While doing some late night surfing I happened to come across the following thread at Renderotica. http://www.renderotica.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12361&Form.ShowMessage=87450&Reply=87715#45 There are no images in that thread, no porno, it is a discussion only. For those that would rather not venture to Renderosity to view the thread, I have included the full text of the 3 posts in the thread following this post. This thread started as a bunch of ideas to "save" Renderotica, which apparently is in serious financial difficulty. Several people expressed views that I want to CLEARLY STATE are NOT my views. The reason I bring this up is because several posts by Thorne, Diane Thuregrif and Jack D. Kammerer voiced some concerns about the quality of items for sale in Renderosity's store. This made me pause, since I have been considering purchasing several items from the Online Store. According to Diane, items sold in the Renderosity store are untested and the quality is {{"...really bad"}}. She claims JeffH, commented that most of the items in the store belong in free stuff. Jack claims there are products in the store that are actually the work of someone other than the seller and Renderosity will not remove said products unless contacted by the originator of the item. Jack also claims that the Renderosity Online Store is a {{"...dumping ground..."}} for items who's value {{"...has turned to shit..."}}, in fact he states that the quality of items in the store {{"...is about 75-90% shit..."}}, because those in charge of items that go into the store {{"...don't take time to monitor it, test it to make sure it works or is even HALFWAY DECENT..."}} Jack and Diane's comments trouble me. As a consumer that frequently purchases products over the internet I want to be sure I am dealing with a reputable source, and I am puchasing quality products. In the case of Poser figures, I want to be absolutely certain that the product I am getting is worth the price and if not, I'll make do with a similar item that might be available for free from here or any number of other sites like Poser World, or 3D World for example. Apparently, Thorne, Jack, and Diane are respected and valued members of the community. And apparently, Jack and Diane were an integral part of Renderosity, in some way responsible for creating the store here, and establishing standards of quality for products that were strictly adhered to, so one has to give pause when they raise an alarm. At the same time, one has to wonder, because Jack and Diane also have created an online store at 3D Commune, their commmunity, in competition with the store here, so how much is truth and how much is "speculation" intended to draw sales away from Renderosity to 3D Commune? Now, I am bringing this up ONLY because I care about Renderosity, and I care about the community, and I care about the reputation of both this site and those members that create products for sale. I do NOT care to start another useless flame war between "us and them". There have been serious questions raised that need answers, and I trust JeffH and Renderosity's Team to be able to respond thoughtfully and openly. If there are problems because product testing cannot be done, I would gladly volunteer my time to test and evaluate products and I'm sure others will too. I think amost of us, would do just about anything to help make this site the Premier Artists Community on the internet. So that brings us down to these questions: 1. Are products for sale in the store tested for quality and value prior to being offered? 2. Are there submission standards and guidelines that products must adhere to before being chosen to be placed onsale? 3. If a product turns out to be the work of someone other than the submittor, what steps are taken to insure the product is distributable by that person, and what action is taken if it turns out the product was actually the work of someone other than the submittor and the submittor did not have permission from the originator to offer that product for sale? Now...I ask that EVERYONE NOT TURN THIS THREAD INTO FLAME WAR. If you have constructive comments pro or con, that's one thing...if you have destructive comments to make about any of the persons mentioned in this thread, make them somewhere else.