My PDS site resurrected form the ashes what do you all think

The ultimate Panzer Dragoon Saga site. Download the complete PDS soundtrack,Trailer, opening, and ending movies to the game, Panzer Dragoon Saga Japanese Commercial and my personal edited version of the Panzer Dragoon Anime OVA with new music from PDS. You can view the Complete list of Pure, and Mutated monsters as well as Imperial Forces, Craymen’s Fleet, and Dragon Models, all with descriptions and pictures. Books, image gallery, PDS locations, Info on the game, characters, theories,secrets, and an impressive intro to go along with everyting. So have fun but be sure not to step in any Coolia’s Dung!!

I have also created a second version of the site so that people with 56k modems or just slow computers will be able to load the website faster, it can be found on the intro page under the first version. So check it out! Tell me what you guys think.

My Panzer Dragoon Saga site can be found here:

http://www.retroandhelix.0catch.com

Did you capture the movies with a video camera from the TV screen? It’s kinda like PD meets Silent Hill =D

No I used Pinnacle Studio 8 to capture the movies, but I did capture most of the mutated and Pure monster pics with my Cam Corder :anjou_sigh:

Don’t take this the wrong way, but I have a bit of a problem with the “secrets” section on your site… you’ve essentially just taken the secrets guide that I wrote for TWotA, reworded the descriptions very slightly and presented it on your own site with no acknowledgement whatsoever. You’ve even lifted pretty much all of the GiriGiri screenshots from my guide, which I spent a considerable amount of time taking especially. In fact I spent a considerable amount of time creating the entire thing; exploring the game to find all this stuff in the first place, writing down all the info, double-checking that everything was correct, and so on. I certainly didn’t put all that work in for others to steal it and claim it as their own.

Now I’m not sure if you’ve asked Solo whether or not you could use this content on your site, but really, what is the point of it? Why not just provide a link to the existing guide? It’s clearly just a reworded version of my own guide, presented in the same format with the information in the same order, even divided up with the same subtitles. To be quite honest, that’s plagiarism; I’m very displeased about it. I’d appreciate it if you would remove that section from your site and, if you really want to show people a PDS guide, simply link to the guide on TWotA.

I’m sorry for being blunt, but I hope you can appreciate why I’m annoyed about this.

I’m sorry Lance but its not Plagiarism, everything is in my own words. Also many other people have found most of the same secrets you have, so its really nothing new. I just wanted to have my own version of the secrets for PDS. It may be similar to yours but it is certainly not Plagiarism.

And its not divided up with the same subtiitles, they are all different.

I can see how you would be angry about me using some of the pictures but jeez they are just pictures its not like you own them. Its segas game, segas content. I could have easily gotten those same exact pictures too. So stop making such a fuss over it. Every thing is in my own words and most stuff other people have found out in the past. I also game you credit for the secret involving the items being named after the translation team. I just wanted my own version of the secrets from PDS as well. And again its not plagiarism. You took the screen shots from the game which you dont have credit for making just as well as everyone else taking info and screen shots from the game to make their websites, so you could call us all plagiarizers.

You are quite right that your guide is no longer literally “my work”. You have taken my work and superficially reworded it. You have changed subtitles from things like “Dragon Book 2 side quest - step one” to “Dragon Book 2 Side Quest Part 1”. (And of course, I am the person who decided to divide that bit of information into step one of a “side quest” anyway; it’s not as if anyone else has ever referred to it in that way. You clearly did not think up that division yourself; you copied it from my work.)

Practically all of the layout, style, order and content of your guide is unmistakably copied from mine. A few random things have been put in a different order, and a negligible amount of new content has been inserted, but that is all. The changes are superficial, and this article is ultimately a reworded, loosely edited version of my article.

