            Lamer, Elite, Conceited

The  Hungarian  scene  is  nowadays crowded with
newcomers.  Those old groups, who held the front
in  the  early  90's,  are  mostly down, and new
groups  formed,  with  new faces, and new style.
But  this  new  style,  I  think, not really THE
SCENE  style.  As  Dirk  Gently,  formerly  Dada
claims, the Hungarian scene is dead. Well, maybe
not   yet,  but  seriously  endangered  by  some
wannabes' conceitedness and lameness.

There  are  a  lot  of  guys, who have read some
diskmag  -  usually Terror News, a very popular,
but  not  scene-oriented  magazine - and started
thinking.  'Geez,  this  IS  fun!  I  will  make
something   like  this!'  And  this  led  to  an
uncontrollable  dump  of new diskmagazines, from
which   only  a  few  are  really  worth  to  be
mentioned.  The  remaining  thousands are almost
the   same:   lame   Pascal   codes,   16  color
Paintbrush-style  graphics,  maybe  some  music,
which   is   usually   stolen   or   written  by
self-appointed  "musicians".  Well,  they  think
THIS is scene, and attending parties. They don't
even   know,  what  is  a  demo,  except  Second
Reality, you know, the GOD.

Anyway,  I  have  no problems with newcomers, if
they   know  how  to  live  on  the  scene.  Not
mentioned,  I  am  also  one. But at least I was
interested  in  watching the scene from the late
80's.   Some   greenies,  or  better  call  them
wannabes,  think if they make a diskmag, it will
be  THE  diskmag, and they will be the centre of
the  scene. Yes, because they are handled in the
school  as a genius, because they know, what the
word VGA stands for. But they know nothing about
the  great faces and products of the scene. Some
days  ago  I met a guy who didn't even know what
was  Scanner  -  our  first,  and that time best
diskmag  in 90-91 - or who is Tran, but he had a
DISKMAG,  and thus he had a mug too big to fit a
stadium.  Now, these are the ones I call lamers.
Or  someone, who once saw a demo, and then wants
to   teach   everybody   about  demo  designing.
Basically, the meaning of the word 'lamer' comes
down  to  the  old  definition  done  by Dada in
Scanner:

"Lamer is the one, who wants to be more than he
                  really is."

So  that  is  not  lamer,  who has just bought a
machine,  and  asks  you  about  the handling of
Norton Commander, or so. That is beginner.

I  gave  the  title 'Lamer, Elite, Conceited' to
this  article,  then  now  let's  say some words
about  the  so-called  elites. These wannabes, I
mentioned  previously,  think  they  act like an
elite.  But  what  this word really means? Let's
see the Oxford Dictionary.

Elite:  A  group  in  society  considered  to be
superior  because  of power, talent, privileges,
etc. of its members.

Well,  the  word  'society'  fits  the  scene, I
think.  Now  what makes an elite to be superior?
Power.  So,  you  are  elite, if you can do more
than  most  of  the other people. For me, it can
mean  for  example,  that you can always get 0-2
day  old  warez, and keep it on your BBS, or you
can  organize  a  party  greater  than  all  the
others.  Next,  talent.  I  think  this needs no
explanation. A good coder, a skilled graphician.
Those,  who  are  really  do something cool. And
last:  privileges. What privileges? For example,
access  right to elite cracker groups' BBSes, or
so.  I don't think, any wannabe can do either of
these. So they are not elite, just conceited.

Now,  wait.  Is  an elite always conceited? Must
someone,  who  writes  the best demos, avoid the
'plebs',  and stay lonely, to contact only other
elites?  I  don't think so! The fact you are the
best  coder  in  the  country,  or  a swapper in
contact  with  the  top cracker groups, may make
you  elite,  but  isn't it better to stay a cool
guy?  Let's think, you are a beginner coder, and
has  just  finished  a  bit lame first demo. You
send  it to the best coder you know, and ask him
to   give  you  advices,  how  to  advance  your
knowledge. Would you feel yourself very good, if
you  got  an  answer like 'Lamer, fuck off, I am
elite', or such? Think about it, dear elites and
conceited guys.