gem
Sunday, February 10, 2008

So, I got this gem of an IM today:
“you might think it a charitable event gieving [sic] the entire SL population quality skins........but have you thought about the people that make an actual living creating quality skins. Along with BIAB, stolen skins and your freebies.....you effectively killed off the skins sector. Congrats............not :(”
I'm so tired of explaning the same things over and over again. Yes, I killed your business, crashed your sim, and ate your baby (it was delicious). I'm so very sorry.
mknaomi Destiny ( February 10, 2008 at 2:09 PM )
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jen ( February 10, 2008 at 2:37 PM )

Right. So the fact that I went to the charity event and bought a bunch of the $50 L skins is in no way negated by the fact that I still went with another alt a few days later and spent $3000 at Body Politik for a four pack of their skins.

If you turn out quality work, your product and sales won't be hurt by specials run at other venues. If they are, and you whine about it, you're not seeing the real cause of your shortcomings.

Ryker Beck ( February 11, 2008 at 2:06 PM )

I agree with you, Jen. I love Eloh's skins, I loved the charity event, and I think that what you're doing Eloh is a fantastic thing for the content creation community. I also have to say that I am still extremely loyal to my skins-of-choice and will gladly continue spending the $1k per makeup on them. I don't believe that what Eloh's doing is in any way hurting the skin community -- in fact, I think she could only be making it better by helping budding skin designers get their roots in the ground.

Unknown ( February 11, 2008 at 5:31 PM )

Screw them Eloh, you freakin' rock. I think it's hilarious they're crying about it too. They've got one photoshop template that they change the tint on 50 times and charge 1500L a piece for, boo hoo.

Sure, they're are people who put actual work into their stuff, and they do fine no doubt.

I can't say enough good stuff about you. You have a true Arcadian spirit. Wub for you! ^ _ ^

Sunflower ( February 12, 2008 at 1:09 AM )

So sorry to hear about the nasty IM! :(

GiL ( February 12, 2008 at 1:20 AM )

it doesnt bother me that ppl SELL skins ,it just bother me that they have to blame others which dont sell skins.My first skin was really good it was and scrabblesims skin which was moded for the sims2 , it was free for download and easy to modify for an sl skin.

(i hope my bad english makes any sense)

they are just afraid ppl could take something in their mind like " hey why should i buy this photomontageskin if i can get an HANDDRAWN skin from eloh for free?" i think thats it XD.

*hugs* Ill send you many many koudos like mknoami (even if i have no idea what koudos are...)

Fricka Morgath ( February 12, 2008 at 2:14 PM )

I don't think you should have to explain yourself to anyone.. especially a naysayer. If they are so insecure in their products that they can't weather competition, well, this isn't the business for them. So boo to them and yay to you. ^^

Alzubra Jetaime ( February 12, 2008 at 6:33 PM )

What a nutbag... sometimes people just want to see what they want to see, so they can blame everyone but themselves. If any SL skin shop has been affected, like my fellow commenter jen implied, then they probably had one of several problems if not more.

Possible reasons...
A) They had crap skins.
B) They didn't know how to or just didn't really try to promote themselves.
C) They were overly sensitive and did the dreaded dramatic ragequit, to which their business failing is their own damn fault.

I have bought expensive skins and still will when I find the ones that I just can't walk away from.

Unknown ( February 13, 2008 at 7:35 PM )

I gotta say I love what you've done for those of us out here trying to start up our own businesses. Don't let the ungrateful, ignorant, hateful wretches get to you.

besides, I agree that the quality skinners have no worries. I have a couple of The Body Politick's avatars, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Well... I would, but only for another couple of 'em :P
I lurve your stuff, too. :)

Teagan Blackthorne ( February 13, 2008 at 11:06 PM )

Whoever sent that message needs a serious reality check. I have worked and played with your templates. I love them but that didn't stop me from buying the new S5 skins at Tuli.

Eloh, they are yours. Your created them. You worked on them. They are yours to do with as your wish. It is no one's business if you choose to share them with 1 person or 1000 people.

melanieann ( February 15, 2008 at 9:32 PM )

You've done everyone a huge, wonderful favor by following your instinct and making your skins open source -- out of all the people who could've done something like this, I honestly believe there was no better candidate than you. Your work is impeccable. Every time I open the psd files, I'm just blown away by how wonderfully made they truly are and any person looking to get into the SL skin business can only benefit greatly by cracking open your files and studying them, playing with them, etc.

So, THANK YOU for doing this. Your actions have made SL a more beautiful place, and I'm quite sure they will continue to do so in ways that we've not yet entirely foreseen.

