Anyone being paid for the Skins.
Sunday, June 23, 2002 by nethell9 | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
I'm starting to see a very unrealist deal going on with WinCusostmize. I've been download some of the skins and all of a sudden I can not longer download anything becuase I've reach a limit over the past few years. My question is. Are being payed for you skins by wincustomize.com? If you are not then you should be asking yourself that question, I should be payed for my skins. As with fileplanet and download.com they has set up an play by which those that wish to download from their site must either pay or basically never recieve the file. I know a great many people that create files and post it to those site for other to enjoy. Question: Are they reciving rolaities from the sells that are be generated from those down loads? I think not. I think those that post a great deal of skins to this site should request to have check sent to each month. Its just a trend I see. 
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UBoB
Reply #2 Sunday, June 23, 2002 5:57 PM
Reply #2 Sunday, June 23, 2002 5:57 PM
That is an excellent idea paxx. So many sites exist where people just take and take and never give. It's nice that here you are required to give back a little in return for all that you take. 
Fortunately, I have done #'s 1, 2, 3 and 4 so I feel pretty good.
Fortunately, I have done #'s 1, 2, 3 and 4 so I feel pretty good.
bmetelsky
Reply #3 Sunday, June 23, 2002 8:59 PM
Reply #3 Sunday, June 23, 2002 8:59 PM
Just like the folks in AA say "You have to give it away to keep it".
You really don't need to buy anything if you can't afford it or just don't want to. You do need to contribute in some way, as mentioned above, to benefit from unlimited downloads. Hang out on the forums and contribute by participating in those topics that interest you or areas where people may have questions that you can answer. Hope that helps.
You really don't need to buy anything if you can't afford it or just don't want to. You do need to contribute in some way, as mentioned above, to benefit from unlimited downloads. Hang out on the forums and contribute by participating in those topics that interest you or areas where people may have questions that you can answer. Hope that helps.
kith
Reply #4 Sunday, June 23, 2002 9:11 PM
Reply #4 Sunday, June 23, 2002 9:11 PM
Hey Nethell9, how about a thank you to WC / Stardock for the 100 megs you have sucked so far. Bandwidth don't grow on trees!
Jafo
Reply #5 Sunday, June 23, 2002 11:21 PM
Reply #5 Sunday, June 23, 2002 11:21 PM
Good heavens no, Bill...that'd be 'polite' or something.....can't have that....
nethell9
Reply #6 Monday, June 24, 2002 3:11 AM
Reply #6 Monday, June 24, 2002 3:11 AM
my my I've seem to be in the mist of a bunch of losers, I spend most of networking experience setting up ftp server so people of a creative nature would have a place to store their file so other could download an enjoy. I think this what you would call giving back. $1,ooo.00 dollar worth of equipment, line and technology is what I've pay. So for you employee or ceo of wincustomize can go stuff yourselves. Greedy bastards. 
c242
Reply #7 Monday, June 24, 2002 3:14 AM
Reply #7 Monday, June 24, 2002 3:14 AM
@JAFO2 : You are on a good way from "citizen" to "exile".
c242
Reply #10 Monday, June 24, 2002 6:42 AM
Reply #10 Monday, June 24, 2002 6:42 AM
Just useless to discuss here. What did You expect as a reaction to Your rude self-introduction here ? Friendly answers ?
KingPing
Reply #11 Monday, June 24, 2002 6:42 AM
Reply #11 Monday, June 24, 2002 6:42 AM
JAFO2, big up ya self! Seeing as u and paxx have made the only sugesstions that seem to have had half a moments thought put into them, u apper to have looked into both sides of the argument and tryed to find some rational solution to the affore mentioned problem, apart from starting a big protest that can't possibly be won or used to make a difference! So i sugest that the rest of ou quite your nancy whining and realise that your the ones that joined this site free of will, knowing that at no place did it say it was going to pay your for your work, and accept the fact that your going to just have to deal with it or go somewhere else.
MikeB314
Reply #12 Monday, June 24, 2002 7:07 AM
Reply #12 Monday, June 24, 2002 7:07 AM
JAFO2, if that is your real name , I don't know what hole you crawled out of, but if you had been reading these boards a month ago, you would have seen much discussion of the subscription topic, and you would know that this site is more strict than any regarding use of copyrighted material. I suspect that the Xbox WindowBlinds skin you refer to WAS authorized, or it would not be here (at least not with the logo on it). Furthermore, if you are referring to the Windows Media Player skin, then I know for a fact that it was permitted, if not commissioned by Microsoft. I can assure you that any skin, theme, or wallpaper here that infringes on a copyright is removed. Most of them don't make it on the site at all, but occassionally, one slips through the cracks. If you see such a thing, point it out and it will be taken care of.
