Ironworks half free half premium pay to keep it alive.

[FelixJaeger]

Right, I fall under the category of "Too Young" (no income, credit card, PayPal account etc) so it would not make much difference to me if this system was put in place as I would have no say in the matter.

But the way I see it Ziroc would either make hardly anything, or would become a very rich man out of the scheme($20 x 6000(Taking away the members too young and those unwilling to pay out of the 12000 probably a little unrealistic) = $12000, this means Ziroc would have the site paid for and make $9000 a year...).

This seems far too unrealistic as it would be hard to get 6000 members to subscribe to this idea.

I thought an idea brought forward by Attalus(I think, I apologize if I have gotten this idea muddled up with someone else please correct me if i'm wrong) where a metre is used to show how much was in the coffers to pay the $250 each month, how much was in the funds at the moment and then changed when the money was taken out, so that the money could be raised before the last moment so Ziroc does not have to come and ask us for donations.

This way the money would be there when it was needed and would allow people to help the cause in any way necessary, even if it was sending a cheque for $25 that those of us who are "too young" can help even in a small way.

Just my [img]graemlins/twocents.gif[/img] .

J.W.K

[The Hunter of Jahanna]

Here is my [img]graemlins/2cents.gif[/img] on the subject. Banner ads sound like a solid idea. If it is possible to get paid for haveing them up , then why not do it? They are non-invasive and only take a second to click through. A banner ad would also be a way for people to help out if they are too young or to broke to send money. A new avatar might be a little over the top for makeing donations, but I do think that the people who donate to support the site should get some recognition. I dont know who does and doesnt donate, but going with the law of averages I am sure it is a lot of the same people donateing over and over again. Maybe when people see others being publicly thanked for their support then then people who can donate, but dont, will be inspired to pitch in a little. My other thought is that when Z was trying to buy a new server and takeing donations we had a little green "We are this close to our goal" bar at the top of every forum. Maybe Z could bring that back for the monthly , or even yearly, amount that he needs to run the site.

[Cloudbringer]

Z's said many times that he will not do ads, especially popups. Right now he's working on a monthly donation setup. The 'graph' idea was one I liked- showing where we are with donations versus what we need on a regular basis. That would let us all see what shape the coffers are in so we could send money when needed and without having to post alot about it which can make some of the younger, or less well off members or those who just can't transfer currency feel inadequate or like they aren't helping out.

[NewbietoRPGs]

What about a grandfather clause? Everyone that is currently signed up will not have to pay right away? Maybe they could have a couple more months for free and then start paying dues (as a kind of "Thanks"). Any new members that start after a certain date would have to start paying as soon as they join. Might work.....then again...

[harleyquinn]

Originally posted by NewbietoRPGs: What about a grandfather clause? Everyone that is currently signed up will not have to pay right away? Maybe they could have a couple more months for free and then start paying dues (as a kind of "Thanks"). Any new members that start after a certain date would have to start paying as soon as they join. Might work.....then again...

The problem with that, as stated in other posts above, is that we would then lose more than 1/2 our membership because we have so many members who are underage and others who live in other countries or just don't have the funds, who couldn't pay. One of the great things about this board is the diversity, if we lose that, this board will fail anyway.
I think those that can and want to pay should and those that can't should not feel bad about it.

[NewbietoRPGs]

Yep. I guess you're right on that one. Well, I wouldn't have a problem donating. This site has helped me out tons of times already and probably saved me a ton in long distance phone calls to customer support lines.

[mysticelt]

Melusine has a great thread going on doing nice things for others...Z has been doing all of us a great service, as well. This is not a democracy - this is "Choc's" board. It is fantastic that we all feel a part of this community and Z garners our support on issues - ultimately Choc will decide.

Mel's thread (see it in the current events)shows that even people without $$$give more than their share. And I am sure that most of the contributors to Z's funds do not post to declare their efforts. If someone is looking for recognition, then they will be running up the posts with spam, not donating money to get a better avatar.

*On a personal note-sarcasm, humor,yes maybe on an inappropriate level - I come to the forum with a sense of community and a feeling of everyone is "well met". I think that due to the written word without nuances of speech and facial expression, humor and original meaning is many times not conveyed correctly. I urge all of you with an angry keyboard to remember this - at least in my case! I have no axes to grind and leave no enemies in grudges! And I like cats and dogs!

[Attalus]

Originally posted by mysticelt: quote: Originally posted by Attalus: Galadria suggested something like this and drew a very angry response.

Is this why I have never had chance to meet Galadria? She never posts in the common areas and sticks to the gaming areas. [/QUOTE]In a word, yes. But she rarely posts anywhere, any more.

[TheCrimsomBlade]

Many Banner adds are small money makers for the site because they pay by the hit. Meaning that you put the add on your site and everytime somebody clicks on it you get paid a few cents, not much. If it was known that Ziroc had this kind of add then each member could log in and then click on the add once during the session let the add load wait 30 seconds and kill it. They are designed so that a person can only click on them once every 24 hours to count for a pay credit.

Then there are rotating banners with 4 or 5 adds rotating in the same spot and then you can click on each one once daily, with this each one of us could click on the adds daily just after log on and with everyone clicking it may make 8 to 10 dollers a day for the site with no real cost to anyone. That way every one could add a few cents to the till Daily no matter which country you live in or how old you are. That alone would make the $300.00 each month and everybody would be happy and nobody buy the little stationary Add at the top of each forum would be paying anything.

What I was trying to get across is, this is how game spy got started. Now they have added the no add pages, where you could pay a small monthly fee and not have to click on those adds because, you wouldn't see them, you pay to have a premium membership. That doesn't mean you are any better than any one else, it just means you have more money to through around and so if you want to pay more then you can have add free pages.

The best thing about this post is, these are the only posts that I ever start that get more than one page of replies you people go just plain crazy when somebody posts the add game and I love it

Someone said that we have 6000 active members. I don't see but maybe 400-500 really active and then maybe not even half of that. Does anybody really know how many active 3 to 4 times a week members that we really have at this time?

[ 07-22-2003, 04:04 PM: Message edited by: TheCrimsomBlade ]

[Reeka]

Well, we did have the "banner ad you click on it when you come on and Z gets the money" at one time. I didn't really do much and, as far as I know, Z dropped it.

I really think if one were going to do the ad thing, the least annoying thing would be to do as you suggested and "sell ad space" to advertizers. I just don't think Z is very "pro ads."

I think maybe I gave the wrong impression when I mentionned about people that cannot donate feeling bad when they see the threads with people saying if they donated and sometimes, how much.

I never meant to imply that people were doing this purposefully to make anyone feel bad, but the end result is it does make some people feel bad. I don't see why a thread posted by the owner that money is needed would not inspire someone to donate but seeing other people donate would. That sounds a little like "lemming psychology" to me.

And by now, don't all the "regulars" know that this forum costs money and if they are able, Dan would appreciate them pitching in if they can?

I am assuming that the donators are the "adults" on the forum. I don't think it is that hard to remember to send a little each month. I mean. adults pay their bills don't they?

I think the little bar-graph thingy would be helpful to have a "visual" of what is going on.