Hello all!

Thank you to our awesome freestuff contributors!

I wanted to bring up one thing that seems to have been missed in the past. When sharing your link to your freestuff items, the link can not contain a "store". This is considered off-site linking to another marketplace which is not allowed. Any links that contain a store will be removed by staff for that reason. I understand this can be an inconvenience for some, I'm very sorry for that! We would love to see your items uploaded to the freestuff section here on the site! You can simply link to your freestuff item(s) here in the freestuff section.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks! Kimberly

Still?...thought we had them tamed when I was patrolling the halls. heh heh

Waitaminute. Is linking to non store sites still allowed? ShareCG for instance?

And why the seemingly random locking of old threads here, many/most of which are not linking to a store? And the links therein still work.

I got to tell you, I thought many member's complaints about changes around here were perhaps over reactionary and in some instances paranoid. I will admit now, in light of seeing some of the things happening, that some of the choices being made seem only partially thought out in terms of function/purpose... and just downright bizarre.

"We would love to see your items uploaded to the freestuff section here on the site! You can simply link to your freestuff item(s) here in the freestuff section."

I tried that. Then I discovered that my freestuff items weren't showing up in my 'profile; freestuff'. I was almost inclined to to think there were some personally aimed shenanigans going on, if I were paranoid fer instance. Lord knows I've seen plently of biased subterfuge on the part of supposedly 'moderate' moderators. Lol.

Not a very big incentive to have my things here if a random person (or myself for that matter!) can't peruse my contributions via clicking my 'profile'. Which is objective, and not at all simply opinion.

You had better lock adamthwaits' thread. I notice it mysteriously was excluded from the purge... It links to a STORE. Otherwise I'd be inclined to think that some more biased/selective half assery is happening. Lol. ;) (Looks on with disbelief).

EldritchCellar posted at 2:38PM Thu, 18 February 2016 - #4255716

Waitaminute. Is linking to non store sites still allowed? ShareCG for instance?

That isn't what the other thread says. "Just to let you know - throughout the next few days, I'm going to be locking off-site links in this freestuff section."

So: the threads remain, and you can still read them and visit the off-site links; you just can't post to say thank you any more. :rolleyes:

Still, consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, or something.

Have you guys posted any freestuff items lately? I'd encourage you to do so! We'd love to see what you're made of.

Yeah, I have. Highly rated. As a matter of fact I have one of the highest rated poser freebies in years. At ShareCG. Just not here. Take a look for yourself. Also won the halloween contest 2d category here at rendo. Which qualifies as "lately". :) That's what I'm made of (besides a degree in art, graduating with honors and awards, being off and on a working "professional" artist in the fine arts and ceramics production industry at my choosing over the years, and being a contributing member to these forums for going on a decade I guess). It's a privilage to your site that I continue to be here. Not the other way around.

How's those facts in terms of "what I'm made of"?

How bout you? Follower. Lol.

@EldritchCellar- Privilege, huh? I'm glad to hear that you've been very active! That's so refreshing and good to hear!!

Sure no problem. :D

You're kinda cute btw.;) Lol.

haha. Thanks.

EnglishBob posted at 8:21PM Thu, 18 February 2016 - #4255735

That isn't what the other thread says.

SO THIS is what the bruhaha is about!! Whose bright idea was this??? Trying to emulate Content Paradise's Forums?

I am in agreement with this policy and support it. Hope, I'm sorry you are under attack. Stand firm.

The only time I post freebies, I upload them here. A freebie is a freebie. I don't use freebies for commerce to get folks to see my websites. If I give something away as free, then that is what it is.

If I recall correctly, DAZ has the same policy. Click on a freebie and it comes from DAZ, not some other site.

For those who think that linking is unfair, consider the people that abuse that. I have deviantart permanently on block because I have visited too many artist galleries that had viruses. I contacted them and not sure who responded but I was told that there is no control over the dot or . subdomains. Many are honorable. It takes one jerk to ruin it for all.

I am pleased to see that Rendo is reigning in the chaos and building a community. We are here. This is our city, our town, our community. Yes, we know there are other communities out there. That's fine. This is where I choose to be as is true for many others. I might go vacation some day in another community, or maybe even do the snowbird thing and buy a time share, but home is home and there's no place like home.

