CONFESS! How many of you pay for downloads?

[Jysudo]

Thank You  Jysudo.     I'm going over to look now.

You are welcome. Sorry for long wait. I was distracted by RL for a while there. Enjoy!

[Regina]

If a person enjoys bowling, they may buy a bowling ball and shoes (or they may rent ball and shoes) and they still pay at the lane every time they bowl.  Subscription sites aren't any different.  The thing I find really funny is that The Sims isn't a game--it's a hobby!  The other day my sister was visiting and we had some paperwork to take care of for the attorney for our dad's estate.  I brought her into the office and she looked at my monitor and said, 'Good grief!  You've got so many shortcuts on your desktop!'  I just chuckled and said, 'Yeah, and look how many of them are for TS2!' 

I've yet to subscribe to any sites other than MATY because I find so many things on non-subscription sites that I don't even make it to subscription sites for a look see!  I was going to subscribe to Wood For Sims for TS1 but by the time I had money for it, TS2 was so close to release I didn't see the point.  I've just been waiting for some ready cash so I can give some donations to my faves, and I think also I will subscribe to TS2 version of Wood For Sims because her stuff is just too awesome!

[jrd]

Hey, Seomi's latest hair is genetic!
Saves me the trouble from updating it. I fixed all the other styles.

[idtaminger]

There are some sites that I will never suscribe to, because I think they charge too much.  One particular site I'm thinking of is Peggy Sims.  There's not enough content on it to justify that much money.  I don't mind paying for something like TSR, because you can find a lot of nice stuff on it, and it's cheaper than Peggy Sims too.

You know, considering that she operates in China, and considering the US-Yuan exchange rate, and considering that the avg. Beijing family makes about $2,000 a yr, I'm betting she must make a fortune off of this game.

Meanwhile, there are tons of pple in China who can't even get a proper education b/c of money issues. Her stuff is good, and sometimes I'm *really* really tempted, but then I think of the utter waste it would be, funneling money into a game, when it could be put to better use, that I always stay my hand. Not that I have money to spare, anyways - college student and all that.

[Renatus]

Hey, Seomi's latest hair is genetic!
Saves me the trouble from updating it. I fixed all the other styles.

I also noticed that she got the polycounts lower for her two fancy female hairstyles and fixed the stretch when the head turns. So far they're more than worth the trouble it took to colourbin them.

[Paperbladder]

I'm not in favor at all for those "non-awesome" paysites.

Let's just say that TSR is actually selling other people's content.  Supposedly your subscription fees are going towards bandwidth... and that was when the thing was still under $3 a month.  It's been a while since I checked that, but the last time I checked it was at LEAST $4 a month, probably a lot higher now.  Let's then look at MTS2, which although it suffers lag issues, has everything for free and is run of voluntary subscriptions.  Now, how come TSR can't do that?  Steve loves money, that's why.

About these people starting up sites and saying "Waaah!  I needz moneyz!"  How much people do you have coming to your site if you can't pay for it yourself?  There's a ten dollar a month service which allows 20GB of content to pass by, and that should be more than enough for a one person site.  Also, you shouldn't start a website if you're not going to pay for it out of your own pocket.

Feel free to keep paying loads of cash for to make your sims look slightly different but I won't be a part of it.

[ZephyrZodiac]

The trouble with voluntary subs is just that, they're voluntary - and if nobody volunteers, where does that leave you?  And 20Gb is nothing - 100 visitors download for an hour and it's gone!  So if a site is popular (because the content is good quality) then it can become very expensive for the site owner to maintain.

Whether or not a site is free or pay is surely the choice of the site owner - just as any other artist, they have the choice of whether to give their creations away for nothing, or to charge for them.  Equally, you, the simmer, have the choice whether or not to pay the subscription, buy the Donation set, or whatever.  Most Donations sets are around 3 /4 Euros max - about the cost of a pint of beer and a lot less than a packet of cigarettes.  (And they last a lot longer!)

[angelyne]

How many of you go to Starbucks for the occasional (or daily) coffee.   Some of these subscriptions aren't even the cost of a mochachino (or whatever the heck it's called). 

