The Matrix: Forge (Formerly Preloaded)

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

I apologize for the delay with Forge lately, but I must confess that I've been testing an update for the Desert Combat mod for Battlefield 1942, and playing with their version of the AH-6 is damned addictive. The next installment will be in sometime in the next day or so.

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

As of now, Forge is officially closed. Sorry, ladies and gents, I just don't have the time or inspiration to continue with it.

[The Yosemite Bear]

In otherwords you have been shut down for affilating your self with trolls and you can't be bothered to cut and past Stravo's own Matrix fic with minor alterations.

The Sanctity of Fanfics
a short essay by Rob Dalton



Someone once asked what the big deal was with the Sanctity of
Fanfics. Buried in the middle of the ASVS Rules and Regulations
<http://www.asvs.org> is a rule protecting the art of fanfiction, which
makes tampering with them a punishable offense.

"6: The Sanctity of Fanfics: One of ASVS's proudest
traditions is that of crossover fan fiction. We have
some of the best in the field, if not the best in the
field. We have an entire awards system for it. It
takes a long time and a great amount of effort on the
part of the author. And while constructive criticism
of the work is usually welcomed, changing the story to
reflect your personal view is STRICTLY forbidden. What
is the difference? That's up to the jury to decide, so
tread lightly. The entire group feels very, very
strongly about this, and this is the second vote in
ASVS History that was unanimous."

The reason why this was enacted was because of certain highly
offensive actions by a local troll known as Sean P. Collins, a once-
reasonable debater who earned the wrath of many regulars by vandalizing
fanfics to further his arguments. The reason why he got pissed on was
not the arguments themselves, but the vehicle he chose to present them
in.

Chuck Sonnenburg and Kenneth Lowe are two of the newsgroups most
prolific authors, the former with a cadre of fans and a reputation as
an epic writer for his Worlds Without End, and the latter the author of
a comedic Star Trek vs Star Wars lexicon called Domination. Both of
these fine authors put hours (and in some cases, days) of work into
their creations, mainly for their enjoyment but also for the enjoyment
of the group as a whole. Both authors are highly regarded, and it is
understandable that with the destruction, the virtual castration even,
of their efforts would come the wrath of the newsgroup upon the
perpetrator.

Chuck's work Balance of the Force, a sort of tide-over piece
between Worlds Without End and Shadows of the Night, was the victim of
such a troll attack. Sean Collins injected his own excrement after
certain choice paragraphs, in particular those dealing with the concept
of the Force. That crime can be found at:

<http://groups.google.com/groups?ic=1&se ... 1.deja.com>

Later on, he raped a chapter of Domination, which can be found here:

<http://groups.google.com/groups?ic=1&se ... 1.deja.com>

As a result of this second offense, anything he had on the archive was
subsequently removed, and to this date he has the honor of being the
first person on my permanent shit list and one of the only people in
Chuck Sonnenburg's killfilter. True to form, he tried to laugh it off,
but the doors of acceptance have clanged shut in his face ever since.

But what was it about these acts that caused such an uproar among
the readers? Sure, the story was changed, but why can't we just ignore
it? Anton Polinger, one of the less respected regulars, doesn't see
anything wrong with what Sean did:

<http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=djq& ... _570820692>.

Apparently, Mr. Polinger has not had any encounter with creativity,
imagination or copyright law. I'm sure that if the source material in
question was a published work, Mr. Collins would be in some very
serious trouble indeed. But Anton says:

<http://groups.google.com/groups?th=9559 ... 45,45&ic=1>

why should it be such a big deal if the original document remains intact?
Well, that's not the point.

Anton Polinger has seemed adamant in his density and succeeds
astoundingly in missing the point of the matter. It doesn't matter if
the original document remains intact. What really matters is the
blatant lack of respect for the original work. An author works hard on
his fanfic, and it could either be praised or panned; constructive
criticism and destructive are both very common, and it's not unusual to
see a crappy fanfic such as Second Contact or Portal ripped to shreds
or MiSTed. A fanfic that is poorly written or is so hopelessly one-
sided that it seems a mockery is fair game, and MiSTing is a well-known
and tolerated, even encouraged, pastime. Even ruthless criticism of a
respected work is tolerated, more so if it's constructive and done
tastefully, as is the case with Phong Nguyen. But ripping it off is not
cool.

Please respect the art of fanfic.

NOTE: 5/24/2002: It has come to my attention that the crimes in question,
mentioned above, have been either lost by Google or deliberately
cancelled by persons unknown. You have only my assurance, and the eyewitness
testimony of at least twenty other people, that these crimes have actually
occurred. If anyone has actually saved copies of the crimes committed by
Sean P. Collins, please send them to me.

This was written some time ago, modiefied shortly before the inception of this webboard. It is this sort of behaviour and what the folks at TK did to this art form that have so throughly pissed off this board. I am quoting this Essay in whole and giving credit to it's source to prove a point.

Colin "The Yosemite Bear" Witz.

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

In otherwords you have been shut down for affilating your self with trolls and you can't be bothered to cut and past Stravo's own Matrix fic with minor alterations.

I do all the work of writing this stuff, and spend my own damn time
on it, and you come in and accuse me of plagarism? Where's the logic
here?

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

In response to Yosemite bear's inflammatory stuff, I've decided to reopen Forge just to spite him,.

[Darth Wong]

And I'm closing it again, just to spite you.