*Those dogs are so.......well the word ugly doesn't even begin to accurately describe it.
*They look like something that isn't meant to sustain life!!!  I feel kind of bad for them :(

Quote - Did it ever occur to you that it may be because they happen to care about the 3D/CG hobbyist community, and would like to see it survive for longer than it would otherwise take to drown in a morass of medicrity and self-generating drama?

I just don't see what you see.  From my point of view, this is a business which is growing by leaps & bounds -- and which has been steadily increasing its success over time.  The 'drama' part has been mitigated somewhat through the elimination of free-for-all forums, together with judicious enforcement of the TOS by a top-notch moderating staff.  Of course: you'll always have those types who'll yipe whenever they feel that their toe has been stepped on.  But such are the hazards of any job where one deals with the public on a regular basis.  Someone will always be unhappy about something, somewhere.  Ya just can't please them all......so you please the most that you can.  And you run a business in so doing.  Not an ideology.

As for "corporate brown nosing" -- it isn't "brown nosing" when one is being truthful in one's statements.  The term "brown nosing" implies that there's some sort of a self-serving hidden agenda.  True brown nosers are also cowards by nature  (And some of us ain't that -- we might be a lot of things, but we ain't that. ).  We just happen to actually be in agreement with this website and with this administration: as astonishing as that sounds to some ears.  And we are not agreeing with them from some nefarious ulterior motive.  We agree because we think that they've actually done things right.......and because we believe that's why this website is as successful as it is.  Not because somebody is being a "brown noser".

Besides -- why should I squander my time in viciously attacking people that I support?  What would doing that prove?  What possible virtue would be found in constantly, incessantly, and obsessively assaulting my own team?  What good would that type of behavior do either for me or for them?  In a word: none.

But in the minds of some: it would appear that this website has done nothing positive, and has achieved nothing positive.  By contrast, when I look around here I see a HUGE amount of positive.  And it isn't "brown nosing" to point that fact out.

I don't see it as being my self-appointed "job" to "keep 'em honest": as "honesty" is defined by my own lights.   Rather -- I see it as my job to work, to help out where and as I can -- and to offer my support when it's needed.  Because that's how things get built.  A structure is not built by standing off-site and throwing rocks at the construction workers in an attempt to.......accomplish what exactly?????  I suppose just to feel like one is a part of the action, and that one has some measure of control over what's happening.  If you aren't actually in charge: then you always have the option of trying to disrupt things in an attempt to be made to feel like you're in control.

The admins here listen, and respond to the community's desires.  I've seen many examples of this in action.  But the admins don't follow lock-step marching orders handed out to them by a few. > Quote - If I didn't care, I wouldn't bother. I'd happily sit back and watch as the place slowly drowned in its own hubris.

As I haven't seen that happening: it's not an issue that concerns me.

BTW -- I don't agree with your characterization of "Cyber-sisters" -- for one thing it's the wrong gender (in some cases) -- and for another: some of us only represent cabals of one.  Although if others happen to agree with us along the way, then that's fine.

((Besides: the "Cyber-sisters" might be right about what they're saying -- it's a remote possibility.  Anyway, it's something to think about. ))

Those who care about and support this site -- will support this site.  That's a strange concept, I know.  But it's a construct with a certain odd logic all its own.

My cat's breath smells of cat food.

Quote - So, you go from one extreme to another? From kicking the self righteous to being one?

Just explaining my position on the matter - nothing more, nothing less. > Quote - I seriously doubt that rendo will screw up so badly to drive away it's customer base. I don't get the vibe it's run by stupid people.

Former: the current base? In fits and starts if they ever get back to doing some of the stunts they pulled in, say 2002-2003. Future base? Depends on what they want: artists or consumers. Latter: Stupid? No. Lacking strategic foresight? Probably. Turning CG Hobbydom into one great big flea market in the name of profit? Certainly. Those are the vibes one cannot help but notice. > Quote - But even if it self destructs (which IMO is yet another extreme that has a very miniscule chance of happening), someone else business savvy will jump in and create another place just like it. Heck, there are already places a lot like it... RDNA, 3d commune and few others.

