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Chaos Chronicle edition 5 released May 5th, 1990 an International Network of Chaos Publication -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Publisher - THE SHARK/INC Editor - MASTER KRACKER/INC Chaos Chronicle (CC) is a monthly newspaper made for the upper class of the Commodore World. INC feels that we are the most qualified group to do this because we have contributed so much and have been around for such a long time. This newspaper is PRO-INC, so if you see articles written that support INC, now you know why. Someone once said that if you don't like something, change it. So we have, and this is what we feel a newspaper should be like. CC has become the newspaper that people believe in. Our charts are accurate and CC is now considered one of the best newspapers to ever come out. That is why INC shall do their best job providing you with a quality newspaper. This version of CC is typed in 40 columns so we recommend viewing it with Chaos Reader. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Thank You, No Thank You. by the CC Staff -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- I would just like to thank everyone who contributed an article this month. This edition is probably one of the best CC's to ever come out. CC is made for the pirates, so it's realy nice when everyone is helping us out. I just hope that everyone continues to send up articles, especially the groups that are listed in the 'Group News'. Without the pirates, this newspaper wouldn't exist. So please write an interesting article and send it to us. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Ultra-Com BBS v1.2 Update by Pudwerx of ATC -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- The new and greatly improved UCBBS 1.2 is soon to be ready for shipment. The scheduled release date is May 7, 1990. Many thanks go out to all of you who contributed their suggestions on how to improve this BBS program. There have been many changes, both major and minor, the most noteworthy of the 50+ changes are: * The new [U]ser Stat Edit command. Now Remote Sysops with the new Level-9 access will be allowed to view/edit other users' stats. This command is protected by an additional sysop-selectable Remote Password. * A new Voting Booth routine checks at the logon to see if that user has voted on the current topic. If not, it automatically takes him to the Voting Booth every time he logs on until he has voted. * For those of you with the earlier version of v1.1, you'll be happy to note that commas, colons, and semi- colons are now allowed in Feedback. * If you are testing the BBS in Local Mode, ALL output to the modem has been halted, so, you don't need to turn it off or unplug it while test- ing the BBS. Also in Local Mode, it now lists in the System-Log the user name, followed by 'Local' to indicate this mode. * It is now recorded to the System-Log whenever a user changes his password and what his new password is. * New Multi-DL File Skipper adds 2 new options to a Multi-DL. The 'Skip-4' and 'Skip-8' options let the user enter a 4 or 8, and be the same as entering that many NO's. This is very helpful for long directories !! (It's also cool because Zips are 4 files long, and a 2-sided Zip is 8 files long.) * The Auto-dialer in Term Mode now allows any characters. * A new [R]e-read command in the Sub- boards lets the user read the last message read without having to re- enter its number. * A new [X]pert Mode command lets users turn on/off the options that always come up after each Sub-post and E-mail. It also lets them go right to the File Transfer prompt without the File Transfer Menu coming up. If a user ever forgets what his options are at any prompt, '?' now always lists his options. And a user's Expert Mode status is remembered from call-to-call, so that if it's ON when he hangs up, it'll still be ON when he calls back. * Likewise, the user's Auto-Directory status is also remembered from call- to-call. * Now, if you have turned the Upload Index OFF, it doesn't record uploads to it. * Cursor movements are now allowed in Sub-Posts and E-Mails. Also, [CTRL-B + Color] is allowed in Subs and E-mail to change the screen color for users with CCGMS or similar term program. * If a user aborts transfer or drops carrier while uploading a file, it now automatically scratches that file. * NO MORE FREE DOWNLOADS !!! That bug has been fixed... * If a user is new (Access Level = 0), his name is followed by '(NEW)' in the Users List. * There is now TRUE cursor display on the sysop's screen throughout the entire program. It uses the same ML cursor routine as is in Term Mode. * New indicator on the sysop's screen during a user's Multi-DL shows how many files that user has selected to DL, and which number of those files he's on. It also shows the time the transfer started, and the Estimated Transfer Time. * One-Liners now cycle. That is, for every new One-liner, number 1 is erased, numbers 2 through 10 move upward, and the One-Liner just written becomes the new number 10. This keeps the One-Liners fresh. * Now Level-8 users can read any SEQ file on any drive. * New improved garbage collection routine greatly reduces those nasty delays that often occur in UCBBS v1.1. * E-Mail and Sub-Posts can now