First there were 3 pages of items, now at least half of the items are gone, the items were free, now it costs you $5.00 to get them. What's going on?

Coldrake

I will let the staff answer these questions for you.  Sorry for any inconvience.  Sharen

Apparently according to the news story, it's always been where you have to spend $5.00 to get access to the links:

http://www.renderosity.com/news.php?viewStory=14272

A very nice piece of switch and bait. Nothing was said about the $5 in the news letter I receiced.

I just picked up some nice goodies without the $5.00 cover.  Maybe that's why the system was slow this afternoon. 

Our products have been pulled from the promotion but if you still want them are available on our website now and in regular freebies in a day or so.

From what I read on another forum, earlier all was well. Had three pages of goodies to browse, now, only two plus the surcharge.

aaand there's the trick.

Quote - aaand there's the trick.

LOLOLOLOL.

I think it was wrong that many people got them free (without the $5.00 minimum) and now those of us who were not on at that time, have to make a purchase. I will not be paying the $5.00, so I will not get the freebies, because I think this is wrong. If some of them got them free, then all of us should get them free.

Hoo boy! I can see this is gonna be fun ... NOT!

all good things come to those who wait..;) I'll see what's there come 11/1...;)

Sorry, but this stinks.  This absolutely feels like bait and switch,.  I was busily putting things in my cart, but since it said they'd be available till the end of the month, I didn't finish and check out yet.

Now, I come back and find I have to spend $5 to get the same things I could have gotten free a few hours ago.

And some of these things have been removed, and will not be put back up till next week, when you have to spend another $5  ?????

I sure hope Renderosity fixes this, because it is leaving a TERRIBLE taste in my mouth.

Are they going to ask the kids to pay for the candy come Halloween?

You will also want to check the regular freebie section in a day or so. I know some products will not return at all and will be available for free now.

Thanks Khory! I think everyone who submitted their freebies for this should do the same thing. It's honorable and will get the foul taste out of a lot of people's mouths over this nonsense.

Yes, I agree with you, LostinSpaceman!  At least one vendor is already doing so...

Thanks, Khory.

Wouldn`t it be nice for Rendo to come on and explain the thinking behind this?

Quote - ... explain the thinking behind this?

Trying to be as good as DAZ at marketing promotions perhaps ?
Wanting to get the forums buzzing with outrage over a badly explained promotion ?
:tt2:

Quote - Apparently according to the news story, it's always been where you have to spend $5.00 to get access to the links:

http://www.renderosity.com/news.php?viewStory=14272

Not so. forum.daz3d.com/postimages/origimage_1_1498967.jpg

Coldrake

I'm not happy about this at all and I did not sign up to submit a free pack only to find people being charged for them.  I have requested that my submissions be removed as soon as the admins get into the office and can do so.

My intention was that these would be a free download for the whole community and not just those that had the wherewithal or inclination to spend a minimum of $5.

I have moved my offerings onto my Blog so if you still want them just follow the link in my signature and scroll down the main page a ways.  Other 2D goodies are available as well that may be of some use to you!

Mine is now at ShareCG - Frankie for Sadie - Free as it was supposed to be.

At the risk of flying in the face of the tempest...

Yes, Rsity didnt handle this as well as they could have: if they were going to require a five dollar purchase, they should have thought of that in the beginning.

Now, having said that...

Folks, we're talking about a five dollar purchase for something else, then all the freebies you can eat. Let me underscore that: five bucks. We come to this site everyday -- for free. We go stomping through the freebie sections looking for downloads -- for free. If this site is like any other business out there right now, it's probably hurting financially; I dont know anyone who isnt, frankly.

I never saw the newsletter that made these all free, so I didnt miss anything in that regard. And I dont mind shelling out a lousy five dollars on something I'd probably buy anyway -- the Halloween freebies just closed the deal.

So bottom line: yeah, they could have handled this better. But after hanging around this place for as long as I have, maybe I'm just used to it now, and it's no longer a big deal.

