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Naked Truth Magazine Issue 02
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| . .:/___/ /___/ /___/ \ ___/ /___ / -tRUTH |
| 12-95 .:/___/ .:/___/ .:/___/ .:/___/ .:/___/ |
`--------------------------------------------------------'
naked truth magazine - issue no: 2
Naked Truth Magazine - Winter Edition
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Magazine Personel:
MindBender ..........[ mindbndr@algonet.se ]............ [Publisher]
Dead Image ............................................. [Editor]
Dysan Gylix .........[ tramb@maxwell.iia.org ].......... [Editor]
Manhunter ...........[ lancelot@algonet.se ]............ [Editor/Artist]
Mondain ................................................ [Editor]
Olwin .................................................. [Guest starring]
===============================================================================
Introduction by the Publisher
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to another part of the Naked Truth Magazine, a text-based magazine
made to give a quick view on todays pirate-world.
First of all I would like to welcome Manhunter to our excellent staff and
wish him the best of luck in helping this magazine... also Mondain who
brought us the great interview with Orion. Dysan Gylix is here to give us
a guide-tour around the African scene and Olwin guest-starring with a poem.
A small note to our partners in the mag-business, Inquisition. RTS is not
Rise to Send... it's Request to Send... (the ordinance interview).
There's been some different reactions on the first issue. Most of them good
but some bad. The main reason on the bad reactions is the last issues old
interviews. The real reason why I first released these was that I couldn't
start out with a whole new magazine and ask people for interviews with them
knowing I done interviews before and never got them published. This looks a
bit better from my point of view and I hope most of you understand my way
of handling the situation.
Merry x-mas: Hoson, Jimmy Jamez, Bluewater, Cyber Angel, Celestial Wizard,
Lord Cyric, Morbid Angel, The Gecko, Tazman, Sector9, Rygar,
Chainsaw Massacre, Morbid Genius, Hemp Hoodlum, Hula, Stoney
Mikeysoft, Dorian Hawkmoon, Aslan, Lester & Raptor
Salute out to: PieMan // The P.I.T.S. - You're a legend, legends dont die!
Special greeting to Cyber Angels Warez-report & The Inquisition !
-- MindBender 1:st of December '95
===============================================================================
Contents of the Magazine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. The Mailbox - Staff answering letters...
2. Articles - "Scenelife - The narcotic Illusion and when it breaks"
3. The BBS cemetary, famous boards that got busted or just went down...
4. Interviews - Aphex Twin - "The african scene, more than just a jungle"
- Chainsaw Massacre / HYBRiD
- Hemp Hoodlum / PRESTIGE
- Orion "The Prez" / PWA
- Evil Current / RAZOR 1911
- Rage / RAZOR 1911
5. Olwin's poem - "Just another Reboot"
6. Email questionary, mag evaluation
7. Popularity poll - "Most wanted FILE_ID.DIZ"
8. Final words from the staff
===============================================================================
Letters from the readers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First of all we picked out some of all the respons we got on e-mail and got
the editor to answer them:
The following message was brought into my bbs as a textfile, I decided to
answer it in public. Even though it's criticizing the magazine it's important
to speak about it... we're not afraid of getting criticized!
> Well first HI all out there this is M:ET founder and leader of REBELS.
> I usualy dont care about all those .txt files that are circulating
> around the sceen but when some looser (Mindbender) tryïs to start some
> serious things like an mag for the PC sceen (wich is realy an cool ide),
> and totaly fucks up by steeling an OLD interview (1 1/2 years old) and
> publishes it again just to make me look bad and drag REBELS into the
> dirt, then i fell that i must write one .TXT by myself just to make myself
> feel better and tell the rest of the sceen whats going on. I culd have
> written a long list of other .txt files wich are totaly giant lies
> written by the same guy but as i said i dont care about them when im not
> involved by my self, Iïv tried to log on to Fatal future to talk to him
> (4/11 95) but my account was deleted so i found no way but this to settle
> things out and make all of you out there to know the truth, and to mindbender
> call me, visit me, but never try to make me look like and looser again!
>
> /M:ET leader of REBELS :WE MAKE ALL DAYS PARTY DAYS (even this day..)
Dear M:ET
First of all I would like to know what you mean by stealing an old interview.
This interview was done by my editor T.A.Z who left off a few months ago and
as I said a hundred times in the last issue, these articles were old and not
up-to-date... is that really so bad for you ? Also the idea of this article
already being released must be a mistake, as I didn't (nor The Acid Zcout)
release it until now. The interview was not 1,5 years old as you claim, but
written down 6 months ago. I also wonder what you mean by dragging rebels into
the dirt. I dont see anything in that interview, dragging dirt on rebels reput-
ation. If there's anything wrong with your reputation, you caused it yourself.
I really wonder what TXT I wrote that was completly lies. Mostly what I write
is true. If something isn't, it's because I got a different opinion than the
other part. My personal opinion is that you are totally pissed off with not
being a user at Fatal Future anymore and therefor writes this textfile.
There's not a single thing wrong with that textfile besides being a bit old,
so until next time, come with some real arguements...
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Thank God all messages isn't like the previous one.. here follows another email
this is from a reader:
> Had some spare time and decided to read that naked truth magazine of yours.
> It was awsome! Very fun indeed to read the interviews with the legends of
> the scene (past & present).
>
> Coke Habit / SECT Courier
Please continue to send comments on our work... we'll try to publish as many
as possible...
// MindBender - Publisher/Editor
===============================================================================
Scenelife - The Narcotic Illusion & when it breaks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I been thinking about writing something on this subject a long time but it was
always something else there, holding me back... watch it! Here it goes ...
From my early years in life (scenelife) I been reading TXT-files about people
being forced to leave the scene cause of different reasons. One of the bigger
reasons is they get warned by police or even get busted. Most textfiles tell
stories about people who have offered most of their sparetime (even their time
at work/school/whatever) making a contribut to the scene and suddenly wakes up
and think, hey... what have I done to my life... They start realizing they
spent hours/days/years, thousands of dollars and taken a huge risk in dealing
with the pirated-software. The people in the textfiles also adds (mostly) as
a hint to newcommers in the scene: Dont waste your life on the scene, dont get
in too deep and dont take the risks... IT`S NOT WORTH IT...
Let's stop here for a minute and ask ourselfs, what have I done in the scene,
was is worth the while and what could I have done with my life? Most of us say
they would have done something totally different but still, would that have
made us more satisfied?
What if it's all REALLY WORTH IT? The people who do the trading/phreaking or
pirating might say different when they get busted but I still believe that if
they didn't like what they were doing, why didn't they get the hell out?
I often hear the people talking about how shitty the work as a trader is.
Ever thought about there are alot of traders that really like what they are
doing? They get a reputation among the fellow-pirates, which can be more
important to them than anything else. To feel accepted among the star-groups.
To chat with your digital-idols in RAZOR, PWA or DOD might for some people be
like acctually meeting with Elvis...
I think that for some people, the thing that matters is to have the power over
others. To have a highly respected reputation that most people dont make in a
lifetime, you can make in a couple of weeks on the upload-charts. You have
connections with people (all ages) all over the world and you all can connect
to eachother via internet links. Life moves fast, sometimes you have to offer
a day in school/work to race against a enemy-group on the release of a new
game and with the data-phone hooked to the important ware-pickups you start
dial around on the voice-phone to find other groupmembers ready to help you
win the race. Some people (I heard) drop out of parties, movies, anything to
fight the competition on the releases. A party or a movie can be seen later,
a release in movement is only there for a few hours. I would say it's all just
a matter of priority.
To make it short for the words above, the scene moves rapidly, real life dont!
So if you wanna stay still in your real-life-slow-dimension, just do it..
Myself, I'll be cruising down sweet highway 666 to smell the smoke from yet
another burning release...
Signing off // MindBender - I might rott in hell, but I aint dead yet...
(Opinions on the article above are very welcome...)
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
The BBS cemetary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below you can read notes in a special created BBS-cemetary with names of sysops
and systems who gave the scene a face for many years... go feel nostalgic...
Thanks to all of the systems/sysops below, who gave us a place to chill-out...
Asmodeus ........ PDX WHQ/ The Ghetto ............... Bust ..[XXX]..05..(-95).
Baal ............ RZR EHQ/ Bedrock .................. Bust ..[+47]..02..(-92).
