My question is: Under the new policy, how many times can I repost my free stuff offerings? once a month, once a week, once a day? I ask because it was just brought to attention the red hair repost last week and now today we have another....

....chuckling here - doesn't seem that much has changed, eh? :) Irene

Yeah, the repost of the repost of the repost of the repsot of the red hair tex had been going on for a long time now. It totally makes me sick. Mods, please FIX IT! :] Fish

If you were a Artist of the Month, you are allowed to repost your items every week. After all, everyone loves "Red Hair for Kozaburo Hair". Just look at the number of downloads.

Well, we're talking about 8 or more different hair texs that get reposted all the time (red and 'salt & pepper'), a total of about 2-3 per week sometimes. It's been going on for many months. So it does get tiresome. Some of these texs have been going (like Alice Hair red) for more than a year now. That particular one I DLed in mMarch '02. Since then it's been up, oh, once a month I'd guess. All of this has nothing to do with 'Artist of the Month', it has to do with the Marketplace. It's always a site link, there's always 1 freebie and about 30 MP items to see there.

Oh, we've noticed. There's a discussion going on right now as to how best to handle this. We're not ignoring the issue, just trying to find the best way to resolve it. Since it's not a critical issue, just an annoying one, we're going a bit more slowly to get it done right. Thanks!

Hm, I don't see the problem here. Let him repost it, why not? If you don't need it don't look at it.

I agree with Puntomaus. I don't expect every Freebie item to be useful to me, and these textures are useful to many. This is a non-problem.

I like the artist in question, but I have to agree that his reposting is getting a little out of hand. Sometimes it tempts me to try reposting my free items, haha. ;) Just a thought, but would it be possible to have a sort of Free Stuff showcase, similar to what they have at RDNA? Perhaps a randomly rotating selection of free items so that old ones get noticed again? Anyway, just thinking out loud. :) Take care. SnowS

Well the problem is this: (2 problems really) 1. A lot of people don't like it, it's a drag (sure, plenty others don't mind, that's fine) 2. If everyone did this, we'd get hundreds of reposts every week. Think of all the fun involved trying to work out whether or not you're DLed everything before or not. It's not like this issue is a BIG THING exactly, it's just an unnecessary irritation. It's a way for a vendor to perpetually use the freestuff section to try and sell, without even producing anything new more than VERY occasionally. :] Fish

Well, I can see why folks would want to post every so often to keep their own market place visited. I personally don't mind the redirects to market sites when there are a lot of free items to look at. There's a big difference, though, between the ones that post new or improved items each week/month and the ones who are just reposting the same item over and over as a form of free advertising. Maybe the freestuff can have reposting no more than once every 6 months unless... The item has changed in some way, or; The URL has changed, or; The osity bot has delisted it because the server was down during the verification phase (we saw a lot of freestuff go away over that in the past). I sure wouldn't want to discourage any of the commercial folks from posting new freebies here. Its very much appreciated. Sams3d does a fine job of offering new items every so often and that kind of posting is a real blessing.

I agree with Fishnoses' points. My problem with Btsculptors reissueing the same hair textures time after time is that it serves no real purpose. If someone is looking for a red texture for Kozaburos creations they can do a search. This, to me, is just a cheap way to get people to his site. If he wants that to happen create something new for freestuff. As Fishnose pointed out anyone could keep reposting old freestuff items to their site ad nauseum to increase site hits and exposure. Yet, no one does except for the aforementioned individual, whose use of this tactic has become in my opinion laughable.

One person is a minor annoyance, but if 12 people did it everyweek...think how long it would take you just to scroll thru the last 3 days "What's new" "We're not ignoring the issue, just trying to find the best way to resolve it. " Then how about holding them in the tank or where ever you hold things before sending them thru, until you get a solution resolved?

My vote would be to ban reposting. I didn't want the texture the first time, and I still don't want it. It seems like the person is just alienating people and wasting server resources with a multiple post of the same item.

I've had to repost my own stuff several times, all due to sitemoves or server problems. Banning reposting is not the answer. I agree that this continual reposting is kind of tiresome ..its starting to be like the punchline of a bad joke. But in the list of problems to be dealt with this is on the level of crabgrass ... when we encounter a problem we often email the member and start a dialog to reolve it. So we are working on this ...we'll see what we can work out as a solution. Lyrra

In and of itself, Btsculptor's reposting is just a minor annoyance, but the precedent it sets is not a good one. One person constantly reposting items to FreeStuff is a nuisance; twenty or thirty people seeing this marketing tactic and deciding to copy it would be a problem. It seems as though it would be better to address the issue now, before it gets to the "problem" stage.

