Given the recent discussions I thought this survey might be in order. Please post whether or not you consciously visit the Product Showcase forum when you're looking to spend money or do you usually forget about it unless someone tells you specifically to go there. This Survey is directed primarily at regular consumers, not merchants, so if you are a Merchant, please state so when you reply.

Yes I regularly go to the Product Showcase Forum. I enjoy seeing what other merchants are producing and I use it to announce my own new items.

Yup, I check it out on a regular basis. And no, I'm not a merchant.

I go there regularly as well - just to see what's new and what's on the horizon. Rob

Yep, every time I come to Renderosity. It's the second forum of a regular 5 or 6 that I read here.

I have always visited the Product Showcase Forum! What an excellent way to get previews of up and coming products - I especially like the Product Showcase Gallery. The majority of my Rosity purchases are a direct result from first visiting the Product Showcase Forum! Lets face it, if you are a merchant, you want your products to be seen! Why would you want to post your preview in the Poser Forum - with the large amount of postings, which tend to get hidden quickly! I would rather post my previews in the Product Showcase Forum, where members can do a quick search of a merchant's name if they want to see that merchant has posted recently - if you do a search of a merchants name in the Poser Forum - you can get over a hundred hits and none having to do with a new product :) ladynimue

So there you have it an overwhelming 100% thumbs up for the Product Showcase Forum.

Gotta love statistics

Yes. I do. The 2 forums I regularly check are the Poser forum and the Product Showcase.

I posted this elsewhere, then thought about it and deleted it, but it seems appropriate here, so what the heck. I come to Renderosity, and the home page is almost wall to wall ads. I open a forum page, and there's an ad. I go to a thread page, and there's some more ads. I open the newsletter, and it's almost entirely ads. Look, I know the MP drives this place economically, but enough already, okay? I'm sure all of your M3 products will be great, and I'm sure I'll buy them all (and I probably will), but they're products, and let's all accept that and move on. The level of nonstop advertising on all the various Poser boards -- here and elsewhere -- has gotten just a little too relentless in the last year.

Yup me too, just to see what I need to start saving my money for. This is not the place for it, let's leave it in the Product Showcase Forum where it belongs. I like to be able to come here to get tips and either get help with a problem or give help if I can. Right now only a few merchants post product wip's and such, but if we open it up it will be like before, and it was getting way out of hand then. That's why the product showcase forum was created. Marque

Rarely do I visit, unless I'm pointed in that direction from another Forum!

"you're looking to spend money" - pardon? I'm looking NOT to spend money, with limited success. I do check the What's New at DAZ, R'osity, PoserPros etc. weekly but I avoid the Showcase forum.

I check it on a daily basis! Love going in there and seeing all the cool new stuff people are doing. I also need a place to decide how much money to spend and I like being able to ask questions (if I have them) right in the product thread. ;o)

Me too.....I visit the Product showcase forum at least twice a week........but if someone posts something here in the Poser forum with a product (wip) that I am interested in, then I check more frequently to see if it is ready. Take for instance, Beth's koshini morphs.....I really want that so I check when-ever someone posts anything about it.........hint, hint, to Beth (: genny

Product Showcase forum (once I discovered it was there and what it was for) is one of my favorite spots to check. I am not a merchant and Product Showcase forum is definitely responsible for many purchases that I would not have otherwise known about. I regularly check a handful of forums here and the two most prominent ones are Poser and Product Showcase. Frank

I have spells of occasional regularity, and spells where I do not go for a week or more. :) Sounds like a commercial to me. ;) Beth

Yup - regularly. Always like to see what's vending here and at the other brokerages/stores. I probably go to the Product Showcase more than the "What's New" store page. And it's besides the fact that I'm a merchant.

I always go directly to the "What's New" page, almost a daily basis. Is there a benefit of going to the Product Showcase instead?

I visit it all the time to see what's new and upcoming. And I post my own products there as well :o). Laurie

I used to pop in several times a week, but have been there slightly less often due to less $$ to spend lately. I still visit at least once a week just to see what's coming to the store and to hear about sales :)

ACK! Sorry...have to turn off the ebots. This looks like it will get a million replies and overwhelm my inbox. LOL! ;o)

Yeah, same here... dumb me forgot to when I posted it

Nope..it's called time..rosity isn't the fastest site around

Yep, all the time. I love Gorodin's posts there especially.

I rarely go to the Product Showcase. Lately, there hasn't been much being sold that I want or else it is just another version of something else. Usually I only hop in there when nothing else is going on in the other forums I visit (which actually is happening more and more of late as most postings are repetitive or whiney). Actually, I'm visiting Renderosity less and less frequently as well. I understand why you posted this thread and DraX, I haven't any problems with anything you've been posting. There are other merchants posting WIPs in the Poser Forum and not a single soul seems to have had a problem with them. I don't have any problems with them either. It gives me something to look at that's enjoyable.

