As a proficient PHP/MySQL programmer, I have to say that this is pretty outrageous.  Renderosity already has an "Edit Profile" page, and it would take all of fifteen minutes to enhance that page to allow username changes.  Checking for duplicate usernames is also trivial.  Now, if the username is used as a key in other database tables as jevans69 suggests, then the programmers should be reprimanded.  Also, if the username is stored in more than one place (gallery,store, freestuff, etc.), then this site is pretty poorly designed to begin with.

If you're so concerned about people abusing this service, then just allow a maximum number of username changes.

There's no excuse for charging $24.95 for a service that just about every other website in the entire internet does for free.

"If you're so concerned about people abusing this service, then just allow a maximum number of username changes.

There's no excuse for charging $24.95 for a service that just about every other website in the entire internet does for free."

Here here!!

Where in the heck is the "Quotes" feature???  THIS is something that is needed more!

It's under each post in the thread, right under the signature...

Quote - It's under each post in the thread, right under the signature...

DUH..thanks, Lucie!  Getting old is the pits!!

I was curious as to total membership, so I checked - it bottoms out at userid 472948. it appears the database also stores usernames that are no longer in use, which may be a feature to consider pruning, as it must bog things down a bit for the database software to hafta search thru tens of thousands of defunct usernames every time somebody wants to join here. I think they pruned alotta usernames when jack took over, then again, when he sold it to tim.

I think after the smoke clears you might find my name has been pruned from this site as well...

"Nice knowing you Miss Nancy"

Quote - We understand that $24.95 to change your username at Renderosity may seem like a lot. However, there were several factors taken into account before setting this as a service and determining what it would cost.

The first consideration was the fact that we have almost half a million users on our site and it is a manual process to change user names. Because the process is not automated, there is administrative time that will be involved in processing each request.

The price was set to cover our costs and serve as a mild deterrent so that people will not abuse the service. Yes, people can create a new account for nothing. However, the new account will not have any of their gallery images, Free Stuff, Tutorials, blogs, SiteMails, LinkShare, purchase history, etc. This service will carry that valuable data with it. 

Because we are a community built on relationships that are connected with a username, we do think it is important that members take care when choosing a name or changing their names.

Because we are a community built on relationships that are connected with a username, we do think it is important that members take care when choosing a name or changing their names.

Wait a minute, I asked and asked again to change my user nic, and was told repeatedly that it couldn't be done. That I'd still lose my gallery if I changed my user nic. Now you tell me that it was infact possible too change my username, but that If I want too I have too pay 25.00 bucks to do so?

Get real.

Another peed off customer.

Quote - ...Now, if the username is used as a key in other database tables as jevans69 suggests, then the programmers should be reprimanded.  Also, if the username is stored in more than one place (gallery,store, freestuff, etc.), then this site is pretty poorly designed to begin with.

I'd certainly agree that it wouldn't be a good idea for building a business application from scratch. I make a habit of using GUID's for primary keys in all my tables. It's a little slower to do JOIN's but it's awfully nice having a unique key for every single row in every single table.

However, if memory serves, R'osity didn't start out as a business, it was more like somebody's hobby in the 90's. I can pretty easily imagine someone starting out a little web site and not seeing far enough into the future to visualize the size the database would grow to and what it's needs might be as a business tool on down the road.

The current programmers almost certainly inherited the current situation (and haven't we all be there at one time or another) and may be making do as best they can.

Quote - I was curious as to total membership, so I checked - it bottoms out at userid 472948. it appears the database also stores usernames that are no longer in use, which may be a feature to consider pruning, as it must bog things down a bit for the database software to hafta search thru tens of thousands of defunct usernames every time somebody wants to join here. I think they pruned alotta usernames when jack took over, then again, when he sold it to tim.

Ahh but then they couldn't claim "almost half a million users" when trying to sell this crap to other businesses and when coming up with excuses for why they can't do stuff for free that virtually every other place can and will do ;)

 Stacey and co, you guys generally do a good job (imo) and I think positively of you, hate to say this but  this looks nothing more than money grubbing.  :/   And making it a feature story... omg. Please reconsider this move.  :(

=====================================================

Very well said April...

It seems like the choice is either create a new account (for free) or pay $24.95 to change your name. If you create a new account and ask for your images to be transferred, you'll lose your image-view history and such. Is this worth $24.95? If so, I can forsee many people taking this option... and Renderosity then starts charging for this "item-transfer" service.