Big Boss ........ RZR WHQ/ Mirage ................... Down ..[XXX]..10..(-94).
Bitbug .......... PTG EHQ/ House of Coolness ........ Bust ..[+49]..10..(-93).
The Black Rose .. HBD WHQ/ House of Pain ............ Down ..[XXX]..04..(-94).
Blackhawk ....... RZR WHQ/ The Assasins Guild ....... Bust ..[XXX]..11..(-95).
Butcher.......... LEG CHQ/ Agents of Fortune ........ Bust ..[XXX]..10..(-94).
Cipher........... NXS WHQ/ Mortal Wish .............. Down ..[818]..08..(-94).
Cool Hand ....... INC WHQ/ Midnite Oil III .......... Down ..[XXX]..01..(-91).
Corrupt ......... NXS WHQ/ Moral Decay .............. Down ..[XXX]..06..(-94).
Coyotes Member .. NXS WHQ/ Road Runner .............. Down ..[XXX]..08..(-94).
Dr. Insanity .... GNS WHQ/ The Digital Underground .. Down ..[313]..05..(-95).
Genesis ......... USA WHQ/ BBS'o'Holic .............. Down ..[XXX]..01..(-91).
Ginnie .......... RZR AHQ/ The Brewery .............. Bust ..[XXX]..04..(-93).
The Grim Reaper.. USA WHQ/ The Void ................. Down ..[XXX]..01..(-91).
Hula ............ RZR WHQ/ The Gods Realm ........... Down ..[714]..10..(-95).
The Intimidator.. LEG CHQ/ Xenocide Inc ............. Down ..[XXX]..08..(-94).
Kitlat / Akira .. RZR WHQ/ The Pit .................. Down ..[XXX]..06..(-92).
Laric ........... RZR MEM/ Violent Playground ....... Down ..[+46]..01..(-95).
The Legend ...... HBD WHQ/ Road to Nowhere .......... Bust ..[301]..04..(-94).
Les Manley ...... NXS MEM/ Second Front ............. Bust ..[+46]..04..(-95).
Loverman ........ HBD WHQ/ Concept Elite ............ Down ..[718]..07..(-94).
Macro Nit ....... RZR MEM/ Getaway .................. Down ..[+45]..04..(-95).
Madcap .......... HBD EHQ/ Vanity Fair .............. Bust ..[+46]..02..(-93).
Major Theft ..... LEG WHQ/ Unlawful Entry ........... Bust ..[XXX]..10..(-94).
Mighty Quinn .... HBD WHQ/ Illicit Illusion ......... Down ..[XXX]..02..(-93).
Mikeysoft ....... THG WHQ/ The Final Frontier ....... Bust ..[XXX]..06..(-95).
MindBender ...... HBD EHQ/ Fatal Future ............. Bust ..[+46]..02..(-94).
Mko! ............ HBD WHQ/ 11:th Hour ............... Down ..[313]..10..(-94).
Opus ............ TDT MEM/ Bloom County ............. Down ..[+46]..01..(-91).
The Pieman ...... THG WHQ/ The PITS ................. Bust ..[718]..07..(-95).
POW/Whistler .... PTG WHQ/ Apocalypse ............... Down ..[XXX]..06..(-91).
The Professor.... PTG WHQ/ Ice Station Zebra ........ Down ..[XXX]..06..(-93).
Quackers / Hula . RZR WHQ/ Rest in Peace ............ Down ..[714]..15..(-95).
Relayer ......... HBD WHQ/ Terminal Frost ........... Down ..[XXX]..04..(-95).
Rotor ........... LEG WHQ/ Gates of Asgard .......... Down ..[XXX]..07..(-94).
Sector9 / Dr.No . RZR EHQ/ Kindergarden ............. Down ..[+47]..01..(-92).
Silus Guardian .. TDT WHQ/ Alpha 2010 ............... Down ..[XXX]..08..(-94).
Sk8master ....... FLT MEM/ Harmony Sk8's ............ Bust ..[XXX]..02..(-94).
Snake Man ....... TDT MEM/ Juve Rehab ............... Bust ..[+35]..07..(-95).
Snow Queen ...... RZR CHQ/ Fasttrax ................. Down ..[XXX]..06..(-92).
Static / TNSHB .. USA WHQ/ Enterprizes Elite ........ Down ..[XXX]..01..(-91).
Teddy ........... INC EHQ/ Digital Underground ...... Down ..[+49]..04..(-93).
Trojan Man ...... LEG MEM/ False Intentions ......... Down ..[718]..05..(-94).
Venom ........... FLT WHQ/ Body Count ............... Down ..[XXX]..03..(-91).
Wico ............ INC MEM/ Inner Circle ............. Down ..[+46]..01..(-93).
If anyone got information on the boards above or any other big or famous boards
that should be added to this list. Email us to the adress at the end of this
magazine.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
African scene, more than just a jungle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming up is a report with some old friends from South Africa to give us a hint
on what the scene looks like down there and how it's developing...
Anyone heard of us? Guess not...it still a growing scene here and sadly
lacks the dedication of the Us and European scene. Not to mention crappy
internet links and no local backbone...there is certainly much lacking in
remotely making it a viable warez area.
With warez going mainly CD rips the sad fact is that most trading
will have to be done via the net due to the sheer volume of rips...:(
When asked by MindBender about the local scence here I decided to do a
interview with Afx Twin...a local of many years in the scene both local and
international...since retired due to, er, problems with law enforcement
agencies... <G>
_______
(__,-, \
/ /\ \ phex :) Twin
Interview with /,_) \ \
(/ \\
\)
Gylix: Who are you?
Aphex: Ask my mother. As they say, ego sum nigrior tam nigros.
G: I hear you first started leeching of Assassins Guild?? not bad for a start!
Aphex: Yeah I guess so... was really cool till the point BH got busted and TAG
went down. One day - fine, the next - nothing. No answer, voice or
modem. From relatively reliable sources, part of the bust was
orchestrated by Novell, who had the audacity to upload their own
software for purposes of busting 'em, after they had aquired a pay
account. That was a nice board, make no mistake.
G: What is the scene like in South AFrica?
Aphex: Honest answer? It sucks. But hey, what country in the world can lay
claim to a good scene? There have been, and always will be the lame.
The one thing though that makes things enjoyable: the people who have
the most, or are in the higher positions in groups, on the whole tend
to be the nicer ones. Althought this is by no means a rule, chances
are you're more likely to get on with a DoD senior than with a 12 yr
old Xmas modemer whos just got access to his latest 0-7 year board.
Unfortunately, at the moment the people in this country seem to be
stuck with an attitude problem. Those with a little more than the rest
want to keep it to themselves and tend to be extremely arrogant. Those
with more than that tend to be easier to get on with (pHaze, Tonedef,
etc). The fun thing about running a board was watching all the leeches
make 6-12 hour fone calls (local calls cost here!) in order to get 'tha
0-day'.
G: You were running a board in South Africa?
Aphex: Yeah, for a while. I ran one about 3.5 years ago, HP board, which was
really intense for a while. It was about this time I made my first
contact with the US art scene and, indirectly, the warez scene. I then
decided to dedicate my life to the spread of tha 0-day and sell my soul
for a USR 666k modem.
But seriously folks, warez can be addictive. For fast effective relief:
+27-(0)5861-30012, ask for kokey.
Err, yeah. Actually I didn't get involved in warez for another 2 years.
HP was phun, and entertaining. Besides which, I picked up a lot more
friends this way. Then came the warez. Along with the warez, came the
pups, the k0d3z k1dd13z and the 31337 wannabes. And the occasional nice
person.
But on the whole, a bunch of people Whom A Normal Kinda Euphemism Really
Should give you a clear picture of, ie: they should seriously consider
taking up masturbation as a full time hobby. They'd be more successful.
Oh well, the days of fun. :)
<G>: You were involved with the couriering group WaR then later moved into
Cartel as the Courier Co-ordinator...what happend ?
Aphex: Hmm, well, I guess I got asked to help because of the fact that I could
call out anywhere. But around that time I had exams and then I got
busted(still haven't got a PC!) and everything pretty much fell apart
after that. The only thing I'm really annoyed about was: a) trambience
went into idle mode; b) I didn't get to go sky-diving.
