You do know if your a Wincustomize subscriber you get 20% off of Master skins.

Yeah, and that discount is taken from the Master Skinner, not Stardock.

WB skinning was easier back in the day. (As was ObjectDock, ObjectBar, and DesktopX.)  You almost ahve to be a professional to knock out even the simpliset of skins.  Has there been any thought to simplifying the creation process by changing the skinning engine?  Does SkinStudio need a rewrite?

(MS locked things down too.  That makes it much harder to do anything.  [I will always miss you DesktopX.])

SkinStudio's complexity, and bugs, is the only thing keeping me away from WB skinning.  I have at least 4 skins I began, only to give up due to the complexity of SKS.

As for the ratio of master skins versus free skins, as a WB tester for Don, Lightstar, and IceBabee,  I know that almost every second skin is a free one. (Excluding the updates to older skins, of course.)

DesktopX....ah, my love.  It is gone. But why?  I state again, I still make the occaisional DX theme, and they are made on Windows 10, and they function on Windows 10, regardless of what Stardock may say.  Yes, UAC needs to be off. So what?  If you want DesktopX then you turn off UAC.  Simple.

That said, I will still create DesktopX themes and or gadgets if there is a demand.  I don't much anymore because Stardock kinda took the wind out of my sails with the demise of DesktopX.  I am a master (who knows how that happened)  and I haven't sold much.  I need the extra income badly, but I am greeted to complaints because I wanted 4.99 for a dream. One person commented on the video preview link at Youtube that asking 4.99 for the dream, "You must need the money to pay for your drugs."...      I sold a total of 16 DesktopX skins a few years back, no one was buying then.  So, I test and try to help in the forums now and then because since 2004, WinCustomize has been my home, and I like/love most of the people here that I have developed relationships with over the years.  Beats the hell out of Facebook any day.

But the "oldies" are gone, and threads like this one may be why.  And unless something changes here, I may be gone too, soon.

Thanks for reading.....

Actually, it's taken off the Gross before any % is calculated, so the % is based on the actual sale, not the "list" price. So, it's a shared discount.  However, if you have thoughts on how we can do things so that Master skins can be cheaper and the Master Skinners don't get screwed, I'd be interested to hear that in a private message.

My original questions were more about product lines.  DesktopX didn't get sunsetted because we didn't like it, it got sunsetted because MS changed the OS to the point that revenue didn't justify the development costs on keeping it up.  If I had $1 for every time FrogBoy brings up DesktopX, I'd be very rich by now.  It was a favorite of ours, too. But, we are a business, after all, so we can't keep developing products that don't pay for themselves.  Some of the other products have been updated to keep up with OS changes if it is possible, and we are working on bringing back SoundPackager to work on Win10, since, well, Win10 is a pain to change sounds on.

Also, skinning is NOT a trivial thing.  The OS is very complex now, and isn't simple to skin as it was 'back in the day', which is probably why we aren't seeing a bunch of new skinners.  Anyone who thinks there should be more skins per day for free should try skinning themselves to see how many hours are involved.  All the Master Skinners also put out free skins.  They also had to earn the ability to be a Master by producing consistent high quality free skins.  Unfortunately, most of those skinners are aging and we haven't seen new skinners start, and that has been for quite some time.  So, as the older skinners stop skinning, or worse yet, pass away, you see less and less skins.  Stardock used to develop our own skins and sell them, but the Master Skinners got so good at it, that we opened it up to having them take that over and share in the profits.  If it makes sense to move them into a different category, then we can look into that, but if Master Skins don't get exposure and get sales, then why will the Master Skinners stick around and also create free skins?  Seems like that could turn into a death spiral.  But,  would people be happy with simpler skins that only change bits of the UI versus all of it?  Are there ways that we can "lighten" the load for new skinners?  

Somebody mentioned IconX no longer being in ObjectDesktop- IconX is, and has been for quite some time, IconPackager.  It is alive and well, and also in Object Desktop.  

For GUI Championships, we can thank international Gambling laws for making that too overbearing to run.  Contests like that, which require skill and judgement are considered gambling in most countries.  Trying to apply for international gambling permits would cost just too much.  

So, unfortunately, we can't go back to the past.  We can't change what MS has done to Windows, either.  But, if people have ideas for solutions to the lack of "fun" then I'd be interested in hearing that.

"Does SkinStudio need a rewrite?"

Yes please. How about an easy skin studio where you can apply a start menu as one picture instead of 5 or 6 individual pictures. A base skin to start with where it has all the aspects of Windows 10 instead of Diamond. Over the years I've tried to make a skin and things don't line up right or I tend wasting time searching for things I want to change. It's a confusing program, there's too much spread out all over the place.

That's why there are only a handful skinners no one can navigate the program.

I am a bit confused by that one KarmaGirl. The "list" price is the same as a Gross sale, then the discount is taken off, so the entire discount is taken from the seller. At least that is what my Master Skin sales report shows.   

Example....

So, the math is $14.97 (Gross) - $1.00 (20% off used on 1 unit) - $1.62 (COB) = $12.35.  70% of $12.35= $8.65

If it was all off the skinner, it would be: $14.97 - $1.62= $13.35.  70% of $13.35= $9.35 - $1.00 (discount) = $8.35

Quoting Chasbo,

reply 18

Quoting don5318,

reply 16

Quoting Nimbin,

reply 12

have to agree. Even though the quality of work being uploaded here is the usual high standard, its a bummer when logging in you are presented with mostly dreams and masterskin windowblind themes. I have absolutely no objection to skinners earning money for their work, they deserve it, but we also pay to access this site without the ad's only to have nothing to see. Yes the occasional update to a theme. The occasional wallpaper but other than that, not much else on offer. I for one wont be renewing my WC or OD subs once they expire as i cant justify the cost anymore.

Well Nimbin, I'll make you happy, as a Master Skinner I was subsidizing my Social Security with my Master Skins sales, but at this point, I'm tired of getting beat up for selling my skins, so, I'm calling it quits, I was working on a new Master Skin, but I'm not sure if I'll upload it now, it's really disheartening, to me, I can't help it there are not enough people who are interested in skinning, so that there'd be more free ones for all to choose from. With that said, I'll just find something else to subsidize my Social Security, it just isn't worth it, or fun anymore, so, this is me saying goodbye, and I'll decide what to do with my Master skins, more than likely, I'll just have them deleted, but I'll decide at a later time, I wish I could say it was fun, but I can't.   

Sorry to hear this Don.   

Wow! Sorry you feel that way Don. I usualy go for yours skins. Just like your style. Don't give up because a few are not happy.  

Come on Really?   Free huh? Their talent you desire, but is it worth money along with their time?

Evidently not.....      Kinda sad you ask me.