TSR Myths and Lies

Welcome to all the new readers who have found their way here after ‘googling’ names and phrases found on TSR’s ’statement’ Listed below are the myths, lies and truths of that statement.

TSR Lie: TSR has been on the receiving end of countless slur campaigns recently…. actually going back quite some time now, since the establishment of the Pirate site and the rise of Coconut. We haven’t been very public about our opinion of all this and haven’t been running around denying each and every lie because to be frank, it would be fruitless in many cases…
The Fact: …because the evidence is indisputable.

TSR Lie: ..But the recent accusation that TSR was responsible for gaining unauthorized access to MTS2 and deleting content [ Of a free artist who caught Shakeshaft stealing her  work and selling it ] is an accusation too far!
The Fact: TSR owner, Thomas got caught red handed, and they realize if they do not do something quick, their future bank statements will be written on the back of a postage stamp.

TSR Lie: So, whether you as a reader believe any of what we are about to say or not, this is our response. If you have no intention of believing it because you are on the Pirate bandwagon then you are wasting your time continuing, nothing we say is likely to change your mind ..
The Fact: ..TSR know these people will have either seen proof or experienced it themselves.

TSR Lie: But if you are actually in two minds, or have the sense to see that these constant attacks on TSR must have a deeper, underpinning issue,
The Fact: TSR know these people can still be manipulated.

Myth: Paysites are Legal

TSR Lie: The Pirates want the pay content but they don’t want to have to pay for it. It’s in their nature. Read their forums, they openly pirate Expansion Packs and they intend to do the same with Sims 3….
The Fact:  ‘Pirates’, as I am aware, do not pirate expansion packs or any software. This was a false rumor created by TSR to discredit those who speak out about TSR’s illegal use of EA products and tools. However taking a mesh from an expansion pack, converting it to, for example, elder, adult or teen and then selling it, is piracy, the same applies to any manipulated mesh that came with the sims games and expansions. This is on par with changing the fonts that come with Windows and selling the whole Windows product on your site, or cutting a scene from a blockbuster movie and having it up for sale as download on your site.  Pirates have never SOLD any pirated products, that goes against their whole core beliefs, TSR however make a lucrative business out of manipulating EA owned meshes and re-selling them against the EULA. Does the fact that most of the FA’s at TSR share the same activation code for milkshape 3D and other ( ‘pay for’ ) design software in the FA forum also not constitute to piracy? Posting on the BBS requires a product code, you see many, many P.M.B.D members posting there, not so many TSR FA’s though..

TSR Lie: They [the pirates] hide behind an Asian host because they know that what they are doing is wrong and that any Western host would remove them (that used to be a brag on the home page).
The Fact: TSR hides behind both their own hosting and their own ISP, get the picture? Of course P.M.B.D has to be somewhere secure, TSR will not even let my blog stay up!

TSR Lie: They [the pirates] hide behind the game EULA which originally stated “non commercial use”.
The Fact: It still does.

TSR Lie: This is the game EULA and does not relate to custom content tools which have their own EULA.
The Fact: This EULA also appears in bodyshop, a custom content tool.

TSR Lie: EA have been quite clear that they have no objection to fansites selling custom content.
The Fact: EA legal have never clarified the issue, and the original EULA still stands.

TSR Lie: Many of these sites have been invited to events at EA and are wholeheartedly supported by them.
The Fact: ..and some rival free content fansites were not invited due to smear campaign ‘information’ links provided to them by Tom, Steve and ‘associates’

TSR Lie: Paysites are not illegal, otherwise EA would have done something to stop them
The Fact: The booty is not illegal, otherwise EA would have done something to stop it.

TSR Lie: This is from the official statement composed by EA Legal (not a forum moderator as the Pirates like to claim)..
The Fact: Maxoid Drea is a forum moderator, and has never been part of EA Legal in any shape or form.

TSR Lie: as posted by EA recently:…”Whether players choose to share their original artistic creations with the community is up to them
The Fact: ‘Original artistic creations’ – not pirated and altered meshes from the sims game and its expansions, not stolen designs from real life designers, not stolen images from photographers, not stolen paintings from old masters, not stolen free content from MTS2 artists.

TSR Twist: These artists set their own terms for how they want to share their talents with the community at large. Those terms should be respected by other players.”
The Question: So this means that TSR will respect all artists rights to remove their own original artistic creations from TSR if they do not wish them to be there?

