Paysite Discussion Thread
jfade:
Quote from: Inge Jones;788923
As far as I can see the community is in a far sorrier state now with site-hackings, guestbook trolling, mistrust and bitching than it ever was before this free content activism started and I'm pretty sick of the whole subject now.
After following a link to this specific post, I have to say that this pretty much sums up my attitude about this whole thing at this point. The more I read and hear about this stuff going on the more I get sick of it all. And it's not like it's AVOIDABLE at this point, the crap is spread universally all over the bloody "community".
It's no wonder I can't even be motivated to do anything Sims related anymore, because every time I open the freaking web browser I'm suddenly immersed in debate, etc and waste my time trolling through it to get to some thoughtful, interesting discussion. Perhaps it's just time to shelve the bookmarks to all but the few forums I frequent and can still enjoy and just forget about everywhere else.
*jfade headshakes, headdesks, sighs, and walks away...*
shirokuma:
I'm not going to go through all of these posts because I've been reading discussions on this topic for a little while now, so if I say something that's already been said, forgive me.
I've been very much a lurker in the sims community for a long time now. I've been playing on and off since the sims 1 days.
To me, this whole pay site argument is circular. The pay site owners feel that they should be compensated for spending long hours creating content. Fine, whatever, but that means you better give me something worth spending my money on, treat me with some respect, and kindly address any issues that I may have with your work, gaps, ect., as long as I treat you with the same respect, and even at times when I don't. As a "business" it is your responsibility to keep the paying customers happy, and pay site owners, from my experience, see it the other way around.
On the other hand free site owners, not all, but some, have this attitude of "well I'm free. I can do whatever I want, and if you don't like it leave." Then a month or two later they want donations. Sure I can donate to you and still have access to all of your content without having to go through "pay walls," but you're driving away people that help keep you afloat in the same way pay sites do. You're angering those that could potentially help you.
To those of you who love to throw in a hobby as a way to justify pay sites, let me use an analogy that's similar to the debate. I'm in school for music business, so I spent a lot of time studying copyrights, intellectual property, and the like.
As I'm sure many of you know by now the RIAA has spent tons of money going after illegal file sharers. Pirating didn't start when Napster came along, that's just when it got out of hand. Like EA will, the RIAA just sat on it until they decided to do something.
Now in today's climate, let's say I take a Bjork song. (For this example Bjork will be EA) It's been copyrighted by her, her publishing company, her production company and her record company. The copyright says that I cannot use ANY part of her material for any type of financial gain. I, (the CC creator in the example) decide I'm going to make a remix of that song and sell it for $2. At this point, I've taken her work and used it for financial gain, but the RIAA does nothing about it.
A year later the RIAA sends me a subpoena to appear in court. During the trial I state that I spent hours perfecting the remix and thought I should be compensated for my hard work. Of course I'd lose and would have to pay X amount of dollars.
Just because the RIAA took a year to get to me doesn't make what I did any more legal than it was when I was sued. Same thing with the sims. Just because you spent hours making it and dragging your butt through the mud in frustration doesn't make it legal. You're still held to the terms you agreed to when to installed the game, which included not selling CC for personal gain.
That said, I don't hate pay sites, I'm just not going to spend tons of money on them because I can get better content for free, and unless I choose to donate, I won't have to deal with any snotty creator who can't take constructive criticism. (Not that all creators are snotty, I'm just making a point.) If you choose to sub to a pay site, fine. If you don't, fine. It's your money to throw away as you wish. Just don't come whining to me when that Peggy hair you bought makes your sim's head look like swiss cheese.
rosidbon:
This is a really horrible arguement going on here. The cc that you all make is so fabulous and makes playing the game possible.I think my interest would have been over a long, long time ago if not for the work of everyone who makes beautiful objects and sims to replace the hideously ugly maxis content I don't think that it is unreasonable for people to want a little recognition for their work, and to some extent it is also reasonable to maybe get a little monetary reward. Is there no possibility that creators who need to be paid could come to some agreement with EA where EA actually buys their work from them and then offers it for sale as EA product listing the artist as creator?
It seems to me that this would be an arrangement that would suit all. Creators who want to do this as a career could get paid for their work, EA would, at last, have truly creative people working for the game, who were artists and not just computer nerds, and those who just like to make things for other simmers could still offer their work for free.
EA must know by now that their games just would not sell as well as they do if it were not for all the fabulous stuff available out there that really has very little to do with them. I think that if you all used your time and energy in this direction instead of arguing about the intricacies of patent law, etc. something positive and enriching for the whole simming community could result.
engelchen:
This discussion makes no sense for me. We had the same discussion on my site and I closed the thread.
Why can't we just play the game and be happy, that so many creators are spending their free time to make custom content?
Nobody is forced to pay for downloads!
So why this kind of "war"?
It makes me really sad, that this boring discussion is the reason for some good creators to quit their work!
We should think about that.
newuserhz:
I agree with engelchen. Somebody should close this thread rigth now. I am living in a free environment and it would be much better without lawyers.
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