PMBD

Aikea Guinea and Gelydh, who imao are pretty much the only talented FAs at TSR and the rather only reason I go there, have their own site..

http://deception-pass.com/club_crimsyn/

Its FREE (atm)  :o :D

I will donate and support them if they stay free.

I've noticed that there's been a lack of aikea_guinea/gelydh updates recently at TSR. I wonder what persuaded them to set up a site of their own?

The stuff is nice. I never could be arsed to go to TSR and see what all the fuss was about. I downloaded a bunch of stuff. It would be fantastic if they remain free...

I do like their stuff, even if there are some obvious faults (like incorrect footstep sounds and no fat/pregnant morphs) and they were basically the only reason to even bother trawling through the dirge that is TSR, but now they have their own site that is seemingly free (for the moment), then I don't think I have any need to look at TSR at all now.

Hmm...this is the second set of FAs to austensibly 'jump ship' in just a few short weeks. How interesting. Woudn't you love to be a fly on the wall in the FA forums right now?

I agree about Aikea, Gelydh i don't know much about. But they seem to be the most talented creators. Lets hope they keep their site free, and only
asks for donations to keep their stuff free.

Yeah, i would like to be a fly on the wall right now  :D

Something of note from their FAQ:

+ Does this mean you've decided to throw off the dark, abysmal shroud of charging money for your custom content (which sucks, by the way)?
Nope, we just couldn't be bothered to deal with people and donations/subscriptions/etc. There may be a 'thank you' set for anyone who donates of their own free will at some point, though. However, given how lazy/forgetful/ADD-suffering we are, there may not be.

So there's a hint of donation sets in the future but other than that, it doesn't look like they plan to charge any time soon...

Interesting...

I also think they have an interesting TOU.

you know, amazone, I don't mind that TOU at all, so long as they keep the meshes free.  it seems fairly straightforward and easy enough to follow.  Fair, even. 

Yes - it's all good if they stay free.  ;D Some of their links are broken though.

Well its good to see they are free,I like the Count Chocula Cereals. ;D

Well, yeah, that's what i meant. They say you can recolor and with permission from them also retexture their stuff, and that is a good sign i think.
So i hope they keep their meshes, and stuff free. Time will tell.


Lilwen, you downloaded cereal? I downloaded the axes  :-X

I really hope they stay free! I don't like the style of Aikea's stuff (and that's only a matter of personal taste - I think her skills are amazing!) but since so many others do, this is a great, great step in the right direction ;D

Yeah, I was agreeing with you.  I can see that it looks vaguely like I'm not though.  Not quite sure how that happened.   :-\

Aikea's good but still inferior to most free creators because she doesn't have fat morphs.  ???  It's either just laziness or she really doesn't want "fat" sims to wear her creations.   >:(

Brill! I wonder who's next to jump ship? I had wondered what was going on as they hadn't updated in a while - this shows why :D

Also - axes? Hecbus' Selfsim should be complete now :D

edit: Just looking at their FAQ and...

+ Aikea Guinea and Gelydh are one person, right? Maybe…

:-\

Between that and the accordian with skull and cross-bones on it, I wonder if they are being totally honest about their reasons for going free.

Either way, a mug of rum in honor of Aikea & Gelydh.

I was quoting what they had in their FAQ - that's their words and not mine. I guess it's just their own sort of joke at how they produce similar items. But you never know, what with people like Jan etc.

I wonder what kind of scrambling Thomass is doing right now to try and talk them into closing that site and uploading to TSR exclusively?  I hope they both leave TSR and stay free with their new site.

They should know we would love them so much more if they did.   :)

And when I say we, I mean...everyone.   ;)

That Aikea's ex-friend that posted here ages ago claimed that she reads the phorum all the time... So maybe they do know?

Aikea & Gelydh, stay free! We love you long time! ;)

ETA:
I actually went to the site looking for a guestbook, but they didn't have one, so I could not leave them an encouraging message. They only have email addy where yu can contact them, and I don't want to spam them, so I didn't mail them. But the free site is indeed great news! :D

sounds like the curse of atwat, as predicted

http://phorum.mustnotbenamed.com/index.php?action=profile;u=6127;sa=showPosts

so who's the Artist Mangler gonna chase off next, taking bets

I have a loosely related question:

How the heck do you pronounce Gelydh? The "h", it confuses me.

I like the objects, especially the piles of books, but why the deuce is everything categorized under electronics/misc?

I made a whole whack of paysite creator sims to torture and Aikiea was one of them. I'll have to find a suitable replacement now before moving them in. And no Pickles, it's not going to be Ginger Beef.  ;D


Good to hear she's gone free. It's always great to hear when people leave tsr and go free.  :)

I love the fact that a couple of FA's from TSR went and made their own free site - with pirate themed items on it  ;D
These items are so much prettier than the items on TSR - which are subscription items, by the way...
Interesting, interesting!

Markus, I suggest you make a huge Thomas sim and put him through hell.
I don't know what Dumbass looks like, but I'm thinking the Perez Hilton sim from TSR with normal hair, then some 'stretchskeleton' times a billion or so.
A huge, butt-ugly Thomas. Ready to go through hell.
 :D

awwwwwww.  :'(

what if you made her into a default replacement for the Grim Reaper? Is that possible? It would be funny....

Pickles, that is hilarious!! Oh God I can just see it...
Default grim reaper - with extra grim!
Thank you, you just gave me a new obsession  >:(

I've actually made Thomass. Gave him a beer gut and a mesh tank top.  ;D

The other ones I have done are all the typical paysite people: Neptune Suzy, Atwat, Chazz, and Steve. Tried to download that Alek Wek sim to represent Cardrew, but the file was screwy.

I'm thinking maybe Open House Jack for the next one...

btw, maybe Ginger could be Grim Reaper using Sim Surgery. Might screw things up though.

I honestly say her name "jelly-dee". I know it's probably the wrong pronunciation, but I don't invest much time in properly pronouncing people's names because I never say them aloud. I just remember how they look and sound in my head the first time. For some people here, I only pronounce the first couple syllables and mumble the rest.

2 more FA's jumping ship eh? Truley this is a sign of the end of days TSR. Prophiciy cat is prophicizin'.

BTW, on Discovery Health a couple days ago I happened upon a program about fat people that are proud to be fat. I'm not talking "accepting the five pounds after 30" fat, but the "my heart is made of rendered lard" fat. They had one woman talking about how she never had a problem getting dates, she refered to these men as "FA's" or "Fat Admirers". I almost had a heart attack when she said "FA's".

Sounds like we may have two more defectors from behind the pixelated curtain. That's awesome news. Welcome to your freedom. Life can only be better when you don't have a ham-fisted vulgarian like Thomas using you as a sales tool.


(Markus, that sounds hilarious)

I'm almost happy. I'd be even happier to see them move all of their content onto their new site and make them free. That'd be a good statement. Baby steps I suppose.

Offtopic: You know what they say "thick in the waist, cute in the face". I know some men like being squished by incredibly fat women. It is what it sounds like. Sounds painful. I'm fat. I'd like to lose weight though. The main reason is for better health. I'd definitely like to be healthier above all. The rest is for pure skanky vanity. I don't like how my clothes are fitting now.

I'm still going to hold off on making a judgement so long as they still have pay files at TSR, but that's just me being the cranky old bitch that I am. I agree with Sherrie though – it probably has its origins as part of Atwatgate.

Its an extracted object from the game – Crocobaura has it as part of a set at MTS2 http://modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=271759 (http://modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=271759) so I wouldn't read to much into it.

Agree with my fellow gosling, on both accounts.

Is very well known the conflict between Atwa and Aikea..so this may indeed be a partial reason why. I was under the view that Aikea would not leave TSR though, after how much she went on about loving it there and would no upload elsewhere. But hrm...interesting. Things must have got pretty bad for her and Gelydh to abandon it so (both have also not uploaded for a week, not posted on their FA threads, etc).

Now, normally, I would conclude that setting up their own dependent site is means of luring and baiting towards TSR - as they have loads of links to their TSR minisite, downloads which use subscriber meshes from their minisite, and have pay items on the site. However, at the moment, they have none of those. Just one link for each to their minisites in the links section (also one for DOT, so obv she's in this group against Atwa heh)

From the FAQ, and TOU, it does look like they will not have any donation sets...so rather support this site, and intend on starting to use the meshes on that site for creating (am a fan of both heh, even if most of their meshes are just Maxis edits rofl)

What other FAs have set up free sites recently? I noticed that Alban, who thought was tipped for FA, has opened what seems to be a free site (link (http://summerafternoon.biz.st), beware, has music bah)

They did say they might have a donation present for people who donate on their own. If they do, I will not donate. It just encourages paysitery. Paysitism? Paysites. I wouldn't mind donating otherwise. Assuming I had cash to waste on such things.

I'd donate if everything was free. Most of what they made is still pay on another site.

This was spotted by someone at GoS - Gelydh has reuploaded onto that site one of her subscriber meshes from TSR.

The tattered dress mesh:
http://deception-pass.com/club_crimsyn/meshes/MESH_AlphaTatteredDressPreview.jpg
http://isc.thesimsresource.com/images/tmp/656/656848.jpg

Now I can not imagine TSR are too happy about that.. ::) :D

This makes me a happy panda since I like their styles, but did without because of the whole TSR/paysite crap.

I will not download from them yet. I want to see if they remain free and go completely free with everything. Since they still have pay items up, I have a personal policy of never downloading anything from a pay creator no matter how bad I want something. I am picky like that.

Woot! I hope they keep this hopeful start going. Reminds me of when Iced Mango (La Pink) dumped TSR :)

This may not be the correct thread to report this... but I've learned that juttaponath is no longer a TSR FA.  All of her previously pay items are now free. 

My my my. Interesting developments!

Very interesting indeed, especially as atwat couldn't stand Jutta, in fact Jutta was the first FA I remember Atwat bitching about, she hated the fact Jutta did creations in a million colour options. I posted screens of atwats bitching about her somewhere on here, I'm just too lazy to find them now  ;D  another interesting thought is that coconut posted that there were 'at least 3 FA's about to walk' this makes the third, so if his/her prophacy is correct, and its looking that way, maybe atwat has made true on her word to rid TSR of all the FA's she doesn't like. (in which case Tomass better reinstate her soon as she'll be the only one left)

As opposed to what, a million colours all at once like some of Atwat's 'creations'?
Honestly, this is all very weird. I mean, assuming this is her doing, and given some of the other stuff going down at TSR right now, you'd think they'd be cutting Atwat loose as quickly as possible. She must have some serious dirt on Thomass/Steve, because I don't think gettin' head explains their acceptance of her behaviour anymore.

If only :P

Ooo...very interesting. My bet is that TSR has done its usual thing here (like what they did to IcedMango, mentioned earlier in this thread) in that FA title gets removed, creations become free, but the account is locked from the member aka bannated.

Is juttaponath at many other forums? Would be interesting to see if she posts about it, or uploads her older creations. LOL if you google search her name all but the first link on the first page are links to torrent and booty downloads heh

And Atwa can not have made them get rid of juttaponath because she made too many colour options. More colour options increases the amount of potential people which may like them, and she has other 3million downloads on her mini site. Am thinking that Jutta walked...was not pushed.

