Oooh the "you're just doing this for the MONEY!!!" What a jerkwad. This game looked fun to me but I don't wanna play something that is owned by someone who doesn't see art for the value it has. He expects players to pay to use certain outfits, but he can't pay the artists of those items. It looks like all the money just goes to the 'creator'. (As if any of the assets used in the game count as his 'creation')
Thank you! I considered it for a while and wonder how things would have gone if I took the credits as payment. The site updates he promised never happened and the video was supposed to be coordinated with the updates.
I'd like to hear more about this. Would you want to connect with me over email? Or if you have receipts you could provide in-comment, here would be good too.
Whoa, I was not expecting this- it's been ages since you mentioned your beef with VP! But it's really nice to hear out the whole situation so that we have a better understanding of exactly why it was being boycotted. Thanks so much for the information; it's incredibly useful to have events like this publicly displayed so that future VP users are aware of what they're getting into.
I'm hopeful that other people with negative experiences will come forward and the network of dress-up sims can have a dialogue about how to better compensate and acknowledge creative contributors. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Lmaooo that reveal had me rolling. I always wonder if people who peddle all that “alternative medicine” crap actually believe in it. Probably not.. scammers gonna scam
One of my favorite podcasts is "Oh No Ross and Carrie," a show where they try metaphysical/religious/supernatural/medical claims and report on the efficacy and danger. While I am skeptical about bioresenance therapy, I am hopeful that Kaj and his employees believe in what they're doing and have no reason to suspect they are willingly scamming anyone.
Pet Simmer Julie That sounds cool, I’ll have to check that podcast out! And you’re probably right, I was being a little cynical because of the VP stuff- the charitable reading is that Kaj is just clueless about proper business practices and not acting maliciously. (I hope)
This should really be talked about more. Also, It's interesting that you say that Everskies and Virtual popstar are "cool with one another" when you're not allowed to talk about or even mention Everskies on Virtual Popstar without getting a warning... It gets so bad in some cases that you're not even allowed to use the abbreviation that VP uses in the in-game rules, where it is stated that any mention of ES is deemed as advertisement for a "competitor site"
Oh, man. This video reminded me of a time I entered an item contest on a pet site I played in the early 2000s. I couldn't have been older than 13. The winners of this contest would have their item added to the site. I didn't win--but imagine my surprise when a few months later, my item was added in an update with absolutely no credit to myself! I contacted a staff member and was told that one of the staff artists had created the item and that I was mistaken. I linked them to the original lineart of the item, and received no response. It was very disheartening and I stopped visiting the site. The lack of respect that some people have for artists and content creators is always upsetting to see. I'm so sorry you were treated this way.
Wow. Definitely super shady to profit off of free labor from actual teenagers 😬 Lmao he seemed so confused at the concept of compensating you, a professional media creator, for your work. Makes it obvious that he’s usually interacting with kids who don’t know better and don’t know what their skills and labor are worth. Thank you for exposing this!
I'm 2 years late on this but their way of helping you with login is crap too,if you don't remember your username you're basically SOL,I go to emails they claim I used to log in with,and there is NONE.
I remember trying to make art for this game.. to me at least it looked pretty legit and I remember asking for critique where I needed improvement. Pretty much ended up getting ganged up on saying how my art isn't good enough for VP and basically just trying to start a fight with me and it really took a toll on my mental health all these people were just trying to find someone to argue with cause they aren't happy with themselves. Sorry ik this is old but seeing VP and everskies just brought back bad memories as to why I stopped drawing lol
This is a great video. I'm really loving this channel, it has been one of my favourite discoveries since I started re-playing Neopets. I think this video is also important, because if a person like Kaj had seen this video beforehand, he may likely have handled the negotiation differently. I think a lot of people try to leverage free labour, simply because they think they can. As a businessman, you're trying to get as much work done with the least costs, but obviously, there are consequences to abusing other people's work. And I think some people simply don't realize that.
Julie It’s been a while! And One thing I want to say is I value your presence on pet sim games Very much. Growing up I never played these games so watching your videos really helped and I value your opinion and this situation is probably why, because you work to deliver clear and good information on these games. I’m sorry you didn’t recieve the credit you deserved! Anyway love ya!
I am Dutch and goSupermodel played such a big role in my early teenager years. I can pretty much say I grew up there, and I also met my long-time best friend there! I was so surprised when you brought gSm up! Thank you so much for this video but also for the great explanation on good old gSm
i'm hopeful for a video on everskies... the owner... the mods... what a shit show. so many people banned + muted for calling out problematic behaviors the team has....
Omg I forgot all about goSupermodel. AND I ONLY KNEW ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF MY FRIENDS IN NORWAY (I was raised there, so I know some peeps lol). I had no clue it never really reached North America. I only played for like a week though. lol. Thank you for speaking up! Creators should not be expected to work for free. I'm glad you stood your ground and can put this whole thing behind you now. You da best!
Virtual Popstar is an earlier game that launched years ago. EverSkies is a new, unrelated game. They have no overlap in ownership. Your designs cannot show up on EverSkies.
