Just a note…this post has nothing to do with the legality of Private RO Servers, though it slightly starts that way. Please ignore that part. This post has everything to do with art theft.

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Private servers have been seen by non-supporters as thieves of the game Ragnarok Online. While yes, private servers are running against the terms of the game’s creators, they are not taking credit for the game which Gravity owns. Most servers state that the game is copyrighted by the proper people. I do not feel this is stealing, just running the game illegally. All content has been gained legally. It is the way it is used that is illegal.A private server in many cases, or at least mine and some other small customized servers, is more similar to fan art than theft. The software we use is an emulation, not the real thing. The client side content is available straight from the official website of the game. I make custom content for the server for fun (and usually in the form of sprite/graphic art).I make nor receive money from the server I run with my boyfriend. Those who do make money I feel are real thieves. They are selling property which is not their own. Many of them also sell the custom sprites made by private server members (and in cases like this, they often take credit for the hard work of others because not everyone is familiar with unofficial work). It’s not fun to have your work ripped off and sold. I feel this about any private party or company alike.

Theft is a big issue in the private server world, unfortunately. I have seen many servers who have ripped my server’s exclusive content and claimed they made it, edited it to their liking, sold it, etc. Fortunately, all these people tend to be little kids who have no lives.

But what happens when the thievery is coming from a company? LevelUp! Games is the company licensed to run the official Ragnarok Online server of the Philippines. To me they always seemed like a private server turned official by paying a butt-load of cash. Their site is very unprofessional looking compared to the other countries. Anyway, that’s not important. Let’s stop the rambling.

Philippines Ragnarok Online has blatantly stolen from private artists! Please, look at this image:

The bottom row shows the original sprites made by private artists. They have been around since before I started sprite art, over 3 years ago. These “official” sprites have only been added this year.

Yes, there are differences, but not near enough. The cat is fully ripped off. They animated the headgear but the art is not theirs. The dark helmet with wings, only the wings have been changed. The bunny hat, well the ears are different, but there was a custom version that looked exactly like the official one (I was just not able to get an image). But even so if you look at the hat, ribbon, and flower, they are the same pixels. The horns, again I was unable to get a picture of the original custom sprite, but was able to get an image of the NPC wearing the horns.

Gravity has been known to use private servers for ideas. Many of their sprite ideas are quite similar to custom sprites that have been out for many years. I praise them for that. There is nothing better than going to your fan base, including those who are illegally running your game, and getting ideas (practically suggestions) from them. But this is absurd! I do not blame Gravity. They may have no idea this has happened. I would be interested to hear their story, though.

Now, if they had had permission from the artists, and given them the credit for the art, it would not be a problem. Maybe even pay the artist for their hard work, because now they are selling them in their online shop! http://levelupgames.ph/newhgear/newhgear.html

None of these works of art are mine. If they had taken my original work (not my edits of their work, but my original stuff) I would certainly be contacting them. I wouldn’t mind them using it, but I’d want some kinda of compensation you know ;p But I think it would be awesome to see my work in the official version of such a popular game!

But what do you do when a company is blatantly stealing from artists?? How can you sue someone who you have been illegally running a copy of their game? Even many members of the official server have recognized those as private sprites!

At WWU, there is a lack of information for new students, particularly transfer students. Transferring to the university has been quite a roller coaster. Keep in mind I don’t care for many roller coasters, I tend to get sick. There have been several issues, admittedly, not all with the college itself (Chase is a horrible place to get a student loan).

My two biggest complaints here are the Parking and Residences departments. They are the people I’ve had the most issues dealing with.

As for housing, the whole process has been consufing (<- enough to turn me partially dyslexic apparently). It starts at the point where you apply to the college. Apparently, your application date has a big say in your housing status. You see, no one told me this, so even though I applied for housing a couple months before the deadline, I was placed on a waiting list.

Why should my later application date to the college decide that I don’t get the housing I want? What if I had been a student who had no choice but to apply last minute, but did everything else way before their deadlines? Everything should be separate. If I applied for housing before everyone, I should get first pick, not the other way around. Or perhaps a note on the college application would help, saying that your app will effect every other aspect of your college experience. The system is highly unfair. Also, Freshman and transfer students should get highest priority anyway, since most haven’t been up here before to know what the heck is going on.

