ORIGINAL: Nemo121
As to the editor - It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth that it seems players won't get access to at least some of the powerful database editors as part of an effort to prevent others misrepresenting others work as theirs. It seems to penalise the many for the sins of the few. OTOH I doubt I'll bother much with database editing so it is less of a practical point and more of a philosophical point for me.
Nemo, don't give to this issue too much importance. Not all the calls of "plagiarism" that you hear out there are grounded on facts, and actually most of them (the loudest, usually [;)]) have no grounds at all. This is, at least, what some basic research regarding what is considered "plagiarism" in the real world shows (I did it for unrelated, professional reasons, since I'm bot working in the videogaming field and a published comic-book author, but of course I took opportunity to check upon things related to our hobby, too). Just look at the kind of work done on DBs for games ranging from WitP to TOAW, as a serene, common effort and for the benefit of all, and you will see how many of the howls you hear over here, in the Harpoon community, do seem to stem more from personal issues than from factual truths.
Beside, since we all hope that "no one is guilty until proven othervise", I don't think that new players should be bothered by the alleged "sins of the eldest"
)3.6.x was the last version of Harpoon for a long time, so some DB designers were able to "creatively" circumvent the issues in that game by tayloring the DBs around them. Not everybody is happy about how (and the fact that) the game evolved, but Dale is right in saying that ANW is now the "live and growing" version of H3. Just think about multiplayer!
True, as ironic as it may seem, fixing some issues caused the need to rewrite parts of the unofficial Dbs which had grown "around" 3.6.x. Some DB writers did or are doing that - others, maybe, find it a lot of work for what they do not feel is a sufficient payoff. So they call for 3.6.x to remain as an "alternative". This may be true, and maybe they where happier when 3.6.x ruled and their DB was the lone king of the hill... but it is still a personal call by the Db designer - which may be heeded by the player or not. [:)]
Anyway, regarding the bugs in ANW and 3.6.x, the lists are public since a long time. You can find them, for example, at
ANW 3.7.0: http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/harpoon ... ssues.html
H3 3.6.x: http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/harpoon ... ssues.html
In the same forums you will find more discussion about the various incarnation of Harpoon, with some different and, IMHO, refreshing and useful views on the running debate. My personal one is "ditch 3.6.x and go with ANW - maybe after asking about some more info around if you are unsure of the current level of the software". This is what I did, and I'm an happy harpooner.
Regards,
Vincenzo