As for subscriptions, they do not amount to paying for skins. Skins are free, bandwidth is not. Anyone with a block of 100 IPs must have some experience with that. A subscription comes with many benefits, but is not a requirment. The majority of these skins are available on other skins sites as well, which also have subscriptions. I suggest that you go there and enjoy the pop-up ads. However, they could shut their doors anytime, so what would you do then?
When you buy WindowBlinds, for example (not that I would expect you to pay for anything), you buy a software product. You are not buying a lifetime worth of free skins. It is up to people like me and many others here to make them for you. You are more than welcome to make your own, of course, but I suspect you do not have the patience.
Stardock provides this site as a guarentee that there will be skins for the products that you buy from them. It's a lot easier than scouring Google for WindowBlinds Skins. You're likely to sift through a lot of home improvment and dermotology sites and never even find my little personal site with skins on it.
As for your comment that it "is no brainer bad idea to force people to register products", what are you saying? Isn't this what software companies are in business for?
Ok, you've irritated me on so many different levels, I have lost my train of thought. I'm not sure if I've addresses all of your accusations, but I've done my best. I'm sure an administrator will come along and elaborate a bit more.
Oh, and nethell9, a greedy bastard is someone who trades in warez and steals software from companies who spend a lot of money developnig it. So, what kind of files do yor FTP servers contain?
, I don't know what hole you crawled out of, but if you had been reading these boards a month ago, you would have seen much discussion of the subscription topic, and you would know that this site is more strict than any regarding use of copyrighted material. I suspect that the Xbox WindowBlinds skin you refer to WAS authorized, or it would not be here (at least not with the logo on it). Furthermore, if you are referring to the Windows Media Player skin, then I know for a fact that it was permitted, if not commissioned by Microsoft. I can assure you that any skin, theme, or wallpaper here that infringes on a copyright is removed. Most of them don't make it on the site at all, but occassionally, one slips through the cracks. If you see such a thing, point it out and it will be taken care of.As for subscriptions, they do not amount to paying for skins. Skins are free, bandwidth is not. Anyone with a block of 100 IPs must have some experience with that. A subscription comes with many benefits, but is not a requirment. The majority of these skins are available on other skins sites as well, which also have subscriptions. I suggest that you go there and enjoy the pop-up ads. However, they could shut their doors anytime, so what would you do then?
When you buy WindowBlinds, for example (not that I would expect you to pay for anything), you buy a software product. You are not buying a lifetime worth of free skins. It is up to people like me and many others here to make them for you. You are more than welcome to make your own, of course, but I suspect you do not have the patience.
Stardock provides this site as a guarentee that there will be skins for the products that you buy from them. It's a lot easier than scouring Google for WindowBlinds Skins. You're likely to sift through a lot of home improvment and dermotology sites and never even find my little personal site with skins on it.
As for your comment that it "is no brainer bad idea to force people to register products", what are you saying? Isn't this what software companies are in business for?
Ok, you've irritated me on so many different levels, I have lost my train of thought. I'm not sure if I've addresses all of your accusations, but I've done my best. I'm sure an administrator will come along and elaborate a bit more.
Oh, and nethell9, a greedy bastard is someone who trades in warez and steals software from companies who spend a lot of money developnig it. So, what kind of files do yor FTP servers contain?
BoXXi
Reply #13 Monday, June 24, 2002 7:19 AM
Reply #13 Monday, June 24, 2002 7:19 AM
Nothing to elaborate on Mike, you said it beautifully!
Take my advice and just ignore these people, they tend to slither away as they can't cope with the vast amount of intelligent people who frequent this site, or they just resort to foul language (a sure sign of the uneducated) and get booted anyway.
Have a good day.
Take my advice and just ignore these people, they tend to slither away as they can't cope with the vast amount of intelligent people who frequent this site, or they just resort to foul language (a sure sign of the uneducated) and get booted anyway.
Have a good day.
MikeB314
Reply #14 Monday, June 24, 2002 7:42 AM
Reply #14 Monday, June 24, 2002 7:42 AM
Thanks, Boxxi, I agree. I shouldn't read these threads first thing in the morning.
Jafo
Reply #15 Monday, June 24, 2002 7:57 AM
Reply #15 Monday, June 24, 2002 7:57 AM
JAFO2 was exiled from the other thread, before I got to this one....can I exile him twice .....just for good measure?...
Reason....his nick is obviously intentionally too close to mine, and would invite confusion.
Reason....his nick is obviously intentionally too close to mine, and would invite confusion.
messybuu
Reply #16 Monday, June 24, 2002 9:35 AM
Reply #16 Monday, June 24, 2002 9:35 AM
Skinners who feel that their skins are being sold by the subscription method can easily delete their skins. Therefore, they're not being forced to "sell their skins." Allowing their skins to remain on the site shows that they do not mind the site supporting itself with subscriptions. After all, not every site can maintain itself with thousand of pornographic popups.