I was placed in temporary housing, in the furthest possible "dorm" there is on campus, Birnam Wood, which are actually the campus apartments. Admittedly, these apartments look cheaper, but this is because they don’t include a meal plan. So I had to purchase a meal plan separately because they canceled it after placing me in the apartments. This is because "typically students living in the apartments buy their own food"…. What? I didn’t chose to live in the apartments! Give me my damn food! They didn’t even tell me they canceled my plan. They just did it. Good thing I noticed it was gone or I could have been screwed over.

Then you must take in to account the fact we have to buy all our cleaning supplies and toilet paper ourselves while it’s handed to the dorms for "free" (and they get their bathrooms cleaned by staff…we have to do it ourselves…which wouldn’t bother me so much if I didn’t have other things to do). Then there’s the inconvenience of having to take a bus 20-30 minutes round trip just to get a meal at the dining halls, or to go work on my art projects. Then the fact that the bed rooms feel much smaller than the dorm rooms, much too small to have 2 people comfortably inside. All in all, it’s probably the crappiest place "on campus" to live. Put it where the other dorms are, expand the rooms by 1 foot each way, give us a bathroom cleaning crew, and it’s gold.

What’s with putting new students in the furthest away from campus housing anyway? New students should be close to campus so they know what’s going on. So far this year I have been to no events or meetings because it is such an inconvenience. Maybe next quarter.

 

The other place which lacks more in information than even housing, was parking. The first day here we went to get a parking pass. They told us all lots on campus were full and we’d have to be put on a waiting list. What?! Apparently the deadline for parking passes was two months earlier. Why did no one tell us? No email, it wasn’t on the new student checklist, no letter in the mail saying "Get your parking passes now!". It wasn’t something we thought of, especially considering the Parking website is nowhere on Western’s main portal page, the area I most used as an incoming student to find informational pages. I hadn’t even been to their site until about a week ago.

The lovely man behind the counter told us to park on the street, or leave the car at home. I’d hate to break it to him…but not everyone on campus lives in Bellingham. We don’t know where street parking is allowed, and home is 3 hours away so just leaving it there would be a bit hard at that point.

We leave, and later bump in to a student at the transportation booth at the info fair. He gave us a great idea…even though it’s not my car, get a parking permit for Birnam Wood since I live there. Back to Parking Services we go. Apparently "Full everywhere on campus" did not include the campus apartments. Parking Permit: $267. Ouch! Again something that was never addressed to us.

$267 is for the academic year. September to June. It makes it seem a little better, but that is quite a large amount, especially considering the fact that we had no idea the price would be that high, and the fact that Mike, who was paying for it, was unable to get his loan on time so he had to use a credit card (something he has still not recovered from).

The prices are something I have a big problem with. Especially being at one of the "green"est colleges. The prices just don’t make sense! Let’s take a look here:

Lots:	Quarterly	Academic Year
Residential (G/R)	$82.31	$246.93
Off Campus Lot (C)	$71.83	$215.49
Motorcycle (M)	$14.65	$43.96

 

Does anyone see here what I think is wrong? Particularly when it comes to motorcycles. Cars can hold 4-5 people (and the prices for a van are the same, so in that case, even more people, but no need to go there). Motorcycles can hold 1 and occasionally 2. Wouldn’t you think it would be better to have 5 people in one car than 5 people on motorcycles? So why is the motorcycle price so much cheaper? Well, of course it’s cheaper, but I mean cheaper per person it can hold. The price (yearly) per person for a regular 5 seat car is $47.39 in the Residential lots. I know it’s not much of a difference, but in the long run, that adds up. In the C lots it is slightly cheaper…but not even by a dollar. Why is parking services promoting taking a single-person vehicle over taking a carpool vehicle?

It also doesn’t make sense that quarterly passes are the same price as year passes. Shouldn’t there be some sort of discount? It could go either way. A discount for quarterly buyers because they are only driving for one quarter, or a discount for yearly buyers because they’re here so long. I don’t really care, but having them be the same price per quarter seems silly to me.