Yes, it would be nice if someone came along and explained what they were doing, but to what end: so we can beat them up a bit more? Rosity always opens mouth and inserts foot around October/November -- they have for years, and they probably will for years to come. If nothing else, the entertainment value is worth far more than five bucks.

Just my 0.02.

Quote - At the risk of flying in the face of the tempest...

Yes, Rsity didnt handle this as well as they could have: if they were going to require a five dollar purchase, they should have thought of that in the beginning.

Now, having said that...

Folks, we're talking about a five dollar purchase for something else, then all the freebies you can eat. Let me underscore that: five bucks. We come to this site everyday -- for free. We go stomping through the freebie sections looking for downloads -- for free. If this site is like any other business out there right now, it's probably hurting financially; I dont know anyone who isnt, frankly.

I never saw the newsletter that made these all free, so I didnt miss anything in that regard. And I dont mind shelling out a lousy five dollars on something I'd probably buy anyway -- the Halloween freebies just closed the deal.

So bottom line: yeah, they could have handled this better. But after hanging around this place for as long as I have, maybe I'm just used to it now, and it's no longer a big deal.

Yes, it would be nice if someone came along and explained what they were doing, but to what end: so we can beat them up a bit more? Rosity always opens mouth and inserts foot around October/November -- they have for years, and they probably will for years to come. If nothing else, the entertainment value is worth far more than five bucks.

Just my 0.02.

I hear you,  although for someone who wasn't going to spend any money right now??  Besides it might be "five bucks" to you but some of us have exchange rates to consider as well.   I agree though that they didn't go about it right.  Originally it was free.  Not cool.

That's all well and good Sean and I do appreciate what you are saying.  Although it is a $10 fee because more items will be released next week and undoubtedly there will be a $5 minimum spend to get those too.

The problem is it wasn't touted this way in the beginning and I was led to believe that the free items I submitted would be completely free and then the goalposts got moved and they no longer are.  This leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.

To be honest, if I had known there would be a minimum purchase to get access to the freebies then personally I would not have participated but would have done a genuine freebie through the freebie section here.

Sean, you're missing the point - the providers of the freebies themselves were not aware of the 5 buck surcharge, so it's unlikely it was part of the original plan. It seems like the surcharge was an afterthought when the servers took such a big hit (but if it was the plan - then the merchants have every right to get angry).

I grabbed a cart-load last night and there was no charge. I'm dreading looking in my order history now in case they've been removed.

The freebie section attracts customers to Rendo - the download bandwidth is handled off-site from what I can tell. We as site visitors don't owe Rendo anything for that service, or what we do owe we pay for with site visits and clicks. Only the freebie creators deserve any real credit.

Anyway, Thanks to all the merchants who chipped in on this - some great stuff to play with and sample. Hope this 5 buck "trick" hasn't spoiled the fun for others.

Cheers

I just thought it would be good manners for someone from Rosity to post here. it was still a good deal but handled so badly it no longer seems like one. They certainly seem to have upset some of the vendors who were good enough to put stuff up. I actually spent more than $5 but Im happy enough with my purchase, although I had no intention of buying anything. If more things are added later, have I got to buy again? I tried to get onto the site yesterday during the feeding frenzy but only got as far as the first page so I dont know what I missed, and thats annoying LOL. Did some members get stuff for free. thats not fair. Rosity should send some big blokes round to get the $5 off `em. (Only kidding)

Quote - I just thought it would be good manners for someone from Rosity to post here.

Considering the topic, expecting good manners is probably a bit much. 

>> Sean, you're missing the point - the providers of the freebies themselves were not aware of the 5 buck surcharge, so it's unlikely it was part of the original plan

Not missing the point at all. Again, I've been here a long time, so trust me when I tell you I've seen countless disconnects between the merchants and management here. This one doesnt surprise me at all, so I have no problem with five bucks.

As for the Halloween freebies here, there's not a whole lot I'm all that interested in, but I'd certainly pay five bucks just for the Psycho House. There's a lot of high quality stuff there, guys. It's worth the minimal expense. IMHO.

