Quote - So, this happens a few times (maybe many times) and suddenly a light bulb goes off in someone's head:   We can make money off this!!!

yes but...  25$ ???  :blink:  That's an awful lot of $ just to change a username...  Is it that complicated to change a username to justify this amount?

It's the wave of the future.

Many sites and online games are charging fees for "virtual" things like name changes, character transfers, in game items, character enhancements etc.

So long as people are willing to shell out the bucks, companies are going to keep coming up with ways to make that cash grab.  Renderosity is a for profit site and  it's purpose is to generate money. If they can generate revenue from user name changes, then they will do it.

The only reason that they have a gallery and forums is to attract people to the site in the hopes that those people will buy from their store.  If there wasn't a store here, I doubt this site would still be in existence.

People have been asking for a way to change their user name and be able to retain access to their gallery and purchase history with the new name. Renderosity is giving that option now. And they are doing it in such a way that people won't be inclined to abuse it by changing their user name everyday.

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi