PMBD

another paysite! :x
 
http://freenet-homepage.de/bluesea/

 ""In cooperation with many talented Creators all over the World we present this litte homepage to you.

Now it' s up to you to help our project with a little donation. In addition you can choose from our nice download sets""

they don't even have free downloads... :?

I love how they reworded it so "nicely" and how they are claiming to give it to a good cause. It's sad that they put those pics up on there page and that they claim to be with Unicef and "WWF."



So why can't they just be free and ask for donations for Unicef. People would be more comfortable with that. This is a load of crap

it looks like blacky's sim zoo is a part of this as one of the member download is the same  (Toys for your Pets)  Sims in Paris also created a set at this site!



http://www.blackypanther.de/include.php?path=content/download.php&contentid=3699

(http://freenet-homepage.de/bluesea/datafiles/Hundemeshsetpay11143294df58.jpg)

they are just trying to put it in a nice way... donations are donations people.. no matter how u put it...

Ummmm, I think I downloaded that set from the Booty a little while ago.   :?   I recognize the doggie toys.

Love this:

"All downloads are from different creators, so we can not give guarantee that all files work. We just can say we trust our affilliates."

Sign me up.   :roll:

Erm, can't I just donate to those organizations directly my own self?  And how much of my donation goes to their 'Paypal costs'?

Maybe their intentions are good, but I don't need a middleman to donate to worthy causes.

No thank you.

There might be something there is there were some type of guarantee that the proceeds were indeed going to the stipulated charities.  As it is, I have no idea where the money is going and am forced to conclude it is a scam.

Tim

Ummm....it says that if I download that stuff and recolor it, I can only use it on a free site.

If it's for UNICEF and such, why can't I recolor it and charge and donate there as well? Isn't that the point? I mean, if it is for charity, who cares who sends it....

And that's a bit forced. I mean, I accept no donations at all at my site, but suggest donating to a worthy, personal cause. I don't hold anything for ransom until people donate.

Conclusion: Just another paysite that looks like all these "wonderful" creators (who charge for designs) have joined in a super groovy cause to help the world. Good idea, but too late now that we all distrust paysites.

I don't think their intentions are good. The site could be used to bring attention to charities and good causes rather than collecting the money themselves. They could release the items for free and tell the downloaders to give back and to pay it forward. Then, just put links to unicef or another charity and tell them to give them the money directly to the organization. In fact, the downloads could have conservation or charity themes. Maybe like a homeless shelter lot or signs or recycling bins or shirts with positive messages.

I hope they will use the money for what they say. I was reading up on this when I ran my wildlife rescue, it costs a lot of money to raise wild animals. I usually raised between 1,000 and 2,000 wild animals every year and it would average out to about 1,000 dollars a month to keep them all fed, medications, vet bills, etc...I never asked anyone to help and you can't claim it on your taxes. If you claim to be a charity or collecting for a charity and don't use the funds for that, they will go after your throat. You'll do time in a federal pen for that. Since I took care of so many animals and it was so hard to keep volunteers they seem to think nothing to do but cuddle and love on all the little babies. They'd get burned out quick. Leaving me to do it all. Especially when they found out songbirds have to be fed every 1/2 hour. Then, just when you think your done comes the nocturnal animals. So it's almost 24 hours a day. Anyway because I had so much to do, I couldn't keep track of what went where. I did good to remember my own name at the height of the season. So I never asked for donations or filed to be a non-profit charity, even though I could have. I didn't have time to keep the records. So I pray for their sake they do just what they say they are going to do. I saw many wildlife rehabbers get in big trouble, just barely keep themselves from going to jail for collecting donations and not keeping records/receipts of where the money went.

@ Feverish:  was going for diplomatic, but...   :wink:   But I do recall a scam from TS1 days that was a lot like this, a site taking donations for a sick child or something (memory's vague) and it turned out to be a total hoax.

There was one from TS2 also...it's on SFV somewhere.  Concerning a site (PureSims?  Birgit?  not sure) taking donations for a kids charity but pretty much pocketing every penny instead.

So - again aiming for diplomatic, heh, even if their intentions are good, they have history against them.  And common sense - there's really no decent reason I need them to donate for me or anyone when we can just donate directly.

Would you be thinking of Project Hern?
Run by Libby, maybe...not sure on the gal's name. I think it had something to do with her son needing some kind of brain surgery? But she actually bought him a computer...lol. That could be way off, so don't quote me on that.
But the round table still has a thread about it...hmm...i dunno. :wink:

Really? I think the name rings a bell, but I didn't know about the scam aspect... Wanna give us a short overview, Ry?

And the scammer you were talking about, JFed, is indeed Sasilia from PureSims. She claimed she'd give the money to some children's charity but she didn't. She's never showed any kind of a receipt even though people have asked for it repeatedly, instead she just called people sheeple when they asked to see the receipt.

God, she is despicable.  :evil:

Well, shit.
I can't find anything solid on it, but here's the gist of what I found.
Libby opened a paysite in order to use the donations for help paying for medical expenses for her son.
But claims it's not really her who owns it.
No one will answer any questions regarding the site *who owns it, who runs it, proof that the moeny goes where it says, etc...*
So many people start saying it's a possible scam, don't donate until they answer question.
Libby freaks out, insults everyone.
A few days later she posts somewhere that she just bought her son a brand new pc that's so expensive etc...etc...
So people start asking, if you need money to help pay your sons medicals, how did you buy the new pc....blah blah blah.

So, basically, it seems like it really was a scam, but I dunno. It may have started off as a true to word thing, but the legal side of it was never papered, etc... No one could show that the money truly went for med bills, so it was written off as BS.

Libby was from Flotsim and Jetsim.

Thanks for the info ry. I never downloaded anything for the sims1, actually I never even knew about custom content until sims2.

