I just got an email from ShareCG that they are thinking about charging to host our freebie files. They would like members to put their opinions on the blog.

Laurie

It appears that they want to charge all users $10 to avoid the banner ads; not a big fee...

PS I didn't get the email, but then I don't have anything hosted there.  Not in my SPAM folder either, although there is one from 'Becky' with the subject "My husband is out of town"... :lol:

I don't mind the fee either, but I'm sure a lot will ;) It's hard to get ppl to pay for something they used to get for free...heh.

Laurie

Everybody has access to my freebies and it doesn't cost me or you a cent.

Just sayin.

(Psst - Google web sites are free.)

(Psst - Even Google App Engine is free until you have enough traffic that you could actually make money. That means you can run apps in the cloud for nothin.)

BB makes a very good point.

I have my own website I can park all my stuff on. Or put it here. Don't matter. Just passing on the news ;)

Laurie

I just posted a coffin figure to ShareCG. I'm happy to share a lot of the stuff I make, but I don't think I will be paying for the privilege of giving stuff away.

they won't charge IMVHO.  they know it's a lose-lose situation.  YMMV

I look at it two ways, the first, ten bucks a year, not that much.  I can't get a good website for that.  Pay to put up freebies, okay, but then look at how much I use sharecg when I'm looking for something.  Ten bucks isn't much for what you can get.  I've got some forty items there, a lot of them which would have been pulled if I had to pay for the space.  (YEah, I know, they wouldn't be worth paying for, which I'm always the first one to say so.)  If need be, I'll pay and not complain.

D.

Quote - I just posted a coffin figure to ShareCG. I'm happy to share a lot of the stuff I make, but I don't think I will be paying for the privilege of giving stuff away.

I agree. I like to give away stuff for free but i will not Pay that people can download my freestuff. 

I will move the freestuff I have there to my own website.

If they charge all my freestuff goes away.   I cant afford to pay even a small fee for stuff I am giving away.

Maybe some of those on the fence will just start selling their stuff..hehe.

Laurie

$10 in the Poserverse is nearly unthinkable, and that's to buy stuff. lol

I won't be paying to provide content to a site the used to pay for the content.

Brownbaging freebies and passing them under the counter ;-) rofl dont seem right you have to pay to give stuff away! even more so when you think they used to pay us to put them there

best go tidy my google site !!!

I also can remember when sharecg used to pay folks part of the ad revenue. Problem was some people misused the scheme, like uploading loads of background photos, so they had to stop doing it. As for asking us to pay, I'm not surprised they've had to consider this. Poser sales are slimmer than a supermodel in a matchstick factory. and theres a massive increase on the demand for freebies. On my site it averages around 500 people downloading 1/2 a GB in freebies per day. However sales don't even come to close to that and like sharecg it's increasingly hard to carry on. So what some might say, who cares. Stuff 'em. But every time a poser site shuts down, thats less choice, less niche items for artists and in turn that can reduce the options for creativity.

YOu guys might want to postr these ideas on the sharecg site. Right now most of the comments are for it. It doubtful they'll listen to those who object, but if we complain here rather than there they won't even hear us.

I placed my objection, and have deleted my stuff from sharecg. The notice to me sounds like they have made the deciion already.

Yep, I suspct the decision has already been made, and work is already being done to put it in motion.

I need to look up how to creat my own free google site.

I also object to it and I've posted there, saying as much.  I'll delete my stuff from there if - or more likely, when - the subscription scheme begins.

I'll pull my stuff to when the time comes. Some of it's already here and the rest can be added. Gonna play the optimist for now and wait and see what they do before I act.

It will be a shame if this happens. This business of raising prices during a recession is riduculous, and has to stop. It will only hurt everyone in the end, including the ones raising their prices.

I have purchased a great deal and gotten a number  of freebies. I always try to thank the provider for their generosity and skill. And I thank you all again, now. Hope things work out for the best.

