Oh yea I should mention EMPRESS released a Just Cause 4 Denuvo crack just 3 days ago.
The NFO file has drama again.
So what was the FitGirl drama? Here's some comments https://old.reddit.com/r/CrackWatch..._ended_i_am_safe_thanks_to_my_lawyer/gopvgnn/ (https://web.archive.org/web/2021022..._ended_i_am_safe_thanks_to_my_lawyer/gopvgnn/)
"girl" catfight
Someone who is more up to date than me made a story https://www.reddit.com/r/CrackWatch/comments/lqibnh/empress_there_and_back_again/
I don't have a horse in this race but I will say that cracking is so much more impressive than repacking
The NFO file has drama again.
So what was the FitGirl drama? Here's some comments https://old.reddit.com/r/CrackWatch..._ended_i_am_safe_thanks_to_my_lawyer/gopvgnn/ (https://web.archive.org/web/2021022..._ended_i_am_safe_thanks_to_my_lawyer/gopvgnn/)
"girl" catfight
Someone who is more up to date than me made a story https://www.reddit.com/r/CrackWatch/comments/lqibnh/empress_there_and_back_again/
Mods, if this post violates rule #2 please let me know.
So much has happened the last few months that I wanted to try compile everything in one post. This way people can stay updated on the story. Please speak up if I forgot something or made a mistake (in this post that is, plenty of mistakes IRL).
Populous: The Beginning
It all started when a new cracker showed up on this subreddit named C000005 who eventually became EMPRESS ( link ) . I think this person changed the cracking game by showing that different versions of Denuvo and other DRM could be cracked in a time when major releases where not as common as they used to be. Some of the games that this person cracked (some together with Mr_Goldberg) were Planet Zoo, Red Dead Redemption 2, Mortal Kombat 11, Anno 1800 and Total War: Three Kingdoms. EMPRESS and a popular repacker FitGirl displayed some kind of mutual beneficial relationship because FitGirl thanked EMPRESS " for her reaching out to me before the official ISO release which allowed me to prepare my repack for you. Girl power! " when Red Dead Redemption 2 was released by EMPRESS.
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
Days went by and games were cracked, our community rejoiced. But then this post happend titled " A Philosophical approach toward the people and universe, and a challenge for any curious redditors [#1] ". The post was by some perceived as somewhat arrogant, out of place and a bit weird. Others tried to answer the question on hand and some tried to counter the claims in the post like " had lots of universal philosophy knowledge inside my soul and it always opposes the famous philosophers and thinkers' theories, and pretty much "Everyone else" on this planet. ".
As promised EMPRESS answered the philosophical question with a new post . The reactions to this post were mostly negative. People spoke out about the way EMPRESS used a rather agressive approach to people who did not agree with the way EMPRESS thinks. In the post EMPRESS made a list of " Disgusting horrible mentions " with names of people wo tried to counter the claims of EMPRESS in the previous post.
- I was actually in pole position on this list, still feels like an accomplishment
Others spoke out how philosophy is more about sharing thoughts about a common topic and not about imposing your ideas on others. In this post EMPRESS shared more details about the next cracked game, some people figured out it would probably be Immortals: Fenyx Rising.
There was one final post by EMPRESS following the last post which talked about "its time to move on and build a more creative space for some of the people who actually like my philosophy approaches, and found it useful." . The general sentiment in this post stayed the same as before, that people who did not appreciate or follow the knowledge that EMPRESS embodied were simply wrong. EMPRESS decided to start a new subreddit " ESPECIALLY for those who care for my philosophical side" called r/EmpressEvolution . The reaction in general was that this was for the best for the r/CrackWatch subreddit as it is about video game piracy news and not about philosophy
Alone in the Dark
(Huge thanks to u/Evonos for compiling all the information while it was happening here)
Things did not go well for the new subreddit of EMPRESS. As EMPRESS thought to have free reign in this place, EMPRESS made a post about "[PHILOSOPHY POST #002] THE MYSTERIES OF THE GENDER". The subreddit was at this point merely days old. The reactions to this post were mostly negative and readers were asking meaningful questions which asked clarification about the all-or-nothing thinking by EMPRESS on gender.