What kind of dimwitted, sense deprived fucknut came up with that idea?! Like they don't think people are warm-hearted and caring enough to donate just because it's a good and worthy thing to do, they think that they have to be bribed to part with a few farthings... Goddamit, this smells of scam and pisses me off... But until we have proof of wrong-doings, we can't do a thing about it, can we?
Hiding behind a charity when we don't know if much or any of the money is going to go to the stated charity... My uncle is a shriner, he donates and gives all the time he can but right now he's bedridden. He's leaving them a good chunk of money when he dies. He does it because he never married because he couldn't have children. Mumps and they fell.
My point? People give of themselves personally, they don't use a fucking middle man. The Salvation Army has the bell ringers at Christmas time. Veteran's groups sell whatever to raise money, usually the paper poppies. Thing is, they have visible reps that you know pretty well are on the up and up. I won't donate over the internet, too many scams have been pulled.
Has anyone thought of contacting those charities to see if this group has contacted them about this way of raising funds for them? I thought that you had to be authorized by some of the bigger charitable groups to collect funds in their names. Not sure what it is, but something just does not feel right. It feels about as wrong as wearing the left boot on the right foot and it has a platform sole while on the other foot you're wearing a flat...

I find it sick she would try to lie about that. And like everyone has said before, I would never use a middle man If I were donating to charities, unless it was a real person who is, like Paden said "on the up and up."

(Oh, and LilyLocksley, the same goes for me.  :D)

I remember that bs with Libby. She posted a pic of her "son" at N99 in a wheelchair with bandages all over his head and his blonde hair was sticking out thru the bandages.  :shock: It looked like someone had wrapped toilet-paper around his head? (funny it was the day after the supposed BRAIN surgery he had and he was being released? ROFL!) That was what started people asking questions, no way would they release someone one day after brain surgery. (I have no idea if that's true or not)

Here's some contact info posted on this new site:


Why am I not surprised that Reflex is involved?  :roll:

If she were on the up and up she could say donate 5 dollars to one of these charities, email the receipt to us and we will send you our donation package. Then she doesn't have to worry about dealing with paypal at all right?

This is like Money Better Spent's twisted, fucked up, stupider twin. If you want th emoney go to go tcharity, just put links to the charity and don't ask for money, you stupid fuckers.

Gah.

(I forgot about Flotsim and Jetsim! Wow...the memories.)

Thanks Ry, Alia, and Requip for supplying your memories - was bugging the crap out of me, Project Hern!  I wasn't involved in the TS1 community at all and I heard about it just from random posts on random sites.

Anyway, my creaky old brain appreciates the jog.   :D

Just consider me the walking encyclopedia of useless old sim knowledge...lol.
I've been around forever and stuck my nose into everything to see what was going on..lol.
If I can't remember then I can usually find a thread somewhere that does.

Exactly, you'd think people would just donate to a charity....I mean it sounds shady (Everything sounds shady to me)

You can bet isn't true: the head is shaved BEFORE having brain surgery!


Just my imagination or the sims on that "donation pack" have Enayla's skins?

*sooo wishes he could've seen this XD*

Yes, it does look like that.

A coworker of mine had surgery done on her skull but they only shaved part of her head. Not all of it.

Wasnt Ran also a part of the project hern scam?

All three of those skins are Linda's up for sale, yet again. This is three times now. She's never going to return to creating for this community. I really don't blame her either. Guess I'll have to go buy Oblivion if I want to collect anymore of her CC. They seem to be the only community that respects what she makes and don't try to sell it.

That's terrible. I loved her art before I ever played the game, and I was so thrilled when she started creating for it. I don't use her skins an awful lot (except for aliens and plantsims) because I haven't yet made a fantasy neighborhood and I prefer my men to look a bit more manly, but they are high quality, and the latest ones are the best imo. She's someone whose talent I truly respect, and they're taking advantage of her illness to steal and sell her creations. They haven't bothered to give any credit, even. Yet again, a paysite proves who the truly disrespectful ones are.

I don't know of any community that would pull this crap besides this one. Not a damn one. Enayla makes things for Oblivion, you say? I may have to fire that up again then.

When she left this last time she said she was going back to creating for Oblivion. She tried for a bit to open her own forum. She posted some exclusive skins and eyes for that forum that she never posted anywhere else. If you don't have them let me know I'll send them to you. She even shut down her private email accounts. I tried going through friends, etc... So if/when she comes back and hears about this? That they are selling her skins on that online game Second Life, although why anyone would want to play that game is beyond me. It's like a bad version of the Sims 1. After what she went through on 2 for U...she'll probably never come back to create for us. I did hear she's working on some graphics for a movie that is coming out. So that's probably keeping her busy, along with everything else she's going through.

Has anyone reported them to Unicef,  WWF, or World Heritage yet?

I thought about it, but how would I do that?

It seems this person already has. This was in their guestbook.

I don't know, but I've been a member/supporter of WWF for about 10+ years now, if you'd like me to write to them and voice my concerns. I have their little stickers everywhere, and I am up on their donators board. I have a ton of their little stickers for my car. Them, Mercy Corps, Food for the Poor, Doctors without Borders, St. Jude and a couple others I give throughout the year too.

I'm not quite sure but I'm going to look into it. As soon as I know I'll pass the info on.



Here's hoping whomever popos is they're a member here and will let us know how they went about reporting. One report to each charity is good. Many, many reports are better.

HawkGirl - if you could let us know how to report this to them along with sending a report yourself, that'd be great.

U.S. Headquarters
World Wildlife Fund
1250 Twenty-Fourth Street, N.W.
P.O. Box 97180
Washington, DC 20090-7180
(202) 293-4800

Please contact our Membership department at 1-800-960-0993, or membership@wwfus.org, for assistance with:
Online Adoptions
Monthly Donations
WWF Membership Premiums
General Inquires

This is where I go when I have any questions. The website is here:
http://www.worldwildlife.org/about/contact.cfm

Quick to get too because it's in my quick links :)

Awesome! I'm going to go the email route as that seems to be the quickest. Did you see that they have "certification" from WWF here:
http://freenet-homepage.de/bluesea/page1149dbd6e83.html

I don't believe it's true certification simply because it's too small of a scan to see any verifiable detail.

It's really from them, what it says I couldn't tell you. They made sure no one could read it. But, I don't think they'd like their name associated with things that are being sold without the artist permission. All those skins are Linda's, not theirs. So you might want to add that into your letter.

I reported, It's not the best letter, but I am sure it will get the message across...

Any letter written to help stop the scam is a good one because it has good intent. :)

I don't have those, and I would absolutely love if you could send them to me.

I second this request, if you wouldn't mind. I like Enayla's work a lot.

Someone mentioned Ran a lttle while back.
I think that he/she *Ran* was mentioned, and was possible involved in making some of the item, yes. But on this I'm not sure, I'm just going by memory, so don't quote me..lol.

