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Luna
08-02-2013, 10:25 PM
[21:52:44] Yaraki: The forums keep going down and we're unsure whether Eyan's a twit or the servers suck.
[23:13:33] Garth: Sorry for being afk
[23:13:44] Garth: umm
[23:13:46] Garth: Lets see
[23:14:53] Garth: So, the site completely dying this morning, was caused by eyan forgetting about the bill until it was a week past due. He waited so long that the host just turned off the server until I paid it this morning, and they turned it back on.
[23:15:13] Garth: But the site being slow
[23:15:24] Garth: And random crashes
[23:15:35] Garth: Are due to the server being too small
[23:15:51] Garth: We've known for months that the server needs to be upgraded
[23:15:59] Garth: It's almost always overloaded.
[23:16:04] Garth: But hey
[23:16:21] Garth: It costs $50 per month.
[23:18:36] Yaraki: so it was both
[23:18:45] Yaraki: [23:14] Garth:

<<< eyan forgetting about the billgj eyan
[23:18:50] Garth: Well
[23:19:03] Garth: He pays most, if not all of it, out of his own pocket.
[23:19:04] Garth: So
[23:19:29] Garth: If you want to start up a donation thread, then I'd be happy to pay the server on time.
[23:19:32] Garth: And
[23:20:22] Garth: If you folks can raise enough money each month for an upgraded server, then I'd be happy to set that up. That costs $80 per month.
[23:20:45] Garth: I'm pretty sure eyan doesn't want to pay $80 per month out of his pocket.
[23:21:10] Garth: But that's at least what would be needed for the site to stop crashing and being slow.
[23:21:15] Yaraki: how do you donate to the site
[23:21:26] Garth: You don't
[23:21:34] Garth: I'd have to set something up.
[23:21:53] Garth: Get a poll
[23:22:09] Garth: To ask whether people would or wouldn't donate
[23:22:19] Garth: And ask them to post in the thread about how much.
[23:22:48] Garth: And if enough people seem willing to donate, I'll add a donation link.

...Yeah. I'm making this poll to see whether or not it'd be worth it. If it's worth it, Garth'll add the donation link.

sonriopoby123
08-02-2013, 10:31 PM
I'm actually unsure of whether this'll work with this forum. I mean, it'll be a big help, but honestly, look at the age demographic we're looking at here. I don't think 9-13 year holds would be able to donate. Sure, maybe some of the older people here might be able to, but is that enough for every month?

Dragonite
08-02-2013, 10:45 PM
I'd be willing to, sure (and I can actually do that now) but I'm pretty sure most people here aren't that old yet and parents have a tendancy to be like "what no I'm not lending you a my credit card for this," like Sonrio said.

Shantae
08-02-2013, 10:55 PM
I'm neutral in this. There some good and some bad points in this suggestion. The good points is that we don't have to have annoying server down times because Eyan didn't pay his bill on time and also it will save Eyan $$$ for his future stuff. The bad points (as from sonrio post) is the general age in this forum. Well some people that are old can try donate the forums but majority of the people are 11-14 that doesn't have palpal account or credit card or their parents wouldn't allow kids to donates in a website.

Also, the question is.... what are the benefits for donating in this forum?
Maybe a rank upgrade to next rank? Or create a desirable usergroup (V.I.P User, Donator, or something?) for people donating the forum with some notable upgrades? Just like SS Forum Ranks but even more greater upgrades?
It depends how people donate the forums but there are a lot of questions to be thought this Donation process.

We'll see how it turns out.
As for poll question. If my parents allow me to donate online yes, but for now no.

BreeZaps
08-02-2013, 11:27 PM
I wouldn't mind make a donation to the forums but I don't think my dad would allow that 3:
I'll find a way...

Charizardflyer
08-02-2013, 11:36 PM
For those who don't have or want to use a credit/debit/paypal, you can get a prepaid card.
Simple and useful. I have one right now. My parents don't let me used their credit cards for stuff on the internet. Unless it's eBay.

I would love to donate. I think this is a great idea. And benefits would be nice as well. Maybe for every dollar we donate we would get one rep point (Just throwing the idea out there)?

BreeZaps
08-02-2013, 11:40 PM
Maybe for every dollar we donate we would get one rep point?
This will make people want to donate. I like this idea.

marissachu
08-02-2013, 11:41 PM
I feel like the main problem here is not that people wouldn't be willing to chip in a little, but that people probably couldn't afford to chip in enough to cover the costs monthly. $80 one time isn't entirely impossible, in fact if everyone who's read this thread so far chipped in four dollars we'd be able to pay the server costs for one month. But 6 months? A year? I just have a hard time believing that people could pump out that kind of money, and it isn't as if there's a steady flow of really active users coming in. Most of the members now are people that have been around for quite some time, and as Sonrio said I don't think the parents of 9-13 year olds would be super thrilled to loan them their credit card to donate to some online forums.