Hey! I love those red textures. I download them at least once a week. If I'm really lucky, I can get the whole set twice in the same week. I have my own folder called BSulpt*r, with millions of nested folders inside, one for each week I managed to get the textures. Ok, I'm lying through my teeth. Yeah, I like the artist a fair bit, too, but reposting these damn textures ad infinitum is just taking the piss. So, please, please, pretty please with a cherry on top, cease and desist. Thanks. :)

I'm so tired of seeing the weekly repost here. Just a waste of space over and over and over... I recall there is a search function for that sort of stuff. It gets sooooo old. Please make it stop!

I suspect that reposts could be checked up on in a short amount of code... simply look at the destination URL and check to see if it has been posted before. Sure, this'll piss off the folks who always point downloads to their website front page, but a timing factor could be put in... say once every month or so for items with the exact same URL? I dunno - I brought it up last time, and promptly got told to mind my own business... (shrug) /P

Dear mods,

D@#! it! Why aren't you working 24/7 to fix every tiny problem I have and cater to my every whim? I need a systematic and (hopefully technological) solution to every single darned thing that just might annoy me. Ignoring frequent posters isn't enough; neither is reporting TOS violators. (They're too low-tech and non-intrusive.) I need you to coddle me and police everyone (else?!) who could ever possibly threaten my fragile peace of mind. Please assist me by taking them out back and pummelling them senseless with your high tech Klingon pain sticks or Evil Federation antagoonizer devices.

"Your antagonizer...Mr. Kyle!"

I want it all....now! now! now!

Oh...and by the way, I have this hangnail....

--lb
(the impotent, but self-satisfied center of everyone's universe)

Lord Byron, I think you can get pills that will help with your impotence. Just trying to help.

Hiya LB! You forgot to demand that the PTB do my laundry while they're at it (tell 'em to hurry the hell up, too - that pile's getting pretty big, and I can't BS the missus about why it ain't done yet forever, y'know. :) ) /P

This little stunt has been going on for so long that I, and, I suspect, many others, automaticaly ignore his posts no matter what they offer. He's become notorious for chain-pulling more than anything else, so it would seem that this tactic is counterproductive at best. If he ever does do anything new, most of us will miss it due to his "cleverness". Some strategy!

Peng-- I'll have the mods get right on it. Any other enemies of the state, err..forum you think need "re-educating?" Let me know. Sans l'absurdite, la tyrannie n'est jamais possible. (without absurdity, tyranny is never possible)--a slogan of the French (excuse me....Freedom) Revolution --lb

Amen! I thought maybe I was in the twilight zone and I was the only one seeing the constant reposts.

Just a thought, but if the same people keep posting the same items etc.. could you not introduce a small fee! Charge them for the advertising you are giving them. Let people repost only if they can provide you with a valid reason for the repost. Post all valid reasons for reposting set the rules and stick to them.

Rather than trying to ban all reposts, easier just to note when the system is being abused and take action then. The fact that this thread exists is indication that this is such a situation, and the review process provides an easy mechanism to deal with it. If some other person ever tries the same trick, it can be handled individually again, but I suspect that once the problem has been curbed the first time, it won't recur.

Has anyone thought to direct btscuptor to this thread? I and many others have got to the point of immediately ignoring anything he does, including his store. Surely not the effect he wants, so I'm sure he doesn't realize it's the effect he's getting. Has anyone it bugs so much just politely informed him?

I was just wondering the same thing FyreSpiryt, has anyone pointed it out to him that this is a form of spam and it's annoying? lol Marque

{But in the list of problems to be dealt with this is on the level of crabgrass ...} You heard the lady, this issue isn't going to be addressed any time soon. Ladies and gentlemen with free stuff to share- begin your reposting! Since one person has set the precedent and since this is a non-issue for the admins, take advantage of the free advertising while the offer is still good. Repost everything you have and generate more traffic to your site! Let's get the Free Stuff mod some more work!

