Master Skin prices skyrocket!
Wednesday, January 14, 2015 by PixelPunk | Discussion: WindowBlinds
Why on earth are master skin prices going up? The other day the were mismarked at $20. that is SCARY!
Funny thing when a skin for a Stardock Product costs as much as or more than the Stardock product itself. That is bad news for the community and will diminish the Windowblinds product brand and value.
Looked at it again and at $9.99 it is still high. Any master skin should be priced the same price as a song on itunes... $.99 . Same amount of work as a song and you would get a LOT more sales. Master skinners are selling a consumable here for another purchased product. Is it better to have 2 sales at $5 or $10 or $20 each, or 100 sales at $.99 each.
Kind of miss the community that created windowblinds and stardock when everyone did this for the better of the community?
 |
|
Page 6 of 6 | |
|
|---|
Reply #103 Sunday, March 1, 2015 8:17 PM
If by John you are referring to vStyler, as of right now your statement is true, you will most likely never see another WB from him again, sad to say
LightStar what did i miss ,how come?
John is designing audio software interfaces now for several companies around the world and getting paid for it (but not nearly enough for his high quality of work IMO). All his time is taken up with this now and probably will be for many years to come as his work is in really high demand.
Also, he is tired of the design restrictions imposed by Windows itself and Windowblinds/SkinStudio, and the software bugs, etc. that no one ever fixes. 
Reply #104 Sunday, March 1, 2015 8:18 PM
Also, he is tired of the design restrictions imposed by Windows itself and Windowblinds/SkinStudio, and the software bugs, etc. that no one ever fixes.
Reply #106 Sunday, March 1, 2015 9:07 PM
The one and only tuff lesson in life is that everyone moves on.......eventually. 
Reply #107 Sunday, March 1, 2015 9:21 PM
yea, i had a feeling he quit...... he was definetly my favorite skinner.. i think i have bought every skin he ever made lol.. sucks sucks sucks
Reply #108 Sunday, March 1, 2015 10:17 PM
Not an accurate assessment unless you make it from the time of promotion to master, going forward.
Yeah... all those 'free' skins are supposed to be in the nature of shared community uploads from hobbyists learning the skinning craft and expanding their creativity and having fun with the community.... sadly, making it to master these days, isn't necessarily seen as becoming a responsible elder of the community with impeccable behaviour and community spirit... it seems all about the $$... I know it's been very handy for masters to be able to sell their work and we have benefited from some superb skinning from our masters over the years and I have many of their skins.. but when the almighty dollar becomes the main motivation from the skinner, and/or stardock, to reach master ... it really lessens the overall status... and cheapens the tradition...
first masterskins priced at $20 says it all.... skinner's prerogative? yes... judgement? dubious... 
especially after Stardock generously altered the % arrangements to benefit skinners recently...
John is designing audio software interfaces now for several companies around the world and getting paid for it (but not nearly enough for his high quality of work IMO).
see some here Psychosis81.... link... have a scroll through... and here... link... 
and no... you could never pay v by the hour for his work.... he is too much the perfectionist.... each pixel has to be...perfection... and tried a zillion different ways... 
but that being said, the audio companies are getting a good deal for the quality they are being provided with... it knocks their socks off, the creativity and quality...
yea, i had a feeling he quit...... he was definetly my favorite skinner.. i think i have bought every skin he ever made lol.. sucks sucks sucks
never say never... 
if/when he ever has some downtime... I'll keep prodding for another, I assure you... 
but it has been fabulous to have his skins updated to continue using... they'll never date.... classics...
Reply #109 Sunday, March 1, 2015 11:08 PM
Hope you are right Syd love his work, and he may not be over here now but he was born close to were I am now days. most likely in the same hospital I spent a month in when I was ill couple years back.
Reply #110 Monday, March 2, 2015 1:01 AM
Maybe if the price of an entire suite of skins it to much, the Master could offer just the WB Skin as a separate purchase and then the whole lot for another. Seems that may make everyone happy. I am absolutely not against a skinner charging for their work if they have attained the rank of master. But in my case the extra skins being offered in the suites are for programs i don't have installed. Sysmetrix, Xion etc etc. I only have Windowblinds and iconpackager installed so i don't really need the other skins. That's my choice and totally not the fault of the creator. I would how ever like the opportunity to just purchase the WB Skin without the other stuff. Just Sayin'
Reply #111 Monday, March 2, 2015 1:54 AM
Hope you are right Syd love his work, and he may not be over here now but he was born close to were I am now days. most likely in the same hospital I spent a month in when I was ill couple years back.
yep... he's a limey.... a Wiggan supporter...
