The quality of items available in the Renderosity Store will determine its success. One way to support new store contributors, hi-lite professional contributors, improve the information available to purchasers, and improve overall customer satisfaction simultaneously would be to add a customer rating system for items they have purchased. I'm interested in feedback on a "number of stars" type system to the Renderosity Store and how valuable that might or might not be.

Maybe something like Amazon.com has, with both a numeric rating (1-5, IIRC), and a comment field - on the sale page it would show the "star average" and that would be a link to the comments page?

Agreed. I would like to see both a overall rating.. and a comments area. This would have to be monitored of course, or you might get someone who's on a personal attack posting spam to keep the person of selling something that might actually be good. Perhaps a 'tested with:' field as well. For those items which transport easy (3ds, obj, etc.). One final piece I would like to see, much like free stuff, perhaps a purchase counter. If you see a nice rating and some nice reviews and a High sell count.. might help make another sale. ?!? my 2 cents :)

I'm a liitle annoyed with the content of the thread link that brought me here. As someone who posts in both places... I intensely dislike being slapped in the face. Correct me if I'm wrong, but arent a lot of the people supposedly selling trash contributors to both frigging stores?

Customer rating combined with a user testing pool? I'd be happy to either submit items to a jury of my peers or be a member of a panel of beta testers... half of what I do artistically is torture test freestuff anyway. ;)

Many times i have looked at the store wondering if it was worth it to purchase something from it and actually i have. however it would have been much more helpful if before hand i know how many people were interested in purchasing the product along with perhaps a comment or two which would have helped immensly. Also as i am looking to soon put my work in the store i before hand want to improve my skills a bit more. i am sure if you have been looking in freestuff as of late you would have noticed i have been putting alot of work and effort to make conforming figures for reqests that are given to me. There has been alot of work i have been ify on whether to buy it or not. I would only want to know the author of the product has put as much time into thier items testing as i have with my own things. I feel it would be a necassary thing to have a purchase amount and comments. This will also help the seller as well define thier work and make thier next item better if need be. Well sweetie thats my 2 Cents. -Love Lady Cherry

I'm confused. We put pictures of the items in the store. Why is there anything else needed? IF an item isn't very good. You can tell from it's picture. Why does an item NEED to be good anyway? I mean. If people are buying it. Who cares? Why ask how good it is? Does it really matter? Someone must think it's good enough to pay for. Why all this quality non-sense? I do think that there should be a time limit for things that aren't selling though. That will keep things to a certain quality all by itself. Without publicly hurting contributer's feelings with bad ratings. My Gorilla should be pulled from the store soon. Because it isn't selling. I don't need people TELLING me it sucks. I know it does because nobody's buying it. That's enough depression to put people through in my opinion. Don't rub their noses in it. Summary: let people post what ever they want. But if it doesn't sell X amount per month. It gets yanked. What's more fair than that? ScottA

I really don't think this would be a way of 'punishing' or insulting an artist, but more a way of getting some feedback from your customers/peers. Scott, I just went over and looked at your Gorilla.. and actually, if I had poser and was working on a Zoo/Jungle scene.. that would save me one hell of a lot of time. $16 bucks would be worth my time for that. Another thing. The pricing in the store is actually cheep enough that I can see buying a few things.. but. If I am repeatedly 'burned', well.. I don't have to hit myself too many times before I figure out it hurts. I may be blonde, but I'm not insaine.. no wait.. strike that. :p Ironbear.. I also looked at your items. I love 'em. That laptop is very nice. But is says nothing about being poseable. This is a case where the thumb-nail & short discription doesn't give you enough space/detail to really show off your product. Here is another small example... the image posted with this.. the cockpit can be opened. The turbines are 'nailed' in place so you can animate the movement, etc. But you can't really see that in a thumbnail. Myself.. like the Lady Cherry, hope to have a few items in the store.. but before I start looking to do that, I have to 1) show by my art, that I have a f*ing clue. 2) have a few things in Free-stuff, so you have an example of my works and 3) Just get a Hell of a lot better. *laughs* :)

Er... yeah, the thumb is a little short on info space. As a general rule though, if it's a Bryce model like those are, they're only "poseable" to a limited degree... I'm looking at getting an .obj version but since I'm not up on the techniques it won't be a poseable one either. sorry Unless someone wants to help me make it poseable? On the other points... I think we need quality and a basis for measuring. Thing I disagreed with was the statement that we didn't already have it. The people who put store items together do some good work. As I said, I'd be more than willing to help beta test and have people beta test my stuff - I already give samples to friends to take apart and torture test for me before I post it as it is.

I'm kinda partial to a lot of thar things that is said here abouts already, Some real good pickins of ideas and such, way ta go folks! On the other hand, was this all necessary? Is it really that bad; heck is it bad at all?? Ah suppose though, like in stores anywheres, maybe wouldn't hurt none to change a few things once in a while for variety and interest sake. Maybe have a best sellers place, or a most requested or a kudos system where folks that sell much get little badges or stars, ratings might work too. Only problem with this is it might bother some cause then folks may miss out on something real swell just cause no one has buyed it yet or nobody knows them well enough to take a gander and try it. There's loads of ways to promote stuff, a lot could be done by the folks selling as well, like makin' wee add ons for things they's sellin', or creatin' things that you can make great stuff for later that will be sold in store, and then folks can see how good your work is and also, they will want to get the stuff just so they have the set of all of it. Ah thinks some already do this, but many may not know, and it helps. Stores in our everyday lives have specials all the time, to promote or just sell in slow times or just to give folks/customers a reason to come in and shop, builds customer loyalty which is something you just gotta want. Seems ta me that if ya have happy customers, that's what counts the most, then, no matter who makes any kinda base accusations wherever end up being nothing but a dry fountain that don't hold no water. No reason to prove the competition wrong by tryin' to make anyone LOOK bad, do it better with happy customers, they's what count more than anything anyhow anywhere's. Wallmart puts plenty of competition folks out in the pasture and I never heard them says one bad thing bout no one, but they's got good service and good business strategies that they do friendly with and make service with on their customers. That makes them real busy, probably too busy for words. They love their customers, way more important to them than tryin' to make their competition happy. Ya get my horse sense?