TLDR: I don't mean to be a buzzkill but this seems really impractical to do more than once. I think if people can and are willing to provide some sort of donations so Eyan doesn't have to pay out of pocket for it all every month that would be awesome, but it would be very difficult to sustain the forums entirely with this sort of money long term.

Dragonite
08-02-2013, 11:46 PM
That tldr was almost as long as the post itself :3

I'm against the idea of trading rep for donations, though. Think about it. Buying reputation. Reputation is something to be earned.

BreeZaps
08-03-2013, 12:03 AM
Well guys we don't know anything yet. Why don't we try? If it works great. If it doesn't all-well.
You never know unless you try.

Flubbs
08-03-2013, 12:04 AM
I'd be willing to donate. I think it's a good idea and it can actually work if we get enough people behind it.

BreeZaps
08-03-2013, 12:15 AM
To point out the Marriland forums did this and they have little kids on there. Let's try at the very least.

Sean
08-03-2013, 01:30 AM
I would if I could but I can't so I won't.

>No spare moneyz

Shaymin
08-03-2013, 01:31 AM
If I had a PayPal, yeah I'd be willing to donate.

ShaymieTehShaymin
08-03-2013, 02:07 AM
I would if I could, but my mama would just say that I'm wasting "hard-earned money".

herothezero
08-03-2013, 02:15 AM
I feel that this won't work out well, and if it does, not in a just and balanced way. As said earlier, this forum is full of children. It would depend on the 18+ people, which isn't exactly a fair system in my opinion. In my opinion, maybe waiting 3-5 years, and then more members will be older, and it'll be easier to fund the forum. Unless it's necessary, I say we should wait a bit.

marissachu
08-03-2013, 02:26 AM
I think if anything it wouldn't hurt to have some form of donate button that people CAN use if they want to (not for rep or for benefit) and maybe we can try to offset some of the cost of the forum so that even if Eyan does have to pay he doesn't have to pay the full amount, and maybe the server could even be boosted to the $80 one. I feel unless we can attract new and potentially older members (because those are usually the ones that could actually donate) we can't completely pay every month with donations alone with only a little over 200 active members (and that's just according to the number at the bottom of the page, it certainly feels like less). If people would like to donate I don't see any reason to turn them down, but I don't think it should be something that people feel guilted for not doing or like they don't get the same opportunities because they or their family can't afford it or just don't want to.

XpL
08-03-2013, 03:02 AM
And what do you all want for donating? Special privileges, ranks, recognition? Nobody is forcing you all to donate, you must remember that. If you value this forum enough to regularly fund it's existence, then be my guest. At least remember if the pre-existing revenue can't cover what is necessary, then maybe this is a sign of what must be done.

Patriot
08-03-2013, 04:21 AM
Simple solution, slap a donate button somewhere, maybe add a few perks, don't be completely reliant on donations and just use it to lighten up pressure on Eyan's wallet. No downside, would help partly with the bills. People who want to donate will donate, and even without donations, we still will be at our normal model we have today. Basically, make donations a little add-on that helps alleviate some of the pressure, and don't completely shift to a completely reliant on donations model. No harm done.

XpL
08-03-2013, 06:19 AM
I'm sorry, but that is not how human generosity exists.

Ayra
08-03-2013, 05:24 PM
Okay, it obviously won't hurt to throw in some HTML for a bloody donation button, so there's no reason to reject the proposal. Unfortunately, we have to persuade the staff to actually accept the proposal rather than merely not reject it, so here's when my work comes in. For one, this will, in fact, lighten Eyan's payment load if people do decide to donate, so I doubt he'd be against it. For two, looking at the members here, I doubt all of us will want to and/or have the ability to throw money at this website, but some of probably do, in fact, have the ability and desire to help out. Unfortunately, the factor is motivation. We need a reward system for donating. Since I don't think rep or anything should be bought over earned, we should have universal rewards. My proposal is that Eyan (as if he would actually read this and listen) agree to pay only basic site necessities, resulting in, well, server failure and sluggish performance. If we donate, we add on to Eyan's contribution, thus improving browsing performance.

Tl;dr, we should make it an option for the community as a whole to donate, and we be rewarded as a whole with better site performance due to better funding.
Also, this should ultimately be Eyan's decision, as this revolves around his finances.

Hakuiin
08-03-2013, 05:33 PM
That tldr was almost as long as the post itself :3

I'm against the idea of trading rep for donations, though. Think about it. Buying reputation. Reputation is something to be earned.

Yes, I agree with this post.
Also, some of us have jobs, so we have a steady flow of money.
Now that I think about it, I have exactly $80


I feel that this won't work out well, and if it does, not in a just and balanced way. As said earlier, this forum is full of children. It would depend on the 18+ people, which isn't exactly a fair system in my opinion. In my opinion, maybe waiting 3-5 years, and then more members will be older, and it'll be easier to fund the forum. Unless it's necessary, I say we should wait a bit.

