D3Scene's Censorship & Terrible Staff -OR- D3Scene xPoSeD LoL~! (Part 1?)

“LOOK AT MY JOIN DATE <2007>, BRO. I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.” - Glupus@D3Scene

Yes, as per popular request, I am indeed going to be doing this post.

I was recently informed that D3Scene may have a bad case of the butt-buddies. To further provoke and inspect proof of this, I also recently used my most expertise detective trait: pro trollin'. Some of you witnessed that planned out and executed in real-time. Before this site completely implodes on itself, let us emit the first laugh together. Of course, I usually take things said by people in the current 'blizz hacking scene' with a huge grain of salt, but the proof seems to speak for itself. As usual, I will try not to make any claims or biased opinions. I may input my opinion about some things, but form your own from the quotes/logs. Although it's not where it all started, this thread is where my ban from D3Scene occurred. Give it a quick read:

• http://www.d3scene.com/forum/starcraft-2-hacks/52636-so-darkmage-after-bashing-dew-vuno-about-his-hack-why-did-you.html (I have it archived in case it is removed.)

Now as you should be able to tell just from the title alone, this thread was aimed at nothing more than attacking me personally. What does this have to do with StarCraft II Hacking? Absolutely nothing. Why was the thread not closed? So I could be banned. Further proof of that later. As you can see, I give a typical response to a typical Dew-dewing-Dew post. Then I decided to add something in an edit. To be transparent, it was this, "... you should 'kill yourself' like bendik did. You're a boring troll." I understood there was a moderate chance of being infacted for that statement, and so I was.

Dear Dark_Mage-,

You have received an infraction at D3scene.

Reason: Insulted Other Member(s)
-------
I take that as an insult.


This infraction is worth 3 point(s) and may result in restricted access until it expires. Serious infractions will never expire.

Ok, so then I was infracted by Glupus and he left this message, "Keep this within the rules or I will infract more of you. [...] I'll let this open if you guys manage to keep your flames for yourselfs."

Alright, that infraction was fair enough, but more-or-less the purpose was to see if a Moderator did indeed read thread and was going to take administrative actions within it. Instead of closing a thread clearly started to generate flames and drama, I was attacked for responding, albeit brashly, and the thread remained open with the hopes that it may continue in a somehow constructive way. But the truthiness of it, as stated by Glupus later on WLM, was that threads were often left open regardless so the Administration could easily be more selective with their bans. This incredibly retarded assumption as well as obvious one-sided moderation and bad choices wasn't going to fly with me. So, I did what I usually do and whipped out my balls of steel. Knowing I was about to be banned for disregarding some rules, I didn't care as the Moderator obviously chose to allow it by not closing the thread. After discussing how retarded this was with some other key D3Scene developers/contributors, I decided to give a well-deserved response:

“ Why would you leave this open? What does this have to do with hacking rather than a topic that started just to deliberately attack me? Infraction deserved, yeah, but LOL. Lock it, retard. This site has some retarded staff sometimes. Mainly that guy up there and Jolinar.

*braces for ban* ”

And banned I was. If you notice, there was also another part that was edited out by Glupus. I had mentioned that the site needed better management and that GameThreat was able to take a hint and rearrange their management when it was needed (this is currently in-process). The reference to Jolinar was because this same thing happened previously. Jolinar infracted me for "disregarding staff advice" (CENSORSHIP) when I was simply telling it like it was and trying to xPoSe Dew's hack he was selling so users at D3Scene didn't scam themselves by buying it based on false promises and claims. Now for some serious lulz. The reason for my ban/infaction on this particular post was the following:

Dear Dark_Mage-,

You have received an infraction at D3scene.

Reason: Hijacked a thread
-------

-------

This infraction is worth 1 point(s) and may result in restricted access until it expires. Serious infractions will never expire.

Naturally, I couldn't stop the trolling here as it was getting too funny, but the site wasn't worth the effort of making multiple evasion accounts so I just signed on WLM. Mr. Glupus had raged because I called him a retard while calling him out on his poor decision making as a Moderator - a reasonable criticism - and banned me while subsequently calling me "the retard" in return. Above the rules as they always are it would seem. Later after an IM convo with the Global Mod that banned me, Tracky changed the reason to an enumerated list covering a plethora of different offenses like: Offensive language, attacking a staff member, causing drama, hijacking a thread, etc. Keep in mind that these two instances were the only time I have ever had staff action taken against me. I am always trying to be helpful when I can or am prompted to be. So, as stated (originally and in the revised edition), I was banned for "hijacking a thread" that was about attacking my opinions and actions as if I was just trying to down Dew all the time. :facepalm: But the reality of it is that I was banned because I made Glupus butthurt, bruised his pride in front of everyone, and Tracky wanted to stop me from calling out the bullshit developers on his site pull all the time. It makes 'business' look bad. The big picture is that those mere two posts: me saying Dew should "kill himself" (in satiric quotes even), and then me calling Glupus a retard and pointing out his bad moderation decisions earned me a 6-month ban. A bit excessive, no? Perhaps that dude is just really sensitive, or it's simple censorship... which is dumb, because we all know I could easily just evade and make a new account every 3 minutes for the next two to three years if needed [reminiscent of Blizzhackers circa 06/07].

