This was a very interesting thread. It got away, a few times, but stayed pretty much on topic. That's good.
Hopefully, everyone's a little calmer and has thought about it for awhile.
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Well, since I started this thread, I might as well finish it and update everyone on a few things that were resolved.
First off, let me say that I didn't intentionally try to alienate Wincustomize. Being a Master, in the community, is an honor
and I entend to respect that honor.
I recieved several e-mails from Stardock and will share just a few tidbits that will better explain things and hopefully help others,
in the future.
Before I get into the meat of this, let me make one thing perfectly clear. In the e-mails I recieved, not one single time
were they upset that I did it. Others had done it in the past and now, so I didn't see any harm (at the time).
They did suggest, rather nicely I might add, * "We would prefer to see our masters post
skins for sale through our system. However, we know that isn't necessarily reasonable in all cases" *.
Now, does this mean that every premium skin I create I have to upload here? Of course not. We're not joined at the hip.
But the exposure doesn't hurt. Now if Stardock were to hire me....but that's another story.
* "Pulling the thread after the initial reaction probably brought even more attention to it than would have otherwise existed" *.
This is truth. All the attention was drawn because I pulled it. My intention was just to let people know it was ready. I had posted
a screenshot of a WIP, in the "What are you working on?" thread and decided to let people know.
Now, was all this handled correctly? Of course not. Past experience tells us that. What should have happened was for someone to e-mail
an Admin., Mod. or even me, and explained why they thought it was wrong. Let them take care of it. That's there job.
But alas, this is the internet. We can't wait. We need results now.
Is what I did "spam"? NO! And Jafo explained that pretty well, I think. This was my first (and last) time to do it. Again, I was just
letting people know. But I get tagged with spam. Now, I'll forever be known as (loud baratone voice) "The master who spammed the forums". Nice.
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Off topic, for a sec..How many times did MaxStyles get mentioned, in this thread? "Dozens". Now, how many time did GUI Magic
get mentioned, besides now? "0". Guess, it looks like I need to do a whole lot more promoting.
Even Zubaz, thinks I'm Z "2" 1 (more than once by the way) and not Z71.
Need to promote myself, too, I see.
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On topic. I recieved alot of nice suggestions on how to do things in the future. And no, I'm not cutting Wincustomize out of the loop.
I'll still be uploading "free" and "premium" skins to the site. That will never change. But that doesn't mean I can't have exclusive
skins, just on my site. I'm running a business. I would like people to get stuff from me, every now and then. That's why you'll
never see any adds on my site. Don't want them and I'll guess, neither do you.
Skinning use to be just for fun. But because the market changed, now it's an ever growing business. A fun business, but none the
less. It's about making some money, now and then, for all the hard work over the years.
If anyone ever tells you that's it's never about the money, they just do it for fun.....they're lying. If it's just for fun, then I challenge
you to never upload a premium skin...ever. Because it's just for fun, right? Yeah, and if you pull my other leg, confetti comes out my @ss.
Why do you think Stardock created Object Desktop? Just for fun? If that were true, they'd be giving it away, right?
But I digress, Wincustomize is my home skinning site and I'll continue to contribute any way I can, in one form or another.
If you have any comments or suggestions, my e-mail (door) is always open.
Take care,....