Moar mutiny!  ;D

Hmmmm, the accordian has a skull and cross bones, could this mean something

Ohhh I don't think any of them were pushed, not by Tomass anyway! Much as Atwat would like to see that, I'm thinking more along the lines of driven rather than pushed. Here's a bit of fan fiction for you, maybe it's close to the truth  :P

[/insert tin foil hat]

It's been documented that some FA are threatening to walk, due to Atwat's behavior, Thomass is stubborn and although he knows atwat is a thorn in his ass, he wont remove her, main reason being he thinks that both us and the FA's will see it as some kind of victory, and he would have to admit he made a mistake, Atwat knows this and takes advantage. The FA's also know Tomass can't afford to lose them, so they think that threatening to walk will push him to fire Atwat, however they don't really want to walk as the greedy bitches would lose too much money, Thomas knows this too. Tomass thinks he can smooth the waters by getting atwat to step down from FA, and may have even offered them a payrise, but the FA's, greedy but not stupid, can see what he's up to, so to drive their threat home some have opened new sites to show Tomass they are serious about walking, (aikea, birdshit ect) kind of like driving the threat home that they won't take any more shit of atwat and will walk if they have to. The ball is in Tomass' court so will be interesting to see his next move. as for Jutta, she's not opened a site that we know of, she's not appearing in the retired lists, maybe she was pushed or more likely she carried out the threat of walking.

[/remove tin foil hat]

Very good question, considering he has seemingly done so with other sites by FAs. It will be interesting to see if Thomas puts any pressure on them to shut down their site and how they respond.

I am so happy to see Aikea and Gelydh go free on their own website. As long as they keep it that way :) And leave TSR for good.

Also, to hear about juttaponath no longer being an FA at TSR? Great news indeed!

I noticed that the Gelydh tattered dress mesh was the same as the one she has on TSR - she's just changed the name slightly from Tattered Alpha Dress for Adult Females (REA25) to  AF-FB_AlphaTatteredDress. There must have been plenty of toys thrown out of the pram at TSR when the powers that be noticed that she'd in effect made her mesh free - that's if they've noticed  ;D I don't think either Aikea or Gelydh have mentioned their own site anywhere on TSR have they? Maybe they're testing the waters with the free site before dumping TSR, as Aikea has of course uploaded a few things at InSIM in the past.

Re: the tattered dress mesh, am I right in thinking that the TSR version of the mesh won't work for the free dress and vice versa (ie the free version won't work for the pay dresses)? I have both so it doesn't make a difference to me, but I thought I'd ask anyway.  

I've just noticed that Cruella is no longer FA

More room for me.

This sort of speaks for itself...

(http://i26.tinypic.com/23h7vix.jpg)

So double-dipping, I guess. Still slightly better than before if they have a free site up, but bah for not leaving outright. Maybe they are just getting ducks in a row. Or maybe Thomass offered them more $$$.
I can never decide about Juttaponath. Some of her creations really aren't bad...a little shiny for me. But her models scare the shit out of me. Really, really do.

I hope that they are really just testing the waters and not double dipping. I've seen aikea_guinea posting and she's uploaded a couple of things at insim, so it would be really nice if she decided to go free. It seems that more and more FA's are leaving tsr...I noticed windkeeper hasn't put up anything since december...

I was just looking at the FA's page and noticed they've both changed their profile descriptions.

Aikea's now says: "...there are other worlds than these."

Gelydh's has been changed to: "I'm gonna run the risk of being free."

Oh to be a fly on the wall in Thoma$'s office around now. ;D

Ha ha ha!  :D That rocks.  If they (or anyone else) hops off TSR, they can look forward to the soft cushioning of the freesite supporters.  ;D

If we take that on face value, then it really says it all doesn't it... :D

lol, Aikea and Gelydh must be serious. They've moved their site to proper paid hosting. They now have a domain name lol.  I just hope more FA's (and SA's) leave TSR... I mean, look how may they've lost in the last few months. -we should make a list

All fingers crossed that they are actually leaving!

I don't think they have mentioned Club Crimsyn on TSR at all, my bet would be that they will upload one, two, three times more there, and then hopefully just kinda... Disappear.

Their terms on Club Crimsyn confuse me though -


 ???

Well, which is it?

Looks like they changed their mind, and forgot to change it properly XD

They've left - I'm jumping between this thread and the one at Simscave (yeah, I'm bored :P).  They've got the announcements in their blogs.

http://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/aikea_guinea/

http://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/gelydh/

(links to their minisites, because I'm too lazy to reupload pics :P)

Oh that is fan-fucking-tastic, presuming they're going free! HUZZAH FOR AIKEA_GUINEA AND GELYDH!!!!!  :D

Yay!  Good news!  I love it.  Thomass must be pissed.

So what does this mean for all their stuff in the Booty? Will we keep it incase Thoma$$ decides to wipe their entire profile(s), or will it be removed?

Sounds like the Atwa booting came a bit too late in the day. Too bad Thoma$$!  ;D

Woo! *yet more happy dancing*

Congrats to Gelydh and Aikea. Too bad for Thomas, he's lost two great creator to something he could have probably solved with the flick of a wrist.

From their FAQ:

I replied to this..but monkeys (or maybe Nouk) ate my post  :-X

I am very pleased :D Not only have they left TSR, but theres a new note at their site saying they will remain free -


Ah this is a good day.  Aikea and Gelydh, thank you

I wonder who Thomas is going to try and get for FA to replace these two though...

eta: Lol did not see you had already shown that Anyerfillag :P

They've reworded their TOU as well, got rid of the confusion and now allow meshes to be included with recolors:


So, overall - yay, I think?

OMG, this is fabulous news!  ;D

Yay for A_G and Gelydh! Hooray!  ;D

Well, I'm beginning to wonder if things have finally gotten to the point...where sites, especially conglomerates like TSR with multple creators, aren't making as much money as they used to.  So you're taking a pay cut, and people basically think you're rotten for charging, too.  There comes a point where most creators would probably rather get their respect back and go free, especially if they can't make a killing any more.  It just makes sense...why make yourself a paraiah in some parts of the community if it doesn't gain you much?

I mean, I think it's fantastic.  For both the pay angle and the simply breaking away from TSR angle--TSR is a disgusting site as it is, even if they were free artists, I'd be happy.  As long as their site remains free, too, I've definitely gained more respect.  Kudos to them.

This is great news!  We ought to throw a party for everyone who's left TSR. ;D

Between this news and atwat's demise, today's turning out to be quite nice. *swigs and passes*

Gelydh (i'm pretty sure it's Gelydh anyway) has just popped up at GoS to tell us the correct pronunciation of her name. ;D
What a night this is turning out to be.

Gotta ask...what is the correct pronunciation of her name?

It was her actual name, kierra. I still don't know how to pronounce Gelydh. ???

Also, Aikea has turned up too. This is becoming quite the party!

I'm still in awe - they're both at GoS...what next, here?!

Their stuff will remain in the TSR section as long as Thomas still has them listed as FAs and has their items listed for pay. Once they're officially dismissed, we will archive the old stuff, and I'll be contacting them about future plans (whether they'll be releasing it all themselves or want it in the Graveyard or whathaveyou).

Thats what I thought, but seeing as they haven't moved their stuff at TSR over (and there doesn't appear to be any sign of them doing so) I wasn't too sure what the procedures were. Thanks for clearing it up Hec :D

They aint on the FA list anymore.  Or the retired artists for that matter.

http://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/

Stuffit, this forum is on warp speed at the mo.  Hard to keep up.  God help me in the morning when I come for my fix, will prob need to wake up 2 hours earlier than usual.

Okay, that happened in like the last 10 minutes...while I was typing "but they're still listed"!! LOL

Wtf completely deleted? If Thomas wanted to hide the fact that these two left without shitty things going on, he should have put them on retired. Guess he gave up.

Nah, they're still there. Look on the new downloads queue on the front page. Still pay too, I might add.

I wouldn't be surprised if Thoma$$ kept all their stuff as pay just to piss them off...

For the moment, I'll move their folders into "retired artists" even though they're not listed as retired, until the stuff is taken off pay. I've contacted them at GoS about their plans for their files; stay tuned.

ETA: I just heard from Aikea - they're not going to be able to host all their items on their new site, so I'm contacting the Sims2Graveyard Keeper about their files. Somehow, we'll make sure all of their stuff remains available.

This is great. I hope more TSR artists (and subscribers,) see the light as Aikea and Gelydh have.

This is better than Mother Nature getting ready to bitchslap this backwards town (and me,) with a tornado. ;D

*sits listening to the crumbling of the TSR empire*  It's a good day to be a pirate.  All I can say is that Thomas & Steve are getting what they deserve.  Wonder what they are going to do when they have to get "real jobs"?

Congrats to Aikea & Gelydh!  I hope that if they read here (which is a high probability) that they know we will be glad to help them. 

Now, who's next?  Place your bets.  ;)

I hope everything is alright, Elfen. Get in a basement or somewhere else safe.   

Yay! I am a huge fan of Gelydh. This is very good news! I love their new site, it's nicely designed with wonderful free goodies :)
I hope that once set free in their own domain, they regain that love for the game that spurrs them on to create great content, without the pressure of "dish out or boot out" mentality.
I am more partial to believe that sort of attitude is what makes most content in TSR borky, since it's "dish it out! NOW! we need more bait! more lure!"
blerch. Yay to Aikea and Gelydh!  :-*

What a wonderful Day!  ;D  TSR is crumbling so fast I have a feeling that they'll be completely destroyed soon and maybe all of the other paysites ill start crumbling as well...then again most paysites don't use other peoples talent to make money...but I hope that the subscribers will see how ridicuolous the whole situation is and leave too. That would be a perfect end!   ;)

Thanks Snarky. :) We're all ok now. *phew* No tornadoes, but the flooding.  :-\ Thankfully, it didn't reach the house. However, I seem to have a plague of little frogs every where.  ??? Cute little buggers though.  :D

Back on topic though, yes, I think Aikea and Gelydhs' site is put together very well. Part of me wonders if TSR will go free, but accept voluntary donations (like MTS2 and InSim.) I think if TSR ever did that, then maybe my hatred of that site will subside...just a little.

I can't see that ever happening. TSR are a business, not a fan site. If they start haemorrhaging money the same way as they are FAs, then they'll look to other ways of ripping people off or just cut their losses and shut down. One thing you can be sure of though, is that they'll never go free.

I just wanted to say this:

Hey, Aikea or Gelydh, if you're reading here, please feel free to post and say hello. I can assure you that you'll have a very warm welcome, and lots of rum will head your way.

Yay for good news! With all of the negativity surrounding paysites, especially TSR, it's always a great week when we have people going free, dumping shitty paysites, and bitches getting fired (talking about Atwa).