Thank you, Hope, I will be more willing to visit people's websites and check them out once I know they are good, stable, honest, upright people. And the only way I can learn that is by their reputation here at Rendo.

EricofSD posted at 8:42PM Thu, 18 February 2016 - #4255937

If I recall correctly, DAZ has the same policy. Click on a freebie and it comes from DAZ, not some other site.

Nope, DAZ doesn't host any member freebies.

I've been hosting Anton Kisiel's free Apollo Maximus figure, but due to his stipulations on how the files are to be handled, they cannot be hosted here, so they are going to be lost to the Rendo Community, unless they manage to find them using the Forum Search. However, Apollo is linked in the Freebies Forum at DAZ, and there was recently a pointer posted to it in their Poser Forum by a Moderator there....

SO THIS is what the bruhaha is about!! ? Whose bright idea was this??? Trying to emulate Content Paradise's Forums?

What Content Paradise forums?

And Eric, you do realize that this rule also applies to off-site tutorials, right?

IceEmpress posted at 9:15PM Thu, 18 February 2016 - #4255948

SO THIS is what the bruhaha is about!! ? Whose bright idea was this??? Trying to emulate Content Paradise's Forums?

What Content Paradise forums?

Yes, that's my point; they used to have Forums....

ice, the only tutorial I posted was here at rendo...

https://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/?thread_id=2877151

The interesting thing is that Rendo can't find it in the rendo search engine and I was told that it likely was gone. Mr. Google found it and that's the link.

So if the big issue is folks who don't like the idea that their links are not allowed here, perhaps the work around is to get to know us and let us get to know you.

Eric

Ok I tried to edit but I don't have permission, so here is my next post..

I understand that inbred is bad. That said, this community has a lot of beta testers and alpha testers and programmers here. I beta tested several softwares. I tried the alpha testing but I prefer to break things in a sandbox than to write code. There is no need to be concerned about loss of information because those folks are here on Rendo.

So folks can post good tuts here and build the tut forums.

I hope that the attacks on Hope and the owner, Tim, will stop. I want to come to a clean forum where the community gets along. Since the departure of some former admins has occurred, this forum has gotten better.

If you want to post a tut, walk us through it like I did.

If you want to share your knowledge, share it directly.

Eric

So if the big issue is folks who don't like the idea that their links are not allowed here, perhaps the work around is to get to know us and let us get to know you.

I don't want people here to get to know me, partly because it's none of anyone's business here unless I make it so. The same applies to everyone else here.

I hope that the attacks on Hope and the owner, Tim, will stop.

I am not attacking Hope, mostly because I am not making assumptions about her nor any mere forum admin, who is merely a subordinate to Tim and whoever else runs Rendo as a business. Tim is another matter. I mean just look at the disaster this site has been in the past 2-3 years! It is TPtB who are entirely responsible for this mess. Compared to Tim and whoever is responsible for the site design, Hope and the other admins have been real troopers, in spite of some mild condescension and fake smiles in the past during site redesigns. (oh, come on, you can't expect me to believe that Hope, Kimberly, etc. were actually all ^_^ when the whole site was crumbling and having a grand mal seizure around them, and when TPtB would not listen to them about certain no-brainers of site features that everyone was demanding, such as font color for the "sale X% off" text that would actually be readable on the dark background.)

So folks can post good tuts here and build the tut forums.

Not when the tuts belong to someone else who does not participate here. Same with freebies. We do not have control over someone else's freebies. Not all of us are any good at making tutorials.

If you want to share your knowledge, share it directly.

the problem is that many of the good tutorials are not OUR knowledge. As I said. That is part of the reason why this decision and these suggestions are so ridiculous. One of the main purposes of the forum community is to help other members. That becomes very difficult when we cannot link to a freebie that someone is looking for (esp. if it is hosted on dropbox or skydrive) or provide them a link to a rare tutorial (like say, a Terragen 0.9/Classic one in English, or a Daz tutorial in Portugese)

I didn't even know a guy named tim owned the place... I just pictured an amorphous digital whatsit running the joint! Lol. Anyway. So it is. No more links... I for one will get by. I haven't attacked anyone BTW. And certainly haven't used language even remotely as venomous in tone as some highly visible community members have. My most nasty comment in months has been "it's a friggin mess". How monstrous. Yawn.

