Of Servers, Downtime, & Finances

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,520]

In my experience, you can use your debit card where it says credit card. I've used my debit card many times in sites that ask for credit cards.

 

Great to know! Thanks for sharing, Lavoaster.

 

I'd donate, but I have to save my money to visit my girl for our anniversary. I do, however, have some money in Project Wonderful, so if you were to add ad boxes from them, I would totally buy space.

 

We're sticking with Google AdSense or direct ad sales for the time being as far as advertising goes. You could withdraw your money from Project Wonderful to PayPal, though.

 

I'm just curious here. How many cents you get from one click for the google ads?

 

Every click is worth a different amount, so that's impossible to answer. The amount a click might earn varies very, very widely.

[Literally Snails 2,307]

Does it have to be monthly?

[Otter 1,942]

Wish I could donate, but I've decided to never get a credit card, so until I get a checking account, there's nothing I can do.

[Bohtty 1,775]

Wonder if the license would still be needed if it were OC's. Because I'd totally buy an MLPForums shirt that had the forums crew OC's.

 

Anywho, things are looking up on the job front for me, so an annual donation should be on the way.

 

I am actually getting in touch with a lawyer to look over the legality of this sort of thing and when fair use ends. Hopefully I should have some answer with in a week. hopefully...

[Lucky Fire 29]

My work paycheck sucks because I work under the ARC at the college where I live, and the ARC don't give me a lot of hours, so my paycheck sucks. Between buying groceries, yes i have food stamps, but i don't get a whole bunch, but between buying groceries, paying bills and all that..... yeah, my paycheck would be gone or if not like, a dollar or two left :/ I can't donate, i'd love to, but can't. so if i can't donate, does that mean i have to leave the site?

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,520]

Does it have to be monthly?

 

No. You can donate whenever you want - we'll happily accept anything from hourly donations to one-timers.

 

However, the reason I suggested recurring monthly donations is because most of our bills come in on a monthly basis, and having a consistent monthly stream of donations this makes the accounting side of things more predictable (ie. it greatly reduces the "crud, will there be enough donations to pay the bills this month?" factor).

 

I am actually getting in touch with a lawyer to look over the legality of this sort of thing and when fair use ends. Hopefully I should have some answer with in a week. hopefully...

 

Thanks for looking into that for us, Bohtty! Do let me know what you find out, if anything.

 

so if i can't donate, does that mean i have to leave the site?

 

No! I really hope no one else got this idea.

 

We extend a warm welcome to each and every member, regardless of their ability (or willingness) to donate. I'm more than happy to provide MLP Forums and the entirety of its content free of charge to everyone, because I don't believe in segregating users based on whether they help us with the bills or not.

 

We have well over three thousand members, and hundreds upon hundreds of them visit the site every day. If 30-40 members (which is a rather small percentage of our total userbase) made a habit of donating $10 every month, they will be able to cover the cost of hosting the site for tens of thousands of other visitors.

[Evilshy 5,089]

On other forums, I've run something called "Teams" which is a site-wide roleplay where users join teams and battle for control of specified forums. It's really fun and gives users a more intimate feel for the site, but also plays into monetization; the teams rely heavily on financial support, and buying some sort of currency gets them weapons, forum space, etc.

 

 

I want this. I want this so fucking much. I would throw so much money at it.

 

 

Anyway, now that my hours, and therefore my paycheck, have been going up, and the amount of new games I buy is going down (because between work and school, I don't have time to play them all), the amount that I donate will start going up. I try to donate once a month, but I think I'll bump that up to twice, once for each paycheck

[Lucky Fire 29]

Yay! I really love this site and i love my filly, so i was hoping i could stay. thank you thank you thank you! ^^

[Tiina Brown 67]

Sorry.

All i can say is "so, this is now another site that has grown beyond the "hobby level", and will need constant revenue = ads" ....

I'm personally torn between donating, wich i might not be able to be consistently ... if at all, or not donating even if i could, just to ensure you won't grow too much ....

