world renowned whogivesafuckologist
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#23
27th Apr 2005 at 10:42 PM
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I suppose I may have just been spoiled all these years, as my dad owns a server so I have pretty much unlimited hosting, storage, and bandwidth, so all I'd have to pay for to get a site going is the, what, $9/year for a domain?
Still, though. I've gotten into creating custom content pretty quickly here, and though certainly my creations aren't the best, or even very numerous, I would never charge to access them. It's too easy for someone to toss them up on the Exchange, or claim them as their own and distribute them freely, or put them on a P2P site and then any possible revenue you would've earned from it is gone... I certainly don't support stealing peoples' work if they HAVE asked for money in return for it (as obviously they did the work with the idea that they would have some monetary compensation for it), but I also don't support, in general, charging for Sims 2 items.
I've paid about $680 in total to play the Sims 2. $600 for a new computer, plus about $40 each for Sims 2 and University. I feel that's damn well good enough to play a game. I'm not subscribed to TSR; if there are items I want on there that aren't currently free, I make a note of it and check back every few days to see if the ones I want have made the rotation. However, I find the hassle of doing so enough to keep me from using it for all but the skins and items I just squeal and keel over happily dead from. I really don't see the point of the donation sets, monthly charge sites, etc... I understand it does take a lot of time and effort to make these items. I've started making some basic ones myself so I do understand the amount of work and attention to detail it takes to get a quality item. I share them freely to allow everyone to get as much enjoyment from their game as they can get; my items give me joy, so I assume that they may do so for someone else as well. If I run into a site that begs for donations, or requires that you pay any sort of fee for their items, I go somewhere else. There are plenty of amazingly talented creators doing free sites that I'm really not too concerned if a handful of people demand payment in return for their creations.
Those people are clearly in it more for the money than for the creative process and entertainment of the game, and personally, I feel it shows in their work. Asking for donations for bandwidth if you enjoy and use their creations is fine, but it's those that require it, or only release their good or new content via "donation sets" that bug me.
I don't know how the copyright things work with custom content made for a game, but I'm with Bethesda on how Morrowind was made. You're creating content simply for their game, to further the enjoyment of their game. Your content should be available freely, or you should keep it for yourself.
If you want to ask for donations purely for bandwidth for your site, go ahead, but I don't feel it's fair or right that so many people here and on lots of amazing sites out there put out fantastic custom content that's available freely, but other sites say, "Y'know, my stuff's so good, you should have to pay for it." If everyone who got into making custom content for Sims 2 did that, we wouldn't have these 10,000+ items in our download folders (I'm at about 3,500 and climbing), and I think a lot of us would be upset at having to pay $5/month or however much to a dozen or so sites to get all the stuff we'd like.
Personally, I think Chriko's gothic dress mesh with the corsetted waist is the most fantastic piece of custom content I've downloaded, and I'm delighted that it's available free. It's the open exchange of content and creativity that makes a gaming community truly enjoyable, and adds to the richness of the game itself, too.
Anyway, that's my two cents (well, it's more like $1.50, but who's counting?).