The skinbrowser isn't $19.95. The subscription to WC will cost $19.95 per year and this is just one of the benefits of a subscription.

La idea es buena,pero es justo cobrar por algo que la gente crea y expone de forma gratuita?
Creo que no es justo,salvo que a los creadores se les pagase por sus creaciones.
Por otro lado pienso que esto de cobrar podria ir encontra vuestra,ya que la gente se iria a otras webs donde se obtuvieran skins gratuitamente.
Saludos desde Spain

I agree with Rich..... I'm not happy about this at all I purchased Object desktop for $50.00 and still pay $35.00 every year to keep it, and I skin your product for FREE and now because WC bandwidth is costly because of some heavy downloaders, have your Object Desktop subsribers that also skin your products pay for your bandwidth..... some where along the line here us skinners will eventualy leave your product and move on to skinnig other products....... I can see other sites in the community needing money to support their site, they are not selling any programs!!! WC could make this browser income to help pay for the bandwidth without restricting those who skin your programs......This will be the straw that breaks the camels back for me With out us skinners, what product will you have to sell when all of the skinners wise up and stop skinning your product? You can do better than this.......

Well, from what I've read, the subscription is optional. Sure, Stardock sells programs, but the money received from Object Desktop goes to continue its development, and Stardock needs funds to support WinCustomize as banner ads lose value. I think it would be a good idea to give skinners a discount, or maybe have a monthly contest for a year's subscription.
By the way, if subscribers will get unlimited downloads, does that mean that there's going to be a limit to the number of skins non-subscribers can download when the subscriptions begin?

Well, I for one will be going to other sites for my skins. At least I have all the ones I enjoy, to date, backed up so I don't have to download them again. I'm sure another site will become the defacto place to get skins. I don't think too many folks are going to pay for it. How well is Pixstudio doing at selling skins? That could be a good look at whether it will be succesful or not. I'll probably continue my Object Desktop subscription but I'm not paying for skins. And if it got to the point that I have to pay for skins then I'll just drop OD too.

We'll see how things go. I hope everything works out for all parties because I enjoy having my desktop the way I want it. Although I disagree with this I still think OD is a great product for $50 and you skinners are great artists! Thanks!

I think some of you are jumping into this a little bit pre-maturely… this is just a benefit of subscribing, never did anyone say it would be the only way of downloading skins nor did they say we would be limited if we didn't subscribe. Yes, if it is true that we’d have to subscribe to download or we’d be limited to how much we can download (unless a reasonable number) I agree with it being unfair to the skinners, however no one said this was the case, and I hope it’s not.

I bought Object Desktop for $50. Before I bought WB for $20. A TShirt $15. A pretty GUI is nice. But I'm thinking its about time to stop and go back to a plain standard Interface and get some work done on other things. Oh and do all those who work hard on their skins get a cut of the action or as we in Houston Texas call it not are we being ENRONed?

How about SkinKong?

quite frankly if ppl have to pay to download skins it will kill skinning and we'll all have to use BGs idea of what we want from an interface

oh .... and I'm going to download as much as I can while I still can !!

more money huh, this is just what I'd expect from this double standard bunch. They can't even update the news on OD for months.

How about WinCustomize Chameleon
WinChameleon by Wincustomize
Chameleon

the angle here is functionality of changing the sking so something with Chameleon would be appropriate, plus it would be understandable beyond the US.

Just my $0.02 worth

Where does it say that the ONLY way to d/l from here will be by paying $19.95??? No where! The only thing it says it says is: "Not only will users get the skin browser but unlimited downloads, exclusive skin packs, and some surprises we're working on that won't be available until later."

This doesn't appear to me that WC will start charging for access. It does, however, imply that non-paying members will have some type of restriciton on their d/ls.

Frankly, I don't blame them. You've all read the reports on traffic for this site. I would guess that a HUGE amount of traffic is coming from the non-participating members of this site (those that DON'T skin, those that DON'T participate in the message boards, etc.) Those people are here for one reason and one reason only - to leech skins. This is a topic that has been debated ad nauseum before here - what types of limits will be put in place and for whom will they apply. Before everyone starts jumping on the 'WC is evil' and 'I'll never come here again' bandwagon, how about we let Brad & Co. roll the product out and give some detail on how the program will work before waving goodbye? Then, after hearing EVERYTHING (as opposed to one sentence in a product description) if you still disagree, then by all means, bid adieu. Many of you will be missed (well, the ones that participated that we knew about anyway ) but I assure you, life will go on for everyone involved.

I agree with you RobbieRobb. I don't think many people understand that banner ads simply don't work anymore, which is why more and more sites are finding new ways to help pay for their sites, and the subscription model seems rather popular nowadays.

eerr RobbieRobb you mention ppl just coming to leech skins and not participating ... but either WC has made a mistake or you havent got any skins listed against your id ... probally just a mistake as nore have I !

RobbieRobb....... please don't be offended but you sound like a frog farting under water here....... Sell your product with the offer of FREE SKINS, then turn around and call them LEECH's and then strap and restrict every one including those that make the FREE skins lol lol you can slap my behind but its greed greed greed, there are many alternetives to raise monies to pay for Stardock/Wincustomize bandwidth for the benefit of their own product.......

brindlethedog - Nope, no mistake. I have the artistic talent of a rock. (unless someone wanted a theme based on stick-figures - then I'm your man! ) By participating I don't necessarily mean just making skins. As has also been discussed many times before - this is a community. While I haven't been terribly active lately (due to time constraints) I was a rather active poster not too long ago, helping out wherever I thought my help was..er...helpful

chichgirl46 - It would take a lot more than your comments to offend me I think here would be a good time to mention that I have nothing to do with Stardock other than being a fan of their products. I don't think I've ever ran across Brad or anyone else in any official capacity calling the users leeches - that's just me calling SOME of them that.

Again, I will re-iterate, that NO ONE has mentioned exactly what types of restrictions will be in place. We're all in the same boat here. If they decide to go with a model where if you don't contribute actual skins, you get limited, then ooh boy, am I for a limiting. I do seem to recall back when limits were first kicked around that skin contributers would be a "step-up" so to speak from those regular users and not as effected (if at all) from limits. Again, this is my fuzzy memory dredging up something. I could be wrong.

Who knows? Well, hopefully Brad & Co. have a good idea, but as I said, let's wait for them to roll it out before we criticize.

Will I pay for the subscription model? Yep. Why? Because, as I said, I can't skin worth beans. Even my discussion board contributions have been way down as of late. That's why. I still come here probably two or three times a week and see what's new in a few different sections and d/l anything I think looks good.

What you say about there being many ways to raise money to pay for WC bandwidth is true - this is just one way. But again, I'm going to say, no where above does it say that the only way to access skins on WC is to pay. (Granted, it doesn't explicitly say there will still be free access either, but it is implied.)

Let's just wait and see...

chichigirl46: What are one of the many alternatives that Stardock can do to support WinCustomize? I do agree that visitors of WinCustomize shouldn't be called leeches though, unless they're using pirated copies of the software or something.

well Robbie i quite like the idea of a stick figure theme !! may be we should get together to create one it sound as though your artistic talents are on a par with my own