Attached Link: The New Content Paradise: An Introduction

Doesn't matter how they make it look. Hope you sell your items here because I will never shop there again.

Quote - Doesn't matter how they make it look. Hope you sell your items here because I will never shop there again.

Agreed.  I would add that I hadn't bought anything there in quite some time ... before they took their irrelevant CP site and made it painful to navigate.

I must admit that I do not understand the SM business model.  They have some decent figures in the G2 series (although why they felt the need for 3 different - race specific - males, I'll never know - someone should show the suits what can be done with morphs and textures), yet they cannot be bothered to create minimally useful morph sets for them.  This severely limits their potential.

Klebnor

I was a CP customer for years, but do to the changes, I will never go back there.  CP was ho-hum before, BUT I could find things AND log in!

Now I can do neither. CP now sucks.

Now we need a manual on how to use a website? That's well, how can I put it... pathetic. I've been surfing the web since 1995 and I don't recall ever seeing a manual on how to use a website before. If you need a manual on how to use a website, then something is clearly wrong with the website.

Whatever SM has done to CP has only been in there own interest. It was never done with the customer in mind. A website should make sense from just looking at it. I don't want to spent more then 1 minute figuring out how it works, if it takes more then that, then I'm gone. If I can't find what I'm looking for quickly, then I'll go somewhere else. If I do select toon at CP, I do expect to find all toon items, not only 11 of them. Also not being able to seperate the 2D stuff from the 3D items is bad. If I browse for new items, I don't need 2D stuff, only 3D stuff. Even more so, I only want to browse through new Poser releases, not the rest. SM has gone all the way to make my shopping experience very unpleasant, to a point where I don't want to go there anymore.

Almost everything that SM has done to the website is not logic. You can defend them all you want to, but writing this article shows that they've done something that doesn't make sense to the average Joe and not even the below and beyond average Joe.

Websites need to make sense from the customers point of view, not from the web designers point of view. But we must give SM credit for one thing..... they know how to scare customers away.

What vendors really should start doing is selling their stuff elsewhere in places where the customers want to go and where the shopping experience is pleasant and where the website owners are willing to interact with their customers.

Attached Link: http://instantrimshot.com/

see linked big red button.

:-)

(Now I still don't know how to use that website, they should write a manual on how to use the manual.....)

That's two 3d stores that had been converted to something that I like even less. Though, to be fair, RDNA's is growing on me, and the site is at least functional.

I'm not going to join the people saying "Oh I'm just not going to buy anything at CP anymore" because I might still buy things there. Defaulting to adding the "Extended Download Service" into the cart when wanting to download just a freebie, however, is a bit of poor moral practice. c.c

I won't be buying much of anything there if the vendor has their own store.  Another vendor and I where thinking of partnering and selling there but now with the changes there we think we will stick to our original plan and sell someplace else.

I'm afraid I come down on the side of those who say, it's not worth the time or the bother if I need a manual just to navigate the site.

Thats poor web design and really poor way to run a web business 101 in all honesty.

Guess someone forgot to loan them the book "Don't Make Me Think!" by Steve Krug. Oh well, the site is pretty obvious in violation of the common sense approach to web usability. Sigh. I can't say I won't shop there again but I guess I could say,perhaps, it will grow on me???  :unsure:

There are a growing number of brokerages, and each usually have some special value. But I would like to suggest something similar to visiting your local farmer's market - you support the industry itself when you buy direct.

I think there are still good reasons to buy from CP - but it has changed so much that it will put off a lot of customers who bought from CP before.

All brokerages provide some special value to both the customer and the vendor, but there's a cost that goes with it. Many brokerages take half or more of each sale, or have some sort of onerous condition if you don't sell exclusively through them. I think its important for vendors to provide additional "direct" value as well so there's good reason to buy direct.

In our case - we sell our "complete editions" direct only, or through sister division Mirye. A complete edition includes all publicly released models in a set, plus a "bonus " model. And there's usually a savings on top of that. too when you add up the comparable individual cost. For example, we released Egyptian Village Volume 2, and if you want the Pyramid at Giza, the only way to get it is in the set.

