'This is a commercial package' Hmm, is it ? I undertstood it more as a bonus for subscribers. And it's damn good as a bonus. The attitude behind this 'I paid 20 $ for 2 years and now give me everything !' is very similar to the other people wanting everything for free IMHO. Just an opinion of someone who likes his subscription-bonus very much.

mormegil...pay me enough and I'll fix your spelling....


That's why they gave me this icon....

Jafo, I think if I paid 1 cent per missspelling or typo I would be fileing for backrupcy in about a week.

c242 -- If the only way to get it is to pay out the money, it's not a bonus. It's part of the package. Just like you're paying for those "free" Ginsu knives that come with your juicer.

The "Exclusive" suites are the only reason that I subscribed. I feel I contribute to the site already by submitting skins. I didn't think I would be, and now know that I'm not impressed with the Skinbrowser. However, I guess I was expecting something more along the lines of what Brad described as "Premium" suites. I absolutely love the WB skin that alexandrie did, but to call this a "Suite" (exclusive or premium) is a joke. A great WB skin, a variation of a free IP, a simple OB theme, and that mysteriously green wallpaper? If I would have known that what I really wanted was a "Premium" suite and not an "Exclusive" suite, I would have saved my money and used it to buy the real suite. Yes, I know I sound confused.

I guess I was under the same impression as c242. I paid $20 to help support the site, not for suites, be they "Exclusive" or "Premium". The fact that anything is provided for me, beyond SkinBrowser, as a subscriber is an added bonus (IMO). I don't have any artistic ability and don't have the time to start learning, so I'm just thankful for the Alexandrie's and treetog's of this wonderful skinning world.

Thanks to Stardock for providing a great service first of all, and secondly, thanks for giving us an app to use with it. Lastly, thanks for the excellent "set" of skins.

How many of you who "paid $20 to help support the site" have made donations other than that $20? If you're only interested in supporting the site, why stop there?

Excellent point Tarkus.

The "exclusive" suites are the only reason that I subscribed.
Personally, if I'm going to purchase a subscription for something such as suites, I'd wait until those suites are released before deciding whether or not I want them.

Personally I stopped there because, unfortunately, money doesn't just magically appear for me. I've only got so much to go around.

davad70,

You don't sound confused, you sound bitter. Do you really believe your $20 investment was not worth it? No banner ads or pop-ups, a pretty fast site, lots of community chat and bickering, the best skins on any site I've visited (BTW - I really like your Boron wb skin). I usually spend more than $20 if I go out to lunch (I do enjoy food).

No, bmetelsky I wouldn't go so far as to say bitter. Maybe a bit misled perhaps though. At this point I wouldn't be surprised to see Stardock offer premium subsciptions to get even more money from us. $20 for lunch? And here I thought Brad was the only one who could afford $20 lunches.

David, "Premium Subscriptions", Why did you have to plant that little bug!

I couldn't imagine that anyone, even those who have posted negatively in this thread, are dissatisfied with their subscription on the whole. The entire subscription package is an incredible deal and wholly worthwhile.

However when the subscription plan was announced and laid out, it seems everyone had a different idea about what to expect and what was important to them. Most of us put our money down, no questions asked, on faith, and said "I trust Stardock will give me my money's worth". Well it seems that depending on what your expectations were dictates HOW satisfied you are with your investment.

Let me also mention something about effort. That word has been used frequently here. The number one rule is that money changes everything! Effort is extreemly important especially in a community such as this, where artist's share their works freely. However when money becomes an issue, effort takes a back seat to quality. The final product is what matters. When people buy things they do so for the final result not the effort that went into it.

The authors. I do appreciate the work the authors put into the work on this suite. It seems by the subsequent posts that the authors did this as a favor to Wincustomize. I was under the impression from the beginning that this was a "paid" effort, as in the authors were compensated for their work. If in fact it was a gift to the community then that changes my thinking quite a bit, and you have my complete thanks and appreciation for your hard work.

The thing that concerns me the most is that this is looking to turn out like the GUI Olympics. I hope it does not. I often wonder why things turned out the way they did. I hope we all take something from these examples and learn a little bit.

Now if you have read this far and haven't subscribed yet, what are you waiting for:

https://www.wincustomize.com/resources.asp?cmd=5

ok, i retract all my negative comments. only because the SB is worth $20 a year, and i do want to support this site, as i try to support everything affiliated with stardock.

bad RTF bad