Insim under new management!

[Quinctia]

I'm sure many of those 400,000 members are like me.

I have been a member of InSim for years.  I haven't ever posted, let alone donated or any of the like.  I really only ever went there for the InSimenator and Enayla's section.

[Paden]

He came on like gangbusters, all full of how he's gonna turn it around and make it something that will pay and bring in some money. I don't like people that call a community an investment and use words like revenue, as if the people there can be milked like old Bessie in the milking barn. I don't moo for no man!!

[Anyerfillag]

Ah, there we go - hopefully I can change it to my gmail account later - since I never check my yahoo one.

You can't - due to the spambots using it a while back Ligen banned all new users from using gmail to set up new accounts. You could try asking her about changing it now you've signed up, but I wouldn't think it would be possible.

And woah, this is why living in a different time zone sucks; personally, if Delphy can get it off this Walt character then its something I would like to see happen. Delphy has more experience and know-how about running a site and running a sims 2 site specifically.

[Devilfish]

I hear you Anyerfillag. You in Europe too? This thread sure went splode when I was sleeping. I'm glad  didn't miss Delphy's reply.

I'm going to give this Walt character the benefit of the doubt. He obviously hasn't got a clue about this community and the hive-mind stances toward pay content. It's a little silly buying something you don't fully understand, but remember that we're on the inside, looking at the inside, while this Walt is clearly an outsider. It's possible he doesn't know that there's anything wrong with selling Sims 2 content. TSR does it and they appear very fluffy, friendly and successful to the casual observer.

Still, has anyone tried to inform him that selling content, or asking for donations to access said content, is illegal? As a bussinessman, I'd think he would like to know that.

I've been meaning to ask this: we know that selling the actual content, the .packaga files, is illegal. But if you charge people to register on a download forum or site, aren't you selling them the right to use the site as opposed to the actual package files? I know it does't make any difference practically, but would that logic hold in court, so to speak?

[Pescado]

You can't - due to the spambots using it a while back Ligen banned all new users from using gmail to set up new accounts. You could try asking her about changing it now you've signed up, but I wouldn't think it would be possible.

Actually, you can. Such email addresses are not permitted for use when registering (email is not even checked!), because spammers are both stupid and scrupulously honest in this regard. Besides, I'm not certain the stupid email thing even works and have no means of testing it.

I've been meaning to ask this: we know that selling the actual content, the .packaga files, is illegal. But if you charge people to register on a download forum or site, aren't you selling them the right to use the site as opposed to the actual package files? I know it does't make any difference practically, but would that logic hold in court, so to speak?

There's plenty of weasel-logic involved. None of it appears to be NECESSARY because EAxis does nothing. Whether the logic will hold up in court is similarly irrelevant, because it never WILL go to court. Our view is simple: If you have to pay to get it, it's a paysite.

[calalily]

and for future reference calalily might potentially need to be destroyed

Pescado had it covered months ago. 

Yeah, I am already considering taking down everything I uploaded. Better safe than sorry. Most of the pages are pretty old, so I don't think anyone will notice them. If anyone asks me about wanting them again I can always upload them elsewhere and put a link to them in my signature.

Noukie has a community creations section now.

I don't know what school of management he goes to, but his lack of reaction is deeply stupid - he's pissing people off and leaving them unsure. 

[deelink]

I just checked my favourites and realised I don't even have Insimenator in there. Goes to show just how often I go there, and I am a member.
Ran over there and saw this:


If it's too small, click to zoom or go here

Look at all the methods to pay, at all the obscene amounts, and all with little yellow "subscribe!" signs underneath. Overkill much? Desperate much? What are your real intentions Walt? To revamp the site and make it More Awesome? Without telling your "donators" and "subscribers" what it is? At least TSR had a model, and at least the subscribers knew what they were getting into. Urgh, I just vomited a little.
I don't understand this guy's intention, it smells like he is just trying to make a quick buck. And it stinks.

[Devilfish]

It reeks to high heaven. For all we know he'll rake in the donations for a couple of months, let the servers explode and walk away a richer man. Or even better, take the donation money, sell the site to Delphy and leave him with a big steaming mess while uncle Walt laughs all the way to the bank. I'm not saying he's going to. I'm saying we know fuck-all about this dude. It could be a con, for fuck's sake.

It's insane. I heard this news yesterday and this happened a couple hours later? What is he playing at? Half the community is still going "Wait, what?" I imagine the other half hasn't even heard about it yet.

It's about time I start grabbing everything I can from Insim Adult. Never thought I'd say that, by the way.

[Anyerfillag]

I hear you Anyerfillag. You in Europe too? This thread sure went splode when I was sleeping. I'm glad didn't miss Delphy's reply.

I'm in the UK. Its weird when something like this happens, nothing is said or done whilst I'm here yet the next morning I come back and everything has happened whilst I'm asleep

Actually, you can. Such email addresses are not permitted for use when registering (email is not even checked!), because spammers are both stupid and scrupulously honest in this regard. Besides, I'm not certain the stupid email thing even works and have no means of testing it.

Ah my bad, didn't know that! Ignore what I said SoggyFox!

And geez, that smells like the beginnings of a paysite! $100?! He onviously doesn't give a shit about the world economy meltdown then

[justso]

None of it looks good.  If it even looks like going pay I don't understand why Delphy has to pay the guy a dime.  The patrons, mods and creators owe no loyalty to this guy.  The creators are free to choose where they upload. Mod the sims has a site already set up for anyone from insimadult that would want to upload there.  The only thing that wouldn't be able to be negotiated a new home is the insimenator itself.  I know to go about it this way is disrespectful, but hell I don't think respect for anyone came into it when the site was sold.

[calalily]

None of it looks good.  If it even looks like going pay I don't understand why Delphy has to pay the guy a dime.

Walt bought the site as an investment - if it's money he wants, Delphy will buy it.

Synaptic Sim reveals they've had the site up for sale for a while

Also, their selling points make me wonder why they're constantly threatening closure with the constant donation drive:

Hosting $500 per month, ad and other revenue per month $3200 per month - found from Synaptic's link here

[Anyerfillag]

This just gets worse and worse

[Devilfish]

In case it goes off the site:



Insim information according to http://www.dealasite.com. Have Kathy and Eric been lying about needing donation this whole time?

[Pescado]

Pfeh. This is entirely shady, I say. Not to mention there is absolutely no reason why creators should remain there after the site is sold, given that they will not be receiving any of the profits, so all they're doing is generating income for some business while getting nothing in return. Either those figures are massively inflated and the true picture is much more grim, or someone is being cheated.

[Delphy]

Interesting page Calalily.

I have to say though - I feel those numbers for page views and visitors are way overexaggered.  32 million pageviews a month?  MTS2 only gets about 40 million right now and we are a hell of a lot bigger.  750,000 unique visitors a month? Err, no... with only 400,000 members plus guests?  And all this in "only" 3.8TB.  Come on, if those figures are to be believed then it should be shifting some 12-15TB a month, not a lowly 3.8!  

It's especially fishy when you use Alexa and compare insimenator.net to other sites like TSR or MTS2:



So, yeah, I honestly don't think it actually has those traffic levels or visitors or gets that much ad revenue.  As somebody else said, if they get $3,200 a month in revenue, why did they need to keep having donation drives every few months?