Kaj's wacky behaviour and dubious side-businesses, as well as him taking all our money without investing any of it back into the site were some of the things that made me quit VP almost a year ago. Kaj has always acted extremely unprofessional. From his anti-gSm videos when gSm was still alive (often targeting one specific, popular user he hated) to him telling the users about his polygamous relationship with two users (one of which was told she'd become admin if she got into a relationship with him, the other being his fiance, who didn't like the polygamy shizzle at all), to just plainly the way he communicates with others... It's all too much and I can't see VP surviving for much longer. The excuse is always that the developer doesn't have time to implement updates, or that updates are too expensive... with all the money he has made off of the amazing outfits made by volunteer designers (even Solovey hardly gets paid anything, I believe) he could've made VP as big as Stardoll a long time ago :') It took me quite some time to create an account on VP due to all the gSm-VP drama, but I really missed having an avatar site with a forum after gSm was closed (I was active on gSm from 2010 to 2016). I don't regret the time spent on VP, but I'm glad I quit playing it a while ago. Now, I'm a part of the ES team and I love where the site is heading right now. I don't think anything could ever match gSm (if only for the fact that I literally grew up on that website) but ES knows how much that site meant to lots of its users and is therefore implementing the very best aspects of both gSm and VP (and some Stardoll here and there), while supplementing it with original ES-aspects. Let's hope a bigger and better site arises from that mishmash ;)
I'm gonna be adding some intel on how it was being in the DesignerTeam here if anyones interested: (I started designing in 2016 and joined the official Team relatively soon afterwards; I was about 18 at the time and my username was snailman) Team Members were chosen based on a competition held by the Team themselves like with other teams; However at the time I was starting out Kaj still had full control over which clothing sets were used and what they were used for. And while the responses to my designs in the forums were most of the time overwhelmingly positive Kaj consistently used my sets as WOF and HOF (the somewhat throwaway options to use sets for). When I messaged him directly asking him to use one of my sets for DM (a weekly surprise set) he told me that the set isn't good enough for DM which concluded months of me sending in my sets as a DesignerTeam member and getting them assigned as PD-Shop sets (PD is the free currency) and WOF/HOF. Most of the time he would not answer to my sparing private messages. I quit DT as I didn't feel valued as a member and additionally made a thread about why exactly I quit and what I perceived to be the shortcomings of being a Designer on VP. Afterwards the responsiblity to assign sets to DM/Shop/HOF/WOF etc. was given to DT which greatly improved one of the sites problems, which made me return shortly as a Designer until I realized that my time and skill is too valuable to waste on this site. None of the others tho, there is only one Designer being paid (Solovey) and all other are volunteer workers, no matter how much income they generate for Kaj. He has made multiple incredible claims about how all the income is reinvested into the site which can't be true at all considering there is little to none development being done and the mentioned App (in 2016) never came out. It's just another scammy income for him.
I'm going through old messages from 2016 and it was just straight up shit being in DT, I was unhappy all the time because working with Kaj was one of the most frustrating things I've ever done. It's seriously incomparable, there's no professionality to be seen in either Kaj or Shadowjess; Jess is more invested in VP and thus slightly more competent but only by passion.
Hey Julie! I don't know if you would remember me, I saw and commented on your 'Virtual PopStar: 2016 Goals' video in the past and stated before that Kaj is a scammer. Back then I searched for the document for a while but didn't end up finding it. Now I see you've had your own experience with him and eventually came across more info about him, it's great to see someone talk about this in general! As for now, I found 2 pages documenting Kaj's scams, unfortunately they're in Dutch, but hope you might make something out of it with the browser's translator: www.kwakzalverij.nl/behandelwijzen/overige-behandelwijzen/dokter-schimmel-kaj-de-vries-ziet-overal-schimmels/ www.kwakzalverij.nl/nieuws/kaj-alexander-de-vries-schimmelt-door/ As for the Dutch VP I haven't been there for a while and don't know it for sure.... but there has been some drama over there a while back involving Kaj about him being fed up with everyone/VP. If I'm not mistaken he actually kind of abandoned it, or didn't wanted to get involved with his own community as much as before. So he just leaves it to the mods who are basically working for free.... It's sad to see that Kaj tried to use your skills for his own benefit. I'm glad you eventually didn't end up making the vid(s) because it would be sad to put so much effort into something for someone who doesn't even acknowledges the value of your work and of your profession. Also I'm glad you found Everskies! Hope you'd enjoy your time there! Great content! Keep making vids!
wow, hearing gosupermodel after I don't know how long have brought out some memories. I was wound 12 or 13 and spend almost every day on that site and remember mostly anything like it was yesterday. It was a really weird site, both from girl problems to fanfiction, role-playing and even some politics if I remember correctly, or at least in the Swedish website. If you are looking to interview someone I am totally up for it from a Swedish perspective of the site, don't have any screenshots but I do remember the site well and even some events they hade and other things. I think it is really funny and sad that I don't really remember anything from any math class I hade around the age but still remember gosupermodel like it was the backside of my hand.
@@PSJulie no, but I am up to try it out to see what is similar and what is different. If you want I can try to make a list of things that is alike and different from the things I remember and what I can find.