So Id like to suggest the following - as a customer you should expect more from a direct purchase - but at the same time - purchase direct if you can.

I helped set up Content Creator's Guild so that independent vendors wouldn't be so beholden to the brokerages for promotion. I just wish more would make use of it, because posting new products is free.

I do purchase direct when possible, however, due to security concerns I never deal with paypal.  I like your stuff - but I loathe your e-payment vendor.

Klebnor mit sicherheit

aw man this will be the THIRD time this week  we all  turned into  a wild pitchfork wielding mob about CP!

...........BUT HERE GOES !

They should get out of the e-commerce business!
I Hate them !!!!!!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Felt good.

They won't let  me log in, so THEY do NOT want me back as a returning customer!  If ANY company wants me to buy from THEM, they do not shun me, and treat ME like crap!  They act like bastards, they get hated by the people they piss on.

They pissed on me, now I'm pissed off at them.  I hope the roof leaks on their servers and they lose their shirts when they out of business.  Stupidity should not be rewarded.

Joelglaine, calm down. You will need to re-register. That's all. I had to do it. Once you re-register your old username and password, you will find it easier to deal with... Go to the help section or the FAQ section and read the information there.  You might want to clear your old cookies from that site too...

Hope this helps...

they  killed my login   I am NOT going to  reregister.

those FOOLS

I was going to spend a bunch o money  2   nights  ago  and i discovered my login is no good

I am with Joel  Glaine, even though he is gray  and clammy and pasty looking, I am 100% with him.

If you are stupid and careless enough to cut all of your customers  access down, you  should be out of the biz.

BASTARDOS !   IDIOTAS !

I am very calm.  I am not angry at all.  This is more like a tired hate.  I'm filled with a disappointed disdain that saps all my anger away.  I'm through with them.  They pushed all there customers over the side, and expect them to climb back onboard the ship.

I'll ride another ship, thank you.  CP has lost a loyal customer.  I know e-commerce. and have practiced it for over a decade now.  They break the rules, they'll pay for it.  I'll just laugh when they do,too,

"Grey"?  Green maybe, but not wet behind the ears! LOLOLOL:laugh:

IF MY ASS WAS ON  FIRE and Content Paradise was the only liscensed dealer of buckets of water,  and there was no legal or illegal  way to get  a GOD DAMN  bucket of water ANYWHERE ELSE -
i STILL would not RE register

I just kicked the SHIT  out of my  DOG, I am so angry !!!!

I REMEmBER THE TIME IN THE RECENT past  they REMOVED  all visible buttons / links to  any  freebies  on  the site.
MY BLOOD IS  BOILING NOW  JUST thinking ABOUT IT !
I am a recovering alcoholic **5 years sober ** but GODAMMIT because of CONTENT PARADISE  I AM GOING TO  POUR A drink RIGHT now    !!!!

*&%$#  MOTHER  &%#$@#  !!!!!!!

JG- yes, pale-ish grey-green...I can  see that, yes.

ahem

While we're ok with you guys venting your frustration, but, if there is a problem, there's nothing anyone can do about it...please contact their support.  It may not be as handy as a forum, but I've had nothing but good support from Ratscloset and starlet in the past, as have many others.

Jeni

Jeni:

You have to admit ...

the ASS ON FIRE thing was pretty good.

Klebnor

We here at Renderosity do not have personal opinions that we are aware of

Well, of all the rants I've read lately I have to put Santicors right up there. I guess if you are going to rant why do it half-assed...so with that in mind...well done Santicor!

Just so you know, I don't condone the CP bashing. You all are getting your panties a little too tight.

Dude, that is more heat, than I've seen outside of the human torch! @__@

I'm just not going to shop there any more.  No sense getting bent out of shape about it.  I suffer from hypertension, so I try to stay cool all the time.  To be blunt, CP isn't worth any consideration any more.  Sad, but true.  Every one can cool off, make an obscene gesture at them if you wish, and get back to life. :laugh:  Life is just weirder than the sum of its parts.

Quote - I do purchase direct when possible, however, due to security concerns I never deal with paypal.  I like your stuff - but I loathe your e-payment vendor.

