I don't get it - can someone explain

[simmiecal]

Maybe since I'm not able to create anything significant, I don't get it, but can someone explain to me.....?

Why does someone create an object for the sims, put it up on a website and then say "don't share"? If  you don't want the item shared, why put it up on a website?

Ask for donations to cover bandwidth costs but then insist on people not including your mesh with their files and that they should link back to your site for the original mesh (which increases your bandwidth)?

That "link back here" for original mesh really bugs the crap out of me. If I find something I like, I then have to go looking for the original mesh and in some cases the original creator may have disappeared or shut down their website.

I totally understand wanting to be credited for something you've made and being pissed about someone presenting "your" stuff as something they created but why the need to have everyone go back to the mesh thread? What am I missing here?

[BlueSoup]

I really hate it when sites want their meshes to be linked if you happen to recolour it. Often, sites have framing, which means you can't get a direct link and so then a downloader is forced to look through the entire site for the mesh, and sometimes it's not even clear which mesh it's supposed to be, especially if the recolourist made a lot of changes that makes it virtually unrecognizable.

This is why anything I have paid for/donated for (which I've gotten a little crazy with lately), I will willingly share with anyone who asks.  If the point is to save bandwidth, then me downloading it once and then sending the file to everyone I know shouldn't be an issue. 

[nectere]

meh too many people are on ego trips and must have credit for their stuff, and a lot of times stuff they didnt even make (poser meshes etc). I think its pretty lame that someone needs to find a sense of self worth from that but whatever floats their boat.

Beyond that, going back to the mesh thread is a way for the creator to track how well their product was received since they can track the traffic and how many times an object was downloaded.

What torques me are creators who say you cant recolor or alter their mesh in anyway. What is the point then? They can keep it if thats the case, because I am pretty good about giving credit, in fact I often go overboard but still, that type of attitude turns me off pretty quickly.

[Syera]

I dunno.  It drives me nuts that some people are so darn stingy about their stuff.  They're STIFLING CREATIVITY!

As for meshes... I try to keep the sites where I got them bookmarked.  In the case of MTS2, I try to keep the creator bookmarked.

I think one advantage linking back to an original mesh might have is that you'd be more likely to remember whether or not you'd already downloaded it.  In that regard, more people need to start making concise and comprehensive mesh download pages.

The one thing that REALLY made me mad was this one site that, on their hair pages, had messages on SOME of of the hairs saying you could recolor them.  Other hair colors, it was "Please do not recolor this hair.  Leave a message on the messageboard if you need more color."  What?

[Renatus]

I don't understand it at all, especially considering how community-driven this game is. A huge part of being able to make and have custom content is sharing it with others.

It reminds me of a lot of people on the online art community who are super paranoid that everyone is out to steal their art so they plaster it with huge, ugly watermarks and throw an absolute fit at anyone who has a character that looks vaguely similar or uses a pose like one they've used. If they catch wind of someone so much as printing out something to stick on their wall they create a huge amount of drama and act extremely injured - because, you know, some teenager having a grainy 72 dpi printout on their wall is going to hurt their sales so much. Usually any 'theft' they get is some annoying kid tracing their stuff. There are cases of real theft, but in 9 years I've seen less than ten cases.

I don't know. Perhaps it's some desperate need for recognition, or this belief that if one has an idea and implements it one must control, absolutely, all future implementations of it no matter what because it is ALL THEIRS.

[angelyne]

It's to their disavantage really, because nothing will take off like a well made mesh that made freely avalaible.  Look at that new mesh by Marvine.  I have stopped counting how many recolors have been made so far (some good, some bad).  If you a dozen of people recolouring your mesh and thousands of people downloading them, shouldn't that be satisfying to the ego?

But then again, I'm not a creator, so I haven't walked a mile in their shoes.

[Renatus]

I do create stuff (albeit usually in a different context), and I don't understand it. It's not even like with characters where a fanartist can 'ruin' one by drawing fanart of it doing something out of character or just plain disgusting; there are only so many ways a person can recolour a mesh. Add to that the constant yammering on about bandwith, I REALLY don't understand why people are restrictive about sharing meshes. Why make everyone who will need the mesh for recolours come to your site and use up your bandwith if other people are willing to take the hit?

I understand the fear that someone is going to rip one off, I really do, but making one's policies more restrictive means the work gets out to fewer people and there will be people who rip it off anyway, regardless of how stringent the policies. If someone doesn't want to take the chance of any creation of theirs being ripped off, ever, then they shouldn't put it on the Internet, because there's no way in hell they can police the whole thing.

[angelyne]

You're right it must be a control thing.  But if you are really a good creator, then you already have your fan base, and so what if some chump out on the fringes tries to pass off his work as your own.  I've seen quite a few attempts on MTS2 (I always read locked threads for some weird reason) and they are almost always transparent attempts by semi-literate posters and are shut down before you can say boo.