Ahhh, MineCraft. An awesome game that lets you sandbox buildings. But while it’s very fun, the new skin feature seems to be very insecure. After wondering where raw PNGs were stored, I realized that it was imperative to have a uniform system based on confirmed username. This would help for the server, which has to display custom skins based on your particular username.
Fortunately, it was easier than I thought. The names were not even MD5′d or otherwise hashed to make it hard for us to detect. It wasn’t in a hidden folder. It was all public in minecraft.net/skin. What I mean : My raw custom skin PNG was stored in minecraft.net/skin/AlLnAtuRalX.png. Notch’s is in minecraft.net/skin/Notch.png. Easy right? Also fun… Everything is public domain now. Just see someone with a skin you like and grab it.
Notch's Custom Skin (Currently)
Notch, I tried to notify you, but you weren’t on IRC. Oh well… I have a feeling it’ll get fixed soon enough. Or hell, you can leave it. This is an awesome feature IMO, and I want people to use it. Download as many skins as you can before it gets sealed up forever!
Haha, I spot my Snorlax skin in there!
Not really sure how many people will make use of this, though as I assume most of the purchasers right now make their own skins.
It's a fun little bug.. Yours is probably in there because you shared it on the forum (all usernames from the share your character thread got grabbed).
Yours is probably in there because you shared it on the forum (all usernames from the share your character thread got grabbed).
Most likely, though it doesn't really bother me. It's not as if it'll be the end of the world if someone uses my skins.
How the rest of the community will respond I can't say.
Hehe even mine is in there, oh well I posted the source of it on the forums anyway so idc, it just shows i make good skins and people like them :biggrin.gif:
While the skins I've made are not my intellectual property (so I can't claim any copyright to them) and ignoring the fact I was going to post up the actual PNG files eventually (because I'm wonderful that way), I still think this is a bit of a **** move. People put effort into making skins.
Providing a way to effectively "steal" them, as you put it, isn't a good move. Instead of saying "oh well, Notch wasn't on IRC, STACKS ON", you should have just waited until you could contact him.
While the skins I've made are not my intellectual property (so I can't claim any copyright to them) and ignoring the fact I was going to post up the actual PNG files eventually (because I'm wonderful that way), I still think this is a bit of a **** move. People put effort into making skins.
Providing a way to effectively "steal" them, as you put it, isn't a good move. Instead of saying "oh well, Notch wasn't on IRC, STACKS ON", you should have just waited until you could contact him.
Oh well.
Ahh, where do I begin? First of all, stealing someone else's skin should be taken as a sincere compliment. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I personally download a lot of skins, but I only use ones I make. I like to see what other people do and how in order to help myself make nicer skins.
Also, Notch has other things to fix that are much bigger that he ignores. There are two people in IRC right now who built a bot that can crash any servers (they crashed mine last night for 7 hours before I woke up)... Notch effectively thinks he fixed things like this while they are still going on. So unless I do something like this, it would still not be fixed, and anyone with half a brain could figure out where the PNGs were stored and take them. If you want to save your skins, put up a temporary one until this gets fixed.
Ahh, where do I begin? First of all, stealing someone else's skin should be taken as a sincere compliment. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I personally download a lot of skins, but I only use ones I make. I like to see what other people do and how in order to help myself make nicer skins.
Frankly, I think you're in a minority. Of course while it's such a small community and it costs so much to be able to use skins it won't be too much a problem, but I can see it becoming one: people finding the best skins and claiming them as their own.
As I said, under particular circumstances it's fine, but I can see it becoming worse.
I'm with Trandom. Right now it's just some small hobby skins for a game, but it's equal to pirating games or movies. I guess they should feel honoured than you think it's good enough to download, but not good enough to actually pay for.
Skins aren't exactly piracy though, but it's starting to be in the same ballpark.