be on ANY drive !! This means that if you have an extra drive (or partition of a 1581 or Lt Kernal), you can devote that entire drive (or partition) to E-Mail and Sub-Posts. For those sysops who have a 1581 or Lt Kernal, this also means much FASTER file access for both reading and writing messages. For others, it can mean far fewer headaches from having a full system disk !!! In addition, if you dedicate a non- 1541 disk drive to E-Mail and Sub- Posts, the number of total active Sub-Posts increases from the current 75 posts up to 200 total messages!!! There are more subtle changes that have been made to this program, but those above are the most noteworthy improvements. Altogether, this version is MUCH better than the previous v1.1. If you liked running v1.1, you'll LOVE the new/improved UCBBS v1.2!!! ---- -------------------------------------- These new improvements make UCBBS v1.2 the most flexible, easiest to use, and fastest memory-resident BBS program there is. To order your 100% copy and become one of the many happy registered UCBBS sysops, send $30 (check or money order), along with your Name, Address, and BBS Phone # to: UCBBS v1.2 P.O. Box 583 Davison, MI. 48423 All information is kept STRICTLY confidential! (For current registered UCBBS sysops, send a $5 check or M.O. with Name, Addr, and Phone # to cover S&H). -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Operation Southhall by: Warewolf/Exodus -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- I'm sure you have all heard about this story in one way or another. Unfortunately, not many people know the full story on what happened as the information has, for the most part, been spread inaccurately or incompletely. I recently had the benefit of talking to Stuart, one of the people involved in Operation Southhall. Stuart lives in Northeast England and is more commonly known to the pirating public by his alias, Image. Stu has been actively involved in pirating for several years now. Some of you might remember him from Nato on the 64, but he was more recently a member of Quartex on the Amiga. His primary job in Quartex was to supply originals, which he was able to do because he works at a software store. In addition to his original-supplying, he also ran a pirate/phreak board for Quartex which was called Imageworks. His long-term pirating and phreaking is what eventually got him involved. Operation Southhall is the name given to one of the largest busts ever conducted in the United Kingdom. It was a combined effort between British Telecom (similar to our local telephone companies here in the states) and British police, acting on behalf of F.A.S.T. (Federation Against Software Theft), a widespread citizen's group devoted to stopping Great Britain's software piracy "problems". Stuart was one of the people that was busted during Operation Southhall, and has learned a lot about about its procedures while talking with the authorities. In fact, the majority of the information used in this article was provided by Stuart. He said that British Telecom was mainly interested in the confiscation of illegal "meter supression devices", more commonly known to phreaks as "black boxes", which are mechanical devices used to make/receive telephone calls for free. In fact, Operation Southhall was conducted primarily for that purpose. British Telecom believes their actions during Operation Southhall were entirely necessary, as they claim to be losing in the range of 5,000,000 pounds per year (approx. 7,500,000 American dollars) to telephone fraud. Stuart has also learned that Operation Southhall was planned by law enforcement agencies for about 9 months before it was carried out on April 5th, 1990. Originally, it was planned to be just a series of searches set up by British Telecom to take care of black box usage. About that time F.A.S.T. learned of this problem and how it related to software piracy. Since there was more to this than just black boxes, it was decided that a full-scale raid should be conducted. Image's house was first visited by the authorities (6-7 police officers from a special task force and 2 British Telecom personnel) at about 7am that morning. In addition, 12 other people were busted about that same time throughout England, and some places in Scotland. I have a partial listing of those people, however, I am not going to list them because I have not verified them. Stuart's house was searched thoroughly for approximately 4 hours, during which time his white box (similar to a black box, but can only recieve calls for free) was confiscated. In additon to that, his computer equipment, disks, codes, and miscellaneous papers were also taken. The authorities also took 2 pictures in Stuart's room: one of his computer setup and the other of his white box setup. Stu says that he may even be charged a fine, up to about 1000 pounds (Approx. 1500 American dollars) for every single piece of pirated software that he has. As most Americans will agree, this is very different from the way law enforcement agencies handle software piracy here in the states. The details of Stuart's legal punishment have not yet been ascertained; he will find out when and if he has to go to court, and specifically what the criminal charges against him are on the 23rd of May. However, judging by the trouble British Telecom and F.A.S.T. have gone to in carrying out this massive raid, I doubt they are just going to give him, or any of the other people busted, a slap on the wrist. The raids during Operation Southhall have caused quite an impact on the people that phreak and pirate in England. Stu says that many phreaks have been "laying low" since the busts. The use of credit cards, and of course black boxes, have declined considerably. Although British Telecom has finished with Operation Southhall, it seems unlikely that this will be their last action of this type. F.A.S.T. has not relented and still continues their war on software piracy. The point of this article? Well, I guess there really isn't much of a point to this, other than to provide concise, accurate information about what happened during Operation Southhall. Maybe to show just another example of the serious steps companies are taking to stop phreaking. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- What Is A True Elite written by P Bass -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- The purpose of this series of articles is to point out the regressing state of the Commodore elite in this country. I have been somewhat of a witness to this decline and have tried here to objectively point out the cause and effect of this regression. In addition I have also attempted to solve this problem with practical suggestions. These articles will cover the following topics: Part I What Is A True Elite Part II Driving Out The Lameness Among Us... Part III Formation Of Elite Council Part IV Elite Trainees And Their Importance To Our Survival Part I -------- What Is A True Elite Written By: P Bass-SYSOP The Warez Channel (817) 565-1421 20 Megs For True Elites Only ---- There are several ways in which an otherwise lame user can distinguish himself as an elite user. They are as follows: 1) Hacking - As a hacker of systems and/or codes this system rapist supplies other elites with the freshest of information. Without the faithful hacker we would all be calling toll or not even calling at all.... 2) SYSOPing - Yes I am the first to admit that I have included this for selfish reasons but there are just as many valid points here as well. Anyone reading this who has logged on to any of my boards knows that I handle boards that are well programmed, very well organized, and that do not permit the existence of locals/lamers (with exception of trainees -- see article four). The rules for my system are spelled right out and consistently applied...if you fuck up you simply disappear. Without the truly elite SYSOPs there would be no groups, and no widespread wares distribution...shit, we all might even be on Q-Link.... 3) Cracking/Coding - These rippers of ML keep us thick in new cracks and have been known to dazzle on occasion with unique demos. They consistently piss off software houses with their ability to crack the toughest of programs. Without them we would be delegated to fucking cartridge cracks...or should I say MIR releases (hehe) and imports with NTSC problems... or should I say AXIS releases.... 4) Importers/Runners - While these types of elites may be arguably lower in stature than others they are no less important. These guys represent the balls and soul of the elite. They constantly rape and plunder the phone lines in search of 0-dayers to feed to the elite boards. Now that I've patted true elites on the back my question to the SYSOPs is this: if someone on your board does not fall into one of these categories then why the fuck do you tolerate his existence? That is one of, if not the main, reason for the decline of eliteness in the US, with in reality only the 'big four' still remaining (INC ATC NEC XDS). Yayayaya...I can hear other groups saying "Fuck You! We've released and imported and hacked so what's your fucking problem". My answer is: why then do you have 15 damn members listed in your intro, 12 of whom don't do jack shit? Why do you permit your wares to be posted on lame boards while they are still less than 5 days old? Why do you still have your dick in your hand? I know I will piss some people off, primarily groups not in the 'big four' who think they're elite. They will leave me shit in feedback or in new user applications on my board...call me an asshole, call me lame...hey fuck you! If all I've done is to wake up the truly elite community to our progressing lameness then I've accomplished what I have set out to do. Again I say...FUCK YOU! Perhaps if I wake up the spirit of the true elites in the US...those with an attitude of arrogance, those with real balls and daring those with that unquenchable elite spirit of pride...then I have succeeded. There are those (including some elites) who say that all the real elites have already gone over to the Amiga. I don't agree with that yet, but I believe that we are dangerously leaning in that direction. We need to fucking destroy the lame virus among us and be elite again. Otherwise we are all destined to die lame. (Part II of this series deals with the causes and effects of the increasing lameness in addition to offering sound solutions to same.) -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- The 'False' Pirates written by The Python of Mirage -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- The