Sidebar: If you use public info provided by hackers to develop a hack and then sell it for an outrageous price, or you can't live up to what you promise your customers (or just straight up lie about stuff), then there's a problem and someone needs to address it. I'm not out to attack anyone. I'm not picking either side. I'm just informing potential victims that what they may choose to pay for is a load of BS. You should not use public information to develop a hack you plan to commercialize and profiteer from. Even if you provided credits (which is almost never the case) you should, at the very least, contact the original contributor and verify that it's okay first. This is, for the most part, the issue. It would all be a much smoother ride, less headaches, etc. if you just accepted donations in place of a required monetary payment. People WILL donate to you if your work and support is good. Again, my goal here is not to choose sides or single out anyone. Let us not forget my war with GhoztCraft over Jiggie's hack as well. The stuff from FOREVER ago that I doubt anyone reading this now even has knowledge of; the fact that StarCraft drophacks went from pay-hacks only to being a common public feature all because of me and xPoSing them on here after being fed-up with people trying to wrongly profiteer from them. As much as I hated publicizing such a malicious exploit, it was for the 'greater good' in my opinion. Nothing has changed on my part.

Back to WLM: I added Glupus and Tracky. Tracky chose to ignore me. I know this because I was made aware that he told Dew and long that I added him on MSN right after I did. My view of Tracky is slowly becoming a mirror to that of DUI_ from Battlehacks (referencing my previous post like this one). Does he really care about the quality of work he is allowing to be provided to his users? Allowing certain people to market their "private" hacks to his users while censoring 3rd-party pay-to-use hacks? (Yes.) Is he being extremely biased or turning cheek for the sake of content for traffic? Probably so since they censored my mentionings of GameThreat. So, he was ignoring my attempts to contact him on MSN, but was using Glupus as a proxy somewhat. I will also note at this point that I did see Tracky reading the thread before I even made a response. After I was banned, many members of 2csUG, Sheppard, and a few other well-knowns that hang around D3Scene were like "lolwut?".

So the convo with me and Glupus went like this (paraphrasing, but I'd be glad to post proof if prompted):

[I add Glupus@D3scene to Windows Live Messenger]
Glupus: Yes? Any complaints?


Me: No, just wanted to say sorry for calling you a retard.


Glupus: That's nice, but you were really mean, dude. :( But I guess that'll take some time off your ban.


Me: And I just wanted you to know that I LOOKED AT YOUR JOIN DATE, BRO.


Glupus: wat!


Me: Ok, I'll stop trollin', dawg.


Glupus: okay^_^


Me: But really, do you even have any idea what was going on in that thread or the drama in the SC2 Hacking forums?


Glupus: Uhhhmmm. Nope, none at all.


Me: Ok, well we'll just take your ignorance and set it aside. Let's just look at the facts. Yes, the first infraction was deserved, maybe even another just for calling you a retard, but to ban me for open criticism is not only in bad taste, but it IS retarded. Because on top of that, you still left the thread unlocked. Y u do dis?! Why don't you just save face by unbanning me, leaving two infractions, and closing the thread as it should have been after it started.


Glupus: Oh, we often leave threads unlocked to benefit us so we can ban people that we don't like and cause trouble when they respond.


Me: Oh, I see. Thanks for explaining. However, for an example, why is Vuno still not banned? I know you realize he's Dew and he was already banned and is now evading. His work is often still sub-par at this point and will probably get your users banned. If you guys keep proper usernotes and ban logs, check them. Or are you just going to be selective about who you ban or censor?


Glupus: Checking background.


Me: [Here I go into detail about Dew's past, my conflict with him, why he was banned from most sites including D3Scene, and that he was indeed back as "Vuno".]


Glupus: Come on? Do you think we're dumb?


Me: No, I think you're just desperate for content and will let things slide in order to gain positive image or anything that may generate traffic no matter what the cost. I also think you're a bunch of biased assholes.


Glupus: Not sure, SC2 isn't my scene, and I'm a clueless dickwad. [exaggeration, but it's true, bro]
Glupus: At least Tracky is being nice to you. He just lowered your ban time to 2 months. Have a nice day. [based on the convo between me and Glupus and also everyone bugging Tracky on MSN I presume]


Me: Ok, here's what I'll do for you. I can give you a better public maphack than Dew's.
[Of course, here I am referring to RiceCracker which would have been an epic amount of lulz & win had this actually happened, but I guess it was decided by the author for early release.]


Glupus: Tracky just lowered your ban time even further.
Glupus: Now I go to the pub. Have a nice day.

That's about it. While there was indeed a certain trolling genius behind handing Tracky RiceCracker if this plan had followed through, it unfortunately didn't occur. None the less, you can just laugh and pretend it did. *Dork_Rage- pats himself on the back.* Now, it was said that my ban date was lowered to 2 months, but after RiceCracker was posted, I checked again and my unban date is set for September. Hmm h3h3.