Ok, I'm a merchant with ONE product in the marketplace. BUT I am also a customer who has spent THOUSANDS here and this is what I do. I check the showcase forum daily just to see who's doing what, where I can find what I'm looking for to use in a project, or just to see what the current trends are. But when it comes to actually making a decision about what to buy, I base that on what I need for whichever project I'm working on or have planned for the future and the price. (example: There are some lovely flower models in the marketplace that I would dearly love to have and would use in a heartbeat, but not at $20 EACH). None of the ads ANYWHERE influence my decision. I want to keep the showcase forum. Before they put that in, I avoided the Poser forum like the plague simply because it was wall to wall ads and it was just too annoying to try to wade through and weed them all out. I just plain stopped coming to this forum and went elsewhere for a while until they did start the showcase. If you succeed in getting rid of the showcase forum, I will once again stop reading the Poser forum. Heck, I don't even click on any of the banner ads.

Kate, you mistake my point.... the real issue is about how useful the Product Showcase forum is and whether or not it serves it's purpose entirely... not saying it needs to be gotten rid of... just that the impression I've gotten from the posts of many non-merchants... the people that buy most of all our products, is that they do not check that forum, or would rather be able to be teased a little bit in this one.

i use to visit there but i stopped. two reasons: firstly, things come to the store sooner or later anyway ;) secondly, i misjudged the vanity of couple of merchants when i dared to tell them that i'm not satisfyed with this detail or that texture, i got almost flamed. i didn't see why should i continue visiting that forum.

Almost never.

Definitely. Check it every dsay. :] Fish

Unfortunately I only have dial-up, like others who can't afford or too cheap to get or simply live in an area where BB is not availible or still to unstable, I do not have a high-speed connection. For this reason I do find the PS a bit too image intensive for me to really make use of :*( Too often I find it more full of WIPs (and multiple threads of the Same WIP) then being able to browse "Products". On occation I have seen the Same product in WIP posted 2, even 3 threads on the same page - hit "Next" and there's more of the Same product's 'WIPs'.. Any chance of a WIPs Forum and then when the product is ready go to the Product 'Showcase'? For now I find it far easier to just go to the MP and hit "New" and browse the thumbnails, I see more product in a shorter time so I can make my desision and fill my baskett, and still have time to cause problems in the Poser Forum 8p

Now if you really wanted to find out how many poeple check the Product Showcase Forum, you should have put this survey in there. ;) I visit in once in a while. I'm a semi-mechant. :)

There's an idea - A Poser WIP forum as well. And up at the top of the poser forum where the "August Poser Challenge" and so forth - put a link to the Poser WIP (see what people are doing) and the Product Showcase (see what they've done) and then there's some added visibility without putting in the face of those who don't want it.

It is the first place I visit everyday. Then the Bryce Forum and then in here. I love to see the new products and the ones being worked on. I used to be a merchant. Diane

The only time I have ever gone there is when I was selling my one commercial item. I'm much more interested in reading the customer comments on a finished product anyway. Thanks, take care. SnowS

I vist the Product Showcase often almost everytime I come to Render, and that is many times a day. I also vist the galleries, Market Place, Merchants area, and Poser Forum often, and at least twice a day the free section lol.

Well, Renderosity at this point has over 1000 merchants, chances are most of them visit even if it's just to check out the competition :) I think more people visit the Product Showcase Forum than we tend to believe mostly because they don't leave comments. I know I rarely leave comments but check it out often.

Yes I visit every day the Product Showcase forum. But sometimes I wish more informations and WIP's in the postings. WIP information is important for me on what product I money spare for :) Mazak

I visit everyday and did before I was a merchant...a WIP forum? NO, we can't subdivide into every idea, then we'd have 100's of forums and we'd never get outta the forums and into the checkout line...:>)

Only once every few hours ... not very often ... I can quit Poser any time I want ... really

all the time, that and here are my 2 main forums!!

nope - very rarely. AS has been stated it's too image intense (although since we are buying another house that is in an area with high speed that won't be an issue). But other than that - I honestly tend to choose what I purchase based off gallery images - mostly by the regular joes as that gives me abetter idea of a product. Or I buy from checking out the what's new section.

I am not a merchant yet, I do visit about once a week just to see what people are doing.

I visit the Showcase every day or two. Not sure what the intent is with the survey. I don't much care for merchants posting their upcoming work in this forum. I thought that's what the Showcase was for. I.e., showcasing your work. As the use of the acronym goes, WIP (related to someone wanted help on a piece of art they are working on) stuff belongs in here. WIP (related to a future marketplace item by a merchant) belongs in the Showcase. Of course, that's just my opinion. Reading the description of the Poser forum, all it says is post Poser-related messages here. I guess that leaves the door pretty wide open for any kind of post so long as you use the word Poser in your message.

if they'd post more nude vicky pictures, I'd visit more. lol (kidding) never visit it... BT

I visit at least once a day. I buy here alot and Im allways looking to see whats new. :)

Yes go there almost every day

yes. I visit the product showcase as much as the poser forum.

I check it about twice a week. I find it useful and enjoyable. I enjoy it for info on items both here and elsewhere.

Haven't actually ever been there, no... Will go there now, I think, just to check it out. -Hanz

It's on my daily list of forums to check out, and with completely non-Mod intentions. Cheers!