Now when I have looked through the site I am really shocked and nostalgic. It is nearly a twin of go supermodel except for some things, for example, you can't design your own room, or making magazines. The games as well are different from each other. Other things that are different is the idea of the sites, go supermodel Ring about being a model while this is more about being a pop star. Go supermodel was more meant for girls and hade no "male" avatars, there even being things that guys were not welcome and was meant like a safe space for girls. Virtual popstar is trying to be more inclusive in that regard. There is maybe more things that I am missing and sorry if my text is a mess.
Oh, I'm so sorry I never tipped you off that he sells snake oils, hahaha. I know this is pointless 2 years later but like one of the other commenters here, I was also banned for a document that detailed Kaj's faults and site problems. I'm not sure if it's the same one. However, I was also an admin for the site (only for one year before I resigned the position) and one of the first things Kaj asked me to do was take a look at one of his other websites where he was selling mineral water to see if there was any spelling errors and if there was, he assumed that's why people weren't staying very long on the website. Because I was an admin at the time when your first video got posted to the front page, I can also confirm he did tell others to make videos like yours that promoted the site since the ones other volunteers were making had very loose ties to the site itself. I can confirm it because when I was an admin I had access to all the sites forums. Anyway, two years later, this is still an important video and thank you for making it!
I’m from North America and I looooved gSm, but by the end of the site’s run the european version was DEFINITELY more active than the American version! When the site got shut down some of my friends created a Facebook group for former members that I’m still in today. Every once in a while we dive back into the drama from the site for fun - it was definitely a wild ride for the time it was around 🤣
i've only recently got into virtual popstar and i love it since im really nostalgic for gosupermodel and miss it so much.. i remember back when gsm closed that people were back then already moving to vp but at the time i was too heartbroken to even consider a "replacement" lol.. anyway im only 5minutes into the video so far lol will comment more if stuff comes to mind.. if u do make a video about gsm im sure u will find ppl willing to talk abt it since i see people missing it so often, theres threads about missing it on vp too.. and i will look forward to that, i played from 2009 to the end :,)
i never got into everskies... i've only heard bad stuff about it and the mods and other ppl creating it.. idont think vp users are cool with it since u cant even say the word in the forums and ppl usually make fun of everskies and its users and creators..
Also, it's been a long while but if you are still interested in more knowledge about gSm I would gladly lend a hand :) I plan on digging up my old laptop and rescueing what's left of the harddrive -- there ought to be pictures of gSm on there! ♥
I haven't watched the whole video by this point but I want to say something that made me quit VP, even if it might seem petty, for me it was unprofessional and enough of a reason for me to leave. There was some sort of scheduled release of a limited edition code (meaning only a certain count of people could get it) within a thread, and they stated the time. I thought, okay, I will come back at this time. When I come back, apparently they had changed the time because of something along the lines that people were complaining that they had to go to bed and that the release of the code was too late. I was so pissed since I had been waiting and now I find out that they changed the time like what??? Anyway, after that I was like "bye" and I haven't been active on my account since around that time period lol
I was on the Dutch site and thought there were two admins: Kaj and Lianne. I thought they were partners and romantically involved. Does someone know more about this, am I hallucinating, or what was Lianne's role?
Her name is also Lianne de Vries, and she pops up when googling "virtual popstar owners". Can't say for sure if she is a wife or a family member. But I think I recall some disputes between them were made public and her having part in the creation story.
I actually signed up at Virtual popstars back in 2016 when you made some of your videos. I like creating avatar clothing, and thought it could be fun. Only, I never got around to do so, because i couldn't agree with their view on copyright. This game will happily let their users submit copies of existing clothing design for in-game use. And not just generic designs. And earn money on it. I did not agree with that, and so stopped playing. I understand that copyright can be a grey area, but you can at least attempt not to let existing designs of things be stolen.
I have been on the website since the beginning and I have worked on several teams (event team, moderator and social media team). You get some in-game compensation. I quit because Kaj is creepy and not a good admin. Without the volunteers, VP would be nothing. This is all recollections, I would have to dig to find evidence but Kaj has flirted with and dated multiple VP users. Who knows what he is spending the money on.. probably another medical scam. I highly doubt that he is spending much of VPs income on VP, since the game aspect is still as boring as ever.
Commenting on the end there: what about subeta? User made clothes are probably the biggest part of the game now, but it’s entirely left up to the users how much and how many they want to sell for premium currency. I don’t know how the whole process works since I don’t make wearables, but it must be a decent system since it attracts such amazing artists.
hey i was a designer for vp and you do get all of ur sets for free, no matter what they are used for and no matter if u r an official designer urself or not the site is still shit tho
@@PSJulie Yes it definitely changed, but it's still up to the person themselves to request a redeemable code for their set, so if they never ask for it chances are they would not receive it
Hey! I am an official designer for the Virtual Popstar Dutch Server. If you have any questions for me I would love to help you out! ^^ Also wanted to clarify one thing real quick! If you are an official designer on Virtual Popstar, you actually do get the designs you make yourself. But if you are a nondesigner (someone who casually designs but isn't part of the official team) you don't get anything.
Thank you for letting me know! In your opinion, is the compensation/recognition given to designers appropriate or lacking? I'd love to connect with you and hear about your experiences.
First of all: KAJ IS GONE! *party hard* VP is owned by someone named Etjen now, it's only been a few days, but he can't be worse than Kaj, right? Second: What's wrong with the english VP Server? On the german one, we're all getting our own Designs gifted. The blue hairstyle at 8:06 is by me btw, Ik it's ugly, but I just find it hilarious, seeing it here. xD
I think the video is well put together and it's something that should be addressed, you get a weird middle ground where people will give their time, and effort for free out of their own will, but then I feel like the person receiving this should feel a sense of at least wanting to repay the creator, whether it's something simple as a shout out or something or even in-game currency if the creator doesn't want payment, of course, payment is always appreciated by the creators. but such as games that offer the chance of making your own item, you normally will have to pay a cost to do so, and if you are not getting that item, despite you placing the hard work and effort, that's kinda scummy on their part. The way Kai seemed in his email is that he didn't really seem exactly grateful for the opportunity to have creators doing the amount of work for free, despite the game not being something super popular, though he even then would prefer if all the work is done for free which is worse. I'll speak about my own experience of being an artist out there. you see so much these days that Artist is looked down on as a profession, it not valued as the same as many workers even though as much time and effort are put in. Art is a competitive market and sometimes people can't take this profession full time and that how the market work, but with people who refuse to pay in anything that's not "exposer" and honestly that what kai was doing there with you.
Yeah, it's complicated. Some users will see no need for compensation and that will reduce the bargaining power of everyone else. You can't begrudge them for creating when it's fun for them and rewarding to see their content in game.
@@PSJulie for sure people get into the mind set that because people do it for free then they will look at someone who is asking for payment and be like "oh I'll just find someone who will do it for free" Which is really shifty if they are the one contacting you about doing work for them
I love to watch Julie's videos as another net gurrl that made the neopets to professional web design project manager jump cause I'm ALSO writing reports dropping truth bombs based off user metrics
Immortalbeloved0 is my new hero. Also, clearly your brain is just rotted by all the 5G and you need to cleanse your aura, or you would have made free content for that guy. Duh.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
This dude didn't just want to pay you in exposure, he wanted to pay you in hypothetical exposure. Wow.
It's just a bummer that my local grocer doesn't accept exposure points as payment. 😔
Oooh the "you're just doing this for the MONEY!!!"
What a jerkwad. This game looked fun to me but I don't wanna play something that is owned by someone who doesn't see art for the value it has.
He expects players to pay to use certain outfits, but he can't pay the artists of those items.
It looks like all the money just goes to the 'creator'. (As if any of the assets used in the game count as his 'creation')
When I started trying to figure out where all the money went, I became skeptical and started disliking the game.
While you were reading your e-mails, I was so worried you were going to work for game credits... That's such a red flag! You made the right decision!
Thank you! I considered it for a while and wonder how things would have gone if I took the credits as payment. The site updates he promised never happened and the video was supposed to be coordinated with the updates.
Considering one of the mods is a bully that makes fun of mental health and peoples sick moms, VP should indeed be boycotted.
I'd like to hear more about this. Would you want to connect with me over email? Or if you have receipts you could provide in-comment, here would be good too.
@@PSJulie I can email you! I'll use the email connected to this channel
Whoa, I was not expecting this- it's been ages since you mentioned your beef with VP! But it's really nice to hear out the whole situation so that we have a better understanding of exactly why it was being boycotted. Thanks so much for the information; it's incredibly useful to have events like this publicly displayed so that future VP users are aware of what they're getting into.
I'm hopeful that other people with negative experiences will come forward and the network of dress-up sims can have a dialogue about how to better compensate and acknowledge creative contributors. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Be careful, Julie, the energy healer might invert your wifi field with his magic wifi witchcraft!
Lmaooo that reveal had me rolling. I always wonder if people who peddle all that “alternative medicine” crap actually believe in it. Probably not.. scammers gonna scam
One of my favorite podcasts is "Oh No Ross and Carrie," a show where they try metaphysical/religious/supernatural/medical claims and report on the efficacy and danger. While I am skeptical about bioresenance therapy, I am hopeful that Kaj and his employees believe in what they're doing and have no reason to suspect they are willingly scamming anyone.
Pet Simmer Julie That sounds cool, I’ll have to check that podcast out! And you’re probably right, I was being a little cynical because of the VP stuff- the charitable reading is that Kaj is just clueless about proper business practices and not acting maliciously. (I hope)
Im weirded how you're so criminally underrated. Literally 10k subs? If you got the attention you deserve i wish you were at least at 500k
Thank you so much!
This should really be talked about more.
