Neomea said:

Quote - For what it's worth, I'm putting forth my opinion, though first, I'd like to address jevans69's post.

Hmm.. are you under the impression that I'm objecting to someone making suggestions to improve the site? I certainly never meant to imply anything of the sort. I'm all in favor of the exchange of ideas, and I think suggestions about improving the site are in everyone's interest, especially the people who work so hard to make the site available to us in the first place.

Nor was I applying a "schoolyard mentality" to this site. I did use the phrase "schoolyard terms" in developing an analogy that I thought might be useful in helping primaltruck get a perspective on the larger situation. Yes, of course I was poking fun; my personal opinion is that the comments made were (not entirely, but mostly) childish in nature, designed to be provocative and not helpful. Specifically, the comments that fall into this latter category:

 *"This action was very insulting to me and my art.."
"the image was cute and not in anyway breaking your prescious rules."
"this has become one of the prudest site on the interenet"
"I see no one gives a shit about art"
"its all some kind of power thing"
"Moderators shouldnt be making the rule desicions"
"it should be written so the rules can be used without guess work or asking a moderator can i post this?"
"its ridiculous!"
"and this kind of stupid dribble happens everytime i come to the forums too"

I am, of course, quoting out of context; for the full text, please see page one. I am not denying this person the right to vent an opinion. If I were a moderator, operator, or owner of this site I would have the right to do so, if I chose, but I don't, and I would certainly prefer that primaltruck and everyone else be allowed full opportunity to vent. I kow that I, myself, appreciate the opportunity to vent about the things (related to this thread) that annoy me.

I'm certain that the phrase "I see no one gives a shit about art" was clearly aimed at me and the others who were making unrelated, facetious remarks. To be fair, what we did is an ettiquette no-no; we hijacked the thread. Given the emotional nature of the first post, it would have been better to stay on-topic, and I do regret that somewhat. I can say that I was hoping to interject some humor into a devolving situation, but I am aware that it was not wanted, and it would have been better to make such posts in a different thread.

My real problem is, I just don't get it. My artwork, if you wish to call it that, would get hustled out of I don't know how many galleries around the world, internet or otherwise. Check out my gallery; it's of no real value, any of it. I don't meet the "TOS" of any number of serious artists and purveyors of their work. My stuff is silly, juvenile, full of puns, in many cases badly rendered, or just plain dumb. I can imagine any number of places that offer hosting services where my "art" would get kicked off, and for reasons that I, personally, would feel were egregious and stupid. The deal is, though, it's not my web site. Even if I used them as a merchant, and contribute in some small way to their bottom line, it's not mine. I don't get to make the rules. Whether I buy something from them or not, the business does not belong to me.

The suggestion that a rule be made about a particular 3D figure created by a particular CG company is good in the sense that, if it were useful, it would make the world simple for people that can't cope with a complex world where adult people have to make decisions about a functional business operation. Renderosity doesn't host figures, they host images. It's the images that have to be evaluated, not the data files that are used to create them. That's what the TOS says they do, that's what they actually do, and that's the way it is.

The people behind Renderosity have elected to shoulder the mantle of providing this site. In addition to all us artists, forum users, and clients (yes, I'm a client), they have to get along with advertisers (Have you noticed the ads? Do you really think that the Marketplace runs this show all by its lonesome?), Internet telecomm providers, and financial institutions. All of these places have their own little rules, too, which we may not like, but have to be respected, too. If the whole thing doesn't work together, the whole thing goes down the tubes.

Look, we can all do what R'osity does, if we want. It's a wide-open world out there. We can make our own art sites with our own rules, and make our own forums, and act as merchants if we want. Heck, we're free to run R'osity right out of business by making a site so spectacular that no one will ever come back. The struggles to keep an Internet business open and running are many and varied, and it's an amazingly difficult job that these people do, and I'm constantly surprised and deloighted at how well they do it. In particular, me 'ats off to StaceyG for the diplomatic way she responds to these very sorts of discussions.

Anyway, my bottom line is, I absolutely want people to continue to express their opinions, even the erroneous opinions they may have about me. I hope you and everyone will continue to shout about how you feel, pro or con, with me or ag'in me, and I do hope you and everyone will keep doing it, at least some of the time, here.

I am very likely to continue to throw water on it what I perceive as selfish behavior designed to call attention to someone's bruised ego rather than an honest attempt to help make the world a better place. It's a lifelong habit with me, and I may be too old to change my ways.

Captain Jack