FatboyRoberts

Well, I'd like to counter Neil's unnamed sources with one that's definitely come through in the past: We all remember Darth First, correct? That's the username of the person who essentially leaked any and all details about the 2004 set in August of that year, long before anyone knew what was really going on. Darth First pretty obviously has some kind of position inside the DVD industry as he got his copies around that August. Darth First has stated they are NOT using the D2 masters, and are sourcing from film elements to make this DVD Take from that what you will. He does say that's what he's heard from his people, but First has proved pretty reliable at this. He COULD be misled by these "sources" however, just as Neil's sources could be RIGHT. But still, thought I'd throw that out there, if only to muddy the waters even more But now there's a proven source of DVD news stating that these DVD's are being sourced from film elements, not Laserdisc masters.

But there's a LOT of wiggle room there, isn't there Stefan? Sure, it could be the D2 master--but that doesn't explain why Ward said they went into the archives looking for the best materials to use. Not a big trip into the archives if all they found was a D2 master, right? Especially since that D2 master doesn't have the original scroll on it. But yeah, they could just edit the old scroll onto the D2 master--but is that master pre image-cleanup (smearing) or post? Are they going from the interpositive they used to make the d2? Or are they just going from the D2? There's all kinds of questions that no one knows the answer to, and probably WON'T know the answer to until a couple months out at the least. Nobody knows how this thing is going to look, that's point blank. Nobody can say different. So to try to lead boycotts and run around the internet like Paul Revere gnashing teeth and screaming and claiming to "look out for your best interests" without even coming with anything solid? That's garbage.

No. They didn't. See what I'm talking about? the press release is still up there at starwars.com. You can read it. You don't have to just read Neil's secondhand interpretation of what it "really" means. All this hand-wringing is moot until anyone can see what the hell the discs LOOK LIKE, and we're quite a ways off from that.

Dude, I haven't posted there in about a year now. You can see how I "conduct myself" at Home Theater Forum. Or you can just read here. If you'd done that, you'd at least have the answer to the "What the hell are you doing here" question. Because I'll re-post that if you want: See. Right there in the post. Convienient Stefan: As Roald is saying, whether I make sick jokes at Joe's expense from a year ago on a messageboard no one visits anymore (and good lookin out not posting Joe's equally sick replies, mostly because they were very unfunny. Although you misspelled yogurt rather uncleverly) doesn't mean I'm not making sense. What you're basically doing is ignoring what I'm saying because I'm not Neil. And that's pretty damned illogical. Especially since he's admitted a couple times he's just GUESSING. Now that he's augmenting his guesses after the fact with information he apparently got BEFORE the fact? C'mon now. Neil's got a hard-on for crusading against the powers that be. All I'm saying is maybe Neil should just fluff that sucker for a little bit until there's SERIOUS reason to start waving it around from messageboard to messageboard. And if there's serious reason, backed up by something more than "if" and "i dunno" and "I wasn't sure about their word" and whatever, then hell yeah, go get em Neil, rage against the machine with great vengeance and furious anger. But he's got nothing right now, and to discount the just as plausible and possible alternatives to this "laserdisc port" theory simply because they don't come from Neil is shortsighted to the point of being blind. I'm not saying I don't understand WHY people would be eager to believe his guess as fact. Oh, I most definitely do. but nobody knows what's up yet. Put down the pitchforks until there's actually something solid to complain about, and people actually know what they're talking about. For example: People are going "this sucks if they don't use the Dolby 6 track" and they're not realizing that the 6 track mix isn't going to break down to a 5.1 real easy for them. That as a matter of fact, there aren't too many home theater systems (none, I can think of) that could correctly decode that 6 track, since 4 of the channels are all front speakers, one is a mono surround, and one is a baby boom. You'd get a more accurate representation of that mix with the 2.0, actually. Sonically, that is. But people just assume that the 6 track means it'd fold down to 5.1, and that's a false assumption. Just as Neil's assumption about the laserdisc masters might very well be. It might not. But he has a responsibility to YOU GUYS to not pass his assumption off as fact. That's all I'm saying here.

Yeah, but if you were told that, then how come you didn't just say "I was told this" when the news first broke? You called it a "prediction" and a guess. You made great pains to let people know this was your assumption. Not that you were TOLD something from two people behind the scenes, in the know, that you never mentioned until people, who noted your online reputation as a mean-spirited humorless zealot, started giving you crap for running around the internet immediately trying to undercut everyone's astonishment at the news. ONLY THEN did you start telling everybody that not only do you KNOW your guesses are facts, and not only do you KNOW exactly what you're talking about, but now you KNEW it two weeks before everyone else, and then you didn't tell anyone anything even hinting at it, not out of a sense of propriety, but because you didn't actually TRUST the people who told you something. Which sort of calls their credibility into question, doesn't it, if even YOU aren't buying it? But when the news feeds your skepticism, suddenly what was iffy and unsure magically transmogrifies into truth? Interesting axiom to work from, Neil. Tell me that doesn't look shady as hell, Neil. Your reputation isn't the most glowing, dude. You're marginalizing yourself. Shoulda waited for a minute, and then you could have led the charge. I'm not trying to "censor" any information, I'm trying to stop supposition and assumption from being passed off as actual information. There's a difference. I came here because I know this is Neil's homebase, pretty much, and I can get directly at him from here. LOL. Hissy-fit my ass. What do you call Neil's first post? "I could scream and gnash my teeth and call down the thunder and beat my chest and spit the ground up shards of my teeth inbetween gnashes, but I won't." Comical.