Also, It's interesting that you say that Everskies and Virtual popstar are "cool with one another" when you're not allowed to talk about or even mention Everskies on Virtual Popstar without getting a warning... It gets so bad in some cases that you're not even allowed to use the abbreviation that VP uses in the in-game rules, where it is stated that any mention of ES is deemed as advertisement for a "competitor site"
Oh, man. This video reminded me of a time I entered an item contest on a pet site I played in the early 2000s. I couldn't have been older than 13. The winners of this contest would have their item added to the site. I didn't win--but imagine my surprise when a few months later, my item was added in an update with absolutely no credit to myself! I contacted a staff member and was told that one of the staff artists had created the item and that I was mistaken. I linked them to the original lineart of the item, and received no response. It was very disheartening and I stopped visiting the site. The lack of respect that some people have for artists and content creators is always upsetting to see. I'm so sorry you were treated this way.
What!!! What site?
@@Pigeonswain ... Virtual Popstar
“I’lL pAy YoU iN eXpOsUrE”
Clown
😂
wonder who gave the video dislikes!
It's all very.. suspicious. 🤔 Just kidding! It's ok if it's not everyone's cup of tea.
Wow. Definitely super shady to profit off of free labor from actual teenagers 😬 Lmao he seemed so confused at the concept of compensating you, a professional media creator, for your work. Makes it obvious that he’s usually interacting with kids who don’t know better and don’t know what their skills and labor are worth. Thank you for exposing this!
I was embarrassed about this exchange for a long time and didn't know if I should ever bring this conversation to light. I'm glad I did.
“WoW i DiDnT kNoW yOu DiD iT fOr ThE mOnEy”
Well, I sure would love to do it just for the joy of it, but the supplies for it cost money, soooo.......
I can't pay for my groceries out of love of making content. :'(
I'm 2 years late on this but their way of helping you with login is crap too,if you don't remember your username you're basically SOL,I go to emails they claim I used to log in with,and there is NONE.
I remember trying to make art for this game.. to me at least it looked pretty legit and I remember asking for critique where I needed improvement. Pretty much ended up getting ganged up on saying how my art isn't good enough for VP and basically just trying to start a fight with me and it really took a toll on my mental health all these people were just trying to find someone to argue with cause they aren't happy with themselves. Sorry ik this is old but seeing VP and everskies just brought back bad memories as to why I stopped drawing lol
HI!
I am going to watch this and probably comment again later but I'm just excited to see you posting again! :D
Thank you, Buffy!
Thanks for such an in-depth explanation.
I hope to cover a lot of ground here and bring things to light to ignite a conversation. The more things I bring up, the more can be discussed.
Are you planning to make a vid on Dappervolk? I know you've covered it before and since it had just been released it might be interesting to cover.
Maybe! I haven't had a chance to log in yet.
This is pretty off topic but your voice is so soothing and nice to listen to. I could listen to you talk for hours!
That is so sweet, thank you!!
@@PSJulie you're welcome! :D
This was amazing video and thank you for explaining the situation
Glad you liked it!
This is a great video. I'm really loving this channel, it has been one of my favourite discoveries since I started re-playing Neopets.
I think this video is also important, because if a person like Kaj had seen this video beforehand, he may likely have handled the negotiation differently. I think a lot of people try to leverage free labour, simply because they think they can. As a businessman, you're trying to get as much work done with the least costs, but obviously, there are consequences to abusing other people's work. And I think some people simply don't realize that.
I already left vp but man am I living for the drama
If gosupermodel is coming back, will you make a video about it?
Gosupermodel has another game called momio. they have an english server now. but i think watagame/momio inc should really look into virtual popstar.
that game gives me nightmares
I saw that! It looks a little outside of my domain of experience.
I'm not gonna lie but Momio is a really bad game
Julie It’s been a while! And One thing I want to say is I value your presence on pet sim games Very much. Growing up I never played these games so watching your videos really helped and I value your opinion and this situation is probably why, because you work to deliver clear and good information on these games. I’m sorry you didn’t recieve the credit you deserved! Anyway love ya!
Thank you so much, Natetheboy! I'm glad I can provide content you enjoy.
I am Dutch and goSupermodel played such a big role in my early teenager years. I can pretty much say I grew up there, and I also met my long-time best friend there! I was so surprised when you brought gSm up! Thank you so much for this video but also for the great explanation on good old gSm
i'm hopeful for a video on everskies...
the owner... the mods... what a shit show. so many people banned + muted for calling out problematic behaviors the team has....
"I didn't know you did it for the money"
Yeah, that's kinda why people do things, typically. They need to, y'know, eat.
To quote JonTron from the golden days: "[This video] is free to watch, but here's a list of things that aren't free: Ｆｏｏｄ."
Omg I forgot all about goSupermodel. AND I ONLY KNEW ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF MY FRIENDS IN NORWAY (I was raised there, so I know some peeps lol). I had no clue it never really reached North America. I only played for like a week though. lol.
Thank you for speaking up! Creators should not be expected to work for free. I'm glad you stood your ground and can put this whole thing behind you now. You da best!
It was big in Northern Europe due to their extensive advertising! They had a big push for visibility.
Is this a fail version of EverSkies? Cuz I don't want to wake up one day and discover the all of my desings are now "VIP exclusive' or something
Virtual Popstar is an earlier game that launched years ago. EverSkies is a new, unrelated game. They have no overlap in ownership. Your designs cannot show up on EverSkies.
