Hey, guys! I’m back from my vacation in beautiful Alaska and ready to get back to simming. I have some new ideas for Ahanu Bay and a Fran update still in the works! But first, a few words…
I’ve changed my stance on the whole paysite vs. freesite debate. Here’s what it boils down to:
When I started boycotting paysites, it was for a couple of reasons. For one, I realized that I was advertising a lot of pay content on my site, and if people couldn’t afford to buy it, they were just plain out of luck. Many Sims players don’t have access to credit cards and therefore can’t donate and get shiny pay content. I felt like I was rubbing this fact in their faces if I kept showcasing pay stuff in my pictures. I didn’t want to do that anymore.
Another reason is that I was donating to paysites (in order to get stuff) and neglecting the free sites. Paysites were getting all my money, sometimes for content that was mediocre. Meanwhile a horde of freesites were making top quality items and offering them for FREE to everyone, but they were struggling to stay afloat. When it comes down to it, people are more apt to donate if they get something in return (in which case, it becomes a purchase). Sad, but true. I don’t think free sites should have to become paysites in order to survive.
Those were my main reasons. Most anti-paysite people point at EA’s EULA and state that paysites are doing something illegal, and they very well might be, but as EA doesn’t seem to care (and, in fact, seems to promote the big evil paysites like TSR by inviting them to fan events), it seems a moot point. I’ve read all of the arguments, for and against; it goes in circles, over and over. It’s gotten to the point where I’m not really sure what I think about the issue. It’s a gray area.
It’s also wearing me out. Things on both sides have gotten ugly — really truly UGLY. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t really want to be associated with either side of this battle. I also miss some of the paysites. Not the big bad ones, but the less offensive ones, like Holy Simoly and XM Sims. Yeah, they’re paysites, but 90% of their stuff is free, their items are high-quality, and they don’t ask for you an arm and a leg to get their pay content. I’ve always felt weird lumping them in with sites like Peggy Sims and The Sims Resource.
So…I’m ambivalent about the whole thing. I’m sure I’ll lose some respect from the anti-paysite people, but I have to be honest with myself and everyone else. It’s just not that big of an issue to me anymore. If I were really devoted to showcasing only free stuff, I wouldn’t take another picture of the Sims, period, because hey — the game itself, and allll those EPs and stuff packs, cost a pretty penny. I wouldn’t want to make anyone feel bad that they can’t afford it.
But that would be ridiculous. This is a game and a fun hobby for me. I want to enjoy it to the fullest. So…the paysite boycott is off, for the most part. HOWEVER, I will still promote free sites and donate to them as much as possible. I will still post a free site of the month (although I’m behind with July). The only paysites I will frequent will be places like XM Sims (who are releasing their old donation packs for free on a semi-regular basis) and Holy Simoly (who make truly high-quality items and don’t gouge you if you want to buy a donation pack).
And if you see some pay stuff in my pictures and wish you could have it, but you just can’t afford it…well, maybe a friend will help you out. ;-)
I have more to say, including answering your questions from the last batch of comments, but I’ll save that for another post.
Bravo :] I personally love XM and Rao; as a 14 year old my parents won’t pay jack for my games and so whatever I can get for free, I take. Play it and don’t pay it was the motto of many of my blogging idols but seriously. It’s a GAME where you have fun. Good for you for stop making it harder on yourself when it’s supposed to be fun :]
No complaints from me.
I couldn’t agree more, Jen, and I really admire that you’re telling it like it is.
Fight the power! Just the way I would have said it Jen.
Wow, that was great. But I really like the Free sites, and I personally can’t afford the pay site stuff anyway. (My mom doesn’t even have a Credit card, she calls them evil) and as a 16 year old, I really don’t have access to pay sites anyway.I see where you are coming from, but I stand with the Free sites.
I think the whole Paysite stuff goes awry on both sides simply because not every site can be lumped into just the two categories of “Paysite means bad!” and “Free site means good!” For the most part I am against paysites and what they have done to the community. It isn’t fair, IMHO, that some paysite owners can get away with tossing up average to below-average quality stuff and have people paying $10 a month or more for it. There’s some awesome free stuff out there. But there’s also some horrid stuff. And there are some decent paysites – or at least donation sites – where they aren’t trying to force people to pay up by withholding the GOOD stuff for only people who give them money, or aren’t asking for $10 for a single outfit or something.
The world isn’t black and white, so people shouldn’t expect issues like this to be divided so easily. If you lose respect from anti-paysite people.. well, that’s just their too bad. Like you said, you need to be honest with yourself and it’s great that you are. :) Especially since you have a large readership, it’s wonderful that you’re willing to be honest with all of us, instead of trying to pretend that you’re still 100% anti-paysite. That’s just another reason you’ll have me sticking around here and SimScribes. :D
Yep, it really is a complicated issue, and I hate what it’s doing to the community. I wanted to reiterate that even though I’m not necessarily anti-paysite anymore, that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on free sites! I will still use them and promote them as much as possible. They’re a tremendous asset to the community. I’m a monthly donator at MTS2, and every month I give $5.00 to a free site of my choosing (for July it was The Strawberry Patch). So I’m still committed to supporting free sites. I loves ’em! (I just happen to like a couple of paysites, too…)
Personally, I hate paysites because I can’t purchase from them (no access to a credit card, and frankly, most pay content I’ve seen is lousy anyway!).
What *I* really hate is when a free download requires a paid mesh from another site. That one issue alone drives me absolutely batty!
I honestly have been just about *slaughtered* on sites for saying that I think it’s great that individuals are able to make money from running their sites as paid sites. EA really *doesn’t* care, and if they don’t, championing for the cause of “anti-pay site” in the case of it being against the EULA really has become a moot point.
Your reasons for stopping posting pictures with pay material are the *right* reasons, IMO. It’s the reason that I get irritated, and I tend to think about the teenagers who play the game and obviously don’t have credit cards of their own.