One big happy family?  

MB raises some interesting points. While I have been a member of the community for 3 years, I have only just begun submitting Dreams. Here are questions I have:

1. My dream has not had fantastic downloads, but it is also no dog, either. Probably somewhere in the middle. But it started with a rating of 1star and languishes with just one star now. Who gave the initial rating and are we at the mercy of whether nearly 600 people who have downloaded have chosen not to rate or is something wrong with the system.

2. If moderators give an initial star or three, does this prejudice items? If there is no initial rating given, then no problem.

I am here to learn and while I am not one of the popular always present in the room, how does one solicit comments and constructive criticism? Am I to believe that out of 600 downloads, there has been but one comment?

Only questions, and in no way trying to toot my horn or make assumptions. Just color me curious!

The rating on that was too low, hopefully I've changed that now   But I have to say, without wishing to upset you, on my system the quality on that dream is a bit low. You should be trying for a higher resolution to start, and then better motion effects - that water looks 'odd'.

As for comments, it's up to everyone to make a contribution in that area. You can't force people to comment, so if people have nothing to say you'll just have to accept it   

Same goes for ratings. If you've downloaded and used something, rate it. The more people rate the more ratings will average out, it's simple maths.

It's a sad fact of life that most people visiting a site don't want to participate, they just want to download    

Thanks, FL. Actually, I was not complaining at all. I was very pleased to be accepted and hopefully, other submissions will be more worthy. Just wanted to　know how it works so I have some idea where to go with things. Of course, it was not a matter of forcing anyone to comment either. I only occasionally comment as well and need to do better at letting people know when I value their submissions.

And thanks for the input.

For Frogboy:

It is a fact that the first apollo dream appeared on your site long before desktop earth did. I know this because i check your site nearly ever 2 hours. You will even notice that one of the comments for his first apollo was "gee it would be nice to have something like this that just focused on the earth" it is clear that people saw this before they saw your desktop earth. So dont try to imply that he is trying to copy your guys idea. If any thing, you might be the one who coppied him.

also, i noticed in his version 2 that apparently you guys nixed his desire to make one that just rotated around the earth. Now i have a big problem with that. It is like you guys have a monopolie on the earth dream. That is not fair to any one. If you want to charge for your dream, it should be so stinking good that you dont have to worry about some one making one as good as it. Let him make his own version if he wants.

I also got Snubbed for my EarthEscape Idea, I had before DreamScene was even out.. They just want the creativity of the community so that they can create there own dreams.. This is just a way for them to make money.. Their Desktop Earth is OK,, but gets old fast.. Check out http://forum.worldwindcentral.com/showthread.php?t=9121 and also as I said in past posts there are other sites to post on... http://www.vistadreams.org/ as this is also a paid subscription.. As a community we should start a FREE Dream Search. Like Deviantart.com . Let me Know I have access to lots of servers..

But I think in Time all Dreams will be chargeable
I understand that these Dreams and Loops take time but that is the nature of all Art work,, Which these day's comes free from the internet, I would hope that Great Works will also get shared like the awsome wallpaper that is available at interfacelift.com and deviantart. Thanks...

PS.. This is for the Community not Stardock Admins since I know they will disagree..
See ya. Austinknight  

Desktop Earth is a dynamic wall.  It required art resources and code.

As with any product, there are copyright, trademark, trade dress, etc. type issues that could arise, especially when comparing a paid for product against something that is free.

That is definitely not the plan, nor has it been the trend.  Stardock has released 13 dreams.  Only 3 have been released for sale, and even one of those is free if you own Object Desktop. 

 

Like WC hasn't been offering up great free work for as long or longer?? Just chaps my hide when people come here talking about community then go on to tout other sites and how much better they are.. I suppose Deviantart doesn't sell artwork do they? I myself am tired of hearing people who have given nothing..whining and crying about having to pay for anothers hard work. You accuse Stardock of stealing your creativity?
How so? You haven't submitted a single piece of artwork to the community

That seems unlikely.