Dude, I just told you not to go chaaaaangiiiin..... Let's not be rash here. We love you just the way you aaaaaare... doo dooo doo doooooo... I like the little out you gave yourself with "unless things change" because you still haven't said HOW you know they're being sourced from the D2 masters aside from "Ward said 1993 blah blah" Ward left it very open to interpretation. You took YOUR interpretation based on your bad feelings towards the company, said "it's true" and ran all over the internet with it. THAT'S what I'm talking about. I know what your assumptions are and how fervently you believe in them, but just because you BELIEVE them really hard doesn't make them fact. yet. I'm not saying you might NOT be right. You might well be. But you DO NOT KNOW. You don't. You're guessing. I read when you made the first post in response to this over at OT.com, and you admitted it was a guess and a prediction THEN. You didn't KNOW for sure. NOW you're saying you KNEW even BEFORE the announcement was made. Shady, dude. You're being dishonest telling people that your guess is TOTAL TRUTH and that's bush. It's crapping on YOUR credibility you got from fanning the swapped surrounds flames. You're not doing anyone ANY kind of service yet. Wait until you actually know what you're talking about, or until you feel comfy TELLING us how you for certain KNOW what you're talking about outside of "predictions" and "Guesses" okay? That's all I'm saying. Healthy skepticism I don't have a problem with. Misleading people out of a grudge with Lucasfilm is totally different, and people are taking you at your word based on your guess and it's making discussion way more complicated then it needs to be because then everything gets sidetracked as people have to explain that YOU REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT YET. All I'm asking is that you lay back and wait for a second, or cough up how you "know" what you know.

Well, you could remove all chance from the equasion and actually speak on this secret, before-the-announcement knowledge that no one ever heard about until you just puked it up over at originaltrilogy.com. Otherwise, me guessing what you know out of thin air is just as irresponsible as you passing off your "predictions"--as you've already called the--as immutable fact based on absolutely NOTHING solid but a bunch of hurt feelings over your aesthetic mistreatment at the hands of Lucasfilm in the past. Which, again, is good if you're just guessing and you admit that. But you're trying to convince people your opinions and assumptions are FACT and are then trying to stir up a boycott on the internet with it. Which is crap. Hell, tracking your indignation since the news of the release, you can actually SEE your reasoning for this start, and then grow, and then snowball, until it gets to the point where you're just cherrypicking rationalizations out of thin air like "If you only knew what I knew you'd know.." I'm not saying it's not IMPOSSIBLE that what you're saying is true. I'm saying it's bush-league to pass off your "prediction" as stone fact based on nothing but presumption and burnt feelings. And Joe still isn't funny at all Don't go changin, Joe.

ha hA! That's right. General Principle says you must discard common sense because I don't post here regularly and I've gotten in a flamewar with Joe before! What you guys SHOULD be doing is leashing Neil a little. He's gone rabid, he's running up and down the internet with this thing and it's looking bad. Messageboard after messageboard. Now, Neil's always been passionate, but this is like foamy-mouth zealotry. Lex Luthor-ish, almost. Let him loose if his fears are correct, but right now he's diarrhetically spraying anything in his path based on his assumptions and these new "secret facts" he's talking about but yet not actually talking about. Or something. Leash the pitbull, guys

LOL. How'd I know Neil was gonna be angry about this. His boy Tom Brennan over at the HTF is pulling the same stuff. Look, there's a couple different interpretations of Ward's statement. It's way too early to definitively state what's going to happen with these transfers or not, and it's WAY too early to start calling for boycotts and running willy nilly all over the internet trying to pooh-pooh anyone thinking about buying this set. When there's more solid info, yeah, I can see the self-righteousness that Neil is known for rearing it's head and making it's presence felt, but as of right now, way too soon to start stomping on everyone's hopes in the name of eternal disappointment with Lucas. Again, people aren't so much fans of Star Wars as they are fans of BITCHING about Star Wars, and this announcement reinforces that, as does Neil and Tom's immediate negativity towards an announcement a LOT of people have been clamoring for. Yes, it's entirely possible they're just porting the laserdiscs. It's also entirely possible they're using the original elements from the 93 restoration and making a DVD out of THAT. It's also possible they've been working on this for quite a decent amount of time before it was announced, and if that's the case, then this rush job isn't THAT much of a rush job then, is it? It's wait and see time. We have till September to see what this thing looks like, to start jumping at shadows and running with possibly skewed interpretations of a marketing mans patter is irresponsible at least. THEN Neil can go around like he did with the swapped surrounds and raise attention. But now? He literally DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT. None of us do. He's making a guess based on an interpretation of marketing patter and running like crazy with it. Time to chill out and wait a minute.