sPEED STARTED TO BECOME AN ISSUE WAY BACK WHEN MODEM TRADING TOOK OFF AND WHEN THE EXPORT/IMPORT BUISNESS STARTED, THE HYSTERIA ABOUT SPEED BECAME THE MAIN FACTOR FOR CREDITING A CRACKERS WORK. i'M NOT SAYING THAT i DON'T THINK THAT SPEED MATTERS AT ALL, BUT i DO SAY THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT CHARTS, MANY GOOD CRACKERS DOESN'T GET THEIR FAIR CREDIT FOR THEIR GOOD WORK. tHIS ISSUE HAVE ALSO BEEN ADDRESSED AS EARLY AS 1987 (i THINK) BY THE LEGENDARY jANITOR/tRIAD, WHO ALSO BELIEVED THAT QUALITY SHOULD COUNT. pERSONS LIKE iNJUN iNC. IN tRIAD AGREED ON THIS AND THEREFOR CAME UP WITH THE IDEA THAT TURNED INTO THE 'gAMERS GUIDE' MAGAZINE. tHIS MAGAZINE HAVE TRIED TO PUSH FOR THE QUALITY ASPECT OF A CRACK. tHE RESULT HAVEN'T BEEN A TOTAL SUCCESS. sTILL FAST CRACK S ARE, AS FAR AS i FIND IT BY LOOKING AT CHARTS, CONSIDERED AS BETTER ONES, THAN THE ONES THAT ARE A BIT OLDER, BUT SHORTER, BETTER TRAINED AND WITH BUGS FIXED. tHIS PROBLEM ISN'T CONSTRAINED TO THE c64 EITHER. iF YOU LOOK AT THE aMIGA SCENE, YOU WILL FI ND THAT SPEED IS ALMOST EVERYTHING THERE.

sO WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? wELL, THE MAIN IDEA OF A CRACK IS THAT AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLY SHALL BE ABLE TO PLAY THE GAME, AND BY USING TRAINERS, FIXES AND OTHER EXTRAS DONE BY THE CRACKER, ENJOY THE GAME AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. lOADS OF GROUPS RELEASE THEIR VERSION OF A GAME AND EVERYBODY TRIES TO MAKE THE BEST VERSION POSSIBLE, AND SINCE THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS TO GO ABOUT WHEN FIXING A GAME, ALL VERSIONS ARE MORE OR LESS DIFFERENT. tHIS IS THE REASON WHY WE CRACK GAMES, AND WHY SO MANY VERSIONS ARE RELEASE D, BESIDES RELEASING LOADS OF STUFF AS A GROUP, NATURALLY.

tHE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT i BELIEVE THAT A GROUP AND CRACKER RELEASING A FIRST RELEASE SHOULD BE AWARDED HIS FAIR DUES, BUT MORE ATTENTION SHOULD BE GIVEN TO THE CRACKERS THAT DELIVERS GOOD VERSIONS OFTEN AND RELIABLY. iF THIS IS COMBINED WITH SPEED THEN I T'S JUST EVEN BETTER!

i KNOW i'M NOT A VERY FAST CRACKER, i DON'T EVEN CRACK GAMES REGULARLY, MAINLY BECAUSE i'M HAVING TOO MUCH ELSE TO DO BESIDES COMPUTING. i ALSO KNOW THAT i HAVE DONE BAD CRACKS TOO, BUT i DON'T SEE WHY THIS SHOULD DISQUALIFY ME FROM BRINGING UP THIS ISSU E. sPEED ISN'T THE BIG PROBLEM, BUT SPEED INSTEAD OF QUALITY IS. i DON'T SEE WHY THE SAME THING THAT COUNTS IN OTHER PRODUCTIONS - QUALITY - SHOULDN'T COUNT WHEN IT COMES TO CRACKS. bOTH SPEED AND QUALITY CAN BE COMBINED, IT JUST TAKES A BIT HARDER WORK. .. AND THAT WORK SHOULD THE CRACKER BE CREDITED FOR.

i'M SURE QUITE A FEW OF YOU OUT THERE REACTED WHEN YOU READ THIS, SO COME ON, WRITE 'EM DOWN, SEND THEM TO US AND WE'LL PUBLISH IT HERE, IN reformation.

cHEERS!

wRITTEN BY: jOACHIM sTRÖMBERGSON A.K.A. wATCHMAN OF fAIRLIGHT
sOURCE: tHE fAIRLIGHT cYBERhOME