[Tarot's Scrapbook] The Stacked Deck

by **Tarot** on September 30th, 2010, 9:08 am

This morning I woke up without a fever for the first time since Saturday. I'm on antibiotics and this thing has hit me pretty hard. I'm not going back to work before next tuesday, either. Still, I'm on my way to recovery! Many thanks for all the gifts and wishes. It shouldn't be much longer before I return.

by **Vanator** on September 30th, 2010, 11:17 am

Tarot...it is good to hear you are on the mend, and I wish for a full recovery soon! I miss seeing you around!

by **Tarot** on October 9th, 2010, 6:37 pm

Please bear with me, folks. After three days of work I had a bit of a relapse that is actually more flu-like than the first round. Low fever and a nasty cough. I hadn't been sick in three years and now it seems I'm making up for it in a few weeks...

by **Gossamer** on October 9th, 2010, 8:39 pm

*stern face*

When you get sick, really sick, stay down until you are completely better. This round, please don't push to fast or get up too soon. Let yourself heal. Please! I know you are impatient and were sick a long time after not being sick for years... but give yourself a chance. There's a lot of wicked bugs out there these days.

by **Satu** on October 9th, 2010, 11:26 pm

Dear Tarot, you KNOW what you need to do to get well...

by **Tarot** on December 4th, 2010, 11:09 pm

It can be argued that there is nothing really original in fiction that hasn't been seen or done before in some form. Most things we read and watch today can be traced back to texts several millennia old. Comedy, for instance... we basically haven't improved on the format since the times of Greek and Roman playwrights. There were three basic mechanisms for resolving a comedy plot back then, and they have stayed the same all along: 1) characters finding out they are related and ceasing hostilities; 2) a heroic act changing another character's opinion of the protagonist; 3) deus ex machina - literally a god showing up back then, now the cavalry saving the heroes in the nick of time. Likewise, tragedy and epics... the format for most popular fiction is still largely the same. All you can do is put your unique spin on stuff and blah blah blah.

But. That is no excuse for PLAGIARISM. Fantasy draws inspiration from a multitude of sources. Sometimes more recognizeable than others. I could list all the inspirations I had for most articles I wrote. That's okay. I always tried to mix them together and add something of my own. All the Founders always did, and every player who ever got an article published here.

It was sad to surf the web and saw one of our key concepts blatantly ripped off and tacked on another game that, in all of its immensely long history, never sported anything remotely similar. It does, in fact, feel like something attached there right here and now after seeing that it works very well here. I will admit, it pissed me off for about five minutes. But then again, I guess that for some, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Oh well. You can copy the words and even the ideas, but you can't copy the heart, after all.

And to all of you who are considering copying your next essay from Wikipedia, I have this to say: I hope you get caught.

by **Gossamer** on December 4th, 2010, 11:23 pm

Amen brother.

You have more heart and soul in your codework here than I've ever seen from a coder anywhere. I say that without hesitation and without any doubt. What was ripped off was my original work, a concept I developed that I took from nowhere else but my mind. It would have never gotten produced in its full and glorious form without the support of you Founders whom I consider incredible friends.

This won't be the last. It actually isn't the first. But remember how small it makes them look. But we knew that's how they were already. That's why everyone we've ever known and cared about there is here now. And honestly, we didn't have to bring them kicking and screaming. They came because light and love always draws light and love.... like to like.

And I firmly believe your code leads the way. It will in the future, and it has in the past. I was recently (as a quick funny side note) reading another RPG site someone wanted me to take a look at. They had a special tag for BBC code and they had exactly one entry - basic frame code. Their intro however, stated that their site had some of the most unique one of a kind BBC addons anywhere. One entry. Frame code. Just one.

And the funny thing about it was? It was copied verbatium from our BBC list with the crooked vulture wings and all.

We only have a BBC list like we do because I didn't want to forget any of the amazing touches you added to the game or how to add them myself. They are a loving compilation of your notes to us placed all in one place in ignoramus language so people as dumb as me can understand it.

Feel proud, GP. Our list is the list from hell. Your mods are incredible. The site you talk about in your blog will NEVER match that. Ever.

by **Dreamcatcher** on December 4th, 2010, 11:37 pm

Well I am going to be honest... so for those people who can't stand cursing I will turn on the beep machine.

I am *beep*ing mad. This is Horse *beep*! I can't believe those *BEEP..BEEP...BEEP* and they can shove it *BEEP... BEEP... BEEP* and I hope they get a disease from it!

There is no *beep*ing excuse for what they did. Stealing the work of others is inexcusable. Sure Tarot's right, no idea is a new one, but we work *beep* hard to make sure its original stuff on this site.

God I am so *Beep* mad.... I checked it out and this is *BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*! Like I want to say so much, and do so many horrible things! *Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep* Like I want to sign up their site director for Null emails along with alot of weird fetish porn sites.

(Goes out into the yard) Universe, I know life is not fair and that sometimes it takes you a long time to dispense justice. But I am willing to cash in some of my karma for that justice to be delivered sooner. Not asking for the holy *beep* storm to rain down on their heads, but if you need a hand to help with that justice I am more then willing to help you dispense it! (Comes back inside)

Well all I can do now is wait... and hope that I the universe takes care of this. (Starts mumbling incompressible words)

by **Panna Cotta** on December 5th, 2010, 11:52 am

Imitation is always the highest form of flattery

by **Tarot** on December 17th, 2010, 8:20 pm

I just thought I owed the community an explanation about the rounds of downtime we suffered over the last week. The provider sent all affected parties - of which there were quite a few - a message plus a blog post in which they apologized for the inconvenience. Apparently, the first downtime (last Friday) was caused by a change in a network component and the servers' failure to reboot. The second wave of downtime was caused by a software vulnerability - I can only assume some sites were being hacked or exploited - and their attempts at fixing it. I liked the conspiracy theories better, to be honest.

So that's about it. Apparently we are getting a month of free hosting as reimbursement, which is pretty good as far as Miza is concerned. Still, it's something to remember next time someone mentions 'state-of-the-art' technology.