One thing I don't see much of that folks selling should really consider. How abouts doin' some awsome renderings with the stuff bein' sold. Not talkin' about contests although that's a good thing too, but either the creator or some artist/artists doin' justice to the pieces. What better way ta shows your stuff than by actual example of what ya's can do with it? Ah mean, sure, ya's gots a cute thumb and all, but thumbs are so limited and show very little too many times. Fact is ya need a magnifying glass at times ta make out just what is described, (no offense pardners). Movies have trailers to gets folks ta come and see, ads on T.V. entice folks ta drool for stuff, banners works too, but again limited. Do some art, that's what it's for, no better way to make em see, Heck, maybe even consider a special store gallery? Maybe get folks that buy stuff ta render and show what they's do with it and maybe give a discount for next purchase depending on what's done? Just an idea in the wind. Not easy to push this noggin and I's pushin' it to the limit now so's I best stop while'st I'm ahead. Just an idea, sell the creative art with creative art, car folks sell lots of cars using demos, don't know how good a horse may be till ya's ride it bareback and uphill. Ya sell more brownies when ya's give out samples of happy taste buds and satisfied tummies.

Hot diggity, won't this darn noggin of mine just stop tonight. I just gots one more idear that I need ta yammer about then I be ridin' outta here. Ah see many times in lotsa places of reckoning where they have these friendly suggestion cards or customer satisfaction handouts ta be filled out and handed in or put in boxes, not like this here, I mean something just for customers. Kinda gave me an idea. How's about a place for folks ta comment, but more like a "customers forum/gallery" thingy, where they can post neato stuff they made with purchases, or write about how good they think it is, or also if they have problems they can professionally state without bashing. I know, I know, you's gonna tell me you's already have a store contact place and this place and all and how many more places do we need anyways, heh; but this be different cause it would be a place for folks ta share similars of work done with items, and reviews of store stuff they got. Can be a place for folks ta show off their new purchase for perusal and give thanks or suggestions for improvement. I'm not sure if I am getting right what I am trying ta suggest, my brain is toast now from too much noggin strain so excuse my departure. Hope any of this may help, it's just some kindly ideas after all. If it don't, then thanks for your time of readin' my posts. Happy days.

Attached Link: http://www.poserworld.com

Ironbear, Making one of your computer models pose able would be fairly easy, because the joints couldn't possibly be that complicated. I have done it recently with simple objects, and all it takes is Roy Riggs' PHI builder,and UV Mapper, and a little bit of time. Steve Shanks has a couple of very well-written and easy to understand tutorials for it, and within an hour, I had made my first "official" psoed object with it's on PHI file and .obj. And I tripled my knowledge of UV Mapper in the process, and since thenm I've been (slowly) moving on to more complex things. So, go over to Poser World and have a look at Steve's tutorials! --Mike PS Yes, there are far more detailed tutorials available at Bushi's site and Nerd's to name a couple, but I think Steve's are the best I've seen for people who know little about it. :)

Thanks... I'll check out the tutes. Now if I can just squeeze another four hours into my day to learn the techniques and do the work on them... REALLY need those 32hour days... :)

I am curious on how this idea would be implemented? Would the ratings and comments be enabled only to those who have made a purchase? Only they are actually going to be qualified to judge, since some of us are master renderers, and some of us are not, and a model or texture can be perfect, splendid, but have been created by someone who is rendering challenged and not a master of the quirks of scene lighting, and rendering, and so on. Same can be said for a great model, but maybe the modeller is not a texture specialist, so he does the best he can. Looks in a simple advertisement render in other words can be VERY deceiving, unless one sees the real thing through only technical eyes via live testing. And if it is to be rated only by those who purchase, since only they have it in hand to truly judge with, will it be rated at time of purchase, or at a later time? If it is rated at time of purchase, they have not yet actually had a chance to even open it up and try it out, let alone get real feelings. Surveys on marketing show that most buyers feel a small amount of buyer remorse the next day after purchase that lasts for about the first 3 days, then this clears up and they tend to be quite pleased with their purchase. Yet these same buyers are on a buyers high for the first hours after a sale. How does one get the experienced viewpoint of someone who has had time to play with something to see if one even does like it, yet is not in a temporary buyers remorse stage? Nor in a euphoria of a buyers high? And about those stars and comments. We see how every 12.357 days the C&D forum erupts into days of flame wars when someone gets a comment they felt was too rude to take from someone with no tact. Imagine this situation happening in the store, and artists with wounded egos riding off into the sunset with the big boobed Vicki of your dreams, and just when you finally saved up the 15 bucks to buy her too! Would these comments be visible ONLY to the creator of the object, and the staff of the store? Those are technically the only way the creator could in truth benefit from the critique, since he might then manage to stay calm enough to not go onto the defensive long enough to scratch his head and think how to do better next time, or how to fix things up this time. Can anyone help me figure out the answers to these questions? I have asked for a rating system for a very long time. I planned one once myself, tried to figure out how to make it actually really work in practise. Came to no easy answers and lots of questions in answer to my own questions.