A third request, if it's not too much of a problem.

Since Hawkgirl said it is real, I'll accept that.  I did download the image to see if I could blow it up some, but it doesn't come out very clear and it is written in German in any case.

Tim

I am sure there are going to be some non-thinking sheeple who will go along with this, and get to feel virtuous when they do. It might be worth the price to them.

However, I would consider whether my $5.00 donation was going to get eaten away by PayPal and the website owners themselves, and exactly how much of my remaining hard-earned would actually go to UNICEF. I would then just go make a donation to UNICEF or WWF and move on.

Also, I think that since they do not say anything like "For every item you buy we will send $1.00 to UNICEF or WWF" they can get away with sending a total of $1.00 to the charities and keeping the full amount of every other donation for themselves. They don't say, "YOUR gift goes to UNICEF" after all. They don't send you a receipt stating that you recieved no goods or services for your donation so that you can deduct it on your income taxes, either. UNICEF and WWF do send you a receipt.

Anyone can say, "If you buy this, I will send a dollar to the Girls Scouts," or something. Even me.  :wink:

I noticed the Enayla skins too. That really sucks. I can't believe the morons in this community drove off one of the best creators we had. Is the animal army over at insim still active?

I can't seem to get into their guestbook. I don't intend to flame them, but I think they should know that selling Enayla's skins is not OK.

ETA: The guestbook can be accessed in Explorer, but not Firefox.

I managed it fine in Firefox, and left a message in Babelfish German, which is probably all about my hovercraft being full of eels.

Fuck me, there went my coffee...lmao!

I looked at their GB about an hour or so ago and there were a couple entries about Enayla's skins in there already.

I looked at the description on that set of sims - I can't really tell for sure because it's all farky, but are they trying to say it's just the sims without any content?  They're using her skins to sell 'facial features'?  So...you 'donate' and think you're getting those skins but you just get a plain vaniller sim with big ears?

Here's the wordage:

3 funny Elves created The Gift includes only
 by pussycat_110 from the facial features - no  
 Simforum.de Custom Content!

Here's the GB:

  Koala Bear 10.09.2007 - 10:20  

Do you have permission to sell Enayla's skins? If not, please remove them because she has always shared her stuff for free.

  Brad 10.09.2007 - 10:27  

Hmm. This could be a job for the Animal Army if Enayla's skins aren't removed. I'd love to see how this site handles them.  

  Squirrel 10.09.2007 - 16:05  

Hello, I recently came across your site and the idea behind it is very interesting...

Unicef & the WWF,and other charities, do need our support and donations to keep them sustainably being able to help people
all other the world. I looked on both their websites, and saw no mention of this though, so I do hope this is
legit =/ If so, then how do you split it between the two charities? Its best to fund them regularly in amounts,
as this creates a sustainable flow of money (rather then tons in the summer, for example).And selling sim content is not a
very pro active way to raise money for charities, good intentions but there are other ways to raise money for charities,
and more successfully probably. It would be nice if you had a bar on your homepage to show how much you have raised, and
which charity it has gone too, individual projects that these characters are doing, etc...otherwise, this looks like a scam.

..continued in next entry Homepage-Bewertung:  

  Toto 10.09.2007 - 16:51  

Ich hoffe, ihr verkauft nur die Sims als solche, und nicht Enayla's Skins mit ihnen - falls doch, seid ihr genau das, was die Community am wenigsten braucht.

  redisenchanted 10.09.2007 - 17:16  

Even if you have good motives, you should not be selling Enayla skins. You should remove them promptly. I hope you are being honest, but there have been others in the sims community who have set up scams that looked very similiar.

  RageRage 10.09.2007 - 17:24  

Stoppen Sie, die Häute von Enayla zu verkaufen! Sie wünscht sie Häute frei bleiben! Ich denke, daß dieser Aufstellungsort nicht zugelassen ist.

I'm not 100% sure but it looks like they fucked up the table for the elf sims.
Guess what they want to say is:"3 funny Elves created by pussycat_110 from Simforum.de The Gift includes only facial features no custom content!"
They're shown with Peggy hair, so I think you'll get the skintones but not the hair.

The guestbook's no longer working. That didn't take long.

Can I have these skins too?

I can still see it, RageRage.  I iz lame, using IE6.

I forgot to C/P this before, it's prior to the Koala post in my last...post.

  Janice 10.09.2007 - 08:10  

Enayla wünscht nicht ihre verkauften skintones. Sie brechen sie Bezeichnungen des Gebrauches. Das ist falsch und keine Ursache kann es rechtfertigen. Traurig für die schlechte Übersetzung.

Homepage-Bewertung:  
*** Kommentar von Administrator ***
ACHTUNG! WIE GESCHRIEBEN, BIETET DIESER DOWNLOAD KEINE SIMS 2 FANOBJEKTE AN! DIESES SET BEINHALTET NUR DIE GESICHTSZÜGE! KEIN SIMS 2 CONTENT!!! DIE DOWNLOADS VON ENAYLA SIND NICHT ENTHALTEN UND NUR ZUR PRÄSENTATION VERWENDET WORDEN!

Babelfished:

Janice 10.09.2007 - 08:10 Enayla does not wish their sold ski clay/tone. They break it to designations of the use. That is wrong and no cause can it justify. Sadly for the bad translation. Homepage evaluation: *** comment of administrator *** NOTE! HOW WRITTEN, THIS DOES NOT OFFER DOWNLOAD A WINDSHIELD FRAME SECTION OF 2 FAN OBJECTS! THIS SET CONTAINS ONLY THE FACE COURSES! NO WINDSHIELD FRAME SECTION 2 CONTENT!!! THE DOWNLOADS FROM ENAYLA WAS NOT USED CONTAINING AND ONLY FOR THE PRESENTATION!

So it is as I thought - they're only using Enlaya skins to sell a big-eared sim.  Now with face!

The ol' bait and switch for charity?

Whatever happened to truth in advertising? Yes, it looks very much like the bait and switch and maybe they ought to be outed on that. Ripping people off is bad enough, but to rip them off in the name of a charity? Puh-LEASE! Assholes...