Reply #112 Monday, March 2, 2015 10:43 AM
Maybe if the price of an entire suite of skins it to much, the Master could offer just the WB Skin as a separate purchase and then the whole lot for another. Seems that may make everyone happy. I am absolutely not against a skinner charging for their work if they have attained the rank of master. But in my case the extra skins being offered in the suites are for programs i don't have installed. Sysmetrix, Xion etc etc. I only have Windowblinds and iconpackager installed so i don't really need the other skins. That's my choice and totally not the fault of the creator. I would how ever like the opportunity to just purchase the WB Skin without the other stuff. Just Sayin'
Personally, I think WinCustomize should make a rule against the bundling for that very reason. Why would I want to pay extra for stuff I can't/don't use? It makes absolutely no sense except to put more money in the skinner's pocket. It doesn't help the buyer at all.
Reply #113 Monday, March 2, 2015 9:00 PM
I would never pay more than a few dollars for a windowblinds skin, and haven't seen any "suites" worth paying for in a long time.
Reply #114 Monday, March 2, 2015 11:12 PM
Hope you are right Syd love his work, and he may not be over here now but he was born close to were I am now days. most likely in the same hospital I spent a month in when I was ill couple years back.
yep... he's a limey.... a Wiggan supporter...
Wiggan??? Syd you mean Wigan..........I knew there must be someone out there that supports Wigan. Don't they call them the lactics???..........
Reply #115 Tuesday, March 3, 2015 5:10 AM
Football .. Rugby.. or both ?
Football team are the latics
Reply #117 Monday, April 20, 2015 4:44 PM
Having spent countless hours on skins a few years ago when they were far easier to create, I have a real appreciation for the effort put in to a high quality skin that gets all the details right. There were times when it took a few days or a week to fix a single rogue pixel that just didn't look right, or to create an image that when applied gave the visual perception I was looking for. I did it for the challenge and fun of it and uploaded them for free use, but that was my choice. Didn't have to share them, but wanted to. Couldn't charge for them because I wasn't a Master. I strived for the exquisite beauty and detailed perfection of an essorant or MikeB (among many others, even Jafo in his day), a fool's errand if there ever was one.
The complexity of skinning for Vista, 7 & 8 increased dramatically, to the point that I couldn't devote the time necessary to do a skin justice and my nascent skinning career came to a halt. The skinners who have created and shared a body of work qualifying them for Master designation have earned the privilege of charging whatever they like for their original art work. They'll figure out what pricing works or their skins won't sell. They are under no obligation to put skins up at all and those of us who enjoy creating and using skins should be grateful they do.
Which is why I found this thread, already at 3 pages, a bit sad.
And to reference PixelPunk's OP, skinning was never about the 'betterment of the community'. It was about doing something personally enjoyable and rewarding and sharing it with the community. 'Betterment', if it occurred, was a fortunate byproduct. That some are now able to be compensated for their contributions to that community is something to be celebrated.
Well said .....well said ...and at 5 pages is really really sad ....
Reply #118 Monday, April 20, 2015 6:07 PM
I haven't read through this whole thread but enough to get the gist. How many masters are there here selling skins? Not many. Is it wrong for them to want a fair price for the time they spend on their work? Not Hardly. Stardock gets 30 % we get 10% off as members. That doesn't leave much for the artist. Its this simple, if you cant afford it don't buy it. Laws of the market place will level things out. It doesn't do much good to complain and bitch about it. I'm not worth a dam as a artist so I like being able to support those here who are. If I like it I buy it. If I don't or it costs to much I don't.
I would like to voice my support for all the masters by saying great job and please keep it up.
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!
|
|
Page 6 of 6 | |
|
|---|
Reply #101 Sunday, March 1, 2015 6:49 PM
John, so is it safe to say, that we shall never see another blind from you again?
If by John you are referring to vStyler, as of right now your statement is true, you will most likely never see another WB from him again, sad to say.