Improved Anvil v5+ and BWL

[Daulmakan]

I find it funny that this whole thing started because they couldn't cover the costs of the server --which supposedly was superreliable, top of the art, etc.-- and they didn't want to change it, so they started asking for "donations" (the latter justification was for the 'privilege' of being "elite", but I've commented on that already). Now, by all indications, it seems they're moving to another, more affordable server and host, like The_Bigg and others suggested in the first place. Only they've managed to make a few bucks in the meantime.

 

As Baronius said, if you can profit from it, why not?

[Guest Guest]

I find it funny that this whole thing started because they couldn't cover the costs of the server --which supposedly was superreliable, top of the art, etc.-- and they didn't want to change it, so they started asking for "donations" (the latter justification was for the 'privilege' of being "elite", but I've commented on that already). Now, by all indications, it seems they're moving to another, more affordable server and host, like The_Bigg and others suggested in the first place. Only they've managed to make a few bucks in the meantime.

 

As Baronius said, if you can profit from it, why not?

 

Fail to see yours logic. Either it's reliable expensive & their demand's sincere, or server been more affordable all the time & donation's pure scam. But combination of both no sense to me. Heck, don't wanna defend fraudonius and his practices, just my 2 cents.

[Daulmakan]

Fail to see yours logic. Either it's reliable expensive & their demand's sincere, or server been more affordable all the time & donation's pure scam. But combination of both no sense to me. Heck, don't wanna defend fraudonius and his practices, just my 2 cents.

How can the "reason" for charging $ change from one day to another, and after a short while enact the move that would've allowed them to continue without charging $ in the first place?

 

So yeah, it's option n2: this has all been a huge scam (coupled with not-so veiled & anonymous threats about the other communities staying silent about this or Bioware wanting to shut down ALL sites).

[Guest Tomcat]

Just noticed the thread update. Never cared "black Wyrm donaton is all the scam". That's usual. The craptalk the moderadors allow hier, however, the most disgusting policy i've ever seen.

 

Used to be a (free) IA player, used to read this thread for information (FYI). Now i'm out. Oh, and my brother's wife is Muslim.

[Ardanis]

On a second thought, I see nothing wrong with closing it. It's been fun first pages, but after that the thread has degenerated to 'your mother'.

[Guest I am just a Guest]

Ehmmm just delete/edit racist comments and let this thread be, if you close it, another one will pop up. It's much easier if we keep things in one place . Just because some guests are overly excited to express their feelings, doesn't warrant to close this thread.

[Aristide]

Agreed. My vote goes for closing too. What needed to be told was already told.

 

~Aristide

[Guest Isleepwithgoatsyeah]

Agreed. My vote goes for closing too. What needed to be told was already told.

 

~Aristide

 

My vote goes for you taking a hike out of this thread. Please stay out and have a nice day. Thank you.

[Ipsy]

This is getting ridiculous. I'd intended to stay out of this, but this thread has gone from intelligent discussion of Improved Anvil to pointless and offensive ethnic and racial slurs.

 

@ Tomcat: The moderators allow people to speak their minds. Threads do get locked, generally when they reach about this level.

 

Ardanis, Nominar and Aristides are right. Just let this thread *die* already. At this point it's practically a mercy killing.

[Guest Matti]

intelligent discussion of Improved Anvil

 

[geh4th]

Okay, I've held my tongue long enough. It's time to speak up.

 

My user name is geh4th on both BWL and G3. I am the guy that Temujin referred to earlier in this thread as having had a fight with Baronius. I was a member of Sikret's testing team for Improved Anvil v6.

 

I can confirm the information posted by Temujin is essentially true. I want to make it clear, though, that it's BARONIUS whom I have a big problem with, not Sikret. It's true that Sikret and I have what one might call "creative differences" over the direction that Improved Anvil is moving, but that is only marginally a contributing factor in the issue between "Der Fuhrer" of BWL and myself.

 

Indeed, the cause of MY problems with Baronius - a.k.a. "Der Fuhrer" - was that he resorted to personal attacks against me in an argument, and slurs against Americans in general. I reacted very harshly, but I was deliberately provoked and was fully justified in doing so.

 

Before I move on, I must express my total disgust over the use of racial and religious slurs in this forum. It is a terrible discredit to Gibberlings3 that you - whomever you are, you coward - will insult people for no cause while hiding behind the shield of a "guest" logon. Pathetic. Please take your bigotry someplace else, it doesn't belong in this sort of forum.

 

Where Sikret lives is irrelevant, and is information that should never have been released without his expressed consent. Furthermore, his religion (I've known him for several years and NEVER ONCE asked him about it) is even more irrelevant. It's none of our business. This is a GAME, people. Take your politics elsewhere.