I guess when it comes down to it, folks want to feel safe. Yeah, the internet is a big place and we can't just click on everything willy nilly, but at the same time, we can't just let everyone post virus links willy nilly in a forum that we consider a community. There has to be a balance. If the pendulum swings to the extreme on this, I suspect it will swing back in time.

Eric

Yeah.

Oh. Guess I'll delete those Google Drive links to spontaneous freebies I made for members with technical queries on the Poser forum. Sigh. And here I thought I had found a viable workaround to 'no more attachments'.

EricofSD posted at 10:49PM Thu, 18 February 2016 - #4255971

I guess when it comes down to it, folks want to feel safe. Yeah, the internet is a big place and we can't just click on everything willy nilly, but at the same time, we can't just let everyone post virus links willy nilly in a forum that we consider a community. There has to be a balance. If the pendulum swings to the extreme on this, I suspect it will swing back in time.

Eric

Most of us are perfectly capable of adulting on our own. We don't need anybody shielding us from the "big bad wide world of the internet". This isn't about viruses at all, imo. The same links have been shared for years and now suddenly they're a problem? The powers that be want Rendo to feel more like a community, but rather an internal one. What that will do though is just create a bigger rift than there already is, one in which Rendo is left barren.

The "we don't want you to get a virus thing" doesn't hold water.. I've picked up malware from the ads on rendo "WITHOUT" ever clicking a link..

Wow, this is turning into a huge mess. 3-DArena's post in the Freestuff area criticizing the staff was deleted and her store is gone. Those who know her say it was not by choice, and that it was done by marketplace admins. The forum admins are claiming that her post contained personal attacks. Both those who know her and those who saw her post before it was deleted state that this is incorrect (I did not see it myself, sadly) 3-DArena was a major vendor here, who had her store removed once before for rocking the boat about the neutering of Prime.

This is terrible. I feel for the Forum mods and coordinators, who are caught in the middle...

You can see her post if you are friends with her on facebook. She posted exactly what happened there & she put it public because so many people were asking her what she said that was so awful.

@ Eldritch

Unfortunately your signature is also in breach of TOS mate...

• Additionally, offsite linking to other marketplaces or freestuff sites are not allowed within the forum, gallery, or forum signatures.

And now the main discussion in the Community Center about this is closed because we got too controversial. Go figure.

I'm completely AGAINST this policy. I use freebies from other sites in most of my renders, not just from Renderosity. I try to credit as much as possible to support freebies creators from all sites. The limitation of this policy will limit my posting here. I'm not saying that your wrong. I'm just saying I have every right to be against it.

"@ Eldritch

Unfortunately your signature is also in breach of TOS mate..."

It's funny. I stepped away from this for a couple of days, watched some movies, caught up with some friends. I come back and realize my forum activity is a completely self defeating and demoralizing exercise in futility. This drama is nonsense. Going to take a couple few months and play around with my projects, spend more time with modo. That's the important stuff. All of this is wankery at this particular time... no need to advertise.

"Once there was magic in the world. But hordes of selfish, short-sighted magicians have used up the mana that moved the world, and the magic goes away. Even the most powerful spells are fast becoming futile, and so Orolandes, sad Achaean with half a sword, goes on a quest in search of the lost power. But all the gods and Fair Atlantis are dead. The creatures of spirit, the unicorns and centaurs, are dying. Soon all the sparkling things will be gone from the world and only clay will remain."

--Larry Niven, "The Magic Goes Away"

Pardon my ignorance, but I've read the Renderosity Terms Of Service three times, and there were no mention of offsite linking being prohibited The only mention of no offsite linking was in the FAQ in the Freebies forums. Making up rules on the fly in the FAQ without updating the Terms of Service may not make them legally binding. Technically you cannot enforce these rules, because they are not terms we agreed on. You may want to update your Term of Service agreements, In addition, non of the other forums have a FAQ prohibiting offside linking. There are loop holes in those forums. You may want to update those forums as well. Perhaps I'm just too tired to find them. The TOS was updated last August. If you enforce them now, you may be breaking your own TOS.

"Additionally, offsite linking to other marketplaces or freestuff sites are not allowed within the forum, gallery, or forum signatures. For example: Links to competing stores like Daz3d.com, RuntimeDNA.com, etc are not allowed. However, links to non-competing stores like Etsy.com or Ebay.com are acceptable."

https://www.renderosity.com/mod/wiki/?policies&terms

Which still does not fit the new TOS, which says NO LINKING TO ANYTHING EXTERNAL, not even for youtube videos or to free tutorials on like-- a blog or something.

