I’ve been following the discussion here about changing Wincustomize to a paid subscription site and making it pay for it’s self for a while now. Now I have a couple of observations. And a question.
I’ve tried DesktopX and I don’t like it. Nothing personal, it just does nothing I need.
I have downloaded some Windowblinds for my Paid for, registered and legal copy of WB and find I use only a very few of them. Out of the 15 or so blinds I’ve downloaded from here and other sites, I use at best 5. And for me, that means I probably wouldn’t use 99% of what will be new content for the next 2 years. I don’t like the wallpapers here, they aren't my taste. I use a couple of IP’s again for my paid for and registered copy of Icon Packager but again, 99% of what’s here I wouldn’t use. Widgets are a cluttery nuisance to me.
Now looking at this from a consumer point of view, that means if I buy WB5 I will not only be buying the upgrade but I’ll be paying for a subscription for a site that-
A. I rarely use the forum. Sorry guys you are often far to clichéish and snide for me to feel comfortable at your forums. Even an innocent newbie question can get short shrift from some of you. And the policing of the forums for civility, patience with non personal friends and tact is not always effective, in fact lately it's been very uncomfortable to even visit the forums. Yes I know some folks here are nice, but, too many are allowed to flame at will or use cutting, rude and elitist remarks at will with no thought to how it will effect future sales/feelings toward the product you claim to support and love.
B. This sites main value for Brad is it offers the public something he doesn’t have to now. First level customer service. Every person who has a skinning or installing problem who gets his question answered here, means that Stardock doesn’t have to pay a CSR to answer email questions about.
C. I get, at best, 3 to 5 useful downloads a year. And as I belong to DeviantArt and quite a few other sites around I usually find the same packages elsewhere.
D. Skinning is a luxury not a necessity. I quit using StyleXp when it got too annoying trying to find clean Spyware free skins and get customer service that made sense and showed someone on the other side gave a rip.
Now the question.
What are you going to do to keep from driving off paying customers like me who don’t buy the whole package and never will? Are you planning to abandon us or is this just a way to raise the price of partial packages since no matter what else you might say the real value point of this site for Stardock is convenient After Sales Service for the public. At this point, a real effort to not alienate people like me and to include us in your future might just save a large percentage of future sales.
Final note to the Community:
There is a good reason I placed A first and B second.
Think about it guys. I was 50/50 when I came to the site and read Brad’s post about needing to make this a paying site. After watching the uncivil smug verbiage on the forum, realizing that the community/self customer service is the only thing that’s being really offered me here that I couldn’t get anywhere else I have to say the forum attitudes may just be the deciding factor to drive me (and maybe a lot of other paying customers) away from Stardock. For most of us, Skins are NOT a necessity. And in the end, fanboys can only go so far. The average guy who doesn't skin, never will, just wants a pretty desktop and who buys the upgrades is who keeps this product financially alive.