However, I think you will find that there is a threshold of labor an individual will put into something before they want to be compensated for their time.

WinCustomize.com has been providing free skins, themes, wallpapers, etc. for over 6 years. It seems a bit of a stretch to complain that the existence of 3 non-free animated wallpapers (and Desktop Earth requried months of man-hours to create as its a dynamic dream) somehow constitutes a trend towards commercialization.

My beef with the other "earth" animated wallpapers isn't so much what they do but rather how they were presented.  In a single screenshot or thumbnail, it's easy to make something that looks like the Dynamic Desktop Earth Dream. 

But a looping video is not remotely the same as something that dynamically changes its lighting over the course of the day, allows the user to set the rotation speed, has the planet surface change based on the time of year, and uses less than a quarter the amount of CPU that a standard Dream uses.  But in a screenshot, those differences aren't apparent. I personally found them to be misleading to users (whether intentionally or unintentionally is irrelevant). 

Let me use another example:

If you spent a year making an animated fish aquarium desktop where the fish dynamically swim around and released it. Would you not be peeved if someone took a 10 second video of their home fish aquarium and uploaded it and in the thumbnail they looked similar?

"I myself am tired of hearing people who have given nothing..whining and crying about having to pay for another's hard work. You accuse Stardock of stealing your creativity?
How so? You haven't submitted a single piece of artwork to the community"

I Have summited a Dream but was turned down because of the guidelines,, IE.. Desktop Earth was about to be released.. I put Several Weeks in getting up to the version I uploaded,, but based on sharing QUALITY work with others I offered my work for free with NO intension to charging just to share a great idea with the community.. and as far a deviantart goes.. Yes they do sell art but they give away Lots of AWSOME Works of art for free to their community. I Personally believe that since this product is for those of us that forked out a lot of money for Vista Ultimate that this FREE Sharing of QUALITY work should be going on a lot longer before charging.. then raising the price again for desktop earth. I understand that you are in it to make money.. but I think since the HD loops are Just as good as Dynamic Dreams, In my opinion! that is what US as the Community want to see,, More FREE High Quality work.. If it's all about making a dime then do Banner adds but I don't want to have 60 dollars of Backgrounds that I'll only use for a while. I will continue to upload as much quality work as I can.

By the way Stardock, if Dynamic dreams are so different than HD Loops then why reject my EarthEscape Loop.. ? I believe people would have loved to view it, I have shown it to many people and have had great reviews. and it's free ????????

As you can all read I gave in the beginning great Raves about this site and the hard work of others before getting rejected . http://forum.worldwindcentral.com/showthread.php?t=9121

This type of selected rejection sucks. Specialy when all I hear is that Desktop Earth is a Dynamic Loop and not the High CPU, low quality HD Loops..that EarthEscape was.. If there some much different then "allow everyone to enjoy my dream"
AustinKnight

Desktop Earth isn't a video, so it can't be a HD loop.  It's very low-CPU usage compared to any video since all the work is on your graphics card.  It is a 3D application that shows correct day/night cycle on a rendered planet earth.  It updates as the day goes on too, so when it's night outside your window, the desktop will show your part of the globe accordingly.  It rotates, centers on your location if you choose, spins fast, slow, can have the quality settings adjusted to your taste/needs. 

Austinknight ...I really think you need to see things in a clearer perspective.  Wincustomize.com has been [likewise with Deviantart] around considerably longer than your joining Wincustomize.

BOTH sites have been a source of much free content for about the same time...around 6+ years, as both sites 'evolved' from an earlier one [skinz.org] which also hosted free content for all.

Skinning [now including dynamic walls - dreams] is coming of age...which means with maturity comes commercial viability, and no, it's not about 'making a dime' it's about public credibility for what is no longer purely the realm of the amateur hobbyist.  Commercial artists are now entering/emerging from the fold.

Re "giving away Lots of AWSOME Works of art for free" ... It'll be something like 99.95% of all Wincustomize.com content is FREE [I didn't bother counting, but the point is made]...