Aikea and Gelydh have their own site...

[dietofworms]

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.

[glasscigarette]

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.

[Steroide]

KatCat's guestbook posts are all gone now... 

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

[Hecubus]

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

[Beth]

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.

[Steroide]

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

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

[glasscigarette]

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.

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

[Hecubus]

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.

[Dina D]

Disgusting, but not unexpected.

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.

[Steerpike]

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.

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

[Zazazu]

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

[aikea_guinea]

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

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.

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.

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

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.)

[glasscigarette]

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

[Rose]

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?

[pickles]

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








oops.