This is an old post now, but anyway…
- The official sources are/were TehParadox (which is closed) and MySpleen (where invitations are not available anymore).
- When a newbie asks “where can I get them” on this forum, the 2 ou 3 same guys always answer with jokes, or “read the first post” (which is outdated), or don’t answer at all, or forbid access to newbies (you must be a member for 6 months before getting the private links, which is quite justified and understandable, but can give the impression of a closed club).
- If you want to learn more about how to get the Despecialized Editions, you have to read 161 pages of private jokes. And do not try to give your opinion or to answer to a post, you’ll receive “get out of here” or “ridiculous” for answer from some people who think that this forum is their playground, even though the vast majority of members are kind and caring.
On the other hand, if you pay on eBay, you receive a beautiful package with a box, inner sleeves and beautifully printed blurays.
I am obviously outraged that people get paid on eBay for the volunteer and free work of other people like Harmy, Poita, Adywan or DrDre. No one should claim $ 100 on eBay for Harmy’s work, it is not fair. And I’m happy to be a (young new) member of this forum, where I can learn a lot of things about SW, and share my passion with people who are, for the most part, extremely sympathetic.
But I understand why many people end up finding eBay easier than this particular forum …
You raise some good valid points ZigZig - and I appreciate your efforts in here to try and come up with a solution to these issues.
To try to answer some of your points - and in the interests of clarity for others reading up about this topic…
Harmy’s Dspecialised Editions are widely available on both public and private torrent sites - in many differing formats and sizes. That new posters state on here that they searched ‘high and low’ on the public torrent sites and still can’t find them is somewhat baffling. Also baffling are those that say they don’t know how to use torrent sites and then ask to join myspleen…
In Harmy’s first post in his Despecialised Edition thread on this site is the linked ‘The Ultimate Introductory Guide’ -
which chronicles how to obtain the DE.Harmy also has a facebook page - chronicling how to obtain his Despecialised Editions - via ‘The Ultimate Introductory Guide’ linked on it.
And a twitter page too.
There is also a youtube video out there with ‘The Ultimate Introductory Guide’ linked in on how to obtain the DE.
I think (though am not certain) that the above video, with ‘The Ultimate Introductory Guide’ linked in, is available on other similar video sites too.
As a kind-of-newbie, I think that this is indeed difficult to access the files. The information about them on this forum is spread over multiple topics and over multiples posts in each topic, and even some headposts contain outdated information. The guide: I followed it today to get ESB, and just failed (I can see files for TLJ, not for ANH or ESB). Public torrent trackers: mmh, there you can find multiple versions, without knowing if they are the “official” ones or altered in any way (for instance I can see a 1080p version of Harmy’s ESB, but as far as I know his version is 720p, isn’t it ?). Private trackers: probably a better source, but you have to be a happy member… Anyway, using torrent trackers if you’re not a geek who knows how to use a VPN or a remote seedboox, can get you into legal troubles in many countries. The truth is, many people don’t have many options apart from buying the stuff on ebay.
Yes mate, it is bit of an old post. The ‘Why isn’t it easier to acquire Harmy’s Despecialized Editions?’ post from the ‘How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com - some info & answers to members’ queries thread, may be more useful?
Have you informed HanDuet there is an issue with for acquiring ESB? (When I receive PMs asking for help from members I’m surprised so few have actually contacted HanDuet to give him a heads-up that something has gone wrong and requires fixing or addressing).
In Section 10 of HanDuet’s superb guide:-
'If you find any errors, have feedback, or can think of ideas for improving this guide, please leave a comment on my Facebook page. I will also post on that page when a new version of this guide is published, so please “like” the page if you’d be informed of future updates:
https://www.facebook.com/HanDuet.SWDE/’
Or that the person PMing for assistance hasn’t previously made a post asking in the relevant thread - or even read through the relevant threads - to see if the issue they are having has already been addressed.
Darth Lucas said:
I don’t think anyone is blaming people who may not know any better who buy them. But the people taking this freely available labor of love thing and making a rather hefty profit off it is pretty despicable.I definitely won’t stand up for these guys, I would be ashamed to do what they do. But if I was the devil’s advocate, I would point out that they give access to the GOUT to some people who don’t have other options in practice, and also that take a risk.
This is the usual story of prohibition: it generates a black market that is managed by the bad boys. The first level of prohibition is from GL himself, who retains the GOUT, and the second level is the difficulty to access the versions created by the fans.
As Darth Lucas stated above, Harmy is looking at ways to make them easier to access…
Just a couple of things to remember for those thinking of buying the Despeicalized Editions (or other Preservations and Fan Edits) from ebay or other scammers and sites…
‘I have found some online sites and listing selling fan projects from on here…’