IceEmpress posted at 10:00AM Sun, 21 February 2016 - #4256432

Which still does not fit the new TOS, which says NO LINKING TO ANYTHING EXTERNAL, not even for youtube videos or to free tutorials on like-- a blog or something.

There's more than one TOS? That's not good. Where is this one at?

IceEmpress posted at 4:50PM Sun, 21 February 2016 - #4256432

Which still does not fit the new TOS, which says NO LINKING TO ANYTHING EXTERNAL, not even for youtube videos or to free tutorials on like-- a blog or something.

Sorry, but the TOS states:

"Additionally, offsite linking to other marketplaces or freestuff sites are not allowed within the forum, gallery, or forum signatures. For example: Links to competing stores like Daz3d.com, RuntimeDNA.com, etc are not allowed. However, links to non-competing stores like Etsy.com or Ebay.com are acceptable."

everything else is not true!

I need to ask this as well.

It stated off site linking not allowed. Can you type in the URL without making it active. Is that allowed? Technically it is not linked directly. Folks still have to copy and paste the URL. I just want to be cleared on this. I have some renders I want to post. I'm putting them on hold for now until the final decisions are made by the staff and the TOS is in order.

On a site note, We had some members in the pass that were very helpful, especially to newbies finding items within or outside this site. (Littledragon, Linda), That era is gone now. With these new rules, even if we veterans want to help, it'll be more effort. I still don't understand the logic of all these restrictions. With the veterans contributing members gone (Snarly, BB, Laurie to name a few) these tasks will fall on the shoulders of the coords, mods, and admins. Is this the new direction Rendo wants in the future?

I wish the staff all the luck. JV

IMO it is still possible to direct to a freebie or a tut as long it is not a direct link, just my 2 cents.

Not if the freebie is on dropbox, googledrive, or skydrive it isn't.

Jules53757 posted at 3:25PM Sun, 21 February 2016 - #4256493

IMO it is still possible to direct to a freebie or a tut as long it is not a direct link, just my 2 cents.

I've posted that question and spoke to a mod : non active links are okay (non clickable links) but I want and officially statement before I draw any conclusions.

JV

I've posted that question and spoke to a mod : non active links are okay (non clickable links) but I want and officially statement before I draw any conclusions.

Weird. I don't get why non-active links would be an exception unless it's a bandwidth issue or legal issue (some people do not want other sites hotlinking to theirs)

IceEmpress posted at 1:19PM Tue, 23 February 2016 - #4256596

Not if the freebie is on dropbox, googledrive, or skydrive it isn't.

I am trying to address some of these concerns IE and I know you have put in a fair amount of time raising several points of interest over these issues throughout various threads. I have added this one and a few others of yours to the list. I will be covering them in a thread. Thanks for you input

IceEmpress posted at 1:08AM Wed, 24 February 2016 - #4256432

Which still does not fit the new TOS, which says NO LINKING TO ANYTHING EXTERNAL, not even for youtube videos or to free tutorials on like-- a blog or something.

? Can you provide link please

I am looking at this one below which is taken from the current version available from the about section at bottom of page which does not seem to match your version.

• Additionally, off site linking to other marketplaces or freestuff sites are not allowed within the forum, gallery, or forum signatures. For example: Links to competing stores like Daz3d.com, RuntimeDNA.com, etc are not allowed. However, links to non-competing stores like Etsy.com or Ebay.com are acceptable.

Since Hope's "New Direction With Freestuff Area" thread is locked and I can't quote it I've copied a bit of it below:

"Hi everyone-

In the TOS, we now have a new addition that states we no longer accept off-site links. So, unfortunately, you're unable to post off-site freebies. That may come as a disappointment and shock to some, but we'd really like you to start focusing more on linking to YOUR FAVORITE FREEBIES from OUR site. We've seen a decline in freestuff uploads and we'd like to get that back up. Therefore, please share your favorite freebies HERE..."

I've been posting freebies for several years. My first freebie was posted at ShareCG, and I started an associated thread in the Renderosity FreeStuff forum - BobbyStahr pointed out that I could also post the freebie itself here.

Since then I've posted just about everything both at ShareCG and here at Renderosity.

