Pete Constanteas Pete Constanteas

To The People Who Run Wincustomize.com

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To The People Who Run Wincustomize.com

from WinCustomize Forums
Dear Sirs,
I tried to download a skin from your excellent site and I was informed that I had already downloaded over 100 MB. Then, I was asked to register and become a member in order to help you run the site and everything.
Well, I wasn’t actually asked. I was TOLD. And since I have no intention to pay for services that never had a price tag to begin with, I prefer not to visit your site again. Me and some 30 others who are facing the same problem. Perhaps hundreds or even thousands more I don’t even know.
Of course, you realize there are many ways I could have overcome this little problem. I could use another name, for instance. Or another computer. I don’t want to stoop to such methods. But you know something? I thought neither would you.
We are all enthusiastic users. It’s an honor visiting a site as wonderful as yours, but it’s also an honor for you, to have people visit and upload skins that, after all, make your trade. More or less, I’m asked to pay for downloading skins (one of them could be mine, if I decided to make one) that were uploaded without any fee. Is this fair? Is this right? Is this contrary to the spirit of sharing and enjoying or not?
So, I will wait to see if your decision will be upturned. I am sure you will see the injustice and change course. Let people who want to subscribe do so. Offer more incentives. Offer a lower price. But let the rest use a site that, after all, promotes the spirit of free art and co-operation.
I remain confident in you and your concept
Pete, Citizen to you who lately was the victim of a coup d’ etat…
14,897 views 70 replies
Reply #26 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I agree with joetheblow....
Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Pete...

You probably have no idea who most of the respondents are to your message, but generally they are the same 'skinners' which you appear to be concerned about being charged to DL their own work.

Simple matter is that 'IF' you HAD created a skin of your own you would have circumvented the DL cap, by becoming a 'contributing member' of this site.

Our methods of 'anonymous DL' restriction/limitation are amongst the most democratic on the web.

It's all about 'give and take'.

I know you 'could' be merely DL'ing wallpapers only [therefore not necessarily needing a Reg'd Stardock application, etc], but I know many of the wall artists here and can assure you that they, too, would prefer that you contributed to this site's running for the privilege of using band-width that others who DO 'pay'will subsequently be slowed by.
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The Old Crab will not respond to this thread.
Reply #29 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I love when people decide that they're so important, that when they decide not to frequent a website anymore, they make a big song and dance about it.

I'm sure Stardock are crying themselves to sleep over the thousands *NOT* of *NOT* dollars *NOT* that *NOT* Pete *NOT* would *NOT* have given *NOT* to *NOT* them, had he not been so injustly wronged.

If I ever see Pete in the street, I will be laughing at him.........
Reply #30 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Another 'Doh!' post....
Nothing is 'free', US$20.00 for 2 years is A$40.00 and still not at all expensive!
Kudos to the people at Stardock,I managed to screw up my subscription and decised I was happy enough (more or less!) to pay up for a 'second' subscription ...... and on my c/c statement the following month I found a 'credit' from Stardock!
Hardly expected and certainly not the sort of gesture from a "money grubbing-big bucks-screw the customer" company!!!!
If I ever see 'Pete' in the street Hippy I'll just give him a good slapping with a wet fish!
Hey Stardock!
If you make the fee US$21.00 then us Australians would be paying A$42.00 ..... 'the answer is 42'...Wombat's brain hits meltdown ...

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Reply #31 from WinCustomize Forums Top
People, people, he's gone. None of these clowns ever sticks around to defend or debate their opinion. Its because they are freeloaders and they know it. I say good riddens to bad rubbish, unless his decision is "upturned".

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Reply #32 from WinCustomize Forums Top
As you well know,every GravyTrain will reach the buffers.The sooner this one does,the better.If you accept a free lunch,be grateful for what the cook serves up.

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Reply #33 from WinCustomize Forums Top
As you well know,every GravyTrain will reach the buffers.The sooner this one does,the better.If you accept a free lunch,be grateful for what the cook serves up.

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Reply #34 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Skinning was always free, skinning should remain free, thats what I say. Who will pay for the site, first of all, stardock, this site is a big add for the company, not that i mind or anything i love stardock and i own ObjectDesktop and yes i have contributed skins. Look at all the hobby sites out there, take neowin.net for example, it runs fin and the poeple who work their asses of coding it do not expect money in return, neither should the people coding wincustomize. Skinning is a hobby not a buisness. Skinning sites should always remain free, i dont care that it costs so little, skinning has been free since the concpet was invented, i dont see why stardock has to commercialize it, do they not already make enough money from their (wonderful!) software?
My two cents

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Reply #35 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Do you want to host it and pay for the hardware, coding, upkeep, and bandwidth? Thought not. Who among us could even afford to host this site for one day...
Reply #36 from WinCustomize Forums Top
oh yeah, been to Neowin lately...?
Reply #37 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I couldent afford to host it, but i would damn sure be donating to wincustomize if they didn't force people to pay, i think a good many others who really love skinning would be to. And neowin will be back up, im proud of that site because it doesent force people to pay, even though the people who run it put almost all their time into it, their server is free and they get donations. I think wincustomize can survive with donations and help from companies who really love skinning (like stardock) who will help them with servers, i would even be happy if they had to remove sections, as long as skinning remains forever FREE like it should be and always has been.

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Reply #38 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hmm. Yes let's take a look at Neonwin and the fact that its up and then its down. And when its up, many times the forums are down due to the load, or they throttle the capacity down...