Here is a comment in English. It does appear that they are not actually selling sims with Enayla's content. I'm not shedding any tears over the grief it's causing them though. :twisted:

"Do you have permission to sell Enayla's skins? If not, please remove them because she has always shared her stuff for free.
*** Kommentar von Dennis Kehr ***
No I do not have the Permission to sale them and I dont wann have them because I think its a great idea to share there Items for free! I DONT SHARE HER CREATIONS THE RELEVANT DOWNLOAD CONTAINS NO CC!!! PLEASE READ MY DESCRIPTION BEFORE YOU ASSUME ME SOMET "

:lol:   That guy sounds madder than a bag of capslock keys.

Obviously there's a problem and people aren't understanding what exactly the download is.  Hey, here's an idea...

SHOW WHAT THE DOWNLOAD ACTUALLY IS!

oy.

His unreadable description? "THIS DOES NOT OFFER DOWNLOAD A WINDSHIELD FRAME SECTION" -- wtf?

Here's an idea: show what the download actually is. Then we will yell at you for something pertinent, rather than a misunderstanding caused by your own lies in advertising combined with your inability to write fluently in the language you have chosen.

:lol:   I forgot about the windshield frame section...now I can't stop giggling... :lol:

I'm done with diplomacy and convinced it's a scam.  There's no links at all to any of the charities, just pics that anyone can rip off a website, meaning you shall not pass GO without forking over to them first.

I call bullshit.

Responding in guestbook:



 :roll: Think someone needs a timeout? I love how paysites are getting questioned but boy, they don't like it!!! And they don't expect it. They think we're gonna keep swallowing the lies they've put out for years.

EDIT: I found some info on Unicef's website regarding how to report possible online scams. I just filled out the form telling them in the comments section that this site was using Unicef and WWF's names to collect donations and was that legit? We'll see.............. :lol:

https://secure.nclforms.org/nficweb/nfic.htm

Ok so they are saying they donate 15 to WWF which is about right if you exchange it for US currency to have a membership in the organization at about the 20 dollar level. But these people take the cake, they want a membership so they can feel good about themselves, but they don't want it to come out of their pockets. They want everyone else to pay for their membership.

Which also means only 6 donations a month go to these organizations. All the rest go where? Straight into their pockets. Well unless they are also  claiming they only get 6 donations a month, which happens to also be just enough to cover their memberships in these organizations. I find that very hard to believe.

Alls I know is, even if they are legit, I'm not giving them a hotdamn thing.

Why, how could you say that? These people are trying to help the underpriviledged of the world, and the animals. We simply must think of the animals. I'm going to give them something. I think I will give them something as high as a men's size twelve boot right up the goddamn ass! I'll donate myself, under my own name and in the amount I want. Fuck them and their falsely pious attitude, stupid twats...

I'm too broke to help anyone right now.  No tengo dinero.
I may not have much money, but I have enough dignity not to charge people for sims crap to get by. I have a legit job and work hard for my money. Payday is coming soon though.
Maybe I can get BV sometime within the next month.
 :roll:

I got BV and H&M even though I didn't ask for that one on the 6th. I still haven't installed either one. My daughter said all those hints you wanted it for your birthday, then we had to wait till after your birthday for it to be released, because you were wrong on the day it was being released. Which made you think we forgot about it. Then we go out of our way to get them for you and there they sit. Next year your getting flowers. lol I just haven't had time with everything that's been going on to back it all up, so I can install. Oh well maybe this weekend.

I went to Target the 4th because for some silly reason I was persuaded it was available then. Went back the 6th and brought home BV. And now it's sitting there because I'm afraid of installing since I don't know if the Inseminator or MATY's mods will still work and I still didn't find the time to browse MATY. It will end like with Seasons, I installed it only when I got the updated SimPE.

I thought the same thing. I could have swore it was going to be released on the 4th. I don't have any of Maty's mods. I'm going to have to check out what they have over there. The only real mod I have in my game is Insim. Then I have Katy's little object mods and CEP that's it, I don't consider them real mods. Katy's mods have worked with all the new EP's, but they're not globals so I don't know if that makes a difference. With Seasons, all I got with Insim was a buch of hearts everywhere. I felt like everyday was Valentines Day. lol But I never had any real problems I could tell with it. Maybe I should wait till it's updated to install though.

They consider the people stupid.  :( Sales is sales. There is no control of the incomes and which keeps WWF real.
 :?:

Contact :?:  :?:  :?:  :?:  :?:

Please use the Guestbook or write me private Message at one of the following Communitys:



www.simforum.de: Bluesea

www.reflexsimsforum.com: Maxe

www.forums.sims2community.com: Maxe

-----------------------------------

these forums agree with it :?:  :?:  :?:  :?:

Agreed, have the mods of S2C been notified, or seen this? Haven't seen any of them post here on this topic.

Is she saying that these sites agree with her scheme, or is that just where she will pick up her mail?

http://freenet-homepage.de/bluesea/

you alone look :wink:

I have no doubt she is going to pay her monthly membership plan with either of these sites. They both have monthy membership plans that begin at 5 dollars a month and go up to 100 a month then anything extra you wish to donate helps out. From the looks of that letter she has shown I saved it as well it looks like she is 10 Euro's monthly level member, which comes to about 13.38 I believe is what I just got charged when I donated to Num, not 15 Euro's. Or at least it looks like a 0 not a 5 to me. Which means it will either take 3 donations for each of the organization memberships if it is 15, or if it is 10 it will take 2. So then anything over 4 or 6 donations will go straight into their pockets, not to these organizations as she is claiming. I looked very closely at what she posted and it looks like the letter that confirms your monthly donation and welcomes you as a member to the organization.

The letter is too small to be really readable, but some things are ok to read:



The rest is not readable.

This is mostly juristical German, so that I won't be able to translate it properly, but as far as I can understand Dennis Kehr donated 15 €. I didn't find a hint about membership things, it rather looks like a one-time-donation, but it might be just not readable, or because I don't understand these juristic things. I bolded the number, because if you are going to find out if there was a real donation, this is the way to find out.

If someone else is able to translate this, please do so.



Oh, and about the window frame thing: There is a German word "Sims" which means the window sill, but can be used for the frame as well. There was a kind of discussion about this at SFV a long time ago already  :wink:

I look in my inbox and find this:



I hope this works!

Just saw this on their front page - turns out they were lying the whole time about Enayla's skins:

News:

Tuesday . 11. September 2007: A good and a bad News for you:

The good one: We have added a new Rubric which includes some great Recols from other Sims 2 Communities! If you are still interested to create some recols too please read the following Informations under Recolors ! THANKS!