Klebnor mit sicherheit

We are loading more and more product onto the Mirye Store site, where you can pay using credit cards.

Quote - ahem

While we're ok with you guys venting your frustration, but, if there is a problem, there's nothing anyone can do about it...please contact their support.  It may not be as handy as a forum, but I've had nothing but good support from Ratscloset and starlet in the past, as have many others.

Jeni

I 100% agree. Also, this is sort of a new "1.0" release of the site. Im sure most of bug issues will get worked out as quickly as possible.

Well, my 0.02, for whatever it's worth...

The pop up windows are a little annoying, because they dont seem to respond to the size of my browser window. Unlike others, it seems, I didnt have a problem re-activating my account, and I can fully understand the whole re-registration thing.

My sole complaint about CP is that, well, it's a bit... dull. There are a couple of vendors there whose work I like (and I was relieved to see one of them appear after I thought s/he had left), but on the whole, it's presented in such a way that I just cant get excited enough for the kind of impulse buy these sort of stores demand. The products themselves may be wonderful, I'm sure... but the marketing of them really kinda blows... and not in that special way we all love.

I found the site difficult to navigate (@best) and having to re-register was a nuisance.  However, I decided to give the new site a try, and perhaps even pick up a small item that I meant to get at the old CP.

When I checked out though, I got an unwelcome 'little surprise'.  CP only allows downloads for 30 days and if you want any longer...well, you gotta pay a few more bucks for 2 additional years of protection. 

I know other sites sometimes offer insurance for 3d software backups, but in this economic climate and for this kind of content ???  I admit I am as mystified as everyone else by their current business strategy.

Actually, that appears to have been their policy the whole time. I guess we were just "blessed" that they didn't have the downloads expire back on the old site. I'm not a fan of the fact that the additional download protection thing puts itself in the shopping cart by itself. A bit dirty if all I'm wanting to download is a freebie.

 Since you can register with your old username and password, so as to get the long-term history connection, instead of using the "retro" site (which has a limited life) it's pretty clear to me that they still know who I am.

This isn't about them not being able to transfer the old log-in data.

I wonder if they want to clear out unused accounts and other cruft. They could have done that with a confirmation email system.

As for payment security, I'm not in the USA, and the credit-card business in the UK seems to do quite a few things with much more security. We're not immune to fraud, but there's a couple of routine checks on cardholder-not-present transactions which I rarely see from US sites.

(Paypal? Another US bank operating in the EU, and I wonder if there are cultural issues, on top of any possible faults.)

Smith Micro is the second outfit that has done this sort of thing, making life difficult for customers, in the last six months. In the other case I was flat on my back in hospital over the whole transition period, and when I found out about it I decided this site didn't sell anything I needed anyway.

But since Smith Micro own Poser, I suppose, as a Poser user, I'd be stupid not to sign up.

Quote - but since Smith Micro own Poser, I suppose, as a Poser user, I'd be stupid not to sign up.

What makes you say that? What added benefit is there for a poser user to sign up? We haven't seen any updates since a year now (while Poser Pro and I guess 7 also still needs another service release) and that is a very long time. Poser starts to look like abandoned ware. Beside getting updates, I don't see any reason why a poser user should sign up. Since there haven't been any updates, I don't even see one reason to sign up. So I wonder why a poser user should sign up in your opinion.......

Well, could be because by signing up, we indicate that we want support to continue with a home field advantage. When the best alternative seems to be to sell Poser to someone like DAZ, whose site is getting more repetitive and boring with each passing week, I wouldnt be holding my breath for anything resembling innovation for Poser's future. Frankly, why would DAZ care anyway, since it has Studio up and running along?

As for updates in over a year, SR3 seems to have addressed all of my concerns about P7, aside from the perpetual memory leak (which, truth be told, isnt as bad now as it was with P4). Maybe a major update just isnt necessary? Maybe it means work has indeed started on P8?

I've only ever bought one thing there, and that's only because I couldn't get Miki anywhere else. Doubtful I'll visit with my checkbook again. I'm just too used to shopping all the regular sites.

