Insimenator.org

I have been a member here for years. And I have tried to get along with many of the people here who are members and who run this site. I try to be respectful of all, but I have to say... I am pretty miffed.

I had just asked for help in the General Discussion for help about finding sites where I can find Supernatural and Smallville for free and it was closed by a moderator:


I'm not asking for illegal sites. I was never asking for illegal sites. And it was closed. Who knows if someone could have shown me a way to watch them on a legal site, now I can't find out because I feel my post was prematurely closed.

This is irritating, because a lot of posts, I feel, are misunderstood and closed way too soon. Is there a way to stop this or at least clarify the real issue before just closing the post way too soon?

By the way, I'm hoping that bringing this up doesn't encourage ill-will toward me in the future. But I've been dealing with this for awhile and feel that this issue needs attention.

I wasn't saying you were looking for illegal sites. I think you're the one misunderstanding me. I said sites that uploaded episodes to watch for free, unless it was the official site for the show, will have done so illegally. If someone wants to pm you with a site they know of, that's fine but the thread is going to stay closed, sorry.

With all due respect, caffinatedjoy, there are sites such as "hulu" that are very legal and they have shows to watch for free. That's what I was talking about.

And I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I was also talking about closing posts too soon in general. Not just about my issue.

Like what other posts? I'm not trying to be argumentative either. :) Yes, there are sites out there that go through the proper channels, but the majority of them don't.

Are you talking about threads that ask for support on the insim and inteen mods? We don't support those and have stickies warning they will be closed. If you're talking about WCIF threads in which the items re found, it's been site policy for quite some time to close the thread as soon as the item(s) being looked for are confirmed found. We just let that fall by the wayside for a (long) while and are catching up with it again. Any other time it's usually because a fight has started that is getting way out of hand.

I got rid of cable to save money and was interested in finding shows online myself.   It's like a net search crapshoot trying to get decent tv online; and there are so many crooks trying to get you to open your comp to them.

What you get presented with in many search engines (google included) are illegal pay-to-subscribe or download sites many times; often they just want to put their tracking junk on your computer or even harmful invasive stuff or gain access to your email and other private info--so I think that's what anyone who closed the thread may have wanted to avoid about the question. That's a nasty can of worms.

Having experienced this first hand a few years ago I understand the caution.   I offer to you that the cable & regular channels have started to respond by putting many of their own shows up so simply chosing NBC or HBO will get you permission often without signup (more options with membership of course).  But of course you, like me, probably learned that on your own already.


If it doesn't violate any rules to offer this info, then I suggest Fancast.com.  You don't have to signup or sign in ( unless you want to) and they only ask you to provide an email and create a password for their site.

 I joined after about 6 months and (lol) was actually disappointed that there was no difference between my prejoining time and after--except the extra minute it took to sign in, lol.  I guess I figured I deserved a few extra episodes since I signed in an all.  I haven't gotten any stray spam as a result of adding them to my email list and they don't flood my inbox with mindless announcements.

They offer more episodes than the (whatever your fav) show home sites. Although the official sites offer (sometimes) more recent episodes.  I say sometimes because sometimes they're equal or better offerings.  From what I've read they work in cooperation with the official sites of the shows they air and they are streamed--not downloadable.  It is semi-commercial free (between single episodes) I think. Most ads are earth-conscious or charity.

Oh there is one benefit to signup but it may occur without it (I don't remember now).  If you stop a show for some reason it will start where you left off or ask if you want to watch it from the beginning.  Fancast does add and remove shows as it recieves airing permission so while it does maintain a library there are occasional changes.

Yes Smallville and Supernatural are there...as I said how many full episodes or how recent will fluctuate.  I still go there for my "Angel" fix still even though I have satellite now :).  Hope this helps.

caffeinated - It has been a long and tiring day. I haven't had time to respond until now. I will say that there have been posts in the past (yes, I tried looking them up but can't find them anymore) in which I had to answer their questions through PM's because they weren't getting the response they needed and were confused as to why the post was being closed. I'm just saying that it could help to clarify the situation before just closing the post right away, that's all.

DaSpecial1 - And yes, actually this does help. I appreciate the feedback about the shows. I think I tried Fancast, but I'll try to check it out again.

I live in Taiwan, so the only Enlgish programs I get on cable are HBO and a few other movie channels. I don't mind that so much since I don't watch a lot of TV, but there are two programs I can't live without The Daily Show and Colbert Report. Thankfully Comedy Central hosts every show for free on their site, so I can watch them even from over here.