So I ask you a simple question: RiceCracker is a legitimate maphack. It certainly works better than some of the other maphacks posted - or even stickied - there, but why is it being censored? It is constantly being removed from the D3Scene StarCraft II Hacks forum. Although it is allegedly a cracked version of a paid hack (I have seen no definitive proof posted), I don't recall the previous paid stuff I've posted being censored...What's the deal? And boom, we're back to the opening statement. BUTT-BUDDIES. Of course, I could try to explain everything to the best of my knowledge on the situation (which is admittedly slim), but instead I decided to lurk and watch new posts since my ban so I could build up some content for this post. It didn't take long at all. Not even a few days. So, instead of that explanation, I'll just leave these screenshots here and let you make your own decisions. I expect things around there to loosen up as they are certainly well aware that I am making this post right now.

(Names crossed-out to protect identities. LoL~!, not rly.)

This guy wasn't infracted, but I was for telling Dew to satirically (it was in legit satire quotes, bro) "kill himself".

This guy is allowed to be critical with his critiques. It's cool, bro. Be selective. Me calling your GMod a retard was def "in a serious way."

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 - Tracky has no problem supporting long's hack, but no tolerance for any other paid hacks, or this "RiceCracker" for some reason.

Here you see Dew being sarcastic about LB Divinity.

WELL IT LOOKS LIKE THIS GUY FINALLY LEARNED HOW TO (SELECTIVELY) CLOSE THREADS BECAUSE OF SPAM.

Yes, isn't it amazingly incredible how much those dudes at Blizzard can be power-mongers, bro? Fuckin' lol'd.

The point is that it would almost seem as if Tracky is offering up his pool of users as potential customers for LB Divinity. You have to wonder why someone would do this... Are they just THAT BIG OF BUTT-BUDDIES, or is there some under-the-table events occurring? Hmmm... Regardless, it is quite clear that they support long's paid hack, but opposition or competition seems censored. You do the math, dudes. This is getting a bit more lengthy than I expected so I'll move on and perhaps add more/make edits later.

And to jump back to the GameThreat situation for sec: I did talk to DarthSlyGuy and he informed me that GameThreat is indeed returning. This time it will be under new and better management, be prepared for any legal threats, and take preemptive measures to deal with any such hypothetical situations. (I've also heard they are looking to "employ" some real hackers.) Sites like ValhallaLegends, DarkBlizz, or Blizzhackers are somewhat hard to come by in the Blizzard scene. Most of it is just people with no passion, no drive to actually learn rather than take the quickest route to a buggy release, and the sites are largely populated by kids just hitting puberty seeking easy money or attention while being spoon-fed by the former group. GameThreat certainly had a bit of talent behind the curtains previously, but it was lacking in other departments. I think new management and  broadened focus may be just what it needs.

I can honestly say that Blizzhackers is the one of the purist sites I've ever seen hit the scene. I can count the total amount on one hand. Not once has it ever been about making money and the site has banished and culled all such bullshit since it started while upholding extremely respectable standards for content delivery and free knowledge. And censorship, even on things against itself, has never occurred to my knowledge - sans obvious intolerable content. For those unfamiliar, let me drop a small portion of BH knowledge, son.

You may be familiar with Mousepad's Maphack. Who isn't that played Diablo II, right? Well, mousepad was an official "Blizzhacker" - a valiant title not distributed in a long, long while. When mousepad decided to sell his maphack, he opted for his own community, but Blizzhackers didn't like it. Blizzhackers cracked a fellow Blizzhacker's work. Should people be rewarded monetarily for their work? In some cases, sure, but I (we?) believe it should be donation-based. And it's guaranteed you will get donations if you do good work. Required payments only make you a huge target on many levels and leads to headaches. Are you more familiar with WarCraft III? Ok, let me make another namedrop: ZoiD - a previous BH admin who followed mousepad's trail and fabricated his own infamous zMap community after making a number of useful freeware hacks for Diablo II (zPickIt?). netter would be another good example (myD2, EasyMap).

I really do hope Diablo III can be a breath of life for BH, but with all the competition on the rise, I'm not sure if the Administration will be prepared enough for the launch. It's unfortunate that most people new to the Diablo series won't know the legacy of Blizzhackers, but I know the real devs remember where home is. Maybe we can all start fresh and drop all bad vibes/grunges and return the community to the prestige it once held (and still does in terms of the current Diablo series). Working together resulted in way more cool shit than warring. Warring is fun sometimes, but it doesn't generate anything more than lulz.

I honestly can't see why anyone would rather frequent boards like D2JSP and D3Scene where censorship is clearly a massive part of the propaganda and manipulation of members. I mean, other than the fact that some people obviously fit in at places like that -- thank God they do stay there. Is that D3Scene going to head to a state of D2JSP-esqueness? Let's hope not, but if it stays on the same trail I can certainly see it literally word-filtering all competition and autobanning people that post it or criticize.

To conclude: Go to Blizzhackers and check MY join date, bro. I know what the fuck I'M talking about.