I get more (and longer) enjoyement out of downloading content than I do drinking that one coffee.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that, for the amount of money, it's well worth it for the enjoyement you get out it.  I pay more to see a movie, buy a paperpack or buy a CD than I do for most paid content.

Most site don't seem to be that greedy.  TSR probably has some hefty cost, bandwith, staff and content creators.  They are trying to be the WalMart of Sim downloading.  Are they making a profit?  Yeah, probably a hefty one.  But since we live in a capitalist society, profit is unfortunately not a dirty word.  I could cite a dozen worse example of greediness without even trying.  Starting with my gaz company.

Most pay sites seem to be reasonable enough.  Except for Vita Sims.  I don't know how they justify charging what they are charging for a site that never updates.

[BlueSoup]

Most pay sites seem to be reasonable enough.  Except for Vita Sims.  I don't know how they justify charging what they are charging for a site that never updates.

Hehe, I just picked up a bunch of Victorian stuff from that site (all donation stuff).  Also, I love their cars but the poly counts are absolutely outrageous.

[ZephyrZodiac]

The thing is, if you get a good donation set, you tend to use it in almost every house (some of my modern homes have as many as three or four simgedoehns tube Bathrooms!) so you get a lot of pleasure out of it.

There's an old saying "The labourer is worthy of his hire" and if you accept that, you also have to accept that creators of good sim objects deserve at the very least not to have to foot the bill for letting others use their creations.

[flowerchile]

I have sticky fingers, if I find something I like, well; finders keepers, losers suck!   I don't need anything that badly that I can't run my game without, if I was stuck with the Maxis original objects, well so be it, but these lovely people throw these downloads at me and who am I to say NO, I don't want to hurt their feelings, and all they ask in return is for a thank you or rating and I'm happy to oblige...   I have never paid for anything to anyone for their downloads and I never will.  If that's the end of Flowerchile on this site, it's been nice, thanks for a fun time... 

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, that's your choice, but I hope you realise that if it weren't for those people who are prepared to help site owners maintain their site (whether through donations, or subs, or site-hosting) there would be very little available for anyone to download.

[flowerchile]

Why start a site if you have to rely on others generosity to maintain it?
At least I'm being honest.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Why open a shop if you need paying customers so you can pay the rent?

[simmiecal]

Why start a site if you have to rely on others generosity to maintain it?

Because some people believe in sharing. I know, hard concept for some to get - especially in this me,me,me consumeristic society. A creator shares what they have - talent, time, etc and others appreciating what is shared, donate money to help maintain the site. My piddly little site was put up in order to share with others. I don't expect nor want any financial consideration for it. If I was actually offering something unique that many people can't share - coding mods, creating excellent meshes - and there was high traffic on the site, I would hope that others who appreciate my sharing of my talent would help me to continue "sharing" with others if the cost became too prohibitive for me to maintain myself.

[flowerchile]

A shop wouldn't be offering all these freebies.

[flowerchile]

Why start a site if you have to rely on others generosity to maintain it?

Because some people believe in sharing. I know, hard concept for some to get - especially in this me,me,me consumeristic society. A creator shares what they have - talent, time, etc and others appreciating what is shared, donate money to help maintain the site. My piddly little site was put up in order to share with others. I don't expect nor want any financial consideration for it. If I was actually offering something unique that many people can't share - coding mods, creating excellent meshes - and there was high traffic on the site, I would hope that others who appreciate my sharing of my talent would help me to continue "sharing" with others if the cost became too prohibitive for me to maintain myself.

Hey don't get me wrong, I doappreciate all the time and effort put into these things.  The question was "How many of you pay for downloads"?  Well I gave an honest answer. 

[ZephyrZodiac]

What's "3 for the price of 2", "buy one, get one free" but offering "freebies"?

I appreciate, Flowerchile, that yours was an honest answer, but even MTS2 need the occasional person to make a donation. 

I'm on a pension, a lot of people are on benefits of some kind or other, but they still believe in helping out where they can.  We lose too many good sites through site-owners being unable to underwrite the cost as it is.

[tsrynolds]

If I want the items bad enough then I will.

My only problem with it is I've seen stuff on paysites I wouldn't download even if it were free.

Or when paysites will post a recolor of a free mesh then charge for it.

TSR, is okay but I don't want to dig through a bunch of crap just to get to the stuff that's worth paying for.