Gylix: WTF? busted, trambience? sky-diving!
Aphex: Trambience, bunch of friends having fun (you should see the video(tm)!
next trm release: "How NOT to drive, by UV Skitzo and Aphex"), grabbing
0-day and have all-nighters for netgames/'netting. These days, since
'dah bust', we've been doing visuals/gfx for raves etc here. Thats
about it, I guess.
Gyl: Any last words?
Aphex: a) Umama ukuvutela yiinkomo
b)/bind ^AFX self_insert
have a good one... :)
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Interview with Chainsaw Massacre / Hybrid CD division
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chainsaw Massacre is a wellknown member of the game releasing CD group
Hybrid on the PC scene.
The following interview took place on November 11:th 1995 when I caught
Chainsaw Massacre surfing the #hybrid channel on IRC...
M: Hi, this is MindBender from Naked Truth Magazine. I would like to ask you
some questions about the scene and about when you first went into it...
C: Ask away!
M: First of all where are you from and how long have you been in the scene ?
C: I am from Huntington Beach, CA and I have been in the scene for approx. 6
years now.
M: So you first got into the scene in 89. Can you tell me any big differences
in the scene back then..
C: The biggest difference in the Scene I see is people's attitude's and the
"FLOPPY SCENE" to the "CD SCENE" ...
M: We all know about the Floppy <> CD... but what about the attitudes..
what's changed?
C: Attitudes have changed more and more.. people cant trust eachother what so
ever! If somebody like FANFAN knew that somebody worked at a company like
GAMETEK he would RAT on him! this is total BULLSHIT! the scene is about
getting wares out really early and not just too see who gets it out first.
M: So what you say is... this more-important-to-release-than-to-crack concept
plus what you just mentioned, might kill the scene-spirit ?
C: Its very important we get stuff cracked and out and ready to go neatly and
not a major rush but fast enough to beat the stores! The scene is at its
worst when people lie and say a ware is 100% cracked!.. The spirit of the
scene is to have fun and to see who are the good traders.. and to meet
people who may help you in the future..
The scene also seems to teach people more and more about everyday life...
so what about the groups... what is your personal opinion on todays
crackinggroups... It seems the major learning experience I got from the
scene is TRUST.. you should always know who and who not to trust!
M: Yep... so what about the groups... what is your personal opinion on todays
crackinggroups... any special hated/beloved groups of yours ?
C: I think that groups should be more friendly to each other.. and in some
cases help each other out.. It seems like ENVY is at place when a group
releases a hot title.
I prefer not to talk about people who are not trustful because I belive it
could cause a problem...
M: So do you want to define these groups who do a great/not so great job ?
C: Well after the major change to FLOPPY to CD its hard to determine what
groups are doing good and bad.. it seems right now the top groups are TDU,
HYBRID, RAZOR and thats it!!!!!!! we are still learning everyday about the
nature of a CD.
M: What groups have you been in ? where did you start out ?
C: I started being in a group called INC. (International Network of CRACKERS)
this group was one of the hottest groups ever.. there I was a courier and
I stayed with the group until it fell apart..
From there I went on to TDT (THE DREAM TEAM) as a member and I left because
HARD CORE was not trusted.
M: Where you then under the same alias ?
C: I was at the alias of Chainsaw Massacre like always
M: OK that's cool.. Can you describe what you felt about the TDT running ? Was
that a good way to run a group ? Have you learned anything from TDT when you
left of for Hybrid for example ?
C: TDT was a great group! one problem it was all ONE MAN which ofcourse we
all know as HARDCORE thats why it wasn't really a group.
M: OK, then tell me about HARDCORE...
C: HARD CORE is a whole different story.. and I am sure you know much about him
being in the city you live in.
M: Sorry I dont... We're not in the same city... so I would appreciate all info
you could possibly bring me...
C: HARDCORE is a little 5'3 Swedish kid who leaches money off his dad then
later rips many people off by selling SHEETS of CARDS and pockets all the
money for himself like a little selfish bastard.
M: Does this have to do with the scam on Unlawful Entry ?
C: HARDCORE's scam on UNLAWFUL ENTRY .. from what I understand he POSTED cards
all over the board and sold them through the board... HARD CORE is a person
who will go to hell for what he did and thats pretty much it.
M: I was more refering to the rumour that HARDCORE took money for payusers on
UE when Major Theft did not have 100% control ?
C: I beleive those rumors.. as Major Theft all he did was sit back and took
care of a board and a great AMIGA group called SKID ROW.
M: Anyways, what happened after TDT... ?
C: After leaving TDT , me and a good friend started my own little group that
was named PYRADICAL all went well until we decided to drop the whole group
thing and leave the scene. I later came back after being called by a good
friend TRC to join ECLIPSE and now I am currently in ECLIPSE/HYBRID/RISC.
M: Didn't Pyradical die because of the best suppliers got busted ?
C: Pyradical.. I dont want to talk about it as it can harm other people again.
M: What can you tell me about Hybrid... We all know Hybrid has been releasing
quite alot of CD-ROM games lately and is rated as one of the absolute best
on CD right now...
C: I think that HYBRiD is a big JOKE ! there are LOTS OF LAZY ASS PEOPLE who
dont do JACK SHIT! and I beleive that all the group has strengths in is the
European Division + the Cracking Division. You might be surprised at my
reaction but that is the way I feel. There are many Problems with the group
that need to be resolved.. one major problem is our COURIER system! Another
MAJOR PROBLEM is our Leading division.
M: So what's your division ?
C: I consider myself right now in the Supply/Secuirity division. What I do in
Hybrid is help the group out with a few releases here and there and give
advice and that's about it...
M: Cau you tell me what went wrong with the Hardball release ?
C: Nothing went wrong in the Hardball release, we were in rush.. it was plain
and simply just a tie on the HardBall release.
M: Then I wanna ask you, many saw that NFO that you made by yourself and gave
yourself one of the leader positions in the group. In next release it was
back to the old (and if you ask me, awesome) NFO but you were back as a
member. Can you tell me why you did this ?
C: I did this to show another Leader that he does not have as much as power as
he thinks he does in a group. And that is why my name was all the way at the
top as a leader. Some people dont learn with a tap on their shoulder they
have to be hit with a hammer on their heads!
M: So about the internal fights in hybrid... what persons do you think should
be leading the group and why? (Will you try to do something about it ?)
C: At this point I will not do anything about it because I dont care. The group
has alot of hope! but it doesnt seem to be going in the right direction!
Maybe they will be resolved, maybe not! But if all goes well I have plans on
a new Group which I am NOT willing to discuss..
M: What is your opinion on the CD-scene ?
C: My opinion on the CD scene is that it will be 10X better when we get faster
modems! and thats it.
M: Have you ever had any trouble with cops/feds or BSA/SPA ?
C: Yeah I always get speeding tickets... j/k.. I have had one problem and that
was becuase of the lame AT&T CC's...
M: Is there anything you like to add ? (greetings or wise qutes) ?
C: A wise qoute is this: Read The Bible and Study the SEVEN SINS of the Bible!
Greed, Lust, Envy, Pride, Sloth, Wrath & Gulutony!
...And My greets goes out to these people .. people who mean alot to me in
the SCENE: The Renegade Chemist, Randall Flagg, Ram Chip, Polymer,
Celestial Wizard, Pharaoh & Ustasa.
M: Thank you for your time and wish you good luck in the future..
C: See you l8r!
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Interview with Hemp Hoodlum / Prestige PC Senior Member
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This interview with Hemp Hoodlum, Senior Member of the new upcoming PC Games
group Prestige, was conducted by Manhunter on November the 5th 1995.
M: Hi there ...
H: Hi
M: This is an interview for the Naked Truth Magazine. So.. How long has
Prestige been up and running?
H: PSG Amiga has been around for over a year I'd say. PSG PC is more recent.
M: We've heard alot of rumours going around lately that PSG claims to be one
of the best games-groups around. We would like to know what groups that
formed Prestige?
H: Well it seems with ecah new group, there is a whole lot of hype
surrounding it. I remember titan...Prestige is made up of members of PSG
Amiga and Saturn as well as newcommers from other groups.
M: Tell us about Saturn, why did you merge into Prestige?
H: Well... Saturn was Critical Masses idea actually
M: Did you want to get rid from the SCUM label?
