Daz DAZ without an account?

[coffeeaddicted]

Spoken like a true sheep.

It's not a matter of thinking DAZ is nefarious or that someone is waiting there to pillage our personal data. It's a matter of refusing to move with the herd and passively accepting the new "norm" of having to be permanently connected to some companies cloud server.

I can't speak for Xol's background or intentions in detail, but I get the feeling he shares my view on the erosion of privacy in today's world. Our "holy data" as you put it, is in fact the currency that the internet runs on these days. Meta data is collected about everything. And if you think that just because a company like DAZ has good intentions and doesn't misuse that data, then nothing bad will ever happen - then you are naive. Extremely naive.

It's all a numbers game. In my trade, we would call this a Risk Evaluation. One piece of software having open access to our PC is acceptable and very very low risk (IE: Windows and other essential packages you need to use a PC) Having two is still low risk (You just added Steam or some other game launcher) Three is still low risk but less so... you get it? Every time to allow more companies and more pieces of software to access your home network, then the risk increases for some sort of "bad event". it could be a data breach. It could be a virus in a patch or update. It could be full on identity theft or doxxing. Heck, it could be DAZ being bought out by some other company and the first update they push scans your PC for assets and crosses them with their purchase records and if they find a mismatch, your Studio gets bricked. Shit like that has happened before.

It doesn't even have to be such a negative event. It could be something as simple as one program's "cloud" client that runs in your PC's background having bad interactions with another piece of software, also running on your PC. Because company X doesn't give a shit about company Y and therefore they never worked with them to avoid conflicts. Meanwhile, your DAZ coughs up a hairball right at the end of that marathon 3 hour render.

This is supposed to be a pirate site and sometimes I think it's just full of posers, lol.

I've been doing this stuff since the days I used to put my phone's handset in a set of cuffs to get a whopping 300 baud dialup, so I could set my Atari to War-Dial overnight and explore the hits I got the next morning. I used to hack C-band and KU band sats with pirate receivers and programmable key cards. I've built android boxes with XBMC/KODI to stream everything I ever wanted.

It goes against my DNA to allow any company to have access to my computers 24/7.

I am in the same boat as MissFortune with this.
You wanna participate with all the whistles and bells, you got to accept that you part of the current (and probably future) environment.
If you want to be save, just disconnect from the internet. Piece of mind.
We were talking about DAZ and i don't think that DAZ really collects your library. They sell assets but i don't think they care what you have.
And i don't even use a cloud.
I don't really use Steam. It's a choice really. You don't have to but decide to use it anyway and then look for a way out. You can't eat a cake and complain later.
People complain but use Smartphones where you surely are tracked and listened. To me that's wishful thinking or an excuse.
I am not even sure if there is a cracked version of DAZ. How do crack a free software? My concern would be, do i trust a cracker? But that you have to make up with yourself. To me it's more trading one thing for another where you are not in charge at all.

 

[Xol]

Your are a subject and most of the stuff is in the cloud.
Steam, cloud.
Your email, cloud.
Are you on social media? Cloud.
Many big software companies are also in the cloud.
I think there is no escaping from it.
Personally i wouldn't use any cracked software. But it's everyones choice.
Instead you can try opensource which has also great software. Blender?

Steam: yeah, and it makes me a bit uncomfortable but sadly physical media has largely gone away. Even so, there are a lot of games on Steam that you can play in offline mode.

Email: 99% of it is junk anyway, lol

Social media: nope. I ditched social media for the most part years ago. I lurk reddit some but that's about it.

I'm a fan of open-source stuff. I've used various open-source programs at different times over the years.

I'm ultimately not against the cloud as a concept- I think it can be very useful. I just don't trust any company that operates that way for shit.

Oh, trust me. Every software company out there knows when their program is pirated, cracked, actively being used, and by whom. Just like everything else you do on a computer, it phones the mothership. It all depends on how much the company cares about a single entity (usually based on their profits.) when/if they decide to go after them. Forever 21 got straight prison raped by Adobe and Autodesk (the latter of which has done multiple times to much smaller companies.).

Will they go after a John Doe on the interwebs? Probably not. Can they? Absolutely. Software companies don't care about your data or what you're googling. If you really cared about your precious data that much, you wouldn't be on the clearnet using Chrome or Firefox. You'd be on Whonix or Tails using Tor. You're never truly offline with Windows.