TSR Question: This is from the company that hold all rights to Sims game code. [ But not their own meshes? ] Does that read that Paysites are illegal to you?
The Answer: This is on a forum BBS, not posted by EA Legal and TSR still ignore it in the same way the ignore the actual EULA, so YES on that.

TSR Lie: Piracy is theft. Theft is illegal, selling CC for The Sims games clearly isn’t!
The Observation: TSR have just contradicted themselves there.

Fact: TSR shares PayPal information

TSR Lie: Initially it was claimed that TSR and other Paysites shared subscriber’s credit card details between themselves to create bogus accounts and take payments for them without the card owner knowing. When we pointed out that PayPal handles the transaction and the service provider never sees credit card numbers, that part of the accusation got deleted because it was realised for once, that someone making something up didn’t actually constitute a fact.
The Fact: It was proven that TSR were sharing paypal and personal details of users they suspected ( without proof ) of legally sharing content they had paid for. No retractions or deletions have ever been made to this or to any entry in the blog.

TSR Admission ( as quoted from Steve ) The rest of the accusation came from a screenshot of an internal TSR discussion.
The Contradiction: Steve later says in the same statement that the screencaps were a ‘fake’ so which is it Steve?

TSR Lie: It contained around a dozen names and addresses taken from our TSR member database that members had provided on signup.
The Truth: Viewers may like to count for themselves if they have the patience to crawl through the 459 post thread, split into 10 parts. One also contained a home address and telephone number, and one FA urged the others to make abusive phone calls to the victim. This victim was suspected of stealing from a TSR FA. Would TSR sanction the same punishment to their thieving FA, Shakeshaft, who was recently caught stealing and selling a free artists creations?

TSR Lie: Nothing from PayPal.
The Truth: This was both confirmed and bragged about by a TSR FA

TSR Lie: It was just assumed that’s where it came from by someone not knowing that we actually take that information from members who offer it.
The Truth: Members do not know the half of what information TSR takes from them, including their passwords.

TSR Statement: So, are we allowed to have private discussions as staff? Yes, of course we are!
Observation: Legal discussions yes, although if TSR is just an innocent fan site as they claim, what could they be hiding to the extent they have all FA’s sign a NDA ( non disclosure agreement ) with the threat of prosecution if they breath a word of what they see? although this NDA is not actually legally binding and does not apply to Atwa.

TSR Lie: Did we share that information publicly? No
The Truth: It was shared with all current, and some former FA’s, all staff, all mods, other website owners and Atwa, who shared it with everyone she knows, who then shared with people they know and it goes on.. The amount of people who saw the unblurred data published on TSR could amount in the hundreds if not more.

TSR Statement: You can thank Coconut for that, for half-heartedly blurring a little bit of data and then posting it for all to see
Acknowledgement : Thankyou Steve, Unlike TSR I believe that the personal data of innocent people should be blurred.

TSR Part Truth: ..This information was obtained unlawfully..
The Facts: Obtained unlawfully by TSR, obtained lawfully by Coconut

TSR Sillyness: ..without the permission of TSR, and distributed without permission also.
The Facts: I do not need TSR’s permission to partly distribute any information that does not belong to TSR and was illegally gained by TSR. TSR does not own any of the paypal data, names, emails phone numbers or home address they posted, nor did they notify or ask the owners permission to freely distribute their unblurred personal data. For TSR to state I need TSRs permission to expose this is ludicrous but amusing.

TSR Lie: TSR has never and will never share PayPal information. We don’t even use it ourselves
The Truth: They did, and it was proven they did. ( Not that it is even relevant, but they also DO use paypal themselves, TSR even pays it’s FA’s via Paypal! )

Fact: TSR place trojans in their downloads to gain information

TSR Story: In the early days of the Pirates and pay content file sharing, we put watermarks on the files at the point of downloading.
The Truth: Another name for their ‘watermark’ would be TROJAN.

TSR Lie: This simply applied the TSR user ID, IP and time/date to the .package file of the downloader, so that we could take the files from the booty and see which user shared it. This was done server side, our end. It gathered no information about the user once they downloaded that file. This hardly constitutes a Trojan or virus.
The Truth: It did a lot more than that, see what their own FA’s had to say about that, and how Black Garden even revealed how the trojans were coded to crash users games, and why.

TSR Lie: TSR, as a professional business..
The truth: So is the mafia.