The bad one: We deleted one of our Creation from our first Set! The Gift includes a File from Modthesims, its not allowed to offer free downloads at a paydownload!We still want to say sorry to the Creator we dont know that the File is from a extern Creator! EXCUSE ME ALOT

http://freenet-homepage.de/bluesea/

Wonder if they took any 'donations' for those before they removed them.   :evil:

Bullshit. What scum.

:roll: What idiots! If you're going to sell things, you'd better know what you're selling. They've disabled their guestbook btw.

I have no way of knowing if they intended this to be for real, or if it's all a big scam.
But to be honest, it was a really dumb idea.
After all the years of scams coming up in the Sims community it was kind of irresponsible to start this up assuming it would be looked at well.
As it's been pointed out, why bother with a middle man if you want to donate to charities?
Just go straight to the site and do it, then you know your money went where it was intended to.
I really think sites like this are a waste. Who cares whether or not they get Sims stuff if they donate to an organization anyway? You should donate because it's something you believe in, not because you're going to get downloads for your game.
It's just another way of bieng greedy. Asking something in return for your donation to a site that couldn't care less about The Sims.
Bah.
Meh.
And all those good *WTF* words.

in the US,  charitable organizations can legally keep 90% of funds collected

But they arent the charitable organization.  They are simply collecting for the charitable organization.  They need to disclose the amount they are donating ( percentage of total donations) and allow people to decide if that percentage is something they are willing to accept and then they need to show proof that that is the amount they have actually donated.

If they only want to give 10% of what they are collecting they can do that but they should have to tell you that is the amount of your money that is actually going to the charity.  Other companies and organizations will tell you that this percentage of your purchase or donation will be given to the charity so you know whether you still want to have that item or give that donation.  If it were something you were going to buy anyway then it can feel like a bonus to have a portion of the price go to a charity (even a small part.  I mean if a restaurant wants to give a portion of my dinner price to feed the needy I am all for it.) but if you are only buying it because of the charitable donation I would expect a larger percentage to be donated as would many people, I would think.

They're either dumb or dishonest. I'm leaning towards dishonest, but I can't be sure. Why not just put a prominent link on their existing paysite(s) saying if you like our things, please donate to this charity?

I agree that this sort of approach is only useful when it's something you would purchase anyway.

I came across that paysite the other time prior to finding this forum...I mean phorum. I also thought it was a scam and still think that.

Anyway, I just goggled the name of it and see that a "Dennis" announced the creation of the site on TSR's forum:

http://forums.thesimsresource.com/showthread.php?p=3508314

Supposedly the site's owner has enlisted cc creators to help out with the creations of cc sets....Never mentions who these are though.

I might be completely cynical, but I doubt that most people who purchase any cc from that site do that thinking that they truly are donating to WWF or UNICEF. I mean, this site truly reeks of a scam (at least to me). I bet the "costumers" realize it's a scam but don't care as long as they get the cc they are paying for. Same as if they were buying crap from other paysites. That type of attitude pisses me off--not as bad as greed, but close to it

Hey, about Enayla....Could anyone care to enlighten me as to what happened with her and the use and misuse of her skins? (if there are threads about it, love to read them). I also love her skins. Have downloaded nearly all of the ones she posted on MTS2. But I am newish to the whole pay/free controversy, so though I'm intrigued, I am also ignorant of most of it.

A German site posted Enaylas skins, slighly changed in a paydownload.

Read it here

http://phorum.mustnotbenamed.com/viewtopic.php?t=652&highlight=enayla

Well, no one has to pay for the scam donation sets any longer. They're in the booty.

If people only new more about it... I had never purchased a single CC from paysites before finding this site (good thing huh?), but I didn't find out about the booty until a couple of days ago. And that after having gone through my "download from the exchange" and "download from MTS2" phases. I guess it takes some search and research on one's own to find stuff, as well as helpful advice from people on other sites.

Wow. I was laughing at how blatant of a scam this is.

And LadySandy, you're right. We should get the booty farther out there.

Julsfels,

You may not know that there have been lots of scams in the Sims community before this. I think you need to know that people will wonder about your honesty in this no matter what you say. It's also a very bad time to open a paysite, no matter what your reasons. The blunder with the Enayla skins made things worse.

I respect that you had the courage to come and explain yourself. Your free site seems very nice too.

What is not okay is to ask people to pay for sims 2 files regardless of where the money goes.  :roll:

I think the better way to do this is offer the downloads, and tell people "instead of paying, click this button which will send your donations directly to UNICEF, the charity we support".  That way, no one HAS to pay money for pixels (in violation of EA EULA) AND they having an opportunity to support the charity.

I said before that your idea is like the twisted version of Money Better Spent. (http://www.moneybetterspent.org) If you really want to do it the right way, set the downloads free and just tell people to donate. You could even make a donation screen come up so they are confronted with the plea before they get tot he download page, but they would have the option to bypass it.

Your heart's in the right place...your execution puts you in the paysite category.

I will give you the benefit of the doubt, because I would like to think this whole idea is on the up and up.
BUT it is not, as you say, a good idea.
Donating to charities is wonderful. More people should do so. But if you read your EULA from the Sims, you'll find that you are not allowed to charge for sims items no matter what.
Having these downloads on your site for free, along with a few buttons to various charities and the suggestion that if you like my stuff, donate to a charity, would have been the better route to follow.
The past can't be put into the past and ignored when it rears it's ugly head over and over in the form of these kinds of scams. *not that you are perpetrating one, but many have in the past*
It would have been wiser to use your head and see that this wouldn't go over well and found a different way to urge people to donate to your favorite charities or their own.
I'm sorry to say, but I seriously doubt you will find much support for this other than your own personal clique of pals...the simmer of the world are just damn tired of paysites. And that site IS a paysite, no matter where the money goes in the end.

These files are not your property to sell, regardless of who or what gets the money.

You can't burn music CDs or game DVDs or steal your neighbor's petunias and sell them, even if the proceeds go to the most worthy cause on the planet.

You are illegally disregarding the EULA, which states clearly that commercial use of Sims-related files is forbidden.

If you wish to help charities, try going free, and posting links to charity sites and / or add this HTML to your site:



Those charities are sponsored by corporate donors, so visitors to your site can help various charities without coughing up any money for Sims 2 content that can not be legally sold.