Won't they just delete our stuff on their own if they make this change and we don't pay up?

I can't figure out how to remove my figures. It's a little embarassing that they rate lower than Poser vase props.

Quote - I can't figure out how to remove my figures....

Click the "My Account" link. Click the "My Uploads" tab. Select anything you wanna delete and chose "Edit". There will be a button down at the bottom of all the info to delete it.

Laurie

Oh, good.  Thanks.

Ah, I see what's going on. My figures were uploaded under another user name that I've lost the password to. That's why there is no "my uploads" button.

I'm moving my stuff here also...

since the "one stop shop" for freebies seems to be falling apart, how about a sticky thread for peoples freebie sites

Mine is always in my sig ;)

Laurie

just posted on sharecg, lets see if the mods allow it lol................

Personaly I find the open letter insulting. Insulting our intelligence that a few hundred members have complained about a few banner ads so now we all have to pay for the privilege of giving stuff away that actually generates the traffic here anyway. Be honest, tell us your long term plan of setting up another 3d stuff market place with 40% commission rates. Why do people come here?
Because it’s FREE. I have removed all my free stuff already, I would hate to have it left here for people to download if I had no access to it. I mean don’t tell me that if people don’t pay the 10 bucks you will delete their stuff for them. That does raise a question, if people refuse to pay the fee can you legally offer their property for download? People do yourselves a favour, email sharecg and tell them that if you don’t wish to pay sharecg must remove your content as they have no right to offer it for download on the site, and keep a copy.

Heddheld  great idea .............since the "one stop shop" for freebies seems to be falling apart, how about a sticky thread for peoples freebie sites

A sticky thread for individual freebie sites sounds like a great idea

Ditto on the sticky.  I've got a website that pretty much atrophied when ShareCG came along.  Might be worth my trouble to move stuff back there and keep it organized, but only if a central database is available for freebie sites. 

Quote - A sticky thread for individual freebie sites sounds like a great idea

I would agree, BUT with the inability to Edit the main post (or any post after a small amount of time), you would be wading through pages and pages of links, some good, some old and dead, with no chance of cleaning it up.

The ability to edit posts is why threads like Kerya's Free Hair list is sooooo awesome.  (not to mention Kerya keeping the main post updated, which is great!)

Maybe something to consider for the Forum management?

I'm seeing a lot of knee jerk, and little real thought.  No matter where something is stored, there are two things that either exist or they don't.  One is bandwidth, the other is space on a storage device of some kind.  Neither are free for anyone, somewhere along the line, someone is paying for both. 

BB mentions Google sites are free, okay, free as long as someone is able to pay for them one way or another, and nobody can say for how long.  Wade through a list of websites trying to find something?  Be my guest. 

Ten bucks being too much in the poserverse?  About what I paid for daz pc membership until I cut that off.  Per month, not per year.  Go to any of the poser inclusive sites and you can damage your credit card a lot more in a hurry. 

I doubt that many are much different from me, make something interesting to yourself and decide to see if anyone else is interested by the same thing.  But expect completely free space to puit it on?  Thankful that it's been there, yes.  Expect it, no.  Somewhere along the line it has to be paid for or it won't exist. 

And on the daz forums, I've seen people whining about putting things up, then taking down everything they had, the general excuse I read is not enough ego strokes.  Now complaining that they might have to pay to get the ego strokes.  TANSTAAFL.

D.

I've used 4shared for years for my freebies, and never paid one cent.

There are plenty of places to offer freebeis, and many places that have free "locker" space for files you can use for file redistribution.

Content generates traffic. Ideally traffic should generate revenue. I'm sorry it's not working for shareCG.

There's no free lunch. If you want people to hit your site, there has to be content. You can either pay for the content, or convince those creating it that the server space and bandwidth is payment enough. Maybe you can even convince them to pay for that too. Probably not, though, since there are still plenty of "free" options including Renderosity, which could well become the one stop shop for Poser freebies.