 

The other small thing that bothers me is jobs on campus. All the jobs being offered for the start of the year required you to be at the school 2 days before it was even moving day…what?! Campus jobs really make it seem like they’re meant for residents of Bellingham (not unlike parking, actually). Also I believe students hiring other students for campus jobs is a bad idea. Popularity contest, anyone? Really, let the professionals handle being the boss.

 

In any case, I doubt anyone this could help reads this, but keep these things in mind when going to WWU, or any college really. You have to dig for information. And no, emailing people will not help you as much as you would thing. Half the people here only half read what you say anyway (I had one lady keep saying I was a Freshman after I told her several times I’m a Junior…and one guy who didn’t realize I was in temporary housing even after I told him I was!). Oh well at least I know I’m good for my classes according to the advisors….at least, I can hope.

Let me first say, I am not against feminism. I think women standing up for their rights is a great thing. However, it has been taken much too far, to a point where some of those very same women are giving women less rights, or criticizing others for exercising these rights (and usually, blaming it on men…WHAT?!).

I’m sure it’s not uncommon to see, but two times this year I have come across articles in the school newspapers about how certain materials “objectify”, “demean”, and “disgust” the majority of women.

But does it really? No. It’s likely majority isn’t disgusted, just the majority of the outspoken. I find it offensive for women to be generalized as closed minded and hypocritical. (On a side note, girls who wear such revealing clothing and get angry when men look at them should be slapped. If you don’t want to be looked at, stop drawing attention to your body with such clothing! Cover up! Put on a sweater and shut up! I’m sick of hearing you complain.

I thought about writing on this topic months ago when it came up at Olympic College over a full page color advertisement run on the back of several issues of The Olympian. It was an advertisement for Toys Topless, a local, legal, alcohol-free strip club. The ad depicted five so called “scantily clad” women in “provocative poses.” It was directed toward women, saying that working there was a great way to pay for college.

One of the main arguments against the ad was that it had women in little clothing, and there are minors that attend the college as Running Start students. My problem with this is that these women were in no less clothing than in advertisements in magazines or on TV, things that surely a 16-17 year old see on a daily basis. You even see worse at the beach or swimming pool.

Sandy Bradley, a Running Start student, writes:

A great way to pay for college? I am a Running Start student. I am 17. When did it become okay for 17-year-olds to apply at a strip club?

Of course it’s not okay! And if a 17 year old applied, they would be turned down until they were 18. The ad was not directed towards minors. The majority of students at the college are adults! Just like how the Planned Parenthood, Pied Pipers smoke shop, and military advertisements aren’t directed toward minors but are still in the paper. It’s surprising those ads haven’t been protested because of their content. “Kill your unborn child because you were irresponsible!”; “Join the military! You can kill or be killed!”; “Smoke your lungs to death!”…. Oh right, they don’t “demean” women so nobody cares enough. My bad.

What if our children get a hold of the newspaper, curious to see what’s in it and finds that advertisement, for example?

What if your child sticks a fork in an open socket? There’s worse things than seeing an advertisement. Oh, and it’s called parenting. A college newspaper probably isn’t something a child should be looking at anyway. I’ve seen articles with content a 12 year old shouldn’t be reading about. Not to mention young kids see worse in school. Ah, if only their parents knew…. If you don’t want your child to see it, don’t put it somewhere where it can be picked up! If they really want to read the paper, black out the back page or tell them to read it on the website (even with parent supervision if you find it necessary…which you probably should if you’re worried about an advertisement).

Another concerned reader, Renee Bradley, writes:

No truly educated female would ever consider working for a business where she would be paid for her appearance…

Girls that choose to dance/strip for a living are not trashy, they are not dumb, and hey…they aren’t necessarily poor either! Not everyone has rich parents or can get grants and scholarships. So then what is your choice? Pay out of your pocket, or get loans which you have to pay back later anyway. These girls are smart for choosing to make money to pay for college. Not to mention, when you are comfortable with your body and can make $4500 a month, why not? It’s a case of “if you’ve got it, flaunt it.”

The truth is, the girls that work there do it because they chose to, not because they are forced. If they felt it was degrading I very much doubt they’d be there. I’m sure they all feel good about their bodies. Heck, there’s even a 3-foot rule at the club, so it’s not like they get “all up ons” the guys. It’s no different than being a model when it comes to “selling your body.” It is their right and choice to work there, and they are criticized for it! They are told they are “uneducated” or “trashy.” Again, a case of women demeaning their own kind. You’ll never see me up on a pole, but it is because I choose not to, not because I think it is a garbage job for trashy sluts.