In regards to shutting down threads dealing with this, I don't think it is irresponsible to show a little caution with this subject. I mean this is a Sims 2 site and I wouldn't expect the moderators here to be an expert on TV show websites and which are legal and which are not. If you want that why not go to a forum that does deal with this subject?

skavenhorde - we have a general discussion area where most anything goes, so it's quite within Kinnika's rights to ask in there about stuff that isn't sims related ... we could have experts in all sorts of non-sims related stuff here, you just never know till you ask ;)

If there are certain threads that you feel are being closed too quickly - and there were a few mods in the past that were guilty of being too quick in that respect - then please pm one of us. We really don't bite and are all approachable and quite open to suggestions. Nobody here is perfect, including the staff, and it may well be that occassionally we do something that, on reflection, is not in the best interests of the members.

Thanks, Ali. I appreciate the input. I will do that next time. Thank you for the heads up.

Speak for yourself, woman! I happen to bite if someone gets in the way of my chocolate or pizza or coffee. And don't you even think of coming between me and my sesame chicken, I'd have to rip off at least a thumb... :D

Thanks for the info Ali. I am still catching up on just how this site works. I was just thinking that if I was a mod and saw someone linking sites to programmed television, my gut reaction would be to shut it down. IMO, it's better to er on the side of caution than get spanked later on by an unforseen circumstance.

The biggest problems facing our hobby (pc games) are pirates (I'm not talking about that other one that deals with sims content, that is a whole other can of worms that I support wholeheartily) but real pirates who steal stuff and make it available through torrents or other means and now TV shows. When exactly does this free sharing of paid products stop?

Anyways, sorry about the misunderstanding and I do realize that of course many different subjects are discussed here, just like any good site should do. I was just thinking about how people who post these sites should explain in detail about their link and why it is a legit sites. To make the poor mods job a little easier and to defuse any kind of situations that may arise or if there is some kind of rule against posting that kind of info (I don't know if there is or isn't) then that rule has to be enforced no matter if it is a legit site or not.

My 2 cents worth.

Just an outsiders opinion on a very hot topic even on my home RPG site.

i do not support pirates weather it be television or sims content and i never will piracy is wrong. :D

absolutely! If anyone even starts to consider coming between me and chocolate ... DON'T!

skavenhorde - you are absolutely correct on the torrent side of things which is why we do not allow any discussion regarding cd cracks or warez here and asking for them will get a member a warning then a ban.

the other pirate issue is something else entirely and this is not the thread to have that discussion so whether you agree with it or not we don't need to know that in site issues

Skavenhorde gave two great examples of what I meant by cable stepping up to offer shows for free online.  Comedy Central’s Daily Show/Colbert report sites offer months of shows online, right up to the very latest ones.

I agree with Joy on this point:  There was a need to step in and prevent the thread from turning into a barrage of offerings of the type of illegal/con scheme tv sites like those discussed above. They clearly weren’t what Kinnika was asking for.  It is also plain to see that Joy had no intention of implying that Kinnika was doing such.  As a good site moderator she was just looking out for the best interests of the community.   

I like that Kinnika spoke up, makes me confident that inSim is becoming more of a family again.  Too many people feel slighted and stop posting or leave altogether over sometimes minor misunderstandings (often, but not always) blown out of proportion or some thought process not conveyed well enough in print.  Sometimes way too much emotion is read into the way a post is written.  That being said, still I have never understood people who take the time to enter a Gen Disc thread just to rudely say “What are you asking me for, who cares?  Or go find it somewhere else!”—when the easier thing to do with a thread you have no interest in discussing is to ignore it.  After all, threads in the general discussion area that people have no interest in answering fade into the distance.

I see this more as a “hey could ya give me a chance to be heard or at least explain why?”—request and NOT an “I feel like rehashing old history by listing all the times you dissed my posts!” rant.  (No, I am NOT implying that Joy was saying that btw :))     

Ali made a point (that I tried to type in last night but didn’t go through) that Kinnika’s request was appropriately made in the “General Discussion Area” & not the “General Sims 2 Discussion area.”  Here in our community we have rl joys and concerns as well as Sims 2 interests so it’s perfectly appropriate for Kinnika to come to her inSim family to find out who might have a helpful & legitimate suggestion. Asking in an unfamiliar site on a random tv forum might lead you right to those sites you want to avoid.   