I don't buy the sweeping argument at that argument that skinning should be and has to be a non-profit hobby and all skinning sites must always be free. Why? (Other than the fact it'd be nice, but then so would free cars, houses, CDs, DVDS...)

And as has been pointed out many times, Wincustomize does not require payment.

Reply #39 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Skinning will always be free as it always has been. It's the hosting that costs! There are completely free sites for skins, this one due to popularity is limited. That is all there is to it.
Reply #40 from WinCustomize Forums Top
When I pay for my subscription to WinCustomize I don't even think of it as paying for skinning. I think of it as paying to not have popup ad after popup ad bombarding my screen.

Of the few other sites that I do frequent I would be more than willing to pay for the same service there...unfortunately, those sites don't give me that option.

I'm glad WinCustomize does.
Reply #41 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Look at the sites that came before wincustomize, anyone here remember skinz.org, many sites like that "died" before they would charge people, and i think its the better thing to do. There is a temptation to commercialize everything, especially for stardock, because it can but i just dont see why? why does something that has always been free now have to be fore-profit? Remember? skinz.org also had a browser, and it was free. Skinning should be free because it is not like software, were developers develop and users use, in skinning the line blurs between users and developers, what right does stardock have to charge for content that was made not by them but by other people? If skinnign was 'for profit' stardock wouldn't have this huge community that it benefits from every day, stardock is 'screwing' their customers, the customers that show skinnign to all their friends (like me) and grow stardock's user base.

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Reply #43 from WinCustomize Forums Top
You just don't get it do you?

YOU ARE NOT PAYING FOR CONTENT!!!!!

Subscriptions are providing a way for Wincusto to keep running. You mention the fact that skinz would rather die than take revenue. When it died it was owned by e-front who ran it into the ground and didn't keep their promises. It's not like the admins decided 'Hey we're gonna have to charge soon. Let's just pull the site." It was that they weren't being paid for the work they were doing. It also had numerous popups all over the place in the final days. Would you rather wincusto just died like skinz did? I certainly would not.

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Reply #44 from WinCustomize Forums Top
did he just mentiojn neowin??? bad example.
Reply #45 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I wouldent want wincusto to die, i would love for some sections to be removed though, to cut the bandwith costs. Stardock benefits from this site so much, first because they advertise their products here, and mainly because without skins their products would be worth nothing.

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Reply #46 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I wouldent want wincusto to die, i would love for some sections to be removed though, to cut the bandwith costs. Stardock benefits from this site so much, first because they advertise their products here, and mainly because without skins their products would be worth nothing.

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Reply #47 from WinCustomize Forums Top
skins.org "use to"... is the key.

Neowin.... is a bad example because... well just ask the people of Noewin (when it is not down)

yes it is sad things are not just for "free". I understand the "commercilization" of skinning your talking about. That is a issue by itself, but what does that really have to do with maintaining a site< or paying for bandwidth? If your point is that your willing to deal with downtime or not being able to upload or download works, or get pop up adds, and so one... plus..PLUS not everyone would like that they are being slapped with ads or asked to "please" donate. Not all people even DONATE!! ANYTHING at all. Nada, what about those who just download and say or do nothing to help COMENT on skinners work???


I left a post in the other thread in the hopes that somebody comes up with real data as to why wincustomize should not aks people to comment on skinners work or help skinners or buy a browser that gives you more then you spend.

20 dollars??? for 2 years?? come on. they even now let you try it for freee....



I don't know about you but I want to help and I do so by COMMENTING on WORKS...

and you???

Please give evidence and name some sites that are doing what you claim. Data as to how much it cost to run a site with 100GB of stuff, heavy images, and so on.


Tell me about Oracle os MySQL, PHP, ASP, something that has to do with data base managment.

Systems analysis, data base theory.... I could keep going....



---------
bye all, hopefully I'll see you in a week or 2!! I have so much work to do.
Reply #48 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm interested to hear which sections?

It has been stated many times that Stardock is losing more than it is gaining to this site. How is people sucking up all your bandwidth day and night (many of whom are not customers, and are not likely to pay anyway) such a benefit? It may just about break even but it certainly isn't a cash cow.

If there is not some type of restriction you get freeloaders coming in and leeching the entire library. This was happening and is part of what made Stardock say enough is enough. The people who contribute don't use most bandwidth. The people who have downloaded a warez copy of some Stardock software or who downloaded the shareware version were the ones who were downloading most and would have no scruples in using as much bandwidth as they could possibly get their modems onto.

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Reply #49 from WinCustomize Forums Top
But is a benefit pipowell these people use the skins, they show it to their friends, they expand the skinning community, which, software wise, stardock just happens to have a monopoly on (they deserve it though because of all the awesome software) Stardock gains sooo much from wincustomize, publicity, many people, all being exposed to the strong prostardock bios of everything on the site. I think this site should never have been founded, it was inevitable what would happen.
Oh yeah and neowin will soon be working just fine, they are running on a free server (company gave it to them) and they will get it working soon. Neowin is an example of what a site like wincustomize could have been if it hadn't been mixed up in stardock.

PS damn its hard arguing against what seems like the entire message board, maybe il try to think up some new and better arguments tomorrow.


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Reply #50 from WinCustomize Forums Top
This is ridiculous!

WinCustomize charges a small fee to keep the site going.....period.

This is how it is.
This is how it will be

Everyone is arguing just for the sake of arguing.
You won't change anything.
So stop trying.