Hchangeri

[icedwhitemocha]

Wednesday, January 10, 2007
New set, blah blah blah

I just finished Baby Land.  It is a partial payfile and it was a very tough decision to make any of this a payfile (seriously).  I did not start Retail Sims to make money.  I did not start creating to make money off of the The Sims 2 but I don't fault anyone who does.   However, if I am to be labeled a paysite then I guess I would be an idiot not have have real payfiles.  Before everyone gets more upset about this, Baby Land will be the last payset for a while.  Payfiles/sets are really a pain for me since I have to make sure I check my email at least twice a day (I hate making people wait for goods they have paid for).  I also have to make sure I record the "income" so I can report it on my taxes.  It's a serious pain and it takes me away from doing what I love - creating.  So why is Baby Land a payset?  To prove a point, because I'm stubborn, because I'm evil and greedy, because I'm a capitalist....take your pick.  Between you and me, I'm doing it to be beligerent, if I am to bear the label of a "paysite" then I should have one set I haven't given away.

Huh?  Yeah, I gave Built & Bella's Secret to a Yahoo Group to distribute freely (nope, not saying who) and the one forum I kind of participate in (nope, not saying which one).    I repaid kindnesses that were given to me when the site was down by given them the sets to distribute with their members.  Very evil of me, I know, sorry.

I like making money, don't get me wrong.  I'm not stupid.  But my site doesn't generate "real money."  I can't stop working because of this site's earnings (although I hold out hope - sarcasm people, sarcasm).  Besides, I don't want to think of this site as a business even though I am forced to by the "Community."  Yeah, I have to report the site's earnings on my taxes but the amount I made last year (approximately $1,000) is offset by the fact that I've spend about that much on new creation software, hosting fees, and community support (MTS2 monthly donations and an ad for $50, plus gift subscription purchases for minors to other sites) that it totally offsets my "earnings."  Included in my earnings are commissions I earned at Amazon.com - a little over $100 of which was earned from my purchases.  It also includes commissions from TurboSquid, but that was only like $1.50 so I guess that doesn't really count.

Oh, I did consult a copyright attorney (via my husband's employer) in regards to this nonsense about EA's EULA.  The attorney laughed at the "controversy."  The WORST EA can do is take away a person's license to PLAY THE GAME.  When we agree to abide by the terms of a EULA we agree that if we violate such terms we loose the right to use that software.  EA cannot claim ownership of any custom created mesh, texture or texture map.  They cannot shut down sites, sue creators for a "million billion dollars" (as some would have us believe) or any of the other nonsense being passed around the "community."  They really can't do much which is why they (EA) don't say anything about it.  Besides, if they thought paysites were such a violation of the EULA, they certainly wouldn't invite TSR to its facilities for Sims product launches and previews would they?  No, they would invite MTS2 but, to my knowledge, they have never done so.  I don't know why, perhaps its because Delphy doesn't play the game or create for it (not a jab, just stating what he has) - but you would think they'd have a contest for MTS2 creators to go along for the ride with the TSR people.  Kind of sucks for MTS2 to get slighted like that.  EA gives favor to paysites over free sites it would seem.

Oh well.  I honestly don't care anymore.  I will create and distribute as I see fit.  If people don't like that such is life.  If no one ever buys another one of my payfiles or ever clicks a banner ad it won't really matter.  If the site closes because I don't have the $90 to pay for another year of hosting then it closes.  No worries though, it's paid for through October 2007 and Google should make enough in Q1 to cover next year....well, it would have if I didn't buy another piece of software and forgot to turn my Google Adwords account off after my GoDaddy credit was spent (oops).  Oh, GoDaddy gave me a $25 credit for Google Adwords (meaning I can spend $25 to advertise my site through the Adwords program).  I kind of forgot to suspend the account so I spent money on advertising that did me no good.  I'm sure Q2 & Q3 will generate enough to cover next year's expenses so no worries there either.  Besides, I spend enough at my affiliates to earn enough commission to cover my bandwidth (affiliate accounts are great).

Enjoy (or not) the new set and the other additions I've added as of late.  If you want the set and can't/won't pay, you can always recolor something of mine or enter the drawing.  Either of those two will get you the set of your choice for free.

Winners for the January 1 drawing were Chris D. & Veronica.  Chris received Built and Veronica recieved Bella's Secret.  Congratulations!

:roll: Where do I even START?

[idtaminger]

Pfft. IIRC they did invite MTS2 at least once. MTS2 just never made a big deal of it.