You're offline when you literally don't have an internet connection. And there are ways to block programs from connecting to the net. As far as Windows goes... yeah, fuck MS. I'm stuck with it for now, but I plan on building a new PC at some point when I have the spare money, and I'll be going with some kind of linux distro. I've used a few in the past, on older machines. Will suck not being able to run certain things, but it's better than putting up with Microshit's BS.

I wouldn't say they don't care about your data.
Data is the currency in today's internet world. Your data will be sold. If there is google or facebook on the webpage, you are tracked.
Also, Apple is in the same boat. It's not just Windows. Though everyone hates Windows, it's not the only company that reads you.

I was gonna say, of anything, Apple is worse, but MS definitely wants to be like them these days. Kind of ironic, knowing their history. But yeah fuck 'em both.

 

[moose_puck]

I am in the same boat as MissFortune with this.
You wanna participate with all the whistles and bells, you got to accept that you part of the current (and probably future) environment.
If you want to be save, just disconnect from the internet. Piece of mind.
We were talking about DAZ and i don't think that DAZ really collects your library. They sell assets but i don't think they care what you have.
And i don't even use a cloud.
I don't really use Steam. It's a choice really. You don't have to but decide to use it anyway and then look for a way out. You can't eat a cake and complain later.
People complain but use Smartphones where you surely are tracked and listened. To me that's wishful thinking or an excuse.
I am not even sure if there is a cracked version of DAZ. How do crack a free software? My concern would be, do i trust a cracker? But that you have to make up with yourself. To me it's more trading one thing for another where you are not in charge at all.

I agree with both of you. Yes, if you want the bling, you have to accept the costs. I'm more of a "middle of the road" kind of guy... I compromise on some things and I am firm on others. Take cell phones, for example. I've used them since 1989.. heck, one of my first full time jobs gave me one of those monsters in my truck with a big black box under the dash and huge handset on the console. But I've never become hooked on them and even now, my smart phone is used for texts and phone calls and the occasional email check. I don't bother with Data. I don't do social media, outside of my Linkedin account for my business. It's been 10 years since I was on facebook even lol. I just hate everything to do with social media, TBH. It's destroying human social interaction, IMO - not to mention creating generations of kids who are clueless to the risks of putting everything "out there". To me, my phone is just another tool to use.

As for DAZ, you don't crack it. It's a free program. You just choose not to use the associated software, like Daz Connect, that tries to keep you connected. It's not easy to learn this when you first try and install DAZ, I know.. I had to read up on it to learn how to get install DAZ without DAZ Central and to find the DIM. I'm just worried that soon they will force eveyone to upgrade and use the DAZ Central version (Think Adobe Creative Cloud)

 

[Xol]

I know this has kind of gone off the rails, but to clarify: I'm not so worried about collecting my "data" (I doubt I'm producing much that'd be of value to them anyway). It's a very mild concern and I don't like that companies are basically being stalker-ish snoops all the time these days, but for the most part I'm not going to lose sleep over that. Hell, they've been doing it since well before the internet became mainstream.

I'm more concerned with the possibility of them suddenly denying access to a program I've installed on my damned computer. In other words:

It goes against my DNA to allow any company to have access to my computers 24/7.

Same. I'll read the rest of your post in a minute but this part stuck out to me, particularly because it kind of gets to the root of my concerns.

 

[Carpe Stultus]

Spoken like a true sheep.

It's not a matter of thinking DAZ is nefarious or that someone is waiting there to pillage our personal data. It's a matter of refusing to move with the herd and passively accepting the new "norm" of having to be permanently connected to some companies cloud server.

I can't speak for Xol's background or intentions in detail, but I get the feeling he shares my view on the erosion of privacy in today's world. Our "holy data" as you put it, is in fact the currency that the internet runs on these days. Meta data is collected about everything. And if you think that just because a company like DAZ has good intentions and doesn't misuse that data, then nothing bad will ever happen - then you are naive. Extremely naive.