I agree with the above posters: although name-changing may be a pain for the admins, this is a part of running a community website. There will always be people who want to change their username. This is not a "cost" that should be passed along to the commnunity members.

On the surface, charging $24.95 may certainly compensate for the time it takes to change a user name, but just look at how many people are complaining. On the other hand, if a few people pay for this service, it may be worth all the complaints. ;)

Quote - The current programmers almost certainly inherited the current situation (and haven't we all be there at one time or another) and may be making do as best they can.

As the entire site has recently been converted to php, if the databases are still maintained manually, from a programming point of view, that's just NOT RIGHT!

A php script could be built as a function that the main program calls to change a user name and limit the number of free changes a user is allowed.  I'm just learning how to program in php so that I can convert both of my websites so it's a bit beyond me but I'm sure someone out here could do it and I KNOW the programmers at Bondware could so, IMHO, this is just a way to gouge more $$ from the users instead of offering something that is readily available at other sites for free.

Quote - As the entire site has recently been converted to php, if the databases are still maintained manually, from a programming point of view, that's just NOT RIGHT!

Umm... PHP is a scripting extension for web pages, and really isn't related to the structure of the MySQL database software that they use here. Converting everything to PHP does not mean that they made any changes to the database structure. They may have, I don't know, but the two aren't necessarily inerconnected in any direct way.

The design of the database may, in fact, be very old and it's possible that it was never designed with the idea in mind that it would someday have to support millions and millions of data records. I've been a software developer for 25 years or so, and I can tell you that there really is no "right" or "wrong" about programming. There's stuff that works well for it's intended purpose, and stuff that doesn't. Needs change over time, and sometimes the old design doesn't remain a good fit, but it's hard (reads "expensive") to change.

To give R'osity the benefit of the doubt, they may be in a position where the database itself could use a good overhaul, and that may be a harder proposition to change than it has been to convert to a PHP based scripting environment.

I think most of us agree that this is a pretty lame idea so the solution is just don't change your name or fork over the cash.  I for one have better use for my money and the name rockets has served me well for 6 years so I'll just keep it.

It's starting to creep in isn't it? First of all we have to pay to upload more than one image per day... very good reasoned argument given for the move. Now it's having to pay for this 'new service', again, a viable reason is given to explain it. Next we will have to pay for some other minor service and then another. Eventualy, a package will be offered giving all these services for a small set fee. This becomes a membership fee and, as we becomes used to it, the fee starts to go up each year.

Now ask yourself this. Am i just being cynical... or prophetic?

First of all we have to pay to upload more than one image per day... very good reasoned argument given for the move. Now it's having to pay for this 'new service', again, a viable reason is given to explain it.

Actually, uploading only one image a day and having to pay if you want to upload dozens more to me makes a bit of sense because those images take space and bandwidth, it's not just a one time thing, it takes space and bandwidth everyday from the moment they are uploaded until the member decides to delete them.   Most galleries online have a limit for the number of images you can upload each day for the same reason.  This decision was a viable reason imho... 

Um... i did say the image limit thing had a reasoned argument. That wan't the point i was making. It's the creeping introduction of charges that should be of concern.

So LillianH, what do you think Renderosity will do now, after all this uproar?
Do you think that they might reconsider, maybe waving the 24.95 fee, or reducing it to something more palatable, or perhaps just canning the whole name change idea?
 
Or is it “full steam ahead!”

Quote - It's the creeping introduction of charges that should be of concern.

I don't quite get that... Renderosity pays their staff, they pay for servers, they pay for bandwidth, they have a lot of costs and overhead. Why shouldn't they charge for some or all of their services?

Oh I got your point, I just don't think this thing with the gallery was a  "creeping introduction of charges"...  I was just saying that I consider the argument for the gallery very reasonable unlike the reason we're given for charging to change a username.  From what I can see in this thread and the opinions posted on the frontpage, members are far from "getting used to it", I don't see them starting to charge for everything here unless theye want to loose a huge portion of their members, there are too many other websites where there are no fees for the same services to keep people coming here if they were to start charging for everything. 

Quote - I don't quite get that... Renderosity pays their staff, they pay for servers, they pay for bandwidth, they have a lot of costs and overhead. Why shouldn't they charge for some or all of their services?

