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Updates to the Master Skinners Program

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Updates to the Master Skinners Program

from WinCustomize Forums

Today we are announcing that we will be retiring the Master Skinner’s program on Wincustomize. As we continue to modernize our platform and services, this change is required to help us move more efficiently forward.  

What this change means is that any of the community skins on Wincustomize will continue to be offered for free. Any premium skins offered by our Master Skinners program are being removed from the site starting today.

If you have previously purchased any skins from Wincustomize, you will still be able to download them from your Stardock account. And if there are skins that you would like to purchase, we recommend reaching out directly to the Master Skinners.

Going forward, you will continue to see Stardock support WindowBlinds and the community. A few weeks ago we released a new skin for WindowBlinds 11 called Fluent Luna and expect to release several more in the coming months.

wincustomize news
269,003 views 52 replies
Reply #26 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting elvee, reply 24

“The Only Constant in Life Is Change.”- Heraclitus

 


I remember those days!!!

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Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting LightStar, reply 12


Quoting Jafo,
reply 10






Quoting LightStar,

reply 6


I don't know about other Master Skinners naroon1, but I will still try selling my skins to keep helping the poor and needy as I always have. I may try selling on my Facebook page (advertising skins available in the forums here too) but I will only be able to accept payments to PayPal. Once a person orders a skin and I receive an email from PayPal, I will email the skin to the purchasers PayPal email address.



I recently "attempted" to purchase some bicycle parts advertised via Facebook and handed over 130 GBP or around $250 AUD via Paypal....and....

....crickets.....

I put a 'complaint' through the Paypal site portal...and let them do their thing.

Last communication I got from the vendor before he blocked me on Facebook was how I'd sent him a rude email....it was a 'form letter'...you click on the options in Paypal...they send it.

About 4 weeks or so later I got the $250 returned to my account....;)



Glad to hear you got your money back Paul, I just finished opening a PayPal dispute too. Hope I get my money back!

I had something go on with PayPal awhile back myself. Wasn't really PayPal but somehow someone in California was able to charge stuff using my PayPal. I had a PayPal card then, PayPal took care of me. No complaints.

I am sorry you had trouble getting that Web site going. I hope you can get your money back!

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The Political Machine 2024
Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top

FYI, We (Master skinners) Were actually contacted privately prior to this Post.-_-  

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Reply #29 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Dcrew57, reply 23

I see this as blast in the face. One to cut all the  Master skins at time of announcement isn't cool.  The community would have loved to have some heads ups.  2nd I am a journeyman and had hopes of achieving master status at some date. All that is out the window. Thanks for blowing up my world.

You can certainly continue to skin and can attain Master skinner rank. That has not been eliminated.

Master skinners were offered the choice of leaving their Master skins on WC as unpaid skins, or to remove them without any consequence to their rank, as they saw fit. There are Masters who advertise their skins here, with alternative payment arrangements/private sites, and another chose to stop skinning for the time being.

All that changed was that Stardock found it couldn't continue the Master skin program.

Reply #30 from JoeUser Forums Top

I think it's time for a huge THANK YOU to all the Master Skinners who have contributed so much to WC and the skinning community, not to mention their gorgeous artwork in a challenging medium.  AND a huge THANK YOU to all the non-Master skinners who have done such beautiful work as a labor of love or simply a hobby and shared it with us over the past 23 years.

0.02

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Reply #31 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Daiwa, reply 30

I think it's time for a huge THANK YOU to all the Master Skinners who have contributed so much to WC and the skinning community, not to mention their gorgeous artwork in a challenging medium.  AND a huge THANK YOU to all the non-Master skinners who have done such beautiful work as a labor of love or simply a hobby and shared it with us over the past 23 years.

0.02

Absolutely. I (for one) still remember "Granular"...so thanks, Daiwa. 🌟

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Reply #32 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Dcrew57, reply 23

I see this as blast in the face. One to cut all the Master skins at time of announcement isn't cool. The community would have loved to have some heads ups.

yes, very poorly thoughtout...

Quoting neone6, reply 28

FYI, We (Master skinners) Were actually contacted privately prior to this Post.

yet we...the members/customers/subscribers....were not....  :-|  

and yes... a huge Thank You to all the Master Skinners who provided so much fun and magnificent desktops for us all to enjoy over the years...  <3    X   however many Master Skinners there are... 

 

 

 

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Reply #33 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting sydneysiders, reply 32

yet we...the members/customers/subscribers....were not.... 

This was confidential communication between contractual/commercial partners.  The General User has no input and should not expect to be included in such discussions....;)

BTW...anyone beyond the rank of Master [Wizop, Admin] is by definition already a Master so was also notified at the time...;)

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Reply #34 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Jafo, reply 33

This was confidential communication between contractual/commercial partners. The General User has no input and should not expect to be included in such discussions....

of course we would not expect to be included in those discussions... that would be ridiculous... I obviously did not explain myself extensively enough for the legal-eagle Jafo... ;)  

My point was...that while Master Skinners naturally had a heads up as to the demise of Masterskins.... we, the community...did not.

We could have been given a week...2 weeks... a month heads up...for those who drop in sporadically... to purchase what Masterskins we wanted....
or, if you didn't want the further accounting... just leave the Masterskins up with a notice on them... one indicating that the Masterskin is now free courtesy of the Master Skinner... or remove the Buy button and inform that the Master Skinner now has to be contacted directly to purchase the skin or showing a link to their new/alternative site. That would have enabled the Windowblinds gallery to continue displaying the cream of the crop skins that showcased Windblinds to the best.

Even just doing that for awhile would allow community to sort through and note down the skins and Master Skinner's names to be able to contact them....

As it is now... we are just.. 

You've left the gallery devoid of it's best artistry that also served to look back on the evolution of Windowblinds.
You could have even displayed them in a separate gallery, although inactive, to serve as a history record of Windowblinds skinning...  it's such a shame to have them all gone... poof!..nothing, nada, zip...zilch...

Thank you Kitty & Mike for allowing your Masterskins to remain on WC free...
Thank you Neone for supplying in your Shadowglass thread an alternative to purchase your skins so speedily... impressive site!

Tom... I hope you manage to get a site up and going again for yours and v's skins you have so diligently updated.

While it's naturally Stardock's/WC's prerogative to do as they wish, and we understand Master Skin sales are past the height of their glory days, it could have been so much better handled giving it some thought and perhaps consultation, thus giving consideration to the community that supports it.

 

 

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Reply #35 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting sydneysiders, reply 34

You've left the gallery devoid of it's best artistry that also served to look back on the evolution of Windowblinds.

C'mon, Syd. Many of the non-master skinners have also produced beautiful work in many apps.

Moreover, there are many other masters whose work remains here, not just Mike's and Kitty's.

How about 2of3 and retiredmaster as well as all the others I haven't named and who are equally part of the history of skinning? Their work (2of3' and retiredmaster's as well as all the unmentioned masters) is any superlative you choose to employ and regularly populate the monthly desktop screenshot thread [shameless plug there].

Even the Masters who've removed their art will be displaying it elsewhere, so it hasn't vanished, and it can still be purchased.

I'll just quote whoever it was who noted, "No telling what tomorrow will bring and it ain't over till the fat lady sings.

Reply #36 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 35

Even the Masters who've removed their art will be displaying it elsewhere, so it hasn't vanished, and it can still be purchased.

Yeah, well ALL my stuff is available on WWW.WINCOSMOS.NET |-)  

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Reply #37 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 35
I'll just quote whoever it was who noted, "No telling what tomorrow will bring and it ain't over till the fat lady sings.
I believe that was a Yogi Berra quote. Don't quote me on that--^_^ you see what I did there! But I know Yogi had many quotes of that nature.

Reply #38 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting The-Reaper-Man, reply 37

Don't quote me on that

I won't because the phrase is attributed to Dan Cook, a sports broadcaster from San Antonio, Texas, who was reporting on a playoff game between his hometown Spurs and the Washington Bullets in 1978.

Reply #40 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 38


Quoting The-Reaper-Man,
reply 37

Don't quote me on that



I won't because the phrase is attributed to Dan Cook, a sports broadcaster from San Antonio, Texas, who was reporting on a playoff game between his hometown Spurs and the Washington Bullets in 1978.

Well, you learn something new everyday! I knew it was sports related, though.

Reply #41 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting The-Reaper-Man, reply 40

Well, you learn something new everyday! I knew it was sports related, though.

Half a gold star, Reap...it does sound like Yogish, I must agree.  ;)

Quoting delve-miller, reply 39

WHY????? 

It doesn't really matter, because the Masters who wanted their skins to remain as free ones got their request, and the masters who created their own methods/sites to sell their skins removed them from WC to sell there.

Either way, all the skins are still available to you.

 

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Reply #43 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting ccourtade, reply 42

Where will all you great skinners keep your master skillz skins so I can continue to support your work??

Not sure of others ccourtade, but I should have my own web site called LightStar Design up and running in August. :-)

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Reply #44 from WinCustomize Forums Top

'The suspense is terrible.  I hope it'll last.'  -Willy Wonka 

I look forward to being able to still support you all of the master skinners when I can.

Reply #46 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I've noticed a lack of skins for the last month or so but didn't realize what had happened. Checking the forum provided me the answer. I registered on your new site as most of my skins are yours! Will your skins continue to work with Windowblinds?

 

Reply #47 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting garybl52, reply 46

I've noticed a lack of skins for the last month or so but didn't realize what had happened. Checking the forum provided me the answer. I registered on your new site as most of my skins are yours! Will your skins continue to work with Windowblinds? 

They sure will continue to work, I am checking them all again, making some adjustments for Windows 10 if needed, and Windows 11, and then uploading them on my site, Premium or free. Glad to hear you're on the site! :-)

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Reply #48 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 29

You can certainly continue to skin and can attain Master skinner rank. That has not been eliminated.

Still missed my point. I was looking forward to possibility of earning some $$ for my work. I am not sure that i will post anymore work here.

Reply #49 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Dcrew57, reply 48


Quoting DrJBHL,
reply 29

You can certainly continue to skin and can attain Master skinner rank. That has not been eliminated.



Still missed my point. I was looking forward to possibility of earning some $$ for my work. I am not sure that i will post anymore work here.

That's your perogative. From the beginning, everyone was free to try and sell their own art on their own or whichever site, just WC had the rank system in place.

No one ever tried to stop that. Folks just found the community and system in place on WC convenient to them.

When skinning wound down as a function of MS OS changes, and attrition from other reasons, SD finally no longer found it worthwhile to continue the Master skin program. Only dA, Lightstar and adni18 continue commercial sites (I could be wrong), and folks aren't doing enough to help Lightstar keep his site alive.

One more thing remains to be said, though. The skinners/artists always maintained that folks should first skin for themselves...and that will always remain true.

*edit: Lightstar correctly noted I forgot neone6. Sorry, Andy! It was an honest error. Thanks for correcting my oversight, Tom. :sheep: