I tried to have a decent conversation on Patreon about my concerns about this idea, but I was told to simply unsubscribe if I didn't like it, so I figured it would be a good question for the community.
@SPQR makes some of the most useful plugins around, as I've said repeatedly. His work definitely makes VAM more usable and functional and opens VAM up to feeling more realistic and immersive. Like many who create content, he has fallen prey a few times to piracy. This has led to long screeds against people who share files that his Patreon users have had to endure. To be honest, the documentation of this seemingly very personal war is mostly amusing and provides a little spice to often otherwise boring "here's what I'm releasing" posts by other creators. Many creators who make premium content are very interested in finding ways to prevent 0-day releases of their stuff into the wild. Some do takedown reports on the sites that post their content, others have complicated ways of password protecting their stuff while still others have shifted to releasing content on Discord or elsewhere where they can get to know their users a little better. As far as I can see, SPQR hasn't taken any of these steps, but has instead threatened repeatedly to develop a DRM/Watermarking system for VAR files as revenge that he will offer up to other creators. In a way, this kind of step has seemed inevitable for scenes and looks as VAM grows since obviously artists like to be sure that their art is attributed to them at minumum. With plugins, it's a little trickier because generally plugins are seen as game mods and game modding communities have gone through a lot of growing pains with figuring out how to make someone get proper attribution and how to keep premium content from spreading beyond the capabilities of the creator to monetize it. Add to this the difficult line between being a patron and a customer and you get into a host of tricky legal and business areas. Plugins or mods for games are often free, unless they promise a total overhaul of the game. Software that is designed to enhance other software as an extension or complement or altogether different app can be premium, but if so, it's typically sold as a separate application that has to be installed and used as an integration to the base software. These points and the points about how game mods work and what other users have done to try to delay if not outright stop file sharers were made by me and some others in open posting. But the response we got was simple: "If you don't like it, leave. I am going to create a watermarking system that can be baked into plugins and give it to the whole premium community just because I'm petty."
Now, even forgiving the abominable customer care, I support anyone's right to be petty against people they feel have wronged them. Life is too short not to be, quite frankly. But, as I said in the discussion, I have concerns for the future of virtual reality and game modding more broadly if we go down this road of creating hard private property relations. It is the use of tools more than the existence of them that gives digital objects value in virtual worlds. While the proposed solution is fairly tame and versions of it are already used by other creators, the most it would do is not actually stop the spread of content, but mostly serve as a way to identify who the spreader might be as watermarked copies diffuse through the wild. Creative circumventers will, of course, find ways to neutralize the watermark. This will likely allow some leakers to be punished, but will just as likely create an arms race as countermeasures are developed to remove DRM and new ways to add DRM are instantiated, ultimately making content either less safe and more susceptible to people inserting malicious code or making it less accessible as security becomes more important than sharing. This is precisely what has happened with music, publishing and film content.
But my concerns are mostly theoretical, whereas creators like SPQR who are putting a lot of work into their stuff obviously feel like they're getting money taken out of their pocket. I've created content online since the early 2000s and have certainly had almost everything I've made pirated, but always felt like it was mostly free marketing for my stuff, though I respect anyone's right to feel the opposite, especially if they're relying on it for their livelihood or if it's taking away from valuable time when they could be doing something else, which I suspect would always be the case for someone with coding ability. We've already seen a stoppage or slowdown in releases from many talented Plugin creators, which is tragic because much of their work is vital to making VAM enjoyable. So I guess my question is to other creators out there and the VAM Dev team: What do you think about the idea of a DRM/watermarking system being introduced by a third party to premium VAM content? Do you believe it would stop piracy? What other effects do you suppose it could have, positive or negative? Also, if it existed, would you use it on your scenes and looks? Finally, for @meshedvr would such an approach be safer if centralized through VAM itself rather than as an outside feature that could be added and removed and potentially break other content or allow its usage to be tracked from device to device with personally identifiable information?
@SPQR makes some of the most useful plugins around, as I've said repeatedly. His work definitely makes VAM more usable and functional and opens VAM up to feeling more realistic and immersive. Like many who create content, he has fallen prey a few times to piracy. This has led to long screeds against people who share files that his Patreon users have had to endure. To be honest, the documentation of this seemingly very personal war is mostly amusing and provides a little spice to often otherwise boring "here's what I'm releasing" posts by other creators. Many creators who make premium content are very interested in finding ways to prevent 0-day releases of their stuff into the wild. Some do takedown reports on the sites that post their content, others have complicated ways of password protecting their stuff while still others have shifted to releasing content on Discord or elsewhere where they can get to know their users a little better. As far as I can see, SPQR hasn't taken any of these steps, but has instead threatened repeatedly to develop a DRM/Watermarking system for VAR files as revenge that he will offer up to other creators. In a way, this kind of step has seemed inevitable for scenes and looks as VAM grows since obviously artists like to be sure that their art is attributed to them at minumum. With plugins, it's a little trickier because generally plugins are seen as game mods and game modding communities have gone through a lot of growing pains with figuring out how to make someone get proper attribution and how to keep premium content from spreading beyond the capabilities of the creator to monetize it. Add to this the difficult line between being a patron and a customer and you get into a host of tricky legal and business areas. Plugins or mods for games are often free, unless they promise a total overhaul of the game. Software that is designed to enhance other software as an extension or complement or altogether different app can be premium, but if so, it's typically sold as a separate application that has to be installed and used as an integration to the base software. These points and the points about how game mods work and what other users have done to try to delay if not outright stop file sharers were made by me and some others in open posting. But the response we got was simple: "If you don't like it, leave. I am going to create a watermarking system that can be baked into plugins and give it to the whole premium community just because I'm petty."
Now, even forgiving the abominable customer care, I support anyone's right to be petty against people they feel have wronged them. Life is too short not to be, quite frankly. But, as I said in the discussion, I have concerns for the future of virtual reality and game modding more broadly if we go down this road of creating hard private property relations. It is the use of tools more than the existence of them that gives digital objects value in virtual worlds. While the proposed solution is fairly tame and versions of it are already used by other creators, the most it would do is not actually stop the spread of content, but mostly serve as a way to identify who the spreader might be as watermarked copies diffuse through the wild. Creative circumventers will, of course, find ways to neutralize the watermark. This will likely allow some leakers to be punished, but will just as likely create an arms race as countermeasures are developed to remove DRM and new ways to add DRM are instantiated, ultimately making content either less safe and more susceptible to people inserting malicious code or making it less accessible as security becomes more important than sharing. This is precisely what has happened with music, publishing and film content.
But my concerns are mostly theoretical, whereas creators like SPQR who are putting a lot of work into their stuff obviously feel like they're getting money taken out of their pocket. I've created content online since the early 2000s and have certainly had almost everything I've made pirated, but always felt like it was mostly free marketing for my stuff, though I respect anyone's right to feel the opposite, especially if they're relying on it for their livelihood or if it's taking away from valuable time when they could be doing something else, which I suspect would always be the case for someone with coding ability. We've already seen a stoppage or slowdown in releases from many talented Plugin creators, which is tragic because much of their work is vital to making VAM enjoyable. So I guess my question is to other creators out there and the VAM Dev team: What do you think about the idea of a DRM/watermarking system being introduced by a third party to premium VAM content? Do you believe it would stop piracy? What other effects do you suppose it could have, positive or negative? Also, if it existed, would you use it on your scenes and looks? Finally, for @meshedvr would such an approach be safer if centralized through VAM itself rather than as an outside feature that could be added and removed and potentially break other content or allow its usage to be tracked from device to device with personally identifiable information?
grown ass men obsessing over me.