 

No reason at all why they should't. But to introduce such a high charge for a 'service' that has doubtful costings smacks of the type of greed in busines that leaves a nasty taste. Let's not forget that our images (ok, not mine but talented artists who show what can be done with the products) go a long way in adverising the wares of the marketplace. Hell, renderosity even encourage us to advertise who made what in every image. The pictures in the galleries help generate a fair amount of revenue for the site and i just think that renderosity tend to forget that when they do things like this.

Quote - It's starting to creep in isn't it? First of all we have to pay to upload more than one image per day... very good reasoned argument given for the move. Now it's having to pay for this 'new service', again, a viable reason is given to explain it. Next we will have to pay for some other minor service and then another. Eventualy, a package will be offered giving all these services for a small set fee. This becomes a membership fee and, as we becomes used to it, the fee starts to go up each year.

Now ask yourself this. Am i just being cynical... or prophetic?

While I am hesitant to call you a prophet per se' you sure have nailed that one.

Quote - No reason at all why they should't. But to introduce such a high charge for a 'service' that has doubtful costings smacks of the type of greed in busines that leaves a nasty taste. Let's not forget that our images (ok, not mine but talented artists who show what can be done with the products) go a long way in adverising the wares of the marketplace. Hell, renderosity even encourage us to advertise who made what in every image. The pictures in the galleries help generate a fair amount of revenue for the site and i just think that renderosity tend to forget that when they do things like this.

Of course, the cost of a product isn't the only factor in it's pricing, as has already been stated about this particular service. For example, I've got an Indianapolis Colts sweatshirt that I paid about sixty dollars for. That's a good three times what it would cost without the logo on it, and probably about ten times what it cost to make and ship to the store. Plus, at no recompense for me, I'm a walking advertisement for the team every time I wear the thing! I spent the money, though, because the value of the product, to me, was a fair trade for the money.

In this case, I don't think greed is the issue. I think if greed were involved the price would have been lower, so as to attract more people. It's already been said that the price is, partially, inflated to restrict it's frivolous use. To me it makes more sense to think that this is A) a service that a handful of people will value enough to use and B) a service that is more trouble and expense than it's worth to the company, which has C) been priced accordingly. 

I worked for a company once that offered tech support after hours until 11 o'clock at night. This was an established practice before it became an issue that several of the techs got to the point of threatening to quit, because of the almost daily interruptions in their lives. Customers on support contracts didn't have to pay any extra to call after hours, and we were in a jam before we knew it. We instituted a fee of forty dollars per call, which was fairly steep for the time. We did get a lot of complaints about it, but the number of calls that we got died down to real emergencies that truly couldn't wait, and we started paying bonuses to the techs who took the calls. There wasn't any greed involved, we pretty much just got to the point where we broke even on the extra paper work and hassle, but it was the best overall solution to the situation.

Q-"I don't quite get that... Renderosity pays their staff, they pay for servers, they pay for bandwidth, they have a lot of costs and overhead. Why shouldn't they charge for some or all of their services?" :thumbupboth::thumbupboth::thumbupboth: thank god, at least one kind soul in this pack of selfish users! understanding that other people have problems too you are the only one ready and willing to give and to help...this will pay your ticket through heavens gate where you will be rewarded for your goodness! from the bottom of my heart: thank you, thank you a thousand times! A.

and they take 50% of all sales made in the marketplace here. (don't forget that.)

jevans69:

Again thanks, your post has quenched my thirst for an answer that makes sense.

“You’ve halted my typing arm from causing anymore harm.”    

jevans, i pretty much agree with every point you make regarding the case for the charges to change user names. And in my first post i did concede that renderosity had viable reasons for the charge. My concern is that this is the thin end of the 'charging for services', wedge and that before we know it we will be paying nominal and not so nominal fees for pretty much everything on the site. And, if it is done slowly, we probably wont even notice enough to be bothered.

Shrugs

Ok, maybe i'm way wide of the mark on this, i hope i am, but IF renderosity does go this way you can bet your runtime it won't be too long before other sites join in and another good thing is sacrificed on the temple of the almighty insert favorite currency here

Quote - jevans69: Again thanks, your post has quenched my thirst for an answer that makes sense. “You’ve halted my typing arm from causing anymore harm.”    

