Just to clear a couple misconceptions. I haven't pulled my freestuff. I am, do and will continue to make things free and as a result of some of the mails I've received I will attempt to make them even better than before. I've previously deliberately avoided competing directly with the stores. My models are static and don't contain morphs like some of the store items do. Also, I'm not great with texturing stuff so kept that to a basic as well - but that will change. What has happened is that over the last two years I've been getting progressively more nasty-grams from some rather pathetic individuals. At first it annoyed me, later I just treated them the same as spam and either deleted or rejected the mails. However, in this instance - as a result of my own site being closed - a close friend offered to host just the catalogue of my models, basically nothing more than a series of images grouped into common areas. She has had some of the most disgusting emails it's been my displeasure to read and quite frankly they're totally unwarranted. She hosted pictures for me. That's pretty much all, just pictures. Seems that even that is an excuse for abuse. So, all my files will be rotated through the freestuff forum at 3D-Arena, occassionaly Silvermage will pick one for hosting by the site itself. I'll find a new site for my catalogue and I'll re-enter negotiations with a provider in the UK regarding hosting. This hasn't driven me from the "community" (whatever the hell that is) but it has made me bloody angry. Not because I was sent hate mail, hell I could give a shit about it. But that a close lady friend was subjected to the same treatment for doing nothing. Trust me, Blaze is not an easy person to upset, she's pretty damned volatile but as with anything you weigh the pro's and cons against themselves and it just wasn't worth the hassle of tracking and retaliating against these people when it's far easier just to remove the target of their hate. I am NOT leaving. I have NO intention of stopping what I do, and every intention of making things better. Certain people don't want competition from freestuff providers, but rather that everyone sells through the stores and joins the "clan" of vendors. Sorry, in my case at least it's not going to happen. I will continue to produce free stuff, even more of it than before with a larger variety of items. The only problem will be hosting and providing people with a way to browse what's available - but I'm working on that and sooner or later I'll get things sorted out. It's unfortunate that I am not alone in this systematic abuse because I know that most vendors could care less what I do. The few I am friendly with and chat with regularly are great people with some great products, and that it is a very few small minded idiots responsible for bullshit emails to freebie providers. Perhaps one thing that annoys them the most is that the majority of my items have no commercial restrictions on them. Or perhaps it's just the fact that they're free. I don't honestly know. Whatever the case may be, their campaign hasn't worked, won't ever work and is doomed to ridicule from the start. This kind of bullshit just encourages me further. Hell, the weapon packs that Daz are kindly hosting were a direct result of some prat telling me to go away in short sharp jerky movements. So, in essence. I don't let this kind of crap get to me. Yes it's annoying sometimes, and as 'bear knows I've erupted once or twice over it. Yes, last year I did very much feel like calling it quits and leaving, but chose not to after talking to a few people. I'm not alone with this problem. Others get the nasty-grams too. Ironbear perhaps gets these things forwarded to him because people know him to be openly spoken and perhaps more approachable than some. Whatever the case, I understand his ire as I've felt the same way when a freestuff provider has pulled their files because of abuse, and if you check the forums you'll find a few who have done that. At this point I want to take a moment to thank the idiots who sent me emails, and for those freestuff providers who have sent me their hate mail in comparison. You might annoy some enough for them to leave but I'm made of different stuff, and all you're doing is pushing me to greater excesses. Check the Poserworld forum for a view of what's soon to be released from me and it'll give you some idea of how this campaign just isn't working. I will fully encourage and actively support any other freestuff providers who suffer from similar emails to those 'bear posted above. Carry on doing what you do, give away what you want and ignore the few fools who don't have the ability or the guts to stand and be counted. Freestuff is the life blood of the forums. Without it there's no real attraction to coming to these places and business will die slowly. Freestuff attracts people to the sites, and eventually they get curious enough to browse deeper and get dragged (kicking and screaming in some cases) to the store where they CAN pick up some fucking excellent products - and some garbage. We all offer a service. Whether it's just chatting, helping, offering tutorials and advice or freely downloadable files of beginner or higher quality, or store items. Wankers like those in Ironbear's post are NOT indicative of the forum mentality - well mostly not, and they are not representative of the "majority" of vendors (at least, I like to think so), just a few sick, sad little fools. Hosting freestuff is hard enough as it is and many like myself, have to pay to host free files - as contradictory as that may sound. Free sites have incredibly restrictive bandwidth allowances and many pay sites also have ludicrously low allowances. But that doesn't mean it's impossible, and the gratitude displayed by a few people makes it all well worth while. But for some people, especially the more sensitive or non-English speakers, this sort of thing is too much and they leave. Hell, why not? If people can be this nasty then why the hell bother? For me, it's the perverse pleasure of annoying people like this even more, and for those great emails I get where someone sends me a link to work they've done with my models - that makes it all worth while. Like most people I don't expect a constant flow of praise, or thanks, or even credit. I only provide a PART of the whole, but it IS nice to see what people do. Personally I get quite a thrill out of seeing something I made in an image, whether I'm credited or not. It doesn't matter, the thing was used and THAT matters. Thanks for the rant Ironbear. I guess it needed to be said.