One simmers crap, is another simmers treasure!

[flowerchile]

Ya know, my husband would go ballistic if I even attempted to put any financial details over the internet.  So yeh, these sites are good and need help with running costs but who knows for sure who is running them?  Can you trust them with personal financial details?  I respect you ZZ and your opinion, but it is really bad business to get something up and running but not looking into the long-term reality of it.  I owned a Snack bar a few years ago, and wouldn't have dreamed of doing it without a plan, financially or otherwise.

[simmiecal]

I respect you ZZ and your opinion, but it is really bad business to get something up and running but not looking into the long-term reality of it.  I owned a Snack bar a few years ago, and wouldn't have dreamed of doing it without a plan, financially or otherwise.

Not trying to nitpick here, but I think you are missing the point. Yes, some people do this as a business - they are not the ones I am talking about. To start up a website can cost as little as $20/month. That's hardly something you need a business plan for and I believe the majority of people do this as a hobby and not a business. They are not looking at the long term profitability of it and some -gasp- aren't even looking to make any money doing it. Knowing almost zip about webpages (which I am desperately trying to remedy) I had a website up in less than a day and at very little cost to myself. As the website is thru the same company that provides my home DSL service, they didn't get any "personal" info from me for the website that they didn't already have in their files for my DSL service.

[flowerchile]

 

[flowerchile]

I respect you ZZ and your opinion, but it is really bad business to get something up and running but not looking into the long-term reality of it.  I owned a Snack bar a few years ago, and wouldn't have dreamed of doing it without a plan, financially or otherwise.

Not trying to nitpick here, but I think you are missing the point. Yes, some people do this as a business - they are not the ones I am talking about. To start up a website can cost as little as $20/month. That's hardly something you need a business plan for and I believe the majority of people do this as a hobby and not a business. They are not looking at the long term profitability of it and some -gasp- aren't even looking to make any money doing it. Knowing almost zip about webpages (which I am desperately trying to remedy) I had a website up in less than a day and at very little cost to myself. As the website is thru the same company that provides my home DSL service, they didn't get any "personal" info from me for the website that they didn't already have in their files for my DSL service.

Seems to me you're taking this personally and that's not the idea.  I don't pay for downloads.  I don't think people should start sites with free downloads and rely on others to keep it running per donation.  Thats it.    All I was trying to say.  No offence intended.  No personal attacks made.
Okay???

[simmiecal]

Seems to me you're taking this personally and that's not the idea.  I don't pay for downloads.  I don't think people should start sites with free downloads and rely on others to keep it running per donation.  Thats it.    All I was trying to say.  No offence intended.  No personal attacks made.
Okay???

Didn't think I was taking it personally but only offering my personal situation as an example as that's what I know.  I didn't pay for any downloads at first. The first site I paid at was TSR because I "wanted" certain items on that site. When it comes to TSR, I see that site as a business. I am "buying" downloads from them. There are several other little sites (Retail Sims comes to mind) that I absolutely adore what they have and don't mind tossing a few dollars at the creator if it helps having more people be able to access the stuff or keep the website up. I'm also perfectly ok with knowing that the money I toss at these sites also allows people who would rather spend their money elsewhere or can't afford the discretionary spending to download the stuff at no cost.

I also don't think there is a "right" or "wrong" answer to this. It will be based on an individual person's ethics. I'm more the lefty, hippie, commie let's all share and sing Peter, Paul and Mary songs type of person so I'm all for sharing downloads and supporting sites that aren't looking to make a profit. Doesn't make me right or better, but it does show that I act on my personal beliefs. Some people would be horrified to see money "wasted" on a hobby like the Sims and for those people, contributing or paying for downloads wouldn't be an appropriate choice.

*shrugs*

[ZephyrZodiac]

Bet some of those same people would put money in the church collection plate, though!  Or support a political party, or a football team!  As you say, simmiecal, it's a matter of personal choice, both from the point of view of the downloader, and the website owner.

From my own personal point of view all I can say is, my hobby (The sims of course) not only gives me a lot of pleasure, but sometimes I think it keeps me sane, and if buying the occasional download helps the site in question, getting the download also helps me to continue enjoying my game.