No, I don't fortell any explosions; just a long, slow, lingering death that threatens to drag 3D hobbyists right along with 'em. Of course, this doesn't include the risks of angering the wrong people with regards to copyright... After all, Rendo's a nice, fat lawsuit target for at least half a dozen celebrities and/or corporations if their managers happen to notice the eerily-close likenesses of a large number of items up for sale in the RMP. (...so is DAZ, but they don't present as easy of a target). Other sites? Sure - DAZ owns the freest one around, PoserPros. OTOH, The politics and drama that spawned PP is not likely to attract as much. DAZ itself is a store with forums. RDNA is a store with forums. 3DCommune is basically a protest site from the days of Grey and Willow. Renderotica is by necessity kinda limited in the folks they attract and keep. Rendo is a store that once was a community, and to this day pretends to carry one as its top priority. HTH, /P

Quote - And you run a business in so doing.  Not an ideology.

If they're a business, why do they make pretense at being a community? Conversely, why should a business not have at least some sort of ideological compass? Google does okay with one ("Don't Be Evil") and it hasn't hurt them any. > Quote - Besides -- why should I squander my time in viciously attacking...

Oh, while we're at it, let's stop that thought for a moment. You do remember what all you were doing over at PPros' Chicken Coop all that time, right? Not an accusation, just injecting perspective. > Quote - I don't see it as being my self-appointed "job" to "keep 'em honest"

You enjoy being lied to and ripped off when/as it occurs, then. If Rendo, is --by your own statement-- truly a business, what gives them any of the special dispensations that one would normally allow for individuals, let alone communities? > Quote - The admins here listen, and respond to the community's desires. 

...so long as it doesn't embarrass them too greatly, or show where they've blatantly hosed things up, that is. You've seen an outright admission by a mod that they edit individuals' posts. I've seen posts and entire threads evaporated that concerned serious issues that were never addressed... no, not petty bickering, and not "imagined" concerns, but base violations of business ethics. Little wonder that the relative newbies about the place can naively state that there's nothing wrong, eh? See No Evil... and all that. ;) /P

Quote - My cat's breath smells of cat food.

Bad kitty ;)

Yes, I remember the good 'ol Chicken Coop.  And I eventually came to the belated conclusion that there were much better and more productive ways for me to be spending my time.  I haven't been a regular there for a very long period, in Poserdom years.  Endlessly arguing the same points over and over again just lost its appeal.  It can devolve into to a sort of Möbius-like trap for the unwary.  Like Sisyphus and his stone. 

Since when do businesses receive dispensations any the less than individuals or communities?  The Poser software program itself derives from a business.  And yet an entire flourishing community has grown up around that business -- a community of which (by your own tacit admission) Renderosity is a very large part.

You know -- I've never understood the purist line of thought regarding 'businesses vs. communities'.  That is to say -- the line of thought which seems to accept as revealed truth that somehow the primal artistic purity of a given website is automatically and irretrievably corrupted by the activity of running a store.  Ignoring, of course, the simple fact that a website such as the one that Renderosity has grown into would be impossible without the existence of the commercial side.

Even Michelangelo had to have patrons.  He couldn't have done what he did without their support.  It's tough to paint & sculpt while starving.  Or at least it's very uncomfortable.  However -- the extreme volume of bandwidth which a website like Renderosity sustains would be absolutely impossible to maintain without some sort of financial underpinning coming from somewhere.  And it needs to be a pretty successful financial underpinning at that.  In the absence of any billionaire 3D patrons who would be willing to run a website like this as a public charity: Renderosity has its own highly successful store.  And thank goodness that they do: because without it both I and others wouldn't have this community to enjoy.