Everskies is a rip off from Virtual Popstar!
Kaj's wacky behaviour and dubious side-businesses, as well as him taking all our money without investing any of it back into the site were some of the things that made me quit VP almost a year ago. Kaj has always acted extremely unprofessional. From his anti-gSm videos when gSm was still alive (often targeting one specific, popular user he hated) to him telling the users about his polygamous relationship with two users (one of which was told she'd become admin if she got into a relationship with him, the other being his fiance, who didn't like the polygamy shizzle at all), to just plainly the way he communicates with others... It's all too much and I can't see VP surviving for much longer. The excuse is always that the developer doesn't have time to implement updates, or that updates are too expensive... with all the money he has made off of the amazing outfits made by volunteer designers (even Solovey hardly gets paid anything, I believe) he could've made VP as big as Stardoll a long time ago :')
It took me quite some time to create an account on VP due to all the gSm-VP drama, but I really missed having an avatar site with a forum after gSm was closed (I was active on gSm from 2010 to 2016). I don't regret the time spent on VP, but I'm glad I quit playing it a while ago. Now, I'm a part of the ES team and I love where the site is heading right now. I don't think anything could ever match gSm (if only for the fact that I literally grew up on that website) but ES knows how much that site meant to lots of its users and is therefore implementing the very best aspects of both gSm and VP (and some Stardoll here and there), while supplementing it with original ES-aspects. Let's hope a bigger and better site arises from that mishmash ;)
Wow, this is bananas! 😯 Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for watching and commenting, Kat! It means a lot coming from you. 😊
I'm gonna be adding some intel on how it was being in the DesignerTeam here if anyones interested:
(I started designing in 2016 and joined the official Team relatively soon afterwards; I was about 18 at the time and my username was snailman)
Team Members were chosen based on a competition held by the Team themselves like with other teams; However at the time I was starting out Kaj still had full control over which clothing sets were used and what they were used for. And while the responses to my designs in the forums were most of the time overwhelmingly positive Kaj consistently used my sets as WOF and HOF (the somewhat throwaway options to use sets for).
When I messaged him directly asking him to use one of my sets for DM (a weekly surprise set) he told me that the set isn't good enough for DM which concluded months of me sending in my sets as a DesignerTeam member and getting them assigned as PD-Shop sets (PD is the free currency) and WOF/HOF. Most of the time he would not answer to my sparing private messages. I quit DT as I didn't feel valued as a member and additionally made a thread about why exactly I quit and what I perceived to be the shortcomings of being a Designer on VP. Afterwards the responsiblity to assign sets to DM/Shop/HOF/WOF etc. was given to DT which greatly improved one of the sites problems, which made me return shortly as a Designer until I realized that my time and skill is too valuable to waste on this site.
None of the others tho, there is only one Designer being paid (Solovey) and all other are volunteer workers, no matter how much income they generate for Kaj. He has made multiple incredible claims about how all the income is reinvested into the site which can't be true at all considering there is little to none development being done and the mentioned App (in 2016) never came out. It's just another scammy income for him.
I'm going through old messages from 2016 and it was just straight up shit being in DT, I was unhappy all the time because working with Kaj was one of the most frustrating things I've ever done. It's seriously incomparable, there's no professionality to be seen in either Kaj or Shadowjess; Jess is more invested in VP and thus slightly more competent but only by passion.
That is all so frustrating. Thank you for sharing your experiences!
You are one of my favorite designers on VP and when I heard all of this it's crazy, clearly Kaj has never known what talent is or looks like
Loved your designs
Hey Julie! I don't know if you would remember me,
I saw and commented on your 'Virtual PopStar: 2016 Goals' video in the past and stated before that Kaj is a scammer.
Back then I searched for the document for a while but didn't end up finding it. Now I see you've had your own experience with him and eventually came across more info about him, it's great to see someone talk about this in general!
As for now, I found 2 pages documenting Kaj's scams, unfortunately they're in Dutch, but hope you might make something out of it with the browser's translator:
www.kwakzalverij.nl/behandelwijzen/overige-behandelwijzen/dokter-schimmel-kaj-de-vries-ziet-overal-schimmels/
www.kwakzalverij.nl/nieuws/kaj-alexander-de-vries-schimmelt-door/
As for the Dutch VP I haven't been there for a while and don't know it for sure.... but there has been some drama over there a while back involving Kaj about him being fed up with everyone/VP. If I'm not mistaken he actually kind of abandoned it, or didn't wanted to get involved with his own community as much as before. So he just leaves it to the mods who are basically working for free....
It's sad to see that Kaj tried to use your skills for his own benefit. I'm glad you eventually didn't end up making the vid(s) because it would be sad to put so much effort into something for someone who doesn't even acknowledges the value of your work and of your profession.
Also I'm glad you found Everskies! Hope you'd enjoy your time there!
Great content! Keep making vids!
