Wincustomize.com Promotions

How They Work And Why. A History.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 by Jafo | Discussion: Community

 

from Patrick Ford
Wincustomize Access    5/06/2001 2.54am
Hi Jafo,

Just letting you know that the admins at WinCustomize have voted to raise
your access to Master (Congratulations).  Just so  you are aware you will
need to log off and log back on again in order for your access level to be
properly updated.

Sincerely,
Patrick Ford (T-Man)
 
When Wincustomize.com was founded following the untimely demise of skinz.org at the hands of eFront in early 2001, Frogboy [and several others] had seen the need for a more stable foundation for the skinning Community, a group who had been constantly disrupted by closures/failures of the then 4 or 5 major public skinning sites.

The first skinning-specific site to come online was Customize.org....which went offline for almost a year to redefine/renew itself.  Deskmod suffered what was described as a catastrophic database loss.  Deviantart was new and promising, under the direction of Jark but the focus was more than skinning and ultimately skinning was quite 'secondary' to the more established Art forms/media.  The alternate shell [Litestep] sites were lucky to be up from one week to the next, and finally skinz.org ....fell victim to a dot-com advertising on-seller whose ethics were publicly shown to be far less than ideal [though it was entertaining].  There were [and still are] smaller sites devoted to skinning, however their 'market reach/penetration' was, and still is quite small.

Thankfully [for us all] Stardock/Frogboy came to the rescue and Wincustomize.com was born.  She has since proven over the following 8 years to have underlined a new standard in longevity and reliability.  Skinning's Community now had a place it could call HOME.
Being a Community site, IE a site for both skinners and users alike, it was a bold move on Stardock's part to engage in what some detractors saw as 'elitism' but what we know now as the "Wincustomize Promotions".

A site such as Wincustomize is not going to be the same thing to/for everyone.  Some will see it as the staging ground showroom for their craft [skins] whilst others will be involved only to access/download whatever others have offered for download.
Different degrees of involvement really meant that not everyone really was/is created equal, not in the microcosm that is skinning's Wincustomize, so User Levels were set up.
Citizen, Apprentice, Master Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master.

There are others, eg. Exiled, Visitor, Wizop, and Admin, however they are more to do with the 'running' of the site.

Currently there are around 3.8 Million  people who have registered with Stardock/Wincustomize and [as was always intended/expected] the vast majority are 'Citizens'.

So.  How does one get beyond that basic User Level?

Involvement.  [yep, simple as that].

Many [most] people will see and use the site as a resource, downloading content to improve/alter the appearance of their systems.....

....but others will get the itch to maybe look under the hood and find out how to do it all themselves.  They may hop onto the forum/s with a query....and just never leave.
In the end their nick becomes commonly noticed [hopefully in a good way] and the site Admins/Wizops will propose them for advancement. Once this process has repeated itself a few times a User can find himself promoted to 'Master'.

What is naturally expected from this process is that each subsequent level achieved is reflected by a similarly elevated attitude/devotion towards Wincustomize and its Community, so much so that fairly recently [in the site's history] it was considered only appropriate that the Dedication of the Masters towards the site be rewarded with an opportunity to benefit commercially via the Master Skin sales.
By and large this whole process has been shown to be quite successful.  There is almost never a 'reversal' of promotion [such would be an indication of poor judgement on our part].

So, what does all this mean to the casual/new User?

When someone first comes to the site he/she may find "Journeyman Jones" to be a quaint/odd affectation.... but will soon be aware that these senior levels is where one is likely to get the 'best' guidance within the skinning [and Community] environment, as it's not about User ID Numbers [being low] but more about User Ranking [a truer reflection of Community/site
 involvement/interaction].

Yes, old/founding site members [UserIDs in the teens] may still be at Citizen level....and 'new' members with UserIDs in the three-millions may be Masters already, as it is all about what you do, not about how long you have done it.

So...."How do I get promoted?  I want to sell my skins one day"

Well...asking won't help, as won't becoming an Admin/Wizop groupie....

All you need to do is show a committment to skinning, and a respect and appreciation for all your fellow skinners/enthusiasts/users....
113 Reply 30 Referrals
First Previous Page 4 of 6 Next Last
ZubaZ
Reply #61 Thursday, October 22, 2009 1:37 PM

I took you on as my padawan and look what happened...!
It was the pants.  They took me to the other side.


Mirsguy
Reply #62 Thursday, October 22, 2009 1:38 PM

I took you on as my padawan and look what happened...!

Now, now; Obi Wan produced the Dark Lord of the Sith, you know...


I.R. Brainiac
Reply #63 Thursday, October 22, 2009 1:47 PM

thanks Tom, for your contributions to not only our community....but all areas of skinning....what of wealth of knowledge and experience you must have gathered over this time...

I too have benefitted from Tom's hard work in the skinning world...he recieved nothing and barely got thanked for it.