It's all a numbers game. In my trade, we would call this a Risk Evaluation. One piece of software having open access to our PC is acceptable and very very low risk (IE: Windows and other essential packages you need to use a PC) Having two is still low risk (You just added Steam or some other game launcher) Three is still low risk but less so... you get it? Every time to allow more companies and more pieces of software to access your home network, then the risk increases for some sort of "bad event". it could be a data breach. It could be a virus in a patch or update. It could be full on identity theft or doxxing. Heck, it could be DAZ being bought out by some other company and the first update they push scans your PC for assets and crosses them with their purchase records and if they find a mismatch, your Studio gets bricked. Shit like that has happened before.

It doesn't even have to be such a negative event. It could be something as simple as one program's "cloud" client that runs in your PC's background having bad interactions with another piece of software, also running on your PC. Because company X doesn't give a shit about company Y and therefore they never worked with them to avoid conflicts. Meanwhile, your DAZ coughs up a hairball right at the end of that marathon 3 hour render.

This is supposed to be a pirate site and sometimes I think it's just full of posers, lol.

I've been doing this stuff since the days I used to put my phone's handset in a set of cuffs to get a whopping 300 baud dialup, so I could set my Atari to War-Dial overnight and explore the hits I got the next morning. I used to hack C-band and KU band sats with pirate receivers and programmable key cards. I've built android boxes with XBMC/KODI to stream everything I ever wanted.

It goes against my DNA to allow any company to have access to my computers 24/7.

EDIT: Forgot to add... all the shit mentioned above is avoidable and easily mitigated, with some small effort. The stuff that really has me worried is the new AI's that corporations and states are using and the proliferation of CTV's everywhere (think the UK) Ya, I have a tinfoil hate in my closet, but the stores are already using AI to scan customers and cross them with their use of points cards and credit cards. Go buy a box of diapers at a pharmacy and use their points card and just wait for the junk mail (either email or snail mail) to appear from Huggy's or some other diaper company. Heck, I made the mistake of giving the local weed store my public email addy (Sue me, I was high at the time!) and now I can't stop the stupid CBD Gummies spam emails. At least I had the presence of mind to use my trash public email and not my main one.

Spoken like a true tinfoil hat wearer....

 

[coffeeaddicted]

I agree with both of you. Yes, if you want the bling, you have to accept the costs. I'm more of a "middle of the road" kind of guy... I compromise on some things and I am firm on others. Take cell phones, for example. I've used them since 1989.. heck, one of my first full time jobs gave me one of those monsters in my truck with a big black box under the dash and huge handset on the console. But I've never become hooked on them and even now, my smart phone is used for texts and phone calls and the occasional email check. I don't bother with Data. I don't do social media, outside of my Linkedin account for my business. It's been 10 years since I was on facebook even lol. I just hate everything to do with social media, TBH. It's destroying human social interaction, IMO - not to mention creating generations of kids who are clueless to the risks of putting everything "out there". To me, my phone is just another tool to use.

As for DAZ, you don't crack it. It's a free program. You just choose not to use the associated software, like Daz Connect, that tries to keep you connected. It's not easy to learn this when you first try and install DAZ, I know.. I had to read up on it to learn how to get install DAZ without DAZ Central and to find the DIM. I'm just worried that soon they will force eveyone to upgrade and use the DAZ Central version (Think Adobe Creative Cloud)

I think what i want to say is, to hardcode alter DAZ so it doesn't communicate with the it's home world.
Though i think it needs to as i got sometimes errors "can't connect". Strange.

Anyway, i never used Adobe once they went cloud based. I know it's "the" software to use because of it's inner workings and addons. I just use Paint.Net and it works fine.

Cloud is not bad in it self i think, it's just it can be bad. Also if you sync the wrong pictures since certain images get reported and you will lost your account in the process.

I rarely buy software. I did buy Acdsee years ago, because it was the fastest software. But they have something in their agreement about porn. Though not sure how they would know. That was before the cloud.

 

[Xol]

This is supposed to be a pirate site and sometimes I think it's just full of posers, lol.

I was gonna say, I'm honestly pretty surprised by how "Just accept the shitty situation bro, it's just reality bro, privacy is dumb" some of these comments are, lol. I figured wanting a version of a program that doesn't talk to the company that makes it would be the default, obvious position around here. Hell, I spent some time looking for such around f95 before I posted this thread because I figured "Surely there's already a big thread for that and I just haven't seen it yet".