And is she invoking her husband again? Oh, am I shaking in my boots! :roll:

[Witchboy]

What state are Exnem, and Ichangheri

Im not sure but once someone finds out we can make complaints to the BBB about them. Thats 1 way to get them into the BBB Listing :twisted:

[Soup Parrot]

wrong Ichangheri, MTS@ was there Tiggerypum
http://www.sims2community.com/category/articles/
Tuesday, December 5th in Articles by tiggerypum | 1 comment

I was very excited to get to make a trip last week to Electronic Arts, home of Maxis and The Sims. People from select fan sites and EA locations from the United States and Europe were invited for a special event. Things began with a meet and greet in the hotel lounge on Thursday night. Various members from the Sims 2 team stopped by during that time; many of them then went back to work readying things for the next day’s events, promising us a great time.

During this time I was able to discuss the Pets EP with some of the team, and indeed they are hard at work on a patch for the ep to resolve the bodyshop behavior and other items.

Friday morning we made our way over to the main building. In the lobby were some big screens showing commercials and other videos for various EA games, and then up on a balcony I spotted a sign for The Sims. We all got our badges and signed paperwork, and the day began.

The tour began in the corporate building, which included displays of key points in Electronic Art’s history. It was interesting seeing screenshots of their first games which were created about 20 years ago, and how with every 5 year interval how much computing had changed. Then we got a whirlwind tour of some of the facilities, including the cafeteria, gym, basketball court, and central lawn where they hold soccer games and launch parties. In the lobbies and public spaces bright banners featuring various EA products could be seen.

Then it was time for the special meetings… which I’ll be able to tell you about in a few days. Meantime enjoy the photos here!

Didnt she say too that her husband worked for the government, now his boss has legal expertise.

[Soup Parrot]

Get sick new paysite

Feel like I'm advertising heres another one

http://www.religiosims.com/

under Policy at top they write:

Since there seems to be a lot of theft in the sims community, having a strict policy seems (sadly) very necessary.  I borrowed the policy from Retail Sims - with permission - since it seemed to encompass just about everything

she charges 3.00 says half the cost will go to Habitat Humanity

[tIIsuggas]

You can't even download what you pay for.  They send the files via email.

I would love to send an email.. ' I am an avid file sharer, do you still want my money'

EDIT:  I sent an email.  

I am an avid filesharer.  I would like to purchase your Sims content that you have for sale.  Your pay files will be sent to PMBD to be distributed among everyone for free.  Do you still want my money?

And, a very swift reply.

ROFLMAO!  Uh, no, I don't...but thanks for asking.  PMBD is a public website
not sharing among close friends.

They aren't that money hungry then.

GREAT BIG EDIT.

I just received a second reply.

On second thought....PMBD already has two of my sets, probably three at this
point (I don't check).  I won't take your money but I'll give you Baby Land.
Honest simmers who understand the value of hard work and the money I've
invested in my hobby still pay for the sets regardless of your efforts to
"destroy paysites" so I suppose there isn't too much harm in it.  I am glad
you asked permission though.  It means a lot that someone actually asked for
my permission.  Oh, and if you aren't hosting "built" let me know and I will
send that along too.  Baby Land also includes the collection file so give
people a head's up on that one would you?  Oh, and if you could ask the
webmaster to do me a small favor, could he add "hosted with permission."  No
biggie if he won't, just think it would be nice.  Last thing, if he could
remove Krispy Kreme (or move it outside of Retail Sims section, I would
appreciate it.  I cannot distribute that file legally anymore and I wouldn't
want the KK lawyers to think I was giving him permission to distribute the
set.  

HChangeri

Bluesoup, if you are reading, I have Babyland.  Please nobody pay for it.

http://www.religiosims.com/  is HChangeri.  She wants Pescado to state it is hosted with permission.

*off to ask TSR if they will let me fileshare if I pay a sub.  They might be kind enough to send it to me.

Another email reply.

LOL!  Sorry, I forgot to set up the filter to send Kisa's email to her gmail
account.  I didn't see that I got it.  Please don't distribute the
ReligioSims content.  It is for charity, not for profit after all.  Can we
just leave that site alone for a while?

Thanks,

HChangeri (on behalf of Kisa who isn't getting her email apparently)

[Tchannie]

lol!
SP, I didn't understand a word of that...(the first) The second was just funny. ^^ Even the name's stupid.

[Soup Parrot]

Meanwhile we have another paysite that possibly stole these meshes;
look at the new pay content at the fishes and marine life
http://www.savagesims.com/previews.php

Now this is just one site that I could think of that had free .3DS models you could use in poser scenes

http://toucan.web.infoseek.co.jp/3DCG/3ds/FishModelsE.html
look at bottom of this page states:
These items may be used on any website, including those for businesses. You may modify any of the content as you like. Selling content on the web or by other media and redistributed is prohibited

In other words you can DL theses models make modify them for your work, generally maybe resizing, retexturing, etc  for to put in your 3D scene, which the program either renders a picture or an animation. redistribution of the mesh in any format is a nono. So if you go here, this is the company that sells these meshes look at the cost $30 per mesh. Are you going to tell me they legally bought these ie Savagesims
http://www.turbosquid.com/HTMLClient/Search/Index.cfm?FuseAction=ProcessSearch&istSearchKey=toucan&intMediaType=-1&stgBoolean=l&blExternal=FALSE

This is just one sight there are more that do aquatic animals.