Please ignore the comments from those lacking foresight. Just remember, for every one of those negative people who can't see the forest for the trees, there's dozens of others who are extremely happy and grateful for what you've done. ^^

You've not killed the skin sector at all; on the contrary, you've invigorated it and given it a shot in the arm like no one else has!

Tsu Dho Nimh ( February 16, 2008 at 12:47 AM )

I have all your templates, they are awesome, and it is teaching me a lot about making them.

Thank you!

PS: Yu was sposed to share teh babee! But nooooooooooo, you eated teh babee all bai yerself!

Nimesis ( February 16, 2008 at 8:33 AM )

Eloh you rule, your skins are beautiful I have them all and also like Jen still go and buy other *overpriced* but skins I love. What i have loved is being able to send lots of noobies to your skins. When I first started it took me ages to save for a decent skin. You do a great job, people are always gonna bitch, I bet they would if you were still charging for your work. Bugger them, if they are so insecure that they dont think people will now pay for their work then they must not be very talented at all. BIG LUV & RESPECT!

Lia

berta ( February 17, 2008 at 10:10 PM )

Eloh,

You did a great thing. You made it possible for people like to to venture into something so scary and actually come out with a quality product. And I love you for it. Too many people make subpar products in SL and jack the prices up, cuz people will pay for it.. and it's just not fair. You shouldn't have to break the bank to have something of quality. And in no way, does this hinder my ability to go purchase said expensive skins as well. SL is all about content creation, and letting us express ourselves thru that ability. You should be proud of yourself. You're truly an enigma.

Ricardo Aum ( February 18, 2008 at 12:23 AM )

I make flash websites for living. Template Monster and Flashkit didnt stole my job.

In SL the same thing happens. Some people must open their minds and see that SL and Internet are very likely and the Linux dont Killed Windows, OpenOffice and Google Docs dont killed Microsoft Office, and an "opensource" skin songs much more web 2.0 than an stupid copyrighted one.

Get in real we are in the internet, opensource is a true, P2P is turning legal, and lots of other changes are coming. Open your eyes, the digital world is chaging.

Congratulations for you act, you are making SL a better place to live.

DEVY ( February 21, 2008 at 12:40 PM )

you've really helped me out thanks so much, still on the learning phase but i've gone so much more forward with the skin i was working on with the psds assistance. thanks so much

Unknown ( February 22, 2008 at 2:47 AM )

Well they arent 100% free, after all it costs roughly $30L per skin for uploads.

Besides, to hell with what the fuckwits in the "industry" thing, it's a fake world, you're allowed to do whatever you want despite what they want you to do.

Hasuko Kuramoto ( February 25, 2008 at 5:53 AM )

your templates are amazing, eloh! an open source skin won't kill the skin business. i have to agree, if these templates put someone out of business, they need to re-examine their product in a big way.

i spent a lot on skins, and there's always *something* about each that didn't sit right with me, be it brows or "bits", no matter how good the skin was (and they were top shelf skins). with the templates, i have no one to blame and can make my skin just how i want! thank you so much for these!

(and i still shop for good skins, even with my custom-made skin.)

Thaumata ( March 2, 2008 at 4:47 PM )

This is what happens when you take a lot of people who aren't very technical and throw them into the long-standing market of digital content creation. These are the same people who think MySpace is a good social network and are shocked to learn that a .jpg online is perfectly simple to steal, even if you're not friends.

In my former life, I helped design and run Splicemusic.com, which allowed users to make music by combining Creative Commons licensed samples uploaded by others. I used to get so much mail like this. I realize you're not using a CC license but the creativecommons.org site has some good videos about how creativity breeds creativity and how when people do things like you're doing, nobody loses. People who are still confused or angry should take the time to check them out.

I think you rock. I am about to take one of your skins and turn it blue so my little sister can use it in a project for her digital media class, and we both thank you for it.

Alaska Metropolitan ( April 15, 2008 at 7:39 PM )

People said the same thing when I released free skins years ago even tho I stuck underwear on them.

Astonishingly, there are still skinners that make L$ in Second Life.

In fact, they continue to be the biggest money makers (Minnu's rise to fame with her model skins and awesome makeup, Celestial Studio's setting the standard, etc.)

You're not ruining anyone's livelihood, and you're helping people learn to create their own works by studying yours.

I really liked working with your stuff for Another Fundraiser and have made mods for myself as well :)

Eladrienne Laval ( July 1, 2008 at 2:32 PM )

Aw, screw 'em Eloh...

A beautiful free skin will not stop me from buying a beautiful expensive skin as well. I'm sure many others inworld feel the same way.

You did a great thing. Others can now study your work and be inspired to create beautiful skins themselves!