Personally, I like the idea, but I can't wait for a skins database or similar. :smile.gif:
It's not necessarily a huge deal to begin with. Patterns are so simple that with a couple of screen shots you could probably replicate the same skin. If somebody wanted to "steal" a skin then they'll still be able to do so even without this function of observing it from the website.
Taking something someone made for themselves without permission is stealing. Theft is generally frowned upon in case some of you weren't aware.
This post is essentially a person giving things away to others that don't belong to him. I personally love the idea of a skin database that anyone can contribute to, but I think that skin creators should have the option to designate which of their works are for everyone or simply for them.
While imitation is a form of flattery, some of us would simply prefer to remain unique.
Ahh, where do I begin? First of all, stealing someone else's skin should be taken as a sincere compliment. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Imitation, yes. Duplication...no.
There's a difference between, "ooh, I want a skin like that" and "lol takin dat"
Personally I don't care. I'm always making new skins. I have my Troll on atm. I had Sheik on for a short while too yesterday. But I wasn't getting as many compliments XD.
Taking something someone made for themselves without permission is stealing. Theft is generally frowned upon in case some of you weren't aware.
In which case they could go in a game and copy somebody else's skin from there. If somebody wants to steal a skin it is IMPOSSIBLE to stop them unless the creator of the skin never uses it. If somebody is going to "steal" a skin, then they're going to do it, having the skins private or hidden isn't going to change that at all. People are worried of their skins being stolen through this when there are a several other ways to do so.
Taking something someone made for themselves without permission is stealing. Theft is generally frowned upon in case some of you weren't aware.
In which case they could go in a game and copy somebody else's skin from there. If somebody wants to steal a skin it is IMPOSSIBLE to stop them unless the creator of the skin never uses it. If somebody is going to "steal" a skin, then they're going to do it, having the skins private or hidden isn't going to change that at all. People are worried of their skins being stolen through this when there are a several other ways to do so.
Is your argument that because we can't stop them it's okay? I understand that it can't be done thanks to Notch's reply, but that still doesn't make it right, and I certainly don't have to like it.
I don't understand what your statement has to do with my quoted text, though.
It's not right but it can never be prevented, if someone is that determined to steal a skin, they will. It's not worth the effort for Notch or anyone, to come up with a solution, because it's entirely possible to bypass it, all that can ever be done is make 'thieves' jump through more hoops.
If you're uncomfortable with someone using a skin you made, it'll often be the case that they're willing to take it off, I highly doubt anyone intends to upset you. I know if I see a skin I like and was able to use it I would, but I'd also be willing to take it off if the creator requested and that would be totally reasonable. Hopefully when I finish up the skin database less 'stealing' will happen because there is an abundance (I love that word!) or free skins available :smile.gif:
It's not right but it can never be prevented, if someone is that determined to steal a skin, they will. It's not worth the effort for Notch or anyone, to come up with a solution, because it's entirely possible to bypass it, all that can ever be done is make 'thieves' jump through more hoops.
If you're uncomfortable with someone using a skin you made, it'll often be the case that they're willing to take it off, I highly doubt anyone intends to upset you. I know if I see a skin I like and was able to use it I would, but I'd also be willing to take it off if the creator requested and that would be totally reasonable. Hopefully when I finish up the skin database less 'stealing' will happen because there is an abundance (I love that word!) or free skins available :smile.gif:
I understand. I do think you're being a bit optimistic, though - one need only look to the staggering number of griefers to get an idea of how much respect some people have for others.
In any case, I hope the skin database manages to take the edge off, too.
Ahhh, MineCraft. An awesome game that lets you sandbox buildings. But while it’s very fun, the new skin feature seems to be very insecure. After wondering where raw PNGs were stored, I realized that it was imperative to have a uniform system based on confirmed username. This would help for the server, which has to display custom skins based on your particular username.