[Soup Parrot]

Tchan theres a new paysite, if you read the post above yours, lol it is somehow under HChangheri's control. Read above your last post, TI is editing as he's dialoging with her  :twisted:

[icedwhitemocha]

I have to say, Heather's response to tII is baffling to me.  It's... I don't even know to how describe the impressions I'm getting.

Also, info on ReligioSims (from Heather's other blog, on MySpace):

New Site: RelgioSims!

ReligioSims is a new site featuring downloads for religious simmers of any faith.  It just opened this week so there isn't much there yet, just one set for Christians and some Christian freebies.  It is a "paysite" but half of the proceeds go to charities for each religion.  Money raised from the Christian set(s) will go to Habitat for Humanity International since it is a Christian charity (which I didn't know until recently).  Kisa, the site's founder, tries to find solid, reputable charities with international ties.  

[snipped a huge graphic here]

So why am I telling you about this on the Retail Sims blog?  A former (and very good) customer of my pagan shop, Kisa, contacted me recently.    She's also a simmer and found me through Retail Sims.  She wanted to start her own site and asked me for advice.  After she ran the idea by me I decided to help.  All she really had was an idea and a few recolors - but I really think the idea will be a great experiment so I filled in everything she didn't have:  money, a URL, a host, or the ability to mesh.  I'm hosting ReligioSims, I also do all the meshes for the site, and pretty much everything else LOL!  Kisa does the recolors but she's learning meshing too.  Please check it out.  She opted to use Google Checkout for payments since it's fee-free through the end of the year.

Kisa always came in with her friend Vienna who is yet another simmer.  Vienna is now a chef and wants to do something similar to Kisa but all food themed.  I will probably host that site too.  I'll let you know all about that one if/when it gets off the ground.

I think I've lost my mind!!!  I could soon be running and creating for not one, not two but three sites!  Hopefully I can find enough time!  I wonder who else from my past is going to pop by and say hi?  I've had 4 this month.

PS:  Religio is Latin for Religion is memory serves.

That last cracks me up.  As if even the sheeple are too stupid to figure out what ReligioSims means :roll:

[Soup Parrot]

Himmm wonder if TI will get an answer back from TSR on permission to fileshare. Should search their site about filesharing BRB. More than likely the answer will be no, because if you ask for freee files that can get you automatically banned.

money must be good over there:
Jan 12, 2007 By Thomas|TSR 26 Comments We are pleased to announce 2 new staff positions: Artist Managers (AM). Those two persons will work as a source of communication between artists here on TSR, and us the developers. Our ambition is to make sure we have the smoothest possible communication with everyone who create here. This includes getting proper bug reports, feature requests and general thoughts and improvements about the way our site works.

The key role for them will be to provide proper follow-ups to your issues, rather then bug reports and ideas getting lost in the forums or the support system. Once something has been reported (either through direct e-mail to them, found in the forums etc), it will be provided to us and we will make a time estimate (if possible) which will then be reported back to you. A new support system where you can track progress of your issues, regardless of it's type (bug, feature etc) is in development and will be presented in January.

So, without further due, it is with great pleasure I announce the following new members of our staff:

- Atwa, who will be responsible for all artists except Featured Artists. She will begin her new role in January and a contact e-mail will then be provided.
- Cyclonesue, who will be responsible for all Featured Artists. She will also begin her new role in January.

I like sue but that means they have 10 people in their main staff, not including FAS or their support staff which they might not pay.

[torque]

I don't know what to think anymore.  :?  Heather seems... more sensible...Not because she gave the baby land set for free, but...I'm starting to understand her. What's wrong with me? I need a kick on my head.

[tIIsuggas]

I don't know what to think anymore.  :?  Heather seems... more sensible...Not because she gave the baby land set for free, but...I'm starting to understand her. What's wrong with me? I need a kick on my head.

Is there a psychiatrist in the house?

[torque]

I don't know what to think anymore.  :?  Heather seems... more sensible...Not because she gave the baby land set for free, but...I'm starting to understand her. What's wrong with me? I need a kick on my head.

Is there a psychiatrist in the house?

Yes. I'm willing to pay. *shakes in the corner*

[LesserOr]

I'm always up for dramaqueen piñatas. As her rant was a giant WALL 'O TEXT, so is mine.

However, if I am to be labeled a paysite then I guess I would be an idiot not have have real payfiles.  Before everyone gets more upset about this,

I thought no one could force her to do anything? Oh, nevermind, that was when she quit, so it doesn't count. Realization that the only ones she's hurting are her fans? Nope.

