What happened to paid themes??

from Stardock Forums

I've noticed, during recent visits, that all of the WB themes on WinCustomize are free themes... all the paid themes have vanished??

I'll admit, I typically leaned toward free themes, but I've purchased quite a number of the paid themes, as long as they didn't exceed the cost of the base program!!  In particular, I have quite a collection of themes by @don5318, who seems particularly able to create visions that really appeal to me!!... but they are all gone??  What does this mean (other than that we've probably lost many of the existing primary theme creators) ??

 

windowblinds
16,380 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Stardock decided to discontinue the Master skin program. Some Masters have commercial sites: Lightstar, neone6 and adni18. Don isn't skinning atm. He's gone over to the dark side ( ;) ), refurbishing Macs...and does a great job, I hear.

Lightstar's site: https://lightstardesign.com/

neone6: https://www.wincosmos.net

adni18: https://www.adni18.com/

 

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top


I've noticed, during recent visits, that all of the WB themes on WinCustomize are free themes... all the paid themes have vanished??

I'll admit, I typically leaned toward free themes, but I've purchased quite a number of the paid themes, as long as they didn't exceed the cost of the base program!!  In particular, I have quite a collection of themes by @don5318, who seems particularly able to create visions that really appeal to me!!... but they are all gone??  What does this mean (other than that we've probably lost many of the existing primary theme creators) ??

 

The reason I know longer have my paid skins on Wincustomize is after the Master Skin paid program was discontinued, I opted to have them (Master Skins) removed, as I thought that I was going to sell them through a third party, but, I got way too busy refurbishing Mac computers, that I haven't had time to think about selling my old Master Skins, or making new ones, however, I have been getting an itch to skin again, but not sure, that's why I'm mulling over if I should renew my subscription to OD (Object Desktop), so as to skin again, but then, not sure how much changes have been made to Skin Studio, it may be harder to get into it again, we'll see, no promises though, but, I'm thinking about it. |-)  

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Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting don5318, reply 2

if I should renew my subscription to OD (Object Desktop), so as to skin again, but then, not sure how much changes have been made to Skin Studio, it may be harder to get into it again, we'll see, no promises though, but, I'm thinking about it. |-)  

Please do. :-) Maybe it may be an idea to team with other master skinners to have ONE site for purchasing? :-)

 
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Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting c242, reply 3

Please do. Maybe it may be an idea to team with other master skinners to have ONE site for purchasing?

Indeed.

 

About the renewal Don, I think it best to make that a separate post. Jaz and Sean are more authorities about that topic than I.

I should also remind you to download your most up to date installers and back them up. You're entitled to the newest SkS which updated for me a couple of days ago.

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 4

You're entitled to the newest SkS which updated for me a couple of days ago.

Skinstudio updates? This is first time I heard about anything on SKS update. What version you have currently? Mine still said Version 11.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting basj, reply 5

Skinstudio updates? This is first time I heard about anything on SKS update. What version you have currently? Mine still said Version 11.

Maybe it was just my Object Desktop Manager updating SkS's status on my desktop, Jaz.

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 6

Maybe it was just my Object Desktop Manager updating SkS's status on my desktop, Jaz.

Okay.:thumbsup:

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

Wow... this sounds like a bad trend... at a minimum, there is no longer a single site to see what new themes are available.

New users coming into WB aren't going to know that there are other places to look for themes; I wonder if this signals a general move away from WB entirely??

Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Derell, reply 8

Wow... this sounds like a bad trend... at a minimum, there is no longer a single site to see what new themes are available.

New users coming into WB aren't going to know that there are other places to look for themes; I wonder if this signals a general move away from WB entirely??

I certainly hope not Derell Licht! If you use this link to visit my new site, you can see all themes in order with the newest themes first. Hope that helps. ( LightStar Design - OS Customization )

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

I'm curious about this decision to end the Master Skinners program... doesn't this essentially mean that virtually all theme development will come to an end??  How do we interpret this?  

I mean, theme generation was slowing in recent years before that, but at least the Masters were still developing... what is the vision for the future of WB ??

 

Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Derell, reply 10

I'm curious about this decision to end the Master Skinners program... doesn't this essentially mean that virtually all theme development will come to an end??  How do we interpret this?  

I mean, theme generation was slowing in recent years before that, but at least the Masters were still developing... what is the vision for the future of WB ??

 

Not at all. It only means Stardock chose not to continue its Master Skinner program because the numbers of the skins didn't justify the time put into the bookkeeping.

If anything, it might encourage more skinners to strike out on their own or with established Masters.

Also, Deviant Art has a host of artists selling all sorts of works.