I always thought FREE STUFF should work like the Market Place, with multiple previews a description of the item and what's in the download, user comments on quality, and a trackable history of when you downloaded it. A user should only be allowed to Download an item 3 times. After that they need the contributors permision to download. That way people will have less bandwidth killed. There should be much better topic searching both in MP and Freestuff. It shouldn't be that hard to modify the MP code to work for Free Stuff. The only changes are to allow linking to outside sites vs. sites with in Renderosity, and removing the cost and payment options. Some other cool ideas... how about some rewards for frequent free stuff contibutors. Like 1000 downloads gets the contributor a R'osity gift cetificate for $10. It's not much, but a little something extra for sharing here as opposed to just on your own web site. Some clear inications of weather a free stuff offering is an actual file or a link to another site I have to search through. Basically a different button if the link ends in .htm than if it ends in .zip, .rar, .sit or .exe. This would all make my R'osity experience nicer.

I like the thought of having different download buttons for zips, sight links, exe,...ect ect. It would make things easier. I know several people that really dislike downloading exe files.

Amen I think the reposting is a matter for chuckling, not bitching.

Lol. You gotta admit he makes a point. I'm of two minds on the subject. In one sense, if everyone did it then things would get buried quicker. In another, it really doesn't hurt to repost things once in a while. And there are times when it's completely warranted. When I get hosting back for mine I'll probably repost the few I have as well. If something at DAZ goes on sale or into the loft, I could see reposting a texture I may have for it.

I also think he's right in that the number of freebies offered is a consideration. I don't look in the free section every day, in fact I probably only check once a week and even then it's not difficult to get through it. Search could be improved but it does work. Now that dead links are being cleaned up the whole thing is a much more positive experience.

Well the point of my post was that a better search catagory info would make for less of a need to repost. You can't really fault anyone who gives something away for free (even if they are trying to tell you how you can use it in your personal artwork.) To be honest. I'm a little tired of seeing the red texture for Koz hair too. But hey... Bt is giving it away for free, and if reposting it isn't actually breaking any rules I say it's none of my frelling biznit.

'Flamewar'? Hardly! lol When I re-read my own first post in this thread, it is definitely too harsh. I'm just irritated by the perpetual reposting, not going nuts over it. Since bt obviously fully intends to go on doing this, let's just hope no-one else follows suit, because it will be a REAL drag if that happens. This is exzactly how society at large functions. When only one guy drops soda cans on the sidewalk, it doesn't get to be a major problem, just an irritation. But if everyone does it, it's a real pain. :] Fish

I hate to say it but I'm sick of all those reposts as well. It is enough to make me avoid anything btsculptor offers, including Marketplace items. You can't discount our opinions based on whether or not you think we give something away. Did you ever think that some of us stopped giving things away for various reasons? Besides, there are many different ways of "serving the Poser community," other than free stuff. I guess I can understand btsculptor's heated response, but it really didn't serve him at all in my not so humble opinion. But then I've been increasingly disillusioned with the attitudes of many in the Poser community over the past few months.

Besides, there are many different ways of "serving the Poser community," other than free stuff.

Yeah like shoving tons of tutorials down the Poser communitys throat, eh Ron???

Funny, I didn't see any "For Freestuff Contributors Only" tag on this thread. One does see this sort of complaint about non-exhibitors in the galleries, and , IMHO, is an equally obvious non-starter as rebuttal. I do have a gallery, and when comments are posted, I routinely check the sender's linx for their gallery. If there isn't any, I think: "pity", and move on. I don't play a musical instrument, write plays, or dance. Does this mean I have no right to an opinion about examples of these artforms? Nor would I catagorise this as a "flamewar". The comments in this thread seem to me to be more of a venting of mild irritation, than anything. The fact that "this is the second time" he's taken heat for this game should tell him something. All the chest beating about his "generosity" overlooks the fact that these items are posted to attract people to his site, i.e.: IT'S ADVERTISING! Nothing wrong with that, but no-one should misconstrue it as altruism. And, just as when a commercial is replayed ad-nauseum on the tube, one gets irritated. Because repetition is annoying annoying annoying. And, as stated by several of us above, from the standpoint of PR, it is of dubious utility.

Damn people!!! We're talking about Free Stuff and tutorials. Even if you have a valid complaint it should be kept civil. No matter why any one is sharing anything, it's still a nice thing. The first thought out of all our mouths should be "thank you". No. I don't like all the reposts either, but what I dislike a whole hell of a lot less is the tone people are throwing around. We should be able to critisize one another without resorting to being hurtful.