Accepting money for EA's property is wrong. No amount of good intentions will change that.

Attempting to sell Linda Berkvist's art ("Enayla" made those skins) is also pretty reprehensible, and you would have defied her artistic intellectual property and ignored her Terms Of Use a lot longer if someone hadn't caught you in the act and made it public knowledge.

No excuses.

No, it really isn't a good idea anyway.  I don't really understand the point of what you are doing.  It is almost like you are trying to force people to donate to your chosen charities.  I would never "buy" your creations just because of that.  Have a fund raiser or drive if you want to raise funds for charity.  Do like Hecubus said.  Write a long blog or post about why you support Unicef of WWF.   Go out and bake cookies and sell them on a street corner.  Whatever.

You said earlier that you want to discuss your options.  Obviously, you don't want to discuss anything. You just want your files taken out of the booty.  

The only way that will happen is if you share them for FREE.

You know why? Because you held content hostage.  In a community where 100's of files are held for money, it's not a great idea to sell stuff for charity.



I donate to charities all the time - for nothing - no motivation other than altruism.  I shouldn't have to donate to where you want me to get content you're not supposed to sell.



Trust left this community a long time ago - with the death of the "bandwidth" lie.  Customers and ordinary simmers gave that trust to people who used it wrongly - there's nothing left anymore.



What exactly is the point?  You will just plead that you made mistakes, or the letters were lies, or the paperwork was misplaced, you weren't really selling free stuff, or something.  You didn't bother to take community soundings for this, and have had money for over a fortnight, and still implore us to wait.  Wait for what? You to do a bunk with the money collected, and post a tiny letter in German saying you've donated it? Don't think so.

If charity is so important to you, sell the games and PC you create content on, and give that money to them - and when you think about buying new games, then give that money to them too.

Calalily FTW once again!  You totally rock.  :D

That is a great idea, Lorelei.  A decent enough programmer could also code it so that when they click, it goes to a frame with the charity's website in the mainframe and then a box at the top, thanking them for their click and a link to take them to the download page.  Then, like you said, no money changes hands, but the site's purpose is still intact.

Julsfels, I want to believe that you are sincere about donating the money to charities. However, there have been so many scams in the sims community that people just do not trust anyone claiming that the money from purchasing sims files goes to charities.

The most recent scam I have heard of was Sasilia from Puresims, who claimed that all the donated money went to SOS Children´s Villages (SOS-Kinderdorf International) I believe. When people asked for proof that she had indeed donated the money to the charity, Sasilia first ignored them, and then finally posted a scanned image of a letter in German. She claimed that the letter was a receipt of the donation, but when German speaking members here read it, it turned out that Sasilia had not donated any money at all.  I find that despicable.  :x

I hope you now understand why people distrust sims sites that claim to donate money to a good cause.

Julsfels:  this is the result of introducing money into the TS2 user-made content equation - no one's going to take your word for where that money goes.  Ever.  Especially when people don't have to donate to you in order to donate to any real charity organization.

The files from your site were obtained by someone handing over money to YOU and/or those running that site.  You cannot now dictate where those files end up.  They are here, but they could just as easily wind up on the official Exchange too.  Or anywhere.

You asked for money for them and you got it.  Your control over them is now done.

If your intentions are as you claim, you will need to rethink this entire idea or accept the fact that there is only distrust for any site asking for money in return for TS2 content files.  Take the money for content aspect out of it completely, and people will be more likely to take your intentions seriously.

It's wrong to charge money for something that belongs to EA via copyright.  It's not your content to charge money for, period.

How hard is that to understand?  It's a derivative work--no one, as far as I can tell, can make a completely original piece of custom content for the game.  At the very least, it has to contain some of EA's code.  If EA didn't explicitly allow us to make and distribute custom content, its very existence would be in murky waters, legally.  Like fanfic.

It doesn't matter where the money goes, taking it in the first place is wrong.

Awesome!

In which case..

Putting aside all the arguments about pay items, I understand why you are doing this. Is there any way that more info could be put up onto the site? Like how much money you make, and how much the charities individually get?...and what projects they are currently doing.

The thing is, with charities they need a constant sustainable supply of money to fund their projects - and a sims site may not be able to do this. So it is very limited. Personally I'd do it all a different way..

But as other members have said, you should not be charging for sim content...

You want to get snarky about how your first language isn't English? Here's the gist of the matter rephrased for you.

YOU CAN NOT SELL SIMS 2 CONTENT.

IF A FILE NEEDS THE SIMS 2 GAME TO WORK, IT CAN NOT BE SOLD.

THE EULA PROHIBITS ANYONE WHO IS NOT EA GAMES FROM MAKING A COMMERCIAL PROFIT.

ONLY EA GAMES CAN CHARGE MONEY FOR SIMS 2 ITEMS. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS.

IT IS ILLEGAL TO HAVE PAYFILES.

IT IS ILLEGAL TO RUN A PAYSITE.

IT IS ILLEGAL TO REQUIRE PEOPLE TO PAY FOR SIMS 2 STUFF.

YOU CAN NOT TAKE WHAT DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU AND SELL IT, NO MATTER WHERE THE MONEY ENDS UP.

YOU MAY NOT ASK THE SIMS 2 COMMUNITY FOR MONEY FOR ANY REASON IF YOU THEN GIVE THE PEOPLE WHO PAY SPECIAL SIMS 2 FILES.

STOP SELLING SIMS 2 FILES, HAVE THEM AVAILABLE FOR FREE, AND THAT WILL GET YOUR ITEMS OUT OF THE BOOTY.

Clear enough for you? Does it need to flash and marquee across the screen and set off embedded MIDI files to get through to you?

I imagine you'll be getting some worship for that.

High praise to the Goddess Lorelei because you hit it right on the head.

I'm sorry Julsfel, but if I'm going to donate to charity I'll do it through a channel other than your own. I don't want the incredibly horrible downloads you're offering in exchange for donating to Unicef or the WWF. No thank you. If I want to support those charities I know other ways than selling Sims 2 content (which as Lorelei pointed out in nice big shiny red letters is illegal anyhow).

You may not sell custom content for any cause what so ever, dumbass.
Oh, and my balls still itch.

Lorelei,

(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u194/MusicalMaven/bow_down.gif)

Yeah, you know.