KarmaGirl
Reply #17 Monday, June 24, 2002 9:50 AM
Reply #17 Monday, June 24, 2002 9:50 AM
The $19.95 price covers bandwidth and SkinBrowser. You can download a certain amount for free, but after you have used a certain amount of bandwidth, then you have to pay for it.
Besides, if you really like a site, it $19.95/ year a lot of money? (I have noticed quite a few sites asking for "donations" or forcing a subscription to download *anything*). What is that per day? like $.06? less than $.50 per week. You can't even buy a cup of coffee for that. I could save that $.50 per week for 8 weeks and buy a Mocha Cream with it
Besides, if you really like a site, it $19.95/ year a lot of money? (I have noticed quite a few sites asking for "donations" or forcing a subscription to download *anything*). What is that per day? like $.06? less than $.50 per week. You can't even buy a cup of coffee for that. I could save that $.50 per week for 8 weeks and buy a Mocha Cream with it
MadIce
Reply #18 Monday, June 24, 2002 9:57 AM
Reply #18 Monday, June 24, 2002 9:57 AM
The amount of money you spend on Coffee in a day will be enough to pay for the bandwidth for a whole month!
Chris
Reply #20 Monday, June 24, 2002 10:29 AM
Reply #20 Monday, June 24, 2002 10:29 AM
Why is it that it enivitably comes down to "you greedy bastards"?
Where do you think the money comes from to host such a site?
This then always leads to "Well, I've set up servers before and offer free unlimited free access to such and such".
But there's a large difference in cost between a typical mom and pop ftp/web server site and one that gets so many hits and downlaods as Wincutomize and other similar large sites. This exacorbated by the fact that Wincustomize is used primarly for downloading large files rather than just serving up webpages. As Mike said, bandwith is not free. How many other sites have, over the years you seen go disappear or barely hang on from a month to month or quarter to quarter basis as they constantly have to scrounge for donations, banner adds, or the cheapest colocation plan they can finance that particular quarter.
It has to be paid somehow. The argument then always swings to "Well Stardock should pay for it all". Well, yes, Stardock could pay for it all. However, that ultimately meens a smaller pool of resources from which they can operate Wincutomize. This means they'd have to consider scaling Wincustomize back into a true Stardock "marketing" website. No Winamp, no LiteSTEP, no NextSTART. Scaled back community features if any.
If Stardock were to just have a site for their products, they would do the bare minimum content and community-wise regarding such a site, and rightfully so. Just a web page with links to WindowBlind skins, which if many of you recall, was what Stardock's previous download site was. It was probably cheaper. And it got the job done. They could always say screw it and return to that type of model, but it would be a damn shame.
Sorry, I had to vent. This always gets my tightie whities in a bunch.
Where do you think the money comes from to host such a site?
This then always leads to "Well, I've set up servers before and offer free unlimited free access to such and such".
But there's a large difference in cost between a typical mom and pop ftp/web server site and one that gets so many hits and downlaods as Wincutomize and other similar large sites. This exacorbated by the fact that Wincustomize is used primarly for downloading large files rather than just serving up webpages. As Mike said, bandwith is not free. How many other sites have, over the years you seen go disappear or barely hang on from a month to month or quarter to quarter basis as they constantly have to scrounge for donations, banner adds, or the cheapest colocation plan they can finance that particular quarter.
It has to be paid somehow. The argument then always swings to "Well Stardock should pay for it all". Well, yes, Stardock could pay for it all. However, that ultimately meens a smaller pool of resources from which they can operate Wincutomize. This means they'd have to consider scaling Wincustomize back into a true Stardock "marketing" website. No Winamp, no LiteSTEP, no NextSTART. Scaled back community features if any.
If Stardock were to just have a site for their products, they would do the bare minimum content and community-wise regarding such a site, and rightfully so. Just a web page with links to WindowBlind skins, which if many of you recall, was what Stardock's previous download site was. It was probably cheaper. And it got the job done. They could always say screw it and return to that type of model, but it would be a damn shame.
Sorry, I had to vent. This always gets my tightie whities in a bunch.
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Reply #1 Sunday, June 23, 2002 4:55 PM
Many ways to contribute:
1- the easiest: pay the subcription
2- buy a Stardock product
3- make some skins of your own and upload them here
4- interact on the site, help newbies, give feedback.
The #3 and 4 will give you the apprentice class, which will give you unlimited download.
In other words, all we asking, is some contribution back.
No, skinners won't get paid any money. The only pay skinners ask for is feedback and comments. Unfortunately, there are people who download over 100 megs, but no skinners nor anybody ever hear any feedback from them.