Yeah, I gave Built & Bella's Secret to a Yahoo Group to distribute freely (nope, not saying who) and the one forum I kind of participate in (nope, not saying which one).  

"Here is a story of my generosity that I refuse to prove!" Even if it was true, wishful thinking. They could be on MTS, but as long as she charges, they're payfiles. That also covers the recolor/raffle bit mentioned at the end, by the way. Paying for files other members get for free must give her customers a warm glow.

But hey! I've a good idea- paysites should start claiming that they aren't selling payfiles because they're in the PMBD Booty. That would be excellent advertising.

I also have to make sure I record the "income" so I can report it on my taxes.  It's a serious pain and it takes me away from doing what I love - creating.  ...  the amount I made last year (approximately $1,000)  ...  Included in my earnings are commissions I earned at Amazon.com - a little over $100 of which was earned from my purchases.

It's $1000...unless she's counting on fingers, how long could it possibly take?
And again with the bullshit. The current paysets are at $8 and $5. For $900, that's about 70 people buying both. Her site is fairly obscure, and she doesn't post often on compilation sites. There's no way in hell, even if you subtract a lot for ad revenue...which doesn't jibe with obscurity.

offset by the fact that I've spend about that much on new creation software, hosting fees, and community support (MTS2 monthly donations and an ad for $50, plus gift subscription purchases for minors to other sites) that it totally offsets my "earnings."

All things her visitors paid for, but isn't she generous! Of course, this is unverifiable too.

It also includes commissions from TurboSquid, but that was only like $1.50 so I guess that doesn't really count.

Quoted not because "lol, she sux!", but because she earlier claimed she'd made a bunch of money off of them.

Oh, I did consult a copyright attorney (via my husband's employer)

Little known fact: the government hacker dept. has all sorts of copyright attorneys (which are generic and have knowledge of all fields) waiting to speak to wives of their employees for free, especially about the video game content they sell for a little over $1000 a year (technically!)
But considering what she's claiming he said, it's possible she accidentally talked to an illiterate drunken hobo instead. I've made that mistake myself on occasion.

I'm not quoting most of what she pulled out of her ass since it's all been thoroughly debunked before. But a few special nuggets of stupid:
General laughter at "EA can't sue you, they can just make you stop playing the game!", "They can't shut down your website!", and "EA is really powerless, that's why they don't do anything!"
That's right, the legitimate copyright holder is totally helpless to prevent you from infringing on what they own. The sky in her world must be a delicious pink.

If the pretend copyright attorney was reading the actual EULA, he'd tell her that CC is an illegal modification of the game- it says so quite clearly.  The EULA also doesn't have the bandwidth permission in it, so he'd have to tell her that making dime-one off her website is illegal.  Even if her point is that the EULA is invalid, that doesn't just wipe away her failure to purchase sale rights to the package format. A real copyright attorney would have mentioned this.
But I prefer my illiterate hobo theory.

EA gives favor to paysites over free sites it would seem.

Ignoring the discussed TSR bit and the MTS stupidity- EA doesn't acknowledge paysites exist- they're all "fansites." And the only paysite invited was TSR, so...

Oh well.  I honestly don't care anymore.  I will create and distribute as I see fit.  

She doesn't care so hard, she can't help but contact a copyright attorney and post giant rants!

No worries though, it's paid for through October 2007 and Google should make enough in Q1 to cover next year...well, it would have if I didn't buy another piece of software and forgot to turn my Google Adwords account off after my GoDaddy credit was spent (oops).

How HChangeri wastes your donation money (oops).
Of note: earlier she gave us a laundry list of programs she had to buy to make sims content, plus other expenses. Add all the other extraneous shit she's claimed to have bought in this rant. Assuming she's telling the truth, that's a lot of pocket money she put out...yet she's threatening to let the site close if donations don't cover bandwidth.
I feel sorry for her fans.

On ReligioSims:
Hello blatant attempt to draw fire down on PMBD. "They're stealing from charities now!"
Unless changes are made to the site, it's extremely illegal to solicit charity donations without getting the charity's oversight and specific permission. Even if you take out the skimming (bad enough by itself), it becomes a scam because she's getting the tax deductions off other people's money. And if she's lying about contributing, she better pray to all of those gods that the charities don't find out.
What the hell was wrong with just putting up links to the charities so people could donate for themselves? Get people to show their receipts, get a file. Done!

I have to say, Heather's response to tII is baffling to me.  It's... I don't even know to how describe the impressions I'm getting.

If she was sincere, she'd contact Pescado herself and stop crying about it. Instead, she goes super-nice to an individual, and contradicts what she's said (loudly, repeatedly) in rants. And remember- that file she gave for free privately, she's charging her fans for in public.