TSR Lie: …has no desire to add malware to its downloads and takes no part in such activities.
The Truth: TSR has put malware in it’s downloads for years, and continues to update the coding in it. TSR FA’s also plan and admit preforming DDos attacks on rival sites and openly suggest sending them a virus and a ‘ping of death’ We have proof of this.

TSR Lie: The Pirates didn’t like that we were on to them so cooked up this story because at the time they didn’t know how we were catching them.
The truth: Did the pirates also put TSR FA’s up to admitting about the trojans, DDos attacks and everything else? I think not.

TSR Statement: They hated it even more when they found we used their own shared files against them!
Observation: No shit Sherlock. Trojans coded to crash games and gather personal information are bad, so no one should actually enjoy them.

TSR Lie: Of course they now know, but wont retract their claim because it adds too much value to their smear campaign.
The truth: They will not retract their claim because it is the truth, has been proven to be the truth, and it continues to happen.

FACT: TSR attacks other sites and tries to take them down

TSR Lie: The owner of Reflexsims approached Thomas privately about the growing piracy situation, asking for advice on how to deal with it. Thomas’ first advice was, quote: “you need to stop allowing them to trash paysites in bigforums such as yours”. She tried just this and in return got kicked out of the very forum she started! What happened after this had nothing to do with Thomas nor TSR – the person she gave the forum to a long time ago was the person who pulled the plug on the forum as a courtesy towards the previous owner. To try and blame TSR for this, Coconut faked a photoshopped “forum post” where Thomas seemingly does a countdown for the forum to go down
The Truth: The screencap, like all the others, is 100% genuine. The post was deleted after it was screencapped, and now TSR are trying to pretend it never existed.

TSR Statement: It’s that easy to manipulate people into believing something! (see screenshot section at bottom)
Observation: TSR know this only too well, they have been manipulating money from the unsuspecting community for years, which is the ultimate purpose of their whole ’statement charade’

FACT: TSR hacked an account on MTS2 and deleted content

TSR story: Delphy initially accused Thomas of gaining unauthorized access to an account on MTS2 and deleting content. This was based on 2 IP addresses and screenshots were posted as “conclusive evidence”, claiming that they are Thomas. In fact, both these addresses are used by ‘Hide my IP’ cloaking software and also appear in TSR’s member database hundreds of times, over several accounts. An account on TSR used those same IP’s the same day on TSR using the same browser details as the screenshots posted by Delphy on MTS2, we know that these are cloaked IP’s and are not enough to accuse anyone. After several discussions and cooperation between our sites, Delphy is no longer sure that TSR was involved and has retracted his allegation. We continue to investigate the source of the attacks on both our sites.

The truth: Shakeshaft was caught stealing a mesh from a MTS2 artist, TSR had a chat meeting to discuss how they were going to discredit this member. Hours later the artists account on MTS2 was ‘hacked’ the evidence removed and her policy changed. Delphy noted the same IP that had logged into her account to do the dirty deed, was also connected to another account, that account was called hamillton, The account was verified as belonging to Thomas from TSR. Some IPs on that account traced to Tom, some were traced to a proxy server that has indisputably been used by both Tom and Atwa numerous times. This proxy programme is a pay service and was bought by TSR for use by Tom and Atwa, Atwa admitted this on a non sims related Swedish board she administrates. Delphy retracted his allegation while he investigated further, because the ‘user agent’ differed on the proxied IP to that of the un proxied IP of Thomas. TSR continually, and too obviously, distract all other evidence and questions and refer back to the ‘user agent’.  It has since been proven without a doubt that a user agent can be faked, changed or spoofed as easily as a proxy. Most proxies carry the ability to spoof your user agent, as do plug ins for firefox, and IE which is available at microsoft. Delphy is still investigating and a worried TSR ( Including Atwa ) have clearly injected themselves into his investigation, with offers of  ‘help’

TSR Lie: TSR had nothing to do with content being deleted from MTS2.
The truth: All evidence, not provided, fed back or tampered with by TSR points to the fact they did.

TSR Lie: We have had someone gain access to FA accounts and delete their content several times too (fruitless, as we just restore them from backups). We didn’t go accusing anyone of it even though we have a pretty good idea who is behind it.
The truth: TSR have not been hacked. This was a story they hastily put forward to explain how the MTS2 hacker must have gained both Toms and the hacked MTS2 artists password. When this provoked more questions such as TSRs lack of password encryption, and why the ‘hacker’ did not do any damage after gaining Toms TSR pass, the story was played down and changed an FA account only hack. All the FA’s supposedly affected were in fact either non updating or retired, the attack made at TSRs quietest time and no damage was actually done. The hacked artist is not and never has been an FA at TSR, so their whole password hack claim has just been refuted by themselves, leaving all the questions still unanswered, but cleverly deflected.