Some younger people have allowances, and in 3-5 years, won't the forum already be dead?

marissachu
08-03-2013, 07:36 PM
I understand that people want motivation to donate (other than improvement in site performance, apparently), but it seems incredibly unfair to me that the younger users would ultimately have very little opportunity if any to receive these rewards. Even if a 12 year old gets 10 bucks a week as allowance and wants to use that to help out there's practically zero chance they will have some form of debit/credit card or PayPal. Do people not realize you can't just mail in the money? Unless the "rewards" are so stupid that people wouldn't feel as if they were getting ripped off by not getting them, it's unfair to give the advantage on a free website to those with money and those who can actually electronically send that money. I don't necessarily disagree that some incentive would be nice but the thought of rewards just feels painful because I know that I wouldn't have been able to donate money until a couple years ago and would have felt royally screwed just for my age on a website that's widely based around that 10-14 demographic. And don't tell me it's as easy as asking your mom or dad to donate for you because for most kids that isn't the case.

I'm not saying people don't deserve something for their generosity, but the thought of rewards makes me cringe. If it were me, I wouldn't want the money of people who aren't willing to step up and help just of their own good intentions anyway. But ultimately it isn't going to be my decision, this is merely my two cents on the matter and I don't mean to ruffle any feathers this is just my opinion.

Hakuiin
08-03-2013, 07:54 PM
I understand that people want motivation to donate (other than improvement in site performance, apparently), but it seems incredibly unfair to me that the younger users would ultimately have very little opportunity if any to receive these rewards. Even if a 12 year old gets 10 bucks a week as allowance and wants to use that to help out there's practically zero chance they will have some form of debit/credit card or PayPal. Do people not realize you can't just mail in the money? Unless the "rewards" are so stupid that people wouldn't feel as if they were getting ripped off by not getting them, it's unfair to give the advantage on a free website to those with money and those who can actually electronically send that money. I don't necessarily disagree that some incentive would be nice but the thought of rewards just feels painful because I know that I wouldn't have been able to donate money until a couple years ago and would have felt royally screwed just for my age on a website that's widely based around that 10-14 demographic. And don't tell me it's as easy as asking your mom or dad to donate for you because for most kids that isn't the case.

I'm not saying people don't deserve something for their generosity, but the thought of rewards makes me cringe. If it were me, I wouldn't want the money of people who aren't willing to step up and help just of their own good intentions anyway. But ultimately it isn't going to be my decision, this is merely my two cents on the matter and I don't mean to ruffle any feathers this is just my opinion.

Well, for the little kids it'd be a lot easier to Mail the money.

marissachu
08-03-2013, 08:00 PM
Well, for the little kids it'd be a lot easier to Mail the money.

That's incredibly impractical not only for the kids but moreso for whoever has to deal with the money. Eyan would then also have to deal with a PO Box which I know for a fact he doesn't want to do (also another thing he would have to pay for) so as to avoid giving out his home address which would be really bad.

XpL
08-03-2013, 11:40 PM
How many of you can actually provide sustainable and reliable support? As to what point does the situation escalate a la RBS?

Patriot
08-04-2013, 12:26 AM
I understand that people want motivation to donate (other than improvement in site performance, apparently), but it seems incredibly unfair to me that the younger users would ultimately have very little opportunity if any to receive these rewards. Even if a 12 year old gets 10 bucks a week as allowance and wants to use that to help out there's practically zero chance they will have some form of debit/credit card or PayPal. Do people not realize you can't just mail in the money? Unless the "rewards" are so stupid that people wouldn't feel as if they were getting ripped off by not getting them, it's unfair to give the advantage on a free website to those with money and those who can actually electronically send that money. I don't necessarily disagree that some incentive would be nice but the thought of rewards just feels painful because I know that I wouldn't have been able to donate money until a couple years ago and would have felt royally screwed just for my age on a website that's widely based around that 10-14 demographic. And don't tell me it's as easy as asking your mom or dad to donate for you because for most kids that isn't the case.

I'm not saying people don't deserve something for their generosity, but the thought of rewards makes me cringe. If it were me, I wouldn't want the money of people who aren't willing to step up and help just of their own good intentions anyway. But ultimately it isn't going to be my decision, this is merely my two cents on the matter and I don't mean to ruffle any feathers this is just my opinion.

The only reward that's necessary is an indication that you're a donator. There doesn't need to be rewards that segregate the userbase.

marissachu
08-04-2013, 12:42 AM
The only reward that's necessary is an indication that you're a donator. There doesn't need to be rewards that segregate the userbase.