This has nothing to do with an expectation of free space. It has to do with the reality of free space and the fact that freebies are valued by some sites and not by others.

As for ego strokes or lack thereof earned by distributing your freebies, mileage may vary. I just don't like a rating system that people can game or troll with.

Quote - I'm seeing a lot of knee jerk, and little real thought.  No matter where something is stored, there are two things that either exist or they don't.  One is bandwidth, the other is space on a storage device of some kind.  Neither are free for anyone, somewhere along the line, someone is paying for both. 

BB mentions Google sites are free, okay, free as long as someone is able to pay for them one way or another, and nobody can say for how long.  Wade through a list of websites trying to find something?  Be my guest. 

Ten bucks being too much in the poserverse?  About what I paid for daz pc membership until I cut that off.  Per month, not per year.  Go to any of the poser inclusive sites and you can damage your credit card a lot more in a hurry. 

I doubt that many are much different from me, make something interesting to yourself and decide to see if anyone else is interested by the same thing.  But expect completely free space to puit it on?  Thankful that it's been there, yes.  Expect it, no.  Somewhere along the line it has to be paid for or it won't exist. 

And on the daz forums, I've seen people whining about putting things up, then taking down everything they had, the general excuse I read is not enough ego strokes.  Now complaining that they might have to pay to get the ego strokes.  TANSTAAFL.

 

D.

This post and the condescending attitude really gets up my nose.  Don't presume to know - or even understand - my motivations for posting freebies and don't make assumptions about how much a person can afford.  My finances are so tight that it's touch and go whether I have internet access from month to month, let alone paying someone to host my stuff.  If it comes to a straight choice between feeding my kids and paying for hosting - and yes, money really is that tight - the kids win, hands down. 

I don't care about "ego strokes".  I do care about spending $10 on something I can do without, when I have a very limited income.  Renderosity offers free space for freestuff, so why do I need to pay ShareCG for the privelege? 

a sticky ?  you mean there isn';t one ?  headdesk   :lol:

Quote - I'm seeing a lot of knee jerk, and little real thought.  No matter where something is stored, there are two things that either exist or they don't.  One is bandwidth, the other is space on a storage device of some kind.  Neither are free for anyone, somewhere along the line, someone is paying for both. 

BB mentions Google sites are free, okay, free as long as someone is able to pay for them one way or another, and nobody can say for how long.  Wade through a list of websites trying to find something?  Be my guest. 

Ten bucks being too much in the poserverse?  About what I paid for daz pc membership until I cut that off.  Per month, not per year.  Go to any of the poser inclusive sites and you can damage your credit card a lot more in a hurry. 

I doubt that many are much different from me, make something interesting to yourself and decide to see if anyone else is interested by the same thing.  But expect completely free space to puit it on?  Thankful that it's been there, yes.  Expect it, no.  Somewhere along the line it has to be paid for or it won't exist. 

And on the daz forums, I've seen people whining about putting things up, then taking down everything they had, the general excuse I read is not enough ego strokes.  Now complaining that they might have to pay to get the ego strokes.  TANSTAAFL.

 

D.

ego strokes? i'm not sure what you mean? do you perchance imply that freestuff contributors do it for the glory and laurel leaves that abound their inflated ego brows?

i wonder how much freestuff this particular contributor has in their runtime without questioning who hosted it, or how was it paid for. Sir, you insult freestuff contributors and I for one cast a pox upon your house  

[quote

i wonder how much freestuff this particular contributor has in their runtime without questioning who hosted it, or how was it paid for. Sir, you insult freestuff contributors and I for one cast a pox upon your house  

To answer your first, don't wonder, I have quite a bit of free stuff in my runtime.  Now if you ask how much of it I use, that would get a different answer.  Most of it clothing, and most of that "Why in hell did I download this?".  However, since I became a "lifer" at PoserWorld, that doesn't happen often anymore, I just load the disk in and go get what I need. As far as I'm concerned, that became free stuff a long time ago, and I still don't download everything they  put up, not interested, I don't bother.

