Stardock's relationship with Neowin and its criticizers

[Brad.]

It's nice to hear both sides of the story first before making judgment on a person's character.

Yeah, same here. I've never encountered Brad either.

Like some others, never knew Stardock owned 40% of Neowin, doesn't matter to me though :D

[Rappy Veteran]

I think this is a good post to show people who runs neowin and how it is run (Y)

I remember the 2002 days!

[Steven P. Administrators]

I think this is a good post to show people who runs neowin and how it is run (Y)

I remember the 2002 days!

When we had a new host every 5 minutes? And when we were forced down multiple times in the month (due to excessive bandwidth). Yeah I remember those days, something we never have to worry about these days but took up a good part of Neowins first 3 years online!

[Redmak Administrators]

1. Well yes, but you said he (he is Stardock?) only owns 40% so hardly his company, unless he owns more?

2. Aren't neowin hosted in stardocks room/rack/cage and use bandwidth provided by stardock (who i guess picked their own location/bandwidth) so entirely down to what stardock chose?

3. So are Neowin and Stardock only linked by the owners? If so, why the move into Stardocks cage/rack/room for hosting?

4. I would but i'm sure we're not supposed to :p

Redmak: nice different responses to the questions :p

Not that different.

1. Brad didn't buy into Neowin just to become an admin, which we wouldn't allow (he wasn't even an admin for quite a while after the buy in)

2. "Having any site hosted on a single upstream provider is a bad idea" is true. This is a hosting issue not a Stardock issue

3. It was denied because Stardock had nothing to do with Neowin at the time. Apart from Brad being a member

"why the move into Stardocks cage/rack/room for hosting" ... It was cheaper

[redeemed]

Like some others, never knew Stardock owned 40% of Neowin, doesn't matter to me though

+1

<snip>

Neowin has changed for the better due to the investments made, and now has full legal backing should we ever get into trouble again (the Microsoft incident of 2003).

<snip>

What was that about?

[Coldgunner]

When we had a new host every 5 minutes? And when we were forced down multiple times in the month (due to excessive bandwidth). Yeah I remember those days, something we never have to worry about these days but took up a good part of Neowins first 3 years online!

I can remember late 2004 early 2005 when there was a few speed issues, thank god you guys got a good host from stardock.

[Lewism]

^

+1

What was that about?

They leaked something and Microsoft wasn't happy. Call their hosting company and shut Neowin down.

[DrewJW]

I was not about for the beginning of Neowin, but I know this is one hell of a forum and I have no troubles with who runs it in the background.

[Redmak Administrators]

+1

What was that about?

Probably this http://www.news.com/2100-1025-991624.html

[Farchord]

+1

What was that about?

If I remember well, there was a post on the frontpage (about microsoft content) that wasn't supposed to be public and Neowin got hit by a Cease and Desist order...

But they came back after a while.

BTW I myself got absolutely nothing against frogboy. I have bought Windowblinds myself twice; granted haven't used it for long for personnal reasons, but I think he does a very good thing by supporting community sites.

I applaud ya, mate :D

EDIT: More information on the Microsoft patent CaD order: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/03/07/ne...t_downed_by_ms/ (YES I know it's The Register, read anyway :p)

[Darrian]

I have no issues with Stardock owning a part of Neowin. I also have no problems with Brad. I tend to rag on Stardock products a lot, but that is because I use them, have for years, and when I see the quality or support for them starting to go downhill I figure the best place to show my displeasure is a forum where I know at least one member of Stardock resides and will read about it. Windowblinds irritates the hell out of me, because it's a great concept but they can't seem to make it flawless. On XP I used a lot of msstyles, instead, and with Vista I have pretty much been stuck with the default theme since release. Objectdock won't stay running stable anymore and I've had to permanently switch to Rocketdock, at least until a new build comes out for me to try. Am I going to just shut my mouth about problems I'm having and pretend everything about Stardock is just the greatest thing since sliced bread because they own part of Neowin? Hell no! But you can bet I'm going to renew my Object Desktop subscription next year, too, so I think I'm paying for that right.

[DrewJW]

I think people have a right to complain, it's the minority not including yourself Darrian, who get abusive and confrontational with other users about their views, and troll about :)

I have tried Objectdock granted the free version and could not get on with it, I guess I just like a clean desktop and I could not get it how I wanted so I left it.

[Rappy Veteran]

When we had a new host every 5 minutes? And when we were forced down multiple times in the month (due to excessive bandwidth). Yeah I remember those days, something we never have to worry about these days but took up a good part of Neowins first 3 years online!