For the past couple of years I've found that I far prefer ShareCG.

The only reason that I still post here at Renderosity is that not doing so would feel petulant and childish. (But I do sit back and quietly applaud those who have removed their freebies from Renderosity)

Why do I prefer ShareCG? https://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/?search=&expression=advanced&older_age=1&older_units=day&newer_age=&newer_units=day&adv_department=12357&username=3dcheapskate

That's a pretty damn fine illustration of why you won't find my freestuff here 3dcheapskate. Just the promo limitations, must be 300x350, must be 800 pixels nonsense is enough. Why would anyone go through those bizarre hassles when they don't have to? Not to mention the countless other annoyances...

EldritchCellar posted at 5:40PM Sat, 27 February 2016 - #4257546

That's a pretty damn fine illustration of why you won't find my freestuff here 3dcheapskate. Just the promo limitations, must be 300x350, must be 800 pixels nonsense is enough. Why would anyone go through those bizarre hassles when they don't have to? Not to mention the countless other annoyances...

I really don't understand why contributors to the community have to bend over backward to give and to help. It totally defies logic... We must be real masochists.

I give up. I'll still upload freebies to the community... for selfish reasons. everybody hates me in this community. Gallery deleted. I won't delete my account, again for selfish reasons. Fuck it. Anybody interested in communicating with me, I might respond at sharecg or cgbytes. But I doubt it.

Wow. In the other thread, LPR and Wheatpenny insist that it's okay to link to trusted external sites so long as they are not freebies or 3D marketplaces (acceptable examples including Amazon and Youtube) They state that they don't understand how there can be so much confusion over this. When I tell them that I don't believe this until there is an official announcement made, they tell me that they will try to get Hope to make an announcement about it (which I do greatly appreciate, guys, just to clarify)

Instead, she locks the topics and tells us to sitemail us. No announcement. Claims there is "nothing more to discuss"

Result: more people are leaving. Not helpful, at all.
I question the wisdom of the "PM me" policy. Whatever it is you have to say should be announced publicly-- I can't imagine anything that should not be announced.

EldritchCellar posted at 12:45PM Tue, 01 March 2016 - #4257546

That's a pretty damn fine illustration of why you won't find my freestuff here 3dcheapskate. Just the promo limitations, must be 300x350, must be 800 pixels nonsense is enough. Why would anyone go through those bizarre hassles when they don't have to? Not to mention the countless other annoyances...

Why indeed? My only excuse is a rather bizarre sense of humour, a dash of obstinacy, and a sprinkling of masochism ... ;o)

JVRenderer posted at 12:47PM Tue, 01 March 2016 - #4257953

EldritchCellar posted at 5:40PM Sat, 27 February 2016 - #4257546

I really don't understand why contributors to the community have to bend over backward to give and to help. It totally defies logic... We must be real masochists.

I think I've bent over backwards so far that I've disappeared you-know-where ! LOL

EldritchCellar posted at 12:49PM Tue, 01 March 2016 - #4257955

I give up. I'll still upload freebies to the community... for selfish reasons. everybody hates me in this community. Gallery deleted. I won't delete my account, again for selfish reasons. it. Anybody interested in communicating with me, I might respond at sharecg or cgbytes. But I doubt it.

Don't give up - if you do the evil goblins win ! (add that as another reason I still post here).

IceEmpress posted at 12:56PM Tue, 01 March 2016 - #4258235

Wow. In the other thread, LPR and Wheatpenny insist that it's okay to link to trusted external sites so long as they are not freebies or 3D marketplaces (acceptable examples including Amazon and Youtube) They state that they don't understand how there can be so much confusion over this. When I tell them that I don't believe this until there is an official announcement made, they tell me that they will try to get Hope to make an announcement about it (which I do greatly appreciate, guys, just to clarify)

Instead, she locks the topics and tells us to sitemail us. No announcement. Claims there is "nothing more to discuss"

Result: more people are leaving. Not helpful, at all.
I question the wisdom of the "PM me" policy. Whatever it is you have to say should be announced publicly-- I can't imagine anything that should not be announced.

I think can understand Hope's response - when you have have evil goblins on one side telling you to explain 'policy' to the villagers, and angry villager with pitchforks and fiery torches banging on the doors, it's no wonder that Hope has locked herself in a tower!