H: Well, Mike wanted to do games. Titan was his little util venture that he
talked me into joining...
M: What happend to Titan? Seems like they were the scenes falling star?
Starting up with high-expectations...
H: Wellep, Titan is still alive... we never really decided to make it a
full time venture. We started it off with the idea of making it a
serious competitor... but due to time contraints, we had to put it on
the back burner.
M: But will Prestige be different.. seems like you are putting alot of effort
in this new group?
H: But you can still see Titan releases every once and a while :)
PSG is my personal venture... because of Hoodlum's (HLM) so called
"failure", I want PSG to overcome all and establish itself as a game
competitor. We have all the elements that it takes to be one of the best,
we're in the process of putting them together into a working machine right
now.
M: Speaking of Hoodlum.. what REALLY happend? We saw a couple of really
cool releases from HLM and then nada...
H: Hmmm HLM, wellep, HLM started off with a merge between Retribution (RTN -
my previous games group) and HLM. RTN started off with alot of hype... but
died quickly due to lack of support from the large leading staff. I decided
to take the cative members with me to a better atmosphere, HLM seemed
perfect. A new group, with huge potential... and a group that was willing
to allow me to help mold it. I enjoyed working with SpeedMaster...
M: But what happend? During the summer everything was perfect... but when
fall came... Zero releases.
H: Well Speedy (bless his soul <grin>) had to take a break for a while, he
was blessed with a new addition to the family...soooo... when that
happened, we decided to disband...
M: And you joined Saturn?
H: He was about the only other active senior besides Critical Mass...
Once again we were not getting support from the rest of the team.
Thus Critical Mass decided to put saturn BACK up, and i went with HLM.
M: That explains the ups and downs of HLM but why Prestige now? wasnt Saturn
enough? :)
H: Wellep... I had been talking to DeathKnight about the possibility of them
comming to Saturn, as Critical Mass and i decided we were going to take
SATURN seriously, and work with it... over Titan. We saw Prestige's
potential when the put out pinball illusions *FLOPPY*. I think the key
word when you are organising a group is seeing POTENTIAL some of the
people groups pass up as being 'nothing' end up being the major scene
contributors in the future.
M: Ok... so, over to the subject of releases. Is PSG a Games only group?
With Titan running by your side with as the Utils label?
H: PSG is GAMES only, it has been games only and always will be games only.
PSG/Titan right now is the equivalent to TRN/DOD I'd say... But we have
some major plans for the utils side... you might not see Titan around
much longer. But your best bet would be to talk to Critical Mass about
that... as I have taken a back seat in Titan, as i am concentrating on PSG.
M: Interesting... but how come the lack of releases since Pinball Illusions?
Many PSG members talk about PSG being a major contributor to the scene..
But we havent seen a constant flow of releases.. or is it scheduled to
come soon?
H: Wellep, with the new PSG staff comes changes to the group...
We are still in the organisings tages and are in no immediate hurry to
release - when we start... everyone will know. No doubt about it...
M: One major question.. that everyone wants get an answer of is.. is PSG a
CD-ROM group? or do you release floppies when you get 'em aswell?
H: PSG is both CD-ROM and FLOPPY we see no reason for a games group to
"divisionize" itself... like Razor / RazorCD has done.
M: You will basically release floppy titles when you get hold of them, right?
H: Hell yeah...
M: Ok... can you give us some information about the members?
H: like?
M: what groups are they made up of?
H: Wellep, the original PSG members (before saturn merged them) were:
DeathKnight, Jake, Jabo, The Chemist, Troll and Zion
Troll i suppose came from razor... The rest their origins are unknown...
but most likely Amiga.
M: If we go into the subject of CD-ROM's again... do you think the scene is
as bad today as everyone pretended half a year back?
H: Heh, this is typical - everyone is complaining about how the scene has
changed and how bad it is now.
H: I think it's all just a part of evolution, the scene is changing yes...
but hell... if you don't like it leave. I've been doing this for 9 years.
I see groups and people come and go, I've seen pirates go from 300bps
modems to ISDN - things change, nothing stays the same... don't complain...
just accept it and move on.
M: I guess lots of the scene old timers are nostalgic.. since there've been
alot of busts and stuff throughout this year, the sysops arent the same
as 1-2 years back etc
H: Oh yes, now busts are very tragic. I do get upset when butst take place
because alot of those people who are taken down were and still are my
friends from years back.
M: Yes.. you said earlier that you have been doing this for 9 years, tell us
some stuff about yourself. How did you get into this?
H: Yeap i been doing this shit since 1986, well i started into computers when
I was 16, i broke both my legs playing highschool football and was
confined to a wheel chair for more than half a year. There was nothing
better to do... growing up in new jersey, so i started working with my PC.
H: I soon got an amiga as well... did some shit on there, I tried getting
into demo's etc... but wasn't too successful :). I was introduced to
pirating by a friend of mine. His alias was Crazy Crook got me on some
boards that he was on... I didn't even trade, just leeched what I wanted :)
In about 1989 when I was in college I started taking the scene a bit more
seriously... guess I was power hungry, hungry for respect aswell. I decided
to go bigtime, wasn't too successful. I did some p/h/a stuff and ran a
group in 609 called "Empire". We did more textfiles than anything, some
p/h/a utils as well... Thats when I started calling LD, got on some of the
major boards and started trading under the alias EVERLAST. I had a 9600 USR
Courier.
M: State of the art back then :)
H: Heh no shit! Got it free from a friend who ran a 1 node board. In 1990 i
put up a board, ran it from my dorm. Started 2 nodes and expanded to 9,
I called it Deuce...
Never bothered doing the advertising thing etc... cuz i wasn't in the mood
for being busted, so it was basically for local NJ people... and the
surrounding area codes.
M: 9 nodes is alot... was it an p/h/a board? or was it into trading?
Hrmmm, I ran the board for a couple years... it went down to 5 nodes in
1993, when I moved to canada (eh) :) It was p/h/a, amiga and pc anyways
throughout my whole pirate carreer... I drifted from group to group etc,
never stayed long though because I wasn't very dedicated.
I was in grad school etc... didn't have the time, so that long drawn out
story basically brings you to the present. I'm still not too dedicated,
because of my work... but i find time to do the shit :)
M: Tell us a little about RTN? Who were the founders of RTN? You and D_Angel?
H: RTN, hrmmm... Originally RTN wasn't my group nope. Some may think...
RTN started off in early 95 as TRA (The Rebel Alliance), it was boosters
group. TRA was moderately successful... but fell apart due to internal
problems. Power struggles can be lethal to a growing group.
M: We remember some *BIG* CD Rips for that time put out by TRA.. RTN was also
a CD-ROM group.. right?
H: RTN was the offspring of TRA, when TRA fell apart... the other TRA leaders
(Sphinx & Exile) reformed the group and it became RTN, I was a mere courier
coordinator for RTN then. Anwyays that group died. Now in the summer Exile
& Sphinx called me up and asked if I wanted to revive the group...
By that time Death Angel and I were working on a purely fun group called
ONYX (which previously was a courier/release group that we made, but never
went far) sooo... I said sure I'll help ya and RTN was formed. Death Angel
joined with me, and so did the rest of the ONYX members. So ONYX which was
going to be more of a secondary quality type group, died and we all
conectrated on RTN. Then Critical Mass took his CD-RIP group SATURN
(the first Saturn) and merged RTN.
M: But then...? RTN -> Saturn -> Prestige ?
H: Heh not at first... this is where it gets complicated but I'll try and
condense it.
M: Please :)
H: RTN started with alot of hype which I didn't like... it failed because I
went on vacation and the group fell apart. No motivation to get anything
done. So after a couple releases (Mech Warrior 2 being our most memorable
one, supplied by Raptor), the group fell apart, so I spoke to Critical Mass
and we decided to take the few active people and move on. We put SATURN
back up for a short while, but then took our show to Hoodlum (HLM). At that
time Critical mass was working with VFast on reviving TRSi (which proved
unsuccessful). Eventually 90% of the people in the new TRSi came to HLM.
That brings us up to the present, when Hoodlum PC is dead... and Saturn is
now with PSG PC.
M: Long story... :) but interesting, how close was CM to get a revived TRSi
back up?
H: TRSi was on it's way... but once again there were some problems with people
talking behind each other backs and that idea crumbled so CM's work was in
vain...