For any members of the community who would like to compare the two, links follow:

[PAGES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM HIS SITE]

I am sure that it will be clear to anyone that your guide is directly based on mine. You have taken my considerable research and work, reworded it a little and given me no credit of any kind. You might not have noticed, but there is a piece of text at the bottom of every page on TWotA, reading:

Destroy the mutant stealing habits; it is the village’s code. The Will of the Ancients is an unofficial fansite that is in no way supported or associated with SEGA or Smilebit. Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Panzer Dragoon Orta and all other official Panzer Dragoon content is ? SEGA, 1995-2003. Everything else on this website was made or written by Solo Wing Dragon unless otherwise noted. Please ask me first before using any content on this website for fan or commercial purposes.

The images in question are indeed my own copyright property. Sega did not create those image files; I did. What the images portray is essentially irrelevant, as they appear on TWotA in the context of research and commentary; any copyrighted subject matter featured in them is clearly covered by the “fair use of copyright” principle. However, the files themselves are still my own copyright property, and the copyright statement on TWotA clearly says that you must ask permission to use any content on the site in your own publications. If you insist on keeping the images on your site without authorisation, you will simply be violating copyright law.

The text for your article most certainly is plagiarism, beyond any question or doubt. Here is a definition of plagiarism from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, which is quite clear:

To “plagiarize” means

  1. to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one’s own
  2. to use another’s production without crediting the source
  3. to commit literary theft
  4. to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.

Your guide is clearly attempting to “present as new and original an idea derived from an existing source”. As you can see, the wording of your guide is irrelevant; you are plagiarising my specific ideas. Your PDS guide unmistakably copies the principles of my document, as my concepts for layout, ordering of information and the information itself are all clearly copied. If you compare my guide to the other four or five PDS guides on the Net, you will find that they are executed in a considerably different way; yours is not. The information, style and format of your guide is very clearly copied from mine, thus your guide is plagiarism. Even more definitive is the following statement from the plagiarism.org information site:

Changing the words of an original source is not sufficient to prevent plagiarism. If you have retained the essential idea of an original source, and have not cited it, then no matter how drastically you may have altered its context or presentation, you have still plagiarized.

As you have simply taken my guide, put it “in your own words” and published it as your own, there can be no question of its plagiaristic nature. And this may surprise you, but plagiarism is an illegal offence that literally violates copyright law, as plagiarism.org confirms:

Most cases of plagiarism are considered misdemeanors, punishable by fines of anywhere between $100 and $50,000 – and up to one year in jail. Plagiarism can also be considered a felony under certain state and federal laws.

Not to mention the fact that your guide features some copied and pasted text from my own guide that you have not even changed; so your text qualifies for straightforward copyright violation regardless. The pieces of unchanged text may be small, but considering the amount of time that I spent writing this article I have no difficulty spotting them.

I will ask you politely once again: please remove this article from your website, and all of the other images created by me that you have taken.

It is clear to me that you did not understand this was both plagiarism and copyright infringement, and I will bear you no ill feelings whatsoever if you do as I request. I am sure the rest of the online Panzer Dragoon community will also understand completely, as the nature of plagiarism is hardly as well known as it should be. You clearly have nothing to gain by keeping it online.

Okay, to answer one of your original questions/thoughts Lance, I didn’t give permission for anything from TWotA to be used on legaiaflame’s site. If anyone ever asks me if they can use content from TWotA I always give the response of “Ask the person who submitted the content”, unless it’s something I’ve written, drawn, or coded myself (for example, Scott recently asked me if he could use some of the site’s CSS, which I said was fine so long as he edited it). I didn’t create most of the content on TWotA, so it’s not up to me whether the content is allowed to be replicated on other sites; everything on TWotA belongs to the person or persons who created it.

Anyway, I had a look through the guide, and yes it is very similar to Lance’s guide. There are differences, but there’s no doubt that it was based off it.

My personal feeling is that credit should at least be provided here. Lance spent a hell of a lot of time capturing those screenshots, and compiling all that information. The screenshots are his, and while he probably wouldn’t have cared if one or two had been used without permission, using so many of them like that is another matter entirely.

When I used art pictures on TWotA for the Factions section, I asked Lagi first if I could borrow pictures from his site, and he said it was fine so long as I was using it to illustrate a theory or whatever, and not just make gallery site. The same thing applies here. Lance would probably would have been okay with it if they were used to illustrate something else (and permission had been asked for), but when it?s for something that is directly competing with his guide (and lets be honest, directly based on), that?s more than a little cheeky IMO.