To Samtherapy, I have one daughter.  However, she's any parent's nightmare.  Multiple, debilitating, life threatening birth defects.  I know all about the costs of raising children on a given income, which wasn't always that good.  When she was 35, I was forced to put her in a nursing home, she's now 42.  If, by any chance I have to again try to care for her here at home, I'm bankrupt within six months.

And I think I have about the best attitude about putting up  a freebie.  "I got what I need, if it doesn't fit what you need, don't bother telling me because I don't care.  If it does and you leave a comment, I may acknowledge it, or I may not." 

And, as I haven't bothered to back up my own stuff, if I lose my HD, I'm gonna be awful thankful for shareCG.  If ShareCG has to go to subscription to keep the site alive, so be it.  TANSTAAFL.

D.

is poser wiki still going ?  I could probabaly write something to check and clean up a site list , perhaps just move from active to inactive ?

as for ego stroking freestuff makers- cut rant - it just does not happen.

as for $10 is a tiny amount, for some it is , for me its one months supply of a heart medication that keeps me alive. My drug bill and doctors visits cost me about $500 a month.  Since my income is $0 that leaves a big hole.

If you think $10 is trivial I will be happy to take it off your hands ;-)

And, as I haven't bothered to back up my own stuff, if I lose my HD, I'm gonna be awful thankful for shareCG.  If ShareCG has to go to subscription to keep the site alive, so be it.  TANSTAAFL.

• You should think again. If ShareCG goes to a subscription, the free lunch is off the menu since most uploaders aren’t going to pay to keep their content on that site. I feel no compulsion to pay for the pleasure of having thousands of digital packrats store my stuff on their drive and never use it.

I think that devianART also offers the option to upload free stuff on user's gallery

Quote - I think that devianART also offers the option to upload free stuff on user's gallery

Deviant art does indeed allow this.  

I think they could offer people the 'option' of having their page bannerless with paying a small fee, but not make it mandantory, that might be a better solution.

Quote - And, as I haven't bothered to back up my own stuff, if I lose my HD, I'm gonna be awful thankful for shareCG.  If ShareCG has to go to subscription to keep the site alive, so be it.  TANSTAAFL.

• You should think again. If ShareCG goes to a subscription, the free lunch is off the menu since most uploaders aren’t going to pay to keep their content on that site. I feel no compulsion to pay for the pleasure of having thousands of digital packrats store my stuff on their drive and never use it.

Hmm. Methinks I just said, or perhaps I wasn't clear, if they have to go subscription, so be it.  Meaning, to keep the site alive, I can give ten bucks a year and consider it a bargain. 

As things continue to get tight, with both purchases and advertising budgets going down, how long before the other "free" site providers go into the red?  When they do, oh, well. 

If everyone refuses, pulls their stuff and puts it on other sites, the monkey chase of trying to find an item you saw sometime before begins again.  The chances are best that, as you choose to use "most", Most of those items will just disappear rather than showing up on another site.  A lot of other sites will require a log in or sign on, and those sites top my "ignore" list.  I ain't alone there either.

I'll pay if need be, no problem.  For those that would argue I shouldn't, what makes you think my mind is less set in hard, heavy concrete, than your own?

D.

Kez is on sharecg.  i hope she comes here.

I have to agree that this letter has created a "knee-jerk" reaction. Some responses sound like the person has been personally attacked by the suggestion a site may have to charge money or disappear.  It might be worth it before spilling poison in the waters to ask ShareCG to clarify some of the points of contention that have arisen, such as Will creators have to pay to upload freebies?

Before reacting, it might be helpful to get all the information one needs to make an informed decision about whether or not they will chose to pay or whether or not to continue hosting products at the site.

Some things to consider:

Having a centralized freebie site is extremely useful. (Having to dig around all over the place for freebies at sites my computer may not like is essentially time wasting. Time which could be better used in creation).