M: Would TRSi become a floppy group? Or CD's as Saturn?
H: TRSi was going to be floppy only, for a while we were thinking of HLM being
the CD-division. That never worked out...
M: Okay... speaking of floppies/cd's: What is the maximum limit for a Prestige
game? Basically: How many disks will you release at most?
H: Nothing over 30 1.44 meg disks
M: I see, but what do you think about the CD-rip's that get released today?
Now since the major competitors like Razor, Hybrid, TDUJAM has joined the
race.
H: Let me tell you... there are few good rippers out there I think. When I say
rippers, I mean CD-rippers. I think that TDU-JAM/Fanfan are the best out
there, they were one of the first to take cd-roms seriously, and they are
in my opinion the best out there right now. Hybrid is very good as well...
and RazorCD too.
M: We've seen a number of games being released throughout this fall with alot
of great titles.. will it continue this way? Or will they just get bigger
and bigger? like Phantasmagoria (7 cd's)?
H: Well, as the software companies compete to make better multimedia games...
The games will get bigger and bigger, with more animation/video and digital
sound/cd sound-tracks. There is really nothing we can do.
M: But how much can you REALLY rip down a game? Before we start loosing
quality at the same time, will the 30 disk standard be able to hold within
half a year?
H: Well you have to ask yourself, what is the 1995 deffinition of quality?
What are the people playing the games looking for? I know that if i could
release games with full video and sound that were playble and were under 40
disks i would, but they are a bitch to d/l especially for the outdated
person with the 14k4. Think of it this way, as our communication technology
expands... as we move into ISDN as the modeming norm. We will be able to
release bigger games... Include more of the games and i think enjoy
playing the games more. An 80 disk or 100 disk game won't be that much a
downloading burden.
M: So the situation we're in now.. its just a temporary vacuum until ISDN is
standard?
H: Yeap... we'll be able to transfer more at faster rates, so those big games
that groups have to pass up because of the intense video, will be able to
be released because people will be able to d/l them in a decent amount of
time. Of course you will always have some people with their 28.8 who will
bitch that games are too big... but hey, you can't please everyone although
we try.
M: But in wait for faster communications... Prestiges's limit is 30 right?
H: Yeah, 30 is the standard right now i think... anything above that and the
ragging is unbearable :)
M: Let's change subject, how do you feel that the people/attitude has changed
in the scene throughout the years? Is it the same as in the 'good old days'
or is it as bad as some people say... just like the CD games?
H: It's getting worse as the scene on the whole is changing rapidly... there
have been more changes in the recent month then there have been in the
past 2 years. I think some people are taking this too seriously...
M: Like...? :)
H: I mean, for me this is nothing but a hobby. I'm not going to name names but
I think they all know who they are. Like there is the competition factor
between groups and that is what drives the scene. But there is a point
where competition becomes cut-throat, especially in the games scene and
thats were we need to take a step back and observe what the fuck we're
doing, and think back to the reasons we're doing this in the first place!
The shit we hear that goes on between groups and people is disturbing...
and no it's not friendly competition - 5 years ago, we didn't hear 90% of
the shit that goes on now. Of course that dosen't mean it didn't happen
back then.
M: You mean its much more common these days?
H: Hell yeah... i think it's because society (outside of the scene) I mean
REALITY has changed. Everything is run by kids now...
M: What do you think about the little Hybrid vs TDUJAM fight obviously going
on? I mean.. TDUJAM and Razor has started greeting eachother (!).. and
Hybrid & TDUJAM have had some title races this fall.
H: Well, I think that is one of the lesser battles going on... and I feel it's
nothing more that competition. But when you start busting suppliers and
boards etc... to make your group No.1 and your boards the fastest... thats
plain lame!
M: Changing subject again. Is there anyone particular and/or board in
particular that you like/dislike more than the others? Typical question :)
H: I have no personal enemies... I don't really dislike anyone. if someone
does something I don't like in the scene or does something to me in the
scene... I find no reason to be upset. As it's not affecting my family life
or my job, but the minute someone fucks with my family's security or me and
my job, thats when I draw the line. I have my share of good friends, who
I've met over the years... and I have my share of people who's attitudes
I don't like... but I don't dislike them as a person for that.
M: Any persons that you feel good friendship with in particular?
H: I think Death Angel is one of my best friends from the scene... we haven't
known each other that long, and sometimes he really fucking pisses me off!
But when it comes down to it he's a cool guy.
H: Of course there is Critical Mass and Toyman, Raptor, Ustasa etc... alot of
people. But anyone I meet... until he/she does me wrong, I consider a
friend.
M: I guess this ends our interview.. I would like to thank you very much!
Good luck in the future with Prestige!
H: No problem, and thanks alot.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Interview with Orion / PWA Prez (after anouncing retirement)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a short interview with Orion, more known as 'ThePrez' of PWA. This
interview was conducted by Mondain on November the 5th 1995.
M: Orion, on behalf of the Naked Truth Magazine, I would like to ask you a few
questions.
O: By all means, fire away
M: First, I'd like to ask you about PWA's founding, in late 1992 I believe.
What backround can you give us on that?
O: Actually PWA was founded in Feb of 92. We started PWA when alot of us old
pirates got tired of the blood thirsty competition of the warez scene..
NTA was ruling the Utils scene so we decided to throw our gauntlets into
that ring and see what happens... Seems we did well...
M: Who was in the original cast?
O: Hmmm sure make me think... grin.. Lets see Bar Manager and myself ran the
group, from there we had Dumper, Satman, TMOD, Rambone, Dorian Hawkmoon,
Hannibal Lecktor, Venom, and honestly can't think of everyone... Give me a
few and I can get a nfo from then....heheh
M: Well, now the big question. Why exactly did you quit PWA? All we have is
"for reasons unclear to me at this monent". Can you elaborate on that?
O: Laugh you know its funny.. Every one is making thier own assumptions on why
I left the group... You are the first to ask directly, I like that...
I left because my work was done... PWA needed leadership till it was fully
grown... I think in my eyes the group has grown to a point where it doesn't
need me.. So instead of just riding out the times not doing much, I wanted
to focus the groups accomplishments on the people that deserve it... So the
Council runs it all now..
M: So who will run the group now that you have retired? Specifically.
O: The Council will with equal votes... Rambone, Snake, Marlenus, Blackhawk,
Dark Lord
M: What were, and what are the continuing beliefs behind PWA? What do you think
the group stood for then, and what do you think the group will continue to
stand for?
O: The beliefs were and still are, to remind everyone that this is a hobbie
first and foremost... And to continue of not giving a fuck to any group or
board.. We do care if a board is 30 nodes, if we don't want it in PWA and
the Sysop can't offer something substancial to PWA its not in.... WE don't
recruit people in the reps only, they need to impress Council..
Noone gets free rides in PWA
M: I think we touched on this before. Do you think the Scene is self-
destructive? -ie- it seems that where the Scene is heavily concentrated
<large boards, internet> there is a rise in group fights, "lamers", etc..
O: Well I seen this start along time ago, hence the motto of PWA of "A Group
that gives slightly less then a fuck". Its self destructive when people
forget the reasoning why we are here. To give people a taste of products to
come.. They get wrapped into the competition thing and start the blood
thirsty wars, all it hurts is themselves in the long run...
M: Do you think the Scene can or will recover from such 'wars', or that it is
an endless loop?
O: Until people drop thier ego's its a endless loop unfortunatly......
M: Back to the Council. Do you think it is safer to have a majority vote on
topics, rather than a 'final word' that a group leader would have?
O: Even when I was President all votes went to Council first, I would only
intervien when the was a hung vote.. So yes it has worked fine for PWA in
the past I see no problem with it in the future...
M: How do you feel about the recent competition of the old groups as well as
the new ones, in releasing utils? will it become ever increasingly hard
for PWA to keep up its release rate?
O: I don't think so at all.. I mean all groups have thier ups and downs..
Sometimes releasing 200+ megs a week and sometimes 20 megs a week.. Every
group has thier suppliers and where the suppliers get their warez wont
change so the "friendly" competition is a good thing..
M: This is more of a controversial question. What do you think of the amount
of "lamers" that have invaded the Scene? How do -you- define lameness, and
do you think it takes away from the integrity of the Scene?