Time for a happy dance! *jig*

Totally agree - we'd have nothing but good stuff to say.  :D

I don't know if they've found their way here yet - they still seem to be reeling from the big resignation yesterday. I've been talking to them both over at GoS, and if there was one word to describe their mood, I'd say it's 'relieved'. I'm working with them on getting their files in the right places, and actually, they asked for a bit of help:

If you have had problems with a Geyldh or Aikea mesh crashing your game, please PM me and let me know which ones. We're going to look at the original files v. the files we get from TSR v. the cleaned files in the booty, and see where any problems might be. I only need a few to test, and I probably won't PM you back, just know I say thanks, and I'll tell you all to knock it off when we have enough to test.


Oh, and I'll tell them to come join us, and to ignore any bad shit we might have said about them before, when they were part of the Evil Empire. LOL

I don't actually have a mesh crashing my game, I have a mesh missing. lol

It's the mesh for ShellShock, flannel shirt for AF.
http://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/gelydh/downloads/sims2/meshes/620496/

I downloaded from the Booty (thank god for you guys having the patience to remove whatever clutter and spyware TSR attempts to include) and didn't notice the missing mesh until I booted the game.

Microwaves Dream, that mesh is in the booty. I know it is, because I have shirts in my game that use the same mesh, and they work just fine.

So, dig around, you will find it. :)

(Oh, and just that you know, this is not a WCIF forum, so if you want to find it, you need to search for it yourself in the booty. We're not going to do it for you.) ;)

It's not that one, for me. I had a crash when switching from AF separates to AF outfits. The Shellshock shirts look lovely and work. Lost me three sim-days of play. I was too pissed to do binary last night. I'm sure it was my own fault.

Karminger, did you download Gelydh's Metal Postcard set (http://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/gelydh/downloads/sims2/sets/672988/)? The mesh from that was crashing my game (and it's an AF full-body mesh) - filename is MESH_Gelydh_AF-FB-ShortsandBoots_REA28-022408.package .

(And yes, I have PM'd Hec about it - along with a dozen other people, I'm sure.)

That one's on the list, btw. They already knew about problems iwth that mesh, and the AG10... we do have a few more to test out, but we'll get this all straightened out by the end of the week.

Love your sig!  I pulled the thumbs war on my hubby, and he jerked his hand back so fast I thought he was gonna slap himself!

Poor Hec. Yup, that was it. Did a binary and everything else I downloaded last night was lovely. It's just that mesh from the Metal Postcard set.

haha, thank you  :P

While Aikea and Geyldh are getting their new site set up and are figuring out if they can host all of their old files, we are graciously hosting their items.  Of course, we know that some people found that four of the meshes were messed up, namely:

Aikea:
AG10
Sweater with Sneakers for Kids - Mesh AG118

Geyldh:
Metal Postcard
Alpha Tunic Top for Adult Females (REA17)

While we don't know for sure if it was a problem with the booty, or TSR, or some other mysterious borkage, we do know that we now have these four meshes in the booty, fresh from Aikea's and Geyldh's computers.

You can find their files in the booty, under TSR/z-retiredartists - each has their own folder, and the new meshes are in folders cleverly marked as fixed meshes.


Thanks, of course, to Aikea and Geyldh for helping us get this straightened out!

I do in fact know how to work a forum, thanks..
I was replying to the most recent thread involving Geyldh's name and I was not asking anyone to hold my hand or "do it for me". I unzipped it, and the TEEN set of that shirt does in fact have the proper mesh file, the ADULT version apparently didn't get included, at least in the .zip I downloaded.

:)

Just went and checked their site out for the first time. They have some neat stuff.

Not all meshes are included with the zips. Most zips come straight from TSR (although the borkinated TSR code gets removed), and if the mesh is missing, it is also missing from the TSR zip. The booty staff does not add missing meshes etc., they have enough work at updating the booty, and we should not expect them to do that.

If the mesh is missing, you need to go to TSR to see which mesh is required, find the set there and then download it from the booty. Not too hard, is it? :)

Nope. Not even when you forget and don't realize you're missing a mesh for two days and have to binary search to figure out what it is.

and that is not the responsibility of the people here. How they get it is how it was uploaded to TSR. And you may know how to work A forum but it's fairly obvious if you're posting this in this thread, you may not understand how THIS forum works. Especially considering Hec has a big stickied "about requests" at the top of just about every section.

Microwaves Dream wasn't making a request, just noting a (non-missing) missing mesh in a thread that had turned to the question of possible problems with AG & G meshes. What is clear is that MD isn't overly familiar with how to work the booty -- it's usually best to visit the paysite and look at the specs on the item there. In this case, the mesh is a separate download and wouldn't -- as Saraswati notes -- be included in the zip.

And that's where the Crimsyn pair leaving TSR (yay!) gets a little messy for downloaders. Are Hec and the creators and the Graveyard keeper going to all the effort of re-linking various recolors to their meshes so that if/when TSR removes their content (as they should have already!), downloaders will still be able to assemble all the relevant pieces?

TSR set all their stuff free  ;D ;D ;D

Excellent news.

Am I blind or is their stuff gone from TSR completely?

Silly me, I looked in retired artists section. 

All their stuff at TSR has become unlocked and freely available! Arr!
 ;D

Fizzbomb gave us that info on the last page.  Tis good news, though.

Interesting...some pressure is applied to Thomas, and he caves.  Not the first time.

Huzzah!

That's awesome! I just went and downloaded a ton of their stuff. I had most of it from the booty already, but I wanted Thomass to feel like he was losing money. :D

;D
I did that too!
English speakers do not have a word for it (funníly enough), but it was a pure schadenfreude moment.

English speakers have adopted "schadenfreude" for precisely that reason. It's such a great word to describe that emotion, why try to create another? (English is, after all, part German anyway.)

I know Hec, I just find it funny that you do not have a word for it.   :D

Anyways, it was pure glee.  ;D

Edit:
<--- The postcount, check it out!

Woo! Congratulations! Send alia a strip-o-gram! (Do not send alia a strip-o-gram, it would be creepy)


Besides, in english there is no way it would be anywhere near as pithy. It would end up being something like "jerkycontentedness" or "misfortunehah" (or more likely it wouldn't be one word [no whining that those are two words, compounds count!], but a long description of the meaning :D). See, all are awful replacements because "schadenfreude" is so great.

It is kind of weird, though, that english doesn't have more words for different emotional and internal states, instead it almost always requires a long, wordy description (except in cases like, say, "schadenfreude", where useful words just get cribbed from other languages) . That's always one thing I hear from many ESL speakers that strikes them as odd about the English language (although I'm sure there are many, many others ;)).

OMG, that is fabulous!  ;D
I'm going to start using that.
It might not be a word yet, but it will be.  :D

Pescado takes great delight in his attitude of misfortunehah.

Yep, I like it. Let's see how long before we hear someone outside the community using it....

Ha! I'll finally have my own entry in the OED! :D

Ok fine, I'm guilty.
I felt weird a bit because I really do like their stuff alot.
They're very talented artists so I was afraid it would seem gratuitous.
So I made sure I took the time to thank, and more importantly, recommend them after every download.
There were many.

Is questioning his punctuation.

Kenmtl. *sighs* For me it's not so much your punctuation that's the issue so much as the spreading tendancy around here for new posters to hit enter after every sentence. It's ok to keep going with the same paragraph if you're still going with the same thought and it's actually kinder on everyone else's heads.

Too many enters
Turns quite normal sentences
Into crap haiku.

Sorry guys, I didn't even notice. I'll be more attentive in the future. I even do that longhand believe it or not. It's the way I think, so it's the way I write. You're not the first to point that out believe me. I once wrote what I thought was a very romantic letter to someone and they were laughing while reading it. I was getting angry a bit, so they said it was just because I had written the entire thing in point form. Anyway, I'll be more careful while I'm here.

See now, I can't even reread that, it just looks like jumble to me. lol



 

Thank you, now that post I read.  Your other posts were just too annoying.  I tend to skip the harder to read posts.

;) Kenmtl thank you so much for listening and being good about the feedback.. That last post is much easier on my head than the one before.

I wanted tell you ‘my story’ and explain why I left TSR.  This is in by no means a cry for attention, I’m just tired of staying silent to ‘protect’ someone else.  I’ll skip a long and stupid intro and just jump right into the long and stupid story.  :P

Back toward the end of last year I began to get increasingly burned out on the creating aspect of being an FA.  There’s a constant pressure to make complete and unique sets, and on top of that I was trying to deal with learning to be the FA Artist Manager while constantly having to do ‘battle’ with Anita in the forums.  She was constantly overstepping her bounds in ways that were causing other FAs to avoid the forums all together.  There was a clear and mounting tension in there, and I found myself having to make myself check the forums for any ‘cries of help.’  By November I had to take a month-long hiatus just to keep from giving up completely, so you see how long this has been in coming.

At the end of January/beginning of February (not sure of the exact date), I received a disturbing PM from one of the FAs (I’m leaving names out of this completely) concerning Anita’s behavior not only on TSR but on other sites as well.   I’ve never gotten along with Anita, but I’ve always been professional in my dealings with her as she was a fellow FA.  There was evidence of her talking about the FAs behind everyone’s back, and information from the private FA forum was being leaked.  I was disgusted to say the least.  I’m a very private and quiet person by nature, and as such have a very difficult time opening up anywhere.  To think that things I may have said in what was supposed to be a private forum were leaked didn’t do much for my desire to become more social.

What I ended up having to do was send out a carefully worded PM to several FAs asking if they were having any problems with anything they felt they couldn’t discuss in public, and if so please let me know.  When eight out of thirteen contacted came back with complaints against Anita’s behavior, I contacted Thomas.  This wasn’t Anita’s first time being reprimanded, in fact I could remember several occasions in the past well before I was made the FA AM when she was called out on her actions.  I was even told privately that Cyclonesue stepped down as the AM because of having to deal with Anita.  (I want to mention now that we were publicly told she was stepping down from her AM position for very different reasons.  Keep this in mind for later.)

After what felt like weeks of back and forth arguing (it may have only been days, at this point things are starting to blur together), I finally decided I’d had enough and told Thomas I was ready to quit, not only as the AM but as an FA as well.  I’d been considering this for several months, and things had finally reached a point where I felt I was ready to go.  When I told Thomas this, he decided he would convince Anita to step down as an FA, but still be allowed to carry on her SA AM duties.  At that point, I was worn out from everything and said that would be a good compromise.  I was told she was very reluctant to give up her FA status.  Imagine my surprise when a few days later the story is completely covered up by Thomas with a nice patina of ‘Anita has chosen to step down as an FA in order to concentrate on her work as the SA AM.’  There was a similar post by Anita herself in the SA forum and her blog.  So essentially she gets to have a little slice of martyrdom while I’ll feel as though I’ve been slapped in the face.  The truth of why she was forced to step down was completely covered up, with only a very small handful of us knowing the real reasons behind it.

I will take a moment now to point out that none of this was in any way a personal vendetta of mine.  I was doing my job as the FA AM and bringing the concerns of a large portion of the FAs forward.  Though I’d been annoyed with Anita in the past (things like posting on every single thread brought up in the forums, being generally snippy and flat-out rude, etc.), I wasn’t going to start trouble.  I thought that perhaps it was just me who was feeling this way, and was startled to find out I wasn’t alone.

