ROFL!!!

Jafo, nobody puts things quite like you do, I like it hehehe

Little subjective don’t you think. Customer service is the best, with community, mods and wizops, the best I’ve ever encountered. The products for the money???  Let’s see, I use WB6, SS5 (paid version), SS6 (free) and cursor FX (free). Yea, I guess the price is right.

non-subscribers also? I won’t start on my rant against flash or what I think about impulse but this sounds like the days of my continued participation on the site may be numbered anyhow. Am I interpreting this correctly that I will have to install impulse to upload/download blinds which also requires the use of Flash. How will this also impact forum participation?

Listen, the fat lady singeth.

Just in case I don’t get the opportunity latter, I want to thank all those that have answered my skinning questions and the community as a whole for damn good run. I am working on a blind but it is taking some time to get the result that I’m looking for but I hope to upload before any major changes take place.

as long as im still able to skin and upload.....im happy. and ill be buying a subscription to help.

Hey, Wimpy, try step back a little, I'd like to see you stick around bud, you have been showing some promise in your skins, it hasn't gone un-noticed.... your questions haven't even been answered yet.. besides.. whats so bad about Flash anyway?

Take a chill pill and reassess won't you ? 

i really enjoyed the latest WIP, i was able to download the skin, check it out and give feedback to what I think needed addressing....but i always state that its only my opinion, as its their skin, and their choice to whether they change something or not.........

im more for addressing technical issues rather than personal choice issues..because in my mind, i have no right to try and dictate how someone skins their skin, afterall its their skin, not mine.  the only time i will make a note of colour or font is if its too destractive or hard to read,

ect......

either way, i do love the WIP, i think its a good idea.......a really good one.  and the poster of the wip can either take the info or leave it.

in the form of dark chocolate covered caramels. Yumm!

and I agree that the fork in the road is somewhat off in the future and I'll evaluate what's up when "it" happens. and of course, thanks for the kind words.

This is just what I was thinking. The LOOK of a thing, whatever it is, is totally subjective. You can tell someone if the start menu is impossible to read or the taskbar is too small, or crooked or whatever, but whether it's GOOD is in the eye of the beholder. Some of us like dark skins, some like flowers, some are into sci-fi, who's to say which is best? It's a matter of style and taste.

Some of you guys even like the UGLY skins.

(Hey, it's a joke... Don't get your knickers in a knot over it... )

No skin is UGLY. At least every skin is beautiful for the skinner who made it and most of us. Beauty Lies In The Eyes Of Beholder.

MAHAHA, I have a whole new appreciation for my 'Farting Zebra Clock' now.

And You Got A 5-star too. #269 

Im thinking of donating subscriptions in return for themes... I havent figured out the parameters of the themse or how many subscriptions I will donate, Im thinking if there was also a way to donate funds I would do that too.  I already have a subscription and have no qualms about investing further on this site.  Its a great place and while I enjoy SD I dont necessarily want them to have controlling interest on the site (no offense). 

Kevin

End of WC ?

It's not surprising as it's nearlly unacessible ...

Since the end of 2008, any page of WC is taking about ten mn to load - when it loads ...- ( so that i'm asking me if it's not voluntary from Stardock to build up a new marketing website )

It's definetely not THAT bad. I think you (or your ISP) need some serious network maintenance if you have such a major problem.

I think it's (probably) the only website with such troubles

I get a 30 M cable connection and all other website (and to compare, some heavy websites like DeviantArt ...) are loading pages nearly instantly

Some people from other places in the world than me have reported already exactly the same trouble ...

I've never had that bad connection, so it's probably something that is outside stardock that cause it. On a slow day pageloads take ~20 seconds to load for me, which is slow enough for me to complain... Going over 5 minutes for a page is ridiculous, but as I've *never* seen that, I think it's an indication that those pageloads are not caused by stardock servers.

what about.....no more free downloads.......in other words, you HAVE to subscribe to download skins......or is that just too much?

I think that would be too much, which is where the download limit comes into play. Once you go over the limit (whatever that is now) you have to subscribe/purchase a product.

Here's my thoughts on what would happen if that happened. (I'm not a pro analyst or anything, so I may be entirely wrong... But it's what I think )

It would kill the site. One major thing with putting a skin on a site like this is to get exposure. People who can't download won't come to the site and see the work put here. All non-subscribing skinners would likely just stop posting things here, and subscribing skinners would get less attention, which would lead to less subscriptions... And so on....

Yup, that is probably right on the money, and download limitations are the way to go.  Thing is, while it's not an issue for those who are hard-core skin/customisation fanatics, I'm wondering what Stardock/WC could do to make subscribing more attractive to the non-subscribers who frequent the site. I mean, given that advertising is thrust upon us everywhere we look, and people have learned to tolerate/live with it, is the price of a subscription worth being able to browse WC ad free?  Ads annoy the crap out of me and I prefer to be free of advertising when I'm browsing, but is ad free browsing a big enough draw card for some?

Yes, there are free skins for subscribers, but given the quality of free skins available in the galleries anyway, do those subscriber skins represent good value to those who see great skins for free in the galleries, are more casual customisers anyhow, and can tolerate browsing with ads?  Probably not, given how many quality skins they can get for free in the galleries!  And the promise of a personal page to upload skins and photos may not be enough, either, not if they are non-skinning and casual customisers who only want to change their desktop appearance every once in a while.

I'm not sure what else Stardock?WC could offer in the way of extra goodies and freebies to act as an added incentive, but I do know that it's easier to get a dollar from 50,000 people than it is from just a handful, so I'm thinking along those lines and tiered subscriptions may be the answer... different levels for different needs/wants...

For example:

$5.95 Basic Subscription:  prvides ad free bowsing and unlimited downloads.

$9.95 Standard Subscription: provides ad free browsing, unlimited downloads, forum access and access to subscriber skins current at time of purchase.

$14.95 Premium Subscription: provides all of the above... plus personal page for uploads and access to all subscriber skins and benefits released during subscription period.

Given the current economic climate, where finances are tight and people are finding 20 buck hard to come by, much less justify on a non-essential, maybe a $5.95 entry level sub is more palatable and one that more people would be inclined to pony up for.  It has to be remembered that not all customisers are as avid as the rest, and therefore require less, so why make them pay for more, like services and benefits they neither use or need.

Just a thought!