, since when does TSR celebrate pirates?

I am not amused, TSR. Not amused.

TSR disgusts me.  :mad:

found one.

(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt69/Zordac/chest.png)

Lucky me  :D

Good one, Zord...LMAO!!!

Considering the widespread use of hidemyipaddress as Thomas claims, there should only a handful or two of eligible players.   :rolleyes:

edit: fixed formatting

Just as I thought that TSR couldn't go any lower... Sad, just sad and disgusting. 1bleh

TSR's defense (and the Feisty person) both made me think of this quote I used to use for a sig on email:

Steve Eley wrote:

Invisible Pink Unicorns are beings of great spiritual power. We know this because they are capable of being invisible and pink at the same time. Like all religions, the faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorn is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them

Thanks Joy, in looking at this post I feel there is a lot of information shared-thank you-and a lot of good advice. Mostly in the 'different password for different sites'--I was guilty of that. My laziness and my forgetfulness brought me some pretty lame-O passwords; but after having my myspace page compromised a bit ago I figured a more complicated one for each is so much more secure!  What is to stop them from figuring out the ones we use, though?  Well, the advice I was given was 'You change your passwords, often.'

I now have a notebook beside my pc (ok, so it travels with me, with my own pc dead in the water, and me traveling around to use other computers right now), with all my sites I visit (for custom content, as well as info) and the passwords for each. Luckily I've gotten my same name on each one so I didn't have to be too inventive there, but the passwords have been something I had to get used to.  I guess you're never too old to learn something new, right?

I think the pirate booty 'contest' was something to poke fun at the 'pirates' as they call others, as well as something to get publicity for other than taking others' private information. To make light of all this scandal and move on.  I don't think folks will trust them though. OR forget what they're doing.

I also don't think they would have as many members to brag about if they allowed folks to delete their accounts--they wouldn't be able to claim so many. 

Same as EA itself.  EA bragged about how many games they have sold, celebrating when it got to be so huge. What they didn't tell about, what was swept under the rug, was the amount of unhappy customers they actually have in that huge number.  People don't admire those who won't listen to customer complaints, who tell them 'tough bananas' when they have a problem-if they aknowledge them at all! They also have the foolish maxoids in the bbs to cover their bums!

To paraphrase Lerf here, what this quote basically means is "We believe in we say, because you can't prove if it's true or if it's fake, so you can't tell us we're lying." Which fits the TSR's response to this whole thing PERFECTLY. And as far as EA patting themselves on the back, you come to expect that from "The Evil Empire" of video games. Of course they're going to toot their own horns about their good numbers, and totally leave out the losses and complaints about not just The Sims brand, but other EA brands as well. Like how they were forced to lay off 20,000 people in 2008, and shut down an entire development house (Black Box Entertainment) because their last two games, Need For Speed Pro Street and and Need For Speed Undercover TANKED, and they suffered ungodly losses because the latter game didn't sell half as well as they intended, despite having as "Hollywood" style script and A-List actors such as Maggie Q in the game. Of COURSE they'd sweep that under the rug. That's big business for you afterall. You gotta love EA's "Not our fault, not our problem" approach to it all as well. Predictable in every stretch of the word. Furthermore, TSR's prodding at the whole "Pirate" angle is about as tasteless and tactless as they come. But at this stage, I pretty much expect nothing less of sophomoric, assinine and childish responses from anyone on TSR top brass. They'd rather joke around and try to save face then deal with the fact that they have the real thieves in their midst.

Just an update to point you to where the real war is being waged on this.

Look here

http://tsr.mustbedestroyed.org/?p=704#more-704

and here

http://phorum.mustnotbenamed.com/index.php/topic,2399.0.html

Happy simming.  ;D

Thank you! <3<3
Despite the silent on this thread, the issue hasn't been forgotten, you know? :D

"Nevar forgive! NEVAR forget!" as the motto of a grumpy old fart with a bald head and prehensile beard would phrase it... :D

Well, I'm used to forgive (not to forget though), but in TSR's case it seems impossible to do either. They have gone too far for their own good. They falsely accussed people of "pirating" TS2 expansion packs... on what grounds? With what proof at hand? Unless they think that "boycotting TS3" equals to "getting pirated copies". What morons!

I will probably sound like a broken record, but I'm going to say it once again: They should stop throwing sh@# around. The majority of The Sims players are ADULTS dammit! They don't need to pirate copies of anything. They DO have the money to buy them fresh from the store self. Pfff.

The funny thing is, I know for a FACT, bona fide fact, that at least one of their FA's did pirate every EP and SP that EA Games ever put out. I bloody well paid for mine.

Talk about hypocricy. ...Oh, wait. Is that one of those things TSR and EA have in common?  Never mind. It was a rhetorical question really.

Oh the lulz gets louder: I found this (http://paysites.mustbedestroyed.org/legal/tsr2.txt) today while searching at the Phorum (http://phorum.mustnotbenamed.com/index.php).

Thomas is too funny! Looks like a misdirect to me.

One question comes to mind after reading that letter... what the heck is "mustbedetroyed"?  Is it implying that the city of Troy must be eviscerated?  Or maybe trojans?  I couldn't read it seriously after catching that in the first paragraph...   1giggle

(Ain't I a deluded miscreant?)   >:D

This is all Helen's fault, isn't it?  :p

Her and that stupid apple...

It's not a war after all... it's a one man's circus. 1tehe

And he's the monkey wearing the clown suit, too.

I think this part pretty much sums up how Thoma$ feels about the sims community.
"has mounted an army of disillusioned miscreants against us."

To think, all my certifications. All of those years in school. Just so I can be a disillusioned miscreant.

I say it was time and money well spent if it can bring that A** Hole down!!! It's personal now!!

I know, it feels personal. I got a little  :mad: when I first read it. After getting over that, I just said this man is a fool. I really don't like calling people fools, cause of the way I was raised (sorry Grandma), but what else could I think of a person that write such a letter that's suppose to be threatening, but no threats of legal actions? Really it's a tattling letter, but what did he think would come of it? If he wrote the host (nevermind the site he link to, is not correct), was that suppose to scare them to boot Pescado?

Another case of Thomass narcissistic, psychotic-babble. Now that's sick.


EDIT: Misspelling

Gosh, I didn't know I have joined an army, much more an army of "disillusioned miscreants"?? Poor me! I blame you all for involving me into this! Mwahaha.

On a serious note, Thomas' letter is so pathetic in twisting facts that it didn't really deserve the minute I gave from my life to read it. Idiocy at its best.

It has come to attention that there is another glaring error within that letter... even his last name is spelled incorrectly (a 'k' instead of a 'c')... 1whistle 

Any bets that this is an EPIC FAIL of a prank by someone?     Or is it something that's interchangeable in different countries?   1eyebrow

That sounds like a question for Ghettoblaster since she is from the same Country. Personally I think it's just Thoma$ showing his ignorance. Again.

Yeah, but whether or not a name can be spelled one way in one country and another name in another, people usually stick to one spelling of their own last name.

Thanks for the clarification, ghettoblaster.  Just wanted to be really sure before I did an official P & L there.  I know it's like that sometimes when translating Russian names into English a lot, so I wasn't sure if that also happened concerning other countries, too.  ;D 

Unless you haven't decided yet as to who you are or what you want. *tee hee hee*