I don't know how difficult this would be from a coding perspective, but that seems like a reasonable idea. It just seemed like people wanted some grand reward from it, but maybe I was misunderstanding. Regardless I don't see any harm in having the option to donate if people wanted to, even if the money that came in from it wasn't that much.

XpL
08-04-2013, 01:03 AM
The only reward that's necessary is an indication that you're a donator. There doesn't need to be rewards that segregate the userbase.

This proposed indication of yours is exactly segregation.

BreeZaps
08-16-2013, 02:26 AM
We have been getting data base errors today.
https://twitter.com/BreeZaps/status/368110462019174400/photo/1
I think we should get a donate button so if we want to donate then we can.
We need a new server lets face it. The forums is growing.

Red
08-16-2013, 03:23 AM
Your reward for donating should be the self satisfaction of helping a forum stay alive you selfish lot. Lets not forget that a single month's worth of donations isn't going to sustain the forum forever. There is also the obvious fact that the age group that has the majority on this forum doesn't exactly have a steady way of getting money to donate. Asking your parents for money is a stupid idea because why would your parents give a rat's behind about some internet forum. The people who do have the ability to pay the money themselves however is few and far. Sure any kind of donations will help but how long will it last? Most of the people who donate will probably only donate once for the potential benefits provided.

tl;dr I think this idea is stupid and won't last.

Gyaradomo
08-17-2013, 05:19 AM
if you have ****ing donation money, go donate to a good cause rather than the forums. like autism or cancer or aids or kids in africa i dunno.

Ferrospike
08-17-2013, 05:27 AM
Even if I would want to donate(Which I won't) I need to pay my own ****ing bills.

Judge Mandolore Shepard
08-17-2013, 01:46 PM
Just like Ferro, I will be unable to donate to the forums since I have my own bills to pay.

Starry
08-18-2013, 07:43 AM
I would really donate, and here is a good idea I had.

1. Not having the forums being the only people who can donate. Let the YouTube folks do it as well. Because while there are young people here, there are older people on YouTube.

2. Taking a suggestion from Twitch, how about people who can donate get newsletters from mods/admins/ SS that give information about events and things like that. (Maybe making another email for this so that people don't spam an admin's email.

3. The reputation idea where one dollar gives you one point. For those of you saying it is "Buying reputation" reputation IS earned by donating. When you have reputation, people know you contribute to the community, and that IS what you did. Getting reputation from donating is the best way to get reputation, not only in the forums, but to real life as well.

That's just what I think. Also, maybe we could have donating contests for things like "Pick a arcade game to add!" Or " Be a Mod for a day!" (The second one people who are crystal might be the only one to enter.)

Luna
08-18-2013, 10:07 AM
I would really donate, and here is a good idea I had.

1. Not having the forums being the only people who can donate. Let the YouTube folks do it as well. Because while there are young people here, there are older people on YouTube.
The idea is to donate to upgrade the server. People who watch on YouTube but are not on the forum won't donate.

2. Taking a suggestion from Twitch, how about people who can donate get newsletters from mods/admins/ SS that give information about events and things like that. (Maybe making another email for this so that people don't spam an admin's email.
If events happen, then they'll be posted about immediately.

3. The reputation idea where one dollar gives you one point. For those of you saying it is "Buying reputation" reputation IS earned by donating. When you have reputation, people know you contribute to the community, and that IS what you did. Getting reputation from donating is the best way to get reputation, not only in the forums, but to real life as well.
"Hey! That Lord Penguin guy has a ton of rep! He must've donated a lot of money!" yeah no

That's just what I think. Also, maybe we could have donating contests for things like "Pick a arcade game to add!" because everyone ever uses the arcade Or " Be a Mod for a day!" No. (The second one people who are crystal There are so many crystals that it wouldn't even be limited. Also, time wasted on a forum, the amount of friends someone has and the amount of posts they have made does not mean they are trustworthy. (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?1869-Meet-the-Members-Rules&p=121272&viewfull=1#post121272) might be the only one to enter.)

I've posted all my criticisms of the above post in bold.

Dabottle
08-18-2013, 03:45 PM
#GabeForModForADay.

Sir Muffin of Saucer
08-18-2013, 09:20 PM
#GabeForModForADay.

inb4 infraction

Gyaradomo
08-18-2013, 09:25 PM
plot twist: the donation button donates towards hitlers nazis

Merga
08-18-2013, 09:48 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO9BuZ4EoKQ

Put this video near the donations button pls, it's only fitting.

Also, I have to save moneys for college, so sorry Internet, no moneys for you.

Pokemon73
08-19-2013, 07:12 PM
no way to donate money to the forums


But here's my donation: this post

Luna
08-19-2013, 08:33 PM
This isn't happening.
The people who want to donate can't, and the people who can donate won't.
For this reason, I shall be locking this thread. Any mod/admin who believes that this should stay open should feel free to unlock.