Laurie

Quote -
What makes you say that? What added benefit is there for a poser user to sign up?...

There is some good free content that you get for owning Poser, such as the G2 male figures and G2 Jessi.

I just sent support a note tho', as some of the First Friday Bazaar items have reverted to normal price early...

What happened to 4th of July Volume 1 @ CP?

SeanMartin sums up the main reason, I think.

If you're going to give up on Content Paradise, make damn sure you have copies of any serial number you may need for on-line purchases.

And if Poser goes into Ozymandias mode (along with Truespace?) it's not going to stop me making pictures. It's a pretty decent tool. with a lot of extras out there.

It's still possible to write a novel with Wordstar, after all.

Greybro is about to speak on it so...ALL HEAR THIS.

THE CP Bashing is really sad because given the location of this thread it comes off in many case like a cry for TPB at Rendo to "please like me". I really tend to just discount what might be valid critic when it comes along with ridiculous little anecdotes and qualifiers like "If they were the last content store on earth etc etc."

Actually I do think they are in serious trouble with the new design. There are MAJOR usability issues and the whole thing was never well thought out or left in any kind of a beta state for testing for nearly long enough.

That said. CP will not be going anywhere anytime soon. Here's why IMHO. While Rendo and other may in fact be bigger and better there exists something of a counter culture within Poser that for whatever reason will rally against the sites that come to be perceived as the establishment. Alternate boutiques allow them a place to spend their poser dollars without having to kowtow to Daz or Rendo in their limited view of things.

Furthermore the merchant experience at CP is really quite excellent. I've been a merchant here for many many years and have never had an item featured in a newsletter. I asked about it and was invited to offer a newsletter freebie which I did (Thanks Deb). I asked the same question over at CP and have had something featured, like top of graphic kind of feature, in almost every newsletter since I've been a merchant there. It's a numbers game obviously and being a merchant in a smaller marketplace has its perks.

As for how I spend my Poser money, it goes a little something like this.

Renderosity (archived downloads at no extra charge, I can spend my merchant earnings easily)
Daz (archived downloads at no extra charge)
Vanishing Point
Content Paradise

Daz learned that folks don't want to pay twice for the same items for they dispensed with the pay to have your download period reactivated or extended. Let's hope CP sees the light on that at some point as well.

Rant Ends Here Haters

"CP will not be going anywhere anytime soon. Here's why IMHO. While Rendo and other may in fact be bigger and better there exists something of a counter culture within Poser that for whatever reason will rally against the sites that come to be perceived as the establishment. Alternate boutiques allow them a place to spend their poser dollars without having to kowtow to Daz or Rendo in their limited view of things."

That's fine, but since Poser comes FROM CP, it IS the 'establishment' and isn't what most of what's said here 'counter-culture'?  From the free wheeling goofs around here, I never got the impression of ANYONE's establishment HERE, or such sixties mainstream culture-ism.

'Haters'?  You're quick to paste labels about.  I hate that CP generated so many bad feelings after being a good place to go for years.  I hate that CP disregarded so many people pleading for mercy at the closing of their forums and their crushing of dissent by shutting down their forums.

As an American, I love free speech and all that goes with it.  I hate to see a place I've frequented for years suddenly act like they experianced a coup de tat by a dictatorship.  I hate their stupidty at treating customers of long standing like they're nothing or useless.

Mostly I hate big coporations grinding people up and spitting them out like they are just resources to feed on , and not human beings.  SO if this hating makes me a "Hater" in your opinion, then THAT is a badge I wear proudly!  We HAVE to post our opinions on that HERE.  Fuck the PTB!  I don't give a rat's ass if they like me or not. CP doesn't have a forum to voice ANYTHING on any more.

Refering to one self in third person makes you sound self-important. IMO, I'm NOT more important than you or anyone else alive in this time., without your opinion yourself included.
No, I'm not hating you. People have to have a perspective of all this stuff.  ^__^V,,

As an American I respect your right to dissent! And yeah everyone in all of Poserdom knows that Greybro's opinion is the only one there is. Come on, the 3rd person thing is a joke for crying out loud. Why so serious?