A quote from Chris Marlow:

I am surprised, and disappointed to see the advertisement for Toys Topless in your paper. At the time in a young man’s life when the choice of a sober, responsible and uncorrupt lifestyle offers a lifetime of personal and societal achievement, you entice him with a offer of sex, which can only distract his mind and ruinously direct the development of the man’s so vital character.

A distraction for men? Hardly. If it’s distracting you, turn the paper to the front and read the articles instead of staring at the girls. It’s what we call self control and choices. Also, an advertisement in a newspaper is hardly more distracting than the girl in a short skirt and low cut shirt that sits near you in class. If an ad is so distracting, and you think it should be pulled, then are you saying you’d like to see a dress code? In a college mostly full of mature adults, I hardly find this necessary.

As for irony when it comes to the values of the school and education (another complaint letter writers had), there as protest on the issue. I am positive people skipped classes to attend. Priorities, priorities. I wouldn’t say skipping classes over something so trivial is good for the image of education either. I also found it amusing that one of the protesters was holding a sign that had the full ad pasted to it. If you feel the ad is demeaning, then should you be showing it off in a public demonstration? Probably not.

The editor of the newspaper at the time made great points. An advertisement in a small local newspaper cannot make an entire college of 10,000 look trashy. As for advertising, no one ever said that the publication agrees with the content of the advertising. Money is money, when it’s legal, and this advertisement brought in $3500.

It’s too bad I wasn’t there to see the reaction to the parody advertisement done by a few students depicting men in their skivvies. I don’t recall what the message was, but the idea of the ad in itself had a great message. If it were men in the ad, would it be the same outcry? I think not.

The more recent hubub was over the “Women of Western” swimsuit calendar that was banned from Vendors Row at Viking Union at WWU. Apparently, this was also degrading to women. Let’s look at the facts here:

1. The calendar was a swimsuit calendar, not a nude calendar. You see the same sort of thing all over the place. We’re adults!
2. The women in the calendar, again, chose to model. One of the models, Amy Braden, stated she does not feel it’s a bad thing to be sexy.
3. The women in the calendar were not only chosen for their looks, but for their intellect as well. From freshman to seniors. A small biography was included for each girl. These girls are students in the college, they are getting an education. They are not shown as just objects.
4. The calendar included all important WWU dates and deadlines. It was useful.
5. The calendar was not just shot in some studio. It was shot in the scenery around Bellingham and on campus…even the Chemistry Lab! If I remember correctly each girl was shot in a place of their own interest…something important to them.
6. The company who produced the calendar, Notorious Productions, is run by a Western graduate. They hosted a sunset cruise for the graduates last year and donated to the Boys & Girls Club. Their company promotes local bars and companies, and provides students with entertainment.

It is just sickening to think that just because a woman is comfortable with herself, she is contributing to the downfall of women-kind. If a woman decides she is comfortable with men looking at her, then let it happen. I find it sad that even just for modeling for a calendar, they are criticized. I somewhat understand it being removed from Vendor’s Row, though the AS Bookstore right next to Vendor’s Row sells magazines like Maxim. The University had the right to pull it, as said in the article. But I do not agree it is objectifying women.

It’s great that the same women who are against such things are those who want women to have the right to kill an unborn baby whenever they want (of course within the certain time frame that the procedure can be done). The priorities of some feminists seem twisted.

If certain women want to be what they call “objectified,” let them because it id their right to choose that. Instead feminists should be promoting the fact that all women are not the same, therefore women as a whole should not be objectified.

I’m getting too tired to write any more. Edits may come, or even later posts. But for now, I’m done.

This post is in response to the following articles, one which I agree whole-heartedly on, the other…well, not so much.

Western Should Be Smoke Free
Column Offensive to Smokers

Lisa Hunt makes a great case. We all know smoking is unhealthy for those who do it and the people around them. Second-hand smoke kills. It makes people feel ill. It makes it so people can’t breathe. Why do people feel it is their right to harm others just so they can get their fix to keep them going for the next 10 minutes?