Some time ago, when this was last brought up publically, I threatened to repost my can of Spam every time I saw the infamous red textures in Free Stuff. But honestly I couldn't keep up with the numbers of reposts. It would mean that I should repost my Spam every day! - sometimes twice a day! Funny thing though, I had a LOT of new downloads of my spam, more than it originally had actually, after I reposted it (and I've only reposted it once) :o( But then at the moment, Tripod has eaten my Website, so while I'm waiting for my new domain to be active, This is why so many of my things are lacking their thumbnails. Most of the downloads WILL work though.

Somehow I have this idea there must be a graphic idea in "Tripod has eaten my Website."

Anyone know why btsculpter deleted his reply?

Free stuff is not an excuse for misbehaviour, or bad quality... Quality standards and conduct should not be measured by price. Unneeded reposts for unclear reasons should be banned.

{Unneeded reposts for unclear reasons should be banned. } Then, has anyone asked about the reasons for the reposting? Is it because the item has been "updated"? Is it because the site needs more hits? Is it catering to people who don't know how to use the "Search" button? Just try a search for "red" and see what you get. Here is the result. Now, sure, these are all different styles, but the model is the exact same male and female model, which makes it look the same. You decide if this reposting is "helpful" or annoying: 4/14/03: Red Hair for Lourdes Hair 4/11/03: Red Hair for DAZ Wedge Cut 4/3/03: Red Hair for Koz's Long Hair 3/31/03: Red Hair for Koz's Alice Hair 3/21/03: Red Hair for Koz's Rei Hair 3/20/03: Red Hair for Koz's Kyoko Hair 3/18/03: Red Hair for Las Vegas Hair 3/10/03: Red Hair for Koz's Pony Tail 3/9/03: Red Hair for Koz's Short Hair 2/26/03: Red Hair for Reika Hair 2/17/03: Red Hair for Koz's Wave hair For an average posting of one "Red hair" repost, every 5.6 days since February. However, there are still a ton of hair styles that don't have "red hair textures"... and a ton of people who don't know how to use Photoshop to change the color of the texture. Maybe we should all just lay off and enjoy the "Red Hair Free Stuff" section at Renderosity.

The question is not so much the reposting ad nauseam but also the fact that it is always the ONLY free item on the site. Of course this is also the real reason for the reposting: To get people to visit the site and see all the stuff there is for sale there. Not a REAL misleading link, since the free item announced is actually there, but imo a ratherquestionnable way of promoting the marketplace items that are also on the site. John Render is right in the point that it is not the SAME hairstyle that is reposted, but the same GROUP of red hair textures are still recycled again and again and again. I'm sorry that I didn't got to read BTSculptor's reply in this thread before he deleted it again. Actually, I think it would be nice if deleted posts showed up in the same way as if you delete a threah you start. Sometimes I delete a post if I discover TOO many typos in it after hitting "send". I then correct it and send it again - heh talk about reposting ;o) - but in a case like this it would have been nice if it was at least OBVIOUS that someone had posted to the thread. There can be loads of reasons to delete a post, but the empty post ought to remain, also becourse threads where posts are deleted in the middle tends to get very murky and hard to make head or tails of. If you could at least SEE that something had been deleted, then some things would make just a LITTLE more sense. An idea to improvement?

argh...threah = thread

Well, you guys have won - the moderators at Renderosity have removed ALL of my Freestuff items, thanks to your bitching. Hope this makes you all feel satidfied and virtuous. I think you should all read, "Atlas Shrugged," and see if you see yourselves anywhere in there...

Yanno... I refuse to feel guilty of something OTHERS have done. Sorry. Doesn't work. I know this has been brought up numerous times. And yet the "reposts" continued. I don't think there was any reason to remove all your stuff though, if that makes you feel better. But the reposts were really getting on people's nerves - including mine - so I'm glad THEY have stopped.

The downloads were temporarily suspended due to copyright concerns. THe matter is being investigated. Lyrra "the Evil Overlord" Madril

Have to concur to TrekkieGrrrl's comments. While I greatly appreciate the indulgence of a generally hands-off admin., in this instance I was relieved to finally see the rolled up newspaper applied to the nose of the critter who kept crapping in our house.