Just my 2 cents but..
I have only been paid for 2 of my skins, and it was really a great thing to be paid to do something i really enjoyed. Just because something is a "hobby" doesn't mean that we shouldn't make a profit from it, the 2 are not mutually-exclusive. I mean if my hobby was say.. GOLF, and i got good enough to get invited to play in something that had a prize then why would i not go? If my hobby is making bowls from wood on my lathe, and i give a bunch of them away, then someone sees them and wants one, and maybe wants one that is special to them, etc, then why should i not bill them for my time/material. Skinning is strange because there is no "physical" thing to hand someone, its all virtual, but my time is still my time. When i spend 30-40-50-60 or more hours building something, be it a widget, or wmp skin, or whatever, and I GIVE it to the world by uploading it here, then its out the, and gone.
I think that there is a middle ground between paying for every skin, and having all the skins free. Why could we not have some sort of credit for skins. It would have to be based on things like rating, downloads, etc. This would help the person who made the skin pay for their subscription to WC or for upgrades at Stardock, or even for premium skins. I see this as a win win for everyone, the person get to get a free upgrade to the next version of the program, or a continuation of their subscription to WC, and WC and Stardock get good skins to show on their site, and give people a good reason to purchase their software.
I know the issue is not a simple one, but a credit system rewards "good" quality skins, not SCREENSHOTS or things like that, but really good working skins and things, and allows this site to keep some great skinners skinning.
As i said at the begining, this is just my suggestion. I know that if people could get some kind of return on their time and effort, there might be a lot more and better skins out there.