TSR Lie: We don’t play offensively, we aren’t out to damage the Sims community,
The truth: TSR hack, engineer DDos attacks, infect with trojans, share paypal and personal data, expose porn to minors, lie, cheat and steal. What part of any of that does not damage the community?

TSR Lie: we try and keep ourselves to ourselves and act professionally!
The truth: Try saying that with a straight face. – See you can not.

TSR TRUTH: We will continue to work with MTS2 to resolve this if we can.
Observation: Like any criminal who injects themselves into the investigation of their own crimes, TSR now have first hand knowledge of the investigation, giving them the opportunity to gain database ‘evidence’ supplied to them by Delphy, and they return the same evidence back to him as if they too have found it on their own database, and voila! it seems they were both hacked by the same person or persons. It also gives them the opportunity to ask for info they need as part of their ‘research’, If Delphy has the info, they have gained it for their own needs. If Delphy does not have the info, they know they can supply him fake info and he would never know.

Myth?: TSR’s security breach has compromised everyone’s account and identity
Fact: This is actually true, as there was no security breach, however TSR’s own access to an unencrypted database with your passwords on it, is another matter.

TSR Story: This is the newest one, and a direct result from my chat with Delphy…
Fact: That is right TSR, blame him! There is always somewhere else to lay the blame for your mistakes.

TSR Story ..He informed his community that TSR was subject to a security breach early this year. He doesn’t know the details….
Fact: And he never will until TSR decide which story to tell him.

TSR Story:….and never actually claimed to in his post, but it has been twisted and turned into the “fact” that all TSR member accounts had been compromised and that TSR did nothing to inform or protect them. Its now even suggested that subscribers credit card details are included.
Fact: TSR keep changing and twisting their own story as they dig bigger and deeper holes for themselves

TSR Story: The only accounts affected were FA and staff accounts. All FA passwords were immediately changed by us
Question: So how does this relate to how the hacker gained the passwords for accounts used on MTS2? None of them are or were a TSR FA. Remember the reasons why TSR offered up the ‘hacking’ story in the first place?, it was to account for how the hacker gained those passwords.

TSR Story: No user accounts were compromised and therefore no announcement was necessary.
Fact: No accounts were compromised by any outsider, and TSR are not going to announce to you they are reading your passwords.

TSR Story: We know this because of the information that was obtained. Nobody’s credit card details are at risk because, wait for the shock…. we don’t get credit card details from our “secure payment service provider” (the clue is in the name).
Fact: TSR often make up stories about themselves, so that they can discredit them, and hope this also discredits the truth.

TSR Boast: TSR is “in bed” with EA and have some kind of business relationship

The Boast: TSR has been invited to all of the fansite events at EA in Redwood Shores and on the odd occasion, to other events and meetings too. We have a great working relationship with EA, as do all the other sites that regularly get invited to these events, TSR is not the only one! I can’t explain why we get along so well, but I can guess that it’s because for the past 9+ years we have encouraged and supported the Sims community to grow, we have supported EA in what they do as any fansite does, and we act professionally in what we do.
Fact: Steve can not help himself, give him a platform and he has to boast about TSR’s relationship with EA, even when the whole purpose of the paragraph was to deny it!

Boast: We don’t allow bashing in our forums,
Fact: In the Public forums, no, they do not allow the truth, questions, criticism, complaints or even suggestions just happy happy posts from happy happy paying customers, until those customers are not so happy, then the sharks attack in the private forums.

Boast: we don’t have sick game hacks in our databases..
Fact: Just porn, and sick members openly advertising to date children in their profiles.

Boast: .. and we are enthusiastic about the game and custom content. Like all those other sites that get invited back, we are a fansite supporting The Sims games. That’s all.
Fact:  TSR are only enthusiastic about the sims as a business venture, they are not a fansite, the owners do not even make content themselves, TSR are fans for the money. That is all.

So what about this “coconut”?

TSR TRUTH: Someone who attacks TSR for being dishonest and being involved in shady activities.
Acknowledgement: correct!

TSR Lies: Someone who, through unethical and probably illegal means, gains access to areas of our site where they should not have been
The Truth: All information is gathered legally, I have been no where where I should not have been at anytime.

