The bandwidth isn't the issue, and switching to php wouldn't solve it either, but in the other hand most .asp if not all are very expensive, while there are countless cheap and even free php hosts, which could make the monthly bill decrease a huge lot and therefore save the site. I believe the main solution is there, but in the meanwhile the site needs to be funded somehow, donations are definitively not enough, ads don't generate much income (they are a bit badly placed imo btw, they should be more visible) and atm something like premium accounts doesn't look like a good idea because there aren't enough regular users here.
The idea of selling games is the only one that seems more realistic to me, but it still doesn't guarantee survival, specially if there are not enough good games to sell.
Also I think the DC arcade with some well placed ads might also help quite a lot, most portals like newgrounds gets small fortunes out of advertisment.
Originally Posted by OldManClayton I think killing this TDC before the new one is ready to replace it would be very unwise.
Yes. I don't know that anyone would be very happy with losing everything and starting over entirely. I know I wouldn't be. That's a huge step backwards. If anything, you'd code the php and either slowly replace each page one by one or all at once, but not deleting one before you have the other.
Johnny Look is right. I think A) the arcade would bring money with good ads, and B) selling is a realistic idea.
One other thing, suppose people pay for exclusive advertising? Like, if James wanted to he could buy an ad spot on a top banner or something for Lunnye Devitsy, and his ad and other purchased ads would cycle in and out.
Has anyone tried to maybe get this site affiliated with some affiliates of main streamers? It's not directly linked to the main stream, but it might bring in some money if not invite a ton of new people to the community which brings renewed interest for Clickteam which might bring them a high enough profit to help TDC or the less direct way would probably just to rely on the added attention to boost ad income on TDC.
I mean on the scale of most communities, this one is pretty miniature, and as nice as it is to know everyone to a shallow degree compared to most communities where no one knows anyone, if it's the difference between losing the site or not, I'd much rather have more people than to lose the site.
I concluded the average of this community is too young to get the idea, crying shame. Consider it implemented at GB in 2013. And I hope this won't turn up here half-assed like my previous two ideas.
If we're using no more than we have been previously and the cost of running the site has not changed, why is TDC suddenly out of money to keep it up? Was the payments all Clubsoft's money previously, or did TDC actually have enough regular donation to see the costs through? It's occurred to me that everyone's freaking out like this is a business on a plummet into deep bankruptcy or something. Is it simply that Club has been put out of pocket a little too much and he just wants more help from our side to make it easier on him, or doesn't wish to have to spend his own money on the running costs? (Obviously, it's not easy to pay for server/host/domain on your own.)
Apologies if the post is a bit forward, (I'm not being rude, just trying to understand) the situation is just somewhat unclear (OMGZZ RECESSION WURLD WIIDE!!), and it's quite obvious selling games is not going to earn enough keep to run the site at this point (unless our community was far larger and with people willing to buy games, as Hayo has said on average the users are young and students without employment), bandwidth is not an issue (there goes our the ideas to improve costs via PHP changeover) and there's no reason for people to PAY for VIP membership/services of TDC right now. And the more extreme ideas are the ones that require looking for a business permit, tax dealings, having authentication server for Steam-like pay to play..etc. Not really good ideas as there's no money to put forward for those things.
I never thought selling games would support TDC. (Even more so after Jon calculated the monthly cost)
But I still think it's a good idea. Or rather not a bad one. If games are already going to cost money, I think having the option to give a bit to TDC is a good idea, something that just kind of makes sense. Of course, having members just donate money themselves after sales works too, but I think having that little checkbox would put it in the forefront of people's minds more. Arguing over something optional seems silly to me. I'd rather the idea was just dropped or forcefully integrated rather than have so much stressful debate over it.
In any case, whether we accept that rather unimportant idea or not, we still need a solution that will support the site. We've discussed changing the ads, porting the site to PHP... What else is there? Waiting until someone's wealthy great uncle dies?