You have a valid point on their forum going away and for the record I too see big problems with their recent changes. They have essentially done away with the superior percentage to the artist concept by more or less requiring you to place all of your items to Premium or else be buried in a sea of content. They really killed the one thing they did have over Renderosity IMHO under the guise of offering more tools. Their vendor tools still fall far short of Rendo's, but oh now they get a bigger split anyways.

I'm just kind of going on the way I percieve things here so I reserve the right to be completely wrong on this point. Even though CP is the sales storefront for the owners of Poser, I still do not think it's thought of as THE establishment in terms of where most people will default to make their purchases at. although considering that new comers may not know of Rendo or Daz, perhaps I'm wrong on that.

Clearly their site is the only one that has such a focus on supporting the included content that comes with Poser, the G2 figures for instance.

As far as Smith Micro "grinding people up and spitting them out like they are just resources to feed on " as you put it, I have yet to witness this behavior. They hold a smaller market share than Rendo and Daz and thusly are probably always under pressure to enhance their earnings to stay afloat. Add to that the expense of keeping Poser alive. Most of us would like to see a Poser 8 someday and that kind of development is costly. I can forgive them seeking to increase the profits from their brokerage.

Attached Link: 4th of July Volume 1

Are you talking about the new R2 version of 4th of July Volume 1 ?

We originally shipped four models together - we are expanding this to the full eight models. Of the "new" four, the first model released was Hartwell Tavern; Im just putting the final touches on Betsy Ross's House :-)

Yesterday, we spent a few hours -- getting up maybe a dozen old models out of about 300. Doesn't sound like much, does it? Most of our old stuff is there, but there's a final process they have to go through to be activated. The process isn't that difficult, but it is VERY linear, forcing you to click through 2-3 very slow updating pages, one product at a time, after setting a couple of controls.

@Greybro--I don't know you and there was smilies, orj/k or such, so you seemed serious.

 I am glad you weren't :laugh: 

The SM behavior I have seen first hand. Their predatory acquisicion policies are well admired by those in the know among the big corporations in California. . I have friends at Dell who told me things about their wheeling and dealing. It was eye openning.

I forgot to add that they are spammers,too.  My in box has been flooded by Smith Micro's spam for months now.

Today was no exception.

I DO NOT WANT TO BUY A DOLPHIN SCREEN-SAVER!

WHAT about "NO" do they NOT understand?  AND all the other crap?  Staring today I turned the Spam Filter on SM emails.  If it's from SM, it's SPAM.

Quote -   I've been a merchant here for many many years
 

Well, that says it all, doesn't it.

Klebnor auf der Autobahn

JoelGlaine,

Ok, now I get what you are talking about. Smith Micro at large and their aggressive marketing. I completely agree with all that being annoying. THEY ARE SPAMMERS!

And to break it down, I've only really interfaced with 2 people at SM and they have been extremely gracious and cool and really seemed to appreciate our collaboration. Has that turned into big sales for us, not to date, but it's always nice to be treated like you matter as an artist. I'm not saying that Rendo doesn't do that at any level but they certainly don't extend that courtesy to an artist such as myself who ranks down around 345 or so. Rendo simple cannot give that level of service to every rank and file merchant. Their head count isn't nearly where it would have to be to do so. I am simply asserting that to me, as a low level vendor CP is relevant and a nice laternative to some of the larger stores. Yes their new site is aweful. Does that mean that they need to F off and die, not in my estimation.

I really have no insider knowledge of their aquistion policies so I will have to take that at face value. It's entirely possible that they as a company are vicious. I can only jude them on my personal interaction with them and that has been very positive.

Regards,
Brent

*>> "My in box has been flooded by Smith Micro's spam for months now.

Today was no exception.

I DO NOT WANT TO BUY A DOLPHIN SCREEN-SAVER!"***

**I'm not especially interested in buying yet another big-breasted, cookie-cutter-variation-on-the-same-damn-hooker-look model from DAZ, so I turned off the newsletters. You can do the same with Smith Micro's; just opt out — they give you that option with every single one they send. I dont see anything wrong with a company that handles more than just Poser wanting to advertise that fact to its market base -- while I'm not one of them, I imagine there very well might be people out there who want a dolphin screen saver. Hell, I took advantage of the free one they offered recently: it's mindless fun, nothing more... just like Poser, I might add. But some of their utilities are pretty useful, especially for those of us on the Mac side of things.