Good for you for sticking up for yourself and all artists! We deserve equal pay.
wow, hearing gosupermodel after I don't know how long have brought out some memories. I was wound 12 or 13 and spend almost every day on that site and remember mostly anything like it was yesterday. It was a really weird site, both from girl problems to fanfiction, role-playing and even some politics if I remember correctly, or at least in the Swedish website. If you are looking to interview someone I am totally up for it from a Swedish perspective of the site, don't have any screenshots but I do remember the site well and even some events they hade and other things. I think it is really funny and sad that I don't really remember anything from any math class I hade around the age but still remember gosupermodel like it was the backside of my hand.
Have you ever played virtual popstar? I'd be interested in hearing how dis-/similar they are.
@@PSJulie no, but I am up to try it out to see what is similar and what is different. If you want I can try to make a list of things that is alike and different from the things I remember and what I can find.
Now when I have looked through the site I am really shocked and nostalgic. It is nearly a twin of go supermodel except for some things, for example, you can't design your own room, or making magazines. The games as well are different from each other. Other things that are different is the idea of the sites, go supermodel Ring about being a model while this is more about being a pop star. Go supermodel was more meant for girls and hade no "male" avatars, there even being things that guys were not welcome and was meant like a safe space for girls. Virtual popstar is trying to be more inclusive in that regard. There is maybe more things that I am missing and sorry if my text is a mess.
I love how savage you were in the emails 🤣
So that's what happened to my favorite dolls mania site
Oh, I'm so sorry I never tipped you off that he sells snake oils, hahaha.
I know this is pointless 2 years later but like one of the other commenters here, I was also banned for a document that detailed Kaj's faults and site problems. I'm not sure if it's the same one. However, I was also an admin for the site (only for one year before I resigned the position) and one of the first things Kaj asked me to do was take a look at one of his other websites where he was selling mineral water to see if there was any spelling errors and if there was, he assumed that's why people weren't staying very long on the website.
Because I was an admin at the time when your first video got posted to the front page, I can also confirm he did tell others to make videos like yours that promoted the site since the ones other volunteers were making had very loose ties to the site itself. I can confirm it because when I was an admin I had access to all the sites forums.
Anyway, two years later, this is still an important video and thank you for making it!
Are you going to play Dappervolk?
I'd like to, I haven't had the chance to look at it yet.
I’m from North America and I looooved gSm, but by the end of the site’s run the european version was DEFINITELY more active than the American version! When the site got shut down some of my friends created a Facebook group for former members that I’m still in today. Every once in a while we dive back into the drama from the site for fun - it was definitely a wild ride for the time it was around 🤣
Thanks for sharing!
i've only recently got into virtual popstar and i love it since im really nostalgic for gosupermodel and miss it so much.. i remember back when gsm closed that people were back then already moving to vp but at the time i was too heartbroken to even consider a "replacement" lol.. anyway im only 5minutes into the video so far lol will comment more if stuff comes to mind.. if u do make a video about gsm im sure u will find ppl willing to talk abt it since i see people missing it so often, theres threads about missing it on vp too.. and i will look forward to that, i played from 2009 to the end :,)
i never got into everskies... i've only heard bad stuff about it and the mods and other ppl creating it.. idont think vp users are cool with it since u cant even say the word in the forums and ppl usually make fun of everskies and its users and creators..
Also, it's been a long while but if you are still interested in more knowledge about gSm I would gladly lend a hand :) I plan on digging up my old laptop and rescueing what's left of the harddrive -- there ought to be pictures of gSm on there! ♥
I haven't watched the whole video by this point but I want to say something that made me quit VP, even if it might seem petty, for me it was unprofessional and enough of a reason for me to leave.
There was some sort of scheduled release of a limited edition code (meaning only a certain count of people could get it) within a thread, and they stated the time. I thought, okay, I will come back at this time.
When I come back, apparently they had changed the time because of something along the lines that people were complaining that they had to go to bed and that the release of the code was too late. I was so pissed since I had been waiting and now I find out that they changed the time like what??? Anyway, after that I was like "bye" and I haven't been active on my account since around that time period lol
I was on the Dutch site and thought there were two admins: Kaj and Lianne. I thought they were partners and romantically involved. Does someone know more about this, am I hallucinating, or what was Lianne's role?
Her name is also Lianne de Vries, and she pops up when googling "virtual popstar owners". Can't say for sure if she is a wife or a family member. But I think I recall some disputes between them were made public and her having part in the creation story.
i went too far down the rabbit hole and this is where i ended up. @.@
You do you boo
Gracias
i never played this but im plaing everskies rn it came from people who didint like virtual popstar, this video is so informative
I actually signed up at Virtual popstars back in 2016 when you made some of your videos. I like creating avatar clothing, and thought it could be fun.
Only, I never got around to do so, because i couldn't agree with their view on copyright. This game will happily let their users submit copies of existing clothing design for in-game use. And not just generic designs. And earn money on it. I did not agree with that, and so stopped playing.
I understand that copyright can be a grey area, but you can at least attempt not to let existing designs of things be stolen.
dang its crazy how you're only a year older than me
Not that you're old or anything, just it seems you've been on this platform for forever
I'm very lucky that I found a passion of mine (video creation) so early on.
I have been on the website since the beginning and I have worked on several teams (event team, moderator and social media team). You get some in-game compensation. I quit because Kaj is creepy and not a good admin. Without the volunteers, VP would be nothing.