For several weeks after, things still felt very unsettled to me.  The place that had once seemed so inviting now felt off-kilter and often times downright hostile.  I’d long since been seeing signs of paranoia, and now I began to notice other disturbing patterns as well.  There had always been a strong feeling of ‘us vs. them,’ and the definition of ‘them’ seemed to waver between ‘the pirates’ and the SAs.  There was also a continuing air of ‘who can we trust,’ and I get the impression that no one was above suspicion.  In short, it wasn’t an environment I could relax in and be able to focus on my creations.

Things continued along these lines for several more weeks, and I slowly began to realize that it wasn’t just my sims stuff that was suffering.  I couldn’t focus on writing or playing my violin.  I was feeling trapped, and as time progressed I began to realize more and more that I was caught in the crossfire of  battles that I never really wanted any part in.  Once again I tried to quit, and was once again talked out of it for the time being.

Raychael and I decided we’d start our own site so we could have an outlet that was separate from TSR, just a place we could put things that didn’t come in complete sets, were older creations, or were too violent for TSR’s PG13 rating.  We wanted our own space where we could create things just for the fun of it, without any pressure from anyone.  What we got in return was a series of what felt like accusatory emails from Thomas, questioning our motives on more than one occasion even after being given what I felt was a thorough and honest explanation.

Finally, on April 19th we emailed Thomas telling him we no longer wished to be FAs.  After some back and forth, I was finally able to make it clear that I was serious and set on retiring.  I’d had enough of being in the ‘paysite debate’ spotlight, and all I wanted to do was have a little piece of the internet where I could put the things I created for fun out there for ANYONE else who wanted them.  I’m not anti-paysite, I’m not anti-freesite, I just want to have fun and live & let live.  I could no longer do that if I was an FA.  I will say right now that until that Saturday when we quit, neither Raychael nor I had ventured over here since probably sometime in late November or early December of ‘06.  (The only reason we even went back on Saturday was due to an unrelated PM we received about something going on here where we were mentioned in a screencap of a PM from Anita.)  So as you see, the decision to leave was based almost entirely on what was going on at TSR, and only a very small amount on what anyone on any anti-paysite site may have had to say about me/us.

Sadly just stepping down wasn’t quite the end of it; we continued to have to deal with things at TSR.  When it was clear we were serious about quitting, Thomas didn’t want us to announce it anywhere.  He asked us to just sort of ‘fade away’ rather than taking the time to tell anyone we were leaving.  I refused to do that, because I will not lie to people.  As you’re all well aware, both Raychael and I made our announcements in our blogs, and then were taken off the FA list.  Then there was the attempt to keep our files subscriber only.  I’m still literally angry with rage over the attempt to guilt us into allowing them to keep it locked, and the ridiculous attempts to convince us it was normal to do this.  Thankfully the situation was resolved and now all our files are freely available.

I suppose that brings me to where we are now, which is with Raychael and I greatly enjoying our new-found freedom and rediscovering what it’s like to create just for the sake of creating.  The response to our decision has been overwhelming, and we’re still a bit in shock over it. 

I’m not telling you any of this just to make TSR look bad or anything of the sort; I just wanted to tell my side of the story, and to give a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes.  I’ve been quiet about this for way too long.   I couldn’t continue to be part of a group that so readily tries to sweep all its problems under the rug and contradicts themselves at almost every step, not to mention lying as easily as breathing.

Raychael said this over on GoS, and I felt it would end this fairly well: 

“So I suppose what I'm try to say is that I'd like you to give us the benefit of the doubt; we're not stuck-up, egotistical maniacs, just incredibly anti-social and somewhat uncomfortable with talking to people. We're really glad to see so much support over our decision to leave TSR, and it's greatly appreciated and has helped a lot (it's also a bit weird, we honestly didn't think people liked our stuff that much to care!).”

-Danielle/Aikea

(edited to fix a really stupid typo.)

Thanks so much Aikea for that insight. I am glad you walked away before it got too taxing on you. You may not have any standing in the debate of pay vs free, but you understand that pressure of creating something that was meant to be fun - for pay. It isn't fun when someone treats you like a work horse. Your creations are great, and I really really hope you guys continue to create as long as your creativity and interest is still in love with Sims.

Yay to Aikea and Gelydh! I now am late for work, but who cares! :D

Danielle

That was beautifully put and very dignified.. That's the only reason why most of the free site creators have our sites and make stuff is because it's our hobby and we like having fun, so we get that motivation totally. I mean, this is something you do in your spare time, it shouldn't be giving you an ulcer. You'll find tons of friends and fun to be had out here in the bigger community.

I actually hadn't checked out your stuff because I generally don't visit TSR but I went to have a look after you left TSR and I adore those regency tailcoats you did.

And welcome to the Phorum! I'm not a pirate either, I've never used Booty stuff in my life.. I just like the environment here, it's full of cathartic, silly fun.

Saraswati

That was very interesting and insightful to read. Thank you for sharing your side of things.

I concur with deelink and welcome to the phorum. ;)

Well done and welcome!

Wonderfully put, aikea_guinea.



This was encouraging beyond words. Thank you for sharing the reasons behind your decision to leave TSR. Also, best of luck with the new site. It looks amazing.

Freedom's the treasure beyond Earthly measure. I'm so glad that you and Gelydh have yours and have rediscovered the joy of creating for fun! Thank you so very much for coming here to tell us your side of it, it means a lot and gives more understanding to what you went through. I'd also like to say welcome to you and Gelydh, because you are good people and make fantastic creations, thanks for sharing them with all of us in the community.

Thanks for explaining your side of things, Aikea. Have fun with your freedom!

As someone who has social anxiety disorder to the point that it is hard for me to leave the house, I completely understand this. I have to force myself to do "normal" things, like go to movies, store, etc. I have been lurking here for a LONG time, and have only felt "at home" enough to start posting in the last 24 hours.  Welcome, and hugs to a fellow anti-social.

oh lord, why would you ever be scared of us? Most of us don't bite.. Paden does, but that's only when she has a meal of stupid people to feast on.  ;)

Hi Danielle, Thank you so much for taking the time to explain things so clearly, it's a sad state of affairs when they cover up your side of the story while protecting the guilty, and then to try to stop you saying your goodbyes is just plain mean. I'm glad you didn't just 'fade away' you're both very talented, and you deserved better. I wish you the best of luck with your new site and for the future. *hugs*

Yeah, what she said! Plus, I really have to have my tail yanked before I'll pounce so you ought to be safe, you don't seem to be the tail-yanking type of person I would bite. Besides, we share a nerdom, so I think you'll be safe from me. I try not to start crap, but if someone starts poking me with sticks when they shouldn't ought to, I'll spork them hard and fast, specially if they're trolls or pay site owners, they're just fun to taunt. I think it's a Kender thing, from back in the day when I used to play one during a Dragon Lance RPG with some friends online... That, and I just detest idiots and assholes with a passion... I grew up with enough of them.

Welcome, Aikea, and I sincerely hope you rediscover the joy that your art gives you.

Thank you for sharing your formidable talents with us.   :)

Thank you for that aikea guinea - that was insightful without being bitter.  :) I wish you (and thereby us) many more hours of happy enjoyable creating. 

There's a lot of asserting dignity in your post.

Thank you so much, Aikea, and welcomed!

Welcome back to the art of creating just for pleasure,it was good to see a true insight into the working of TSR and thomas.

It just angers me that people who have been there for such a long time and have put so much energy in that site are treated this way when they want to leave. You'd think they'd value the creators that like and trust TSR and have been there for years, but oh no. Leaving? OK go quietly, don't tell anyone why, and your stuff stays pay. It's like they've got what they wanted from you and when you become 'too difficult' you just need to go away without any support, a goodbye or even a thank you. I think it's also the state of TSR by the time you left. Dr Pixel had no problems getting his stuff free, Elmazz had no problems, etc. Treating you differently is just to annoy you because you aren't obedient or something. Very childish. Even people who have been there for years and years have no guarantee of being treated fairly after long years of creating and working.

I'm happy you decided to branch off on your own and not let yourself be stressed any longer. TSR is currently in a bad social state with distrust and stupid little games being played, wouldn't want to be somewhere like that either. In real life you don't stay at a job like that for very long either.

Thank you for your post, Danielle.  It is beautifully done.  I'm so glad you're out from under the weight of TSR. 
you're well rid of that lot.

Thanks for you post Danielle.  It's horrible that TSR put you through all that, but it looks like you're in a much happier place now.

I know you said you didn't want to get involved in the whole paysite debate, but you're post actually is the best summary of why we do what we do here.   I admit, I think we're just as bad sometimes about getting into the whole "us vs. them" mentality.  But as you've seen, when someone goes free, we welcome them with open arms and give them all our support.

You go, girl!

:::hands Aikea some rum::::

What blows my mind is that Thomas thought that you two could just quietly fade away! I don't know numbers, but you had to be one of the top draws at TSR - I know people who subscribed just to get your stuff. How could we NOT notice?

Also, interesting about your more-risque-than-PG13 items - considering there are now porn stars on TSR, I can't imagine anything you do would be as bad as that. Ah, hypocricy, thy name is Thomas.

I hope you post here more often... we're awfully drunk fun.

This is why I love being a pirate,  the freedom to be able to frequent most forums without any fuss.

Aikea and hopefully Gelydh when/if you register, you must be feeling such a sense of relief.  It's great to see you here.  Have a party, let your hair down.  It's exhilerating to be able to post and not worry about upsetting the management.

It seems it's either, visit TSR forums and the BBS.  Or, sail around the world, and enjoy all the sites, sounds and smells.

Welcome aboard and enjoy the rum.

I was very moved by your post Danielle.

The talent that i've seen of you and Raychael's work is almost unduplicated in this community in my humble opinion.
Your creations are perfectly textured, bump-mapped and all the other good things we look for in CC.
I'm so happy to hear you and your collegue have been liberated. This is cause for celebration!
I really enjoy the theme and content of your site, as well as it's name.

I wish you luck with your site and appreciate your joy of creation.
We appreciate the results of that joy.

It's unfortunate what you've gone through and I hope that more eyes open about the dirty deeds going on behind the scenes including the blatant disrespect and disregard for two of TSR's most valuable assets (that they now no longer have because of said disrespect and disregard).

Congrats to you and Raychael (I love the spelling of her name.. geez..).

Welcome to the Phorum.
And with that, I raise my glass of rum to you.




.. wait.. do pirates drink rum from glasses?  :-\
or am I doing it wrong..

Only on special occasions like these.  Of course the bottle could be considered a glass.

Excellent  ;D

Arrr.

I think you will find that now that you are outside of the TSR bubble, there are many out there who understand how you both feel in this respect and will welcome you with open arms. Aikea, your post was beautifully done, and all of it was well said, and the issues at TSR are pretty clear. Thank you for the wonderful explanation on how you both saw it, and welcome! :)

PS. BTW, your and Gelydh's creations are well sought after, have no fear about that. ;)

Thank you for your post Aikea. Takes guts to post that here, where the TSR lot can see it fully :) Am glad that you and Gelydh (who have just noticed is online here *waves*) are out of it, and wish you best of luck with your site. Its fantastic to have you into the community again...espically over at GoS! Welcome and enjoy the freedom ;)

Thank you Aikea, for posting what happened.  I'm sorry that you and Gelydh have had to go through this.  I am really excited about your new site and love many of your creations.  Welcome and I hope that both of you will feel comfortable enough to post from time to time.