I've been doing this stuff since the days I used to put my phone's handset in a set of cuffs to get a whopping 300 baud dialup, so I could set my Atari to War-Dial overnight and explore the hits I got the next morning. I used to hack C-band and KU band sats with pirate receivers and programmable key cards. I've built android boxes with XBMC/KODI to stream everything I ever wanted.

See, admittedly now I feel dumb for not understanding a lot of this, lol. Sadly I'm just barely knowledgeable enough and been around just long enough to know all this creepy "always connected" shit is inexcusable BS, but not enough to be very savvy at fighting it. Doesn't mean it doesn't bother me though.

EDIT: Forgot to add... all the shit mentioned above is avoidable and easily mitigated, with some small effort. The stuff that really has me worried is the new AI's that corporations and states are using and the proliferation of CTV's everywhere (think the UK) Ya, I have a tinfoil hate in my closet, but the stores are already using AI to scan customers and cross them with their use of points cards and credit cards. Go buy a box of diapers at a pharmacy and use their points card and just wait for the junk mail (either email or snail mail) to appear from Huggy's or some other diaper company. Heck, I made the mistake of giving the local weed store my public email addy (Sue me, I was high at the time!) and now I can't stop the stupid CBD Gummies spam emails. At least I had the presence of mind to use my trash public email and not my main one.

AI is like the mother of all two-edged swords. On the one hand, it's really cool and I'm actually excited about some applications. There's some cool AI-driven text adventure/interactive fiction things out there. (Kobold AI, Novel AI, etc.) Not to mention I'm sure there's a lot of other more practical uses where it could greatly benefit humanity that I'm just too lazy right now to think of.

But on the other hand, as you point out, there are a lot of horrifying uses as well. Hell, I'm just waiting for the military to doom us by abusing it with their drones. Or the police, for that matter.

Sucks how amazing technologies always get weaponized for the worst uses.

 

[coffeeaddicted]

Steam: yeah, and it makes me a bit uncomfortable but sadly physical media has largely gone away. Even so, there are a lot of games on Steam that you can play in offline mode.

Email: 99% of it is junk anyway, lol

Social media: nope. I ditched social media for the most part years ago. I lurk reddit some but that's about it.

I think if you are a serious gamer there isn't any way around Steam. It had it all. Mostly.
I use GoG as you can download the software and use it when you needed. Not in the cloud.

Email, there are options but if you need push, cloud.

I use social media. Messengers mostly. No way around unless i cut the contacts.
But most big platforms are not what i use. Except Instagram.

The only software i bought that i still use is MediaMonkey. And additionally i use(d) DOpus which is great program from my Amiga days. Now on Windows. (Directory Manager).

 

[moose_puck]

Spoken like a true tinfoil hat wearer....

“Paranoid? Probably. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face.”

- Harry Dresden

 

[Xol]

I think if you are a serious gamer there isn't any way around Steam. It had it all. Mostly.
I use GoG as you can download the software and use it when you needed. Not in the cloud.

Email, there are options but if you need push, cloud.

I use social media. Messengers mostly. No way around unless i cut the contacts.
But most big platforms are not what i use. Except Instagram.

The only software i bought that i still use is MediaMonkey. And additionally i use(d) DOpus which is great program from my Amiga days. Now on Windows. (Directory Manager).

I have a GoG account but yeah most of my library is on Steam, unfortunately. I still have stacks of old discs from the pre-Steam days though, heh. Shame my current laptop doesn't have a disc drive to use 'em.

Oh if you're including messengers, then yeah, I do use discord. But that's about it. As much of an introvert as I am, I still can't quite bring myself to become a complete hermit with no socializing at all, lol. (Not that there haven't been some dark times where I've been tempted to in the past 6 or so years...)

 

[coffeeaddicted]

I have a GoG account but yeah most of my library is on Steam, unfortunately. I still have stacks of old discs from the pre-Steam days though, heh. Shame my current laptop doesn't have a disc drive to use 'em.

Oh if you're including messengers, then yeah, I do use discord. But that's about it. As much of an introvert as I am, I still can't quite bring myself to become a complete hermit with no socializing at all, lol. (Not that there haven't been some dark times where I've been tempted to in the past 6 or so years...)