era of the false pirates has finally ended. Personally, I think it should've never started. For those who don't follow me, let me explain. The false pirate, or cracker, began with the appearance of Isepic. How many programs have you seen that you KNOW are Isepiced, (the 2 files), and instead of the Isepic message coming up, seeing it replaced by CRACKED BY THE AWESOME DR. TOADSTOOL or some shit like that. It's pathetic. Then, they make it worse by adding a 3rd file, which is nothing more than a stupid intro for their wimpy group, thrown together by an intromaker, that says INTRO CODED BY THE RADICAL SUPERGENIUS. I'm sure you have seen these so-called groups. They're the kind that use parameters on '85 software, and say they cracked an unprotected program. These people should not be allowed to even own a computer, let alone use it. The false pirate got worse with the introduction of Fast Hack'em and the Kracker Jax series. Now, they didn't even have to Isepic the program. They could just run a 2 block BASIC program on the disk, and it would be unprotected. This became even more pathetic. They would 'crack' all these programs six months after they were out. And if the parameter didn't crack it, but only duplicated the protection, they would include the parameter on the disk, with some instructions to run the parameter first. Of course, they altered it so it said they wrote the parameter. Finally, their days are numbered. The protections have gotten so that the parameters can no longer crack the protected software. Nowadays, you need and extra 8k in the drive just to duplicate the protection. So they buy the Kracker Jax books and hope to learn something. But, since they barely know how to do more than load and run a program, they don't understand what they're reading. Refreshing, isn't it? This is an example of their stupidity. The cartridges on the market now make it easier than ever to crack (and I don't mean by using the backup option). But they don't know how to use them, except for freeze/backup/save. Fortunately, this doesn't work all the time. So they sit back and whine and make up excuses, as their life comes to an end, and their accounts on all the boards get cancelled. They seem to think cracking can be learned overnight. What do they think, that you just put in a command, like WORK, and it's cracked? Far from the truth. Learning to crack is an art and a talent, that is learned through time. I know many programmers who can't crack. This doesn't mean they're lame, it just proves my point. You can't learn to crack overnight. It takes time. I can only think of about a dozen 'known' pirates who can crack software nowadays. Perhaps the funniest thing of all is that these false crackers are so misinformed. They see protection schemes like Rapidlok, V-Max, etc., and come to the conclusion, 'if it's this hard just to copy, it must be more difficult to crack'. Nothing can be further from the truth. I laugh at Rapidlok. It's so easy, it's pathetic. And V-Max isn't that much harder. Why do I say this? Because I've learned this over the past 4 years. In conclusion, let me just say that I'm glad that Kracker Jax isn't putting out more disks (except for their Maverick program). The days of the bullshit fake lame pirate is almost gone. (It's still here because now they put out unprotected stuff and say they cracked it.) It doesn't matter though, since they're being recognized for what they are, and will soon become history. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- The Real Truth! By Fantasy -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Rumors ran rampant, stories were told, many believed it to be true. After one year, one of the best importing groups in America was thought to be dead. Lies, all lies...or to be more exact, just exaggerations. The fact is that Fantasy underwent some major changes... were they changes for the better? That's for you to decide, but we certainly feel that the group is in a very good shape. The fact is that Fantasy was never dead. It's kind of funny, because if a group doesn't release anything within a one-month period, people automatically start saying, "Oh they're dead" or "Oh they suck". Well as you have witnessed it yourself, that was all just bullshit. We never quit, we were inactive for about a month, partially because of laziness and partialy because of some stiff competition. Oh, yes, we won't deny it, there are several groups that are fast and good, but we feel that Fantasy can now run with the best of them. So try to get this through your head, Fantasy was never dead. In the future you shall see, More releases from Fantasy So now go play with all your toys, And good night to all girls & boys. L8r on...Crumbsucker and Technique of Fantasy. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- The Cesspool (Rumors and More) -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Bod of Ikari & Talent was unable to program a game this month due to being assaulted (got his ass kicked) at a soccer riot. Bod has informed us that after he gets out of the hospital, he plans on making a new game called 'Soccer Riot 90'. All of the 615 VMBs were taken away earlier this month because the lady that was giving them to Candyman was fired. The cause of her being fired was that the company claimed they did not need her services anymore. Candyman thinks that they will need her in the future, so he plans on getting all the voice mailboxes back. The comeback of Fusion was one of the biggest jokes on the 64 ever. The futile comeback shocked everyone, but in reality, it was a group of clowns who thought they were something. One original member was known to be in the group, Lee of the old SCG. I would not even consider him an original member. Although he was in the group for about one month, Mark LeMay ended Fusion and joined SCG. After several disagreements between Mark and SCG, he broke off to form Phoenix. Correct me if I am wrong, but if Lee was to bring back the group, wouldn't he have to be in Fusion as his last group? The last leader of Fusion, Mark, would disaprove. How would you like it if someone quit ESI to join another group and came back and reformed ESI? The only group Lee is entitled to bring back is SCG, not Fusion. Let the name rest before you corrupt it. Start a new group, and make it without the Fusion name to get you all the attention. Encore is NOT an INC BBS as stated in Mamba #6. Mamba also printed the wrong number to the BBS, since it is 713 area code instead of 703. Damn, I am not even on the BBS. Real pirates don't have a pulse, they have a tone. Tristan escaped juvenile hall and has moved to Utah. He has already started to call out again and is in the same state as Voyageur. They both had some disagreements and met to settle something about an actor. Voyageur's 140 pound body was crushed by Tristan. Killroy was to join Exodus this month, but only under the condition that Executioner quit. Little was known why Mitch quit the Amiga scene until talking with Mr. Mister of the old group Rad. Apparently, Mitch has married and decided to totally give up computers. Nothing more is known. X-factor now has a new (or should I say old) power pack and plans on fixing games here and there. It is suspected that he will come back as soon as he fixes a game. We have been have told that he has codes and he does not want to come back until he gets a fix out. He feels disgraced by the current releases of Excalibur which are being handled by Asterix. Oahawhool was given the boot out of Candyman's house this month. He was running up a $300 phone bill and was eating all of Candymans food. Oahawhool has moved back to Kentucky and no longer has a job under Candyman. I guess it is back to the drug-dealing business for Joe. Death Hawk was kicked out of Optical this month under accusations that he was becoming too power-hungry. Death Hawk claims that it was the other way around. Both claim to still be trading with Illusion and that each other will become worthless in the pirating scene. Rumor has it that Death Hawk shall be joining Fantasy. Gizmo was reported to be seen pushing a taco cart down a street in N.J. Some of the Mirage members might be breaking away from the group to form a brand new group. Their goal would be to get rid of the stained Mirage name and to leave behind most of the lamers currently in. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- An Interview With Eclipse of the Lords -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- *Eclipse will be represented by 'E'. Chaos Chronicle will be represented by 'CC' (as if you didn't know). CC: Hello? Is Eclipse/Ben there? E: Speaking...Who is this? CC: It's Chaos Chronicle, we want to interview you. E: Far out, dude! You guys write my favorite mag! CC: First off, what are your hobbies, what is your occupation, and your favorite demo? E: My hobbies are using drugs, playing the banjo, programming, and calling The Green Griffon for advice. My occupation is collecting used drug needles from the garbage and refurbishing them. Then I sell them to make a profit. Oahawhool is one my best customers. I really don't have a favorite demo, but I like Wanderer's demos. They are so good, considering that they are all ripped. CC: I noticed in your demos that you spice up your words and try to look impressive. How come you don't talk like that over the phone? E: Well, I have a thesaurus next to me when I type my scroll text. It is all a cover up to make me look good. Damn, sometimes it takes me longer to type the scroll text then it does to make the demo. CC: How come you talk about people in your demos, but when they call you up, you back down like 'coward-of-the-year'? E: It's like this, man, when I bag on them in my demos, I feel secure. I just didn't think anyone had my number. But when they call me up, I just get so scared. If you had a frail body like mine, you would be also. CC: A lot of people claim that you copy European demos and that you claim to have this 'supreme' originality. Do you copy European demos? E: Well, my Euro friends send me some cool-looking demos. Some of the routines that they use have never been done before over here, so I just make my own routine of it. CC: So, you really don't have originality? E: Hell no, I have the brains of a horse fly. CC: How did you get involved in programming? E: The Green Griffon got me started off. Without him, I wouldn't be where I am now. CC: I have been told that you are leaving the computer scene? E: Yes, that is true. After the Euros stopped sending me demos, I could not come up with any ideas. Then I started this magazine of my own, but no one downloaded it. Failure after failure, I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to quit; too much pressure. CC: What group do you think was the best ever? E: It had to have been RFO; our high standards of quality impressed everyone. CC: Are you kidding? They sucked! 