TSR Accusation: …(and others as it may turn out),
The Truth: a false, but not unexpected claim from TSR

TSR Lies: who reads people private emails right off their mail server,
The Truth:  I read all mails right off my own mail server, whether sent direct or forwarded legally from people who have recieved them. with a small exception of screencaps submitted through the blog, which I read through a public image server. I thought he said all the mails were fake? but now I am illegally reading them? It can not be both, make up your mind which lie do you wish to circulate?

TSR Lies: who posted our private, internal discussions publicly, who create fake so called “screenshots” in Photoshop to spread lies,
Question: Which is it? yet another huge contradiction of his own story all in the same sentence.

TSR Lies: who turns their own assumptions into “facts” for their own satisfaction…
The Truth:  TSR make the facts, I just report them.

TSR Lies: someone who themselves does all the things they accuse TSR of!
The Truth: I have no pirated EA products on my site nor on my computer therefor I can not make money from them, I have no downloads, therefor I can not put trojans into them, I have no paypal button, therefor I can not share any details, I have never DDos’ed, hacked or sent a virus to anyone, I have no membership requirement therefor I have no passwords to read. I have no money empire to protect, therefor I do not need to go to illegal means to protect it. How are we alike?

TSR Lies: They even have to hide now behind the Pirates dodgy hosting because they have been kicked out from all the legitimate blog hosts they ever used for breaking their terms of use.
The Truth: TSR unable to DDos or hack my Live Journal sites, resorted to making false claims such as the ones seen in this ’statement’ in order to file false TOU reports. TSR hides behind their own private host an ISP because they are illegal.  P.M.B.D hides behind their Asian host because they are a target for TSR.

TSR Question: is this someone acting in the best interest of the Sims community?
Question : Is this someone acting against the best interest of the Sims community?

TSR Lies: If our information is correct we actually know who she is,
The Truth: No they do not.

TSR Lies: ..and given that she once wanted desperately to be an FA at TSR but didn’t get it, we think it explains quite a lot about her bitterness towards us, don’t you?
The Truth: Ignoring the clear information gathering trap and without commenting on my actual status/position within TSR, I can say this is incorrect, but if this were true, you would have to ask them why they allow access to their shared paypal thread to failed FA’s in addition to current and former FA’s?

TSR Lies: To demonstrate how easy it is to create a fake screenshot, take a look at this update from Coconut that was up for an hour and then removed (or was it?). This goes to show how much you can trust her “facts” and “inside intel” not to mention her “screencaps”. Click on screenshot below for a larger image.
The Truth: This obviously faked screencap by TSR goes to show extraordinary and unprofessional lengths TSR will go to discredit anyone speaking against them. It also demonstrates the lies and the words they will put into someones mouth. This is a little like changing someones TOU at MTS2 do you not think?

What about TSR now and in the future?

TSR Lies: TSR is a professionally managed organisation.
The Truth: There goes that straight face again Steve

TSR Statement: It has been owned and managed by the same staff for almost 10 years. We have been around longer than any other Sims site and we have seen it all in this community. And now, enough is enough.
The Truth: so now is the time to kill the competition and the opposition?

TSR Statement: We will defend ourselves against this barrage of attacks, abuse and insults.
The Truth: They will attempt to lie their way out of this. Exposure damages subscriptions.

TSR Statement: We will also continue to do what we do.
The Truth: Secure your websites people!

TSR Statement: We won’t be beaten down by the bully element in this community who brag about their achievements of having Sims sites closed down with their accumulative actions.
The Truth: See TSR’s own thread, where they chant ‘another one bites the dust’ and revel in the downfall of other sim fan sites.

TSR Statement: Bullies are the lowest of the low, and we don’t think they have a place in a Sims game playing community!
The Truth: By ‘bullies’, TSR is talking about anyone who speaks or competes against them. They will do anything to destroy ‘them’ because for TSR there is only a place for one website in the Sims game playing community! Aside from all the illegal methods TSR use to damage the ‘game playing’ community, How often do TSR  encourage their own members to actually ‘play’ the game? TSR are so intense with their ever growing demands for more content to be produced, any of their artists who take a timeout to play the game instead of working 24/7 to make money for T$R, are fired or demoted.

TSR Statement: We do, and we aren’t going anywhere!
The Truth: And neither am I. TSR will stick around for as long as the money does, and they do not care what they have to do to keep that money rolling in.

EDIT: Forgot to say -

SHAKESHAFT IS A THIEF!