Do you as a freebie provider have the time (and the know-how) to keep a site up to date and running? What happens when your provider (and it will happen) decides to charge you for your usage?

Is it really a good idea to let good sites wither away due to lack of support so that we are eventually left with only a minimum of choices which will eventually limit creativity? Do you really want only 4 or 5 comprehensive sites available when trying to find what you want at a reasonable or free price? Remember, when competion is limited, the big guys are free to charge what the traffic will bear.

New content users have enough problems without putting more obstacles in the way of their creative process. I don't consider $10 a year an obstacle for a site that provides so much. (And, yes, I also have been in the position of having to chose between food and shelter for my children, but I also made sure to provide the things that would help their "soul"--for lack of a better word atm--grow.)

BTW, even altruism stimulates the reward centers of the brain, so while it may not be "ego-stroking," there is an incentive for people giving away their creations that is not 100% selfless.

I was going to say that was my nickel's worth, but I seem to have given a dime. = )

What they SHOULD do, is go to a marketplace model and leave the freebies alone. I think they're big enough to make a go of it. That's more palatable than having to pay a subscription to either host your freebies, or, worse yet, pay to download freebies where none of the proceeds go to the freebie creators who brought them there.

Laurie

Quote - What they SHOULD do, is go to a marketplace model and leave the freebies alone. I think they're big enough to make a go of it. That's more palatable than having to pay a subscription to either host your freebies, or, worse yet, pay to download freebies where none of the proceeds go to the freebie creators who brought them there.

Laurie

I agree that they should open up a marketplace. I am hoping that since the ShareCG people hinted that was a possibilty that they will post some more information on their market plans soon.

I would also like to see the freebie area stay free of subscription, but if it doesn't, I am willing to pay $10/year for the good I get out of it. While they haven't said so as of yet (or that I have seen), it seems unlikely that they would shoot themselves in the foot by charging people to upload products. I would also like to see the return of the donation option for providers.

By the same token I just really see something unfair about a subscription site that's driven by freebies where the providers get nothing and the site gets everything. I think that may be shooting themselves in the foot ;). An MP would at least help to support the freebies and would very well net them a lot more money than a subscription model would. I just don't see people continuing to upload freebies when they know that the downloaders will be charged to do so and they don't see a penny ;). I'm not being greedy, just logical...lol. I can definitely see resentment rising over that and I don't think it's a good model.

Laurie

What the freebie provider is getting is a place with a lot of traffic to post their products while they build a reputation for good work which will (if that is what they are looking for) lead to being able to market their products. So what they are getting essentially is free advertising.

For those who are looking "to give back to the community," they have the optimum site to do so at ShareCG as it is so well known and provides so much in one place. People do not have to spend hours/days looking all over the Internet trying to find something from a site they might not trust.

For me, being asked to download something from an unknown site is like asking to have someone just come in and blow up my computer.

What I hear you saying is that the freebie provider should get paid for uploading freebies while the MP pays the cost for them to showcase their work and provides the traffic. This seems to be antithetical to the idea of being a freebie provider.

Quote - What I hear you saying is that the freebie provider should get paid for uploading freebies while the MP pays the cost for them to showcase their work and provides the traffic. This seems to be antithetical to the idea of being a freebie provider.

So apparently you didn't really read what I said. Maybe you should reread it. Yanno, I give out LOTS of freebies and I never asked for one red cent and don't intend to. But I see something disgusting about charging someone on the back of a freebie creator and they keep all the money when THAT is their only business model. You better believe I have a problem with that. If they have a subscription model, then offer premium stuff where you give a cut to the vendor making it. Keep the freebies as freebies with no strings.

BTW, I sorta resent that you insinuated that I would be somehow greedy or stingy for not liking the above situation. I don't think I'm alone. I've been giving freebies for 10 years, long before you showed up.

Laurie