And please: again, we're talking about five bucks here. Times may be tight, but I'd be willing to bet that the overwhelming majority of people on this site have thrown away far more on far less outside of this place. So let's get the outrage out of the way and just see it for the annual Rosity screw-up that it is. Apparently the policy has been changed yet again so now it's all free once more, with no cover charge (Is that correct? That's what an earlier poster wrote).

Forgive me if I sound cold about this, but I have a pretty good idea of how much it costs to run an ever-expanding site like this. More servers to handle more users and more uploaded images and freebies -- it adds up, folks. Someone has to pay for it. That's why even though I may have personal issues with all of the sites I frequent, I try to buy something from each of them every month, just so I can pay my share of keeping this place going. And we're not talking about a serious investment -- there always seems to be something well within my like-everyone-else-a-constantly-strapped budget. Sometimes I'll splurge, sure, for something I really, really want from a favourite vendor, but that's rare. But the minimal monthly expense is like a cheap ticket to the movies or the very-occasional drive-thru at Burger King, something that's all enjoyment with as lminimal impact on my finances as I can permit.

So bottom line, and then I'll leave the thread: yes, Rosity screwed up by not making this policy upfront at first. But the amusement factor alone makes it worthwhile.

Not looking to cause any disruption. Just raising the point.

I dunno, I think it'd be kind of a dirty deal if someone approached me and asked me to submit free stuff for something like this, and then turned around and charged people five bucks for it.  In fact my copyright constraints explicitly forbid this.  It may be that Rendo needs to take a look at the copyright restrictions on every item they're selling this way (pretty obviously, if you have to pay five bucks to get it then it's not free).

Great job rendo

Really nice bait and switch rendo.

Quote - I dunno, I think it'd be kind of a dirty deal if someone approached me and asked me to submit free stuff for something like this, and then turned around and charged people five bucks for it.  In fact my copyright constraints explicitly forbid this.  It may be that Rendo needs to take a look at the copyright restrictions on every item they're selling this way (pretty obviously, if you have to pay five bucks to get it then it's not free).

True enough. But then Rosity could say, "Hey, we're not charging for the freebies themselves! Those are still free!" LOL

Undoubtedly they will as well roll

On a completely different note, I found a really great random article at Wikipedia that has absolutely nothing to do with this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel_word

Lots of threads and not 1 reply from any rendo staff?? wow.  Guess trying to make an easy 5 bucks is more important than tons of members being very upset with the "trick" that was played.

i GOT THE STUFF YESTERDAY ALL FOR FREE HERE- i GUESS THAT WAS THE TREAT......NOW TODAY IT IS DIFFERENT...IS THAT THE TRICK???? LOL

I just wanted to post to let you guys know, we're aware of the situation on the site end of it, but have no power over it.  I know it sounds like I'm telling you to get the topic off of my forum, but I'm not...it's just that there's nothing I can do about it.  There's a thread going on in the Community Center forum right now, as well as in the Marketplace Customer Support.  The Marketplace staff and Admin are more likely to hear your voices there than they are over here.

Jeni

Damn, I really wanted the Sams3d stuff - it's all very well saying you can't have the freestuff unless you pay, but I can't afford $5 just now... I'm saving up to buy M4 complete, hopefully next week :)

The site was so busy last night I thought I'd check out in the morning - bad decision!

Hello all,

 We are working on a solution to the Trick or Treat give-a-way as I type.

Please hold tight and we will be posting a resolve soon that will be beneficial to all.

Thank you
Stacey

Quote - Hello all,

 We are working on a solution to the Trick or Treat give-a-way as I type.

Please hold tight and we will be posting a resolve soon that will be beneficial to all.

Stacey, with all due respect, the resolution is a simple one: admit you screwed up and reimburse people their five bucks. That's really not so difficult.

If paying $5 had been a condition of downloading the free items from the beginning, fair enough. But to let some people have them free and then charge everyone else - especially when it was extremely difficult to use the site because it was overloaded - that's simply not fair to anyone.