You're quite welcome, I aim to please. :)

Quote - Ok, maybe i'm way wide of the mark on this, i hope i am, but IF renderosity does go this way you can bet your runtime it won't be too long before other sites join in and another good thing is sacrificed on the temple of the almighty insert favorite currency here

Well, at least we've always got the option of starting our own web site where we don't charge for anything. It is awfully expense just to run one of these as a hobby, though.

There was a time and a place where if you had land, and a man walking down the road picked an apple from your tree, that was his right. He couldn't take a whole bushel, but if he wanted to feed himself and he had no money, then it was okay for him to do that, even though you paid for the land and the seed and the fertilizer and the planters and the pickers. Somewhere along the line, someone got the idea to put up a fence and sell the apples.

There may come a day when there aren't any places on the web that will let you do the things you want to do at no charge, but I kinda doubt it. It's really too big a beast to fence in. There'll always be somebody who gets a few bucks for some server space and a bright idea to huddle up a community.

Probably the most important thing to remember is, though, no matter what gets done here, be it posting an image or executing a transaction in the market or moderating a forum, somebody, somewhere, is paying for it, somehow. The money's gotta come from somewhere. It might come from the generous pockets of somebody who owns the site, it might come from commerce transacted there, it might come from donations or taxes or gifts or selling of services. It has taken money to make the Internet (and the rest of the world, of course) go 'round since it started, and I think it probably will continue to do so for many, many lifetimes to come.

:b_overwhelmed:

We want to thank everyone for the invaluable feedback. It's what makes this community so dynamic.
 
We reviewed all the responses and suggestions regarding the Username Change service and carefully considered the situation.

The original price was not set to make money from this service, but to be a deterrent to excessive name change requests and to cover our administrative time.

Since there appears to be more interest in this service than originally anticipated, and we want to make this service available to those that truly need it, we have decided to change the price to $10.00 to only cover on our estimated cost.
 
It's through the support of the community that we are able to continue to offer all the free service and resources that we do.
 
Thanks for your valued time and attention to this new feature.

Quote - Since there appears to be more interest in this service than originally anticipated, and we want to make this service available to those that truly need it, we have decided to change the price to $10.00 to only cover on our estimated cost. I

Well, at least THAT is better!

$10 is much better, but as one that can barely afford her poser habit, I still won't be using the feature. I'm sure they'll get more compensation for this feature with that price.

LillianH, thank you and all the admins so much for listening to us regarding this.  At $10.00 I'll definitely use the feature because, as I said, I've long since outgrown the Belle1947 appellation.

Kudos to Renderosity and staff for taking our opinions into consideration on this.

Quote -

Quote - It's the creeping introduction of charges that should be of concern.

I don't quite get that... Renderosity pays their staff, they pay for servers, they pay for bandwidth, they have a lot of costs and overhead. Why shouldn't they charge for some or all of their services?

Sorry, but I can't resist:

Let me first say that Renderosity has every right to charge for whatever services they like. If they want to charge $24.95 as a "deterrant", that's completely up to them.

But, make no mistake: we shouldn't think these extra services are a way for them to pay the bills.

First, I doubt enough people will use this service to give the site a steady stream of income.

Second, the site keeps 50% of the product sales sold in the marketplace. I've seen people post estimates that the site takes in anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 a month. (I don't remember the exact message thread, but see various postings in the "Community Forums".)
There are also allegations that Renderosity is staffed by volunteers so Bondware doesn't have to pay employees. I think this is an unproven allegation, but it would be an interesting fact since it would significantly reduce their cost.

On the other hand, these calculations and allegations are usually made by people who have become upset that their account was banned or removed. So take their postings with a grain of salt. ;)

There are also allegations that Renderosity is staffed by volunteers so Bondware doesn't have to pay employees.

Oh my!  Some of them would have to be masochist to work here for free!  lol

Thank you LillianH, for hanging in there, "other staff members might have packed there bags and headed for the hills, but you stood your ground... I'm quite impressed"

Renderosity's decision seems to be one that is fair to all. I'm satisfied with the response.

And I must apologize for starting all of this; if I knew my one question would start such a flaming fire I would have never posted it...

"Duh...yes I would"  “this whole thing was fun to watch; I never seen such commotion about a company implemented idea; this was great!   :)

But, really, I am sorry about all of this. "Do you think the staff here at Renderosity would be willing to let me stay on as a member or are you guys planning on having a bond fire in the middle of the MarketPlace to burn a ** heretic?**

** PS: ** This whole thing was very exciting, but now I have just one more question to ask;****

** How do I stop all these email responces from jaming up my mail server? “I mean this is ridiculus”    **

"There are also allegations that Renderosity is staffed by volunteers so Bondware doesn't have to pay employees. "

Just wanted to address this, its not a fact at all:)  We have an office staff (admin) and we are full time paid employees. Lordy my son and I would starve if I went into the office everyday for free, LOL

Wanted to clear that up.

Oh good!  At least you're getting something for what you have to deal with!  ;)

"Duh...yes I would"  “this whole thing was fun to watch; I never seen such commotion about a company implemented idea; this was great!   :)

Chippsyann you crack me up!  lol  But that was nothing...  Only 3 pages so far...  ;) 

To stop receiving emails just click on "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the thread.

Lucie, wait till you see what's next... (oops, did I say that out load)

"Sorry Rendo"

Just curious ...

For those of us with multiple clone accounts, will this allow us to combine marketplace purchases from three accounts into one?

Quote -
"There are also allegations that Renderosity is staffed by volunteers so Bondware doesn't have to pay employees. "
Just wanted to address this, its not a fact at all:)  We have an office staff (admin) and we are full time paid employees. Lordy my son and I would starve if I went into the office everyday for free, LOL
Wanted to clear that up.

That's what I thought. I'm glad no-one's starving by going into work everyday. lol :-)

Where do people come up with ideas like this? ;)

You know JHoagland I really don't know. Its kind of amusing sometimes but somebody is very misinformed:)

Deecey,  I will have to check but I don't think we can "merge" different usernames together like that.  I'll ask tomorrow and let you know for sure, k?

great Stacey - could you also let me know?
thx a mil!!

i seem to remember lots and lots and lots of people shouting out 

"you can't make rendo change their minds about something by bringing it to the forums"

or words to that effect. it seems those who said it were wrong, god i feel so smug right now.

while i can't say i agree with a charge for changing a user name i will say well done for listening and acting on the concerns of the members over it. i've been in and out of business most of my life and one thing i learnt was this. you can often make more profit on a thing if you sell by volume. i'd say many more will avail of the 10 dollar charge than the 25 dollar charge....someone has a good business head on them in the admin lol.

again. ..WELL DONE rendo and members

billy

ps. heres a thought......i take it you won't be taking on extra staff, if so that means no extra overheads so when you say the 10 dollars is to cover estimated costs i get confused...(easily done i know) not complaining, it is a business after all.  but if what i say is the case and you aren't actually forking out 10 bucks to make a name change why not use a portion of the charge to start up the charity scheme thats being discussed in the cahrity thread....even 1 dollar of it would nake a difference. like i say...it's just a thought. if i'm wrong and you do take on extra staff for the job or pay overtime for existing staff to do it please accept my apologies

Sure Artemis:)

Billy, I'll keep your suggestion in mind while we discuss the donation thing.  Thanks:)

Now you guys all know why I don't do anything here but use the marketplace (and I've been a member since 2002)...and I've been hearing things in the last six months or so that are making me think twice about that association. If this place is so messed up, code-wise, that you have to resort to this foolishness, you need my services as a programmer. I've been a db admin for six years and worked with php websites for about 4 years. I work freelance and will happily present my requirements in terms of time and pay after I have gotten a look at the structural documentation for what you have now. Oh, and btw. Some of you might have seen me around other places. My user name is usually... Neferset

Hi Chippsyann,

No worries. It was a honest and obviously thought provoking question.

(Good thing I keep my flame-retardant suit handy for such festive occasions! ;-)

OK, just want to get something straight here, at least the way that I understand it.

It has been stated by staff members here about all the FREE stuff available at Renderosity.

These FREE services (galleries, forums, blogs, etc...) are at LEAST partially designed to draw people to the site and advertise products. WE are doing work for THEM and the vendors. Maybe the staff members at Renderosity need to be reminded of that.

Also, as far as the over 13,000 free items... Renderosity does not host them. Renderosity provides LINKS to free items, not the items themselves and a vast majority of those free items are produced by the community members, NOT RENDEROSITY. We as a community are providing most of the free items that Renderosity is taking the credit for.

I find that extremely insulting and very misrepresentative of the situation. Taking credit for other peoples work, shame on you!

If I am wrong in my understanding of this... please correct me, but provide FACTS.