Development traffic jam!

Development not slowing down, communication has!

from WinCustomize Forums

If it seems like things have slown down in the past few months, it's because it has. But not in terms of development  What's been slowed down is our ability to actually release/deliver things.

We've got updates to WindowBlinds, WindowFX, IconPackager, WinCustomize Browser, DesktopX, SoundPackager, LogonStudio, SkinStudio, a couple new premium suites, new fish, new gadgets, ThinkDesk components, ObjectBar, Control Center, Multiplicity, KeepSafe, and a bunch of other stuff. 

So what's the deal?  That stupid game, Galactic Civilizations II, has eaten up so much of Stardock's internal support/marketing/IT resources that, well you get the picture.  The good news is that the game's doing very well and we're on a hiring spree so that this kind of thing won't happen in the future. 

The other good news is that in the coming weeks, you're going to have a downpour of new goodies to play with! Stay tuned.  In the meantime, check out the galleries, some great new stuff from Essorant, ChaNinja and others!

Our goal is to fully build up WinCustomize.com into its own independent "business unit" by the time Windows Vista ships and to have marketing/support/IT resources that are more than capable of dealing with both a popular game and all the other cool stuff.  We're hiring in all areas right now. Tech support, marketing, sales, developers, artists, you name it.  If you are interested in working in sunny Plymouth Michigan, drop your resume to [email protected].

So I want to issue a hearfelt apology that things have been kind of slow in delivering this stuff.  We're working on it. ;)

24,528 views 63 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Where is the link for Soundpackager? I have looked and cannot find it. When I go to the area to download the sounds and click on that link it gives me an error.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
do you mean this section?
Link
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It´s ok Brad...,i realy understand the problems that GalCiv II is giving to the site.., but well.., it´s obvious, the game its just fantastic

And talking about the updates that you´re
mentionning.., it´s true that Logon Studio is updated? ...and if the answare is yes'.., then tell me when it was updated...

Thankx, pal'
Object Desktop - Get all of our enhancement utilities in one suite
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

It's always a nice position to find oneself in to be lamenting 'success'...

Certainly there are those whose perception/interest is specifically within the environs of Wincustomize.com...and one can be piqued if something 'outside' detracts from its enjoyment, even temporarily....but as I mentioned elsewhere...if the 'hurt' is replaced by plusses such as new servers, etc....then it's well worth it.

Besides...

Sometimes the wait just makes the rewards so much sweeter...

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
SoundPackager?? where is the program to run that?? there is a link on another page,but when you click it it says "about blank"
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I really hope Rightclick is on the list of updates too... Other than that : Waiting full of joy.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Brad, thanks for the heads up about the updates, not that I thought for one moment work on ObjectDesktop/skinning programs had ground to a complete halt because GalCiv2 had consumed greater than first anticipated recources. You guys wouldn't let us down like that....now GalCiv2 is finished and new servers aren't too far off, the good times will rock 'n roll, better than ever.

Congats on GalCiv's success and all the best with hiring the staff you need
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ye! So many goodies. I'm perticualry glad to hear that an update to DesktopX is on it's way.
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Nice to hear this. Frankly I was getting a bit peeved with the whole affair- many of the ObjectDesktop programs are in serious need of updating, and are looking well past their prime (obviously not WB though).

Lets hope the next few months will see some progress.
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well, you have a big push to get new members onboard, promising this and that, and all that has happened since, is the Galactic game.
Im sure it is great, but i have nothing to do with it, dont play it, not my kinda game.

But my once favorite site is now sharing resources with a gaming community.

I feel like ive been kicked in the nuts......im sure others who joined from "the push" also feel a little cheated.

Dont get me wrong, i still come to this site at least 4 times a day, looking for more blinds ect.......but as you say.....................its been slow.

SO PULL YA FINGER OUT!
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Brad,
Now you've got us all like giddy children the days before Christmsa wanting to open the toys that we just know Santa has brought us. WOOT! I can't wait . . . especially for the premium suites.
What hsa been priceless has been your communication. Sure, as Officia WoD mentioned, the push has sort of backfired as you now have brand new customers who are dealing with not being able to access the site. But your consistent, and continued, communication has made this bearable during this whole process.
Also, a BIG thanks to guys like Tim, & ChaNinja,-scion-, and JosephS who have put out some wonderful WB skins to keep us occupied.
Keep up the good stuff & we look forward to the holiday season!!!!
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top

But my once favorite site is now sharing resources with a gaming community.

One way or another it always was.  It's just that currently the Gaming end of it all has been quite popular and its presence/effect is more noticeable.

I'm not so sure it's a 'nut kicking'....maybe more a bit of a 'wedgie' [slang may possibly be lost here]....[possibly worth a 'Google' for the unsure]....

Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
lol, wedgie! <-- me gettin wedgie

But as Mr Beesley said, you have been fantastic with communication.
And there have been some great skins also..........I JUST WANT MORE!
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Many thanks for the communication. It means a lot.
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Well, you have a big push to get new members onboard, promising this and that, and all that has happened since, is the Galactic game.
Im sure it is great, but i have nothing to do with it, dont play it, not my kinda game.

But my once favorite site is now sharing resources with a gaming community.

I feel like ive been kicked in the nuts......im sure others who joined from "the push" also feel a little cheated.

You may recall that we had that big push to try to get a mere 2,000 people out of the 20 million monthly visitors to subscribe. We ended up with less than half that number. 

Right now, there's only so many resources available and so we are in the unfortunate position of having to allocate them in a way that won't make everyone happy.

But the key thing with regards to DEVELOPMENT is that development continues unphased. It's just a matter of releasing the updates.

Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
So I want to issue a hearfelt apology that things have been kind of slow in delivering this stuff. We're working on it.

I came here today up to my neck in frustration. Now I'm leaving with a smile. You figure it out...
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
If you are interested in working in sunny Plymouth Michigan


I lived in Drayton Plains for a while back in the late 70's. I don't remember the "sunny" part.
Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I don't post often but when I do, I always try to be polite, supportive and helpful. This is not one of those time.

I'm mad as hell. For a couple of years, we've heard your constant whining about Wincustomize being an independant entity from Stardock and we need to pay for the bandwidth, servers and everything else you threw our way. We renew our ObjectDesktop subscription once a year, we renew our WC subscription every other year (remember, Stardock and Wincustomize are 2 distinct entities).

Now Stardock releases a game which is popular, whoopie, good for you. First, no updates on the OD front for 3 months, second Wincustomize (remember? that SEPARATE entity from Stardock) slows down to a crawl which you told us was because your game is a big hit (like I said earlier, good for you I'm really happy it is) and the hits on your game site and it eats up OUR bandwidth. I say OUR because we paid for it.

Now today I come to the site and it's down, not slow, totally shut down, and you have the nerve to give the link to your game site which is blindingly fast!! WTF!! Don't you have no shame?

Your game site is not WC, it's a Stardock product.

Try to tell your game customers which just paid 40 bucks a pop for your game that they need to cough up some more dough to pay for servers and bandwidth. Go on, try it, you did the exact same thing with us with WC. Let's see how they react.

In the meantime, don't shut us down at WC while your game site is running faster than Google. I don't give a crap about your game, Editor's choice or not. If there isn't enough bandwidth for WC and your game site it's not the WC community problem. Make them pay for a subscription like you did with us at WC after we paid for our OD subscription. I'm sure they'll love it.

I could live with no updates and zero presence on your part in WC for 3 months, but shutting us down for the servers and bandwidth we paid for while you game site is unaffected is not only unethical but shows a total lack of respect on the customers who help your company gets to where it is now. We (meaning the paying customers at WC) don't deserve to be treated like that, geez.

Like I said, I'm mad as hell.
Reply #22 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Jachyra,
I understand completely your frustration. I believe that in the end, WC will benefit from the popularity of GC2. This is a community. Shit happens. I think Stardock is dealing with it the best they can. Just like any community, you have to be a little supportive and tolerant. Give em a couple of weeks to get caught up.
Reply #23 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I understand the situation they're in, but to shutdown completely WC and to have the nerve to link to the game site which is flying is just totally ridiculous, that's why I'm upset.
Reply #24 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Someone on IRC [#stardock] commented less than 24 hours ago....something along the lines of "I wonder how long it'll be before someone demands a discount/refund for the lost uptime of the site".

I said...."it's bound to happen....it's happened before".

Yes, 'paying for' something only to have it denied you is 'annoying'...may even make you 'mad as hell', but in reality the 'denial' is both intermittent and temporary.

Is it really an affront to one group in deference to another, or is it rather an issue that was unforseen in its degree of impact and thus unavoidable?

Wincustomize.com is an ongoing entity whose members can enjoy its facility in perpetuity, whereas GalCiv's intrusion/impact is time-limited because the frantic popularity of 'the new' will diminish but not before its 'customers', too assist with the financial support of Wincustomize.com.  [the incoming servers are testament to this].

The economies of scale are such that Stardock pays the lion's share of Wincustomize.com's costs.  As yet we, the subscribers do not.  My subscription pays for approximately One Half of an hour of Wincustomize.com's Uptime, so if the site was only up for 15 minutes in a year I might feel 'diddled'.  Total up all the subscribers and you'd probably make it a few weeks....

The reality is that the WC downtime is a temporary necessity that we either accept whilst twiddling thumbs or accept whilst doing those things we'd otherwise be putting off....

 

Reply #25 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I agree with admin Jafo............so what if a handfull of subscribers get screwed on weekends, we don't pay enough, we will never pay enough, it's just like taxes. We will never pay enough and it's our duty to pay more, keep our mouths shut and be happy that the gamers were not denied. The game is doing very well at wal-mart and the last time I checked. Skinstudio and windowblinds were no where to be found at wal-mart, k-mart or any other mart. I've looked everywhere for an instruction booklet on the new windowblinds and skinstudio, Jeesus you'd think I could find one at barnes and noble??. You go where the money is.........it's brutal but it's a way of life, so what if the little things build up over time and in a year or two several hundred subscribers wander off, by then there will be a part three to the game and life will go on. Sooner or later someone will build a better windowblind and skinstudio and a new website will be born, the lost subscribers will have a home again. Maybe someone will figure out how to skin the mdi buttons and the more programs item list. I've used up about ten minutes of the half an hour, gotta go check out wallpaper and vote on skins. Bye bye