Show me hard evidence of exactly how much you take in and where it goes and then I'll believe you. Assertions mean diddly squat. I'll still think the site's a stupid idea, though.

I also find it difficult to believe that someone running a paysite would make the "mistake" of selling someone else's skins. "We all make mistakes" is not a good excuse. Nor is that "language barrier" stuff.

Also, what Lorelei said.

you might want to invest in a can of Cruex   :lol:



for some real happy picture goodness....

try Google Image search using "jock itch"

not for the faint hearted to be sure...   :shock:

*trys to resist the Monkey's search suggestion*  Is there a self-help group that can help me with this? :lol:

She's posted how much they've collected so far with a list via paypal.  :roll: So ....................where is the information that she's forwarded the money collected on to the charities?  :wink:

http://freenet-homepage.de/bluesea/

Zero of course - and I bet when they do show the amount, they'll put a table up there of how much they gave to each charity - not actual proof.  

Notice too, that the price has been hiked. Now 3 euro instead of 1 euro.

That's probably because they realized that one euro just about covers the Paypal fees and doesn't leave anything for anyone else.

:roll:

Errrmmmmmm..........is this easy to understand?


[/b]

Why don't you just have links to those charities on your site and free downloads? Don't come here with another pathetic excuse to SELL custom content.

I agree with Requip.  Set your downloads free or go away.

I'm so tired of these "donate and it will go to charity" scams.  Remember when Hchangeri did it?  (Not) good times..

Scammers aren't very creative these days.  Charity, dead husbands, dying chilluns, ripped off by website designer, someone's hacked my site and used up all my bandwidth and $2500 worth more..  *sigh*  

If it doesn't involve a mime, a lime, and butthurt then I'm not interested in hearing about it.

Well obviously it isn't if:



Logic failure, please try again.

Well yeah, there goes the meaning of every penny helps...

I'm just wondering, why are those poor souls who actually spend their time and their money indirectly blamed for being greedy and stuff because they dare not to think of PayPal's stupid fees?

Why is PayPal so popular anyway?

PayPal is easy and inexpensive and you don't need to install any shopping cart application and pay for credit card and check processing services. It is also international.

julsfels
Member
Registriert seit: Jul 2006
Geschlecht: w

Das finde ich auch eine gute Idee. Das Spenden direkt per Paypal wird eh nicht zu verwirklichen sein - ich habe mit dem WWF, Unicef, Greenpeace und dem BUND telefoniert, und keiner hat ein Paypal-Konto. Die meisten wußten nicht mal, was das ist, und alle waren der Meinung , das sie das nicht machen würden wegen der zusätzlichen Gebühren. Allerdings war ich der Meinung, dass ich irgendwo mal bei Paypal gelesen habe, dass gemeinnützige Organisationen keine Gebühren zahlen müssen. Das scheinen die aber nicht zu wissen bzw. es besteht kein Interesse . Wie werden wohl leider per Überweisung spenden müssen, dann eine Spendenquittung anfordern und die dann online stellen müssen. Am besten vermutlich lückenlos, also Paypal Ausgang aufs Konto - Kontoauszug von der Überweisung - Spendenquittung *seufz*. Sonst heisst es wahrscheinlich eh wieder, wir würden betrügen. Ein paar Leute haben auch bemängelt, dass sie nicht mitentscheiden können, an wen gespendet wird. Vielleicht sollte man vorher festlegen, an wen die Spende gehen soll und das dann auf der Seite ankündigen. Wenn man dann einen Betrag zusammen hat, der hoch genug zum Spenden ist, kann man dann ja nach der Überweisung wechseln und das dann wieder ankündigen. Dann weiß jeder Bescheid, an wen das Geld geht.
__________________ Zitat finish Julsfels



Irgend wie erschließt sich mir nicht der Sinn einer derartigen "Spendenaktion auf Krampf." Was oder wer hindert Bluesea und Julsfels wem auch immer eine Spende zukommen zu lassen? So wie es jeder Mensch tut, der das vorhat. Geld überweisen, Spendenquittung bekommen, fertig. Für mich sieht das nicht nach einer uneigennützigen Spende aus. Es ist ganz offensichtlich, dass hier alles getan wird, um über Organisationen wie Unicef und WWF eine schöne, satte Werbung zu bekommen, ohne dafür selbst einen Cent einzusetzen. Im Zusammenhang mit diesen Organisationen gesehen einfach nur unschön. Denn was verkauft wird, sind Dinge die weder Bluesea noch Julsfeld noch den anderen Erstellern gehören, es ist und bleibt Eigentum von EA. Man setzt keinen eigenen Cent ein , kassiert von anderen das Geld und spielt gegenüber den Organisationen den großzügigen Maxen und ganz nebenbei bleiben die Websiten im Gespräch. So etwas auf dem Rücken von Hilfsorganisationen auszutragen ist einfach nur abartig und zeigt einmal mehr, von welcher Mentalität und Moral ein Teil der Leute ist, die sich in der Simswelt bewegen. Bemerkenswert dabei, dass auch das Simforum mit von der Partie ist, wie auf der Website von Bluesea deutlich hervorgeht. Werbung, Ruhm, Bekanntheit auf dem Rücken von Hilfsorganisationen, ohne einen Finger zu rühren, ohne einen Cent zu spenden. Noch schlimmer geht nimmer. Eine schmutzige Geschichte, wie das ganze Verhalten zum Thema Pay und die Einstellung in diesem Forum zu den Lizenzbestimmungen, zu Rechten und Gesetzen und der Haltung, dass alles erlaubt ist, solange es dem Forum und einigen Erstellern nützt und die Vermarktung ankurbelt.

Roxelane, I am taking a guess here, but, I would say about 90% of the people in this forum don't understand German.  Your posts really need to be in english if you want to get your point across.  There is a non-english speaking thread here if you want to use it.

I translated it:

I think it's a good idea.
Donating directly through Paypal can't be realized, I called WWF, Unicef, Greenpeace and BUND, and none of them has a Paypal account.
Most of them didn't even know what Paypal is, and all said they won't have a Paypal account because of the extra fees.
But I thought that somewhere on the Paypal page I read that charities don't have to pay the fees.
Anyway those organizations don't seem to know about that, or aren't interested in.
Unfortunately we'll have to donate via bank transfer, then request a donation reciept and upload it.
Best without interruption - what's transferred from Paypal to the bank account, account statement, donation reciept. *sigh*
If not, they'll say we're scamming anyway.
Some people also complained about not being able to decide which to organization their money goes to.
Maybe we should define where the money goes, and announce that at the site.
Then, if we collected enough to donate, we can switch to another charity, and announce that at the site.
So everyone knows where their money goes.

