I'll give you a different perspective. You say internet buddies. Fine. A buddy is just another way of saying friend. In fact, my POV, a buddy is a bit more intimate. A buddy you pal around with and we do ... pal around, here on the WC. As I'm typing this I'm thinking of ways to put words that, even taken out of context, cannot be misconstrued as any but what they are, say and mean. True ... the comment was ill-conceived and true, should not have been posted. That said think on this. Junior Crooks ...... your work, whether or not you think so, is above par and I do not say this lightly. There is a knack that someone 'must' have in order to capture the essence of a piece, your gauges for the cars for example. Had you not been in possession of this 'knack' per se, I doubt they would've gotten past moderation.

     Now listen up. The WC is a home away from home to some of us, especially me. Out here in the real world I can count my friends on two fingers, most are only there if you have what they want, if not its see ya later dude. Here there are dozens who not only want what you create but encourage you to take that one step further and do more. Philly0381 did it for me when he said quote ... then you'd better get to it ... unquote, when I hinted at getting into doing Sysmetrix. Master RnD said more or less the same thing when he said ... we need more DX builders and I'm looking into that too. Suffice to say that, in light of past comments, take that one by DC and chuck it! Put it where it belongs out in limbo someplace and forget about it.

     No one can force you to come back, that's something you must want to do. But keep in mind that, more than your work, your presence here with all of us makes you one of us, a buddy and that's more than just a friend because we share something 'intimate' ... a love of art, design and the pleasure it gives and brings us that mere friends can only dream about. That said .................

HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP! Vamps is gonna kick mine backside with smx's ... HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP!!!

When one removes his Gallery, it's taken by Admin as the sign he won't be back. Hence many folks who decide to 'leave' just leave their Gallery alone and give themselves a 'vacation' from something which has (for one reason or another) become a burden (or additional burden) until it, and/or the other things settle out. 

Some people who are cordial with each other and work together consider that friendship. Others classify that as an acquaintance and have a different definition of 'friend'. You would seem to be in the latter group.

Is your art of such incredible quality or quantity that it's absence would be detrimental to WC? Yes and no... Because those aren't the only considerations. They are only pixels.

You. You and your presence together with your contributions in screenshot threads, skinning Galleries, interactions with other members are entirely another matter. The more important? Your presence. So is everyone's. There are no 'extra' people.

WC is a Community of people. Like a body: Can you live without one part or another? Yes (with some exceptions). But do you want to? No. Certainly not.

I say WC wouldn't be exactly the same place without you. Whether you term them acquaintances, buddies or friends: They, would miss you, JC. That would be hurtful.

BS JC, but I'm not going to stroke you and besides whom are you actually skinning for.

If you're going to go, you'll go. I have appreciated your help and respect your efforts and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to say so.

good luck with whatever you decide.

I hope he is(/was) skinning for himself, otherwise it's for the wrong reasons.

Skinning for others is more or less like standing up in a crowded room and screaming out loud, simple for the sake of getting attention.

Holy crap, Uvah said something clearly, concisely and so well written and that I agree with almost 100%. Who'da thunk it? I agree with most of what he said with this addition. 

Most of the members here go beyond being friends. I enjoy spending my time with, have more in common with, share more of my life with you folks here at WinCustomize than I do with my own family. (Good folks, my family, but boring)

When one of us is sick, we all hurt. When one of us passes, we all mourn. When one of us is happy, we all celebrate.

When one of us goes, a part of all of us goes. A unique, special, one-of-a-kind part. JuniorCrooks, you are one of those parts.

"Buddies"?

My wife and I will be forever grateful for all the friendship we've been shown by the members here. We may never meet in person but there is a place in our hearts where you will always be.

That goes beyond "internet buddies" in my book.

I read that one...

Sorry but I finally have to interject my 2c on this subject, it's been bugging me for ages.

I think it's nonsense to think that everyone should only skin for themselves, they should skin for whatever reason they want to, this mantra of always coming back to skin for yourself is pure BS to me.

Please don't tell me that , if it is not 'just for myself' that my reasons are wrong. My reasons, our reasons are ours, and really none of anyone elses business, nor should they be judged so.

Sometimes I skin for myself, sometimes I skin because someone has requested something, sometimes I skin out of boredom, sometimes I skin because i have to, sometimes I skin because I like seeing the look on peoples faces \ words, sometimes I skin because I can't afford not to, sometimes I skin for therapy, sometimes I skin because someone else needs me to, sometimes I skin for all of the above at the same time , and sometimes for none at all. At the root of it all, Pride in accomplishment, and the enjoyment of others is the root of why I do almost everything I do, not just skinning.

I think its foolish to think that the majority of skinners, musicians, artists, do so, only for themselves.

People like other people appreciating their efforts, they like other folks taking notice, dropping their jaws, etc etc... to suggest otherwise goes against what we all know about human nature.