Do that with Klikcast and add the footage of you dancing as a bonus. But you should sell the games because as OMC said: "If games are already going to cost money, I think having the option to give a bit to TDC is a good idea, something that just kind of makes sense. Of course, having members just donate money themselves after sales works too, but I think having that little checkbox would put it in the forefront of people's minds more." The key thing is that these games are already publicized on TDC. So why not get a little bit for that?
Originally Posted by marky_2 Put all the GOTWs ever made on to a CD and sell that for $5 or something. Just don't tell anyone it was originally free.
Wouldn't you need permission from (and give a cut to) the original authors of the games? Plus, not all of the original GOTW's still have live links. In fact, quite a few of them have taken even that a step further by deleting the whole page for the game all together.
IT IS HARD TO SELL GAMES, SOME OF YOU GUYS WANT TO STEAL A BIT OF THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY. LET THAT SINK IN. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
If I had to donate a part of the profit of a game I sell, I would not put it on TDC, out of principle. There are plenty other places where you can put up a demo. For free. Doing it that way would not be a feature with double benefit, it would be something that scares some people away.
No. You are explaining a part of my own idea to me now.
Fact: We have a community site here, which now has too much traffic (which I am also starting to doubt). The traffic consists of people who are interested in the kind of games we make.
Fact: It is really hard to sell games on your own. Many people would like to have a try at it (and have games that are sellable) but don't have what it takes to actually get to the audience, which is enough coverage.
Chance: We could use the "too much traffic" to gain a little money for hosting AND to help people sell their games. People can sell their games on a "premium" or "commercial" section where quality is guaranteed (so it doesn't piss the audience off). This would be a win-win feature, no matter how much money is made with it.
Spoiled by: Massive ignorance, discussion derailment by "idiots" and that we might not really have a lot of traffic so we just donated because the site is bloated and coded crappily.
I don't get who you're mad at. I keep seeing places where you say it's the most frustrating topic ever and claiming nobody gets the idea, without specifying why?
Perhaps you weren't aiming your last post at me, but I see nobody else saying anything it would be applicable to. Perhaps I am an idiot and don't see it? I must have missed some posts because I only see contradiction. ("IT IS HARD TO SELL GAMES, SOME OF YOU GUYS WANT TO STEAL A BIT OF THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY. LET THAT SINK IN. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" ... "People can sell their games on a "premium" or "commercial" section where quality is guaranteed"" What the heck? Sarcasm?) The last thing I want is to further argument though so... you keep doing your thing.
I think an elongated KlickCast disk would be a good idea, maybe keep the online version down to a few minutes to give people a taste for what's on the disc (advertising). Of course to keep it fresh (and appealing to those involved too!) it would require more donation from members of this site. So to make donating videos and audios more appealing, why not open up the range of subjects people can talk about? For example, people could also talk about other game related things (opinions on commercial games or the market as a whole), or even non-game related stuff that people would find intersting or entertaining (for example comedy, maybe stand-up, film reviews or animations made). The whole disk could be purchased for around $10-15. Hell, to save costs you could make it a downloadable! For $10 you could break-even and keep the site running with 18 sales every 2 months. Realistic i think!
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Edited by Johnny Look
Or rather not a bad one. If games are already going to cost money, I think having the option to give a bit to TDC is a good idea, something that just kind of makes sense. Of course, having members just donate money themselves after sales works too, but I think having that little checkbox would put it in the forefront of people's minds more. Arguing over something optional seems silly to me. I'd rather the idea was just dropped or forcefully integrated rather than have so much stressful debate over it.
But you should sell the games because as OMC said: "If games are already going to cost money, I think having the option to give a bit to TDC is a good idea, something that just kind of makes sense. Of course, having members just donate money themselves after sales works too, but I think having that little checkbox would put it in the forefront of people's minds more." The key thing is that these games are already publicized on TDC. So why not get a little bit for that?
IT IS HARD TO SELL GAMES, SOME OF YOU GUYS WANT TO STEAL A BIT OF THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY. LET THAT SINK IN. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