This is all recollections, I would have to dig to find evidence but Kaj has flirted with and dated multiple VP users.
Who knows what he is spending the money on.. probably another medical scam. I highly doubt that he is spending much of VPs income on VP, since the game aspect is still as boring as ever.
Commenting on the end there: what about subeta? User made clothes are probably the biggest part of the game now, but it’s entirely left up to the users how much and how many they want to sell for premium currency. I don’t know how the whole process works since I don’t make wearables, but it must be a decent system since it attracts such amazing artists.
The artists get to control the distribution of their item? I think that's a pretty elegant solution, but takes away power from the site moderators.
Thank you for bringing up subeta as an example. I might make a video about leveraging user designs as game content. This is a helpful example.
u should check out everskies again!! it got viral on tiktok even though its still in beta
I just saw!
Oh.. it’s literally my current favorite game
Did this video change any of your feelings?
@@PSJulie yeah. I think I’ll just wait for everskies to open back up
I feel so bad that you thought you were worth only in game currency at first. I’m glad you had friends who told you otherwise
hey i was a designer for vp and you do get all of ur sets for free, no matter what they are used for and no matter if u r an official designer urself or not
the site is still shit tho
Someone else mentioned in the comments that unless you were a member of the design team, it wasn't guaranteed. Has it ever changed?
@@PSJulie Yes it definitely changed, but it's still up to the person themselves to request a redeemable code for their set, so if they never ask for it chances are they would not receive it
Hey! I am an official designer for the Virtual Popstar Dutch Server. If you have any questions for me I would love to help you out! ^^
Also wanted to clarify one thing real quick! If you are an official designer on Virtual Popstar, you actually do get the designs you make yourself.
But if you are a nondesigner (someone who casually designs but isn't part of the official team) you don't get anything.
Thank you for letting me know! In your opinion, is the compensation/recognition given to designers appropriate or lacking? I'd love to connect with you and hear about your experiences.
@@PSJulie Can I e-mail you about this?
Yes! My email is juliebonkllc@gmail.com
Thats clearly still not ok. You're profiting off of labor and not rewarding it.
unpaid internships are not illegal in germany just so u know. but when you work for more than a month 8 hours a day then you have to get payed
That guy sounds like a scammer. Sucks that he tried to con you.
It's fine, I just keep my distance now!
First of all: KAJ IS GONE! *party hard* VP is owned by someone named Etjen now, it's only been a few days, but he can't be worse than Kaj, right?
Second: What's wrong with the english VP Server? On the german one, we're all getting our own Designs gifted. The blue hairstyle at 8:06 is by me btw, Ik it's ugly, but I just find it hilarious, seeing it here. xD
Oh my gosh, what?!
I think the video is well put together and it's something that should be addressed, you get a weird middle ground where people will give their time, and effort for free out of their own will, but then I feel like the person receiving this should feel a sense of at least wanting to repay the creator, whether it's something simple as a shout out or something or even in-game currency if the creator doesn't want payment, of course, payment is always appreciated by the creators. but such as games that offer the chance of making your own item, you normally will have to pay a cost to do so, and if you are not getting that item, despite you placing the hard work and effort, that's kinda scummy on their part. The way Kai seemed in his email is that he didn't really seem exactly grateful for the opportunity to have creators doing the amount of work for free, despite the game not being something super popular, though he even then would prefer if all the work is done for free which is worse. I'll speak about my own experience of being an artist out there. you see so much these days that Artist is looked down on as a profession, it not valued as the same as many workers even though as much time and effort are put in. Art is a competitive market and sometimes people can't take this profession full time and that how the market work, but with people who refuse to pay in anything that's not "exposer" and honestly that what kai was doing there with you.
Yeah, it's complicated. Some users will see no need for compensation and that will reduce the bargaining power of everyone else. You can't begrudge them for creating when it's fun for them and rewarding to see their content in game.
@@PSJulie for sure people get into the mind set that because people do it for free then they will look at someone who is asking for payment and be like "oh I'll just find someone who will do it for free"
Which is really shifty if they are the one contacting you about doing work for them
Your work IS valuable, the guy was just an asshole. Good on you for stepping away.
Thank you, Sam!
Wow, Kai's emails read like something straight from @for_exposure
It truly does.
Gosupermodel was so much fun i played it for a few years in the 2000s along with neopets (im dutch)
Kevin's laugh for the "hahaha" segment of the email wasn't creepy in a natural way it was just strange and unnatural.
I've never heard of this game before so it shouldn't be that hard to boycott it
I love to watch Julie's videos as another net gurrl that made the neopets to professional web design project manager jump cause I'm ALSO writing reports dropping truth bombs based off user metrics
Can you tell I've been practicing my data storytelling? 😅🤓
I miss gSm !!
idk why but i get some really sexist vibes from that guy
Immortalbeloved0 is my new hero. Also, clearly your brain is just rotted by all the 5G and you need to cleanse your aura, or you would have made free content for that guy. Duh.
How silly of me. I need to get my spider/spin inversion treated?