O: Eww had to go there eh? Hehe well the defination of lamer, in my thoughts
would bem someone that has no respect for the people that have been in the
scene and want to get thier name to the top no matter what or who it hurts.
M: Well I do have to get the 'inside' scoop ya know <g>
O: Hehe not a problem at all.. I answer anything asked directed to me..
M: So you have seen, and do have a good idea, how these 'lamers' slowly
degregade the scene as a whole?
O: Again they don't care what their actions to do anyone or any board.. Doing
that they degrade the scene in a whole...
M: What advice do you have for those who are trying to get 'into the Scene'?
..and for the groups just starting out?
O: 1. Be loyal. Don't group jump, decide what you want to do and just go ahead
full steam and do it.. If you decide to join a group stick with it through
its up and downs...
2. respect those that have been around the scene. They have learned from
theirs and others mistakes and have learned and changed
M: Last question, I promise. What do you think of the recent busts of boards,
and the supposed involement of members in NTA ?
O: No problem with the questions since retirement I have time,, Hehe...
Honestly I believe and have info it was a inside person in the group
offering MS and SPA info.. And that constitutes lameness
M: Then time for another one? <g>
O: Go for it... Wife just brought me a cup of coffee... I am ready fire away
M: Heheh. How do you see the future of the Scene, with the furthur promotion
of CD-ROM based software, and SPA/BSA busts of boards?
O: CD rom based games are going to be the death of the boards... only Inet can
carry the speed to move them now... SPA/BSA bust will never stop, guys just
have to be careful.. if it gets any worse I see the scene closing up into
its own little world the way it was 6-7 years ago, where you have to know or
blow someone to get in a group or on a board..
M: Orion, I thank you for your time and contribution to the Naked Truth
Magazine. Enjoy your retirement: you've earned it.
O: Thanks enjoyed it!
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Interview with Evil Current / RAZOR 1911 member
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This interview with Evil Current, Member of the old but sharp RAZOR 1911, was
conducted by MindBender on November the 25th 1995.
M: This is MindBender from NTM ... I would like to interview you...
E: Sounds good to me..;)
M: Then tell me, when did you first start and where are you from ?
E: I first started about 1 1/2 to 2 years ago in the scene and i'm from Canada.
M: Why did you get into the scene in the first place ? any special goals you
wanted to complete ?
E: I first got into the scene because as i got more involved with computers I
found I needed some software which just wasn't available to me, so friends
of mine gave me the option of pirate boards which i took, as it was a great
source for most of these files, but i had no "goals" at that time, it was
strictly just to get some stuff that i needed every now and then...
M: So time went on, when did you get in contact with the "elite" of the scene
and what group did you start out with ?
E: I got into contact with the "elite" scene a little over a year ago, with
some small time groups like Gemini, ESP, ALF, all second-tier groups, but I
would say the first _real_ elite group would have to be Tyranny, which i was
a part of for a short time and it helped me a bit in the scene, as well, i
was somewhat in Paradox near the end of its life, however Zool never
confirmed it as he had problems calling out at the time.
M: So what happened in tyrrany... what can you tell me about the group with
your inside view and what made you make the decission to leave TRN for PDX ?
E: Tyranny was a competitive games group but not up to par with Razor or other
groups when I first joined however it blossomed into quite the group,
releasing such titles as X-Com ][ and Descent, as for my departure, i took a
short leave from the warezscene for a bit, and just 'hung around' for a
while, then I became interested again and came back...
M: So you joined PDX... what can you tell me about PDX... were they ever good
on PC and you think they will be back ?
M: Maybe you can tell me what REALLY happened to the leader maximillien ?
E: As i said, i joined near the end of their life, shortly after releasing
Aladdin from Virgin which impressed me, i thought it would be a good group
so i got on one of their amiga hq's and emailed their leader there, zool..
they were pretty good back then, but i don't think you'll see them come back
as their members are spread throughout all the groups and the leaders are
nowhere to be found. As for Maximillien, i can not tell you for sure, but
all i heard was he got caught up in a bad calling card deal and got busted
M: Is he in jail now ?
E: It was a stupid mistake on his part from what i hear, yes, i really never
interacted with Maximillien, I mainly dealt with zool on Lithium (the board)
so as a result, anything i say about him, is mainly heresay..
M: Is Lithium still around (in what group) ?
E: Lithium, i believe is still around in 313, i'd really have to check, i heard
it shrank in size, going to like 3-4 nodes.. i don't think its affiliated
with anyone, and if it is, i believe it would be a small-time group.
M: OK, so after PDX you took a rest, back from the holliday you started out
fresh in a new group, which one ?
E: Nothing big, i sort've went back to the smaller scene and came up with the
idea of onyx (with Hemp Hoodlum And Death Angel), it would be the first
group in which i was a leader and it was a util group, in fact, Silver
Bullet ran our whq for the short lifespan of the group, then it died, and we
kind've went our seperate ways, but i do believe The Rebels Alliance (TRA)
and later Retribution were partly formed from what we had in onyx
M: Were you in TRA ?
E: I was somewhat in TRA, but the group was very disorganized and went under a
lot of leadership changes which in the end, made me say 'fuck it', and i
quit that, and did Retribution with Sphinx and Exile, HH and DA too... and
it was short-lived too, can't remember the exact reason for its death though
but we did release a couple cool things..
M: So... as the leader of the group... what went wrong in the organisation ?
any hints to upcoming leaders in other groups ?
E: I was not really the leader of the group at those times, as for organization
I think it was because too many people were vying for _THE_ leader position
and spending all their time doing that, rather than co-ordinating the group.
So as far as advice gos for upcoming leaders, I'd say, lay back, do your job
in a group and eventually you will become leader, just be persistent and be
damn good at what you do and eventually you will get a shot at it.
M: So after you left TRA and RTN... ?
E: Uhmm.. I became sort've independant I guess.. eventually I joined SCUM,
before it became the powerhouse and stayed with it for a while until near
the very end.. scum ruled, I think it taught me a lot of different stuff I
was unaware of about the scene.
M: So now, why did SCUM die and what could have been done to prevent that ?
E: Well, SCuM was great, and I don't think it really died, it just came to the
fact that Liquidator was tired of all the stuff SCUM had gone through (the
wars with PCY/groups members leaving/etc,etc) and it became PWA, PWA and
SCUM always had a close tie. I think it was a good merger..
M: So after you left SCUM... what happened...
E: Well, actually, before i left Scum, i got hooked up with Jester King through
a friend, Death Angel, and we started doing the 1-800 conferences and stuff,
and so my friend Death Angel asked JK if he could help me get in razor as
there were no more positions available in gns for 416/905 people at that
time... and JK helped me get in contact with EoS, which, although took a
long time, eventually led to my razor membership.
M: So about Jester King, what happened to him ? was he really busted ?
E: Jester King & me always did the phone calls, pranks, etc, etc, but one time
I think JK pushed it a little too far and phoned in a bomb threat to his
girlfriend's school.. which was stupid, even he thinks so now... But anyway,
eventually, his g/f was bragging about how she knew who did the threat, and
from what i hear, the school brought in feds who interrogated her, found out
JK did it and arrested him.
E: I do believe he was in jail for a short time before bail was posted..
E: Err.. posted, and i wouldn't call it jail, more like in 'holding'
M: Oh... so finally in RAZOR... what happened... was this at the time that
Speedo & Gecko was running it or before "the split" ?
E: This was when Speedo and Gecko had taken over.. TRC was longgone and i think
it was just shortly before he formed Eclipse.
M: So this was before Randall/Marauder and the rest left for Eclipse? Was there
any major reactions you can remember from the time and place ?
E: This was after they had left, as for reactions, i'm not sure as i was not a
SOLID part of razor at that time, like i said, it took a while after
intially contacting EoS, that i finally did get in Razor.. and as far as
reaction goes, i dunno, for a short time i was in Eclipse so i knew they're
reaction to the whole split, but it wasn't untila fter that i found out TSR
& GEcko's side..
M: So RAZOR re-shaped the structures of the group... who were the actual
leaders (as noone is really stated in the NFO)...
E: The actual leaders were TSR, The GEcko, and EoS...
M: So after Loosing The Assasins Guild, Gods Realm went up...
E: Well, it took a long time between TAG and GR, in which several boards had
the opportunity for WHQ, but eventually it did go to GR...