Well, i mentioned it because this is how the world works now.
Meaning, there isn't really an escape.
I tried to convince friends to use a more secure messenger but that failed. So i have to use whatever they use. This is especially a problem if it goes beyond the country border.

Nowadays, i don't play as much as i did in my youth for sure. But i have no discs of anything really anymore. Couple of games maybe. I have Civ 4 but that doesn't run on anything but Windows 7 which i don't have.

I wasted my younger life just playing so i corrected that. Now DAZ which draws you in but consumes you life. Literally.

 

[Xol]

Well, i mentioned it because this is how the world works now.
Meaning, there isn't really an escape.
I tried to convince friends to use a more secure messenger but that failed. So i have to use whatever they use. This is especially a problem if it goes beyond the country border.

Nowadays, i don't play as much as i did in my youth for sure. But i have no discs of anything really anymore. Couple of games maybe. I have Civ 4 but that doesn't run on anything but Windows 7 which i don't have.

I wasted my younger life just playing so i corrected that. Now DAZ which draws you in but consumes you life. Literally.

Being stuck with something for now doesn't have to mean giving up and just accepting it forever. But hey, to each their own.

Same here. Granted, I was never a multiplayer gamer really, so at least there's that. And at least there's plenty of interesting indie devs out there now. But overall I do less gaming then I did when I was younger. I do remember playing a bunch of Civ 4. Arguably the best in the series, at least in terms of active mod community/support. It's been on the decline since then. Been playing 6 recently and while they've definitely added some neat new features/gameplay aspects, it definitely feels strangely hollow compared to the older games.

Man I remember when Second Life did that to me for a while back in the late 00s, lol. Maybe toying around with DAZ isn't the best idea afterall... ah, hell with it. Who needs sleep?

 

[coffeeaddicted]

Being stuck with something for now doesn't have to mean giving up and just accepting it forever. But hey, to each their own.

Same here. Granted, I was never a multiplayer gamer really, so at least there's that. And at least there's plenty of interesting indie devs out there now. But overall I do less gaming then I did when I was younger. I do remember playing a bunch of Civ 4. Arguably the best in the series, at least in terms of active mod community/support. It's been on the decline since then. Been playing 6 recently and while they've definitely added some neat new features/gameplay aspects, it definitely feels strangely hollow compared to the older games.

Man I remember when Second Life did that to me for a while back in the late 00s, lol. Maybe toying around with DAZ isn't the best idea afterall... ah, hell with it. Who needs sleep?

Depends.

What i can say is this.
At the time i was thinking about making a game. Like everyone that played a VN you think, i want to do that too.
So i spend a lot of time in learning DAZ and downloading lots of assets.
Then starting to create scenes, trying out different things and rendering the scenes.
I can say, that at least for me, a day was nothing. I spend the whole day on it and got kind of burned out in the process.
I started at least 5 times over with ideas but in the end they didn't make a good story.
More importantly it was unique or interesting.
So i just use DAZ for my own enjoyment and i am glad that i tried it but i know for myself, that i don't really want to be a dev where i have to spend lots of time (life time) to create something and perhaps never finish.
The money wasn't even in the equation for me. I believe you can make a game, humble, that others can enjoy and where won't get the best experience with the best graphics and menu's but that tells a story.
I think if you are 20 and start out with DAZ, it will probably work out somehow. You got time to burn but when you are older, time is more pressing. At least for me.

Can't speak about Second Life as i never spend time with it. Isn't that dead now?

The last games i played that i really enjoyed were Prey (from 2017) and the first Dead Space.
I spend lesser time now on games mainly because games have changed and are not the unique anymore. From the past i have fond memories of Lucas Arts games.
I think that most games on this site, you won't remember the protagonist in 30 years from now. But these old games, you still have them in your mind. Most of them are forgettable.

I believe now that there are people that are fantastic at story telling, others making great animations, and others that are good at scene building.
But all in all, it cost time. If you enjoy it, it maybe worth it.