Have some rum and enjoy your new freedom! 

Welcome to PMBD Aikea and Geldyh.  :)

Thankyou Aikea, for a beautifully written post and succinct explanation of events. As someone relatively new to Simming, I've seen both yours and Gelydh's work as some of the nicest I've come across (among others, of course :) ) and thank you both for your contributions to the community. As another who has trouble speaking out and socialising, I can surely understand your fears of people imagining that you're egomainiacs. I often have people thinking I am a snob, when all it truly is, is paralysing fear and a conviction that no one could possibly really be interested in anything that I have to say. But here, you are welcome to speak your mind if you choose, or just simply observe if that is what you see fit to do. It is my sincere hope that you both regain the joy in creation that having your own space will bring, and the freedom that comes with it. Congratulations and best of luck to you both  :)

Edit: Argh, TYPO!

Where to start?  Not a clue... *jumps in at random*

Anouk, as far as I'm aware it was never even mentioned that Elmazzz had stepped down.  I only noticed when I was randomly looking through the retired artists list one day.  Seems this is a new 'thing' for people leaving FA-dom, and not one I wanted any part of.  It's taking all my self-control not to mention another very well-known artist who's gone the same way, only in the 'fade-out' way Raychael and I were meant to. 

CaptainJojoba, as far as taking guts to post this here, where the TSR lot can see it fully, I only hope that someone else reads this and at least begins to think.  As I said before, this isn't meant to tear TSR to shreds, only to give insight into things that would otherwise be kept from view.  There's nothing to be gained by lying to people.

To everyone else, thank you so much for your warm welcomes into the 'wider community.'  We're still totally overwhelmed but so appreciative of all your support.  We're more inspired than ever and have rediscovered the joy of creating just for the sake of creating.

As for me, I'll swap yer rum for vodka, and be on my merry way.   ;D

Cheers!

Hi, Aikea! Sorry for the late welcome. I don't know if you'll trail these forums long enough to see, but I just wanted to say welcome and that most of your outfits are a must-have for my male sims. <3
You also have the same name as me. I'm a Danielle too. ahah.... interesting.
I'm on MTS2 as "Lunar Eclipse".
*hugs*

Please continue to make content for yourself. It should be a fun hobby and never a chore. I think people do their most beautiful work when they do it for themselves and love what they are doing... not when they are trying to please others and meet deadlines. ^^

Glad to hear that you're enjoying creating once again. I'm sure that you've inspired lots of people, so hearing that you decided to go free isn't only a good thing for you two, but for the free-community as a whole. Enjoy the community (it's, from what I've seen, a lot more friendly than the paysite community most of the time), good luck with your site, and keep up the awesome work. ^^

Aikea I really do hope that your post, and the knowledge of what happened to you and Raychael, does make the TSR people think. If TSR has gone to the stage where its own FAs are treated like this, then they must at least think about it - and hopefully get out. The wider community, as you refered to it, is very welcoming.. and any more FAs, who leave as you and Gelydh have, would be embraced into it and their decisions supported

And oddly enough, you both still have FA threads up in the FA Discussions area  ::) Hope Thomas does not think that you are going to change your mind and go back..

Gelydh + Dark Lunaris + Aikea on one site = made of win
hint hint hint hint hint hint

And I wonder if TSR makes FA's fade out quietly because of the pirates gobbling up rum and kielhauling landlubbers everytime one does? For a site pretending not to be affected by what 'that illegal phorum' is saying, lately, they're doing a poor job.  :-\

It's great to have your stuff available to the entire community. I went and snagged a bunch of stuff from your site. Now I know what all the fuss was about. Top-notch work.

A little late here but I would also like to say thank you for posting Aikea and I am so happy to see that you and Gelydh have your own site, best of luck to you both with it!  I am sorry you had to go through what you did but I am also glad to see that you are now out from under the evil thumbs of TSR and hope that you enjoy the freedom.  I love your work, have some rum/vodka/whatever you want and grab some cookies.

Don't be afraid of the pirates, they're really very nice.   ;)

*hugs Anouk*

^^

I'm a bit late too, but here goes: :)

Aikea and Gelydh, I'm sorry that you had bad experiences with TSR. Unfortunately, that is not new or unheard of.

Nevertheless, I am glad that you are out of that evil place. I hope that you will find the joy of creating again.

Also, I must say that because you both seem rather reclusive, the web is full of gossip and misinformation about you (some of it can be found on this site). However, your gracious posts at GOS and here have proven much of the rumours false. If you stick around, ignore the older posts here and enjoy the atmosphere and rum.

Welcome aboard, Aikea and Gelydh! :)

So...I haven't posted here, but I've lurked for a while. I'm also a generally anti-social person (unless you know me well...and then I often won't shut up), but I had to post when I saw your side of the story, Danielle.

I feel kind of after-school-special-ly for saying this, but you really should be proud of yourself for doing what you did. TSR has no right to treat its creators so awfully; after all, you're the people keeping the site running. I'm just one of many who considers your work some of the best available, and certainly amongst the upper echelons at TSR. Quite frankly, the overall caliber of the creations at TSR has been declining for a long time, but your work (as well as Raychael's) has been of consistently high quality, and has proven to be one of the only reasons to continue visiting the site altogether.

Like a lot of people, I've long since been predicting the fall of TSR, so you can only imagine my joy when I learned of your defection. ;) On one hand, my pleasure is highly motivated by the paysite debate. Now that it has once again been confirmed that TSR is essentially trying to steal from their own artists (and force them into some sort of artificially shame-filled lie about their own departure), it's also motivated by the fact that they are engaged in yet another sort of verifiable douchebaggery.

Congratulations on the new site and the renewed sense of calm in your life. I hope to see many beautiful creations from you in the future, and now that you've shaken off the shackles of TSR, I only expect your creativity to grow. Thank you, and good luck. :)

Another First Post WIN! Heh. (Brings back memories... what was that one with Rex Smith that launched his career?)


Agreed. There are a few others I like there, but for the most part, the push for quantity has really ruined the quality. When I told A&G this at the time of their defection, they were shocked that people outside TSR even really KNEW them, no less thought so highly of their work. (GoS apparently turned into a fangurl site for a bit when they appeared there. LOL)

glasscigarette, POST MOAR! You're delightful and insightful. ;)

To be honest we're still fangirling. In multiple threads now. :P

*waves hand*

I'm not fangirling - does that make me weird/odd/strange??

*cracks whip*

Fangirl MOAR.

I'm doing my best not to either. Possibly it does make us strange.

I fangirled... past tense... I still think they rock though  :D

I touched them. Don't tell Nymphy.

We won't Nouk ;)

And Aikea's and Gelydh's forum threads finally were removed the other day - about time Thomas realised that they really are not coming back :D

MEEP! Noo, fangirls (the extreme ones) scare the shit out of me - I WON'T BECOME ONE OF THEM :P

I'd fangurl, but I value my manbits too much  :-\

I do quite like Aikea and Gelydh's stuff though, and hooray for getting out of the sinking raft

So...to attempt to get a gothic creator, TSR repromoted Grizzelda, who in no way compensates for Aikea and Gelydh. It seems this is not working and they've poked another FA about doing it..

...BlackGarden.

http://isc.thesimsresource.com/images/707/707819.jpg :|

Oh my holy cabbage!  :o There are no words for this

Oh lord.. You're surprised, why? Remember Blackgarden created the infamous cone hair..

Yikes. She's right up there with Buntah.

I can think of a few words. All of them are either vulgarity or start with "HAHAHAHA!" ...and then, uh, end with vulgarity.

Whatever. At this point, Thomass is munging his own site to death, and I couldn't be happier at the current course of events. TSR has long since "fallen from grace" so to speak, and it's now not just scraping the bottom of the barrel, it's lapping up it's own filth down there.

Picture a younger, female Mr. Burns steepling his fingers and saying "eeexcellent" and you've got a pretty good mental image of me at the moment. Now picture him naked and sitting in a beanbag chair, and you've got it perfect.  ;)

somehow I dont think its Aikea and Gelydh she's trying to replace - it's atwat and she's doing a fairly good job!

*falls out of office chair laughing, rolls around on the floor for a bit with helpless, hysterical laughter, then picks herself up and gets back into the chair and writes this post* OMG, Goth meets the neon/glaring colours age, whatever in the world will they think of next?! Ick, ick, yuck, yick, squick! Hahahahahahahahahahahah! That looks like total crap, my cat could do better in her litter box! Oy! *wipes away tears of laughter and tries to breathe while the child looks at his mom and wonders if she's finally gone batshit crazy from the things seen on the monitor*

My favorite part are the looks on the models' faces and their unfortunate body language. I think the picture creator was going for "edgy" and "intense", but what he/she got is more "embarrased" and "uncomfortable" (which, considering the outfits, is exactly appropriate). Definitely a very poor replacement for two very detailed and thoughtful creators.

actually, I think the poor dears look cold.. get a jumper on them for god's sake.. :D

...What's wrong with their feet? And their legs? And the rest of their bodies for that matter? I'd love to know where Blackgarden lives, that she thinks that looks normal.

Oh my.


:::::blink::::::


Oh my my my.

Between those dresses and the flowerpot hair, I would really like to see what Black Garden looks like in real life.

It is sad that there are better updates at GoS every day.

I think the models look embarrassed and cold. And they would really like to have their Spice Girl CD's back, and get their natural hair colors back. Wow, it doesn't seem like Black Garden is very goth to me, but she is sure trying  hard!  :o

She is trying way to hard.

Stop it Dear. You fail. Time and time again.

Thomas needs to stop focusing on trying to replace two talented artist with others that fail to emulate, and maybe focus on getting artists that are just plain talented regardless of genre.  It's so obvious and a bit pathetic that he is just trying to cater to a specific audience.  It's very unlikely he is going to ever fill the *GoS*, gothic?,punk?,dark?emo? void left on his site.  He is completely missing the mark though.

There is plenty of that type of thing already available, I see it all the time (for free).  Personally I don't particularly care for it, and yet I had plenty of her Akiea's things in my game.  Aikea's stuff wasn't just loved because it satisfied the appetites of a certain niche of gamers.  I am sure it helped a little but it was innovative and well made and across the board that is something that most people who download CC can appreciate.

What is GoS?

I've been racking my brains trying to work it out!  :-\

UK Northener, GOS is Garden of Shadows, Liegenschonheit's forum/site..

Ah. I've never been there before!

Cheers!

Ohh you should! Even though I'm not particularly into the whole goth look, everything there is so shiny!!!

I have made a discovery.

(Yes, write it down, it's important.)

You now that awful funnel hair by Blackgarden? This one?

(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u194/MusicalMaven/funnelhair.jpg)

It's apparently inspired by none other than TAMMY.

(http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg63/MadameHecubus/tammy.jpg)
(Apologies for the quality -it's a screenshot of a youtube video).

