All message boards have their share of angst. If you think WC's is "not nice" perhaps you should check out dA's for instance. I am a regular on there as well and if you think it's a "Friendly" message board then all I can say is you haven't either been there long or looked very much. It's a rougher place. The average age there is 17 (their own stats) and conversations tend to come from that point of view.

And a little honesty wouldn't kill anyone here. Everyone who has submitted something to a website knows it is a tedious, time consuming process.  One doesn't remove their stuff on a lark. They do so because they feel very strongly about something.

You feel strongly that wallpaper artists aren't treated well. But what deeds lead you to that conclusion? Because walls are moderated?  That is the only material deed in play here.

Because you must realize how petty it would come across to other adults that you pulled your stuff because you didn't like what someone said on a message board.

You're right that I don't care about wallpapers. Not even in the slightest. There are lots of sections I don't care about.  Hence, I use the word "I". I didn't say "Stardock" doesn't care. Nor did I say "WinCustomize" doesn't care. In fact, I expressly said "I personally think that the wallpaper section is a waste of bandwidth."

There are other sections I personaly feel that way too about (Kewlpad for example).

All the evidence points to the same conclusion -- you removed your stuff because of opinions expressed on a message forum. Opinions that have nothing to do with actions.

Am I or someone else to worry that someone is going to remove their wallpapers because they say "I don't like red wallpapers" and someone who makes red wallpapers quits in a huff?

Imagine if the volunteer moderators and admins of this site took your attitude. That when they felt attacked (And unlike you, they actually have gotten truly flamed) they just up and quit. Where would the community be then?

What you don't see is that your particular drama has been acted out dozens of times over the years and many old timers have grown weary of it. There is always some newcomer (and no offense ubt you are a newcomer) who believe he or she is wiser or is a champion for some unspecified downtrodden.  Oh the woe, some 5 minute bryce wallpaper didn't get put up. So yea, eventually long timers here do get a little fed up with the dramas and have little patience for the same old complaints. Perhaps each complaint should be handled as if it's the first time but you're dealing with human nature and the same thing will happen anywhere you go on the net.

But getting back to pulling your stuff off. Look, if you're not willing to be honest about your motives then there's not much point in trying to have a conversation. Given the amount of time it takes to submit work, pulling your works is designed to keep site X from benefiting from your contributions. It is certainly your right to do so. But be honest about it.

You must confess it was incredibly tacky on your part to talk up how much better you think deviantART is than WC.

As for money and WC as an advertising vehcile, the same is true of any site. deviantART, Deskmod, Skinbase, even Customize.org and Skinz.org have sections for Stardock's stuff and all in sufficient quantities for critical mass.  It may be hard for you to believe but Stardock supports this site as part of its contribution to the community. I.e. giving something back. I realize that you probably believe that only you do altruistic things but yes, amazingly enough other people, including companies, do altruistic things at times. The only stock holder Stardock has to answer to is me and as a result it can do things that are not necessarily great business decisions but are good community decisions.

IR Braniac:

There are a handful of things that bother me and I will always speak out against:

• Not taking personal responsibility
• Hypocricy
• Double Standards

For instance, I did not enter into this morass until it was well on its way. For someone to try to retroactively blame some post by me is simply a case of not taking personal responsibiltiy.

I also dislike hypocricy. And we saw that. We have seen a few people who are immensely sensitive to their own feelings being hurt dish out some pretty nasty words towards other.

And finally, the double standards issue is the biggest. I don't like elitism. And it gets pretty old seeing "artists" act like they are somehow superior to everyone else. They want "respect" and "fairness" while giving none themselves.

It's okay for someone to heap abuse on the admins or moderators apparently but if they don't respond with "Thank you, may I have another..." then they get accused of being "Rude".

"Artists" need to wake up and recognize that the relationship between them and skin/art sites is symbiotic. They need to lose the attitude that they are blessing us with their presence and work.  They share their content and the site distributes it paying the bandwidth and drive space costs. They don't have to pay a cent for this. They don't even have to show appreciation for this.  But they cannot take on the attitude that we're just their servants waiting to be slapped around.

This site has something like two dozen sections. When was the last time you saw a DesktopX theme author or WindowBlinds skin author or Icon author coming onto these message boards complaining about the site? I can't remember a time. It's always the wallpaper authors.

And frankly, it's hard to take seriously anyone who would remove all their work over something trvial in a message board. It is childish in my view. But it's their decision to make. But once they do so, rather than posting various "in your face" posts about how tehy are going to another site, I wish they'd just go.