 

[Xol]

What i can say is this.
At the time i was thinking about making a game. Like everyone that played a VN you think, i want to do that too.
So i spend a lot of time in learning DAZ and downloading lots of assets.
Then starting to create scenes, trying out different things and rendering the scenes.
I can say, that at least for me, a day was nothing. I spend the whole day on it and got kind of burned out in the process.
I started at least 5 times over with ideas but in the end they didn't make a good story.
More importantly it was unique or interesting.
So i just use DAZ for my own enjoyment and i am glad that i tried it but i know for myself, that i don't really want to be a dev where i have to spend lots of time (life time) to create something and perhaps never finish.
The money wasn't even in the equation for me. I believe you can make a game, humble, that others can enjoy and where won't get the best experience with the best graphics and menu's but that tells a story.
I think if you are 20 and start out with DAZ, it will probably work out somehow. You got time to burn but when you are older, time is more pressing. At least for me.

The world takes too damned much time from us, man. I hate it. (I'm well over 20, btw.) It goes by way too damned quick, too. I wish I could go into some kind of time dilation mode to screw around with stuff like this.

Can't speak about Second Life as i never spend time with it. Isn't that dead now?

Nope, pretty sure it's still alive and kickin'. I think stuff like VRChat is slowly eating away its users though.

The last games i played that i really enjoyed were Prey (from 2017) and the first Dead Space.
I spend lesser time now on games mainly because games have changed and are not the unique anymore. From the past i have fond memories of Lucas Arts games.
I think that most games on this site, you won't remember the protagonist in 30 years from now. But these old games, you still have them in your mind. Most of them are forgettable.

I believe now that there are people that are fantastic at story telling, others making great animations, and others that are good at scene building.
But all in all, it cost time. If you enjoy it, it maybe worth it.

I've played a fair number of fun games in recent years, of various genres. Including quite a few I won't soon forget. Dust: An Elysian Tale, the Shadowrun PC games by Hairbraned Schemes, FTL, Undertale, Phoenix Point, Night in the Woods, A Hat In Time, Fortresscraft Evolved... just to name a few. All memorable for sometimes very different reasons, but I enjoyed all of them. And I've found some real gems lurking around itch.io as well, like Odd Realm, Airships: Conquer the Skies, Code 7...

Story and characters can definitely help a game, but it can be more or less important depending on what kind of game it is. Obviously, for something like an RPG they're at the top of the priorities. Then for, say, platformers, shooters, and strats, they're more on par with the actual gameplay in terms of priority. And then there's the builder/management type games (which I happen to enjoy a good bit) where it's more like "story? what story? just let me build shit", lol.

Hell, for the kinds of games this particular site is largely focused around, story is almost always my least concern, if I'm being honest. Partly because, frankly, the plot and dialogue in most nsfw games either suck or just frankly don't appeal to me. Part of the reason I want to tinker around with making my own little games is the desire to create something geared towards my own weird niche tastes. But I've definitely played some with some great visuals, at least. Especially the 2d stuff- ironic, considering this thread started about a program for 3d modeling, but I'm a big fan of sprite art, especially of the porn variety.

 

[coffeeaddicted]

Hell, for the kinds of games this particular site is largely focused around, story is almost always my least concern, if I'm being honest. Partly because, frankly, the plot and dialogue in most nsfw games either suck or just frankly don't appeal to me. Part of the reason I want to tinker around with making my own little games is the desire to create something geared towards my own weird niche tastes. But I've definitely played some with some great visuals, at least. Especially the 2d stuff- ironic, considering this thread started about a program for 3d modeling, but I'm a big fan of sprite art, especially of the porn variety.

That is the reason why people start making games. Maybe not all but at least some.
Creating a game that is you or at least is a game you envision.
I can say that my game, if i ever finish what i am doing slowly, is brutal, violent and dark. Plus i love to have 2 true choices. Most games don't do that.
Unless you want to make a popular game where you have to compromise and cutout some ideas because they don't fly with the majority.
So with your age, you have time to burn.

 

[Deleted member 1121028]

Sadly, the whole software industry is moving towards these perma-connected Cloud models.

I mean, it's no coincidence that Adobe usage has skyrocketed since they moved to a subscription platform.

Maxxon & Autodesk following (lol token session).
It's matter of time Daz go full service/subscription model (sometimes one must praise incompetence lmao).

 

[coffeeaddicted]

Mm... strange things happen.

With the new version i had to log in to load the base model. Is that a change or am i just dump and my memory is dim?
p.s. i had to reinstall my computer so everything was newly installed.