 

Never - not even once - did I ever cross the line and bring politics, religion, or ethnicity into the discussion. I knew where Sikret was from (not the most beloved place on Earth to Americans, as you can see), but never said anything about it or attempted to use it against him. As I said, I don't even know - and don't even CARE - what religious faith he follows. It's not my business.

 

As for the issue between myself and Baronius: He went too far and did exactly what I will NOT do. He did resort to politicking and anti-American rhetoric in his attacks against me. He thinks he was defending Sikret from me (I was berating Sikret for his poor interpersonal skills, which has led to his public ridicule in other forums), but Baronius lost sight of the fact - or never actually comprehended (or cared) - that my discussions with Sikret regarding Improved Anvil are NONE of his affair. The idiot believes that he has the right to stick his nose into someone else's discussion simply because he "rules" BWL. Well, I told him what to do with it.

 

How did this get to G3? Well, frankly, it wasn't priveleged information. I talked. I talked a lot, to a lot of people. I told many of my friends exactly what had happened and what was said. This may have happened in the Improved Anvil workroom, but my talking openly with friends about the fact that there was a fight is not in ANY way a release of "confidential Improved Anvil content". I have v6 in my possession, all of it's documentation, and insider knowledge of what happens in the testing forum, but I haven't released ANY of it. My problems are with Baronius, not with Sikret.

 

Let me be clear: I will NEVER have any dealings with Baronius again. I consider him a scam-artist and a con-man. I am FIRMLY convinced that he is attempting to fleece BWL members and is not using the "donations" for server support as he promises. I consider the "required donation" system on BlackWyrmLair to be a (thinly) veiled attempt for Baronius to make money off of his hobby (and many of you have quoted him saying so.) I protested this policy when it was implemented (but of course we testers weren't asked for our opinion.) It was implemented with very little warning and surprised most BWL users, some of whom have previously spoken out about it here on G3. Testers were given "forum access", the equivalent of the $6 membership, but I didn't have access to the so-called "protected" forum reserved for $30 memberships. IA v6 was released only to members of this forum. Iin other words, if you didn't line Baronius' pocket with $30 or more, you can't have v6. Yet. Somehow I doubt that this will ever change.

 

Baronius seems to have only one desire: power over people. He fancies himself a dictator over his little realm that is BWL. He loves to wield the power to ban a user at his whim. His policies and practices when dealing with people are very similar to... Facism.

 

Excerpts from a definition of Facism: "Fascists seek to organize a nation according to corporatist perspectives, values, and systems, including the political system and the economy. Fascists believe that a nation is an organic community that requires strong leadership, singular collective identity, and the will and ability to commit violence and wage war in order to keep the nation strong. Viewing the nation as an integrated collective community, they see pluralism as a dysfunctional aspect of society, and justify a totalitarian state as a means to represent the nation in its entirety. Fascists reject and resist the autonomy of cultural or ethnic groups who are not considered part of the fascists' nation and who refuse to assimilate or are unable to be assimilated. They consider attempts to create such autonomy as an affront and a threat to the nation. Fascist governments forbid and suppress opposition to the fascist state and the fascist movement."

 

Baronius believes that BWL (his "nation") is at war with the entirety of the BG2 modding community. He believes in strong leadership (himself), a singular collective identity (his "elitists"), and has the will and ability to commit violence (in a virtual sense, i.e. the banning of members). He attacks other cultural and ethnic groups (In general, other modding forums such as G3, and specifically Americans my case.) He believes that he and his followers are better and smarter than everyone around them (the "master race" mentality). Any disrespect or failure to agree with him is considered and affront and is typically dealt with via banning (or threats thereof.) He believes in tight control of information (such as the elite support forum), forbidding and suppressing all who oppose him by deleting posts and topics to prevent any written or vocal criticism from being on permanent record.

 

Am I name-calling when I refer to Baronius as a Facist or as "Der Fuhrer?" Not in my opinion. It's an analysis of his way of doing things. If Baronius offended by it, too bad (it's intentional, anyhow.) If anyone else is offended by the Facist references, I apologize. I'm not calling him a Nazi or accusing him of supporting their agenda; I'm saying his STYLE resembles this political ideology. It's uncanny. And I won't tolerate being a member of such a society.

 

The fight we had in the testing forum involved Baronius saying insulting and derogatory comments about me and my country (the USA). I was initially very reasonable, politely advising him that I had no interest in his opinions and insisting that he stop posting remarks that had to do with me. He ignored me. I told him again - more pointedly - to butt out. He saw this as me "losing" and him "winning" the argument, which fueled his fire. He continued, his rhetoric rising to a fevered pitch. It was clear (later, anyhow) that he was deliberately trying to push me over the edge, and ultimately, it worked. I finally "broke" and told Baronius "f**k you" in 6-inch high bold red letters. And I meant it. He started the fight, and I told him what I think about him. I have not since changed my mind.

 

Following that, he continued with his "victory celebration" for some time (I think of the photos of Hitler dancing that little jig he did when Paris fell) but then - probably at someone else's urging - he backed off and issued a pseudo-apology, all the while expounding endlessly on why his insults weren't really insults and at the same time still being insulting. He demanded an apology from me for using profanity on "his" forum. I issued an apology to my fellow testing forum members, sincerely regretting that they had to see in semi-public something that I should have said in private, but I didn't make ANY apology to Baronius. I was accused of "evading" it. I didn't "evade" anything: I deliberately left him out because I didn't then and don't now have ANY intention of apologizing to him. Period, exclaimation point.

 

As for Sikret...sadly, he has apparently concluded that I am now a "bad guy". Apparently you're either "with him" or "against him", there's no middle ground. Since I'm most definitely "against" Baronius, I'm apparently now on the wrong side of that line drawn in the sand. Furthermore, I refused to back down on the frequent occasions that he needed to be challenged over goings-on within the mod. I am very outspoken and will not "sit down and shut up" when told to. Sikret claims designer privelege in what goes into his mod, which is his right - but I felt that as a tester it was my OBLIGATION to tell him when I thought something was being mishandled. There are many such instances from my perspective. I wasn't alone amongst the testing team in feeling this way, but I was certainly the most vocal.

 

I had hoped that Sikret would stand up to Baronius for what is right and back me up, but I fear that Baronius has a very high level of control over Sikret. It's essentially blackmail. After all, if Sikret angers "Der Fuhrer" and gets himself banned, what internet forum would he be able to turn to for the hosting of Improved Anvil? I can't think of any; he's burned a whole lot of bridges in his past. I think this HAS to be the reason, because Sikret is a very intelligent person and it would take a complete fool to think that what Baronius is doing with BWL is okay by anyone's standards.

 

Since this info went public on G3, I've been removed from the testing team (with no prior warning, nor any contact/explanation since) but I wasn't "banned" from BWL. Yet. (I figure this post will get me banned by "Der Fuhrer" if nothing else ever did.)

 

I don't see any need to close this thread. There needs to be a place SOMEWHERE in the BG2 community where people can oppose those who do wrong to others. I'd just prefer for it to contain constructive posts and not slurs. Even Temujin - who's no stranger to attacking people (Baronius and Sikret, anyhow) has a point behind his words, whether the reader agrees or not. I just hope that the people that can't offer a meaningful contribution will go someplace else.

[lroumen]

Get4th:

That is a very insightful post.

I remember some of your posts at BWL well as civilized and informative. I argee to large portions of your post about not caring where anyone lives or what religion they practice. It is regretful that things like this keep happening, also that this particular clash has happened between you and Baronius (regardless of who is in their right and who thinks what of the other).

I cannot judge these events for there are two versions and here we read yours. Neither do I feel the need to pass any judgement here.

 

General response:

What I meanly feel now is that it is very regretful that these type of posts are necessary and IA is kept being dragged into a discussion about Sikret and Baronius.

I prefer a mod discussion to be about the mod and its content. I find this particular mod and the effort gone into its creation quite good, eventhough I have some qualms with the manner of how certain things are implemented. Why does the mod-maker and acquaintances have to be dragged into the discussion?

[coaster]

Perhaps because this particular mod maker has gone out of his way to criticise other mods and modders? Things like the accusations of theft levelled at the Item Randomizer mod (when as others have pointed out, item randomization was used by Wes's IWD2 Ease of Use mod before it was used in Improved Anvil), heavy and not-very-constructive criticism of G3 Fixpack and its authors, some rather impolite criticism of SCS2 and the author, constantly saying that incompatibility with IA was the fault of other mods (and modders) rather than IA...and so on.

 

Granted, the reply to all this perhaps ought to be dignified silence rather than responding in kind, but I understand why people do it (although the racism is pretty contemptible and I think the thread should be edited to remove this kind of crap).

[lroumen]

Coaster, you are fully correct of course. Me, I'm just I'm hoping for the dignified silence.

[the bigg]

I think the thread should be edited to remove this kind of crap

In the words of CamDawg:

 

Because when someone makes him/herself a goat or a hero with their statements, the statements remain for the world to see. I don't personally approve of how bigg is expressing himself, but it's going to remain there forever so that guests and members can read his statements and judge his behavior for themselves. G3 is neither a nanny state nor a censor.