This is Tammy, pop sensation, played by Bruce McCullough in The Kids in the Hall. See more here  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3HT3bXua7E) and here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr3E94fVifk).

(If anyone can tell us who the male singer with Tammy is in the second one, you'll receive undying thanks from both me and Mando.)

Is it that guy...deep voice...had a popular song in the 90s?...MTV play...sitting on a chair...Crash Test Dummies!?   :-\

Mmmmmm Mmmm...?!

http://www.google.com/musics?lid=CCtnWqCWA5P&aid=3pADEeWOC6L&sid=zj9tW76ksZC

 ;D It's funny, whenever I think of the funnel hair, I think of:
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t39/Babolat85/Patsy.jpg)

Maybe blackgarden is channelling her inner Patsy. I guess when Pot Pouri is the only substantial food source you've eaten in the past 20 years, you could begin to think the funnel hair is "ZoMG GuDDD!!!" and TAMMY works too  ;D

I don't think it's the lead singer, but it might be one of the band members - see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4WbwwhBmRk

Not really related, but I saw a performance by The Kids in the Hall last Sunday. XD It was a hoot!

I saw that they're touring again - sadly, nowhere near me. Some day.... some day....

Kids In The Hall were hilarious. My favourite was always Chicken Lady.

I think that at least one of them, if not I, will be dead before I get to see them live.

Ha, ha! I've seen them live! I remember the live show being only okay and not great though. It was a few years after the show ended and was, I think, one of the first shows of the tour and one of the first they'd all done together in quite some time, so they seemed a bit out of practice (that and I thought the sketches chosen were some of their more obvious bits). I will admit that I can be a pretty harsh critic though (and I have to give them credit because they did do a "Simon and Hecubus" sketch, including Hecubus in spandex, despite Dave Foley not being the lithe young thing he was when the show was first on air ;D).


ETA:

Definitely not from the Crash Test Dummies, and as I've told Hecubus, every time I see it drives me nuts because I know that at the time it first aired I knew exactly who it was. I can even remember myself saying, "Hey, that's that guy from..." and that's where the memory ends >:(. He's defintely a Canadian musician from either a "grunge", indie or dance-pop band of the time, but what the name of that band is has been striken from my memory. Will any other Canadians here who were teenagers or young adults in the early nineties speak up please?! :D

This is why we need an answer...the poor squidly one just won't sleep until we know! (er...or something...she and I have only been talking about this for a year or so...)

Hey all...first-time poster, long-time lurker...*waves cheesily*

It seems that not all of Aikea's stuff has been released from its bondage.  There's one little mesh still being held hostage, here: http://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/aikea_guinea/downloads/sims2/meshes/621858/ (http://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/aikea_guinea/downloads/sims2/meshes/621858/)

Just an innocent oversight, a technical "glitch", or is Thomas being passive-aggressive?  You be the judge.

In a few hours, it won't matter -- we're just about done with the transfer of our TSR files to the new site.   ;)

Excellent news, Aikea!

hey Mando....what about that dude from Men Without Hats?  could it be that guy you're thinking of?

or the singer from Great Big Sea?

hey hey hey...found this on Wiki; might be a clue:


McCulloch also directed the music video for the Tragically Hip’s song “My Music at Work,” from their 2000 album Music @ Work.
McCulloch has stated on his website that he is close friends with Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie.
The video shares much in common with many Kids in the Hall sketches, including its office setting, camera angles, and some thematic elements.



could the guy in the video be Gord or one of the guys from Tragically Hip????

I'm sorry, my most excellent primate friend, but I am absolutely sure that the fellow in question is not from any of those bands. I'm certain that the singer in the video was based in Toronto at that time, which cuts out both "Men Without Hats" (the members of which would honestly be a little older than our man) and "Great Big Sea". Besides, as a Canadian who was a teen in the nineties, if I didn't know what all of the members of The Tragically Hip looked like I think I might have to give up my citizenship ;D.

Well, I know it's probably not Moxy Fruvous, then... Meh! Probably not anyone from Bare Naked Ladies, either...

This is just a wild guess, but maybe it's somebody from Bootsauce.

Nope on both accounts, Paden, but fine guesses nonetheless.


Not them either, I'm afraid, but another quite excellent guess. However, I had to relook them up so I could remember who they were and now I am upset with you because it made me remember an annoying song of theirs that was popular at the time and which is now stuck in my head >:( :D.

At least I'm able to remember which bands he wasn't in (sigh).

Just did more research and I'm thinking that maybe it's the Odds. They did quite a few collaborations with Kids In The Hall. It could also be Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odds_(band) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odds_(band))

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowy_Men_on_a_Shadowy_Planet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowy_Men_on_a_Shadowy_Planet)

It's not Shadowy Men - they did their theme song and incidental music, and you see the band members here and there. The Odds is a possiblity....

I keep hoping we'll mention a band name and mando will go "THAT'S IT!"


ETA: I love Moxy! They're the Früviest!

Maybe you've seen this already, but if not, enjoy.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/41f325e282 (http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/41f325e282)

Sorry guys, but to go back on topic - Just a heads up that they've moved most, if not all, of the TSR sets onto their site now :P

I love the idea of making a recol of one of their meshes and posting it on TSR with instructions to get the mesh at Club Crymson.

Not an original idea--I read it somewhere--maybe here-- ???--wish someone who's good at Bodyshop (not me) would do it.

I posted that over at SimsCave.  The thought of it cracked me up.

Please do it, then.  Sheer brilliance. ;D

Yep. I will be moving their stuff off the booty this afternoon. If there's something you can't get on their site, it means they hate the set or want to rework it. And really, if you're desparate, the stuff is free at TSR. But get it from them, please!

 (This shameless plug brought to you by the Committee to Support TSR Defectors.)

Sadly, it's not going to happen in this case, Hecubus :D. He is not from Shadowy Men on A Shadowy Planet or from The Odds, I'm afraid. My knowledge of Canadian artists and bands from that time is fairly excellent, but in his case it's like there's just a blank spot in my memory. Gah! It makes me crazy because I know I knew who it was at the time, and the only thing I need is a hint or clue to drag me off in the right direction. I will say that for some reason I do believe, despite his wicked sideburns, that he might actually have been more likely in a dance/pop group or as a dance-y solo artist.


Yay! I'm very pleased to see that everything's getting moved over with few problems. I didn't really download their stuff from the booty (although I don't download much from the booty at all), but when I went to the site yesterday I was very happy to find one of the very few places that had women's jeans without ridiculous stilettos attached. Let's say "Huzzah" for sneakers!

Huzzah for sneakers, and Huzzah for a filled out Club Crimsyn. I shall be visiting to download later. :P

My downloads folder hates me right now. I just spent the last hour grabbing everything I could get my grubby little hands on. ;D

Me too. Is it strange that stuff I passed up at the booty is now 100 times more attractive just because they're offering it for free? Even though I liked a lot of their stuff on TSR, I only downloaded a little of it until it was up on Club Crimsyn...

And I second (third? fourth?) the idea that recolors with links to the new site should be made and posted on TSR post haste! ;) Casual/infrequent downloaders and people who aren't active in forums still probably don't even know that the girls defected, let alone that they can get the stuff from a much better site than TSR. I'd love to do it myself, but I wouldn't want to soil any good meshes (and vicariously insult Aikea and Gelydh) with my painful lack of talent.

Heh, I believe Club Crimsyn will get more traffic than they ever dreamed of.  ;D

Aikea & Geldyh, if you run out of bandwith, just let us know. I'm sure there are many pirates ready to help you with the costs if you just give us a hint.  ;)

I just popped by the site again and noticed that they've changed their TOS to include the following:


*sigh* My love for them just grows and grows.

[/fangirl]

What're you talking about, 'necro'? The thread wasn't dead. It feels happy. It thinks it'll take a walk.

They are awesome indeed! Thanks for the update!

Wonderful news! They are clearly becoming more educated on the issue (or maybe that's just my bias). It's great to see such good creators coming around, and not just because it can hurt TSR. :)

That or they are just majorly pissed at Thomass. It's all to the same end.

Whatever works, Z. ;)

We're generally malcontent with TSR in general.  I can't even go there without getting irritated as piss, and that's on top of the already massive amounts of continued pent up rage at Thomas & co.  (Oh how I wish I had time to get into all that right now...)   ;) 

In all honesty there were certain creators on that site that would do things that would just piss me off, but now that we're on 'the outside' it's inexplicably a thousand times worse.  They're the sort of things that if they were on any other site I wouldn't even have paid any attention to it, but when there's the ever-lingering possibility that they would be made into FAs it really changes things.

I'm thisclose to changing the texture portion of our TOU to match the mesh portion (will probably do so tonight at some point).  The longer we've been free, the better it's been, and the less I want to see the things we give away freely end up on someone's work on a site that has such a harsh isolationist attitude (and this is coming from someone who would gladly be a hermit if I could get away with it!) along with so many other negatives.

Hurrah for aikea! I'll get a little fangurlish now. I love your stuff now that it's free. I always thought it was good, but just never bothered to plunder it. Now, I snap up almost everything you make. It's just beautiful!

Feel free to rant whenever you like. The pathetic replacements they've been trying to replace you with are truly laughable.

Allow me to fangurl as well. I was just about to upload a self-Sim using one of your outfits, BTW.  :-*

Even hermits have a sense of freedom and coopration - TSR must get "Does not play well with others" on its report card. It will be interesting to see if TSR takes down items that use your meshes. (My bet: not.)

God, I can't believe they're still making you guys miserable. (Well I can actually, this is TSR after all, but it pisses me off!) I used to jokingly refer to them as a cult, but the more of these stories I hear the more it seems like the reality, what with the threats of what will happen if you leave, the harassment after you leave... But at least you're out of there. And you've found a bunch of people who see TSR for the toxic community that it really is (which is sad, because it seems like there are a lot of really nice people in there too, floating around in all the filth). I'm tempted to say just ignore them, but that just sounds insulting coming from someone who's only ever witnessed this stuff from the sidelines. But I will say nolite te bastardes carborundorum, because it seems to fit. I'm sorry you fell in with such a petty and spiteful crowd. I'm sorry that your break from them wasn't as clean as it should have been. But hey, you're out now - it can only get better from here.

Ahh... now I have more time to vent, and have had such a wretched day that we can go ahead and call the venting therapy.  (Though my bad day is completely based on Real Life stuff and not simulated... we can pretend, though.)

Firstly I just want to make it clear that we've had pretty much zero contact with the 'higher ups' at TSR since we got our things made free, and that's completely fine by me.  So there hasn't been any overt attempt at making us miserable; that's all been me being irritated just by stepping foot on the site.  falln_angel, you're so very right about there being some really nice people there caught up in the muck.  It makes me deeply sad, really.  I really liked 99.9% of the people I worked with on that site.  (The .1% I didn't I still remained professional with, even if I was grumbling to myself.)

So, onto the venting and some further expansion on to the goings on around the time we left... I apologize in advance if I end up repeating things I said in my initial 'why I left TSR' statement.