-------------End of quote julsfels----------------

Roxelanes answer:

What's the use of a "donation by hook or by crook" anyhow?
What or whom hinders bluesea or julsfels to donate to whomsoever?
Just like everyone does who wants to.
Transfer the money, get the donation reciept, done.
For me this whole thing doesn't look like an altruistic donation.
It is absolutely clear, that you do everything to get a big, fat advertising via organizations like WWF or Unicef, without spending a single dime yourself.
Seen in context with this organizations, it's just ugly.
Because what is sold, is not the property of Bluesea nor julsfels, nor the othes, it is and will be property of EA.
You don't spend a single dime, get the cash from others, lord it over the charities and along the way the website will remain under discussion.
To fight something like this on the backs of the charities is just kinky, and once more it shows the mindset and moral of some people in the Sims world.
Notable is, that even the Simforum is in game, what you can clearly see from Bluesea's website.
Advertising, fame, publicity, fought on the backs of the charities, without doing anything for it, without donating a single dime themselves.
It can't get worse.
It's a dirty little story, just as the whole behavior of this forum is, when it comes to paysites, and the stance of this forum on licensing terms, on justice and law,
and the attitude that anything goes, as long as the forum and some creators can make use of it, and it boosts the marketing.
-------End Roxelane's reply---------

By "this forum" she means the Simforum, as it's been originally posted there. ;)

Paypal is popular for the simple reason that they unscrupulously lock out their competition until they are the only game in town. Since there simply *IS* no viable alternative, Paypal is thus the only choice, despite the fact that they are fraudsters and thieves.

If you really wanted to help these charities, you would send them to do the donations at the charities you support. You can even make a link that lets the charity know they came via your website. Then you both, you and the donator get credit from the charity. Which helps you both on your taxes. You could have them make the donation to the charity, send you the confirmation. Then, send them the gift. I mean is it more important for you to feel important by passing the money over to the charity yourself, so you can feel good about yourself? Or is more important to actually help the charity? They have to wait till you do the donations to use the money, if the people go and donate right away, even if you make it so they donate in your name or your website. They have the money right away and can put it to go use right there and then, instead of waiting. They can't get a tax credit if they donate to you and you donate to the charity, which by the way you are supposed to have "Posted" on your webpage, the fact that they cannot claim it as a charitible contribution if they donate through your website. I see nowhere on your website. Like they can if they donate directly to the charity. It will help your customers to also feel confident they are giving to a worthy cause, and not to line your pockets.




You might also want to add in, they may not accept paypal, but they do accept debit/mastercard/visa cards from around the world. They also allow you to pay through your checking account from around the world, which you also have to have to have a paypal account. My membership fees come directly out of my checking account. The same as paypal uses, without the extra charges.

They can also go here:
http://www.networkforgood.org/

Which allows them to donate to over 25,000 charities, through paypal including the ones mentioned and doesn't withhold the paypal funds from the charities. When they needed emergency relief for the people that were hit with the tsunami, I went here and donated to over 20 charities at one time to help out. I did it that way because I knew they worked in different area's. So I knew it would get more help quicker to the people. I did the same thing when the hurricane hit New Orlean's and surrounding regions.

Wrote Hawkgirl

If you really wanted to help these charities, you would send them to do the donations at the charities you support. You can even make a link that lets the charity know they came via your website. Then you both, you and the donator get credit from the charity. Which helps you both on your taxes. You could have them make the donation to the charity, send you the confirmation. Then, send them the gift. I mean is it more important for you to feel important by passing the money over to the charity yourself, so you can feel good about yourself? Or is more important to actually help the charity? They have to wait till you do the donations to use the money, if the people go and donate right away, even if you make it so they donate in your name or your website. They have the money right away and can put it to go use right there and then, instead of waiting. They can't get a tax credit if they donate to you and you donate to the charity, which by the way you are supposed to have "Posted" on your webpage, the fact that they cannot claim it as a charitible contribution if they donate through your website. I see nowhere on your website. Like they can if they donate directly to the charity. It will help your customers to also feel confident they are giving to a worthy cause, and not to line your pockets.
_______________________


You say the truth, I agree to you fully
 :?

 





 :shock: So she doesn't know what the hell she's doing? Or is this proof it's bullsh**?  :roll: Oh, and how fabulous......they've raised 20 bucks.  :wink:

Wouldn't it be better to just send the 20 bucks YOURSELF? (Bluesea) Doesn't matter as all your crap is in the booty (not that anyone wants it)  :?

*shakes head in wonder*

I'm just lost on where she sees the logic in this site.
Paypal....no go. Obviously not the best way to attempt something like this at all.
Of course, it's not a wise desicion to attempt it period.
IMO this is your best bet:

Redo your site.
Make all of the downloads free.
Put links everywhere to the charities you wish people to donate too.
Allow the people to do it themselves and get the sims crap whether or not they donate to the charities.

That is the only way you'll be legally clear. And it's also the only way the "community" will accept what you are attempting to do.
Just put a disclaimer at the bottom:
If you like our site and downloads, please donate to a charity of your choice and we will display your name (or not) etc..etc..etc...

Otherwise, 20 bucks may be all you get...no one wants to give YOU money and trust that YOU will give it to whomever you are claiming. The reciepts can be easily forged, dippy. No matter what, there will be people hounding you because of this silly idea you've had.

Sounds like a remix of the
 Pure Sims con that was pulled on many of us when that site opened with pay sets.
She "claimed" the money was going to a reputable kids charity. Only to have us find out later it went no where but her POCKET.  :x

I will continue to support my favorite Non profits and take the gift of knowing I helped. It is after all a much better one then taking a chance just for a few downloads that in all reality sorry are not all that.

And I think Sasilla kept calling us 'silly assholes' when we called her on it...apparently that's the only insult she knows in English.  (And yes, she's one of the Teutonic Twats...are we surprised?)

This has been there since she posted here. "We will send the money to the organizations at the next few days"  :roll:

Ummmm.............................BULLSHIT!!!????!!!