I'm sure you've all noticed that we've been getting more and more server failures as of late and I can only tell you that it's going to get worse.... That is, if we don't move to a new server. Our current hosting service no longer suits our needs, Everypony.com is growing, much faster and larger then anyone ever anticipated, so much that the load is way too much for our current server and as you can see, it's failing on us. So we don't really have many options here other then move to a new server, but where and when? And more so, what does that mean for you? Well as you all know, servers aren't free and I'll be honest, some things are going to have to change, BUT we want to ensure the users the best possible experience here so I'm telling you now: Never will payment be required for the full Everypony experience. If anyone has suggestions themselves feel free to say it, I'm all ears With that out of the way: So now, how DO we pay for our services? Well the answer's not an easy one and there's many ways we can do this but here's a few things you might expect to see in the future: -Advertisements: we've had it too good for too long it seems, unfortunately these will most likely find their way into the site sooner or later, we've been fighting the prospect of having them for long enough now and with this server switch they seem the most likely option to keep the site afloat. -Donations: Yeah keeping the site up is no cheap process, and as much we don't want to ask for money outright, any penny is appreciated. -Merch: This one might actually fun for you guys too, we've considered site merchandise for a while now, and while we're in need of money it seems like as good a time as ever to bring it in.
I wouldn't mind Advertisements. They don't really affect me that much, but at least it will keep the servers running. Same with donations, your not forcing anyone to give up money to pay for the servers, just a suggestion if anyone feels free to donate to a great cause. Merch, I would actually get something from this, depending on the merch. Maybe a sick flank RBD keychain? Anyways, looking forward for this third option if possible.
I'll just quickly point out, if you use an adblocker on this site you won't be helping us.. Harsh I know but if we did use ads I would beg and plead and urge people to disable it when viewing Everypony!!! Also the merch would have to be strictly OC stuff, but I'm sure we could all pitch in ideas and come up with some pretty cool material It's a real shame its come to this but an Everypony with ads beats an Everypony with database errors and slow load times, no?
I'd like to simply state, I'm all for all three ideas... Advertising as well, and the merch+donations for sure... Somehow I don't see any logical solution without ads, but maybe that's just me. :derpe:
Let's do this SMW central style, with a simple banner on top, and a donate button somewhere. I'm not sure I'd buy any merch, but I know of plenty here who would.
I wouldn't be able to buy merch or hit the donate button, since I have no internet money, but I think it's a good idea to have them up anyway. As for the ads, I'd go out of my way to click on them as long as they aren't pop-ups! Anything to keep you guys up and running!
I thought it was my internet being crap(per) than usual when loading specific parts of the site. I'll make sure to turn off my add-blockers though!
i request one thing for the merch: Custom Merchandise! we can request key chains with our OC or design with the EPR logo, or do the same with shirts, or caps, or anything! car decals and posters would be beast!
Advertisements while not the best, it would certainly help. Donations, that I can contribute to. I'm all for everypony merch. I'd love to have some OC stuff or even Everypony stuff in general.
I like all three ideas, actually - I'll just have to remember to turn off the adblocker. And OC pony merch sounds really cool! Should be interesting to see what we come up with.
Say a shirt is $10 -An artist draws an Everypony design, we sell the shirt + design for $15 all the profit going into an Everypony account (the same as the donations one) if ad revenue doesn't cover a months server costs we deep into this reserve account, simples. Artists will get a good cut too ofc, and I think letting anyone be an artist (with sufficient skill) is a good idea too! Ofc these numbers are merely examples and are not representative of any of EP's plans Not a PENNY will go towards anything un site related or design artist compensation!
sounds ok. so basically, we have some everypony.com design, blah-blah-blah, we give print to some print shop, and send t-shirt from print shop to someone that bought it. ok, this might work, but couple of suggestion: make agreement with more print shops, at lease one on each continent to minimize shipping expenses, and shipping time. also, we shouldn't be restricted to shirts only, any idea would be great. also, since this is material stuff, it'll require some planing on how we'd pull it out. as for now, I have idea for something: sticker set: we make everypony stickers and sell them for example 1$ per set of couple stickers. may be for cars, bikes, home, but to be resistant to water and cold and hot weather.
It seems that popularity always is a double edged sword. It's good to see the site doing so well, but a bummer that changes need to be made to keep the site going. I would much rather see the site continue, and will do what I can to support it. All three suggestions I find agreeable. So many sites use ads that I'm sure we'll get accustomed to them after a short while. For the donation button, I'd love to see either an epic design or a sense of humor on it. Those seem to encourage others just exploring that aren't familiar with the site to donate. I know of others who have gotten a good laugh out of a donation button, and decided to donate as a result, even if they aren't part of the site. As for merchandise, I would definitely buy something. One item that never seems to go out of style is buttons, so some EPR buttons would be really cool. You could even do a button for each staff member.
Ads : I really don't mind, not to mention that as far as I know, the ads list money to you on a per view basis (ergo the ad blocker thing), and as such can be easily gimped with extensive use of hard-refreshes. Donations : While I can't contribute, it's probably a good, if not most efficient idea. Merch : All of the yes. If I could, I would buy it, not to mention that while you can act as a middle man for artists who want to make money from the sale of their art being printed on shirts, mugs, and whatnot, I'm sure some would donate the art so that 100% of the profit would go to maintaining the server. Not to mention that if there was a LuprSze shirt, I would most likely buy one. If not for myself, then as a troll gift. On second thought, why? Still, I'm not admin, and barring mandatory payments or 'premium' accounts, I will probably stay here.
I'll be sure to disable my ad-blocker for this site then. Something you might want to look into is Cafe Press: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/sell/index.aspx?area=intro_money&page=intro_money The link has more information, but it seems like a fairly easy way to make a decent amount of money off of merchandise. Shirts on Welovefine go for $25, and it appears that we could make about $8 of profit on every shirt we sell for the server costs, with the rates they have on there. Of course it depends on how much you would want to charge for them, that's only an example. Not to mention all the other kinds of merchandise you can have prints place on with them. You could set up a shop on there, and anyone who wants to help out can donate money, and get something cool at the same time.
Yeah, cafepress was something I've looked at in the past, maybe that's a nice, easy and reliable way to go ...
You could double the simultaneous max SQL connections by switching to go-daddy deluxe, hostgator has a max of 25, while go daddy is at 50. its a 6/mo cost for deluxe. I wouldn't mind handling the payments and financing if we put ads up.
Dunno if anyone has suggested it yet, but my last forum did this and it was a big hit. Lanyards. You know, for your keys. Commission a company to slap the EPR logo or whatever on em, and sell them to us everypony members for like $5 a pop. I'd buy one.