Ok, i sound harsh, and i sound selfish, but by now, too many sites has started out as hobbysites, but eventually been so popular that they had outgrown the "hobby" level, and eventually taken in more and more ads ....

And i see ads today as way too often a waste of time, space, and work .... and they look ugly.

 

I'm torn.

[Expired delta 76]

If only the source of the attacks could be found. :/ then we would not have to move right?

[Evilshy 5,089]

Even if we knew who was doing it, we couldn't really stop them. And the way the site is growing, we'd have to move to a better server anyway.

 

Out of curiosity, Feld0, you said the new server has amazing specs. Care to post them?

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

After reading all three pages of this thread, I have two suggestions.

 

1) If you decide to sell T-shirts, I'd be willing to send some pony quotes, compose witty poetry or make funny/cute sentences. Unfortunately, due to technical AND family reasons, I cannot make visual art, nor make T-shirts myself.

2) On the subject of "a new type of avatar" mentioned by Rayne, I'm not sure what he meant, but I have a couple ideas. Like making different shapes (if it's possible to use circle-shaped masks for example, or heart masks for some of us lovebirds <3).

 

And this summer, I'm seriously considering getting a job. If I do, I'l probably share with the forums.

In the meantime, I'll try to help... by enabling ads. T_T EDIT: Nevermind, they were already enabled. XD

Edited May 11, 2012 by Feather Spiral

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,520]

Sorry.

All i can say is "so, this is now another site that has grown beyond the "hobby level", and will need constant revenue = ads" ....

I'm personally torn between donating, wich i might not be able to be consistently ... if at all, or not donating even if i could, just to ensure you won't grow too much ....

Ok, i sound harsh, and i sound selfish, but by now, too many sites has started out as hobbysites, but eventually been so popular that they had outgrown the "hobby" level, and eventually taken in more and more ads ....

And i see ads today as way too often a waste of time, space, and work .... and they look ugly.

 

I'm torn.

 

This is exactly why I would like to avoid forcing ads down onto everyone. Trust me, it's the last thing I want to do. And as tvguy347 pointed out a few pages back, it's likely not going to be too sustainable anyway. Those who don't want ads will simply use an ad blocker anyway.

 

If only the source of the attacks could be found. :/ then we would not have to move right?

 

This move has absolutely nothing to do with the attacks. As I said before, it's a proactive measure we're taking now because just about any further growth at this point will push past the limits of our current server. The new dedicated server is going to be an order of magnitude more powerful, and shouldn't experience the slightest bit of slowdown even if we get several hundred users online at once.

 

Even if we knew who was doing it, we couldn't really stop them. And the way the site is growing, we'd have to move to a better server anyway.

 

Out of curiosity, Feld0, you said the new server has amazing specs. Care to post them?

 

Sure, they are as follows:

• Intel E5649 Processor
• 6 x 2.56 GHz HyperThreaded Cores
• 12 MB Smart Cache
• 5.86 GT/s QPI Speed
• 2 Drives in Hardware RAID 1
• 512 MB RAID Cache & BBU
• Hot-Swap Drives
• 8 TB Monthly Bandwidth Transfer
• 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM
• 150 GB 10K SAS Storage

After reading all three pages of this thread, I have two suggestions.

 

1) If you decide to sell T-shirts, I'd be willing to send some pony quotes, compose witty poetry or make funny/cute sentences. Unfortunately, due to technical AND family reasons, I cannot make visual art, nor make T-shirts myself.

2) On the subject of "a new type of avatar" mentioned by Rayne, I'm not sure what he meant, but I have a couple ideas. Like making different shapes (if it's possible to use circle-shaped masks for example, or heart masks for some of us lovebirds <3).

 

And this summer, I'm seriously considering getting a job. If I do, I'l probably share with the forums.