90% of their releases were from Magic Disk. E: You know that we were good, admit it!!! CC: Admit what? That they were worthless and people banned their releases? E: Damn, sorry about that last remark. I just ran out of acid and I get real irritable...Hey hold on a sec. MOM, have you seen my crack pipe? Okay, I'm back.. CC: Do you plan to come back after this interview is released? E: Yea, you will probally see a demo about THE SHARK, but the real truth is that I am afraid of him. I just pray that he doesn't call me. Why am I so WEAK?!? CC: Well, it is time to go, thanks for the interview, son. E: Hey, wait, don't hang up! I wanted to asked you about#"!$'X&$X& CC: -Click!-...Oops... -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- THE I.N.C. 'COMMON SENSE SYSTEM' -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Rules for the "USA GROUP OF THE MONTH" -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- For all of the past rules, see the previous versions of C.C. I will only be adding new rules here. Like we said before, INC makes the rules as we go. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- -+-+-+-+ TOP USA GROUPS of MARCH Last Mo. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- -+-+-+-+ (1) NEC (tied for first) [1] (1) Lamers R Us (tied for first) [-] *The number between the brackets show what position that group was the previous month. Only two USA games released this month, and that's sad. I hope that there will be more released next month. -RECAP!- (1) NEC with -1 point- -release: Grave Yardage - 4/5 (1) Lamers R Us -1 point- -release: Jack Nicholas International Courses Data Disk - 4/8 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Rules for the "IMPORTING GROUP OF THE MONTH" -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- To see the past rules for the imports, check the previous editions of Chaos Chronicle. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ TOP IMPORTING GROUPS OF FEBRUARY -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ (1) Exodus [2] (2) Excalibur (tied for second) [4] (2) Fantasy (tied for second) [-] (2) I+T (tied for second) [3] (2) INC (tied for second) [1] (3) Demonix (tied for third) [-] (3) DUH (tied for third) [5] (3) Legend (tied for third) [-] (3) Optical (tied for third) [-] (3) Piss (tied for third) [-] *Some stiff competition this month. A lot of quality wares also. Okay, here we go. Crackdown was originally released by Legend on the BBSs, but as usual, it needed a fix. Fantasy released a fix of it and had it spread. Legend then downloaded the Fantasy version, ripped their fix of it and then released it for the Legend version. If Legend is the 'will of God', then why have they committed a sin? Surely they would not break one of the Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt not steal". Point goes to Fantasy. Operation Thunderbolt locks up randomly on the even levels, so no point for Optical. Waterfall was fixed very, very poorly by Fantasy, but DUH did a much better fix. Hey, now I can move my guy. Space Rider was later fixed by Fantasy, but the fix was not necessary so point goes to Ikari & Talent. I have a feeling that next month there will be a finer line of the rankings, meaning that the groups will not tie as much. -RECAP!- (1) Exodus with -6 points- releases: Castle Master - 4/6 Dan Dare 3 (FIX) - 4/11 Ninja Spirit - 4/11 Impossamole (NTSC) - 4/14 USS John Young - 4/23 Cloud Kingdom (NTSC) - 4/29 (2) Excalibur with -2 points- releases: E-motion - 4/21 Demons Kiss - 4/25 (2) Fantasy with -2 points- releases: Startrash - 4/3 Crackdown (NTSC) - 4/20 (2) Ikari & Talent with -2 points- releases: Space Rider - 4/26 Globetroter - 4/26 (2) INC with -2 points- releases: Pinball Power - 4/12 Hammerfist - 4/23 (3) Demonix with -1 point- -release: Astro Marine Corps - 4/20 (3) DUH with -1 point- -release: Waterfall (NTSC) - 4/17 (3) Legend with -1 point- -release: The Race - 4/21 (3) Optical with -1 point- -release: Defend. of Earth (1/2 NTSC)- 4/28 (3) Piss with -1 point- -release: Worldcup 90 (1/2 NTSC) - 4/1 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Top 5 Boards in the United States -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- (1) Wild Warez [16 votes] (2) The Forum [13 votes] (3) Warez Castle [10 votes] (4) Disk Shoppe [09 votes] (5) The Addiction [06 votes] -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Top 3 Most Hated Pirates Of the Month -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- (1) The Barber [5 votes] (2) Technique [3 votes] (3) Asterix [1 vote!] Death Hawk Drifter (Ex-Sonny) Gizmo Horizon The Shark Slamhound Swan Song X-factor -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Top 3 Most Liked Pirates of the Month -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- (1) Pudwerx [6 votes] (2) Gazoo [4 votes] (3) The Shark [3 votes] -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Top 10 Releases of the Month (picked by the ELITEST) -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- (1) Hammerfist (European) (2) Dan Dare 3 (European) (3) Grave Yardage (USA) (4) Impossimole (European) (5) Ninja Spirit (European) (6) Pinball Power (European) (7) Crackdown (European) (8) Demons Kiss (European) (9) Defenders of the Earth (European) (10) Operation Thunderbolt (European) -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Single Worst Game of the Month -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ (0) Ice Temple by Excalibur *More people voted for Handicap Golf by Excalibur, but since it was a re-release, we decided not to count it. Keep up the good work, guys. This next voting category will change every month. It's just something special we threw in. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Top 40 Games EVER! (According to the top USA Pirates) -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- The TOP FIVE! (in alphabetical order) -+-+-+-+-+-+- Bards Tale III: Thief of Fate Defender of the Crown Fourth and Inches Ultama IV Ultama V ------------- (now here are the 35 others that only got a singe vote-in no order) ------------- Sentinel Worlds Arkanoid California Games Montezuma's Revenge Curse of Azure Bonds Power Play Hockey Stunt Car Racer Duotris T.V. Sports Football Great Giana Sisters Bruce Lee Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon Outrun Times of Lore Load Runner Hardball Maniac Mansion Exploding Fist Mobius Gunship Tetris Pandora Elite M.U.L.E. Ultimate Wizard Test Drive Wizball Exolon World Class Leaderboard Impossible Mission Archon I Summer Games Winter Games The Last Ninja Hat Trick *What interests me is that 70% of the top 40 games are American made games. The Europeans claim to be the best coders and throw out about 20-30 games a month, where as in the USA, an approximate average of 4 to 10 games are released a month. Although no Europeans were polled, I am sure their chart would differ a bit. -+-+-+-+-+ Group News -+-+-+-+-+ ATC - Nothing from these guys this month, but that can be blamed on the shortage of USA releases. Let's hope that this 'secret weapon' of theirs will kick in. Demonix - They had their first legitimate release this month. This group looks very unstable, but I could be wrong. Excalibur - Had a typical Excalibur month, meaning that they release as much bad stuff as good. It is believed that Legend is only sending them half of the wares that they crack. The other half goes to Fantasy. Unless X-factor comes back in action soon, this group will be limited to games that do not need fixes. Members are now Asterix, Gizmo, and X-factor. Robodude quit earlier this month due to being scared of the local phone company. He is not expected to return. Exodus - The #1 importing group of the month and continuing to be strong without Illusion. The future of Executioner is still unknown, but Warewolf is expected to be calling out very soon. Fantasy - Improving from last month and looking like they will be a future factor in the importing scene. Rad Man quit to re-join TSM and Flatliner quit because he was tired of everything. Demonix claimed to have Flatliner in their group, but Flatliner said he was never in. Fantasy could be hurt with the absence of a fixer. Newest members of Fantasy are The Exploiter and Stealth (a claimed fixer). INC - Released the 'best game of the month' and had a overall decent month. Some astonishing news is to be coming from INC within the next 2 weeks. Intense - Not a word from these guys. I hope I do not have to take them off of the group news next month. Mirage - Nothing from these guys either. It is still unknown whether these guys are going to be competition to the other USA groups. NEC - The #1 USA group for two months in a row. NEC and their sub-group were the ony group to release American wares. Added Prodigy to the group (a new original supplier). Optical - They seem to be struggling a bit this month. Only one of their releases out of six was counted. I have a feeling that they will improve in the future. Still at war with Exodus. Group members are Anchor, Dys, and Paninaro. Death Hawk was kicked out. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Chaos Chronicle is a publication of INC and is a trademark of INC. Chaos Chronicle is a sub-company of INC and is copyrighted by INC, Inc. If you would like to spread CC then call Great Escapes/INC HQ. If you would like to compliment, criticize, or suggest any ideas for improvement, then call the INC-VMB at 716-987-1550. If you have any rumors/news, then also ring our VMB. If you would like to write any articles for Chaos Chronicle about pirating/computers then send them to INC HQ. Just simply log on and type in GE58, password = CHAOS. Under this password you will have access to upload to a private drive and leave feedback (more details will be given when you call). Make sure to write all articles in sequential format. We will accept articles from anyone, no matter who you are, so do not be afraid of being rejected. If you feel you have something to write that you might think everyone would like to read then call and upload it. Also, don't call and tell us "I am going to write an article". No, you must have the article done, then send it up and we will tell you if we will use it.