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Topic: Donations.

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Endymion
rank 3
Posted:
Sat Jul 17, 2010 1:40 pm
quote : #1
profile : pm
Posts: 15
Type: NTSC-U/C
I've come out of hiding after registering so long ago, and enjoying the Q3 servers as well as the odd game of Tribes here and there for PS2, to donate to the site after reading the latest news blurbs. So few donations just seemed depressing to see, considering how many people still profess to love the Dreamcast, so I felt an obligation to donate. Even if what I've done most here is lurk and read others threads and posts.

But I have to confess, it did take a few minutes of clicking around just to find the donation button. For everybody's benefit, it's at the server list page. Here's a quick link. If donations really are this low, maybe a donation button should be a little more prominent, somewhere on the front page? The design of this site is very nice by the way, I can actually understand if there is a desire not to clutter up the splash page with a donation button, it did seem a little inobvious at first as to where I should go in order to donate however.

Thank you Ben, and everyone else, for keeping the site up for the good it has done us all these many years.
 
lordnikon
rank 87
Posted:
Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:36 pm
quote : #2
profile : pm
Posts: 5902
Type: NTSC-U/C
Hey Endymion, Thanks for the support.

It is buried in the server list page because I am still figuring out how I want to display it on the site and where. Multiple people have brought this up to me so far in the past. I am going to try and display it in a more prominent location on the site.

Thank you for your positive comments on the site design. Everything you see here was custom designed by myself (I am a graphic designer for a living). hehe you should see what the PSO area looks like Wink I am going to try and get some updated pictures of that up on the PSO Access page.

So many websites come and go, but OC has been here going strong since 2003. Its not going anywhere, and in many ways, has yet to peak.

We have some exciting stuff on the way Wink

The donations do really go to supporting our game server, which cuts a hole in my bank account each month. I don't think I would ever try and do the "people have to donate or everything will shutdown" scenario. I do have money to pay for the servers, but the donations more or less make things a bit easier on me, and cut down the total financial cost of running our dedicated game servers. Especially since, if things evolve further I might need to expand to 2 machines again sometime within the next year or two.

One thing I do need to do is put a little bit more of an explanation on the Servers page about what they actually do for the end user. Such as the importance of us hosting Master Lists for games like TAA and Maximum Pool which lets players connect to a dedicated IP address on collocated bandwidth. This is especially necessary for our SWBF servers which simply could not run the way they do now on a home internet connection. Those servers have almost 20 bots per game server, and with a full player count, can draw some serious bandwidth.

I will be sure to get the Donations page updated soon. Wink

Once again, stay locked to the site for some exciting developments in the coming weeks.
  _________________
I'm already numero uno on Dark Helmet's hit list...
Chris3025
rank 6
Posted:
Wed Jul 21, 2010 2:02 pm
quote : #3
profile : pm
Posts: 42
can't wait! Smile
 
lordnikon
rank 87
Posted:
Fri Jul 30, 2010 10:06 am
quote : #4
profile : pm
Posts: 5902
Type: NTSC-U/C
Hi Endymion, and others. I will be updating the main page with a variety of news bits, but for now, just adding a brief note here. Donations info was posted for 2009-2010, which community members only donated about .08% (yes zero point zero 8 percent) of the total yearly server costs. We only had 2 donations during that time. So I wasn't in the habbit of updated the page. Since the 17th we have had quite a few donations. So now the page is updated to reflect this information. Thanks for the help, and here is the details:

http://dreamcast.onlineconsoles.com/phpBB2/servers.php

The above page will get some additional tweaks and word clarrifications in ramping up for an info block about donating on the front page. I am sort of against front page placement, but about 5 community members have actually requested more prominant placement of this information on the site. So I am proceeding with this as per community interest.
  _________________
I'm already numero uno on Dark Helmet's hit list...
everynewday84
rank 12
Posted:
Wed Dec 15, 2010 2:43 pm
quote : #5
profile : pm
Posts: 196
Type: NTSC-U/C
lordnikon wrote:
Since the 17th we have had quite a few donations. So now the page is updated to reflect this information. Thanks for the help, and here is the details:

http://dreamcast.onlineconsoles.com/phpBB2/servers.php

The above page will get some additional tweaks and word clarrifications in ramping up for an info block about donating on the front page. I am sort of against front page placement, but about 5 community members have actually requested more prominant placement of this information on the site. So I am proceeding with this as per community interest.


Don't hesitate to put that link on the mainpage, I had been lurking around awhile before I saw the page. I'm also very glad to see that donations are on the rise. 2 users donating 0.08% is almost unbelievable, as this site is the best DC site I have come across. Your efforts are incredible, and I as a fellow hobbiest applaud them.
I am considering donating, but after 3 attempts I have not been able to find any other OC users to play qIII with so I'm not sure what to donate.
I want to give something to this project. It's very cool that so much effort has, and is, being put into this website. There is no reason other than the love of Dreamcast that this effort exists. And that's kind of awesome!
 
lordnikon
rank 87
Posted:
Wed Dec 15, 2010 8:47 pm
quote : #6
profile : pm
Posts: 5902
Type: NTSC-U/C
Donating is totally optional, don't feel pressured. Feel free to donate whenever you are comfortable. I don't want anyone to feel like they are obligated. Any donations that do come through actually do help me out a lot, as it helps to lighten the burden of the $133.00 server fees that I pay each month for the OC server.

As time goes on and you get some extra bucks, feel free to donate a few. However don't do so if you feel like you are spreading your money too thin. I know some people are in college or are younger and don't really have that much cash to spare anyway.

So don't stress about it. I just want to penny jar to be availble so people can contribute when and where they see fit.
  _________________
I'm already numero uno on Dark Helmet's hit list...
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