M: so TSR decided to help it get fast... how ?
E: GR was slow, but like any Razor Whq we knew eventually it would become the
best, it was just that we wanted to do so in the shortest amount of time so
TSR/GEcko/Hula/GR Staff sat down with several groups and got the best of the
best to be affiliated with GR
M: And you got Drink or Die...
E: Yes, DOD was not the better of the two to begin with, however with Hula in
the picture, DOD soon started kicking ass...
M: Why didn't GR get RISC ?
E: As far as GR and RISC went, GR only deserved the best, i.e. a WHQ, and
obviously RISC was not going to just take that away from PC so other options
had to be explored.
M: But why didnt GR get RISC or RTS ?
E: And rts was basically dead at the time
M: So... what was decided ?
E: Well, at the same time, myself, Ustasa and The Punisher had decided to make
a courier group and we had hoped GR would be the whq, so i approached TSR
and at first he rejected it, thinking we were another courier group which he
had already talked to, but GR went with mine, ustasa & the punisher's group.
Well, it became The Cartel, after an old group from around 1991-1992.. and
we rocked GR...;).. GR became, in my opinion, the best board in the world,
pretty damn fast
M: As the leader of Cartel, can you tell me little about the organisation, the
first NFO file was kind of unorganised... also I like some views from the
inside..
E: Well, the basic original idea of the group was that all people would be
equal and that everyone had the same vote in the group on any group
decisions so the nfo was listed with all the people as the same
E: We soon realized this was not working and re-shaped the nfo file to fit our
needs. As for organization or the group, at that time it was pretty good.
M: Cartel later merged with WAR... can you tell me about this ?
E: Well, one day while sitting on the net i came across a bunch of euros who
had started a group called WAR, the one thing Cartel lacked was europeans,
and WAR lacked North Americans so in essence it was a perfect merge...
M: What was TSR's role in the group? Rumours say he ruled the group completely.
Thats why members of Eclipse had to leave it. For example: Southern Comfort
left Eclipse and Chainsaw Massacre left Cartel...
E: TSR's role in the group was strictly Advisory as was Cyber Angel's and i had
hoped people like Chainsaw and BlueWater (who never was in cartel) could
advise too.. however this rumour killed that idea... my reason for having
such a diverse group was to have somewhat of a U.N. of all groups where we
could pretty much all get along, but that idea got nixed, like i said, and
Eclipse people started to leave... as for Southern Comfort, that was not
related to The Cartel, TRC and Cobra were not getting along so i offered
Cobra a spot in Razor 1911, and after considering it for a while, he took me
up on it.
M: What about 'Brown Sugar', the person with all the "NEW" ideas who wanted to
change the group completetly...
E: Hehe.. Brown Sugar had some good ideas however he wouldn't give out his #
and my only real contact with him was when i used to call in on
the euro-
cartel's conferences... we lost contact until most recently, so i'd say he
did not have that great of an effect on the group.
M: What about the rumours that Brown Sugar spread the word you were grounded in
your house, not able to run the group ?
E: I dunno how true this is that Brown Sugar spread it, however <gulp;)> it is
true i was grounded for about 2-3 days and i had some time to think about
some shit and i took a short break from the scene as cartel was taking a
toll on me, and as a result, people thought i was grounded for like 3 weeks.
It was really only 2-3 days, the rest were 'breaktime' for me :)..<just to
set the record straight>.
M: You had a time to think... what happened when you got back ?
E: Things had changed a lot and i was not happy with some of the changes, the
eurosection was pretty organized, however a lot of our north american spread
section had no idea what was going on.. and thats when things started to
fall..
M: So Cartel died... what happened then ?
E: Well, before it died, there were talks of mergers with what remained of it
with RTS and/or Everlast, both ideas coming from Hula, who i had become
really good friends with throughout this ordeal.. and well, i just devoted
more time to Razor, doing all I could to improve the blade and a little to
DOD before being kicked out..
M: So back in RAZOR 100%... what can you tell me about the Tribe.. was/is he a
paysite of RAZOR.. I heard he pay alot of money for the EuroHQ position ?
E: To tell you the truth, razor is split up into different divisions, each
overlooked by their own 'leader', and i was not involved and am still not
involved with whats going on with The Tribe.. however, i am almost 100% sure
there is no money there...
M: OK... so what happened next or has there been anything since ?
E: Well, like i said, i was booted from dod and had even more scene time to
devote to razor so again i did more to improve the group, brought in some
cool people, and then, took another break.. seems like there's a theme here.
E: Oh, and there was rom 1911, if you want to even dwell upon that :)
M: Hehe, please!
E: Well, Rom was formed by Dr. anarchy and malicious intent, and at the same
time i had asked TSR if i could start rom, so me & joel <Mi> hooked up and
tried to make rom good, but it was really a bomb, joel wanted to be a
dictator yet did nothing in the group and we wasted a lot of valuable
resources.. it could've been good and was on its way up after joel was
removed from Razor & ROM.. but then the leadership changed hands...
M: So what you have to say about the CD division these days... is it a wise
decission to part the floppy from the CD ? how long before the floppy is
ALL dead ?
E: I think the CD Divison rocks and although i wouldn't say we're the best yet,
we're one of the top 2, not bad considering we've been around for less than
2 months.. and yes it is a wise decission, because there are a lot of
valuable floppy people in razor who had opted to join other cd groups before
Razor CD was conceived, and we still needed them in our floppy division as
for the floppy scene, i do not know, i think it will be YEARS before disks
are totally eradicated, so there'll be a quality floppy releases about every
six months or something...
M: You seen alot of games thoughtout your time.. what's your favorite game ?
E: Yes, I consider myself an avid game player.. My Favourite, & might i add,
the best game of all time is Warcraft supplied by Razor's very own GEcko..
Command & Conquer is a close second (good job Hybrid! :))
M: Any hints for upcoming traders ? how to trade most effectivily ?
E: Get on the internet! the internet is really fast, and cool..it'll speed up
your trading a lot if you can find some good reliable sites and talk to
experienced traders like Toast, Ustasa, The Punisher, Lunatic Genius, etc..
M: What about the future of RAZOR... what do you see ?
E: The future of RAZOR 1911 is very bright, i think with the combination of new
faces and some old faces returning RAZOR will lead the scene into the next
century...
M: So define the following groups in some short sentences..:
M: PWA !
E: PWA ; Best Util Group Out There, Yes I Know DOD Releases More But PWA is
almost 100% quality stuff
M: DOD !
E: DOD ; Second Best Group, Still Fairly Young In The "Really Competitive Utils
Scene", time will tell if it will become a PWA or another scum/pcy/any other
group which falls apart aafter reaching its paramount
M: HBD !
E: HBD ; Quality group.. I have always been impressed with Hybrid's stuff, real
professional... good installer and most of their stuff is quality only time
I have problems with them is when they blatantly dupe people <cough> wrest-
lemania <cough> :)
M: TDU !
E: TDU ; I have a lot of respect for Fanfan, hes a one-man show... TDU = Fanfan
and Fanfan = TDU.. besides that, their courier system sucks, Fanfan plays
dirty on releases, i.e. knocking people off of TDU and he types up those
lame-ass 50k text files within the nfo-file he has no right to rag on other
groups just because they beat TDU.. FanFan - just face it sometimes...
everyone else does..
M: PSG !
E: PSG ; Amiga - the best, PC - i dunno, they have the suppliers, but no
crackers and no couriers, on more than one occasion i, personally, have been
offered titles for the simple fact that PSG just can't crack them.. if they
get some crackers and couriers, they'll be a force to deal with..
M: TRSI !
E: TRSI ; I think it has a lot of potential but i really don't know how far it
will go, they're in a bad place in terms of calling out and i dunno about
their suppliers anymore.
M: What about some names...
M: The GEcko !
E: The GEcko ; One of the best, if not the best suppliers in the scene, GEcko
really knows his stuff, someone for up-and-coming people to learn off of.
M: Chainsaw Massacre !
E: Chainsaw Massacre ; Good Supplier, good trader, good bullshit artist. next!
M: Lord Cyric !
E: Lord Cyric ; I really don't know LC that well, but i do believe he is/was a
great trader and a h/p god..:)
M: Hoson !
