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premium skins poll - my answer

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premium skins poll - my answer

from WinCustomize Forums
this is the second poll in a row i cannot really vote on, since none of the available answers are my answer. since this is getting to me (i like to participate, and voting is part of that) i decided to just give my answer this way instead

taking the options in turn:
* icons - i mainly see icons via powerdesk pro 5 under winXP. due to acts of Microsoft i get the standard yellow folder icons, regardless of the icon pack i have installed. so, this significantly reduces the visual impact of icon sets. also, after a while i stop noticing the icons *shrug*

so, i am quite unlikely to purchase premium icons.

* themes - i presume this means a set of matching skins across several programs.
well, on this machine (work) i have:
+ coolplayer skinned with the outstanding sputnik skin
+ IE and notepad skinned with via WB with XP Jeans UIS1
+ textpad skinned via WB with devoir
+ tera term pro skinned via WB with XPForest

these are the main programs i use on this machine, and if you know (or look up) these skins you will see this isn't exactly an integrated look

* a pack of cool skins / visual styles - this is unlikely simply because so very few WB skins really speak to me. i have certain practical requirements for my main skin on my work machine, which further limit the skins i use long term. so, i would do this, but the odds are very long, since i am unlikely to be that impressed by any premium skins

this is nothing against the premium skins. the same can (and is) said about the WB skins here. of the over 2000, there are only a handful i use at all regularly

* media player skins - i only ever use media player for viewing video clips. my experience is most skins aren't really that good for that.

* wallpaper - the wallpaper on this machine is buried under approx 14 open windows (average to below average number!), and not even 1 pixel of it is showing.

* no interest - that isn't really the answer either. i am quite happy to support the outstanding skinners, but if i am going to pay for it, it has to be something i both like and will use.


so, what is my answer? CursorXP!
since when i use my mouse (i am keyboard orientated by nature) i am very aware of where my cursor is and what it is doing, this is the area where skins have the best chance of really impressing me.

also, percentage wise, there are far more CursorXP skins i really like than in any other category at this site. that means there is at least a fighting chance of me being really impressed with premium cursors



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19,673 views 70 replies
Reply #26 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Perhaps there could be two levels of sales? Sell the individual components of suites at low prices, and sell the entire packaged suite at a higher price, but at a lower price than buying all of the components individually.

Jafo, you used to be the rule, but are now the exception. The vast majority of the people coming here now don't give a whit about the community, they only care about getting high quality skins and leaving. This means that to get more people to buy the suites, you have to make ones that more people would actually want to use and are signifigantly better than anything else out there.
Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top
On another note, I was really feelin that Carbonix skin and was gonna buy the pack just for that, but WHY is the minimize button on the left?!?

That stopped me from buyin it.
[Message Edited]
Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top
what about Toon XP? I thought that was really good.

but I get the point of not being about to use it at work. That is why I like the skin that Mike did (I think) called Grayce.

I do admit that some skin suites are gaudy (but I like that ) and not everyone is going to like it, but someone will for many reasons (from likeing it, to having the lastest thing, to supporting the artist) will get them.

at any rate, polls always miss something, but I think this poll is pretty on point. the only problem I do see is what feline mentioned about not seeing the desktop so the options don't exactly fit her choices (or anyone in that same position for that matter)



Reply #29 from WinCustomize Forums Top
yeah I guess 2 types of sales would be better.

that's worth putting on the poll.
Reply #30 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hmm, yes I didn't mention the support effect. But I hope that was clear.
Reply #31 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I agree, Toon XP is definitely the best pay pack.
Reply #32 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Aqua...I don't really think I was ever the 'rule', but it certainly would be nice if I were not the 'exception'.

The skinners, and supporters of the skinning sites [who contribute via subscriptions/purchases/input/feedback] are 'carrying the can' for all those whose sole interface with our 'community' is to breeze in and grab some hip skin and disappear again.

Sure, it sounds a great concept to have 'Premium skins' available at $1 instead of $10, but the casual visitor is unlikely to go through the complexity of online purchase, etc for something of such little 'cost' [not 'value'].

Also.....to anyone who actually creates skins, $10 is NOT an unreasonable price for the creative input and effort involved.  In my case I know how to skin so am not confined to purchase, OR DL free ones...I can make my own...but as I said before, the real benefit to me is the support I give to the community of which I am a member...in other words, I ultimately am paying myself...

