I never heard of SimSecret before it was mentioned in the thread here.  It's an interesting concept.  I think I saw a similar site in one of the old fandoms I used to be part of back in the day.  The problem seems to be that those sites always turn into slander fests because everyone can hide behind their veil of anonymity.  Having seen the responses over here, I'm not sure the person picked the best method for the crowd they were trying to communicate with.  There did seem to be a couple of good replies over in the actual secret thread, so that might be helpful.

I tend to agree that discussion probably isn't going to change the minds of people (as relates to the primary focus of pay sites v. free sites).  I do, however, think that this overlooks a pretty large population (of which I was a member) of people who simply don't follow the fan community enough to know about what is going on.  I'm having a hard time remembering, but I'm pretty sure I found TSR through a fansite listing on EA's Sims 2 website.  TSR (much like MTS) can be a convenient one-stop-shop location for lots of people coming into the fandom.  I think there are quite a few people who simply publish and download, never looking any further into the site.  Those are the people who need the information.

I think the anon poster is right on one account.  I think TSR is very good at showing a bright, cheerful persona to the public.  It wasn't until some really weird things started happening to me personally that I started doubting the "free stuff is free" kool-aid they hand out over there.  Having only recently started posting here, I have to say  that it was a pretty rough introduction.  But, that said, for as many people who initially doubted my motives, I think there were at least an equal number of folks who were immediately friendly, encouraging and helpful.  I'm still not posting all that much because I'm trying to get a feel for the new community, but I think that is normal for anyone coming into an already established group.

Ignoring all the stuff about the forums, I still would say the primary purpose of this site is access to booty and access to information.  The only constructive ideas that I might suggest would be to link the Quick Info (Info in the box on the upper right corner) directly on the front page.  Then people could access booty and also up-to-date information without coming into the forum.  Another option would be a link in the FAQ directing folks to another free site (maybe like MTS or SimCave as has been recommended in this thread) if they're uncomfortable with the tone in the forums here.

It seems to me that one of the most important facets to the group who has made a community here is your forum (in whatever direction you decide to take it).  There are plenty of other examples out there on the net of forums that aren't "sugar and spice" (TWOP vs. Sucks for TV commentary for example).  The posters on Sucks frequently jeer at the commentary on TWOP because it just isn't critical.  There should be options for everyone.  You don't have to read or post if you don't like the content.  That said, I know I came here because I was looking for the information and an introduction into the free community.  There may be other people like me out there.

It is my overall impression that the message here isn't "PMBD or die", but rather "free sites or die".  I know I strongly received the message to not give up on the free community, even if I did decide that posting here wasn't for me.  I think the owner of the secret might not have gotten the same message.

Uh, those fingers disturb me.  Edwina Scissorfingers, anyone?  How can you even play the game without those things stabbing through everything?

I vote, at most, one hole in the front or in the back.  That said, I just spent some time getting rid of that kind of back window in the AL sleeveless dress mesh because I think it just ruins a nice dress mesh.  I guess I'm contradictory.  I do kind of like the fabric folds.  I just wish there weren't quite so many and it wasn't quite so uniform.