Cooperation
From time to time there seems to be misunderstanding about what cooperation is, and what makes the mtm community as strong and enduring as it has been for the past many years.
<blockquote>co-op-er-ate (kö äp æ rãt') vi. -at'-ed, at'ing [< L. co-, with + opus, work] to act or work together with another or others -- cooperation n. (from Webster's New World Dictionary)</blockquote>
Basically, what this means is that two or more people work together toward a common interest or goal. The concept is closely related to "sharing". Toward this end, people will build tracks and trucks to share with other people. They will upload these tracks and trucks to web pages where others can download them. Simple, really, isn't it? Anyway, still others will build web pages to host these tracks and trucks, and yet more people will make web pages containing helpful information about how these tracks and trucks are made and the utilities that can help make the job easier. Together, the group forms a sort of community in which everybody plays a part. Nobody is obligated to do any one thing or another and certainly some people will only download the add-ons they like, and enjoy the game. And why not, that's what it's all about. Enjoying the things you like.
But, like I was saying, from time to time people will come along and have problems understanding what this means. We see evidence of this in statements like, 'make me this truck', or 'I don't want to use binedit; I want to use ezbin (even tho it doesn't work)', or 'I don't want to read; I want you to tell me personally how to ...' There are countless examples, but this should give you an idea of the hard-headedness that we've all seen. Now, granted, a new person won't have seen this before and is certain to be unaware of what I'm talking about. But that's okay, because we just have to go through this again and explain to the new person that the mtm community is based on give and take. That people don't mind sharing their work and their knowledge. But, and here's the crux of the situation and the reason I'm writing this, there is a line that everybody recognizes where they expect to see some return for their efforts. Of course, some people will get to that line very early, while others seem never to reach it but reach it they eventually do. By the same token, the expected return varies from one person to the next as well. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not talking about permissions and credits. What I'm talking about is crossing the line. Whose line? Well, today, it's
my line.
I'll try to explain. I have written many many pages containing information on just about every conceivable topic that pertains to mtm2. I did this for many reasons, not least of which is that I do not have the time to write and re-write the same things again and again ad nauseum in e-mail correspondence. But I'm no einstein and recognize that I can't possibly hit every possible situation before the questions are asked. So, I host this message board where I, with the input of others, can expand and elaborate on old topics as well as explore new ones. Nor do we have a monopoly here. So, there is an interactive links page to other resources. If a person cannot find something here, there is a good chance it might exist someplace else. For example, beek's trucklot is the biggest resource for truck downloads. But for tracks, the question remains open (at least it did at one time). So, we put together the tracks on nbci page and it's sister site: Track Shots. Now, the total of all this means: what you see is what you get. If you don't see it here, then there is a high degree of probability that it is unavailable. I cannot make tracks and trucks for you, I cannot make web sites for you. I/we have provided the tools. Now it's your turn to do some work. We cannot do it for you. And it's unreasonable to imagine we can.
Yes, it's true, there are exceptions to the rule. ObeOne's texture dilemma comes to mind. But that too was not doing the job for him but trying to solve the enigma. Dozens of people mused over what seemed like a cryptic, unsolvable, and illogical situation. Many months passed, almost a year, until we had it nailed down...which subsequently pried Slice60 out of TRI's tight grasp. But, you see, this was not a one-way street. It entail input, input and more input from many many people. That! is how things get done. That! is what cooperation is about.
Cooperation is not a one-way street. It's a give and take situation. But if you are one of those who take take take without ever considering giving anything back, ask yourself how long it will be before people get tired of being used, of being enslaved to your ceaseless requests for more more more. I can't speak for other people; but, for myself, I am not here, it's not my purpose in life, to indulge your every whim. People help those who help themselves. If you cannot understand that, then don't be surprised when you are put on 'ignore'.
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<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3"><FONT COLOR="#2828E8">-</FONT><FONT COLOR="#3838E9">
</FONT><FONT COLOR="#4949EB">P</FONT><FONT COLOR="#5959ED">h</FONT><FONT COLOR="#6A6AEF">i</FONT><FONT COLOR="#7A7AF1">n</FONT><FONT COLOR="#8B8BF3">e</FONT><FONT COLOR="#9B9BF5">u</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ACACF7">s</FONT></FONT>P.S. My apologies to those toward whom this does not apply.