Hmm, it seems we have an accord.  We all agree that caution is needed on this topic & that asking for ideas was appropriate as well. 1okay


Might I suggest deleting the original locked post and moving this one to that area?  Surely it is clear that legal and free suggestions might be offered & that more (of us) might be interested in hearing about them.  As with any other posts, one should always consider honest, non-spamoid, crime-free/scam-free sites, before suggesting any.  A warning to never post illegal/unverified sites or face punishment should suffice. Off-topic flames or violation responses could be deleted, no?

Surely with all this prefacing this request one could hardly read all the info here and respond to Kinnka with an “I had no idea not to suggest/post this” illegal tv site ;).

skavenhorde:

Just for the record, I, too, am against piracy. They ruin entertainment for the rest of us.

DaSpecial1:


I was thinking this after people seemed really interested in this topic. Especially after skavenhorde opened up that can of worms, lol. This does seem to be a hot topic. And besides, even though we got a little sidetracked, I enjoy reading what others' input.

Also, I did check out Fancast, and like you said, they do seem to fluctuate. I guess I'll wait to watch the rest of the seasons I'm on now until the new seasons come out. But thanks for the tip.

Ali:

I will say that there was one post where this girls' brother ripped up the booklet for her Sims game and was asking for a serial number. While it was well within the moderators rights to let them know it was illegal to do so, the post was automatically locked as opposed to really thinking about the question. I thought about it for awhile and wanted to reply to her, telling her to check out the back of the actual CD case and look at the bottom of the back panel and she will find the serial number there, NOT in her booklet. I couldn't, however, and I couldn't PM her. This was slightly annoying and I wasn't able to help her.

Even though she was asking for something illegal, I, or someone else, could have turned this around to being something legal. She probably didn't think about looking in another place. That's all I'm saying.

I'm not placing the blame on any certain moderators, by any means. This is just an example of posts being closed, possibly too soon, in general. I apologize for coming in so late with an example, but I haven't been on this site for a couple of days.

NOTE TO JOY: Sorry, Joy. I just remembered this certain note from Ali's quote.

And Joy, again, I completely understand when it comes to things having to do with the Inteenimator.

In General: It would be an ideal world if people read the stickies. However, I do think that just being courteous to others and at least letting them know where to find Inteen, as opposed to just stating "Inteen isn't supported here" and locking it right away (as I've seen you do, Joy, but not others) is best. Because lets face it: Not all people think that being gracious or courteous toward others is the best way to go. And while I see how annoying it can be with the constant questions and inquiries about Inteen, we should all be a little patient with the newbies and not have them reap what the many others have sewn before them. And that was one of my main concern when I initially brought this subject up.

Although, I will say Jase said it best when asked by another member how to get teens pregnant:


Classic!  1dance



BTW: How do you insert the "Quote from: ???"

Click on the blue word "Quote" on the top right side of the post of the person you want to quote in a thread.  This is a question I was always too embarrassed to ask.  I finally got up the nerve with a friendly member to ask this same question a few months after lurking so I completely understand :D. 

Don't want to send your thread off-topic but your pm inbox was full ;) .

Hey, thanks. Guess I'll have to empty that, then.

Don't blame Joy for locking the InTEEN threads, I'm the one that normally does it without even thinking. If someone wants to inform the person that asks for it, there is the PM function. This is a PG-13 site and I do not see how having a mod that allows teen pregnancy is in keeping with that policy. Plain and simple, it's one of those topics that are as unwanted and hot button as the pay/free site debate and being as we don't like to keep putting out the brush fires, we sweep up the tinder and get rid of it.

Let's not bring the free/pay and pirate/anti pirate debate into this ok?

As for the serial number bit, once again that was a thread I locked down. Honestly, it's hard to not feel like I'm being put under a bullseye here, even though I know that's not necessarily the case. If I remember correctly, she was looking for the seriel code for one of the later EPs, and they're on the book, not on the CD case or CD. She was asking for someone to share their code with them, which is illegal. We can't do that and we can't be a part of that here. It unfortunate you couldn't pm her and, I understand you wanted to pass on some helpful information, but the fact that she was asking for something illegal was the matter at hand. I told her to contact EA Games about it and locked the thread as I, or any other moderator or admin was obligated to do.

And now I'm confused a bit about what you're saying about the InTeen and InSim threads. Are you say I lock them without telling them where to find them? It reads that way. In my defense, and at the risk of sounding petty, I do point people in the right direction before locking the thread. I understand it's frustrating to get your thread locked, but at least being told where you can find the answers you need and get the support you need can take the sting out a bit and I honestly believe that being frustrated about seeing another post regarding something we clearly state we don't support at all is no excuse for me to be rude. I wouldn't appreciate the rudeness from someone else, so what gives me the right? However, I'm not perfect, so I can only do my best.