As many of you have already guessed, it was Windkeeper who was the 'well-known FA' I spoke about earlier.  Whether this is true or not I can't say for certain, but Thomas's exact words to me were 'What I'm asking you to do is what windkeeper did,' which was to 'fade away' from TSR without actually coming out and saying she'd left.  Whatever the real reasons for wanting someone like her to just fade away may be, I can't help but feel (as I'm sure many others must) that it's just another way to milk a bit more money out of someone.  Otherwise why wouldn't you just let her retire with dignity and set her items to free?

Speaking of, that brings me to Tiko.  Just before we left, we were told that he'd recovered from his appendix bursting but wouldn't be able to return as an FA.  What completely pisses me off to this day is that there's been no mention of this anywhere on TSR as far as I'm aware.  There are still a hell of a lot of people who are worried sick that he never recovered at all, and for what?  To get more money out of his work?  You don't have to give out tons of personal information to let people know he's unable to continue his work as an FA.

On to Anita now.  One of the first things Thomas said to me when I'd emailed him that Gelydh and I were quitting was 'So I thought get rid of Anita and we'll solve the rest.'  I assume that was when they'd worked out the whole 'let's say you've stepped down from TSR and the sims completely' bullshit.  Gelydh and I didn't want to leave TSR just because of her, so this had almost zero effect on us whatsoever.  Obviously, she's still around, which many of you have gathered from the lack of 'dramallama explosion' on other sites.  She's still there behind the scenes trying to talk people into becoming FAs and telling them not to talk to me.  (Really, though... how 'elementary school' can you get?)  I'll cut this short because that woman doesn't need any more attention than she already gets. 

Speaking of which, you guys here at PMBD have more pull at TSR than you think.  Back when I'd lodged several complaints against Anita on behalf of the FAs, Thomas's response was more or less 'What will the pirates say if we fire her?'  I got the impression that anything TSR did was based off that same mentality.  In other words, what you all might say held more sway than what a large group of FAs felt.

I'm afraid the wine I've had is kicking in now and I'm starting to lose focus, so if you have any questions or whatever go ahead and ask.  I'm so beyond caring at this point.  I'm sick to death of being judged based on where I chose to post rather than the interactions I've had with people 'face to face,' too.  Just because I'm 'venting' here doesn't make me any different than I was three months ago.  (Well... not in any huge sense.  My 'paysite vs. freesite' standing has changed somewhat...)

ETA:
redisenchanted, it makes us both so stinkin' happy that everyone can use our stuff now if they want to!  Thank you so much for your compliments on our work!  Honestly I still can't believe so many people like our stuff... *blushes like mad*

Your stuff is extremely well made!  ;D

The thing with Tiko makes me angriest.  Instead of making people feel better that he's recovering, they'd rather everyone be worried that he died. Nice.  ::)

And I'm sorta jubilant about the pull factor.  They really don't justify being pay, and the empty argument shows up in their business strategy.

What did happen with Windkeeper, to maker her "fade away?"  Real Life problems, perhaps?  Or the pay argument?  Does anyone at TSR know?

Where's that damn fangirl emotie when ya need it?? Honestly, I think your stuff is great and am so happy that anyone and everyone can now download it, you've made many a down load junkie bliss out!

I am totally blissing out Aikea! Your stuff is ever so great now that it's free! And you've taken your time and fixed things, because you are under no pressure and are doing it out of love! And it shows! You are so awesome :)

*ahem* TSR are poop. They have the management skills of a drunk gnat. I can't BELIEVE the way they shun people out of information, isn't that a true indication of TSR being a totalitarian corporation, rather than a community? Why people stay there.. I'll never know.

I'm sorry you're still being put through this, but not surprised, after reading all I have about TSR. And letting many people worry desperately about others unnecessarily is even a new low for Thomass et al, that really is a vile thing to do to people for the sake of a money. And my download folder hates me since you both went and opened your new site. Hates me! I think I've yoinked pretty much.... everything, I think. All of your work is just so beautiful. And now the new terms of use! *gets fangirl all over the place*

Disgusting, but not unexpected.

I'd wondered what had happened to Windkeeper!
Gosh, that's shocking, not just for her, but for you too. After everything you've all done, really they've just thrown you away like a piece of rubbish :[
Shame, whatever respect I had left for Thomass (which was, may I add, very very low as it was, has just totally gone.
Well them comments have been deleted from Wind's GB (KatCat's comment), didn't have a peek at Tiko's though.
*waves at KatCat cos we now know she reads here* :D
It took some patience to write all of that. I tend to try and stray away from things that make me angry, but it took a lot of patience for your writing and we really appreciate that.
I've decided that nothing of mine will get uploaded to T$R anymore, not that any of my shite's good, but, yeah.
I admit I havent had a chance to look at your site yet Aikea (I have to go hospital :[) but I will as soon as I get through the door!

*waves to Beth*  Do you check your PM's dear? :D

Nothing Thomas does surprises me anymore.  He's really vile. >:(

But the important thing is that you two are out of there, Aikea, and no longer subject to his Overlordship.  And thanks for the explanation about Ms. Barrows (the email was from me).  I love your things. :)

Grrr. Unfortunately, my suspicions about the fate of Windkeeper have been confirmed. Considering the following she has gained in the CC community, it's repulsive that Thomas treated her with so little respect. But, like Nouk said, it's not surprising in the slightest. After all, he has treated other creators no better (Aikea & Gelydh included, of course), not to mention his complete disregard for TSR subscribers and the community at large. He obviously doesn't care about anything besides profits.

TSR's treatment of Tiko is perhaps even more morally reprehensible. I shouldn't be surprised in the slightest but I suppose that I hoped, deep down, that TSR's love of money didn't completely overshadow any remaining shred of empathy and human impulse. Well, count that as one more element of naivete shattered. Not giving a crap about how people might worry about Tiko's well-being is just another nail in Thomas' own coffin. I hope more and more people will be exposed to the knowledge that has been so callously concealed from them, be it through TSR's guestbooks or by finally coming over hear and reading about the debacle in all its glory.

Thomas has pretty much sealed the deal and resigned himself to a world very similar to that of insider trading. He knows things about the creators on his site, and tries to horde his knowledge as a tool of manipulation in a pathetic attempt to keep hold of subscribers and wring a little more cash out of them. Despicable.

KatCat's guestbook posts are all gone now...  >:(

But it seems that Tiko isn't an FA anymore.  :-\

Ah, but they don't pay any attention to us, didn't you know? We have no effect on them whatsover....  [/sarcasm]

Wonder if Andy even know he's been kicked on the FA list. Looks like it was Thomass that wrote that blog entry on his minisite.
Soo tempted to write something along the lines of "funny how you write this blog after KatCat wrote something in his guestbook" but, Thomass being the prick he is will prob delete it.

Of course we don't. Everyone saying that we do are only speading lies and propaganda published by the liberal media.  ;)

Oh, he most certainly will, and probably ban you, too.

What I wonder is if he's been getting paid for downloads since his retirement...if not, and he was still listed as an active FA, he's probably got some recourse.

Definitely not unexpected!!  >:(  Completely disgusting...but then, this isn't the first time they didn't give a rats ass about someone being sick, and the possiblity that others may be concerned.

Thomas et al, they don't care about people...unless of course it hurts the lining of their pockets.

And considering his downloads are all still pay, will he be getting the TSR equivalent of 'royalties' now? I highly doubt it.

That and the fact that, to me, Windkeeper is the end-all-be-all of build mode. At least she used to be back when I was thoroughly indoctrinated by TSR. Now, I still like her stuff, but I also like a lot of free artist's stuff as well (Macarossi is a mini-deity). Point being - if she left suddenly and publicly, there would be a huge stink. I don't know the details of Windkeeper's retirement, but if it had anything to do with the culture there and that got out...well...you'd be hard pressed to keep the dirt from the sheep.

Of course it's to get more money. Why would you ever release items you are getting money for while still having an alternative? If someone hadn't mentioned in the TSR public forums that you and Gelydh had been all over other forums saying that you wanted your stuff released, he'd still be holding onto them tight as could be.  Anyways, I'm glad Tiko's okay. He and I swapped some PMs back when I was still at TSR and had stuff still up (before I pulled the vast majority upon my referral to MATY and hence here). Lot designer fawning party, if you will, with the vast majority of the fawnage being from me to Tiko.

That's hilarious.


I didn't used to like your items. Don't get me wrong...I always thought they were exceptionally well-made. My sims, however, were permaplat drones who led cookie-cutter lives and wore sweater sets and polo shirts. Now, though, I have more variety, and I'm using tons of your things. Especially some of the walls and floors...I need more grungy things as most of my sims start in relative poverty and will continue to do so until the population grows enough that I can lower taxes and parents can start saving up nest eggs for their kids.

I personally have no idea.  The fact remains that if they'd retired her and she decided to come back at some point, it'd be easy to reinstate her as an FA.  It's happened before with other FAs, there's no reason it couldn't be done with her.


When our items were still pay after we stepped down, we did not get money for them.  As far as Tiko goes, he was most likely still getting paid for any 'incentives' he got while still on the FA list because as far as I'm aware, it's handled automatically.  If his items are still locked, then based on our own experience he won't be getting anything for them at this point.

(It was quite lovely to finally be able to vent, I have to say.  Quite good as closure.  I don't hold any ill-will toward any of the FAs, I'm just appalled by the way things are handled over there.  A little bit of honesty and basic respect for users/creators shouldn't be so much to ask for.)

Please forgive me if I take a moment to hug you electronically.

Aikea, I'm so glad you're free of this crap! Really. These people are disgusting.

I have questions...

1. Did I miss an explanation about Ms. Barrows?
2. How much do FAs get paid? Or, if that can't/shouldn't be answered, what sort of payment is it? Based on how many downloads you get, or how many sets you produce, or is it a flat rate, etc?

I'd post a reply, but I'm afraid I'll spill fangirl all over the thread....








oops.
 :-* :-* :-*

1.  Ms. Barrows has a couple sets that feature my screencaps, and she had gotten and still has my complete permission to have done so.  We even talked about pictures I didn't want her to use, etc.   :)   dietofworms had emailed us just to make sure we were aware of it, and we do appreciate that.

2.  This is how it worked for us, I'm not sure if it's the same for everyone or if different FAs have different 'rates' or whatever.  Basically we got paid based on the number of subscriber downloads ('incentives'), and there were monthly caps on the amount you can earn.  I personally never even got close to the cap, nor did Gelydh (not that it was a particularly high cap).  Different kinds of items earn a different rate of 'incentive,' with meshes being 'worth more' than recolors.  (Just for the record, Gelydh and I made/make a lot of meshes because we're addicted to it; it never had anything to do with earning more money.)  Walls, floors, and lots were also figured at a higher rate because they tend to get fewer downloads. 

Thanks for all the compliments, btw.  Excuse me while I sit here in total social awkwardness and fumble over how to express my appreciation.   :-[   I know!  I'll go and make more stuff...  :D

I can't think of a better way. ;)

Does anybody know what system or method is used to keep a running tally on the number of downloads? Is it something that could be easily manipulated? Like say, for instance, being set to count only eight out of every ten downloads.