I, personally, am sick of waiting at a bus stop or walking to my art classes and having to walk through clouds of toxic smoke. Yes, there is the 25 foot law, but it is hardly enforced. Every day there are people right outside the art building entrances, chain smoking like there’s no tomorrow. I have to walk through these doors to get to class. There’s no other way!

Just like Lisa, I can’t stop my lungs, and I cannot hold my breath for very long. I often do slow down while walking behind someone who smokes, perhaps because I’m not in much of a hurry to get places. But should I have to? No. I can personally risk being a little late to class just because my classes always start a few minutes late anyway. But, not everyone has this luxury.

I don’t disrespect smokers just because they smoke. It is their right, after all. But I feel smokers disrespect non-smokers by blowing it in their faces, or lighting up while standing right next to us. They never ask if we mind, they just do it. Where is the respect there? And I feel if I were to ask them to move away they would just get angry with me and tell me to move instead.  Respect is a two way road.  Respect my right to be healthy by smoking in low-traffic-away-from-building areas, and I’ll respect your right to smoke.

A completely smoke free campus would be nice, but I think it is a bit unfair. Some people can’t help their addictions. I would at least love to see bus stops on campus be smoke free, and having the 25-foot rule fully enforced. Designated smoking areas would be okay if they are placed well. At Olympic College they were not. Non-smokers would still have to dodge the smoke because they put them next to heavy-traffic areas.

Katie Bush has her points too. It is her right to smoke, and that shouldn’t be taken away from her. However, I think being healthy is a more important right, one that the majority of people in America seem to embrace. Designated smoking areas would not take away her right to smoke. It would give us our “God-given right” to enjoy the fresh air of the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Yes, it is her right to smoke, but it is not her right to cause harm to others. Other things that cause harm to others tend to be illegal. Take this example: driving a car is legal; driving a car recklessly is illegal because it can cause harm.

A great point has been made by my boyfriend. He said that if people can smoke everywhere they want, then people should be able to do other things wherever they want. Masturbating, for example. It causes no harm to anyone. The only reason it isn’t allowed is because of the values of the country. Apparently one giving themselves self pleasure is more offensive than endangering several person’s health. Masturbation doesn’t harm anyone. The only harm it can cause is mental, and that is only because, again, the values of American society. Sex is the devil. Violence, drugs, and alcohol are just another part of life that are allowed in public areas every day.

Cigarette smoke is not just something I can ignore. I wish I could, but it’s impossible. I have to breathe too!

Current Mood: Angry

Words & Phrases

• The saying “Pet Peeves.” Why can’t we just call them annoyances? Or things that piss you off? My cats don’t bother me and neither do poltergeists in stories about wizards.
• The word Blog. It makes me think of barfing, really. “Hey anyone wanna read my….BLOOOOOOOOGGGGGGG!”

Public Places

• People who smoke at bus stops.

Bathroom

• When people put the toilet paper on the roller backwards.
• When people put the toilet paper on the ground rather than the roll. The ground is nasty!
• When people go through 2.5 rolls of my toilet paper in 2 days and never buy any themselves.
• When people squish my towel over so they can hang their towel stretched on the whole rack…when there are 4 RACKS.
• When people leave tons of hair on the shower drain cover so it no loner drains correctly.
• When people close the door to the outside of a split bathroom while they’re just using the sink, preventing you from using the toilet or shower.
• When people leave the light on and close the door to the bathroom when no one’s using it.
• When I wake up at 7:45 every morning and have no problems getting ready for class, but random Thursdays one person has to get up and take up the bathroom all morning doing makeup, making it so I can’t even wash my face. Why can’t they just wait until I’m done with my 5-10 minutes in there?!
• When people turn the fan to ‘off’ when there is an auto feature that makes it turn on when it detects enough moisture, and off when it’s good. Just leave it on auto and all is well!!

Dorm Living

• When people ask if they can turn the light on while you’re trying to rest and then leave for large chunks of time.
• When people come in at 3AM, turn on lights, and talk on their cell phone, then go to sleep until 1pm. Not only do they disturb your sleep, they disturb your daytime activities by sleeping all day!
• When the heat gets turned up to 80 degrees.