E: Hoson ; Another great supplier in the scene, i think Hoson could be like
FanFan (in terms of the number of releases) if he wasn't so lazy :)
(btw: hoson - hybrid people say this, don't get pissed :)) naah.. hoson's a
good guy, never had any problems with him.. good supplier, Wipeout was cool!
M: Werner & Tardy !
E: Werner & Tardy ; Ex-trading gods, uhmm.. dabbling in the supply scene, its
very interesting, they're giving razor & hybrid a run for their money on
german/various euro titles.
M: Cyber Angel !
E: Cyber Angel ; Nice guy, good supplier, another person who up-and-coming
people could learn a lot about, he pretty much singlehandedly made TRN as
good as it was at its pinnacle, and has helped in the success of PNX/DOD/RM
EDGE/the list goes on...
M: Jimmy Jamez !
E: Jimmy Jamez ; Nice guy, good leader; definately a figurehead in DOD, i don't
know where they'd be without him, i would say he's the equivalent of Cyber
Angel but in the utils scene Cyber Angel being in the games scene and all...
M: The Renegade Chemist !
E: The Renegade Chemist ; Hmm.. mixed feelings on this one, TRC is definately
one of the scene's best leaders and did contribute to Razor's huge success
however i think he is on the downfall of his scene 'career', it seems solely
based on revenge against the razor people, and thats no motivation for some-
one in the scene.. do it for fun or get out is my feeling on it...
M: OK... so anyone in particular you like/hate in the scene more than others ?
E: Good pals ; TSR/Hula/Devious Doze to name a few... people i hate ; no one,
I despise some risc people because they can't give up the whole risc-cartel
thing, but they've earned my respect cuz they run a good group...
M: So you got any words for how the CD-games have affected the scene ?
E: I think its pumped a lot more "shit" into the scene, but it has pumped a lot
of life into too.. a lot of old floppy legend people I think are going to
come back because the scene is vibrant and filled with tons of stuff to
release now..
E: No, one floppy every 3 weeks kinda deal..
M: ... any last words/final qoutes ? Do you believe in our Lord ? :)
E: There Can Be Only One! RAZOR 1911 From '85 To Infinity and yup.. i believe
in RAZOR 1911 the _legend_ :) oh, and one more thing The Scene Is For Fun
People, Enjoy It, When Its no Longer Fun, Give Up, Get A New Hobby! Take
care...
M: Well thnx for thix interview and good luck in the future !
E: No problems about the interview, my pleasure, got a lot off my chest... good
luck to ya too...
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Interview with Rage / RAZOR 1911 member
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This interview with Rage, old member of RAZOR 1911, was conducted by
Dead Image on November the 17th 1995.
D: Hi, this is Dead Image from NTM. I would like to ask you some questions
about your time in the scene...
R: Go ahead...
D: Where are you from and how long have you been in the scene?
R: Well i am from Luxembourg, been in the scene for about a 3.5 years, almost 4
D: How did you start up with the trading?
R: I Started first on a board called Red Sector,as soon as i got my first CC
in my hands, old Outlaws and TRSI WHQ, which had about 20 nodes that time...
trying to get some games and xfering files. First group actually was
Alfaphight, but another formation as it is today, that time PC and Amiga
sections were still together..
I got into Razor, as a board in Luxenbourg was desiered and Dune called me
if I would like to join as a Razor board, so first i wasin there as an
affilated BBs, but about 6 month later, i had some more conversations
with Ralph (a former razor Courier Coordinator) and i went as a courier.
Was trial for a couple days only after i got into the real courier section.
D: You were among the top uploaders on most of the big boards in US ,did you
have any favourite?
R: Yes, my favorite boards were Mirage, the former Razor WHQ, Unlawful Entry
and The Assasin's Guild.
D: There must have been many struggles on these boards weektop , was there
any special trader who you admired?
R: Well i didn't really admire any other trader, but the awesome work which
Razor Blade did, impressed me in some way
D: When you started, was there any group/guy who you had as a favourite?
R: RAZOR 1911 was always my favorite as i liked the name, and the work they
did, but i also like groups like TDT and TRSI,
D: What do you think about all these group wars (rzr/gns/hbd)
R: Well these group wars are funny in some way, well i really like the old
group wars between Razor, Nexus and Pentagram, but in another way they are
sometimes really stupid,even to stupid to be considert as being a group war.
those wars are part of the scene.
D: have you ever been affected in a release race, like you are uploading a
rzr release to TDU and then you suddenly lost carrier?
R: Yep, already happend to me on the Nexus WHQ, Well i was uploading some Razor
relase immediatly to the Nexus WHQ, I was leeching with 1 Node on Mirage and
was uploading with the 2. Node to Moral Decay, as i studenly lost carrier,
as I recalled and wanted to connect it happend to me again and again... or
once i got like a OLM form Lord Cyric the I should logoff, giving room to
nexus traders,as he had the PCB command to logoff alternate Node, I
couldn't do anything against it.
D: Well I guess all groups are the same then
R: Yeah, well nobody wants to be the looser, every group wanted to get the
game first. Biggest struggle i ever saw was 3 diffrent groups (NXS/PTG/RZR)
trying to upload the same game on mirage.. like 7-8 nodes busy by uploading
the diffrent disks of the Game.
D: Who won that race?
R: Razor won, on their WHQ, but other groups claimed they had it first on their
own WHQ. There it was where lots of ragging and fighing between groups
started...
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Here's a poem I recieved from one of the readers from issue #1. As I was not
really sure if we should publish it or not I decided we publish it for now and
if the response is good, we might continue...
Just Another Reboot - (c) Olwin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feeling the evil inside my soul
Tumbling in darkness with no exit
The pulse speeds as the brain collapses
Feeling the darkness, it's all around
Cant move and struggle being helpless
Another second and it's all forgotten
A sparkle of light returns my soul
My eyes explore the surrounding
Then, I scream out and die...
SYSTEM HALTED...
===============================================================================
Email Questionarie, The Magazine Evalutation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now it's time for a questionarie. What do you think about this magazine and
what parts are better/worse than the others? Please fill in the questionarie
below and send it to the NTM E-mail adress at the bottom of the magazine...
Please rate the following parts with 1-5 points (best = 5 points)
Introduction - Opening of the 2:nd issue .........................[ ]
Mailbox answers ..................................................[ ]
Scenelife - The narcotic illusion and when it breaks .............[ ]
The BBS semetary .................................................[ ]
African scene, more than just a jungle ...........................[ ]
Chainsaw Massacre - Interview ....................................[ ]
Hemp Hoodlum - Interview .........................................[ ]
Orion - Interview ................................................[ ]
Evil Current - Interview .........................................[ ]
Rage - Interview .................................................[ ]
Just Another Reboot - Poem .......................................[ ]
Questionarie (what you're reading right now) .....................[ ]
Final words from the staff .......................................[ ]
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Most wanted File_id.diz - Popularity Poll
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We were going to continue the work on the popularity poll by stating the most
wanted File_id.diz in this issue. There was never anyone there to take care of
the task so we dont have enough votes to complete this chart.
Instead we decided that until next issue, people email us votes to the adress
in the bottom of this magazine. We collect them and if the votes are enough
they will be published in the next issue...
Until then, no poll... atleast now, you got the topic... :)
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
And there goes another issue... Naked Truth Magazine wish you a merry x-mas
and a happy new year. We also hope to see you next year with another fine
copy of our excellent magazine...
Please keep sending us material for upcoming issues, this magazine is built
mostly on what people bring us...
If you want to contact 'Naked Truth Magazine' to leave us comments, bombmail
rumours to include in next issue or just anything else, please e-mail us at:
>> mindbndr@algonet.se <<
Or call 'Fatal Future' & 'Shadowlands' homes of the Naked Truth Magazine
We're always interested in new talents to make the magazine even better so if
you think you can help us.. write now !
===============================================================================
Naked Truth Magazine - The best way to make competition worse
@BEGIN_FILE_ID.DIZÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸
³-NTM- NAKED TRUTH MAGAZINE -NTM-³
³ ISSUE #2 ³
³ ³
³ Interviews with: Rage [RZR], Orion [PWA] ³
³ Evil Current [RZR], Hemp Hoodlum [PSG], ³
³ Chainsaw Massacre [HBD]. ³
ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ[ NTM * 01-Dec-95 ]Í;
@END_FILE_ID.DIZ