Fortunately, it was easier than I thought. The names were not even MD5′d or otherwise hashed to make it hard for us to detect. It wasn’t in a hidden folder. It was all public in minecraft.net/skin. What I mean : My raw custom skin PNG was stored in minecraft.net/skin/AlLnAtuRalX.png. Notch’s is in minecraft.net/skin/Notch.png. Easy right? Also fun… Everything is public domain now. Just see someone with a skin you like and grab it.
Notch's Custom Skin (Currently)
Notch, I tried to notify you, but you weren’t on IRC. Oh well… I have a feeling it’ll get fixed soon enough. Or hell, you can leave it. This is an awesome feature IMO, and I want people to use it. Download as many skins as you can before it gets sealed up forever!
Cheers,
AlLnAtuRalX
Reddit Public Server Admin
Blog Post Here
Enjoy guys.. Knock yourself out before it's fixed :wink.gif:.
Not really sure how many people will make use of this, though as I assume most of the purchasers right now make their own skins.
Most likely, though it doesn't really bother me. It's not as if it'll be the end of the world if someone uses my skins.
How the rest of the community will respond I can't say.
Couldn't just have postet it to the forums here^^
What do you expect? I validate myself using my page-count. XD
Providing a way to effectively "steal" them, as you put it, isn't a good move. Instead of saying "oh well, Notch wasn't on IRC, STACKS ON", you should have just waited until you could contact him.
Oh well.
Ahh, where do I begin? First of all, stealing someone else's skin should be taken as a sincere compliment. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I personally download a lot of skins, but I only use ones I make. I like to see what other people do and how in order to help myself make nicer skins.
Also, Notch has other things to fix that are much bigger that he ignores. There are two people in IRC right now who built a bot that can crash any servers (they crashed mine last night for 7 hours before I woke up)... Notch effectively thinks he fixed things like this while they are still going on. So unless I do something like this, it would still not be fixed, and anyone with half a brain could figure out where the PNGs were stored and take them. If you want to save your skins, put up a temporary one until this gets fixed.
Frankly, I think you're in a minority. Of course while it's such a small community and it costs so much to be able to use skins it won't be too much a problem, but I can see it becoming one: people finding the best skins and claiming them as their own.
As I said, under particular circumstances it's fine, but I can see it becoming worse.
Skins aren't exactly piracy though, but it's starting to be in the same ballpark.
Personally, I like the idea, but I can't wait for a skins database or similar. :smile.gif:
This post is essentially a person giving things away to others that don't belong to him. I personally love the idea of a skin database that anyone can contribute to, but I think that skin creators should have the option to designate which of their works are for everyone or simply for them.
While imitation is a form of flattery, some of us would simply prefer to remain unique.
Relic of a bygone age.
Imitation, yes. Duplication...no.
There's a difference between, "ooh, I want a skin like that" and "lol takin dat"
In which case they could go in a game and copy somebody else's skin from there. If somebody wants to steal a skin it is IMPOSSIBLE to stop them unless the creator of the skin never uses it. If somebody is going to "steal" a skin, then they're going to do it, having the skins private or hidden isn't going to change that at all. People are worried of their skins being stolen through this when there are a several other ways to do so.
Is your argument that because we can't stop them it's okay? I understand that it can't be done thanks to Notch's reply, but that still doesn't make it right, and I certainly don't have to like it.
I don't understand what your statement has to do with my quoted text, though.
Relic of a bygone age.
If you're uncomfortable with someone using a skin you made, it'll often be the case that they're willing to take it off, I highly doubt anyone intends to upset you. I know if I see a skin I like and was able to use it I would, but I'd also be willing to take it off if the creator requested and that would be totally reasonable. Hopefully when I finish up the skin database less 'stealing' will happen because there is an abundance (I love that word!) or free skins available :smile.gif:
I understand. I do think you're being a bit optimistic, though - one need only look to the staggering number of griefers to get an idea of how much respect some people have for others.
In any case, I hope the skin database manages to take the edge off, too.
Relic of a bygone age.