If your say you only skin for yourself, I say, don't bother sharing it, or at least admit u want people to look at what u have done and render their thoughts on it.

John...I think you miss the point.

You skin for yourself doesn't mean you are the only intended recipient of the skin.

You skin for yourself means you are not at others' beck-and-call .... a slave to THEIR wants.

Whatever your 'motivation'...it's YOURS, not theirs....

Damn right

..of course this veers off track a bit when one starts asking people to open their wallets.

Anyhoo, just felt like getting that out, no offense to anyone intended... naturally

I claim the fifth ...... I claim temporary sanity ...... I claim to sometimes know a thing or three.

ah, there is a big difference between skinning for fun and skinning for profit.

but I will agree with you that part of the fun is to share the finished product with others. to see the number of downloads and have a venue to express one's self. and being retired, it's a great hobby and helps to take up the slack time.

Wrong. I think your skins are pretty awesome. I don't use SMX, but I like your skins well enough, and you well enough that it was my plan to spotlight you next,(whenever I got back to that...lol    ).  There are a few people here that knew that, I just hadn't gotten to it.  Not that my spotlighting you would have made your year...lol.

Anyway, I know there are many here that enjoy your skins, but it was your call and I don't hold it against you for taking them down. I know that if I ever leave, no matter the reason, what I have already shared with all my friends here, will remain shared.

Now I will address the friends thing and then I'll shut up.

You may have no true friends here, but I can tell you I do. There are folks here I talk to everyday on Skype and Yahoo. There are people here that stay on my second monitor all day long. I do voice calls, and video calls with several people from WC regularly. I have spoken to Doc, Giz, Xiandi and her husband, DaveBax, Yrag, Wiz, Harley, on the phone several times. Most of these calls were not about skinning. I have met Wiz in person.....nightmares still haunt me....

I was the one to call Xiandi at work to tell her she made master. I was so happy for her and excited that I couldn't wait.

There was a bad time in my life, (still not completely gone) when I asked for the thoughts and prayers of my friends here and their response was of great consolation and hope for me. That is as real as it gets IMHO.

To me, these people are much more than strangers on the other side of the glass.

That said, Ken, do what you want, do it for your reasons, but know that some of us will still consider ourselves as your friend.

It's your choice if you decide to stay away, JC, but know this: You will be missed ... not just for your skinning talents, but for what you add to this completely dysfunctional family we have here on WC. Every family has issues, this one more so, because there are so many of us in the mix. Family members say things that are not always the best thing to say, hurt each other, fight, make up, and do it all over again. Any family or community has this no matter where you go.

I simply cannot imagine what my life would be like without all the people I have 'met' here .. and with the exception of my brother who brought me here in the first place, I have not met a single one of them face to face.

Let me try to explain that one, JC. No, you are not ruining anyone's life, but you are *taking back* something which you created and previously shared with the world. Those skins you did are unique. When you remove them you are not doing anything bad per se (you created them, you have the right to remove them at any time) but you are preventing countless other people from enjoying them in the future. Personally, I think that is a total waste of creative energy, and I'm sad when something like that happens.

Now, in terms of Sysmetrix, the application itself, you are indeed hurting it, by removing choice. Then again, Nick hasn't been paying much attention to it either, but the proof that he made an excellent application is that many people *still use it* after all this time.

For someone who has 'no friends' here, as you claim, you sure had a lot of responses in this thread, all of them supportive of you. If they didn't care about you, one way or another, then this would have been a very short thread indeed, isn't it?

One thing I learned in life is that friendship is not black and white. It's made of many tones of gray. Furthermore, friendships are not static, they grow (or shrink) over time - so do not discard so easily the possibility of one day having a beer and pouring your heart out to one or more of the regulars here. Who knows?

They are much more than 'only skins', and it saddens me you can't see that. Each of those skins you created has a bit of *you* in them.

But this isn't really about skins. It's about you undoing what you did and getting your ass back in here. You already recognized that you might have jumped the gun (you did, and you know it, lol). Personally, and I'm sure all your friends here will agree, I think the better man is not the one who makes a decision and then sticks to it no matter what, out of pride and fear of losing face, but the one who is humble enough to backtrack when he recognizes he made a mistake. Unlike the former, the latter takes some real strength.

So, up to you now.

My...3 cents

-"Friends" or "Buddies" on WC ??  -Somwhere in all this is the "Happening" between me and a certain other skinner here on the place2b.

Just thought that that is a good reference to the many different ways of how we choose to interact with one or the other here on the site.... Ofcourse some are or will be more than just shallow internet-aquaintances.  

Nice to see you around, JC

Yarr matey!!  Good to see yore scurvy arse back in our midst!!!     

 I can breathe now. Vamps is a tough Kiitty.

All that aside I'm glad you're back JC Welcome home

I see you changed your name back...good, that means you're back. Happy to see it.

Welcome back JC!