In the meantime, I'll try to help... by enabling ads. T_T EDIT: Nevermind, they were already enabled. XD

 

Thanks, FS! It's great to have your support for the t-shirt idea (and off-topic: we gotta catch up and chat sometime ). Of course, I would need to find a supplier willing to produce the shirts for us as well, so it might not happen in the immediate future. But I'll keep you in mind. People will often buy a shirt for a witty quote on it.

 

I'm not sure I want to get into modifying the way avatars work. I think that would add an unnecessary amount of complexity to the backend side of things, and I'm not sure it's even possible.

[HomuraBL 851]

I'll probably never support how the donation system works. Its not the fact that the users get something from donating. Its the fact that its the ONLY way to get something.

 

I'm pretty sure I'm going to come off as whining but I need to get this off my chest.

Heres the thing, donations don't prove how faithful someone is to the forum. You know what does? Time. People who actually put time into this forum deserve something too. But we get nothing. I'm not saying make it the same reward, but there should at least be something to equal out this unfairness.

 

Anyway rant over.

[Bronium 512]

I have actually never noticed the ads... like ever. And I wish i could donate and was actually going to spend whatever was on my card on the forums but ahhh steam. Always gets the best of us. Either way, Imma ask my mum to fill up my credit card so I can donate like $10 dollars maybe monthly? Whatever I could do to help. Especially since you gave me a best friend. Feels like I owe you something.

 

 

I'll probably never support how the donation system works. Its not the fact that the users get something from donating. Its the fact that its the ONLY way to get something.

 

I'm pretty sure I'm going to come off as whining but I need to get this off my chest.

Heres the thing, donations don't prove how faithful someone is to the forum. You know what does? Time. People who actually put time into this forum deserve something too. But we get nothing. I'm not saying make it the same reward, but there should at least be something to equal out this unfairness.

 

Anyway rant over.

 

Well think of it like this. Feld0 already gives us all these features to ponies that spend literally nothing on the forums. Every single improvement goes to everypony. Pretty much everypony has every feature. If ponies who spend more time on the forums get stuff that other ponies don't get well it brings up an inequality.

It also brings up the question as to how much veteran ponies should receive and how much time constitutes cold hard cash. I mean there veterens are literally spending no money (If you don't count ads.)

 

Then why give anything to donaters at all?

Well, it's simply as a thank you for supporting the forums and not as a reward.

 

Why not give these privileges to Bronies ( The ones with the Badge)?

Well... I dunno. You should probably ask Feld0 about that.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Scopes

[FinalGamer 192]

I am considering removing the option of opting into ads for non-donors, although this is something I'd prefer not to do (those of you who hate ads will likely use an ad blocker anyway - I'm not going to go into that debate now).

Okay so I turned the site ads on...and I never thought I would ever do this but you guys are so nice that I'm gonna do this, just for you Feld <3

 

...okay wow this is like the least obnoxious ad I ever had to deal with, this is BARELY anything. Yeah I'm totally leaving this on even when I donate...unless they get REAL bad but I'll trust your clientele here, I hope this helps. I promise, for you, no adblockers for anything on this site.

 

Pinkie promise

[Loona 287]

There are going to be titles to the donors?

[Evilshy 5,089]

There are going to be titles to the donors?

 

 

Donors have had custom titles for a long time. See how it says "official assassin" over my avatar? That's what it is.

 

Paycheck today

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,520]

I'll probably never support how the donation system works. Its not the fact that the users get something from donating. Its the fact that its the ONLY way to get something.

 

I'm pretty sure I'm going to come off as whining but I need to get this off my chest.

Heres the thing, donations don't prove how faithful someone is to the forum. You know what does? Time. People who actually put time into this forum deserve something too. But we get nothing. I'm not saying make it the same reward, but there should at least be something to equal out this unfairness.

 

Anyway rant over.

 

RaccoonBL, the "extras" that donors get here are seriously extremely trivial compared to everything that everyone gets. I believe in walling things off to donors just as much as you do, but I think you're taking half of what this forum offers - entirely for free - for granted.