Tom you may not be master here but you are at the very least,Master of your own destiny...thanks for your help.

 

First master I ran across was Treetog...I saw the sputnik skins and was instantly hooked on skinning.


NightTrainthedark
Reply #64 Thursday, October 22, 2009 4:38 PM

Tom is a class act! He gives way WAY more than he takes.


k10w3
Reply #65 Thursday, October 22, 2009 5:14 PM

OMG! Night Train!  YOU'RE BACK!  It's a banner day!!!  Yay! 


Vampothika
Reply #66 Thursday, October 22, 2009 5:19 PM

omg. your right, its him!! hello nt!


DrJBHL
Reply #67 Thursday, October 22, 2009 5:28 PM

NT is absolutely correct. Tom's a quiet giver. I.R. is right also. You've got a lot of folks who really care about you, Tom, and in the final analysis, that's what counts.


vStyler
Reply #68 Thursday, October 22, 2009 5:29 PM

Tom is a class act! He gives way WAY more than he takes.

 

Amen


LightStar
Reply #69 Thursday, October 22, 2009 9:30 PM

Very kind of all of you, thanks, I needed that. 


HG_Eliminator
Reply #70 Thursday, October 22, 2009 10:50 PM

Well written Jafo. ahh them were the days...pumpin out scripts and editing RC files. ..then there was the wonderful Support emails.."""OMG WTH??? I crashed the shell and i must reinstall windows?  Stupid LiteStep!!!!  you guys broke  my PC!! Help me fix it!!!! grr"""  ... rofl.. ahh the memories. hehe.

 

 

 

 


Mirsguy
Reply #71 Thursday, October 22, 2009 11:26 PM

ahh the memories.

...ahh, the things I missed!


Jafo
Reply #72 Thursday, October 22, 2009 11:40 PM

...ahh, the things I missed!

Hopefully....[before my memory deserts me] I will get together with a few others and pen a 'History of Skinning' sometime.  It will likely be enlightening....and since many skinners are still around from way back the names won't all be alien/obscure...


zakai1369
Reply #73 Friday, October 23, 2009 12:09 AM

Hopefully....[before my memory deserts me] I will get together with a few others and pen a 'History of Skinning' sometime. It will likely be enlightening....and since many skinners are still around from way back the names won't all be alien/obscure...

 

 

I bet a series of articles starting with that one and followed by articles written by the Master skinners talking about what got them into skinning and some of their experiences with not only the skinning itself but also the community would be considered by many around here to be an interesting read and possibly an encouragement to others to continue with/get into skinning


HG_Eliminator
Reply #74 Friday, October 23, 2009 12:27 AM

Master skinners talking about what got them into skinning

 

I came for the Pizza... still watin too...


Mirsguy
Reply #75 Friday, October 23, 2009 1:25 AM

...ahh, the things I missed!

Hopefully....[before my memory deserts me] I will get together with a few others and pen a 'History of Skinning' sometime. It will likely be enlightening....and since many skinners are still around from way back the names won't all be alien/obscure...

Just like, when you enter photography in the digital age, you tend to forget that cameras ever used film.

I think it's always important (or at least interesting) to know one's roots. That would be an interesting read indeed.


adni18
Reply #76 Friday, October 23, 2009 1:58 AM

To refresh your memory the first 3 Masters were Mormegil, Dangeruss and me.

treetog and mikeb were moderators then.

And I am stil active, not as much as before, but active

Have a good one!


angus1949
Reply #77 Monday, October 26, 2009 1:24 PM

Great thread Paul.  Though we already have a thread with the basic structure for promotions.  This thread adds a lot of information about how decisions are made for all promotions, not just Masters.  Thanks.

https://forums.wincustomize.com/312082


ZubaZ
Reply #78 Monday, October 26, 2009 2:23 PM

I bet a series of articles starting with that one and followed by articles written by the Master skinners talking about what got them into skinning and some of their experiences with not only the skinning itself but also the community would be considered by many around here to be an interesting read and possibly an encouragement to others to continue with/get into skinning
Before I got busy with other projects I started an "Ask a Master" series.  *I* thought it was interesting.  If anyone else wants to take it on feel free. (Sorry I didn't get more done.  )

Ask a Master: The SK Originals' Edition

Ask a Master: RomanDA Speaks Out

Ask a Master series: Meet the Masters


Xiandi
Reply #79 Monday, October 26, 2009 2:29 PM

*I* thought it was interesting
I did too.


zakai1369
Reply #80 Monday, October 26, 2009 2:37 PM

Ah see that.. I had missed those. That or I'm getting senile. Either way I'll take a look at them.


Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

  • Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums and downloading skins.
  • Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
  • Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
  • It's simple, and FREE!
Login
First Previous Page 4 of 6 Next Last

Home | About | Privacy | Upload Guidelines | Terms of Service | Help
Copyright © Stardock Corporation. All Rights Reserved.


web-wc01