As for Content Paradise, it was pretty well doomed from the beginning, when people were desperately looking for workarounds to get it out when it showed up in P5. It was, in theory anyway, a pretty good idea: it just wasnt implemented very well at the outset — and as a result, it, like Poser itself, got a stigma that it could never quite shake off.

Well, that, plus the fact that, as I said, it's a pretty boring place to shop. They desperately need someone who can punch up their look, 'cause this latest one just doesnt cut it.**

**

Quote - > Quote - What happened to 4th of July Volume 1 @ CP?

Are you talking about the new R2 version of 4th of July Volume 1 ?

We originally shipped four models together - we are expanding this to the full eight models. Of the "new" four, the first model released was Hartwell Tavern; Im just putting the final touches on Betsy Ross's House :-)

None of the above.
It was four (4) Buildings in a bundle at CP.
I wanted to use up my Passport Club Rebate Coupons before the end of the month.

"You can do the same with Smith Micro's; just opt out — they give you that option with every single one they send. "  No, they don't. Period.  I'm not subscribed to their news letter.  I'm talking about unsolicited emails from SM about products I have zero interest and DID NOT GIVE THEM PERMISSION to send me.  They started after they bought up Poser and they have been doing it for months now.  I do not want to buy routers from them. I do not want to sign up with XYZ Cellphone company they're are hooked up with.  I do not want to buy Aquazone.  I do not want to buy Dragon Speaking voice synthasizer.  I do not want to but Morpheusly whatever.  I do not want to buy Centerpoint hardware organizer for Blu-Tooth technology.

I don't want to be harrased by them COMPLETELY.  I complained to them, and they said they can do nothing about it, that I must have agreed to some snuck in  EULA on some product I bought from them.

Like the Product download extension they snuck into the FREE downloads!  They are underhanded and sneaky in the extreme, and personally, I cannot in all good conscience ,do business with people I cannot trust to NOT screw me over, having been screwed over by them once already.

I guess that is why so many other people feel done wrong by them.  A lack of trust, or betrayal of trust by SM.  I guess they never heard the old axiom, "The customer is always right."  And the, "An angry customer is worse for business than even high taxes."

Quote - I'm not especially interested in buying yet another big-breasted, cookie-cutter-variation-on-the-same-damn-hooker-look model from DAZ, so I turned off the newsletters. You can do the same with Smith Micro's; just opt out — they give you that option with every single one they send.

At last with DAZ it works. I've opted out at CP/SM and I still do get the newsletters, even though I told them I don't want any of them.

Okay, guys, I guess I have to stand corrected on this one. I'll take a look at the next SM email I get, and then follow it up to see what happens.

I see that the FFB sale ended a day earlier than they said it would-I think it probably is a software glitch, but still...

 I had put in a support ticket yesterday, as a few items went off sale then .

I never get mail from CP, I guess because I never spent any money there anyway.

Santicor wrote:*
IF MY ASS WAS ON  FIRE and Content Paradise was the only liscensed dealer of buckets of water,  and there was no legal or illegal  way to get  a GOD DAMN  bucket of water ANYWHERE ELSE -
i STILL would not RE register* .....  posted by  Santicor

.....and then Greybro wrote:
Greybro is about to speak on it so...ALL HEAR THIS.
THE CP Bashing is really sad because given the location of this thread it comes off in many case like a cry for TPB at Rendo to "please like me". **I really tend to just discount what might be valid critic when it comes along with ridiculous little anecdotes and qualifiers like "If they were the last content store on earth etc etc."  ** posted by  Greybro

Hey Greybro you might want to familiarize yourself with SARCASM before you make mild personal attacks on message boards. "please like me !!!????"
You know SARCASM, don't you? like when someone says this:

And yeah everyone in all of Poserdom knows that Greybro's opinion is the only one there is.
.....posted by Greybro