Oh and kinnika, here's one more hint about inserting quotes. When you're typing your reply and you think of another post you want to reference, scroll down the page and you should see the last 20 or so posts (depending on the post lengths it can be greater or lesser) and at the top right hand corner is a little clickable phrase "insert quote". Click it and that post with be quoted in the body of your text. That way you can hit the "Quote" button in the post button you want to quote, and as you type if there's another post you want to quote, scroll down to find it at hit the "insert quote" button.

SMF can be sneaky sometimes ;)

Paden - Whoa, I'm not blaming Joy for anything. And also, Joy asked me early on in this post what specific posts I was talking about. And so I told her. I'm not trying to make this a big fight. Plus, I believe that I wrote I understand why Inteen questions are not supported here. However, in the same post, I did also mention that it would just be courteous to direct them where to go. That's all.

Joy - Seriously you aren't being put under the bullseye. I'm just trying to answer your question of what posts I was talking about being closed too soon. I have no intention of drawing blood here, honest.

As for the booklet, thank you for letting me know. That was a simple misunderstanding in which I was going to, and should have now thinking about it, added that "if I am wrong about the serials being on the back panel in later EP's, disregard this." So, I could have clarified that early on to avoid any confusion. And yes, as I've mentioned before, I understand it was illegal and you were well within your rights to lock it for those reasons. So, that post was clarified and so hopefully, this post issue is finished.

No offense, guys, but I feel my entire posts weren't thoroughly read or they were misconstrued, lol. I do understand sometimes its hard to get messages across from just typing them out. Joy - I posted this in my last post:


What I meant to say was that YOU show others where to go, Joy, but OTHERS don't. At least I tried to state it that way. Apologies if it wasn't that clear. I just put that statement in the wrong place, I guess. Also, I meant that to be a general statement. I really wouldn't like to get into the nitty-gritty of who did what when witch-hunt here. This wasn't my intention of bringing this issue to the table.

And yes, we are on the same page about the "rudeness" issue.  1okay

BTW, thanks for more tips  ;)
 

Thing is, life would be much simpler if people would read those locked stickies when they first get here, such at this (http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,102242.0.html#new) one, because it tells people exactly where to go to find that mod. There are a couple of them in various places on the site, too. In a perfect world, everyone would read the stickies... *sigh*

This I understood but wasnt sure Joy did.   The way it was phrased could have gone either way but I tend to err on the side of caution by going with the nicer meaning...:).   Iagree with you Kinnika.  Joy has often said "find it here" before closing threads.


Now I have a puzzling issue for me.  If you read many of my posts I do state clearly that the InSim mod "is not supported" but I go on to qualify that statement with a solid clarification on what that means, direction to the appropriate place and offer to help where I can.  

Yes I want people to find things for themselves and not be spoon fed or lead around by the nose. What I have learned to do rather that posting a billion new times, is to go back to old relevant threads of mine and update the info by editing.  That way if a topic I asked about in the past went unanswered (or was unsatisfactorily answered) & I learn more about it or resolve it, the answer is there for the next less experienced newcomer or curious longtime player.

Honestly Paden, lol, I missed that inSim sticky several times...for the life of me I kept losing it 1titter.  Ok call me the great cat of no memory... 1tehe
So here's my question:

I am in full agreement on the inTeen issue but am a confused about the inSim thing.  I do NOT view inSim the way I do inteen.   I love inSim in my game.  Simblender is great but it just isn't as convenient for me.  I just feel at times there is such an air of hostility surrounding the mod that people get snapped at for merely inquiring about it.  I remember a few posts where it was clear (to me) that the person was totally confused.


See they (this happened to more that one person) had come to ask if this was InSim community and though they were answered "Yes" when they followed up with "Great! where do I dl the inSimenator?"--they got smacked with "not here!! it's not supported! Try simblender it's better anyway" & in one case was told that the inSim mod would break their game or cause it to have problems.  

That last one was particularly disingenuious to me. First of all confusing people looking for the community that houses the mod by telling them to look for it but dont ask here is not going to be helpful or provide any clarity.  What happens is you get the same question in different threads on the same site that have to be closed time and again because people went to google for insimenator found the old site, got zip, found us, tried to figure if we were the right community, asked about the mod, got told no, lather rinse repeat ad nauseaum.