BTW - I don't feel "lied to", because I haven't been.  Nor have I been "ripped off".  I have, however, been well-supplied with tons of products, reams of freestuff -- and most of all -- a gigantic supply of information which would have all been sadly missing without Rendo's being there to supply it.  I've gotten real value for the money that I've spent here......and that isn't being ripped off............

Well, it's late here.

There is no pretense.  Just a lot of advantages free for the taking, and open to everyone.

I.......just can't seem to see the downside to a deal like that.  But I suppose that some wouldn't be happy in paradise.

The Ginger Ninja went from this...

Ohhhh he's so cute!
I'm gonna have to dig through my shots now... waitaminute...

Grand!

Yeah. Not so grand last night when one of them shat in the pot-plant :sneaky:

Hey, Sam! Ginger Ninja looks a lot like my Georgie! Beautiful guy, you have there. And just a little more on-topic. This is my second incarnation here, having brain-zapped the login for the ancient one, and a personal cleanup of screen personas. If and when I feel short-changed or ruffled by a site or a store, it goes in email, not public foot stomping. There have been a few battles lost, but them's the breaks. No sense in looking like a jerk in public to add to the financial loss. And since when are people who work at a site required to be infallible in everyone's eyes?

Quote - Yeah. Not so grand last night when one of them shat in the pot-plant :sneaky:

:lol:

Remember, it unporting to make someone laugh when they are sitting at their computer, drinking tea.

And since when are people who work at a site required to be infallible in everyone's eyes?

I think that's just a general customer-service-perception thing.

Having worked in customer service for 15 years, I can tell you that you get treated like a cypher by the majority of customers.
Yeah, mister, I know you're angry about whatever went wrong, but I didn't personally steal your phone/delay your order/cause your washing machine to break down/burn out your hard drive, so I'd appreciate not being called a useless tosser before I've even asked you what the problem is :rolleyes:

It's always amazed me how people are willing to sit on the other end of the phone line and curse you out and even make death threats (oh yeah, believe me) yet don't stop to think "Hmm. This person can see all my account details, including my full address and credit card number. Maybe it's not the wisest thing to call her a stupid mare and tell her I'm going to find out where she lives..."

Quote - Hey, Sam! Ginger Ninja looks a lot like my Georgie! Beautiful guy, you have there. And just a little more on-topic. This is my second incarnation here, having brain-zapped the login for the ancient one, and a personal cleanup of screen personas. If and when I feel short-changed or ruffled by a site or a store, it goes in email, not public foot stomping. There have been a few battles lost, but them's the breaks. No sense in looking like a jerk in public to add to the financial loss. And since when are people who work at a site required to be infallible in everyone's eyes?

His real name's Toffee but Ginger Ninja is one of his more repeatable nicknames. :)

I've never changed my user name, but then, I tend to behave myself here.  Other places, well, I've acted like a complete prat at times, which indicates I probably am. :)

Sorry Paul :m_laugh:

"Yeah. Not so grand last night when one of them shat in the pot-plant"

We've all done that after a few beers. Or is that just me? :blink:

Quote - Yeah. Not so grand last night when one of them shat in the pot-plant :sneaky:

Oh, man! And they thought you'd redecorated the kitty box! At least it wasn't your pillow... or the chair at the computer... lee..taking notes: pee in shower.. poop in potted plants...

I think i'm heading back to the civilized world of the photography forum. You 3D bunch are nutters with very weird ideas about human bodily functions! :blink: :lol:

Well, when they wheel in the cat pics the thread's generally f**ked anyway. It's called "forum etiquette" around here. Uncomfortable subjects are either vanished or reduced to crap. It seems to work.

Hey, works for me.  I issued a general request for cat pics back several posts ago.  Glad to see 'em.