 

Scopes said it quite well:

 

Well think of it like this. Feld0 already gives us all these features to ponies that spend literally nothing on the forums. Every single improvement goes to everypony. Pretty much everypony has every feature. If ponies who spend more time on the forums get stuff that other ponies don't get well it brings up an inequality.

It also brings up the question as to how much veteran ponies should receive and how much time constitutes cold hard cash. I mean there veterens are literally spending no money (If you don't count ads.)

 

Then why give anything to donaters at all?

Well, it's simply as a thank you for supporting the forums and not as a reward.

 

Why not give these privileges to Bronies ( The ones with the Badge)?

Well... I dunno. You should probably ask Feld0 about that.

 

 

 

I have actually never noticed the ads... like ever. And I wish i could donate and was actually going to spend whatever was on my card on the forums but ahhh steam. Always gets the best of us. Either way, Imma ask my mum to fill up my credit card so I can donate like $10 dollars maybe monthly? Whatever I could do to help. Especially since you gave me a best friend. Feels like I owe you something.

 

Okay so I turned the site ads on...and I never thought I would ever do this but you guys are so nice that I'm gonna do this, just for you Feld <3

 

...okay wow this is like the least obnoxious ad I ever had to deal with, this is BARELY anything. Yeah I'm totally leaving this on even when I donate...unless they get REAL bad but I'll trust your clientele here, I hope this helps. I promise, for you, no adblockers for anything on this site.

 

Pinkie promise

 

Let me tell you guys, I believe in obtrusive, annoying ads about as much as you do (read: I hate them with every shred of soul I've got). I periodically enable ads for myself for several days at a time just to make sure they aren't disrupting the user experience too badly. So, I'm glad you find my use of them fair and something you don't mind.

 

People need to get it out of their head that ads are evil and need to burn in hell. May I remind you, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic itself is a glorified 22-minute infomercial. But we seek it out to watch instead of trying to remove it from existence.

[FinalGamer 192]

Let me tell you guys, I believe in obtrusive, annoying ads about as much as you do (read: I hate them with every shred of soul I've got). I periodically enable ads for myself for several days at a time just to make sure they aren't disrupting the user experience too badly. So, I'm glad you find my use of them fair and something you don't mind.

 

People need to get it out of their head that ads are evil and need to burn in hell. May I remind you, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic itself is a glorified 22-minute infomercial. But we seek it out to watch instead of trying to remove it from existence.

 

Ohhhhhhhhh touché good sir. Well in THAT case then XD

[AppleShy Sparkle 311]

Just curious, when showing the ads, do you just need to click them do get the money or do you actually have to buy/use what the ad offers?

 

I believe you said a couple of months ago that showing ads without clicking the did more bad than it did good, but i'm not entirely sure about that.

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,520]

Just curious, when showing the ads, do you just need to click them do get the money or do you actually have to buy/use what the ad offers?

 

I believe you said a couple of months ago that showing ads without clicking the did more bad than it did good, but i'm not entirely sure about that.

 

Ads earn something both for viewing them and clicking them (they earn much more for a click, by the way). I'm not paid anything if you actually buy the product or service that it's advertising.

 

With that said, please do not click ads if you are not interested in what they offer. Google will know, trust me, and that's going to do more harm than good.

[AppleShy Sparkle 311]

Ads earn something both for viewing them and clicking them (they earn much more for a click, by the way). I'm not paid anything if you actually buy the product or service that it's advertising.

 

With that said, please do not click ads if you are not interested in what they offer. Google will know, trust me, and that's going to do more harm than good.

 

Ok, thanks for the info

 

I will then turn the ads back on now

[Bronium 512]

With that said, please do not click ads if you are not interested in what they offer. Google will know, trust me, and that's going to do more harm than good.

 

I was actually going to do that. Phew. Thank whatever for that. Well imma not click my ads then unless I want to.

[NavelColt 22,876]

Never clicked an ad on the internet, ever xP If I want something, I'll Google it.