Reply #33 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I recently bought PixOS, I friggin' love it! I looked at every premium suite available extensively, none of them seemed 'gaudy' except for that Cardz skin in the Carbonix pack. Also, when you got the same people who make the 'premium' suites also making 'free' suites, you tend to have a double-standard. Why buy PixOS when XP Corona is free? Why buy Solara when Avenger and Prometheus are free? You buy it because they are all at that top-level. It's merely just another style which you can't download. With the quality of skins being published now-a-days, it's hard to sell a 'premium' skin. Skinners will need to find a way to put that 'premium' one level beyond anything available for download. Easier said than done. In my opinion, PixOS does a nice job of that! Truely excellent in every which way!
Reply #34 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I am not going to pay for any thing I know I can do myself. decides, I hate dark themes and walls. Every wall I am working on is based on the color white!
Reply #35 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It's a shame that charging for skins is seen by the casual visitor as a rip-off or unreasonable thing. From past experience, creating a full WindowBlinds skin takes a lot more time and effort than creating a web site design, and in my freelance days I charged £40 an hour for that work. Is a one-off fee of $10 (around £6) really that much to ask for when skinners are devoting the majority of their free time to creating freebies for a public who can be at best complimenting, and at worse downright insulting about their work?

Skinning can be a thankless task a large amount of the time, and I don't consider it that unreasonable that certain hard working skinners charge a small fee to fund their hobby. The majority of people who say skins should be free have never even attempted to skin themselves.

Sorry for the mini rant, but this subject really bugs me. As Jafo has said, it's not so much about paying for a particular skin because it's supposed to be the best there is, but more about supporting all the work that particular skinner does.
Reply #36 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Greyhaze...

I understand the sacrafices you guys do to do this skinng stuff.

I wouldn't do it unless it was a outfit like Microsoft who called me up and asked for a skin. Time is money. If I am going to devote that much time to skinning I want to be WELL compensated.

I have to many other things like ebay to do and it gets hard to finish my walls. But I understand your statement.
Reply #37 from WinCustomize Forums Top
by WELL I meant six figures....
Reply #38 from WinCustomize Forums Top
kona....'by WELL I mean six figures'....yet people balk at two figures....go figure...
Reply #39 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The new cursor pack is out and it is FANTASTIC! ...

[Message Edited]
Reply #40 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Jafo I was just trying to point out that you skinners deserve to get paid more for what you do thats all.
Reply #41 from WinCustomize Forums Top
kona...I know....you agree and I agree....but the 'great unwashed' still think 10 bucks is too much.....yet full shell themeing can take a considerable amount of time, and with the likes of LiteSTEP it takes years to really begin to make sense of what a lot of it does, or CAN do, before you begin to factor in the actual coding time and graphics creation...and 'tweaking' can take a month of Sundays...
Reply #42 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I take off my hat to you Paul...
Reply #44 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I've bought quite a few Pixtudio suites. I do admire the artistry, time, and patience that must go into them. However, this Old Crab usually returns to the "Classic Interface" more often than using any skin, Premium or free. As for WP's I usually up a tile. Work before play. The differing opinions and the civil replies on this topic are also refreshing.
Reply #45 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Old Crabs frowny button ain't working...ADMINS.
Reply #46 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Looks like none of the smileys are working. Oh horrors!

Sorry, back to the topic.



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Reply #48 from WinCustomize Forums Top
/me has given this quite a bit of thought

/me ventures an opinion

to be honest, the idea of purchasing one of the premium suites simply to support the skinners, rather than because i was moved by those particular skins, never occurred to me.

i saw a "thing for sale", and simply looked at it in my normal "commercial" way. the price wasn't unreasonable, but it wasn't something i wanted.

while i have never produced a WB skin, i do have some concept of the amount of work that must be required to create one. nosing around inside of the skins to learn things has been quite educational

i suspect that purchasing the premium suites mainly (or even partly) to support the skinners in their work is largely a function of "maturity" as a member of this community.

i am not sure that "maturity" is quite the right word (especially since i am not trying to suggest some people are immature), but off hand it is the closest word i can find to the concept i am groping for.

with all of this in mind, i am off to give some serious consideration to purchasing the CursorXP set i am seeing hints of.



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Reply #49 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I don't mind paying for a skin suite, as long as I can afford to, I want to support skinners, since I can't imagine a world without skins Having said that, I haven't found a permanent use for most of the suites I've bought. Pixtudio's PixOS (one of the best suites ever released) and Universemetal were the only two that I've used for an extended period of time (and I still use PixOS on a daily basis). The others, although quite magnificent looking, I've bought out of sentiment (and support) for Pixtudio people, but use them only on occasion.
Reply #50 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Jafo, I think that if you reduce the price you will more than make up in volume what you lose in current individual sales.

I know how much effort goes into creating a skin. I'm not at your level at all, but I have done four (though only uploaded one).

/me thinks feline had a real good post there with good points.