Yeah I remember that but I think its good now its all stable!

[Calum Veteran]

Woah, I didn't know Stardock owned part of Neowin. I'm shocked lol, but in a good way.

I don't see anything wrong with Stardock owning 40% - it must help Neobond and Redmak loads financially, which is always a good thing as we all want this community to continue ;)

I just have one question for Neobond or Redmak:

Seeing as though Brad owns 40% of it, would he ever have any say whatsoever in the future of Neowin. E.g. whether it survives or not? I don't know much about him, but I wouldn't want him to wake up one day and decide "oh, I'm going to shut Neowin down today!"

Probably just me being paranoid lol, but could that happen at all?

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

You buy enhanced services, as I already said Stardock made an investment that we have to pay back. Neowin survives on Ad revenue and your subscribing to additional services, not hand-outs ;)

Neowin has to pay back an investment. I thought that when you invest in something there is no paying back. If I invest in stock , I don't have to pay it back, the stock can benefit the investor. As Neowin can benefit Stardock. Or do you mean that Neowin has to pay back Stardock in a non financial way?

[Sethos]

Neowin has to pay back an investment. I thought that when you invest in something there is no paying back. If I invest in stock , I don't have to pay it back, the stock can benefit the investor. As Neowin can benefit Stardock. Or do you mean that Neowin has to pay back Starback in a non financial way?

Perhaps we're talking sexual favors

[+M2Ys4U Subscriber¹]

I used to have a few issues with it, and I'm still not a huge fan of Brad (:p) but I'm over that now, it's not had a noticeable negative effect on Neowin, and all of the speed/server issues are gone so it's probably a Good Thing?.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I think people have a right to complain, it's the minority not including yourself Darrian, who get abusive and confrontational with other users about their views, and troll about

A bigger issue was a member who was attacking Stardock in order to push their own software (a competitor).

[Panacik]

A bigger issue was a member who was attacking Stardock in order to push their own software (a competitor).

Thats sad. If his software was any better, then it would sell without him bad mouthing the competition.

[kaffra]

this explains a lot. stardock bias or not, the good thing neowin is still online.

[Scirwode]

After reading through all the comments, I have only one thing to say: is there a difference? I think you can guess my answer, so to speak.

Scirwode

[Lindkvist]

There's a difference when it comes to the users of the forum today.

Back in the days there was a more behaved and nice attitude throughout the forum.

That's certainly not the case today, where you'll find alot of bickering and bitchin' and stupid arguments over petty things,

in alot of the daily new posts.

That's the downside of Neowins growing popularity :)

EDIT: And about the Stardock thing, who gives a ****? no really?

There's plenty alternative content to the stardock posts/news to read.

The site is now as it was back when it all started, just with a larger user database.

Edited May 12, 2008 by cormack

[Darksoft]

I know I'm not one of the most senior/useful members here but I'll throw in my two cents:

I think that we have to give the admins props for keeping this site alive. It must take a lot of money and resources to keep a site this big running. I've been a lurker for years, and I think that we all can agree that Neowin is much more solid than it was before. I can't remember the last time I couldn't access the site because the server was too busy or something.

I believe that the members giving frogboy crap need to shut up. He helped this site out and that's all that matters.

We all have to remember that we use this site FOR FREE. Therefore, the administration and the staff is not obligated to divulge things if they don't want to. It's nice when they do it (like now) but I don't think they have too. Again, this site is free and you can donate if so you choose, but I think that some of us are a little bit too demanding and ungrateful.

I give props to frogboy for putting up with all the crap that he does. Neowin can't publish a stardock related article without some jackasses starting some drama and negative things that don't help the site out. I think that those members need to look at the big picture and recognize that neowin is much better than it was before. It's not like we are being shoved stardock products down our throats or like we can't say negative things about them.

I think that some of us need to learn the difference between constructive criticism and being a plain old ass. Let's give this community our support and let's stop the drama. Most of us haven't invested our time and resources into this site and we all share the benefits.

So thank you admins, mods, mvc's, subscribers and everyone that keeps this site helpful and fun. Whatever happens behind closed doors is really not our business and not our right to know unless the people in charge think otherwise. Let's be considerate and grateful because neowin is in better shape than before.

/end

[vincent]

I just don't see how some members would have a beef with stardock, and/or Brad?

[Scirwode]

I just don't see how some members would have a beef with stardock, and/or Brad?

There's always someone who wishes to cause disruption. Nothing new, really :p .

Scirwode