@Sam -- you be da man.  If you've got some sod for the garden that the cats haven't been using: then please share.  And please keep in mind that cleaning out the cat litter is a dirty job, but that somebody's got to do it.  As for 'catching the drift' -- I happen to be a firm believer in topic drift.  It's just the medicine which is needed to cure forum ills.  Thanks for the cats. 

Ya know, when I was a kid I always used to wonder what those squishy little things that I regularly found buried in the sandbox were.  They were a little damp, and they'd mush between your fingers.  Strange.  Where'd they come from?

Xeno - most of the garden has been turned over to growing veggies.  Me missis - AKA PurpleJelly here - has become a Horticultural Fiend.  As for the Ginger Ninja, his grass sod activities are restricted to eating the stuff.   You're welcome to stop by and dig a bit up, though.  Might want to help yourself to some onions while you're at it.  They're very, very strong.

Quote - Ya know, when I was a kid I always used to wonder what those squishy little things that I regularly found buried in the sandbox were.  They were a little damp, and they'd mush between your fingers.  Strange.  Where'd they come from?

Why, that was Kitty Roca! As any dog will tell you: an epicurian delight! gak

Well, I'd have to hop a plane and spend several hours flight time in order to reach your location.  So I'll have to take a pass on that invitation.  But thanks for offering.

The wild onions are plenty strong where I live -- particularly in the Spring and early Fall.  A freshly mown lawn smells like hamburger.  I don't even have to cultivate them.  They just grow on their own.

Perhaps the neighborhood cats have something to do with that..........

Quote - Why, that was Kitty Roca! As any dog will tell you: an epicurian delight! gak

The dogs that I've known call them "chocolates".  Tasty stuff.  It's gotta be -- the way that they'd scarf it up.

Hey nruddock! Thanks for FlameWarriors. That's a priceless recap of forum ecology.  I recognize myself in several roles. None of them good.

Awww, kitties and gardening, just my kind of stuff...  Love you guys and gals, mwah :)

Quote - > Quote - My cat's breath smells of cat food.

 

Bad kitty ;)

I just thank goodness that nobody noticed that the quote is probably copyright Fox TV 2004. It's something Ralph Wiggum said when he got himself into a position where he had to make small talk.

ot the line from Friends...
smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you.

As the great McGonagall once enquired:

Why stinks that goat
on yonder hill
which seems to dote
on chlorophyll?

Snicker................KCFPOTC

Quote - Snicker................KCFPOTC

Ummm, okay:

Kentucky Chicken Fried Protects Our Tedious Childishness?

good guess but no cigar :)

Well it's 2:30 in the morning here, I'm off to bed but here's one for you:

YACESD

I'll give you a clue, the E stands for eat. Have a nice day.

KCFPOTC : Karen's cat finds perfect origin to crap?

YACESD : Yoda and Chewbacca EAT some doughnuts?

AIDY??

"ain't it dead yet?"

That's one scary bunny.

It's General Woundwort! Run for your lives!

Someone please lock this thread.

Someone please lock this thread.

...because?

Yes, Karen, DON'T lock the thread. It is usefully letting off a lot of steam that would show up elsewhere.

This thread has been going for DAYS & PAGES n PAGES!!  We haven't had a thread with no mud slinging and negativity go this long in ages!!! 

Keep this thread open!!!  Keep it free!!!!  Keeping it real!!!!

That bunny pic ROX!!!  The best though (IMHO) is pjz99 pic on the first page!!!

Happy Sunday ya'll!!!!

Gerard

Quote - This thread has been going for DAYS & PAGES n PAGES!!  We haven't had a thread with no mud slinging and negativity go this long in ages!!! 

Shut yer festerin' gob. 

""YACESD

I'll give you a clue, the E stands for eat. Have a nice day.""

I know I know

You all can EAT s*** die?  should be AND die.  

Second on my list of favorites right under diaf.

Quote - Yes, Karen, DON'T lock the thread. It is usefully letting off a lot of steam that would show up elsewhere.

We said the same thing about the old C&D froum before they closed it. No one listened.