Some people even took to reporting the post to Reddit. This led to Reddit suspending the account of EMPRESS. While being suspended EMPRESS asked the question "how to deal with that report button..." which she believed was abused by trolls trying to destroy her. EMPRESS finally went on to delete her old account I think to try and gain back favor with Reddit Admins which probably did not work. Sick of "reddit admins [who] don't seem to be able to control the "TROLLS" around here who abuse the "Report" button" EMPRESS decided to move on to a different platform.
For an archive of EMPRESS posts on r/EmpressEvolution : see link (thanks to u/Evonos )
Batman: Arkham Asylum
(huge thanks to DyR0 t(-_-t) for contacting EMPRESS about this in a very mature and respectful way)
While the calm returned to our favorite subreddit EMPRESS released Immortals: Fenyx Rising. But immediately it became clear something was wrong: most people had really low DL speeds when trying to DL the new cracked game. This comment by u/GoldRush710 hinted that the low DL speed was connected to the low speed of the seedboxes. This would mean EMPRESS was deliberately slowing down sharing of her own torrent? What could be the reason for this?
As she did before u/FitGirlLV spoke out in clear terms in a statement she made about the slow speeds. Where EMPRESS used to have a mutual beneficial relationship with FitGirl, now EMPRESS acted in such a way that went completely against this idea. According to FitGirl EMPRESS slowed down the speed of the seedbox because " [EMPRESS] hates all repackers for “stealing the spotlight” from her work. ". The proof can be found here and here.
EMPRESS did all this to teach people a lesson (?) , in a way that we have to wait until EMPRESS allows us to have the cracked game. For me this seems EMPRESS is enforcing a new kind of DRM on the cracked game.
EMPRESS also believes things need to be "corrected". For me it seems you don't need to correct anything that is not broken. The flow of: cracked games --> repacked --> users have a choice between release or repack, seemed good to me. Especially because FitGirl always gives credit to the cracker.
- As mentioned below in the comments not all repackers mentioned the cracker of the game very clearly. If this is true there are more civil ways you can try first to try and fix this. You can f.e. as a cracker contact the repacker and open up a dialogue.
FitGirl (link) and u/Masquerade32 (link) both made clear that they will not repack any future EMPRESS cracked games.
EMPRESS (with the handle u/-InfinityGoddess- ) posted a new topic called " Finally caught by the police, goodjob everyone" . OP there claims that " in less than an hour, i will be dragged out of my home here with my lawyer " and " i was caught red handed " so " i don't think there will be much of hope against it at all. ". According to OP this is due because of " some serious people ON REDDIT managed to report me to authority with my real address " after " trying to control "MY" own crack for 24 hour " . The sentiment in the comments is general disbelieve of the honesty of this post. I do hope what EMPRESS claims in this new post is not true, getting apprehended or investigated by law enforcement is no laughing matter. We all remember dear Voksi who suffered the same fate .
Far Cry New Dawn
After there was speculation if EMPRESS was actually apprehended by law enforcement, this post surfaced on r/EmpressEvolution posted by u/-InfinityGoddess- the new handle of EMPRESS. In this post EMPRESS states that " [the] Investigation Ended. I am Safe thanks to my lawyer and my country's laws. i want to start a new beginning " This post seems more apologetic and friendly in nature then other posts made by EMPRESS, this might imply that EMPRESS has come to repentance. By saying " i will never make any of the mistakes i did again" EMPRESS takes responsibility for mistakes in the past . EMPRESS promises not to make any of the mistakes again. EMPRESS then continues to ask for a second chance and forgiveness from everybody by saying " i want to start fresh now, and help everyone here. if i am still allowed to have a chance from everyone, i will be sure not to waste it. "
EMPRESS ends with a note to all repackers also asking for a second chance and forgiveness : " a final note : i want to give an official apology to ALL repackers, ..., i put hope in your kindness, and your ability to forgive. "
I don't have a horse in this race but I will say that cracking is so much more impressive than repacking
