Before I get into my next edition of "Minecraft Skins Here and Elsewhere," I figure a little introspection is due first.

Skinning and skin exchange is obviously a huge draw for Planet Minecraft. There are more individual skin submissions than there are for every other category of the site combined, including Projects. It is unquestionably a hugely important part of the game - a texture pack may enhance your own gameplay, but a skin is the face you show to the world in SMP, the clothes of Minecraft, and can be as finely tailored or cheaply produced and consumed as you please.

The importance of skins, and the culture of Planet Minecraft, has unfortunately combined to give our dedicated skinners, in my opinion, a slight case of myopia. Many seem unable to see past the needs and concerns of the skinners on Planet Minecraft, not recognizing that each of the other categories has its own needs and concerns, or to look at the big picture of PMC's place in the ecosystem of the Minecraft community.

This began with the removal of downvotes, and continues today with the calls to revert back to the old and bugged skin viewer, or to strip away experience points. These controversies emerged out of the difficulties skinners were facing on top of the intense competition within the skinning community. Inconveniences to them were magnified to travesties and injustices, and the policy changes they have and continue to push are not alleviating the problems, but aggravating them further.

Our growth has put stress on our infrastructure, and when problems arise with it, we have wrongly been blaming the infrastructure, instead of trying to figure out and champion ways that we can upgrade it to do its job better.

I therefore implore the skinners: take a step back, and try to consider the viewpoints of others - of the site administration, of the modders, the texture pack makers. What might to you constitute update spam may be par for the course for a modder who has to make incremental upgrades and optimizations to their mods. Texture pack makers typically focus more effort into a single submission; the dynamic of managing that kind of operation is markedly different than of, say, a skin shop. Texture packs, when faithfully upkept, snowball, gathering diamonds and favorites; skinners on the other hand need to build personal reputations to gather that momentum. The administration has the hardest job of all - it needs to try and find solutions and upgrades that strike a balance between the communities in this site. If they are forced to constantly focus their attention on the wants and desires of the skinners, PMC loses what makes it unique and outstanding among Minecraft communities: the blend of talent that has defined it since the beginning.

Open your eyes to what other websites are doing, and by that I don't mean just fly off the handle when a skin is stolen. Manage your own "brand" by being proactive and loading your skins under your name at alternative sites, before someone else does. Take note of how other sites handle the process, from uploading to downloading, and what works and what doesn't. It will make you appreciate all that Planet Minecraft offers, and give you ideas for how we can all improve.

This is not intended as an attack. PMC hosts some of the most talented skinners the Minecraft community has to offer, and I'm happy to share this site with them. If we want to continue to hold on to and attract that talent, however, we have to look forward and outward, and balance the needs of others with their own.