Laundry Room

• When people don’t even give you 5 minutes to come and get your laundry out of the washer, so they take it out and put it on top and put their stuff in. Then when you come back after drying your clothes they aren’t even their to get their own stuff out of the washer…for at least 20 minutes after being done.

More to come later as things come to me.

<Usako> how can a mega sized M&M Minis tube be 1 serving per tube…while the normal size tube is also 1 serving per tube?
<OffBeat`> ….
<Usako> ?
<OffBeat`> Maybe they are both diffent servng sizes?
<OffBeat`> serving*
<Usako> i dont think that should be possible
<Usako> a serving of something should be a serving
<Usako> like…a can of soda (12oz) is a serving
<Naoki`> I wish the hour would be up already :/
<Usako> but a bottle (20oz) is 2
<Usako> 12 x 2 != 20
<Usako> 2 servings should be 24 oz
<OffBeat`> Usako they lie!
<Usako> 20oz is 1 2/3 servings
<Usako> WHERE IS MY ~33%?!??
<OffBeat`> Its a lie -.-
<Usako> WHEREEEEE

Something that’s always bothered me…serving sizes are silly. Eat what you want! If you know how your body works then you don’t need to worry about serving sizes :< The only thing I look at is if there’s a lot of saturated fat in something. o_o

Original post: March 27, 2004

[1] rufio // one slowdance
[2] jimmy’s chicken shack // do right
[3] guster // amsterdam
[4] new found glory // sincerely me
[5] all american rejects // swing swing
[6] no use for a name // friends of the enemy
[7] die arzte // schundersong
[8] andrew wk // she is beautiful
[9] less than jake // is this thing on?
[10] hot rod circuit // the pharmacist
[11] phantom planet // california
[12] sugarcult // stuck in america
[13] american hi-fi // the art of losing
[14] phantom planet // hey girl
[15] goldfinger // 99 red balloons
[16] the darkness // friday night
[17] brodie // when i’m with you
[18] lit // lipstick and bruises
[19] relient k // sadie hawkins dance
[20] switchfoot // something more
[21] alien crime syndicate // break the record
[22] simple plan // i’d do anything
[23] sum 41 // hell song
[24] blink 182 // give me one good reason

Original post: March 7, 2004

[1] nada surf // if you leave
[2] mazzy star // into dust
[3] tremolo beer gut // promise ring
[4] john mayer // not myself
[5] jets to brazil // sweet avenue
[6] lamb // gorecki
[7] the flaming lips // yoshimi vs. the pink robots
[8] elliot smith // needle in the hay
[9] dave metthews band // crash into me
[10] ben folds five // brick
[11] finley quaye feat. beth orton // dice
[12] ryan adams // wonderwall
[13] dido // white flag
[14] beth orton // thinking about tomorrow
[15] cat stevens // wild world
[16] jeff buckley // hallelujah

Original Post: February 22, 2004

[1] commander venus // peppermints
[2] papaya // sweet senorita
[3] finch // perfection through silence
[4] mighty mighty bosstones // christmas time
[5] justincase // any day now
[6] outkast // the way you move
[7] leanne rhymes // soon
[8] michael jackson // human nature
[9] dream // this is me {remix}
[10] the new pornographers // the laws have changed
[11] yellowcard // sure shot
[12] red hot chili peppers // carbon
[13] sunny day real estate // how it feels to be something on
[14] scotty d // drop tha bomb {dance dance revolution}
[15] metallica // the unforgiven ii

Original post: April 22, 2003

[1] sunny day real estate // fool in the photograph
[2] mineral // july
[3] deathcab for cutie // photobooth
[4] vendetta red // lipstick tourniquette
[5] the lyndsay diaries // where the sidewalk ends
[6] commander venus // we’ll always have paris
[7] bright eyes // no lies, just love
[8] thursday // paris in flames
[9] my chemical romance // cubicles
[10] saetia // the burden of reflecting
[11] the starting line // a million hearts
[12] kite flying society // past life regression
[13] minus the bear // lemurs, man, lemurs
[14] rites of spring // all there is
[15] onelinedrawing // perfect pair
[16] brand new // mix tape
[17] the postal service // nothing better
[18] cursive // driftwood
[19] black heart procession // the waiter
[20] coheed and cambria // cassiopeia