Please do not think these comments as being meant to be negative in any way. I am trying to understand something here that is confusing me, and I am hoping someone can help enlightment me.

First, let me say I am not overly familar with Wyrmmasters products. I am not even sure what is meant by Remote Control Deformers. Unless it has something to do with the one product, by him, that I am familar with.

I did purchase his Voluptuous Vicki 2003, just before he discontinued it. I bought it, in part thinking this was the same as the orginal Voluptuous Vicki which I had seen as a character in a render I liked. So the purchase was mostly made out of curiousity. I was a bit surprised and even a bit disappointed at first to see that what I gotten for my money was basically a magnet set and a few pose files. Keep in mind, that I have been using magnets to make morphs, size and move hair and clothing, etc., ever since I first got started in Poser, so this is almost second nature to me. And I did not particularly care for the default body shape for VV03 - since I did not see any resemblence to the character I thought I was getting. Then I found the original character pose and vola, I was happy.

I have no complaints with the purchase of VV03, so let me be perfectly clear about that. I have made magnet sets, and I have hacked pp2 and cr2 files to make special pose files like MAT and MOR files. These have become quite common in Poser Land, and there are even utilities out there now being sold to do this quicker so that only old dogs like me insist on manually hacking the files in a text editor.

Now, again, I am not entirely certain what is meant by Remote Control Deformers, unless it makes reference to the Pose files Wyrmaster included to change the magnet settings so that they apply to the clothing item as well.

If so, than if this is what he orginated, I can sort of see the problem. Since just about everything else that someone figure out a way to hack and turn into a pose file has been done. Be it Props so that they can be positioned or textured via a pose, or lights, such as the global lights, and we all know about the pose files to set Material, Map, and Morph settings. In fact, just recently I was asking in the python section if there was a script to save Magnets settings as a Pose file. This had nothing to do with Wyrmaster or my having any idea or desire to rip off a concept he may have originated. The simple fact is that I started some time ago using Magnet to make FBMs for the clothing items I do. This can be time consuming, so I am always looking to find ways to streamline my work. The first thing I did was keep my magnet sets as I made them up so that I could reuse them on other things. They never fit just right, so they always have to be tweaked a bit, but it is a starting point.

Later, I started hacking the pp2, so that I could make a pose file to load the settings for the different magnet sets. This was done without any knowledge of Wrymaster or anything he may have innovated. Nor was it done as something to be marketed. It simply saved me from having to delete all the magnets from one set, after I had made the first FBM, and then load the next. Now, I could leave the magnet set loaded, click the pose file, and suddely I had the next FBM.

Recently I came across some new python scrips, such as those for mirroring magnets from one side to the other. Also one for deleting all magnets in a scene, etc. I even found one - just yesterday - that I have not even tried out yet, that supposedly will let me make morph targets from all body parts from the magnets at one time, instead of having to go through and spawn each morph part by part.

These are all innovative ideas that are becoming part of the Poser world. I am not sure how you can claim interlectual property when so many new ideas or based upon ideas that went before. For example, had Poser not come out with dynamic deformers, such as the magnets, who would be bothering to make magnet sets or pose files for magnets sets to sell? Consider Poser hair before the days of Kozoburo - does anyone even recall that hair used to be very plastic, and that we owe almost a single debt of thanks to one individual for his first tutorial of his original and at that time very revolutionary hair making process? Which btw was free. In fact, some of the best Poser hair available IMHO is by Koz and all you have to do to get it is go to his web site and download it.

Now, having said all this, I can understand wyrmaster's sense of resignation after having spent two years developing his system, only to see it being copied and marketed within a month of his coming out with his innovation. That is truly sad, because I am sure that he now regrets all those long hours he spent when he could have been doing something else. I did not originate the idea of putting morphs on clothing, but I have tried to do my part to take the ball and run with it, and make clothing that functions more real world like - as typical of my GypsyRose Bikini or the AllnWonder dress, etc. I have heard rumors - only rumblings mind you - that some folks are actually taking and buying those outfits (and perhaps even, shudder, giving them away under the table so to speak - since we all know these things happen) after I spent hours and hours making all those morphs. They run to Tailor, and - no say it ain't so - and transfer the morphs I made for that item onto similar style clothing in a hope to get it to work the same (er, sometimes it even does).

I am still unclear on DAZ position on using Tailor to transfer (or make, whichever is the correct term) FBM from, say, V2 onto a clothing item you plan to sell. To be safe, I use magnets to make the morphs. Tailor, I am sure, would be faster and easier on some things. Should I then be upset that some folks are being - as they would look at it - innovative and using the morphs I made to put (or simulate) onto other clothing items they own. To my knowledge they are not yet selling these items, but who knows. What then? Well, I guess more power to them. I do it for the love, and if I could afford to, I would give it all away. But unfortunately, due to real life issues, I am sort of forced for the time being to rely on making Poser stuff as a source of income. Now, it does sometimes hurt when you see how few, by comparison, of your store items get sold in respect to how much of your free items get downloaded. What! Don't these greedy Bds know I am trying to make a living here? But then I quickly get over it because I remember that I too am one of those greedy little bds who has certainly downloaded far more free stuff than he has purchased. (Not that I haven't bought more than I needed to at times.)

Sharing and being innovative is what Poser was - originally - all about, and still is, I think. That is how it has come to be so popular, and why it will continue to grow, because each new generation of Poser user has a few very creative innovators pushing the envelope, and sharing their discoveries for all to benefit from.

So, my question, and the point upon which I am confused, is what is to be done about it all? I can certainly empathize with wyrmaster and I agree that is just does not seem right to see two years of blood, sweat, and tears just gobbled up in front of your eyes before you can blink twice. On the other hand, where would we be without these innovations, and the sharing of new ideas to spark more new ideas? How do we protect and perserve the creativity of the innovators against the ravagings of a thriving, driving Poser community that has grown very commercial in its focus? It is inevitable now that as fast as a new idea come about, others are going to grab and run with it, and even expand upon it. All in the new spirit of competiton. So, what are we going to do to keep alive the heart and soul of such innovators, such as wyrmaster, who are inspired by their passion to be creative and innovative, only to find themselves sucked dry?