Solo is quite right; if you had simply asked to use some of those images to illustrate an original article, I’d just have outright said yes. Heck, I even go out of my way to grab original screenshots for people who would like them; I’ll be taking some requested screenshots for SegaTecToy tomorrow, to help him with some modelling work he’s interested in doing, because frankly I like to see the original work of others come to fruition. But the way that you have taken my pictures without asking and copied the structure and content of my work is not acceptable.

I couldn’t have summed it up better myself.

I urge you to do the right thing, legaiaflame. You may have made a mistake, but you have the full opportunity to put it right. All I ask is that you remove the guide and images created by me from your site; at the end of the day you will still have a website full of content.

Secret’s sections aside thank you for uploading the PD OVA.I’ll be finally able to see it.

Just one more thing and I also mean no offense, like you Lance I also took a considerable amount of time to make my “Secrets” section on my site. I worked very hard and tirelessly. I just took every secret that was previously found by other people in the past and some of my own discoveries, and put them in my own words, so it wouldn’t be plagiarism. I even found most of these secrets in PDS when I first played the game on my own, so they are nothing new, and no one has the right to say they were the first to discover them, because many people have discovered them. And pictures are just pictures. No one owns the content and images from the game. On a final note, I am not going to take my secrets section down just because it is, and may look similar to yours. I spent a long time on it, putting everything in my own words and I’m proud of it.

Jeremy Prusak

OK sorry Lance I understand I made a mistake I will remove it right away. Please dont have ill feeling towards me, my goal was to make the ultimate PDS site. I guess I got a little carried away. I tried to put everything in my own words but I guess that wasn’t good enough sorry.

Jeremy Prusak

Ok my “Secrets Section” has been removed. Sorry everyone. You know I am a very dedicated Panzer Dragoon Fan and just wanted to do the right thing. I may have spent many hours on that secretS section but it just wasnt right, like Lance said. So with that little mishap aside, WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK OF THE SITE, IS IT GOOD, BAD, OK, AWSOME. PLEASE TELL ME, I NEED SOME FEEDBACK!!!

It looks good- there is a lot of unique content (like the movies) - I think that would be a great ongoing focus.

thanks

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THE PANZER DRAGOON ANIME, NOT THAT ANYONE SHOULD CARE. IT REALLY IS THAT BAD.

I just watched the Panzer Dragoon anime. It was even more horrible than I could ever have imagined (wasn’t it amasing how the artists managed to get from Keil, to a guy with multi-coloured, spikey hair, who can shoot lasers out his hands? :anjou_angry: ). I think it was a great idea to put it on your site, Legaia, it stops people who don’t know just how bad it is from wasting money on it, plus, in your version, at least you can close your eyes, listen to the music and pretend the anime isn’t happening.

Anyway, I haven’t look around much of the site yet (I intend to do so later) but from what i’ve seen it’s you’ve done a pretty good job. :anjou_happy:

EDIT: Oops, forgot to un-click the little disable smilies thing.

Yeah thanks I worked really hard on it. The anime is pretty horrible, but my music makes it better.

To be brutally honest, the only similarity I saw between the two guides was the screenshots. If Lance created the screenshots, then yes, they should be credited, that is for certain.

Otherwise, Lance’s guide was superior in almost all aspects, really. The fact that Lance’s guide is on the biggest and most popular PD site on the web (just pipping mine :p) should speak for itself.

Lance, why are you so upset over this? He may or may not have ripped off the wording of your guide, but there’s only so many ways you can write up a tip, let’s be honest. He didn’t even cover all the stuff you did! It’s a hallow imitiation.

I just whatched the PD OVA!!!

I’m totally blown away!Blown away from the OVA mean!Everything in it was awful.The only thing I kind of liked was the way the panned thingsAside from that…

I say : I hope no one downloads that OVA from your site Legaia, trying to check what the Panzer Dragoon world is all about!

Even Darky was louzy!!! :anjou_disappointment:

I’m really disgusted…