I have never posted in these forums, but I have one thing to say, if you have to buy something to get the free items, then SOMEONE is making a profit off of the freebies, therefore, its the same as selling someones FILES, which is against EVERYONE's TOU no different than me selling my character and giving you V4 for free

For those who wanted my freebies, I've set them up at MediaFire.
http://www.mediafire.com/?dnlizzzwmtu

Please enjoy them as intended...

Please see the information posted in the Front Page article link below regarding the Trick or Treat event.

http://www.renderosity.com/news.php?viewStory=14285

Thank you

Stacey

"Not missing the point at all. Again, I've been here a long time, so trust me when I tell you I've seen countless disconnects between the merchants and management here. This one doesnt surprise me at all, so I have no problem with five bucks."

Let show you my side of it. Pretend for a moment we are in the real world. My partner and I spent about 5 very long days working on the freebies for this promotion. Day off we show up with our goodies and someone puts us and 40 other people in a fairly small room together. The doors open! The crowed swarms in! People run amok! Ok, mostly they grab what they see and go to the check out. Its tight in there, reaaaaly tight. There is a que out the door a mile long. A couple of hundred people take what is at its very core a free advertisement as much as gift. But better than a bad pen it can actually be used! About 7 pm after a long and exciting day we hear a rumble. It grows and then we hear we that from now on when we give someone something we need to say "Please take my free (advertising)  product and when you get to the line you will need to buy $5 worth of something in order to accept it". We look at the now much shorter line. We listen to a couple of people at the counter get peved because items are removed from their hands as they are standing there. We see the looks on their faces when they suddenly find out our freebies are not free as such.  Then we pack up our toys and go stand out side to give them away.

Your right in many respects. Being able to get so many things for $5 isn't much.  Most of us would be more than happy to pay $5 to get into the barganata of little trinkets and carry away as much as we could haul out with us. Especially since you actually get something in return for that $5 not just in the venue door. But how it was done and when it was done was unfair to people. And more over I spent my time and my energy to make products. I wanted those in as many happy hands as wanted to take them. We are end of day a business. I admit that in part the reason we do free things is to draw customers. It's not the only reason of course. It is important that we are making someones day by giving them something. These are a perfect example. I included some velvets in them because I knew someone was itching to have them.

Doing freebies for vendors is generally a win/win. We get to give to people and at the same time we get a little bit of advertising good will. Having people pay a surcharge out of the blue first cuts down the number of people who get the free advertising and second took the fun out of giving someone a gift. That is a lose/lose. Not only were my hours of work going to turn someone else a profit my warm fuzzy feeling got stolen!

Thanks to the staff for addressing the issue and coming up with a three-quarters decent response. and for admitting it was a mistake.

I'm still hoping that it can be worked out so that we can have freebies in the RMP - I love that idea.

I just got the word that things are being fixed.  My freebies and all whom want will return to you soon.  Sorry again for all the sorrowful things said.  Glad to have Renderosity step up to the plate and fix this.  Also the charge was not our idea.  Sharen

FYI,

The new article is up with the freebies

http://www.renderosity.com:80/news.php?viewStory=14272

Enjoy!!

Stacey..mine have not been placed there as requested. Can you check on that?

Thanks,
zai

The thing is........IT SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IN THE FIRST PLACE.

If server issues were a problem then a note on the pages saying 'be patient...due to the overwhelming responses the system is clogged.  Please try again shortly'    or something to that effect.

I run a 'real life' business and we often do promotional freebie kind of things but it would be professional suicide to say  'well hang on the demand is huge so you can only have it free if you spend $x.'

What Rendo did was extremely unprofessional and prob did a lot of harm. 
If I had been one of the vendors involved, I'd be looking elsewhere as an outlet for ALL my stuff after that.  Theres plenty of places out there .........DAZ in particular if you want a 'big' selling place and lots of other little 'boutique' stores as well.  And they offer a much more professional service too!!

Quote - Stacey..mine have not been placed there as requested. Can you check on that?

Thanks,
zai

I sure will. I'll get with Debbie right now to find out. I know she got them uploaded to the ftp as I was sitting there with her when she did it so I'm not sure what happened but we will get them up there asap.

Thanks

Stacey