In the end when it is found on our forum, makes it seem like those of us who knew it was here but said "we don't support it were" either:  
                       A.  Being purposefully vague which leads to confusion
                       B.  Being obnoxiously rude for no reason
                       C.  Playing find it yourself with a noob
                       D.  Houses it but is ashamed of a perfectly good mod
                       E.  ??wth is up with your so-called "friendly community?" Jerks

I am confident that none of the above impressions are the intended nor desired outcomes for any visitor to our site.  So my concern is about moderation that might spawn more WCIF questions than desired or that confuses potential members.  So I am sincerely asking—please help me understand.

This is the home of the Mod (isn't it?) however unsupported it may be and it is a mod that many enjoy using.   I know it's creator's massive Fail and the junk it brought down on our community, but in all fairness it never was about him for me.

The InSim Community I got to know was void of them long before they ditched.  So I don't blame the creation for having an unscrupulous maker.  No flames plz on this issue.  I'm really just trying to understand not point fingers or debate. Is it ok to say that this is the home of the (unsupported) mod or not?

                                       1hug 1love  & thanks for answering  1hugs 1fanku

DeSpecial1:

Have to say this, although, I am not a moderator. That was funny. Gotta give credit where credit is due.

Also, you have a good point on the vagueness issue. I lost my Insim (don't ask) and had to download it again, even if it was unsupported. I love my Insim, too. I can't imagine the Sims without it. In fact, I love it so much, I just might be willing to stop adding EP's to wherever Insim stopped supporting the game.

And you're right about people smacking down even the idea or consideration of someone not downloading it, just because its not supported. This site, though, does carry the mod. If we tell people that we don't support Inteen, they might ask us where it is on our site, lol.

You would think that I would think of something like that, but I didn't.

It does only take a few seconds to help a newbie out. I don't mind doing it if I have the time. It's kind of a challenge to me. Course, I just like helping people.

Okay, so I'm going to sit on the side-lines now and let a moderator respond. I just wanted to tell you, you have a good point.


P.S. I tried doing the quote, I ended up quoting the entire post! I'll keep trying.

I use the mod, I love the mod to be honest. I have no problem with telling anyone where to find the thing, either. It's unsupported because no one is going to update it or work on it again. We can't guarantee that it won't bork up anyone's game, another reason why we say it's unsupported. I guess some of us are just so used to the silly thing being right there on the index page that we don't realize that folks could overlook it.

I don't mean to get snappy, I don't mean to get rude. I'm a pretty blunt and plainspoken person, and don't always figure that someone could construe my responses as rude when they aren't intended to be so. Then again, I also figure that people will use a search box before starting a whole new thread looking for it because that's the way it usually works on other sites.

P,S,
You can edit out the bits you don't want, so long as the bits you do want stay between the little bracket things, that ones that look like this: []. Just hit backspace or wipe it out with delete, either way it ought to work.

I promise you many rude answers weren't from moderators.  Seriously it was because it took me several wrong tries (& I'm already here in the community, lol) that I thought well hey if I can't find it no wonder people keep asking.  I'm still mad at all the bookmarks I lost...I had just gotten my fav info pages right when the site melted down 1titter.

But really it was just to say a mild "Hey guys I like the InSimenator!" to understand if I was the only one who felt this way and to make sure that I'm following proper site guidelines.    I totally don't mind disclaimer statements but I wanted folks to understand the difference betweeen this "(working) mod is unsupported" & "this mod is crapola--you're nuts if you use it!."

                          1beer 2flower Flowers & hugs for allowing me to geta little clarity :D. 1cheers

Like Paden said kinnika, you can edit out the parts of the body of text you do want to include in your quoted text, just so long as the quote codes are left intact :)

I enjoyed the Insim mod too, but I choose to use the Simblender mod because it does much of what Insim did and is constantly being updated to add new features and for new EPs. No, it's not as convenient as the insimenator, but I live with it. Insim isn't updated for M&G, so it's not guaranteed to work with it, and I don't want to take that chance (since M&G is a stuff pack, but acts like an EP). We don't support the Insim because, like Paden said, it's not being worked on at all, and we can't guarantee it will continue to work. We host it as a courtesy for the people who want it, with the caveat that we can't guarantee your game is safe with it, and the only advice we can really give you if it's corrupting your game is "take it out". There are so many mods out there that do all the individual things that the Insim mod does. What made the Insim mod so unique was that it took all of those things and combined them into one handy dandy machine. The first time K & E pulled a disappearing act the community did a great job in digging up mods that could be used in place of the Insim until it could be properly updated. No, it wasn't convenient, but it proved my point about what it was that made Insim unique. Not the modifications it made, but putting them all together. 

Thank you joy

Pierre 1wink