Yay! More stuff is good.  ;D
We adore talking to free creators, but if you aren't the talkative kind, we completely understand. :)

BTW, if you want feedback on some of the things you're doing, both you and Gelydh  are welcome to post them in the "Look at what I made and worship me (http://phorum.mustnotbenamed.com/index.php/topic,745.0.html)" -thread. It's the creator feedback thread on this forum.

And... I really adore your (both yours and Gelydh's) creations. <fangirls>

I'm glad it is all going well for you over there at your new site aikea - I do go over and raid there often LOL

The freedom is wonderful isn't it   ;D

It's okay, I have plenty of tissure to wipe it up :D
I bet you feel a heck of a load of weight off your shoulders Aikea :]
I wonder if any more FA's will approach the light at the end of the tunnel and escape. There's certainly a lot more of them that deserve to create freely :]

Especially when the experiences of those who have left has been so positive.

Well I guess that's why Atwat is telling everyone still at TSR not to talk to the freed FAs.

Please express your appreciation through creative interpretative dance, or as an equation.  :D Everyone else will kill me for not saying "sims 2 content". I'm glad you're out and feeling less stressed - and the bonus is I can use your stuff now (I don't use anything from any site with pay content). So yay me!  ;D

I don't either.. from principle. So yay A and G!!

I don't either. Even free meshes from paysites. ::)

I was doing so good..only downloading maxis like stuff.  Then I saw this thread about the Aikea/Geldh website and it's all over now lol.  The site is awesome!   :)

Aikea, Im so glad I found your posts here, they explain a lot (Michelle from GoS, btw).

I think you're both very brave about this, and the way you have handled it is very delicate and gentle. Some people would have thrown tons of drama and thrown shit in every direction. Plus, to me, it's good to get some "proof" that TSR and Thomas actually are as bad as everyone say. I've been doubting, thinking no-one could be like that, honestly! Proves Im right, maybe I am too naive. It's really good to see you both creating for yourself again. I see in the quality of your newest things, vs the last things uploaded on TSR that you've both got the good feel about it again.

Ah heck, I can't pretend to be all serious and stuff anymore, you knw about my fangirl-syndrome all too well. 

Wow, I quit the sims for a couple months and missed everything! Aikea, I've been a fan of yours since before you were an FA. I had a subscription to TSR for awhile, solely because I wanted your creations... totally fits my style. I wish I could buy them in real life and wear them myself. ;) And now you've broken free from TSR, and your new site looks great, and everything is golden. I'm looking forward to the stuff you and Gelydh make in the future, and as soon as I get my new computer and can reinstall the sims, I'm gonna be at your site downloading all of it.

In case anyone out there had any lingering fears that Gelydh and I may one day trip and fall back onto TSR, you can rest easy.  Last week, we went and got ourselves banned.

Turns out we'd been dragged out of obscurity and tossed on the 'Retired Artists' list while we weren't looking.  This really pissed me off, so I went and changed my profile information and made a new blog entry.  Gelydh did the same, though chose her own words.  Here's what we both wrote:

(http://pics.livejournal.com/aikea_guinea/pic/00ep76gd)

(http://pics.livejournal.com/aikea_guinea/pic/00ep8a8f)

What amused me more than it should have was that my info showed up nice and noticeable at the very top of the retired artists list. 

A few days later, Gelydh went to login to her account only to find her password had been changed.  No warnings, no nothing.  Both our profile information had been deleted, as well as our blog entries, yet we're still on their 'Retired Artists' list.  Quite frankly, I'm literally angry with rage at this point.  I feel like I'm being paraded around as a name to draw people into the site, while giving people the impression that I've stopped creating.  Obviously this is hardly the case.

Anyway, just thought I'd update on our situation.

I haven't downloaded any of your stuff  yet, but I'll go lookin. :-*

It's Da biz, FP  ;D

Only way I can think to combat this? Advertise yourself, wherever you can. Youtube, or something like that, might be an idea. Stick two fingers up to Toma$$

I just came back from there and WOW. Thats the shisnic. :D

TSR sucks so bad. You both make amazing stuff.  They were probably getting messages asking where your stuff was. That shitty site never fails to amaze me. I am so glad you both got away from there.

Ya that totally sucks. I understand your anger and it's valid, but that's what t$r does. Honestly they're not worth the expense of energy it takes to be pissed off, and if you let them make you angry then they win. Fuck 'em. It was period in your life and now it's better over.

Anyone who's looking for your creations will find you, that's not even a question. I realize it's probably not a concern for you and Gelydh but even quick google on your name delivers Club Crimyn #3 after 2 tsr entries. You have a great new site, you have friends at GOS, you have friends here, you guys would have friends no matter where you went. Don't let t$r drag you down, we're here to drag them down. They're a paysite, they will be be destroyed!

Besides were the forum over there to start getting a lot of questions about where to find your creations, I'm sure there would be a host of responses directing them to Club Crimsyn. Aren't I right guys?

On the bright side, now that you own your souls there's nothing stopping you from creating a whole line of "Thoma$$ is a Butt Pirate" tee shirts. I would gladly add them to my already everything you guys make quite large AG&G  folder.

It's kinda to be expected - they can't possibly have any hint your aren't the money makers for them and they should go to another site. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. 

It's not as if their retrospective changes meant that thousands of people didn't see your exit and original note - you've been in the bookmarks of a lot of people for a while.  ;)


Totally. :D

That's the kind of thing that would piss me off beyond measure, too.  TSR will do ANYTHING for a profit.  >:( I'd be glad to advertise your site in my sig on the various forums I go to--maybe if a few of us do that, we can cover the most frequented sites?

Grr, now I'm mad. 

TSR have their own 'truth' which seldom matches the truth the rest of the world sees.

I put a mention about this and Aikea and Gelydh new site in the news section of my site this morning. (complete with screens!)  :P I fully agree with dietofworms, a few of us should put these screens up!

Sherrie, that TSR link in your sig is pure WIN  :D

Everyone with a free site, let's advertise Club Crimsyn untill it comes out of people's noses. And let them know why.Noukiesims2 update (http://www.noukiesims2.net/tiny/index.php?topic=173.0)
If you turn your site into a paysite after this, I'll visit you with my special friend Choppy the Chainsaw.

Finally got to this thread when catching up after my 'return'. Yarr!

Aikea, I just want to say that I adore your stuff, and that I am very proud of you both for doing what you did.  Good job with your site and congrats!


Rum & cookies!

Again and as always, thanks for the support everyone.  I think what bothers me most about it is how long they waited before moving us to that list, as if we wouldn't notice.  While my message was a bit growly (well, for me, at any rate), I didn't think Gelydh's was in the least; certainly not anything to ban a user over.   ::)

kenmtl, don't worry; I'm not wasting as much energy being angry as it may seem.  Mostly I'm amused as hell, mixed with a bit of 'slimy bastards!'  After all, none of this is surprising in the least.  Furthermore, it's not the advertising of our site that concerns me, it the whole 'distortion of reality' thing. 

Nouk, we'll never ever become a paysite, but can you bring Choppy the Chainsaw over to play anyway?

*is very late with the fangirling*

It sucks that they're putting you guys through this aikea.  :-\

***huge fangirl moment***

Ok, now that I got that over with--wasn't there another artist who ran into a similar problem with TSR?  If I'm remembering right, they went to EA who forced them to remove it.  I don't know if EA would still back an artist up like that, but I think you and Gelydh would be totally justified in trying it.

Sherrie did that.  She took her complaint to EA, who forced TSR to take down her content.

Wait, either I misunderstood or something, but hadn't you and Gelydh taken your goodies down from TSR when you switched over, Aikea?
And if I had a site, I'd totally do it.
I like what Nymphy's been doing to your GB's though

I just now saw this.  I cannot believe they banned you two for that.  I would contact EA and make them get TSR to take my stuff down.   They want to keep your stuff because of people recoloring your meshes and for advertising purposes.  I should do the same thing and make them take my stuff down. 

And herein lies the true question. CAN? we get items of ours taken down from TSR, or will they just claim ownership and keep it up anyway?

Now, I'm no really awesome creator like either Aikea or Gelydh (I heart them), but I've got stuff up there that I'd like taken down. If for no other reason than it's being hosted there. Is it free stuff? Yeah. Is it like totally awesome? No, probably not. But it gets downloaded and I don't want to support the site anymore.

So is it really possible to get stuff removed from TSR forever and ever?

It seems it is possible but apparently it takes a bit of work, I believe. I found this thread (http://phorum.mustnotbenamed.com/index.php/topic,938.msg37399.html#msg37399) which talked about the subject and how to go about trying to get them removed.

I recall the easy way had you not gotten banned first is to simply sabotage all your items.

That works too, sometimes with very amusing results before TSR deletes it.

First of all: I love your new site, guys! While the clothes aren't really they style I use in my game, the textures of them are lovely. I've been checking it out a little every day as I poke around the web, and so far - awesome!

At TSR:

While it could be easier/different for FA's to edit their work, as far as I can tell there is no way for the average user to edit anything they post after it has been published. So how would you sabotage your work?

PM sent.

Well for TSR, you can't really sabatoge your work unless you're a FA/SA. You have to request the stuff gets sent back to you if you're a regular member in order to get it edited.

I've got over 200 items/sets over there...I sincerely doubt they're going to release them all to me so that I can play/edit/delete them.

At the time we left, we were so fucking sick of TSR's bullshit (and the trouble we had getting out stuff made free ALONE), we just said, "Screw it." and simply uploaded most of our TSR sets over to our site. As a random note, the TSR sets on our website are clean, sans tracking device files that came directly from our respective harddrives, so grab them there if you have a choice. :) Oh, and we love Nymphy and are very envious of her ballsy-ness.

Pity about the banning, though, otherwise sabotage would be infinitely hilarious. Especially now that we're apparently being flaunted about on their Retired Artists list.

Much appreciation to everyone who's taken the time to mention us on their own websites, by the way! Seriously, the support we've gotten in these last three/four months has been crazy fantastic and we're really glad we can properly create stuff for all of you now. ;D

You're like, grateful, right? Can you make me a working computer?  :-[ A real one that doesn't have to be formatted every year? In pink?  :P

Glad you ladies saw the light; even though it was covered in a gob of drama-goo. Doo doo happens! Glad you ladies are still creating stuff..and for free to boot! I can relate to the whole thing of being not very social with communities. Think this is like my one random post in however long.

Love your stuffies. Keep up the good work! <3

I love your work, and the site is awesome. A big thanks for introducing me to GOS a few months back!

Fav. outfit: the 1950's look plaid shirt w/ rolled up jeans and saddle shoes!  :-*

Thanks, Rata_Chen and tahkisis.   :)

And Nouk, if I lived even moderately closer I'd make you that computer for sure.  Sadly, there's a whole bunch of land and water in the way.  If I'm ever in the neighborhood, you've got a deal.   ;D

Here ya go Nouk, all pinkified and ladybugified for ya :D
Let's just say it's an early/belated birthday presesnt :D

(http://deron.meranda.us/casemod/purple/purple-computer-800.jpg)

That mouse is toooooo cute! I'm not much for pink, love all shades of purple though.

How did you do that? I want a pink computer!  :'(

I know that you can order them from sites like Tiger Direct and New Egg, my game computer is a gorgeous cobalt blue.